22-NOV-2006
Packing up
The plane is a Trinidad, a French high performance four seater equipped for IFR. It cruises at 160kts.
In the background are the hangers of Bakersfield Municipal.
22-NOV-2006
Prefight
Every aircraft should be given a thourough prefight to determine airworthiness. Here the pilot is checking the control surfaces to ensure they are in good working order. The penatly for error is usually embarassment but it can be death.
Most crashes however are not mechanically caused. The usual cause of accidents is pilot error. There are checklists of the necessary items to check for aircraft readiness but none for the pilot.
22-NOV-2006
Pilot in Command
The pilot was an Air Force navigator for 15 years flying missions over Vietnam and reconnaissance over the Artic during the cold war. The tubes under his nose are oxygen for flight over 12,000 ft. The flight ranged between 10,000 and 14,000 ft. (3000-4,500 m)
22-NOV-2006
Meeting of Landforms
The Western United States is scrambled eggs geology from the action of the Western Overthrust. The Pacific Plate subducts under the North American Plate. The movement under the plate grows the continent with accretion and spawns a myriad of landforms. This is most likely a volcanic intrusion surrounded by eroded material.
25-NOV-2006
Tucson Airport
We had been in a Tucson then took off to head home.
The airport in the foreground is the Tucson Airport. We have taken off and the downwind leg is heading us back to Bakersfield.
25-NOV-2006
Probably a Pluton
This is most likely a lighter piece of rock that floated up in a semi molten state. The surrounding strata eroded but the rock was harder and did not erode becoming a mountain.
25-NOV-2006
Largess of the Desert
The American West is rich in minerals so strip mining is painfully obvious all over the desert from the air. Foliage does not regenerate for hundreds or even thousands of years so the legacy will we with us for a while.