and then right behind him (they were flying in formation until they got to the airport) this other guy. Turned out to be a couple of McDonnell Douglas Explorers, returning to Mesa, Arizona from the Heli-Expo at Annaheim, CA. The Explorer is a twin engine NOTAR (no tail rotor) helicopter. The white one was outfit with a medical interior.
Mikey next to his big brothers:
When the Explorers took off, they made very little noise considering the size of the aircraft. Not as quiet as a car, but nothing like you expect from a twin engine helicopter. Very nice...
We depart Blyth at 2:30, and just east of the airport encounter the Colorado River:
You can finally see the river in this photo. Notice that on the far side there is no green anywhere. As we flew over the green area, you could see all the irrigation ditches, no doubt bringing water in from the river...
The great un-green. We don't see significant green again until Austin, Texas. Lots of cactus and dust.
We arrive at Scottsdale, Arizona. We talked about maybe trying to make it to Tuscon, Arizona, but that's a couple more hours, and it's getting near to sunset. I don't fly in the dark around mountains unless I know the area. So we decide to stay in Scottsdale for the night. Signature Aviation rents us a nice car, and gets us a good deal across the street at the "Thunderbird Hotel" which sounds like a dive, but is a really nice hotel. After a nice meal at a Mexican restaurant, we turn in for the night.
