A short trip in a small airplane

Friday, March 26:  BED to GAI plus some training.  Stop at TEB for lunch with Lynn and Olivia.  Stay in Bethesda with parents.


Sunday:  GAI to Oklahoma City (KPWA has the cheap gas)


Monday, March 29: to http://www.cowboyhalloffame.org/ at 0900 to see the Bierstadt paintings, in the afternoon to KABQ, stay with Susie Atlas


Tuesday, March 30: to Sedona (KSEZ), 5000′ high with a 5000′ runway, rent car, maybe we can see the Roden Crater?  Andy says that Jerome, AZ is an interesting town.


Thursday, April 1: to Los Angeles (KSMO), visit new Frank Gehry concert hall, see Harry Gittes


Friday, April 2: can tour the concert hall 9-3 either today or Saturday, all performances sold out but call (323) 850-2000 to check last-minute tix.


Saturday, April 3, 8 pm:  scored tickets on Craigslist (thanks to the kind folks commenting for this idea) for Shostakovich concert at LA Phil.


Sunday, April 4:  to Catalina Island and then at sunset to KMYF in San Diego, dinner with Christopher


Monday, April 5: tour of www.salk.edu (Louis Kahn building, call in advance to reserve, set for 12:00), dinner with Gittes family


Tuesday, April 6:  to Marfa, Texas (http://www.chinati.org gives tours Wednesday-Sunday); stay http://www.hotelpaisano.com/


Wednesday, April 7: tour of Chinati, fly to Huntsville, TX


Thursday, April 8: talk at SHSU.edu, fly to Ft. Worth, TX (KFTW)


Friday, April 9: visit Tadao Ando Modern Art Museum and Japanese Garden, fly to KCHA?


Saturday, April 10: fly to GAI


Sunday, April 11: fly to BED


Open questions for readers:



  1. what’s a good place between GAI and KPWA to stop for fuel and maybe an airplane museum or something else interesting and close to the airport?
  2. where to stay in Sedona, AZ and also a good hotel in Ft. Worth close to the art museum and botanical garden?
  3. is it practical to fly to Catalina Island for the day and do anything?

15 thoughts on “A short trip in a small airplane

  1. Good luck as you fly out to LA.
    I will be out there around the same time and hope to do some flying out of Palomar or Oceanside.
    Do you feel like you need to spend the whole day in Catalina, Perhaps an early flight in the AM and you can get back to the mainland mid afternoon. That being said does anyone ever do “the practical thing”… Go for it! Enjoy the flight out and a tasty burger on the island!

  2. I’ve flown into catalina many times, it’s interesting because its airport is at about a thousand feet msl, one of the highest points on the island. I imagined it was similar to landing on an aircraft carrier. Be careful the first time — the runway has a hump in the center that hides the second half of the strip. Many people have been confused by this, some to their ultimate peril. There’s a shuttle that runs down to the island from the airport. The most interesting thing is the wrigley casino — casino in the strict definition of the term, as no gambling has ever occured there. Some are interested in the buffalo on the island, but most pilots stop in just to beat the odd runway and eat a buffalo burger at the airport restaurant.

  3. If you mind some fairly cold water, there’s place to dive right off the rocks at Avalon. It’s a nice kelp forest. This is where I did my first diving.

  4. Another option for Disney Hall tickets is to show up an hour or two before showtime and check for stand by tickets. This has worked for me.

  5. While flying to SMXgig last year (www.SMXgig.org — come join us!) we landed in Sedona and stayed at the Sky Ranch Lodge. It is walking distance from the airport (but you will probably want a car to go exploring). Rooms are fairly basic, but the grounds are pretty, and the people are friendly. It is right up on the mesa with the airport.

    http://www.skyranchlodge.com/

  6. I can second the vote for the Sky Ranch Lodge at Sedona. I visited there during Morey’s West Coast trip earlier this year. The rooms are fine and it is a beautiful area ovbviously, though if you do more than fly in at sunset, eat, flight plan, file, sleep, eat and leave then I guess you’d want a car to see more of the local area.

    We went to Catalina too and I’m not quite sure what all the fuss is about with respect to the airfield. It is certainly pretty around there though and it would be nice to have time to explore the island.

  7. Jerome is great! Was just there, and do me a favor, take a picutre of the kalidescope with flowers in front of the art gallery on main street.

    I would stay at Enchantment in Sedona, and they a fantastic spa. Jim Fallowes told me that the hot rocks and oil message is over the top.

  8. Sometimes it seems like Philip’s blog entries are designed to elicit a feeling of envy. I can’t help but feel a little more dread as I head back to my cube tommorow while he’s enjoying the millions he made.

  9. Can’t second the motion to dive Catalina and then fly back the same day in an unpressurized cabin. *Snorkeling* Casino Point, however, might be interesting. With good vis (pretty questionable), tooling around at the surface can still give you a good idea of what life the kelp beds hold. So does the Moneterey Aquarium or Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, of course, but being there yourself has to be worth something… If you happened to bring your folding bike, there’s a nice little run out past Pebbly Beach from Avalon. Overall, the views of the island from above are likely to trump anything Avalon offers. Avalon is the closest to a little caribbean sailing port that we have out here. I have lots of fun there, but would be hard pressed to come up with really concrete reasons why other than it can be very relaxing.

  10. Catalina’s a lovely place and one of my favorite flight. But the landing fee is now $20. I’m refusing to go anymore. It’s gone up from $7 just a few years ago. And the runway is in as poor a shape as ever.

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