Lots to share!!!

God is so wonderful! He has been blessing me with so many thoughts and ideas and trips that I don't know where to begin!

Else and I after running Bolder Boulder 10km

But I'll start with Colorado. I got to go to Colorado to visit my sister and also house sit for her over the past 2 weeks. It was such a great time getting to hang out with her and Norm (Brother in law) and just enjoy some hard earned vacation.While I was there I got to go hiking, running and mountain flying! Else and I ran the Bolder Boulder 10km with 43000 other people! WOW That was a fun race even when it was tough.

Flying up the valley towards Leadville

The highlight of my trip was finally getting to land at the highest airport in North America- Leadville KLXV! Sitting at 9927ft the airport is nestled in the valley between the mountains. On previous trips to Colorado I went flying with an instructor from the local airport but each time the weather or wind prevented us from landing or going over the mountains. But I guess the third time is the charm. We planned to go on a Thursday but the winds were too strong already that it was not worth it to go so we decided to go on Friday.

Leadville!

Friday was perfect! Blue skies and some wind. We checked the weather periodically and the wind was gusty but we decided to go for it and if it was too windy at Leadville we would just go to an alternate airport (Buena Vista). On our way over the mountains we kept getting stuck in downdrafts. Nothing serious, we just couldn't get to the altitude that we needed to cross over the ridges at a safe altitude. A downdraft is when the wind is pushed up one side of the mountain and then crosses over the ridge and is goes down into the valley- like as if you were driving up a hill and then went down after getting to the top. So for us we could tell we were in one because we were descending. But the good thing is that we found some updrafts (opposite effect) which helped us to get a lot of altitude quickly. In flying it is way easier to lose altitude than to gain it, so any lift you can get... take it. We got over the ridges and then flew up the valley to Leadville. The automatic weather was saying it the wind was 10kts gusting to 20kts but the wind was along the runway which is what we needed. We decided to go for it and land! When we landed the wind was not too bad and we got down just fine. We got out of the plane, took some pictures, and took off again since the office was closed.

It was quite windy in Leadville!

Takeoff was even more exciting. On one end of the runway the wind was in the direction of the runway and at the other end it was a direct crosswind! That shows how much the wind can change in just a short distance. The other crazy thing with high altitude flying is that it takes a lot longer to get airborne because there is less "air" to lift up the plane. There is also density altitude which is where the plane thinks it is at a different altitude than it really is and therefore you have to calculate how much distance you need to take off. Basically, takeoff seems very slow and it takes awhile to get more altitude.

We flew down to Buena Vista, got some lunch in town, and then headed off to home. On our way back home we circled a few times over the airport to get enough lift (like birds do when they ride thermals) to go over the mountains and then we were good to go.

Circling after taking off from Buena Vista airport.

After flying I had a few days extra in Colorado and just spent that hanging out with Else and Norm. Back in KY I've been busy flying with my friend Mike (who is a pilot and works at Air Center 1) and working at a kids camp for 3 days. Right now I am at 189 hours! In less than two weeks I get to begin my trip to Holland, South Africa, Botswana, and Lesotho! I am super excited to see family and visit the MAF missionaries in Lesotho and work with them again. I am working on and finalizing a few maps for them now which will be basic maps of where the airstrips are so that they can take it with them in the planes.

God has been so gracious to me that all I can do is praise Him. He has given me the tools to share about Him and I am learning more and more how to use them and share about how He is leading me. Stay tuned for another blog with even more updates on adoption, missionary work, school, and other exciting things!




Fly with Christ,
Helen