There I was at the Wickenburg AIRPORT,,,,,,,,,,

The other morning I found myself at the Wickenburg Municpal Airport. My friend Duane lives in Aguila, AZ. about 25 miles from North Ranch and has a neat little 2 place Airplane. He called one morning early and said he would like to fly me over to Hope, AZ. for lunch.  He said “I know you don’t eat much for lunch but they have great salads”.  Hey, that sounded Great!

I love to fly and I have spent a lot of time hanging out at Airports.  The smaller the Airport the better. I got my private single engine pilots license way back in about 1975 in Lincoln, Nebraska.  I flew a lot there and then when I moved to Denver, I rented an airplane and flew quite often. I used to fly over to Alliance, Nebraska to see my folks. Then when I moved to Salt Lake City, I bought a Cherokee Warrior  and spent all my spare time flying around that area and over to Wendover, Nevada.  Ah yes, I’ve spent my share of times around Airports….. brings back lots of memories.

Soon I saw Duane coming in on final approach and do a perfect “touch down” and taxi up to where I was standing. I hopped in and strapped myself down and we were back in the air.


This little Sport Aircraft is very light and it only uses about 1/4TH of the runway to get airborne. So we had a nice view as we flew over the Airport Office. See that little black spot in the parking lot? That’s my pickup. It was about 11:00am and hardly a soul was around. I love small, quiet little airport's!!


There is a nice view of Vulture Peak just south of Wickenburg, We have climbed that peak several times, but this is a better view than from the top of it!  Hey Al, there is a nice place to boondock at the base of this peak. You would love it!!


We're climbing out at about 500’ per minute, approaching 3000’ ft. flying at around 50mph and burning just 6.7 gal of fuel per hr. Nice GPS and set of electronics'.


Now we have leveled off at 4200 ft. and the speed has gone up to a cruising speed of around 120mph. The fuel meter says we are down to using just 4.5 gal per hr. No need to go any higher as the trip is only about 60 miles and I enjoy the view better at lower altitudes..


The view you see as I take a picture through the prop is Superb!! That is an irrigation water canal just below. You can see the little town of Hope dead ahead and the dirt runway is where we will land. First we will do a little fly around and look the situation over and if it's clear, we’ll come in on final and sit ‘er down.


Here we come in on final and that road on the left is the runway. We have the plane slowed down to around 50mph. Lookin' good!


There we are, safe and sound on the ground taxiing up to the parking area. Another fine touchdown Duane!


Here I am in the passenger seat about to climb out and walk over to have a nice salad. This is a neat little sport airplane,I love it!.  The engine is 4 cyl, 100hp and does a nice job. With the full electronics and intercom with headsets and microphones, you can visit and enjoy a nice ride.  It even has it's own Parachute!! Yep right in the center of the wings, behind and above the heads of the pilot and passenger, is a Parachute.  It is rated to be a big enough chute to be able to let the plane down safely in the event of an extreme emergency. Although I have done a lot of Skydiving and have over 300 jumps under my belt, I don’t want to try this one out.


This is my good friend Duane standing by his extra ordinary little Light Sport Aircraft. Duane and I have had a lot of fun experiences together over the years. He used to live at North Ranch and just a few years ago moved over to Aquila to a little Airport community where everyone that lives there has their own hanger to store their Airplanes, and listen to this.....they take off and land right out in front of their homes! How neat is that!! Signs on all streets say "Airplanes hive the Right of Way"! Isn’t it great all the wonderful interesting people we meet and get to know and enjoy in this wonderful world and life?  Again, Praise the Lord for another blessing that I thank him so dearly for..


This, my friends, is the restaurant and almost the entire extent of Hope, AZ. Let me tell you, our salad was outstanding and the other food I saw them serving looked delicious. Our waitress was a neat lady that called herself a “snow bird” and is from Michigan, living close by in an RV. She says people come from all over, far and near to experience the food at the KOFA café. Its on Hwy 60 and 72 and is right on the way to Quartzsite.Be sure to stopin  if you're ever in the area and REAL Hungry!!

It is a GREAT WEEK!!!!

Hope you all enjoyed riding along on my little ride over to Hope at 4000 ft.! Thanks Duane ole buddy, for your thoughtfulness.....I enjoyed it very much.

Thanks for stopping by………Come on back Sunday,

Mike

This Blog is published every Wednesday and Sunday..