It is very early Sunday morning and the gates open today. I made it to Richfield Utah pretty much as planned. Took off at 6:00 AM and got in a half hour of night flying before the sky started to lighten up. Took on fuel in Slaton Texas, fuel and food in Snata Fe New Mexico, fuel in Cortez Colorado and then landed in Richfield at about 6:00. With the time change it took 13 hours with over 10 hours of actual flying. The weather was good, a little rain, bumps during the mid-day and a tailwind most of the way. At 12,500 feet the temperature was 53 degrees.

Had to tighten the flap handle after I landed as they were not staying deployed properly. Have to do that about once a year. Last time was Richfield Utah last year on the way to the burn. Used a courtesy car to get some dinner, joined some pilots for their Saturday hangar party and slept in the lounge. Plan to get out of here as the sun rises.

Here is the plan for today:

Day 2 Route

Will only stop at either Ely or Eureka for fuel. Then Derby to fill the tanks before Black Rock City so I will have plenty of fuel for rides.

This is starting to look like a “Flying to Burning Man” blog as I have posted nothing since last years burn. I really haven’t flown Niner-Zero much since then. I did make a couple of trips up to Denton to visit my daughter. Always a great time saver; an hour and a half of flying instead of over four hours on the road. Four if I’m lucky. Usually closer to five. Other than some local flying that has been about it in the past year.

This years trip to Burning Man looked doubtful when I was not able to obtain a ticket in the general sale or through the ticket exchange program. Then a friend at the airport (Thanks Sal!!!) came up with a ticket through some people he knows in England who did get tickets but are unable to attend. They had two and another pilot, Jacob, is getting the other one. There were some confusing procedures and missed emails but I got an email from Sal yesterday and he has my ticket and has left it under my name at the airport gate.

Today is Friday and I am still in Texas. The gate opens on Sunday and I was planning to to leave on Wednesday. A family matter kept me on the east coast until Wednesday and I have been scrambling to get Niner-Zero ready to go. Originally I planned to be here a week before departure and have plenty of time to get the plane and myself ready to go. But that was not how it turned out.

Yesterday I realized, thanks to a flying buddy of mine, that as of September first I would not be able to fly legally. All pilots need a review every two years and my last one was in August of 2013. He is the instructor that gave me my last review and he agreed to meet me out at the airport last night and we got that done. Thanks Marc! I don’t know how I missed that, must have a lot on my mine. His review is due in October and I’ll take care of his then.

I used Niner-Zero for my flight review and some new issues cropped up that need to be worked on. So, I will shortly be heading out to the airport to spend another day working on her. Hence the question mark in the title of this post. The ticket is in my name, I have paid for fuel to be delivered so I can gift rides and I have also paid for the galley so I will have food to eat. I hope to get everything taken care of and make it to my third burn but we will see. Too late to drive and I don’t have a vehicle pass that will allow a car through the gate so I have no choice but to work through some issues, pack and go.

If I get out of here, I have decided to try to make it in one long day and then a short day. Arriving at 88NV, the Black Rock City airport, on the afternoon of the second day. This is my rough plan for the first day:

First Day Route

That puts me in Richfield Utah on the first night. I have stayed there before and they have a place I can sleep and a couple of courtesy cars. Hopefully I will only need a car to get something to eat and not to run around looking for items to make field repairs. That was the case last year.

I’ll try to post my second day route soon but now I have to get to the airport and get to work!