Owen was excited for his first helicopter flight. Poor fella has a broken arm to boot – but it sure doesn’t slow him down. Owen is the first kid I’ve taken flying, and I’m glad I approached it the way I did. This will be my default mode of operation for any kids from here on out. First, James is also a pilot, so I didn’t have to worry about him not understanding the risks or freaking out etc. Parents can be a bigger worry than the kids! I told him in advance to bring a booster seat. I wanted to make sure the seat belt was not across his neck. I did a safety brief for Owen, James and Katie. I told Katie I would be remaining in the pattern, and thus in her sight the whole time. This keeps mom happy, and makes sure I can end the flight quickly if Owen is scared. It also means the flight doesn’t need to be too long. A kid’s introductory flight should be a fun experience – and it doesn’t need to be long. Longer flights can be in the future. A fun experience is the goal!

Owen is jaw dropping smart – and just about the best behaved kid I’ve met. He’s an absolute pleasure to be around.

Owen and I did a couple laps in the pattern and then we came back and shut down. James and I went on a longer flight over past Harper’s Ferry into West Virginia. 2009 was the last time James and I flew together, so its been awhile. It was great to give him an introduction to the helicopter.

You’ll have to indulge a few non-aviation photos from the weekend. Owen and Andrew got introductions to the tractor.

Although as much fun as Owen had in the helicopter, I think he may have had more fun playing with my chessie Squire. They were playing together for a long time. Squire is great with kids. I’m not sure which one was entertaining the other – but we all enjoyed the show!

Owen also had a blast meeting the horses. Particularly our pony, Johnny!

A great weekend grilling and hanging out by the fire pit. Absolutely a blast having them up – and I can’t wait until their next visit.

My boss John has a 160 acre farm in central Pennsylvania and each summer he has a large pancake breakfast for his family, friends, and neighbors. I had wanted to attend before, but its about a 3 hour drive so its not always an easy thing to do. Last year I intended to fly up as well, but the day of the breakfast was low visibility and fog. This year – perfect weather!

Maja and I departed KFDK in the R-22. This was Maja’s first extended flight in the helicopter. She has a tendency to get airsick on occasion so I was a little apprehensive about the longer flight.

We stopped in Allentown for fuel so that we wouldn’t need to stop on the way back.

The PA mountains made for some beautiful sightseeing.

There were a few times where the expanse of trees meant there were very few landing opportunities in the event of an emergency. I climbed to much higher altitudes to try to mitigate the risk, and pick routes over and along the valleys.

Here is John’s farm from the landing. You can see the audience moving in our direction!

Snap shot of Maja and I with John. The pancake breakfast was great- good food, beautiful weather, and fantastic hospitality.

We got a tour of the property which included this Bede-5 that is hanging unfinished in the garage. From what I understand it was acquired years ago unfinished as decoration. The engine is still in a crate. I have no idea if the engine was stored properly – its an interesting find. I wish I had taken more photos of it.

Love the little kids cart!

Unfortunately, I didn’t take many photos during the breakfast as I was busy being social. But here’s a final photo as we prepare to depart.

I also put together a quick video from the day.

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A post shared by Pedro (@pedrobebete) on Jun 1, 2019 at 6:17pm PDT