Aerial Pictures

Here are some of my adventures while airborne. I must say, once I go up, I don't want to come down. But there's this thing called fuel. We need fly-though's up there so we don't have to land to refuel and check oil.

The Pilot Commandments written by me when I was still a student pilot.

THERE BE LAND
GREEN MOUNTAIN WIND FARM, GARRET, PENNSYLVANIA
AIRPORTS FROM THE AIR
AT AIRPORTS ON THE GROUND
OTHER AIRCRAFT
AIRCRAFT I FLY
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THERE BE LAND
What makes up most of my collection - pictures from the sky of places on the ground. INTERSTATE 99 CONSTRUCTION, CENTRE COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
This collection of I-99 while being built contains pictures of various sections stretching from State College, PA to I-80. GREEN MOUNTAIN WIND FARM, GARRET, PENNSYLVANIA
Located on a hilltop 2,300 to 2,460 feet above sea level, next to the small town of Garret are eight wind turbines, windmills, designed to generate 10.4 megawatts of electricity, enough for 2,500 homes. Each one is 200 feet high, 14 feet in diameter, steel tubular towers. A turbine sits atop each tower. It is turned by three, 90 foot long blades. Each blade weighs 5 tons.

It is a $10 million project. Using the wind to generate electricity instead of coal, it is will save 135 tons of acid rain producing sulphur dioxides, 35 tons of smog-generating nitrogen oxides and 17,500 tons of carbon dioxide, a gas that contributes to global warming.

It was quite an endeavour to transport all the pieces up to the hilltop. The towers were manufactured in Germany, shipped over the Atlantic to Port of Philadelphia. Some pieces were carried over the Pennsylvania Turnpike at a crawl. A normal five hour drive turned into two and a half days. Other pieces were too big. They had to be taken over various routes in Pennsylvania to arrive at their final destination. One truck with a single nacelle on its 80 foot trailer climbed the hill to where the windmill was erected at 6 MPH. Each steel tower came in two pieces. A 130 foot crane and a 230 foot crane were required to assemble the towers.

Compared to years ago, these windmills are bird friendly. Old ones spun fast, killing birds which ventured too close, and only generated a small percentage of electricity compared to these present day miracles. The new windmills spin considerably slower. Depending on wind speed, the blades make one revolution up to 19 times a minute. The wind was calm when I flew around the area. The blades were not moving making photography even easier.

The pictures posted here do not give justice to this impressive sight. You simply have to be there to appreciate it.
AIRPORTS FROM THE AIR AT AIRPORTS ON THE GROUND OTHER AIRCRAFT
These are aircraft I "pass by" in one way or another. AIRCRAFT I FLY
Planes I fly regularly and have flown listed in chronological order of first flight date.
There are four airplanes I fly regularly meaning each one at least once a month. There were five until one was sold. I fly from two different airports which are 90 miles apart. I live in the middle.
  1. Cessna 150 (C150) N19255, Lock Haven (LHV), Pennsylvania - First plane I ever flew (03/28/98, regularly) including my first solo.
  2. Cessna 172 (C172) N12331, Lock Haven (LHV), Pennsylvania - Second plane I ever flew (07/18/98, regularly). This plane loves to climb and easily cruises at 140 MPH with its 160 HP engine. I'm taxing out to the runway.
  3. Piper Warrior (PA-28-161) N8452B, Lock Haven (LHV), Pennsylvania - First flew 08/07/98, regularly. This is my favorite plane to fly.
  4. Piper Warrior (PA-28-161) N41533, Atlanta, Georgia - Flew once (4/13/99) when I was in Atlanta for a week of job training. After arriving at the hotel, the first thing I looked for were airports with rental planes. I had my priorities straight: flying first, everything else second.
  5. Cessna 152 (C152) N49740, Altoona-Blair County Airport (AOO), Pennsylvania - First flew 07/09/99. I flew it regularly until the owner sold it at the end of January, 2000.
  6. Cessna 152 (C152) N67510, University Park Airport (UNV), State College, Pennsylvania - Only flew once 07/25/99. I'd fly it more if the company who owns it didn't have such strict policy use. Example: Never be late. You lose the reservation and are charged a penalty fee.
  7. Cessna 152 (C152) N5155P, University Park Airport (UNV), State College, Pennsylvania - Only flew once 07/27/99. Same reason as N67510
  8. Piper Warrior (PA-28-161) N9098K, Front side view, Altoona-Blair County Airport (AOO), Pennsylvania - First flew 08/10/99. I flew it and Warrior 9097U regularly until the airport started treating the company unfairly with items such as extremely high rent. They had to close at the end of 2005.
  9. Piper Warrior (PA-28-161) N9097U, Altoona-Blair County Airport (AOO), Pennsylvania - First flew 05/03/2000. This is the twin to Warrior 9098K (background). They came out of the factory at the same time. This one was in storage for a year until they had the money to buy a new engine. It runs beautifully.
  10. Cessna 152 (C152) N89223, Blue Knob Valley Airport, Pennsylvania, First flew 05/23/2000.
  11. Cessna 152 (C152) N94500, Ebensburg Airport, Pennsylvania - First Flew 06/16/2006.


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