A fun long presidents weekend vacation and unfortunately we only flew one leg as a family. With work schedules and winter weather we have to be very flexible with the little plane. Papa pilot and Mama pilot wanted to head to Palm Springs for the Palm Springs Air Museums Annual Gala. We also wanted to fly the bonanza, but the weather wasn’t great for all 3 of us to fly together. So we made a plan. Papa Pilot flew the plane S50 to KUDD, Palm springs on Tuesday (6:00 with a stop) and Mama Pilot and The Little Dude flew on the airline on Wednesday. The weather Tuesday was amazing down the west coast and if we wanted to get the plane south it had to be Tuesday.
After our weekend in Palm Springs and watching weather; we knew we probably wouldn’t be able to make it all the way from Palm Springs to Seattle, so we bought Southwest Airline tickets from Sacramento home. The weather looked mostly good from Palm Springs to Sacramento; worst case we would have to cancel the airline tickets and we would keep the fare. Southwest is the most flexible airline! They are the only airline that allows you to change flights without a change fee and check 2 bags for free.
Papa Pilot parked the plane in Bermuda Dunes, (KUDD) on Tuesday night. We chose Bermuda Dunes over the Palm Springs Airport because the last time we flew into KPSP there were so many fees and they charged so much for gas! The only FBO on the field is Bermuda Dunes Airport. Papa pilot parked the plane in the tie down area and there it was waiting for us on Sunday morning when we arrived as a family.
The weather wasn’t super clear in the area. Our plan was to go VFR to at least Fresno, Then at fresno there was a wall of rain green and yellow intensity on the radar.,we could watch the movement of the rain on foreflight and on the Garmin in flight, so our plan was if it looked too bad or there was icing, we would land and let the storm pass. This year California has gotten so much rain! The Orville Dam is full and some areas are experiencing flooding.
We took off runway 10 and got flight flowing from SoCal Approach. We decided to climb up through an open area in the clouds and we chose 10,500 ft for our cruising altitude. The Little Dude was so good on this flight! He had the iPad all loaded up with movies and we finally realized his headset has an aux in input!! We bought a 2 sided mic cord so that he could listen to us talk and the movie. He is doing better with his pilot cadet headset, but it still isn’t comfortable for him.
The flight from KUDD to KSAC was 2:30. About the 1:30 mark and near Tehachapi we decided to request an IFR clearance. We were below the weather, but it was raining hard and difficult to see. We knew the metars of airports along our route were reporting the ceiling at 7000 so we requested 6000. We flew under the dark green and yellow intensity clouds with little turbulence. We executed the ILS to KMCC via radar vectors, it was pretty marginal VFR when we did the approach, but it was great practice for us to use the Garmin and autopilot on the approach.
We landed at the McClellan Jet Center and checked the weather looking north, it indicated snow and a low freezing layer. McClellan helped us with a Hertz rental car that we asked for one way to be dropped at the Sacramento International airport about 30 minutes away. The weather wasn’t looking very good for leaving Monday to Seattle for the final 3:30 of our flight. We asked to put the plane in the Hangar since the weather in the Sacramento area was raining and windy. We were able to book a room at the Hyatt Place about 15 minutes away for the night. Hyatt Place is consistently great for families. Great rates, free wifi, breakfast, and spacious rooms with seating areas, a refrigerator and microwave.
After waking up the next morning and reviewing the weather along our route home, we knew we would be using our airline tickets that night. We are home now, and the plane is still in KMCC. Papa Pilot will buy another airline ticket to fly down and get it this weekend. Summer travel is so much easier, but we all made it home safe.
