Wednesday 9/26/12 rides

Millie's daughter and son-in-law had rides with our ride-pilot Ruth a few years ago and now brought their mother out for her ride, a Monterey Bay ride on a day when the bay was completely covered in fog.  And there was a lot of particulate matter, smoke, in the air from N. CA fires which made for a day of poor visibility.  But for a first ride, the air was calm and the ride was smooth.   However, Millie did experience some fun maneuvers after she answered my question, "Do you like roller-coaters?" with "Oh yes, I've enjoyed a few!".

Here's Millie and her supporting crew before taxiing to the runway for take-off:

 
Yup, that's Mother Nature's air-conditioner working full time today!  We looked down and Millie could read WATSONVILLE on the runway below:

After landing and the trip back to the office for "de-brief", Millie and her crew shared a bottle of Champagne and a picnic!

A couple on vacation from Dallas were next to ride.  David and Lisa got into the rear seat and we towed to 8000' over the Diablos to see if we could find some lift!  Well, it just wasn't our day for that but we enjoyed as much flying as we could, including some wing-overs and turns simulating soaring flight.  David was a power pilot and appreciated the difference just like that between a motorboat and sailboat.
They don't look to unhappy!

After landing Quest surprised them with something to help them celebrate their 30th anniversary: