I train with the SLO Regional SWAT team once a month. Last month we had someone taking pictures of us. At this months training they gave each of us a DVD-R loaded with a ton of photos. Here's the macho warriors putting a mean scare on an empty building. 
Well, the owner of the little yellow plane below has decided to sell it so I can't fly it anymore. Therefore I am flying a Piper Cherokee like the one above. It costs me $10 per hour more to rent but its probably going to save me money in the end as its actually a lot easier to fly then the one below and is faster so those mandated cross country lights will go allot quicker. I logged another 1.2 hours on Saturday in the Cherokee. Hopefully the rain we are getting now will let up as we are scheduled to fly our first cross country to Shafter Airfield on Friday. If the weather cooperates I will get a flight physical at that location.
I am back in the flying saddle again. This is the nice little plane I am currently training on. Its classified as a Light Sport Plane but its really pretty nice, has fuel injection, glass cockpit flight instruments (all the flight instruments are displayed on a computer screen) and even an auto-pilot. Its a fun plane to fly, takes off in about 100 feet and climbs like you wouldn't believe. I put in 2.6 hours flying it this week-end. The weather was gorgeous, clear with no wind and about 70 degrees. In other words just another ridiculously beautiful Central Coast day.
Well its sort of sad but I am selling my Soneri experimental aircraft project. As much as I enjoyed working on it I realized if I sold it I would actually have enough money to get my pilots license. It seemed kind of silly to be working on my third airplane project (forth if you count my ultralight) and yet not actually have a pilots license. So I stuck an advertisement in Barnstormers and what do you know, it sold. The guy is coming by tomorrow to pick it up with a U-haul truck. I will miss the airplane but it will be great to be able to rent an aircraft and fly Suzette and the kids somewhere fun.
Here's the progress on the truck, diamond plate steel is going on.
Here's a post for Warren. This is our F-450's flatbed after I stripped all the nasty wood off it. I was pleased to see it is very structurally sound with lots of supports. Next step is to sandblast the under-surface, paint it with rust inhibiting primer then gloss black paint. After that we will be attaching diamond plate steel sheets where the wood used to be. We will have the coolest looking heavy duty truck in California.
Today I picked up the truck Warren purchased. It is truly a beast of a truck and is in very good shape. I expected some small dings and such but the body is in near perfect condition. We will be painting it gloss black, it should look awesome! I am kind of concerned about Suzette though. Recently I have noticed her quietly mumbling something about contacting Sheila and between the two of them getting a restraining order against Warren and I ever using eBay or Craigslist again. I am sure she is only kidding, I think.
So I woke up this morning, pulled on some comfortable clothes and went down stairs for a cup of coffee. Suzette takes one look at me and starts laughing, she says "Oh my god, you have become your father" and ran for a camera. The worst part is at first I didn't even know what she was talking about, I actually thought I was dressed OK. For those of you who don't know what I am talking about, my dad dressed rather unusually. It wasn't uncommon to see him wearing striped pants with a plaid shirt and when you questioned his unorthodox dressing habits he would proudly brag about how he bought his whole outfit for less then a dollar at Goodwill. Its sad to say apparently the apple does not fall far from the tree.
This is "The Hook" AAARRRRR. I went and checked it out when we were camping up north. I almost went out but it was pretty small on that day and I whimped out and sat on the cliff drinking my mocha coffee drink. There was one good set that came in while I was sitting there, with about 5 foot waves which made me feel like a fool for not getting in the water. Then the waves got really flat. But this place definately kicks when the swell is in. I really liked the surfers etiquette sign and had to take a picture of it.
