Victoria Regional Airport, Round Two

Saturday we decided to give Brenham another shot since neither of us could really appreciate it last time because of Renee's head congestion. But as it turned out the airport was closed for repairs, and since flying somewhere to eat is way more fun then just flying somewhere, we decided to go to Victoria again since last time we went it was dark out. It was an absolutely gorgeous day...perfect temperature, sunny, and clear.

Taking off from Boerne. Everything is a really vibrant green now because we got so much rain this winter. Last year at this time everything was already turning brown and it wasn't even summer yet!

Flying over San Antonio. San Antonio International is the airport in the middle and downtown is just a little above (south of) it.
Coming in to land at Victoria. There was a huge field of yellow flowers surrounding the airport, it was really pretty.
They have 5 courtesy cars for people to take to go to dinner.
Luckily we got the coolest one, which was painted up like the Coast Guard. We drove around Victoria a little bit since we had never been there in the daylight. There was a minor car accident (just a fender bender) that we came upon just short minutes after it happened, and as the fake Coast Guard Renee really felt it was our duty to stop and render aid. But Scott was driving and he said it was a minor accident and no one needed CPR, everyone was up and walking around, people were already on the phone, and we had already driven by in that ridiculous car three times assessing the situation and were beginning to make a spectacle of ourselves. So we kept going. It would have been kind of funny to pull up and start ordering people to get the vehicles moved out of the road, securing the scene, and acting all official but now we'll never know...
Flying home into the sunset. By the time we got back to Boerne, it was full dark. Great Saturday night!

Renee's Parents' Visit

Renee's parents were nice enough to come visit us for the weekend, and we did a lot in a short amount of time!

Saturday afternoon we went to Boerne for a short flight, and just as we got there a glider was taking off behind a tow plane. This is them getting everything lined up...

The glider lifts off before the plane does.

Scott took Renee's parents for a short flight around the area. Renee's mom told us afterward she had felt a little sick on the flight (it was pretty bumpy) and had devised the following plans:

Plan A: Don't throw up

Plan B: Clean out purse real fast...

Ready to go!
Taxiing.

Taking off.

Sunday morning we went to the Alamo and the Riverwalk. It wasn't hot out and was pretty cloudy so it made for a nice day.

And the Riverwalk.

We had a great time, it was a very nice visit!!!

T6 Simulator Training with Devin

Friday evening, Devin invited Scott to try out the T6 Simulator at Randolph AFB. They also flew to breakfast Saturday morning in the Cherokee, and then met Renee for lunch. It was nice to get to see Devin again before he goes back to Oklahoma this week.

The real T6s, the Air Force uses these as trainers.

The computers that control the sim.

Scott flying the sim.

View from the cockpit.

TAO-Real County (Leakey) and Edwards County (Rock Springs)

Sunday afternoon and evening we went west to Real County and Edwards County airports. Both were really out in the middle of nowhere but it was some very scenic countryside.

Medina Lake.

Coming in to land at Real County.
It was weird because the hills were on both sides of the runway and we were actually lower than most of them.
When we landed we met Jim and Kathy from Corpus Christi who were waiting for their daughter and her boyfriend to fly in with Jim's Cherokee 140. They were camping at Garner State Park this week for spring break, which we gathered was somewhere in the immediate vicinity. They said there are a lot of places to stay around there, little cabins and cottages and they usually meet there for Thanksgiving also. There was actually one cottage for rent right by the airport.
Very scenic.
As we were getting ready to leave, and after we had been sitting there for about 5 minutes, there was a minor disturbance in the cockpit that went something like this:

Renee (inner monologue): I wonder if maybe giving Bridget leftover black jellybeans is maybe bad for both her stomach AND her teeth. It seems like the perfect solution, no one has to eat the black jelly beans and they don't go to waste but still...still....

Scott (breaking Renee's reverie): Okay, now I'm going to need you to scoot your chair all the way up and lean forward so I can kill the wasp that's in here.

Renee: What wasp?

Scott: The one that's behind you...

~much swatting and commotion in the backseat~

Scott (visibly lacking a paper towel full of wasp): Okay, I got it.

Renee: Where is it?

Scott: I got it, it's dead, I'll get rid of it when we get to Rock Springs.

~5 minutes later, wasp lands on Renee's window 5 inches from her shoulder~

Renee: It's not dead! It's not dead!

Scott: Okay, everybody STAY CALM. Get your chair forward again...

~an even greater period of swatting and commotion in the backseat~

Renee: How'd it get in here?

Scott: I don't know, how'd YOU get in here? It probably came in a window or door or something...(Scott has a smart mouth)

Renee: I just think I would have noticed a wasp the size of my fist walking in the door with me is all...

Scott (winded): Okay, NOW it's dead. I'm almost positive.

Renee: What do you mean almost positive?

Scott: It's dead, let's move on! Unless we stop, shut everything down and physically remove it from the aircraft,

Renee: If that's what it takes to make sure it's dead then that is what I would prefer!

Scott: It's dead, it HAS to be, I'm 100% sure...can you make it a half hour?

Renee: Fine, if you're sure...

Scott: I'm sure.

~10 minutes later, after takeoff~

Scott looks over to his left, sees the wasp on his window, grabs a map and smashes it against the window, leaving a smudge, without saying a word.
Renee: I knew it. I knew it.

Scott (laughing): Okay NOW it's dead! Cross-check confirmed!

~15 minutes later~

Renee (noticing the dead wasp perched on top of her book in her purse): That wasp is in my purse.
Scott: NO WAY. IT. CAN'T. BE.

Renee: I mean it's dead, but it's in my purse.

Scott: Oh. I'll get it out when we land. Jeesh.

~THE END~

This is a picture of the runway at Real County, we're going to submit a couple pictures of airports to AirNav.com to see if they use them. The one currently on there for this airport was last updated in 2003, but it's prettier because itwas taken in the summer. We'll see what happens, it would be kind of cool to have our picture posted.
Coming in to land at Rock Springs. It gets flatter the further west you go.
There isn't much at this airport, just a few hangars, but they do have a weather station...
...and a phone booth!

Clearly we learned our lesson with the wasp...

Edwards County runway from the air.

Coming back in to Boerne.

We should have taken a picture of the wasp, but Renee didn't want to get too close, lest it come back to life. It was about an inch and a half long and an angry orangish red. But we survived!

TAO-Castroville

Saturday Scott and Brad flew to Castroville, which is about 30 minutes west of San Antonio by car. Scott's flown there many times before but never stopped. They have very nice facilities...clean restrooms, a flight planning station, a pilot lounge, and a lot of information about the field.

Scott in the lobby.

Breakfast in Fredericksburg

Saturday morning we decided to do a quick flight to Fredericksburg to get some breakfast at the airport diner since the weather was supposed to be so nice. We're now flying out of Boerne, which is just north of San Antonio in the hill country. The Boerne Airport has a really cool atmosphere, a small community type quality about it, and with it being such a nice day there were a lot of people out and about flying.

The field.

The bird, a Piper Archer 181.
A different perspective with the wing being below the windows...
Coming in to land at Fredericksburg.

The diner is right on the ramp and people will walk around and look at everybody's airplanes while they're parked there. Right in front of our window was a 2006 Cirrus SR22 GTS that had obviously been in some kind of accident. We asked the waitress and she said about 3 weeks ago the pilot, who had been inexperienced, had run off the runway and into a fence while attempting to land. It had damage to both wings, the fuselage, the propeller, engine, rudder, and both wheels. Without being experts or anything it appeared to be a total loss because of the structural damage to the fuselage. This particular type of Cirrus was over $500,000 new and is still worth over $300,000 today. We didn't want to be the jerks on the ramp taking pictures of the poor damaged Cirrus but we managed to get this one surreptitiously.

Something different about the Archer is that there's only one door, so the pilot has to get in first and crawl across before the passengers get in.

Taking off from Fredericksburg. It's hard to see the hills from the air but Fredericksburg is also in the hill country and it was a really nice scenic flight.

TAO-Brenham Municipal Airport/Southern Flyer

Scott heard about a '50s style diner at the Brenham Airport with great food, so Saturday night we flew there for dinner. Brenham is about halfway between Austin and Houston. The diner there is called Southern Flyer, and it and the airport are owned and operated by a couple named Jack and Janet Hess. Both are pilots, and seek to provide food and fun at an enjoyable destination. The flight itself was a little rough because Renee had minor cold (nothing major, she was fully functioning and at the top of her game all day) and she didn't listen to Scott when he suggested she may not want to go because head congestion hurts your ears when you fly because they can't pop when you descend. Renee said she'd be fine. By the time we landed in Brenham, Renee's left ear drum felt as if it had burst and was bleeding down the side of her head, there were tears rolling down her face, and she had bright red eyes from crying. Scott wanted to turn around and go back home but Renee really wanted to see the '50s diner, so we persevered. Renee did what she could, but her eyes were still red and Scott felt as though everyone in the restaurant was staring at him like he was a huge jerk for making his wife cry. And Renee could only hear 30% of what anyone said to her the rest of the night. But other than that it was awesome.

Poodle skirts and saddle shoes!
We'll have to go back sometime and take more time to look around and enjoy it!