The first time I visited New Orleans was in a G200 private jet as a passenger who spent the entire flight on the jump-seat rather than sipping champagne like the rest. The second time I went to MSY was as a pilot in a Cirrus SR22T. It turned out to be a long, challenging day but the 4-day layover that followed was one of the most memorable ones.
Starting the day with exercise by pulling the Cirrus out of its cage.
Ready to board!
From the beginning it looked like I was going to have to work a little extra hard that day.
Reaching flight levels in a piston single. Fairly doable in the Cirrus, but I much prefer to stay at 10,000 and avoid having to use supplemental oxygen.
So far so good
This was a race to our planned fuel stop in Lexington, KY. The goal was to land, clear customs, grab fuel, and depart before the storm over SDF arrived at LEX.
It didn't quite work out. Got caught in the rain during the ground stop.
After the storm had passed, we had an opening and departed to the south.
Negotiated a detour to the west with ATC to get more distance between us and the retreating storm.
You couldn't pay me enough to fly through one of these willingly.
Soon enough, the Atlantic ocean appeared.
A sunset. They just don't get old. I'm sorry.
Approaching New Orleans area from the south-east. A bit of a detour but that's how flow works there.
And that's a wrap!