October 6, 2020 Autumn Flying

The Liberty Gazette

October 6, 2020

Ely Air Lines

By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

Linda: We’ve had several days of great flying weather. Inside the Elyminator is more comfortable when temperatures are not in the 90’s. In fact, the 50’s and 60’s are great. That’s a big reason why this is the time of year for the best fly-ins in this part of the country. While some have been cancelled (or might ask guests to plaster a cover over their faces), flying, and the camaraderie that comes with it, are still possible.

We recently installed some major upgrades to our instrument panel. These new devices open more opportunities for approaches our airplane wasn’t previously equipped to fly. Not that departure and enroute are unimportant, but it’s the approach to landing that can get sticky in weather. If the ceiling or visibility are too low, well, you’d better have equipment that will get you down to the runway safely, or plan to land somewhere else. 

The Elyminator used to have the old-fashioned instruments we call “steam gauge.” We had a portable GPS receiver, but not an installed one, and that makes all the difference in the world when it comes to what you can and cannot do, legally and safely. So not only did we bite the bullet for the latest model of one of the Garmin aviation navigation units, but we added several other instruments as well that give us important, legal-to-rely-on-in-weather information. That’s a game-changer. It means we’re not restricted nearly as much by the weather now.

However, even with fancy new gadgets, we stay away from big monsters like thunderstorms, hail, and high winds. 

We took advantage of a few days off work recently to fly some day trips to San Antonio’s Stinson Airport. That’s the second oldest (continually operated) airport in the U.S. The city of San Antonio has a tremendous trail system. The Mission Trails take you to all the missions. You can hike or bike around beautiful scenery. And after four years of hard work, the Stinson Trail opened last year to connect Stinson Airport with all those awesome trails. 

We packed a picnic lunch and after landing at Stinson, we walked out the historic terminal and crossed the street to Stinson Trail. Here begins the path to adventures. We made our first one to Mission San Juan Capistrano. It’s relatively small, some of it is ruins, but the walk is only about 3.5 miles. Great exercise! 

The next day, another picnic, this time at San Jose Mission, a much larger mission with more buildings intact. That day, we recorded a seven-mile hike. The bikes are coming out for the rest, since they are farther from the airport. 

We also discovered that San Antonio has kayak chutes. We’re keen on a trip to REI or somewhere for foldable kayaks to fit in the airplane. The real test will be – can we get both, bikes and kayaks, in the airplane? We’ll report back when we find out.

Meanwhile, look for Mike’s thoughts on the awesomeness of San Antonio’s trails next week.

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