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April 13, 2002 - The $100 Shopping Trip
Well - good news. I am employed again. I landed a job right after
the last lesson and started that same week. I started soon enough that i
didn't chew through my reserves (so there is no real catch-up to do
financially). So I get to keep flying.
This is also my first trip in a different plane. Warrior N2909Q was
just back from it's annual with a new engine. It is another Warrior and
the same model of plane but every plane is a little different.
We wanted to go somewhere different. Michael needed a new pad for his
headset so we decided to head down to San Jose and Reid-Hillview (RHV).
Reid-Hillview is a busy little airport shoehorned into San Jose on the southeast
side of SJC's Class C. It is two parallel runways that are small (about
3000 by 75) and close - less than 200 feet edge to edge. RHV is also home to
one of the two "Airport Shoppe" stores (www.airportshoppe.com).
These are well stocked pilot stores with knowledgeable service staff that are
mostly pilots themselves. Granted - we could drive down here and
back for about $6 in gas, so why not fly at $100 an hour? Because we have
to go somewhere anyway. So off we went. Reid-Hillview is busy, it's
controlled and it is a little tricky to get in and out of without busting San
Jose's Class C. But a quick 20 minutes and we were down there. First
impression - these runways are small. Up until now I've been in and out of
controlled fields with runways that are 4000 foot plus and at least 100 feet
wide. Other than a half-dozen landings on 25L/7R at Livermore (which is
about 3000*75) I haven't been on anything this small - and these are our only
options. We did a few touch and gos
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