Phoenix - Sky Ranch - Wickenburg - Phoenix / Piper Dakota (N9708W) / VFR

At the request of virtual friends who needed a lift, I made a very short flight from Sky Harbor (KPHX) to Sky Ranch (18AZ). Sky Ranch is a small, private airpark in Carefree. I've been there several times so I know the way: unless traffic dictates otherwise, it's usually just a matter of turning north after departure and crossing Scottsdale Municipal, then going up a bit further to Carefree. It's a lot faster in the airplane than on the ground.

From Sky Ranch, I then flew northwest to Wickenburg, sliding beneath the Class B and then following Highway 60 up to E25. Then, in the evening, I returned to Phoenix, landed long on 26, and parked on the northwest ramp instead of at Cutter.

Marcus (Ajo) - Phoenix / Piper Dakota (N9708W) / VFR

I decided to return from exciting Ajo to only-slightly-less-boring Phoenix, via a southerly route that avoided the restricted areas on three sides of Marcus airport, the airport that serves Greater Ajo. As it was, my left downwind departure was perilously close to these areas, although I think I managed to stay clear of them.

I proceeded back down to Ajo, only a short distance from the airport, then turned to 079 or so to head east. When I intercepted the 198 radial out of Stanfield (TFD), I turned onto that, went to TFD, then contacted Phoenix Approach and turned towards PXR. ATC gave me vectors and altitudes before I reached the Class B, which is a bit odd, but VATSIM controllers handle such a preponderance of IFR traffic that they seem to forget VFR procedures. Similarly, I was cleared for a visual approach to 25L, whereas strictly speaking I should have been directed into the pattern instead. I didn't say anything, as I got safely down onto the ground either way.

I landed a bit long to save time, but then drove past the taxiway to Cutter while I was trying to set my trim back to neutral, so I had to make a U-turn on Hotel to get to the FBO. Other than that, all went well. When I parked, the last bits of light from sunset were disappearing from the sky to the west. The weather was good, apart from intense heat.

Tucson - Ajo / Piper Dakota (N9708W) / VFR

(I've skipped a couple of unremarkable flights.)

After having come down to Tucson earlier in the day, I decided to go wandering along Highway 86 to the west, through parts of Arizona I've never been to before. The highway passes through some towns with really bizarre names, like Haivana Nakya, Chiawuli Tak, Vainom Kug, Maish Vaya, and Wahak Hotrontk—I assume these are aboriginal American names (Tohono O'odham?), since they don't look like any European languages I'm familiar with. The first part of my route also took me just north of Kitt Peak, with its 23 different telescopes.

There wasn't much to see, which is typical of all southern Arizona, but at least it was scenery I had never seen before—a different expanse of dirt and cactus, in other words. Following the highway was pretty easy, except in a couple spots where several roads split off in different directions.

I considered landing at Sells for a stopover, but ultimately decided to just continue on non-stop to Marcus Airport just north of the exciting town of Ajo, Arizona. I had to be reasonably careful when approaching the airport because there are restricted areas on three sides, including R-2301E and R-2305, which are only a bit more than a mile from the airport.

Landing was uneventful, as you'd expect for a deserted airport just north of Ajo, Arizona.

Lake Havasu - Phoenix / Piper Dakota (N9708W) / VFR

I decided to bring the Dakota back to Phoenix. This time it was just a fairly direct route. I flew east until I caught up with a major highway, then followed that down to Wickenburg and thence on to Phoenix. I parked under those nice ramadas at the northwest corner of the field, after landing on 26.

Phoenix - Eagle Roost - Western Sky - Avi Suquilla - Lake Havasu City / Piper Dakota (N9708W) / VFR

For this flight with multiple legs, I decided to just fly along Highway 60 from Phoenix to tiny Eagle Roost Airpark, then wander west, following the highway until I got tired of flying randomly. I went up to Wickenburg at 6500 (leaving 4000 after clearing the PHX Class B and the ATC restriction that went with it), and continued to Eagle Roost, which is along Highway 60. After a very brief stop there, I took off again and went to Western Sky, also along Highway 60. After an equally brief stop there, I took off and turned north to follow Highway 72 to Avi Suquilla. Then, after a stop there and some refueling, I flew along the Colorado River up to Lake Havasu City.

All in all, it was good pilotage practice, and the weather cooperated wonderfully (apart from the heat).

Phoenix - Prescott - Phoenix / Piper Dakota (N9708W) / VFR

Another flight in the Dakota. The ST-30 autopilot is primitive but nice, since it takes up no extra space and provides the essential autopilot functions in two axes. No GS tracking or intercept functions and no automated climbs or descents to capture an altitude, but what it does do still saves a lot of work.

I joined the 359 radial out of PXR on the way out, and flew that up to MAIER, and then towards KPRC. The weather was good and the flight went uneventfully.

The only excitement on the return flight, which followed the same route, was some developing thunderstorm activity northeast of Phoenix. It was in my way on the way back down from MAIER, so I had to swing wide around it. It didn't cause me any problems. There were quite a few lightning strikes in the skies surrounding me but I was in clear VMC all the way to landing in Phoenix. I was assigned 8, then 7R for traffic; the latter put me right next to Cutter, so that's where I parked.

Santa Monica - Palm Springs / Piper Dakota (N9715W) / VFR

This was a routine flight from Santa Monica to Palm Springs, just for practice. Everything went well and normally, so there's not much to day. The Dakota is fun to fly, being a cross between something quite primitive like a 172 or 152 and something more sophisticated like a Bonanza or Baron.