Saturday, November 10, rd Cobra flight, 193 rd PIC, 2 landings MV sunrise, Kayenta, Agathla, Johnny

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1 Saturday, November 10, rd Cobra flight, 193 rd PIC, 2 landings MV sunrise, Kayenta, Agathla, Johnny 184 th Cobra flight, 194 th PIC, 2 landings MV sunset, Kayenta, Ojato Takeoff Goulding s: 6:55am Land Kayenta: 8:08am Takeoff Kayenta: 8:30am Land Goulding s: 9:39am Takeoff Goulding s: 3:21pm Land Kayenta: 4:14pm Takeoff Kayenta: 4:28pm Land Goulding s: 5:38pm Today s Airtime: 4.5 Total PIC Total Logged Time We set our alarms for 5:45am and set up in the pre-dawn darkness and were ready to fly at sunrise. We had a 8 mph right rear quartering tailwind. I was glad that the airstrip was paved all the way to the end, instead of merely the first 1000 ft like it had been on my earlier trips. The downhill, downwind take off was straightforward, and we turned east towards the sun rising over eastern buttes. Rick took the picture above. Lower right: I circled around to the front and flew along the line of buttes. The famous Mitten Buttes which sit east of the Monument Valley Visitors Center are in the background.

2 We flew past the Mittens towards the Hub a small bump (upper left) in the center of a wide valley. In the far distance I could Agathla Volcano, a jagged pyramid of rock whose thermals kicked my ass on my first trip to MV with Damien. The skies were cloudy, which made for smooth air and lousy pictures. Rick dropped down to get a close look at the sandstone (right). We flew by the Totem Pole, but I ll pass on the photo and show my afternoon sunset pictures later in the flightlog.

3 We followed Comb Ridge towards Kayenta Airport. This is the same Comb Ridge we crossed 50 miles to the north near Bluff. The ridge continues another 50 miles further north beyond Bluff into Utah. Ahead (lower right photo) was the volcanic formation called ChurchRock. We circled ChurchRock, then landed at Kayenta and took a short break (lower right).

4 Upper sequence: While Rick was parked on the taxiway at Kayenta, he captured my takeoff on video. Lower right: We turned north towards these two volcanic monsters rising from the desert sand. I think the one in the foreground looks like a sandworm from Dune. Agathla is the jagged peak in the background.

5 Upper right: We flew out to Agathla, then tuned west and circled a sandstone pinnacle called Owl Rock. Lower left and right: You can see that Owl Rock is directly across from Agathla. Both Rick and I had sinus headaches and we were thinking about heading back when I heard, Jeff, do you read me? on the radio.

6 It was Johnny Warren, a trike pilot from Cortez, Colorado who I invited to join us at MV on Monday. Rick knew Johnny, but this was the first time I had met or flown with him. I had originally told Johnny that Rick and I would be using (the unofficial chat frequency) that morning. But as soon after we launched we heard a lot of commercial commuter planes bringing tourists into Goulding s. We decided to switch to Goulding s CTAF 122.9, because we wanted these big twin engine planes to know we were around, especially if they decided to give their passengers a low altitude tour of Monument Valley. Later, when we landed, we talked to the commercial pilots. They were a friendly bunch and two of them remembered my trike from earlier trips to MV. They all said they were glad we were on We met up with Johnny near the Totem Pole. Johnny flies a Tog Dog trike and is a bit of a Top Dog himself in the triking world. He is a Sport Pilot Instructor and Examiner. The three of us did some formation flying, at one point all three of us circling 120 o apart, all taking pictures of each other, and all keeping an eye on each other.

7 My Cobra and Johnny s Top Dog trike, photo by Rick.

8 Rick and I landed early (remember the sinus headache) while Johnny continued to tour the Valley for an additional 30 minutes. Johnny landed and we refueled the trikes and the four of us headed back to the hotel for a big breakfast. Afterwards, we agreed to meet at the airstrip around 2:30pm for afternoon sunset flight. I took a shower and a nap and my headache was gone. I was looking forwards to the afternoon flight. Upper right: Me in my Cobra getting ready for takeoff. Lower left: Johnny in his Top Dog.

9 We flew out to the Mittens Buttes. Johnny was with me but I couldn t find Rick s Astra. After a while I saw him below. He was so low, I thought he was scraping the ground. The higher density altitude of the afternoon, combined with the additional passenger weight was straining the 60 HP HKS engine to its limits. Rick said he whenever he tried to gain altitude, his cylinder head temps went to the limit. Thus, Denise and Rick got a low altitude tour of MV. To get an idea of how low they were, compare my pict (upper right) to the picts they took (lower left, right) on this flight. Rick was uneasy about this situation and he headed back to Goulding s to drop off Denise.

10 Johnny and I headed over to look at the Totem Pole, now throwing some impressive shadows. Johnny wanted to check out the Kayenta Airport, so we flew over to Comb Ridge (lower left, right) and followed it south. I watched a pickup truck generate a dust plume that hung over the road. That was a welcome sign NO WIND. We heard Rick on the radio and told him to meet us at Kayenta Airport. He landed a few minutes after we did. After a short break, we took off and headed north towards the Goosenecks. I was the last to take off and then stayed low get a good look at the formations in the calm, late afternoon air. Rick and Johnny climbed up to 9000ft. I was following them, but after 15 minutes they had opened up a 5 mile lead on me. There was a 20mph tailwind up there.

11 Daylight was running out. Based on my GPS ETE to the Goosenecks, I saw I would get there after sunset, then have a 20 mile flight back to get to Goulding s airstrip. I also knew that the terrain between MV and the Goosenecks was flat and boring. I radioed to Rick and Johnny that I was aborting my trip to the Goosenecks. I headed straight for the ridge at the east edge of MV. The official names of the formations are King on his Throne, Stagecoach, Bear and Rabbit. To me, the shadow it casts at sunset says it all. I call it the DRAGON. I watched the sunset from here, then headed back to Goulding s.

12 I passed over Goulding s with 20 minutes of twilight flying time left. I followed a road around to the back side of the mesa that provides shade for hotel. Ojato airstrip was back here, and I always wondered what it was like. I was not impressed by Ojato, lots of broken up pavement and weeds growing through the cracks. I would rather land on the dirt road. Ahead, I saw a huge bonfire. It seemed very bright which reminded me it was getting dark. I circled around and headed back to Goulding s. Rick and Johnny had not landed yet. I radioed to ask them to get some video of my landing. I thought it would look cool with my strobes flashing and my landing lights and position lights on.

13 Landing sequence, CCW starting from upper left: I crossed over and entered the down wind leg. The conditions were very calm and smooth. I lined up on runway, then used power for a low altitude cruise the entire length of the runway and landed right across from where Rick was standing, taking this video. That was a fun landing. We made a couple trips to the gas station and topped off all the tanks for tomorrow s flight and secured the trikes for the night. Then headed to the restaurant for a good meal. As we left the restaurant, a guy who worked at the hotel came up to me. His name was Albert, and he remembered me from my first trip to MV with Damien in January We talked about he showed our video on the big screen after he had run a multimedia show on MV in the theater. Albert asked if we made any videos from that trip. I said, Yes, and promised to send him a DVD. We checked the weather on a PC in the lounge. The weak front that might have brought rain or snow showers Sunday had evaporated. We would have perfect conditions for our return flight tomorrow.

14 What a day! Two nice long flights at MV in perfect conditions. Here are my GPS tracks. Morning Flight Afternoon Flight Dragon Mittens Totem Pole Goulding s Hub Churchrock Bonfire Agathla Sandworm Kayenta Ojato Owl Rock