Day 1!

Tuesday Feb 24th. We look outside the windows in hopes of getting an early start on our journey down south. Unfortunately all we see is snow, low ceilings, and bad visibility. Sadly going to bed, we get our hopes up for the next morning.

Wednesday Feb 25th. The students and instructor meet at Harv's Air at 7 am to finalize flight planning, study the weather, load the planes and defy gravity in a Piper Warrior, and a Cessna 172. Arriving in Fargo ND, we land safely and clear customs. Shortly after the planes are filled and the next flights are planned, we take off and point our planes south. The smiles get bigger as less and less snow appears on the ground. Shortly thereafter, we crossed the mighty Missouri River! After one more fuel stop in North Platte, Nebraska, we head out on a LONG night flight hoping to get to Hugoton, Kansas. The skies were clear of clouds, and shining bright with nothing but stars. The ground was black, except for a few towns and cities that we passed... and the random runways lights that suddenly came to life after clicking the com button several times in our planes.
At our near Mach 1 ground speeds of 55 KTS, we begin to get a little bored and decide to tell jokes and ask each other riddles.
After we finally arrived in Hugoton, Kansas at 1 am, we were all exhausted and ready to eat supper! Yup, that's right, supper. Harry Bartel, the owner of the FBO (airport), was very kind! He knew that we were coming, and he made sure that he went to a resteraunt early and had it waiting for us when we arrived. He fueled, and tucked our planes in for the night. What's more, he let us stay for the night, with sattelite TV, wireless internet, and some friendly conversation! Thumbs up to Harry and Hugoton! Thanks bunches!