Night Flight to IFP

Last Friday night, Dana and I decided to take our last flight together. With summer monsoon season in full swing, weather in Arizona can be sketchy. We chose 3 destinations: Flagstaff, Tucson and Laughlin/Bullhead City. I reserved a nice little IFR Archer with GPS, DME and slaved HSI. It ain't fast, but it'll get you there safely. What more can you ask for? I know...constant speed prop, turbo, retractable gear, glass cockpit - but who has the money to be picky.

With a planned departure of 8 p.m., we hoped that at least one of our destinations would be free of thunderstorms. At 6 p.m., a check of the radar showed severe thunderstorms in Tucson and all over Northern Arizona. It wasn't looking promising. By 7:30, Flagstaff and Tucson were still looking bad, but we could see rapid dissipation on the route from Falcon Field to Laughlin/Bullhead City (KIFP). The only activity was a line of storms moving South from Las Vegas that weren't a factor.

At 8:00, we were off the ground. I love flying at night, especially after thunderstorms. The atmosphere was perfectly calm and visibility was greater than 45 miles. ATC was in a particularly good mood, too. Our route took us over Scottsdale, Deer Valley, direct Wickenburg, direct Lake Havasu and then up the Colorado River to KIFP.

The moon was full and I regretted not having my camera as we flew over Alamo lake. With our 8,500 foot cruising altitude and visibility so good, you could actually see Lake Havasu City from Alamo Lake.

After turning North to follow the Colorado River, we started seeing increased lightning in the distance. Apparently, the storms in Las Vegas were pretty strong and traveled further south than expected. They usually die out over Boulder City. The storms were still 25-30 miles north, so it wasn't a factor. We did enjoy the light show.

We landed in Bullhead at 9:50, just before the FBO closed. It's under new ownership and is now Encore FBO, Inc. It's the same nice people that worked for Sun Western Flyers. The Flight Service Station called the FBO to see if we had arrived and told them I had 3 minutes to call. Huh? We landed 5 minutes earlier than filed and hadn't even been on the ground more than 10. 10 minutes after arrival time and a phone call? To the FBO and not me? They girl at the FBO said that FSS calls them sometimes, especially when it's around closing time. When I called FSS, they couldn't even find an open plan, so the caller must have closed it when they spoke with the FBO. Weird.

We took the free shuttle across the Colorado River in to Laughlin and had a late dinner at Outback Steakhouse inside The Aquarius Hotel (Formerly Flamingo Hilton). It's strange to eat at a chain restaurant inside a casino, but it was actually very good. I usually refer to Outback Steakhouse as Steakback Outhouse, but this location didn't deserve it.

I kept temptation at bay and passed the gaming tables as we made our way back to the airport for our return trip home. The flight back was totally uneventful, other than a guy working the Phoenix TRACON that couldn't get anyone's call sign or aircraft type right. He was convinced that we were in a Seneca.

Sky Harbor Approach cleared us through the bravo at 5,000 feet or below, descent at our discretion direct to Falcon Field. Ahh...the joy of flying through Class B airspace after midnight. As we headed towards Falcon, Dana lined us up for an approach to Gateway! She hadn't flown to Falcon at night and couldn't see Falcon from a left base. No big deal, I took the controls and got us lined up on final and gave her the controls back for landing. We touched down at 2 a.m. exactly.

Okay, I have one complaint about Falcon Field. The GA ramp is WAY TOO DARK. You can't see anything. Parking at night is a PITA. /RANT OFF

Well, it was a nice trip and probably the last time Dana and I will fly together for some time. She starts at Air Wisconsin Monday, August 6th.