Good Day Flying

Today, I had to fly to Wickenburg. Since I have a Stage I check ride and a Stage II written exam tomorrow (no stress there), I couldn't do the usual overnight in Wickenburg. Dana, another student at my school and a really nice person is always looking for someone to timebuild with.

I called her and told her that I was going to Wickenburg and back Wednesday and asked her if she wanted to go with me and have a $100 hamburger in Prescott. She agreed and we met early this morning at Angel Air.

There were thunderstorms last night and this morning it was pleasant. 75 degrees, broken at 8000 and overcast at 10,000 with scattered light showers. The flight to Wickenburg was beautiful. The rain felt so good and the temp at 7500 was 55. Nice.

Wickenburg was a little interesting. We ended up having to drive to Surprise (3o miles away) for a computer part, which put a damper on real work. Finally around 1, we were ready to head to Prescott (PRC). We get to the airport and the battery is dead. Strange. It was showing 28 volts and the ammeter was positive on our flight up. I did leave the master on for about 10 minutes after we parked, but that shouldn't have been enough to kill the battery.

Luckily, Wickenburg Aero service was open. The A&P towed the plane to his hangar, and gave us a jump. After he figured out that he was only giving the Cessna's 24 volt battery 12 volts, it started right up, showed positive charge and we were off to Prescott.

The flight from Wickenburg to Prescott is spectacular. Wickenburg's elevation is about 2,500 feet MSL. It's part of the Sonora Desert and is basically at the foothills of the Bradshaw Mountains where Prescott is located. The topography along the route is amazing. Our route took us over Yarnell (a little artsy town at 4,800 feet MSL), Peeples Valley (where there are a few gorgeous thorobred farms), Kirkland Junction, Wilhoit and into Prescott. Very nice flight.

After streching our legs, we enjoyed lunch at the Susie's Skyway restaurant. The food there is good, inexpensive and there are alot of window seats. We watched several Great Lakes Beech 1900's fly in and out of the tiny passenger terminal.

After lunch, we decided to call up the Prescott Flight Service Station and ask for a tour. The weather kept them from being too busy and they obliged. The center manager is the last FAA employee on the premises. Everyone else is now a Lockheed Martin employee. They are building a new FSS in Prescott Valley that will consolodate many of the FSS's that are being closed down. When it's open and up to speed, they expect to have about 400 employees covering the Western US.

It was a neat experience to see the FSS and I recommend a visit to anyone that is able. Being able to visualize the place your communicating with and meeting the people that work hard to keep pilots safe humanizes it. Hopefully, I'll be a better pilot for it.

Back to the transient ramp. Will the plane start?...Yes! Back to Stellar via Prescott Valley, Dewey, Humboldt, Black Canyon City, Deer Valley and the North/South Sky Harbor Bravo transition. A little more rain, a gruff controller at Phoenix approach that just couldn't seem to get our tail number correct and a smooth, uneventful landing at Stellar.

1.6 PIC w/bravo for each of us, check. Nice weather, check. Interesting experiences, check. A good day overall.