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 | Monday, September 24, 2001
The flight from Burbank to Las Vegas was over some very wild country. I was tossed about "like a row boat in a hurricane" but the view was so spectacular I hardly noticed.
Today was a most interesting experience. We stayed at Universal Studios last night and had a great time at a local Mexican restaurant before retiring. I must say, the people at Mercury Air Center in Burbank, where we kept the plane for the night, were about the nicest group you could imagine. Next time I fly to Burbank I'm going there again. Despite other much bigger aircraft they had as customers they treated me and the Avro like long lost friends.
After studying the charts we departed Burbank late morning. Leaving the congested airspace around Los Angeles had to be more of a challenge for us than it was for Amelia. But it was both fun and interesting. We called the tower and were given the ?Golden State Departure? which basically means you follow the freeway north until you are out of the L.A. airspace area. This is exactly what we did and then headed directly for Las Vegas, which was one of Amelia?s fuel stops.
I can tell you that the air gets very rough and even though I was flying at 5,500 feet it was still very bumpy. I found my altitude changing at a rate of nearly 1,000 feet per minute several times on the trip. It was also quite warm even at that altitude but when we landed at Las Vegas it was even warmer. I probably shouldn?t complain because I hear it?s been unusually cold in the mid-west where I will find myself in a couple of days.
As we had a late start we decided to spend the night in Las Vegas. We were unable to actually go to any of the main airports there due to the flight restrictions for ?VFR? aircraft in the larger cities. So, we landed at Jean Field south of town and fueled up. We are spending the night across the highway from the airport.
When I arrived in Las Vegas a very nice reporter was there from the TV station. We had a great interview; I was in my jeans at the time.
We will leave in the morning for Salt Lake City, actually Provo, just south of Salt Lake, again due to airspace restrictions.
I?ll fill you in on the trip to Utah tomorrow.
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