Time to write about the latest flight to give me butterflies in my stomach...VFR to Hobby (HOU) in class B airspace. June 17 was the date, and we left about 6:30 pm. John R, Andy and I planned to take 5400J direct to Hobby, then to Houston Southwest (AXH), then back to Easterwood.
Preflight was pretty routine. Gas was full, John did much of the outside work while I checked weather and fussed with the GPS/iPaq arrangement. Finally, all was set and we taxiied down to the business end of 34, got cleared and (after a long takeoff roll) we're off!
Turned out to the right, climbed over TAMU and then assumed heading 125 for Navasota at around 3000'. John got his GPS/iPaq combo working and I used it as a directional, following the thin green line direct. Requested and received flight following from Houston Center (120.4), squawked the transponder and settled in. The flight went pretty quickly, and before we knew it, Houston's skyscrapers loomed. I didn't have the time to enjoy the view too much, what with tuning radios, starting a descent, monitoring Approach, looking for runway 12L, etc., but from what I saw it was definitely cool.
Out of the distance, runway 12 loomed. At first, it was just a mass of dark-colored clearing, then gradually turned into two runways sandwiching a taxiway. We were dead on line and (at HOU's request) keeping our speed up on descent (125 KIAS). Killed the engine over the fence and glided in flaps-up to a pretty nice landing, I guess.
We taxiied over to Fletcher Aviation to look at the Velocity there (along with many other craft...they're a Gulfstream repair place, I think). Before long, it was time to head to AXH. Called Clearance Delivery and requested VFR, 3000' to Houston Southwest. Then called Ground, who directed us to runway 22 and Juliet. After a runup, tower cleared us for TO on 22 (left turn from taxiway J), which had about 2300' available. I pulled it out a little steep, but Andy salvaged it by nosing down until airspeed increased sufficiently, then climbed. I think Tower handed us off to Departure eventually, but it took a long time and I'm not sure today if we ever got handed off or just continued monitoring Tower. He directed me to Houston Southwest, between the TALL towers, and I set it down OK. Total time: about 10 minutes.
Our reason for going to AXH in the first place was for Andy to take a check-out ride in a Baron 600 (twin 300hp engines). It was f-a-s-t. With an engine out (simulated) it still felt like we climbed quicker than with OJ. We crusied along at 2500' and 200 MPH north and south through a corridor that included a few landings at Brazoria, site of my first night x-c landing.
Finally, around 11 pm, it was time to get back. John took the controls and guided us through the blackness to CLL, topped off by an instrument approach and landing. Very nice.
