Australia - An "Outback" Flying Adventure

Most pilots, including myself, have a "bucket list" of places where they want to fly. After 1,500 hours, and 30 years, of flying around Canada and the US, from Alaska and the Yukon and Florida to California, and some in Europe, I was looking for another "adventure." I started flying in East Africa, where I got my private license when I was working in Kenya in the mid 70's. I then returned to the US and converted the Kenya license to a FAA certificate, picked up an instrument rating, and currently fly a Lancair Legacy I built in 2008.

Put-in-Bay, Ohio

Living It Up on Lake Erie

by Heather Sanders Connellee

If you’re a fan of wild nightlife, but Key West is a bit too far away, Ohio’s Put-in-Bay will fill in just fine. Author Heather Sanders Connellee discovered you don’t have to be a barfly to have fun here, though, because this Victorian-era inspired island packs a wide range of activities suitable for your whole family. Go-karts, water sports, museums, fishing, golf, antique cars, and winery and cave tours are all here. You can also kayak the bay near the lush, rugged shoreline. You can find a hotel in the center of downtown nightlife, a secluded inn, or enjoy camping in the State Park. There are plenty of restaurants to choose from, including a traditional island barbeque, a large variety of seafood, and more.

Seaplane Rating—Montana Style

After reading and saving Pilot Getaways magazines for several years, I hit the jackpot with the January/February 2013 issue. Typically, I read through each issue marking the potential trips I’d like to take so that a given trip will be easily found when the time is right.

Airplane Camping at Lake Isabella

At EAA AirVenture Oshkosh, we spent a lot of time touting the joy of airplane camping to our pilot friends. Some, like Ramona Cox, a.k.a. "Sky Chick," are avid airplane campers who have pitched their tents in remote corners of the world. Others were new to airplane camping and just wanted an introduction. So we hatched a plan to host a fly-in at Kernville Airport (L05) by Lake Isabella, California as an intro to airplane camping.

Kernville Airport was featured in our Fall 2001 issue as a fly-in camping destination less than an hour's flight from Los Angeles.

Camping in the Wet Mountain Valley

After seeing on the pilotgetaways.com web site that the Silver West airport (C08) was open to on-airport camping, I couldn’t wait to try it. I had done a touch and go there a couple of weeks prior when flying from my home airport near Colorado Springs (Meadowlake, KFLY) to the San Luis Valley. I was struck by the setting of the airport and the magnificent views.