AllenTomlinson has trained horses all his life. Allen and I went to school together from 2nd through 5th grade. A couple of months ago, I found where he lives, and went to meet him again. Sixty five years - POOF!
His barn and track are right next to Mason Jewett Field (KTEW) where I fly. So yesterday I took him up for a ride. We did some normal and soft-field takeoffs and landings, flew over territory with which he's familiar, and discovered several things that he didn't know were there. We checked up on another horse-woman in the area - fences, pastures, paddocks, etc., and a nearby town or two. The sun was bright, clouds were high, and a stiff wind was pushing us around a bit. A couple of times, wind shear rocked the plane a bit. Nothing to get excited about, just keeps you on your toes. We could easily see more than 10 miles, and spot landmarks all around. Lots of old glacial eskers and moraines around here, and so lots of gravel and sand pits. Pretty soon there'll be more fishing ponds, I expect. (NOTE to self: Go back and mark locations.)
By the time we got back to the field, a strong crosswind was gusting at us, at a straight 90 degrees across the runway. It wasn't my best landing, but we were able to walk away from it, and I can re-use most of the parts. So, it was a good landing. A cold beer completed the day.
His barn and track are right next to Mason Jewett Field (KTEW) where I fly. So yesterday I took him up for a ride. We did some normal and soft-field takeoffs and landings, flew over territory with which he's familiar, and discovered several things that he didn't know were there. We checked up on another horse-woman in the area - fences, pastures, paddocks, etc., and a nearby town or two. The sun was bright, clouds were high, and a stiff wind was pushing us around a bit. A couple of times, wind shear rocked the plane a bit. Nothing to get excited about, just keeps you on your toes. We could easily see more than 10 miles, and spot landmarks all around. Lots of old glacial eskers and moraines around here, and so lots of gravel and sand pits. Pretty soon there'll be more fishing ponds, I expect. (NOTE to self: Go back and mark locations.)
By the time we got back to the field, a strong crosswind was gusting at us, at a straight 90 degrees across the runway. It wasn't my best landing, but we were able to walk away from it, and I can re-use most of the parts. So, it was a good landing. A cold beer completed the day.