My early morning weather check was a pleasant surprise. The southern half of Texas was expected to be clear of any weather,
except for late afternoon isolated thunderstorms in the southwestern portion of the panhandle. I made my goal El Paso, with a fuel stop in Fort Stockton, a town Bob and I flew over almost two weeks ago. Scott brought me to the airport and watched me preflight the airplane and depart runway 17 on another instrument flight plan. The winds aloft forecast was pretty accurate, translating to a little boost west for an average ground speed of 135 knots. Fort Stockton airport's sole purpose in life appeared to be to provide fuel and some air conditioning for transient pilots. After getting some of both, I headed for the flight planning room to see if any storms had popped up yet. Fortunately, the only one in the entire area, including western New Mexico was several miles south, so as long as I took off within the
hour, I'd be OK, as it was moving north relatively quickly. I still had quite a bit of energy and since I was eventually planning on stopping near Albuquerque, NM to visit my friend Kristine, I decided to go all the way there today. Doing so would also save me from staying in El Paso again. My destination was actually Belen, about 25 miles south of Albuquerque. Landing at Belen would save Kristine some driving time from her home in Mountainair, a little town about 50 miles southeast of Albuquerque. My flight to Belen took me past El Paso, over Las Cruces, NM, and up through the Rio Grande Valley past Truth or
Consequences ("T or C" as the locals refer to it). I started my short descent into Belen (the airport's elevation is 5100 ft and I was flying at 6500 ft) just as Albuquerque came into view in the distance. As I waited for Kristine, I cleaned some caked-on bugs off the wings and watched some skydivers land in the field adjacent to the runway. I also had some time to log today's flights which I soon realized were, collectively, a milestone for me: the longest distance flown solo in one day. My next stop is Tucson, AZ, which should only take 2.5 hours to get to, a far cry from the 6.2 hours I just flew. Today's flight totals: 6.2 hours, 891 miles. Trip totals: 38.9 hours, 4688 miles, 19 states.
except for late afternoon isolated thunderstorms in the southwestern portion of the panhandle. I made my goal El Paso, with a fuel stop in Fort Stockton, a town Bob and I flew over almost two weeks ago. Scott brought me to the airport and watched me preflight the airplane and depart runway 17 on another instrument flight plan. The winds aloft forecast was pretty accurate, translating to a little boost west for an average ground speed of 135 knots. Fort Stockton airport's sole purpose in life appeared to be to provide fuel and some air conditioning for transient pilots. After getting some of both, I headed for the flight planning room to see if any storms had popped up yet. Fortunately, the only one in the entire area, including western New Mexico was several miles south, so as long as I took off within the 
hour, I'd be OK, as it was moving north relatively quickly. I still had quite a bit of energy and since I was eventually planning on stopping near Albuquerque, NM to visit my friend Kristine, I decided to go all the way there today. Doing so would also save me from staying in El Paso again. My destination was actually Belen, about 25 miles south of Albuquerque. Landing at Belen would save Kristine some driving time from her home in Mountainair, a little town about 50 miles southeast of Albuquerque. My flight to Belen took me past El Paso, over Las Cruces, NM, and up through the Rio Grande Valley past Truth or
Consequences ("T or C" as the locals refer to it). I started my short descent into Belen (the airport's elevation is 5100 ft and I was flying at 6500 ft) just as Albuquerque came into view in the distance. As I waited for Kristine, I cleaned some caked-on bugs off the wings and watched some skydivers land in the field adjacent to the runway. I also had some time to log today's flights which I soon realized were, collectively, a milestone for me: the longest distance flown solo in one day. My next stop is Tucson, AZ, which should only take 2.5 hours to get to, a far cry from the 6.2 hours I just flew. Today's flight totals: 6.2 hours, 891 miles. Trip totals: 38.9 hours, 4688 miles, 19 states.
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