Flying Above It All

Flying over Southern California is freedom at its best. You're freed from man-made inconveniences and given the wings to be a Condor.....soaring, but at 200 mph.

I just had a wallet busting experience two months ago: Two tired engines on my 1979 Piper Seminole were scheduled to be rebuilt. Ten weeks later, it was done. However, a 25 hour break-in period is required. That means I have to get in the cockpit and fly with no particular mission or destination in mind.

The maiden flight was with my flight instructor friend, Jaeseong. It was an overcast, IFR (Instrument Flight Rules) day, so we filed VFR to IFR On TOP and flew a racetrack pattern over Long Beach Harbor and Catalina, 3 times. The engines purred as we skimmed the cloud tops in solitary bliss. On days like this, there are NO other small planes on training flights or joyrides, just us and a few commercial flights into John Wayne or Long Beach. There are few awe-inspiring moments better than breaking through and skimming dark cloud layers and tops into a beautiful, brilliant, clear blue sky. Upon break-out, the clouds appear like marshmallow sand dunes with white billowy mounds and darkish valleys. Higher, the scene morphs into a sea of white with the tops of the San Bernadino Mountains poking through. This is what Pilots' Heaven looks like.