Favorite Aviation Sayings: (Authors unknown)

   1)  "If you don't respect the airplane, the airplane will not respect you!"

   2) "It's better being on the ground wishing you were in the air than being in the air wishing you were on the ground!"

At one time, I considered Aviation as a career possibility so in addition to attending College and working full time, I earned my Private Pilot Certificate.  As time went by in the early 1990's, I became discouraged by the amount of money you spend on training and the feedback I received from current pilots about the industry at the time wasn't encouraging either.  I stopped just shy of earning an Instrument rating as I realized the most important lesson to learn was to know when NOT to fly!  So today as a hobby, I go up 4-5 times a year locally to Auburn, Georgetown, Cameron Park, etc.  Some trips take me over Sacramento; another all the way to the Grand Canyon.  But the real highlight is a night-flight every July 4th!  There is nothing like circling 4-5 fireworks shows over Sacramento!  You don't have to deal with traffic or people congestion and if one show stinks, you can go to another in 5-10 minutes.  To be honest, some of the illegal shows seem to be better to look at than the promoted shows such as the Folsom Rodeo, Sunrise Mall, Del Campo, Roseville, or any other show I've watched over the past 5 years.  My favorite of the legal shows is Cal Expo.  Unfortunately, I can't seem to win on taking good pictures.  Actually I leave this to a passenger since I have to fly the plane!  But you name it, Cam Corders, Digital Cameras, Disposable Cameras; they just don't seem to work too good in the air.  Anyway, the pictures below are from several trips over the past few years.  I didn't bother with pictures from this year's fireworks show as newly enacted Federal Aviation Regulations due to recent world events prevent any type of flyover over major sporting events.

Although I've flown Beachcraft and Piper aircraft, my favorite is still the Cessna 152.  Below is a picture of the cockpit for my favorite 152.

1) Cockpit - Cessna 152    2)  Me and a Cessna 152            3)  Just Me                      
(Approx. 26.0K)                        (Approx. 19.0K)                    (Approx. 18.0K)

This shot was taken 3 years ago over Cal Expo when I was lucky enough to be assigned a low altitude of 1500 feet.  With airspace restrictions at the time at 1000 feet and below; legally you couldn't fly any lower.  I'll always enjoy this picture as I'll never be able to get this close again!.

          2) Cal Expo - 3500 feet AGL     3) Cal Expo - 4000 feet AGL    
  (Approx. 48.6K)                              (Approx. 38.4K)  

4) American River College  5) CSU-Sacramento     6) Downtown Sac.       7) Sunrise Mall                 
   (Approx. 37.0K)                 (Approx. 51.6K)                 (Approx. 47.9K)                (Approx. 47.9K)    

Grand Canyon

This was a quick, overnight trip to see the Grand Canyon  from Sacramento, California to Prescott, Arizona.  Getting permission was a pain but once obtained, we had a blast!  My favorite picture is # 12.  We rolled the Airplane briefly to get a picture looking straight down into the Canyon itself.  This trip was an experience I really enjoyed and will never forget!