Hopping in the Sac for a Baby BBQ

Tried and True Archer III N343MM after arrival into Lincoln Regional near Sacramento, CA.

Generally around the beginning of the year my friend Patrick and I start checking out the air show schedule for the summer to see where we might try do a fly-in. Ironically, since I’ve earned my license we’ve yet to actually do a fly-in to an air show, though we have flown flights to Santa Rosa, Monterey, and Sacramento over the last couple of years. Well this year we’d talked about trying to make it up to the “Wings Over Wine Country” air show in Sonoma on the weekend of August 21-22. But eight months ago, who would have known that on August 21, we wouldn’t be flying to the air show, but rather I’d be flying to Sacramento to join in the celebration of the impending arrival of his new baby girl.

On the Way Up to Lincoln (KLHM)

Within the last couple of years, I’ve flown up to the Sacramento area a few times. However, generally I fly into Mc Clellan (MCC) or Sacramento Executive (SAC). This time, Patrick suggested that I fly into Lincoln Regional Airport, since it is closer to his house. Lincoln is a nice airport with a long 6,000 x 100 ft uncontrolled strip, about 25 miles from the Sierra Nevada foothills.

I departed Palo Alto (PAO) at around 12:45p after arriving to the airport about 30 minutes behind schedule. My tardiest was also influenced by the fact that N3576J, an Archer that I rented, was overdue on its 100-hour inspection. So I decided to switch to my tried and true (and expensive) N343MM Archer III. I guess it worked out well anyway, since I was flying to a somewhat unfamiliar destination and I didn’t need to compound any issues by flying there in an airplane (N3576J) that I hadn’t flown before. I mean…pretty much all Archers/Warriors are the same but there are always a few subtle differences.

Now getting out of PAO was a bit of burden…there were 8 aircraft (double stacked) in the run-up area on my departure (I’ve never seen planes stacked up in a run-up area). So I spent the first 0.3hrs of the trip (drip, drip, drip goes the money out of my pocket) just waiting to get off the ground. But when I got off the ground, N343MM did its thing. I love flying that plane…it’s so easy to fly and responds so well. After a quick Right Dumbarton departure up to 3,500, I flew direct to the SUNOL intersection (17 nm) and then turned about 40 degrees to the left to head direct to KLHM (81 nm). Cruising at 5,500 ft, I was pushed along by about a 17 kts tailwind, so my groundspeeds were hitting about 133-135 kts. Yet and still, it still took me about 0.9 hrs for my total time enroute.

Heading into the Livermore and Sacramento Valleys to bypass the summer fog in the SF Bay.

The approach into KLHM was pretty routine. I started my VFR descent over MCC but was requested by ATC to stay above 3,000ft until passing MCC to give way to an arriving C-130 into MCC. So I just pulled the power back to about 2200 RPM for a nice gradual descent (300-500 fpm) down to 2,000 ft. I rarely perform very scientific descent calculations during my flights and for the most part, the “eye-balling” approach works. I hit my target midfield cross altitude (1,500 ft) just as I crossed over runway 15 at KLHM. And after a fairly smooth approach and landing into KLHM, I taxied over to transient parking and hung out on the field for a few minutes before Patrick arrived to pick me up.

Lincoln Regional (KLHM) - left of center.

Pilot Talk at KLHM

While hanging out to the airport, I was stopped a black guy, Mark, who’s an A/P on the field. (There aren’t many of us black folks at airports, so we always have to take a moment to meet each other). Mark and I chatted for few minutes and he even gave me some maintenance shop recommendations for PAO if I ever decide to buy an airplane. But apparently Mark has done well for himself as he mentioned that he’s soon moving to Hawaii….it must be nice!

While hanging out, I also chatted briefly with a pilot who was gassing up his RV-10 homebuilt aircraft. He told me the brief story about how he spent two years building his aircraft and then flew it out to Texas with his daughter to get it painted. Those are really the great stories that make up the ever-expanding history of general aviation. I told him that I don’t trust myself enough to build my own plane and he mentioned that he doesn’t trust people enough to fly their planes. So as I stated, while walking away, we have the “same problem but different issue.”

Baby BBQ at Patrick’s House

Since Patrick had to step away from the party to come and pick me up at the airport, the BBQ was a bit delayed. However, Patrick surely made up for it once he got it going. The food was amazing as always and his BBQ is worth the flight up. I’ve hung out with Patrick, his family, and the XOJet crew quite a few times. So, it was cool to catch up with everyone and joke around. Patrick has a very funny and welcoming family, and I’ve always enjoyed my time around them.

Patrick...the grillmaster!

Now though this was a BBQ, it was also a baby shower. So Mariela (Patrick’s wife) organized a few games for the party crew and thankfully, I wasn’t too embarrassed during any of the games. I wasn’t too fond of the “Guess What’s in the Diaper” game (kinda nasty) but the music baby bottle game was fun to watch…especially since I wasn’t one of the four people that had the challenge of sucking PowerAde out of the bottle. I don’t think anyone knew that it was take so long. There were a few tired jaws after that one. Well after some good food, games, and the gift opening session, it was time to head back home to the Bay.

The lovely couple and all their presents.

The Perfect Flight Back

Throughout the day, I’d hoped to be able to fly back around the time of sunset. I arrived back at KLHM a little after 7p and the sunset was scheduled to set at 7:55p. If there’s one good thing about flying out of uncontrolled airports, it’s the ability to depart quicker. After a quick preflight and run-up, I was airborne by 7:35p. Originally, I’d decided to fly back at 6,500 ft but as I began my climb and looked at the time, I resigned to level off at 4,500 ft. I didn’t want to waste any extra time since I needed to get back on the ground by 8:55p before it was officially nighttime.

At around 7:55p, I saw the most amazing thing that I’ve ever seen during one of my flights. Off my right wingtip was yet another amazing Bay Area sunset and off to my left was the full moon. And there I was just cruising along at 110 kts (because I know had a 13 kts headwind)…just taking it all in.

Sunset on my right...breathtaking!

The absolute last second before the sun disappeared for the night.

Full moon on my left...a great way to enjoy a flight on a warm summer night.

There really isn’t much else to say after that for the rest of the flight…it was simply amazing. Enjoy the pics and until next time…keep enjoying the friendly skies!