But still a good time.

Pretty much nothing went as planned for the Saturday meetup (not that the original plan was well thought out, mind you) ,  but we rolled with it and it all worked out and was a good start to the weekend anyway.

The original plan was for Aaron and myself  to meet up again at KJXN for breakfast and then each of us to act as safety pilot for the other for some approaches so we could both maintain legal currency…and for me to (possibly) show him a few refinements while using an autopilot to do approaches (and autopilots can really un-task you if there is hard IFR with gusty winds or other issues)

So I did the same as last Saturday: Did a briefing, got into the car and drove to the airport…filed a flight plan, pulled the plane out, and did a preflight….all ready to go at 8 Am Central for an arrival at 10 Eastern. .then Aaron called right at engine start and said that he had no power at the airport and could not open the pod bay hangar doors…but he was assured that there were people on the way to open the doors with a generator.

This time there was a wrinkle….ERJ was coming to breakfast from Eaton Rapids…..and he was already en-route via roads. Aaron called him and informed him of the delay, and I waited for a half hour and then started up and began the taxi just as Aaron texted and said they got the doors open.

Once again, it was a beautiful day for flying.  The climb-out was pretty nice, smooth and clear.

Nice level 197 knots ground speed at 9000 ft. Smooth fight to JXN.

It really isn’t economical to go higher where I can get another few knots of airspeed, the fuel burned on the climb negates any cruise savings for a 150 mile flight (nautical miles).

Got a direct entry into Rwy 07 at KJXN. Aaron was slightly in front of me in the downwind and base and I landed right behind him. This one was as it should be…smooth and just a touch of chirp.

We taxiied to the ramp, parked and shut down.  ERJ was waiting for us. I feel sorry he had to wait though.

It was a good breakfast, and great conversation across many topics: shooting to taxes, to revenge to culture and all sorts of other stuff. Both Aaron and Joe are smarter than I am so it makes for a learning experience…and entertaining.  But like always, before too long it was time to leave…..the delay meant that Aaron and I did not get to do any approaches, so we tabled that for another day. We still have time before currency runs out, so it’s all good.

We shook Joe’s hand and he departed back to his lair, and I fueled up and chatted with Aaron for a few…We both preflighted while the fueling was taking place and then I paid the bill, sumped the tanks, and we did the startup. Aaron taxiied first while I got my clearance and then I followed him down the taxiway.

And away we went.

The flight out was kinda weird, I had conflicts with 4 different aircraft on the climb and ATC kept vectoring me all over to avoid. But eventually they turned me direct for home and I was cleared to climb to 12,000 ft…but then they stopped me at 11.5 and had me go back down to 11 due to other traffic… they kept me there until the descent for home. I even questioned it, as westbound should be an even number of thousands altitude. But that’s the way they wanted it so that’s what I flew.

The descent was normal, if a bit bumpy below 5000 ft. I made a downwind entry into the pattern and landed smoothly.

Wiped off the bugs and fueled and put the plane away for next time.

I think next time we will fly to ERJ’s AO and let him drive us to breakfast so he doesn’t have to drive that far. This time the plan had been put together on the fly so we didn’t consider that option.

It’s a good way to spend a Saturday morning…With my friends from the internet…in meatspace.

0.8 up and 1.2 back. and 2 landings. Sadly, zero approaches, but there’s time for that….