I had the field to myself of Friday around noon… a break in our recent heavy rainstorm allowed me to get in a bit of practice. Sue filmed my landings from the ramp next to Runway 19L. Landings went well, and the air was calm. The carpet in the plane got wet in the baggage compartment due to the whopping rain over the last couple days. And during “run up” prior to take-off, the engine dropped 400+ RPM’s with the initial application of carb heat. I taxied out “lean” and did not notice any hesitation in power. However, the conditions may have been pretty ripe for carb ice. I did a much longer pre-takeoff check with high power to bring the engine temp up a bit..and soon the engine resumed normal operation. No indications during the flight of any ice either. A fun practice flight.

We’ve had a week of winter weather, which in the SF Bay Area is not “snow” but rather rainy conditions. To add to the mix, we have had some very strong winds (30 kts) on some days, and then periods of calm. However, with the winter temps and the rain, we get our annual “valley fog”. So the airport goes marginal VFR, to IFR, and back to MVFR during the day. This photo is Saturday afternoon where the air was cold and damp, with clouds rolling in. Five hours later on after dark, the sky was crystal clear and starry. By morning its fog again. I can’t wait for a nice day to go FLY!

January 9th, we’re in the middle of an entire week of wet, rainy weather. There have been heavy rainy days, with a lighter day, then rain again. Today was supposed to be the “clearing up” part of the last band of rain, with tomorrow being “partly cloudy”…but this afternoon it came in again pretty strong. No flying in this stuff.

Kealy likes to bring dirt clods into the house. Mostly we intercept them. Funny that he has such a love for them.
Of course, he has that look on his face that says “Is something wrong?”

Sue had her first ride in our “new” Cessna 150K.  She has flown with me on many flights, in my first Cessna 150M, and in our Beechcraft Sundowner.  We enjoyed trips and overnight adventures.  However, with my absence from flying for the past 8 years or so, it’s been a long time since we’ve flown together.  If you subtract the years since I sold the first Cessna 150 to upgrade to the Sundowner.. then it’s been almost 20 years since either one of us has been in a two seat Cessna 150!   The video was taken by Sue with her Iphone.. pretty good images.  It was a very nice afternoon to fly!