{"id":1530,"date":"2012-08-25T19:59:11","date_gmt":"2012-08-26T03:59:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lunabase.org\/~faber\/blog\/?p=1530"},"modified":"2012-08-25T19:59:11","modified_gmt":"2012-08-26T03:59:11","slug":"wheels-up-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lunabase.org\/~faber\/blog\/?p=1530","title":{"rendered":"Wheels Up Again"},"content":{"rendered":"

The fine folks at Kim Davidson Aviation<\/a> have repaired my tire after the sad events last Sunday<\/a>, and I took some time this afternoon to try it out. It looked like a tire that holds air when I walked around, so, off we go.<\/p>\n

I put 5 landings on it in the heat of the day and had no problems, so I feel good about taking passengers again.\u00a0 I know that Kim’s guys do a great job, but I like to test these things before I put someone else in the plane.<\/p>\n

Incidentally, spending an hour in the pattern at SMO<\/a> is one of my favorite things to do.\u00a0 It’s my home field so I know the place well, but there’s always something interesting to put a twist on things.\u00a0 Today it was fairly busy and had SMO’s patented late afternoon gusty winds.\u00a0 The airport sits on some of the higher land in the area, cut off like a little mesa and gets a strong ocean breeze.\u00a0 The result is a set of air currents that are surprisingly stong to a newbie and offer something new to the old hands as well.\u00a0 The field was also busy enough that one self-confessed country boy was very appreciative of the (excellent) controllers’ help getting in, around, and out of the field.<\/p>\n

While I was gassing up afterward I saw this puppy parked by the pumps.\u00a0 It’s a SeaRay – a homebuilt\/kitplane flying boat.\u00a0 Click through to see the bigger pics, the thumbnails don’t do it justice.<\/p>\n\n\t\t