Bonanza Demo Flight & Gusty Go Arounds

So the story goes something like this… I was on a commercial flight from Boston to Los Angeles and happened to strike up a conversation with my seat mate. Turns out this particular seat mate, Jeff, is an aircraft owner and flies a Beechcraft Bonanza for pleasure. This is when I learned he was planning a journey from New England over the North Atlantic over to Greenland, yes, the country.

He got to asking me if I knew of ways to record video so that he could capture these incredible flying moments for remembrance sake. Enter the GoPro Hero 2 that I was carrying in my backpack! You’ve all heard me talk about the GoPro Hero 2 (affiliate link), the mountable and wearable sports action video camera. So I showed Jeff how the camera worked and even told him about the special propeller case I had created to eliminate propeller artifacting. Then, the coolest thing happened! Jeff says to me, “Next time your in New England, look me up and we’ll go flying.”

Naturally, I did just that. Jeff picked me up in Nashua, NH at Boire Field KASH in his F33A Bonanza for a little scenic flight, some camera testing, and then the obligatory (and delicious) $100 lobster omelets in Sanford, ME KSFM. What you’re seeing is the video we recording from Nashua, NH KASH as we flew north towards Laconia, NH KLCI, then turning easterly over Lake Winnipesaukee for Sanford, ME KSFM.

The video starts out on the ground at KASH from the ramp as we taxi out for runup and departure. Since Jeff and I have never flown together before, nor have I piloted a Bonanza ever in my life, I brief Jeff on our roles as Pilot In Command and Passenger. We depart on our flight plan as stated above. You’ll get to see our departure from KASH, parts of our flight over KLCI and Lake Winnipesaukee, and our approach to landing at KSFM including my gusty wind go-around. The video contains plenty of Air Traffic Control audio and other aircraft radio transmissions.

Being my first time in any Bonanza, combined with the strong gusty winds, I certainly felt a bit out of place and almost disoriented in the aircraft, mostly with the layout and positing of the flight controls. You can hear me talk more about that in Episode #25 of the Stuck Mic AvCast, our aviation podcast about Learning to Fly, Living to Fly, and Loving To Fly.

So enough talking and back to the video!