Travel & Adventures in a Mooney

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Gordon Baxter

The Weekend Mooney Pilot

Frank Kingston Smith's book, Ed Shreffler, a California Mooney pilot based at Corona, CA (KAJO), has sent out more than two dozen stories about trips to his family, friends, co-workers, the staff at AFW, AOPA, MAPA, members of the Vintage Mooney Group and the Corona Pilots Association, and whoever else wants to read them. Many of them are collected here -- and all are now in an Adobe Acrobat format (*.pdf) file.

Together they are evocative of Frank Kingston Smith's book, "Week-end Pilot," though Ed makes modern use of his digital camera and image files to make his reports more visually appealing. This collection of Ed's stories of flying first a 1971 M20C model that was actually registered by the FAA as an Aerostar, and later a Mooney 201 is in chronological order, starting with his first Angel flight in October, 2005.

There are some other parallels between Ed Shreffler and Frank Kingston Smith. Smith was a Philadelphia lawyer who learned to fly and bought a Cessna 140. Shreffler does computer programming for the Orange County court system. And both learned to fly after starting a family, although Ed was 49 and his children were adults by then. More on Ed's early years and his first Mooney is here.

Ed Shreffler -- without the hat

Ed Shreffler with his first Mooney, a 1971 Aerostar-built M20C-model

Ed with his J-model Mooney

Ed Shreffler with his current Mooney, a 1985 M20J model

Ed's trip reports are now listed with the most-recent at the top -- and the oldest linked at the bottom.

The Vintage Mooney Group fly-in at Laughlin NV and an Angel Flight to Fresno CA in The Whirlwind Weekend II in February 2010.

Mother Nature blanketed Ed's plans with fog for his 2010 San Jose fly-in.

A beautiful Stearman biplane, painted #308, suffers a gear collapse on landing but thankfully no one was hurt. (December, 2009)

Ed has several Close Encounters with the Mooney ceiling on his Thanksgiving Trip 2009.

The Great Transformation.

Ed wrote a poem about a gal named Krystal, a special fly-buddy in his life.

Ed has an Angel Flight with Donna and Sofie (October 2009).

The Corona Pilots Association fly-in to Laughlin/Bullhead City. (September, 2009).

Salton Sea Loop (September, 2009).

Ed gives another gal from work her first private airplane ride and then goes on to write Mother Nature a poem based on the day's adventures.

A court furlough day calls for flying.

A second coastal tour of SoCal, done in August, 2009.

A nice Southern California Tour south inland, then back up over the Pacific Ocean in August 2009.

About the VMG fly-in to Lake Tahoe: Close but no cigar.

First Flight After Engine Overhaul: Almost 10 hours of flying total, and things are going as planned engine wise. No major surprises and the oil consumption is starting to go down. This indicates that the rings are starting to seat into the cylinders.

The Third Time: Ed finally makes it to the Agua Dulce Airport BBQ in January 2009.

This little story dedicated to the past, present, and future members of the Vintage Mooney Group and their flying buddies. We fly Mooneys, look at each other's Mooneys, talk about Mooneys, and have lunch somewhere in one of the Southwest states together.

Ed takes his latest Angel Flight over LAX and over water in Touched by an Angel.

Toys for Tots flight to Oceano, CA (L52) in December, 2008.

Ed and his Vintage Mooney Group friends have a blast at Payson, AZ 2008.

Tehachapi 2008: Cold, windy, and fun.

Agua Dulce Oct. 2008: Ed has to invoke Plan B several times.

Ed goes back to Lake Tahoe a second time with another associate from work.

Ed takes his supervisor from work to the Vintage Mooney Group Fly-In at Lake Tahoe in June, 2008.

Porterville, CA in May, 2008.

Sedona, AZ revisited in 2008.

A Tale of Two Cities, 2008.

Toys for Tots 2007: Vintage Mooney Group's Ramona, CA fly-in in December, 2007 included a collection of toys for this U.S. Marine Corps program.

The 1000-mile Odyssey: A story about five guys, four airplanes, planning, execution and the great Angel Flight West staff. KSAF (Santa Fe, NM) to KSJN (St. John's Industrial, AZ) to KDVT (Deer Valley in Phoenix, AZ) to KAJO (Corona Municipal, CA) to KOAK (Oakland, CA).

Temple Bar: lunch on Lake Mead and a flight from Corona to Temple Bar, AZ (U70).

Jackson Revisited: after his first trip to the Amador County Airport, Ed quickly gets another on an Angel Flight from Redlands, CA (L12) to Jackson (O70).

California Gold: the September, 2007 Gold Country fly-in at Jackson, CA's Westover Field (O70).

Chino or Bust: a short flight from Corona, CA (KAJO) to Chino, CA (KCNO).

Paso Robles: a Vintage Mooney Group fly-in from June, 2007 from Corona (KAJO) to Paso Robles, CA (KPRB).

The Ivy League: from Fresno (KFAT) to Yucca Valley (L22).

Whirlwind Weekend: first a flight from Corona (KAJO) to Avalon on Catalina Island (KAVX) with the Vintage Mooney Group. Then an Angel Flight from Fresno (KFAT) to El Monte, CA (KEMT).

The Liberty Belle: the "Liberty Belle," one of the remaining flying B-17s at Deer Valley Airport in Phoenix, AZ.

Dusting Off The Hat: Santa Ana winds turn a planned trip from Fresno to Yucca Valley into a no-go.

Death Valley: these two collections go together. The first is a slide show flying into Death Valley in January 2007, with pictures taken by Joe Aldendifer.
Furnace Creek Ranch: Ed's account of flying into Furnace Creek Ranch (L06) at 210' below sea level. For his co-pilot, it was her first trip in a light plane.

07T Comes Home: In which Ed trades his M20C for a 1985 M20J at All American Aircraft in San Antonio, TX (KSAT). "My first autopilot, with altitude hold no less," he notes happily.

The Seasoning 4: Hays, KS to Chariton, IA to Milwaukee's Timmerman Field (KMWC).

The Seasoning 3: At Deer Valley, Ed picks up co-pilot Craig Berland for the next day's hops to Los Lunas, NM (E98) then Clayton, NM (KCAO) then Hays, KS (KHYS).

The Seasoning 2: The first part of the trip east to Wisconsin, from KAJO to Deer Valley, AZ (KDVT).

The Seasoning: the pre-planning for a trip from Corona, CA (KAJO) to Oshkosh, WI and EAA AirVenture in 2006.

Corona to Phoenix: this trip is mostly illustrated with photos.

I Wore the Hat Again: AKA the Pedersen Caper, this Angel Flight is from North Las Vegas, NV (KVGT) to Santa Monica, CA (KSMO).

I Wore the Hat: Ed's first Angel Flight in N6827V, a 1971 Mooney C-model, from Fresno, CA (KFAT) to Yucca Valley (L22).

Sedona Trip Recapped: From September, 2004.

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Revision: 2/21/2010