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The Weekend Mooney Pilot
Ed Shreffler, a California Mooney pilot based at Corona, CA (KAJO), has sent out more than four 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 with his first Mooney, a 1971 M20C model. It was officially registered as an Aerostar.
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 Box Was Hot, October, 2013
A Tri Tip for Laura"October, 2012
A Sunday Flight to Cool Off, August, 2012
Sherry to Sedona, April 2012
The Camarillo Tri-tip Sandwich flight, March 2012.
Ed takes a Japanese visitor flying in The International Flight, February 2012.
The Borrego Springs VMG fly-in 2012, January 2012.
Ed provides two coupled stories about what happened and the back-story that explains it for pilots, October 2011.
Ed flew Cody to Sun Valley, CA, October 2011.
Nancy's First General Aviation Flight, September 2011.
Ed flew Jenny to the Lake in the Sky, August 2011.
Ed flew Lori to Tehachapi, August 2011.
The Wednesday Flight that Pooped Out, June 2011.
Ed went flying with a lady from work - A New Jenny, June 2011.
Justin from Tustin to Phoenix, May 2011.
Two flights with Sue, Marty, and Jenny in turbulence in May 2011
A special flight for Ed as he finally got to take his wife aloft in April, 2011.
VMG to Laughlin with Soni, March, 2011.
Ed enjoys his first VMG flight of 2011 to Chiriaco Summit, March, 2011.
Ed and Soni drove over to a fly-in under low clouds, February, 2011
Knocking the Rust Off -- Riverside to Catalina Island, February, 2011.
Toys for Tots, December, 2010.
The Tehachapi Trifecta, November, 2010.
Ed shares a small glimpse of my airport, October 23, 2010.
Some days like on October 2, 2010 Mother Nature tosses clouds at Ed who decides to stay on the ground.
Enjoy a change-up flying story about people as Ed shares a September 2010 afternoon with Soni and her Mom.
Kent joins Ed for fun at the June 2010 Tahoe/Minden VMG fly-in.
Ed's Phoenix rest stop, Apache culture and casino, Mothers Day, and headwinds are all part of San Carlos Arizona 2010.
Aloft with Aidee about Ed flying a friend’s wife to Bullhead City in April 2010.
What a Day examines Ed's encounter with lower clouds than he is used to in April 2010.
From Corona to Bisbee with Delia shows how adverse weather turned a weekend into 5 days in March 2010.
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.
Charles and Ed fly over the San Gabriel Mountains to Foxy's Landing with the Corona Pilots Association. Nov. 14, 2009.
Ed has an Angel Flight with Donna and Sofie (October 2009).
Ed cruised by the Grand Canyon and over Lake Powellin 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 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 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).
Flying to Ramona with Kent, May 2005.
Sedona Trip Recapped: From September, 2004.
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Revision: 10/15/2013