My four-day trip, plotted.
I’m a geek. Everyone should know that. This just proves it again.
I use a gps logger to track my GPS coordinates when I’m out and about taking photos, mostly so I can geotag my photos. But on long flights, I often turn the GPS logger on and let it collect my coordinates as I fly. The logger I use has a huge memory and was actually able to accumulate GPS coordinates for my entire helicopter flight from Wickenburg, AZ to Seattle, WA.
The image shown here shows the four days of my flight. Day 1 was Wickenburg to Page, AZ. Day 2 was a photo flight on Lake Powell followed by a flight from Page, AZ to Bryce Canyon, UT. Day 3 was Bryce Canyon, UT to Salt Lake City, UT and then on to Yakima, WA. Day 4 was a bit of scud running to get to the other side of the Cascade Mountains, from Yakima to Seattle, WA.
If you’d like to look at the track points in detail on your copy of Google Earth, you can download them. They show altitude, too, so you can get an idea of how high or low we were for various stages of the flight. You can probably even do some kind of flyby if you have the right software.
Pretty cool, no?
I’m really lucky in that the GPS which is fitted to the machine I fly most logs all the same information and I can download it to a USB stick and then into the flight planning software.
From there it will export it as a KML and I can replay the flight – I love it when technology comes together!
Hi Maria. Thanks for the book and the disk. I had a great time with the flight and loved the challenges that the weather posed. Hope all your maintanence went well and your camper pulling trip was smooth. Can’t wait to read the blogs on the rest of the trip. Have fun this summer in Washington.
Jason Hebert
Hello again. The disk you sent was broken in half when shipped. If you could send another that would be great
thanks
Jason: Dang! I can’t figure that out. Netflix sends discs in paper envelopes all the time without problems, but the first time I do it, the disc cracks in half. I’ll send a new disc once I get my computer set up in Quincy. I’m in transit now and it might take a few days. Hope you like the book!