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Jake was scheduled to have his first flight in the twin-engine Piper Seminole bright and early this morning, so Renee and I got up early and headed down to BG to watch. He had called us earlier (at about 5:45 AM!) to make sure we were awake and getting ready. That's a twist in roles!

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photo posted by matt in Sunday, September 22, 2024

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Jake sent this photo after they landed at Toledo Executive. I love the shadows of him and his instructor. Jake called us shortly after this and was just beaming with excitement. He had a lot of firsts as a pilot today - first flight in a turboprop, first with retractable landing gear, first time entering Class A airspace as a pilot, and many others. My favorite might be one Jake mentioned to us on the phone afterwards. His instructor told him it was the first flight for those two with him in the left seat and Jake in the right. Awww.

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photo posted by matt in Friday, June 28, 2024

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Jake had an amazing day today. Yesterday, his former flight instructor texted him, knowing we were here in Florida, and asked if he'd want to copilot a Pilatus PC-12 back to Toledo with him. Jake would never turn down that opportunity (and of course we wouldn't want him to), so Renee and I drove him down to Page Field in Fort Myers. This photo shows Jake and his instructor going through their pre-flight checklist. He told us shortly after they finished pre-flight that his instructor told Jake that he would be doing all the radio work. Always the teacher! Jake was a bit nervous about that, but excited, too. A few minutes later they were wheels up to Toledo, with a quick stop in Columbus.

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photo posted by matt in Friday, June 28, 2024

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Jake's dream plane is the Bonanza. It would be my choice, too...if I was a pilot and if I was in the market for a plane! We watched this one on the ramp right below our table all the way through takeoff. He gave a nice wing wave on the way out, too. Beautiful plane.

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photo posted by matt in Thursday, June 27, 2024

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Back in Fremont, Rex was quick to congratulate Jake, and was full of praise for his hard work and professionalism. Jake really looks up to Rex, for good reason, his congratulations really meant a lot.

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photo posted by matt in Wednesday, October 5, 2022

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Planes and pancakes this morning at one of our favorite breakfast spots—The Hangar at Albert Whitted airport in St. Petersburg. We had a great morning for it, too, with plenty of planes coming and going.

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photo posted by matt in Saturday, August 6, 2022

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We ate dinner at The Hangar at Albert Whitted tonight. One of our favorites, but the weather threatened rain all day, which made for a slow day at the airport. So, we didn't see much activity as we ate. Bummer.

The ground crew did tug this Pilatus from a hangar across the way to a spot right in front of our car right before we left. Jake and I took a closer look through the fence.

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photo posted by matt in Tuesday, August 2, 2022

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The setup for the Thunder Over Michigan show works really well. All parking is right in front of the main field and you stay at your car for the show. They space the cars to leave a sitting area for each family next to their own car. The view is great, but your car is always available to provide a higher vantage point!

Here, Harry, Jake, and Maia (hidden behind Jake) watch the Blue Angels fly directly overhead.

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photo posted by matt in Saturday, July 16, 2022

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I was a little mad at myself for not bringing my dSLR. I was rushed a bit and didn't prepare as I should have, which forced me to shoot the entire show on my iPhone (12 Pro Max).

I was pleasantly surprised at how well it performed, though. I know the limits of the phone when I shoot with it, but encountered a new one today–heat. The phone overheated a few times, dimming the display and making shooting all but impossible.

Live and learn. I'll definitely be better prepared for next year's show.

I'm still pretty happy with the results, though!

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photo posted by matt in Saturday, July 16, 2022

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Jake found a 1964 Bonanza S35 for sale online tonight, and worked up some cost of ownership numbers on the back of a paper plate. This was our discussion at the pool today. The plane, if you didn't notice, has beautiful paint.

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photo posted by matt in Monday, July 26, 2021

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We had breakfast at The Hangar restaurant at Albert Whitted Airport this morning, always one of our favorite things to do while in St. Pete. Jake is always in absolute heaven while we're there. I'm sure he wishes he was flying, but I think he has almost as much fun plane-spotting.

There was quite a bit of action today, too. We watched them pre-flight this Pilatus PC-24, which Jake educated us on a bit. Pretty cool to see one of these in person–private jet rated for off-road landings, not that they needed that today.

Half way through breakfast we watched it takeoff. Looks like it was flying some couple to West Palm Beach.

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photo posted by matt in Friday, March 26, 2021