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So why do I still live in Georgia?

Ed_Wischmeyer

Ed_Wischmeyer

Well Known Member
Yesterday, I drove out to the airport and saw weather so strange that I almost turned around and drove back home. VFR and calm. It was great to exercise the RV-8 again, and surprisingly, my skills were maybe better than the last time, a month ago.

So this morning, lying in bed, I wondered if I could make it two in a row. Then I heard the thunder.

Realizing that the airport was 11 nm miles away, I looked at the aeroweather. It said VFR, but what you had to look in the fine print to see the scattered clouds at 400'. No, thanks.

I was going to fly the -9A to AirVenture, but at the last moment, cancelled and went on the airlines. They zig-zagged on the way up to O'Hare, avoiding weather that I certainly could not have flown through. Same thing on the way back. The window seat gave great views of towering cumulonimbus...

When I lived in Arizona, I kind of felt that I could go flying every day, but rarely could I fly the entire day. Mom used to say that every place had six weeks of really bad weather per year. I think Georgia is over-achieving, certainly in the aviating department...
 
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Not sure how long you've lived in GA

But I'll just say "Welcome to summer in the southeast, Ed."

Planning to take the wife on an hour flight to grandma's this Sunday. Weekend Flyer app shows the whole Commonwealth of Virginia low IFR Sunday morning, and severe clear by 11am - the residuum of all the pop up TSTMs and stalled lows we've been treated to the past two weeks or more. You get used to it.:D
 
I did my flight training in Lakeland Florida and I got used to my instructor always saying "we need to be wheels down by 11". Mornings were dependable but afternoons were pretty much never a go during the summer. Now that I live back in Wyoming I'll have to get used to mega winds when I start flying again. haha
 
We recently moved to Georgia from living 10 years in the NW Caribbean. In the Caribbean we had two seasons; a dry season and a rainy season. Rainy season was from late October/November through mid March. It would rain most every day. Sometimes non stop for days on end. I feel like I am living in the NW Caribbean again.
 
Kansas isn't any better, fellas. Quite often it's VFR with clear skies, and winds gusting into the mid-to-high 30's.
 
I feel your pain. I lived in Brunswick, GA for 5yrs and now live in St. Augustine, FL so I can relate. I fly in the morning and, as jcarne posted, am on the ground no later than 11:00am. If returning on a cross country, I can "fudge" until about 1:00pm but only on some occasions.

It's just the nature of the beast here in the SE.

:cool:
 
Grass is always greener

Compare your cost of flying to that of us in California. Thats why we all dream of flying and living someplace other than California. The beauty of a plane is that one can escape. Imagine all those souls with just a car!
 
This Saturday and Sunday look good. I'm flying from Jax to Hilton Head tomorrow, then to Hinesville, then back to Jax. Am I jinxing myself?
 
I always joke that in east San Diego County we get two weeks of winter. Two weeks meaning 14 days, non-consecutive, and "winter" meaning the high temp didn't hit at least 60 degrees. Usually, the only weather here that affects flying is the low clouds along the coastline.

But we do pay the costs!
 
I went to school in Prescott, AZ. They used to advertise something like 350 flyable days a year. I wouldnt doubt it at all.
 
I've lived in North Georgia (NC) for twenty years and don't recall it raining every frikkin' day in the summer.
 
Ed_Wischmeyer said:
Yesterday, I drove out to the airport and saw weather so strange that I almost turned around and drove back home. VFR and calm. It was great to exercise the RV-8 again, and surprisingly, my skills were maybe better than the last time, a month ago.
Click to expand...

When is the last time you shoveled snow off of your airplane? I get 7 months of that.....

The grass is always greener....
 
I lived in Iowa for four years, and had an AirCam back then. I knew the flying season was over when I had to wear long pants under the snowmobile suit.

So tell me about snow...

:)
 
Middle GA

Escaped CA last year and been flying the ?wings off? my RV. Flew to OSH and back last week for the first time. Left Perry GA today at noon and had In-N-Out for dinner in Austin TX. Bar-B-Q tomorrow nite. Just gotta pick the right time. Im learning.
 
Flew from Savannah to Ridgeland, SC, this morning, about 25 nm, to pick up the seat cushions that the very helpful Tom Swearengen brought back from Oshkosh for me since I had to go on the airlines.

It was clear leaving Savannah, and going into Ridgeland, there were only a very few clouds. Departing 15 minutes later, the cloud cover was broken and we chose the takeoff direction to head towards the biggest hole in the clouds. Got on top and decided IFR was the easy way to go.

We could have come back VFR under a 1500 foot ceiling, but IFR made it so much easier. And my friend, a student pilot, got to log 0.2 actual (I'm a CFII).

I'm jealous of flying to Austin, not for In-N-Out, which is good but over-rated, but I'm jealous of getting real BBQ (brisket) in Austin. Around here, it's all pulled pork, hardly in the same category...
 
Colorado

I am not inviting everyone, but. Colorado Springs has a good number of sunny days. Living right next to a 14,000 ft mountain we can have 4 seasons all in the same day! It is a great place! Plus centrally located for dream travel. And a couple of the best parts are when the humidity gets over about 20% we get grumpy and living at 6 to 7,000 ft in elevation the bugs are very minimal (Although DA might be an issue on hot days). No earthquakes and there are tornadoes but mostly to the east because of the mountain. It is usually extremely clear sky but right now it feels like So Cal with the hazy sky from forest fires. I could keep going...
Larry
 
larrys said:
I am not inviting everyone, but. Colorado Springs has a good number of sunny days. Living right next to a 14,000 ft mountain we can have 4 seasons all in the same day! It is a great place! Plus centrally located for dream travel.
Larry
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Too late...my son and family have been recently assigned to Peterson. They love COS and will probably retire there. They have already experienced the "four seasons" during a recent hiking trip!
 
I feel your pain. We are trying to install the lighting system on the new runway at Ridgeland, SC and it keeps raining about every couple of hours everyday. Maybe next week will be better.
 
larrys said:
I am not inviting everyone, but. Colorado Springs has a good number of sunny days. Living right next to a 14,000 ft mountain we can have 4 seasons all in the same day! It is a great place! Plus centrally located for dream travel. And a couple of the best parts are when the humidity gets over about 20% we get grumpy and living at 6 to 7,000 ft in elevation the bugs are very minimal (Although DA might be an issue on hot days). No earthquakes and there are tornadoes but mostly to the east because of the mountain. It is usually extremely clear sky but right now it feels like So Cal with the hazy sky from forest fires. I could keep going...
Larry
Click to expand...

Yeah, I'm conflicted about keeping the secret, but I grew up in the Carolinas and currently live for the last 23 years east of Charlotte. Three years ago, my wife got heavily into triathlon. The center of the triathlon universe is Boulder, CO. After spending some time there, we bought a house in Longmont, 1.5 miles from Vance Brand airport. What a revelation. It's like the John Denver song Rocky Mountain High where there's a line which says "coming home to a place he'd never been before." I can't imagine a better place for aviation. I'm currently spending 3 months there and 9 months in the Carolinas, but I plan to reverse those numbers.

Jerre
 
Colorado front range

Aero dog/Jerre

You are not supposed to tell folks about this place. We have enough influx without advertising.
 
Grew up in Virginia, been in Athens / Atlanta since late '93. The humidity is _just_ _awful_ here. I know it's worse elsewhere, but every year it gets harder to tolerate. My workshop is 1/2 of a 2 car garage, and I've gotten mostly nothing done for the last 2 months. I'm considering shelving the project (again) until I can get a better workshop situation.

My wife grew up in Colorado, and we generally make a few trips there every year. Telluride, IMO, is hands down the most breathtaking (literally and figuratively) place I've ever been.

We're seriously considering a move out there upon retirement.
 
Easy fix

Clearly the only solution is to have a house in both Georgia and Colorado, while claiming residency at your other house in Texas :D
 
I briefly lived in the Denver area from 2000-2002. Much to love about the area, but cost of housing was very high, the economy (at the time) was up and down, traffic was horrendous, annual forest fires, snow in June, etc. I was based at FTG and built a good part of my -8 there.

I was there when the Hayman fire happened. Had to sweep ashes out of my garage every day and the house smelled like a camp fire, and this was 95 miles away. Ended up moving back to TN for other reasons. No income tax, relatively low housing costs, no fires. Every place has it's pluses and minuses. I loved CO when I was there and often wish we had stayed, but I also recognize and appreciate the good in TN.
 
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