2016-07-11

chris_gerrib: (Me 2)
2016-07-11 11:30 am
Entry tags:

Come Fly With Me

I mentioned on Friday that I was planning to be out of pocket. I was, because I was taking a ride in a Beechcraft Bonanza (the S-35 model, built in 1963) owned by a Rotarian friend of mine. At our charity auction in March, he sold a "$100 hamburger" event. For those not clicking through, "$100 hamburger" is aviation slang for flying to a nearby airport, having lunch, and flying back.

Our flight was from Brookeridge, a fly-in community in Darien. My pilot had a hanger in the backyard of his house where he kept the plane, and an alley / taxiway to the runway. The weather was warm, with spotty low clouds, which yielded a bumpy ride. We went right over Midway Airport (at ATC's direction), flew a loop around downtown, then west of Midway he gave me the controls. I did a pair of turns and a few minutes of straight and level stick time, then our pilot landed at Pilot Pete's, a restaurant at Schaumburg Airport.

After lunch, we took back off and headed south, buzzing my house before landing. It was an interesting way to spend a couple of hours.