A Weekend on Martha's Vineyard

The July 22-24, 2005 weekend was spent with close friends on Martha's Vineyard. Leaving The Greenbrier on Friday morning, I flew to Hartford to pick up one of my best friends and his mother for a trip to KMVY. We had a beautiful day and Anne declared it, "the only way to go!" It was the first time she'd been in a Bonanza in her 96 years! Oh, she went ahead and had lunch on the way over to the island.

Weekend at Graylake, IL (C81)

Had a wonderful flight North of Chicago for the weekend in the Bonanza. Flew back to Leesburg (JYO) this afternoon making every effort to keep the thunderstorms away. This bit of weather in the picture above was sitting across the lake from Chicago. ATC provided a routing around it and then direct to destination! The Bonanza at 11,000 feet provided a wonderful view of weather all along the route.


And, best of all, I had the chance to introduce the Bonanza to someone for the first time!

My 2003 Bonanza A36 Panel with dual Garmin GPS units. Legs are frequently 3.5 to 4.0 hours in the Bonanza which puts the full panel to good use.

How It All Got Started

I have been a private pilot for nearly 38 years. Two years ago I decided that running a major trade association in Washington, D.C. with meetings all over the United States required a lot more flexibility in travel than commercial aircraft were providing me.

A trip to a Midland, Texas flight school got me current in single engine land, instrument flight. Then, a visit to the local Beechcraft dealer in Northern Virginia introduced me to the Beechcraft A36 Bonanza. Buying a new one brought state-of-the-art avionics and a wonderful aircraft for my own personal business use.

Nearly two years later and after 400 plus hours, I could not be happier with my decision to do most of my own flying in the Bonanza.

From this site, I hope to share some of the experiences both past and present. Hopefully, some of us can trade a few stories along the way.