Grand Canyon

Always great

Lake Powell

On the way Zion NP

Today's Pilot is preparing for landing... but where is the airport? ;-)

Welcome! Breakfast at Harry's, La Jolla

Who's this?

Sunny Diego

Chirstmas Apero

Christmas Breakfast

Monument San Diego Harbor

View from Hiatt Roof Bar

On the way to Flagstaff

Sedona

Flagstaff

Ready to go

Packed and strapped

Some hours on the road

Who has the bigger Truck?

Northern California

Oregon

The Truck Driver

After the Snow Storm

Safe arrived

Water in the desert

again the same two guys...

Desert Time

Del Mar Race Track

Pier

La Jolla

Crystal Pier

Mission Bay

Point Loma

Down Town San Diego and Seaport Village

Coronado Bridge

That was an awesome trip!

Lake Tahoe

Fuel Stopp

In the air again, yeah!

Beautiful region

Because of wildfires in San Francisco area the view was bad

The legendary bridge!

Yosemite

Airport in the nowhere, Bishop

Ready for fire fighting

Good Food

Morning in Bend

In the air again

Near Crater Lake

Crater Lake

Mt Shasta

Towards Lake Tahoe

...

Taco Time

Bye bye Seattle

Mt Baker

Selfie Time

@ 15'145 ft

Mt Rainier

On the way

Mt Helen

Cheers!

Two strangers at the Boeing Factory Tour

Great to be a pilot

Everett Airport

Seattle

At Cubcrafters

Flight Line

Yakima

...on the way

Mt Rainier

Approaching Seattle

The Market is always a good starting point

Fresh

...on the plate

De-snowing ;-)

...here we go

Service Public

Lunch Time

After a snow storm

Below 500ft...

Prime Rib after that crazy trip

Little Breakfast

Bye bye Beautiful British Columbia

...but weather keeps us on ground

Finally we got better weather

US Customs

Time to relax...

to enjoy

...and to get ready for bed

Glaciar Park Airport

:-)

Glacier NP

Border Crossing to Canada

British Columbia

Mission Completed but there is more to explore...

Banff NP

Towards Cranbrook

Pilots from Switzerland (Franz and Hans)

Ready to go to the Hotel

Wonderful

Appetizer Time

Grand Titan

Close fly-by

North-East of Grand Titan

Yellow Stone NP

Montana

Towards Glaciar NP

North

...

...

...

Jackson Hole

The famous Cowboy Bar.

Cockpit Crew

Vallecito

...

Next to the Rocky Mountains

...

...

Oxygen Boost

Crossing the Rockies

Next to the VIP (Garfield)

Salt Lake City

Energy

A little Breakfast for a great day ;-)

On the way to Grand Canyon

Grand Canyon

Zion

Burger Time in Cedar City

Bryce

Lake Powell

Monument Valley

Monument Valley

A little dinner

Emergency Kit

Bye bye San Diego

On the way...

Mine

Sedona

NAVY Station North Island

Overhead San Diego international - Lindberg

Mission Bay

Overhead Los Angeles International - LAX

Near Oxnard

Oxnard Beach

Wildfire LA Area

North of LA

Beatiful location on the way home.

Sushi! ;-)

Leaving the main land

The Island in sight

Arrived on Catalina Island

No asphalt on the island but an Airport. That's right :-)

Nice landscape

On the way out

Bye bye Catalina

Long Beach Harbor

Newport

South of Newport

Bellmont Park

Point Loma Old Light House

San Diego

Oil Leak :-(

However, the trip was great! (in the background there are some rafts...just in case :-)

On the way to Big Bear

En route

My Copilot from Bönigen

Big Bear City from the air

The Village Entrance

Flowers and a clock, must be from Switzerland ;-)

Back at the airport Big Bear Municipal

Arrowhead-Water area

Crossing LA area

Over the Ocean

La Jolla cove

Point Loma

San Diego Down Town

Swiss Club Los Angeles

Not bad at all that fancy Swiss Drink! ;-)

Great souvenirs

That was so delicious!

Swiss Music

On my way home from Los Angeles!

By plane to the Swiss Party is fun!

Back Home in San Diego.

Isch halt gliich nu cheibä fein nach em Raclette vom Zmittag zum Znacht äs Prime Rib ;-)

My Secreatary baked some Swiss National Day Buns...

Was very delicious :-)

Mhm, än Servilat ;-)

Swiss Olympics

Sunset next to Swiss Club

When I arrived at my house in San Diego, somebody was blocking my room ;-)

Palms and a great vehicle

Small Breakfast plates...

San Diego Broadway

One of the biggest Aircraft Museum in the world. Pima Tuscon

The aircraft cemetery 'Boneyard'

Grand Canyon

The east end of the south rim of Grand Canyon

A little Steak

Horse shoe (near Page)

Great colors! Antelope Canyon (north)

The trekking group

Looks not spectacular from outside

Monument Valley

Great Visit at Monument Valley site

Great Restaurant on route 66

The breakfast gives you energy till late afternoon

Route 66

Great road

Stopp in Oatman Arizona

Typical store

Gas Station

Dinner at Stone Brewery

USS Midway

Apero at Mr. A's

View from Mr. A's terrace direction Point Loma

A380 at Los Angeles Airport LAX

Yeah, my car is still running :-)

View from Fluonalp direction Sarnen

Trip to Trier/Föhren for my Seaplane Rating renewal

Trier Down-Town

Something small...

Due to a broken plane in Germany I had to get my license renewal in Como Italy.

Seaplane Flying keeps you smiling ;-)

Back in Switzerland at Lake Lucerne

View from Montana direction Mt. Pilatus

Bye bye Switzerland, it was a pleasant stay but now is time to go to Sunny California...

Swiss unique and delicious food on the way LA

Welcome to Melbourne

River through Melbourne

Typical Restaurants

On the road. No worries, I drive on the right side, means left lane ;-)

12 Apostels

The bridge

The Country Side

Byebye Melbourne

Wright Brothers

Worlds first powered Aircraft

What a Trio ;-)

In the streets of Dayton

In Cincinnati

Weather in Dayton

A good weather slot

Peoria

The only and one museum...

The Giant

...a stunning day...

What a simulator!

Landed in Schaumberg near Chicago

Chicago at Trump's Tower

Rennaisence Roof Top Bar

Skyline

Breakfast...

...with Coffee in 'Cheli-Style' ;-)

Chicago Sightseeing Tour by Tobi

...

It was great!

After the happy landing back in Dayton (Thai 9)

La Jolla

Sushi & Co.

At the Broadway

San Diego Bay Area

Raclette Cheese from Seiler Sarnen OW, Switzerland

That was very delicious :-)

Cessna 172 from FirstFlight at Brown Field Airport

Outbound direction north

San Diego Bay Transition (North island NAVY Base)

Harbor Area (Shelter Island)

San Diego Down Town

Coronado Bridge

Coronado Island

Death Valley Bad Water Basin

Colorful

Sand Dunes.

With Friends at Schooners (Ridgecrest)

Not bad at all :-)

Highwaz no. #1 direction San Francisco.

Nice View.

San Francisco

Final Destination after some miles.

San Francisco (Twin Peaks)

Lombard Street Stop

The Lombard Street during winter

The Golden Gate Bridge

North West Corner

Lunch at the Cliff House

...and something called melted chocolate cake :-)

Ocean Beach

Approach

Tobi with Pingu's

Beautiful Resort (Hyatt Kaanapali)

Scenic...

Scenic.

Delicious Fish Tacos

Something different

Beautiful colors at Krater Haleakala 3'055m

Quite cold on top

Weather in San Diego in the morning when leaving to Hawaii

Breakfast Sandwich and a Coffee Latte

Sunny weather

There is a Plam, a Christmas Tree, an Asian Person in a Hawaian Shirt and Swiss Guy on one picture :-)

Dole, Pinnaple Farm

Train ride through the plantation

These are pineapple plants

Pearl Harbour Aviation Museum

Ready for Celebration

Happy Birthday! Mum's 60. Birthday!

Polynesian Culture Center

A game

Rainforest

Byebye Oahu!

San Diego at a sunny day, as usual

Tuna and something liquid

Mt. Soledad Memorial

Sun Diego Zoo

Aerial Cable Train

more Zoo

Not Zoo :-)

Goodbye 2016...

Sun set at Mission Beach

The Left Wing of my Carbon Cub is almost ready for covering

Work Shop visit

Preparation

Lift

Adjustment

Cover against dust

Mission accomplished :-)

When an Angel flies, Christmas must be very close...

...and what happened here...?

Christmas celebration with a nice cut of Prime Rib :-)$

Regards from the Christmas Party of San Diego

Unspectacular beginning of the 25th of December 2016

...but suddenly the road condition change

Hey Swiss, the snow is over here!

Beautiful

The snow ends when the desert begins.

This is not breakfast at Tiffanys, it is breakfast at home.

Apero Board at The Lot Point Loma

It is the best way to start a new day with a healthy breakfast. I do not know if this was healthy but I do know at least it was very delicious and this is in my opinion the important point :-) (Wayside Cafe)

Somewhere on the road to Death Valley

At red rock

Little Lake Overlook

Artist's Drive

Badwater (the white stuff is not snow, it is salt)

It is not Paris, this is Las Vegas

Dinner at Stratosphere Tower

It is not Venecia in Las Vegas

Merry Christmas! (Bellagio)

Something for men (Ferrari F12, 740 HP and a Subwoofer for free :-)

After a night in beautiful Flagstaff we had a rainy day and canceled Grand Canyon trip :-/

After we passed Sedona, the rain stopped.

Men, something important to remember (but I am not sure if this is true...;-)

Cemetery Point Loma

What a nice spot to rest forever ;-)

San Diego Sky line

...and by night

Ticket for a glamour night

The first business 'meeting' without military outfit

Entry Hall

The Ballroom

Nothing very special but delicious (buffet service)

Some Pijama Freaks :-)

'Gross und Klein' went to the party

What a beautiful place.

Fall

Pacific Trail from Mexico to Alaska

What a view

Outdoor gear

See you again!

Kaiserhof, this is no 'Schmarren'

I had to drive :-(

A speciality of Switzerland in San Diego?

I did not believe this would be a real Swiss Wurschtsalat and I ordered the Baked Meatloaf, Knoedl, Spaetzle, Cucumber Salad, Bread, Butter and a Oktoberfest Beer. Cheers!

Captain Joe and his Sailing Yacht.

Was a great experience to sail on the Ocean.

We had good Wind and small waves.

Far away from home.

...and suddenly we had some other sailing boats around. There was a competition going on at this time.

Taxi to the Aircraft Carrier (we had trap landing!)

Camera check

On the Flight Deck

Approach

Trap

Taxiing

Fresh Food transport and of course 1'000'000 Gallons of JETA1 Fuel

Work goes on

Weapon trailer

Motivation is important ;-)

Deck before departure

On the edge

On Ocean 1 flight hour west of San Diego

Preparation for Take-Off

Here we go...

Was the best trip I have ever had during my Military Service :-)

Cliff Glider

Great spot.

Nice Memorial Plates.

The view is great.

...and as well in the opposite direction.

My new office. Officially in charge since 1st October 2016.

Official Photo of Capt. Burch :-) ("Sunntigs-Gwand-Foti")

Golf on Coronado NAVY Station

Crash Course

Let's try...

Where's my ball?

Nice shot! V-2 on top of the picture.

It was fun! Thank you Robert.

Visitors from Switzerland made a Stop in San Diego.

San Diego Fleet Week with Speed Race Event.

Beautiful cars.

And Trucks.

After a few hours at the track race and a meeting with the FBI, we were starving...

Point Loma the Lot in the Patio with some noise from the airplane they're taking off at San Diego International.

Burrito dinner with tasty wine from Italy. The second evening the visitors cooked very delicious Mountain Maccaronis. Mhm, they were tasty like Älplermagronen :-) Unfortunately, we forgot to take a picture of this great Swiss-Style evening.

And now it's obvious were the visitors from :-) Thank you very much guys, it was great! Come again!

What a combination. You won't leave hungry.

What a great taste!

Dinner to share.

The very tasty ribs of Temecula.

The steak is the measurement, the side is not important or the Swiss guys say: Fleisch, alles andere ist Beilage.

Steak only.

A Burrito never can be big enough.

The living room is a good place to start a cosy evening at home.

Apero with some great wine from California, cheese from France, salami from Italy and bread as you can buy in Switzerland.

Something healthy.

Mexican Style.

Fresh bread for breakfast and of cours, a chocolate croissant :-)

And sometimes a Muesli with fresh strawberry from Farmer's Market.

Brownfield Airport. Hangar is used as meeting room. Every Saturday the members meet to talk about aviation and more. They serve lunch for 3 US$, coocked by a club member.

Good restauration job.

C-170A, built in 1956.

F/A-18 on the way for take-off.

Carbon Cub EX in Santa Maria. This huge hangar costs US 680$ per month. Smaller ones are US 175$. Very good price.

Ben checks the oil.

Landing at the coast.

I like "walk" at the beach ;-)

Great flight, great landing, wonderful feeling!

Happy Birthday Switzerland!

Why not a delicous lunch (quiche and salad).

I got a California registration plate.

Current work status.

Rich and his plane.

Old but very nice aircraft.

The cockpit is old but in good condition.

Near Chula Vista.

Final Runway 26R at Brown Airfield.

Kleiner Nachtrag zu Mitte Juli...

Besichtigung der USS Midway.

F/A-18.

Die USS Midway steht am Stadtrand.

Es benötigt viel Zeit bis Mann :-) jeden Winkel besichtigt hat.

Wow, habe eine unter vielen perfekt eingerichteten Schubladen entdeckt. :-)

Das ist eine tolle Apéro Kombination...

Der Fokus war natürlich auf dem P-51 Mustang Buch, zumindest zu Beginn ;-)

...gefolgt von einem Morchelrisotto mit einem kleinen Steak ;-)

Än Guetä und zum Wohl.

Ach ja, der Salat ist übrigens ein Bio-Produkt. Dreifach gewaschen damit auch ganz bestimmt keine Vitaminen mehr drin sind.

Die erste Pop-Niete wird gesetzt.

Beim Solid Rivet nieten gehts etwas harter zu und her. Was die Nachbarn wohl denken >:-)

In der Garage herrscht Vollbeschäftigung...

Der Container-Inhalt ist auf einen Truck umgeladen, vorgefahren.

Nach einer kleinen Übertellung...

...und einigen Schrauben...

...endlich das Frühstück am grossen Tisch :-)

Das Wohnzimmer.

Das Gästezimmer.

Mein Reich :-)

Bis auf ein paar Tablarecken des Schranks ist nichts erwähnenswertes beschädigt worden (kein einziges Glas zerbrochen!). Die Verpackung war super!

Cleveland Forest. Mhmmm, ...

...hier sind die Bäume, oder das was nach dem Waldbrand noch übrig ist.

Auf der Fahrt.

Das Dorf Julian.

Ein "kleines" Teleskop.

Auf der Rückreise auf dem 78er.

Der prvisorische Werktisch.

Zwei identische Böcke mussten angefertigt werden. Superstabil!

Die Böcke perfekt ausgerichtet bereits die ersten Fittinge montiert.

Und von der andern Seite.

Doppelrippen kleben auf dem Balkon. Ansonsten benutze ich den Balkon nie :-)

Der Tisch steht... Wer findet den Fehler?

Hier ist der Tisch korrekt montiert.

Das provisorische Büro.

Das Wohnzimmer.

Gut verpackt.

Und das gibt irgendwann Mal ein Flugzeug?

Und das Auto hat bereits nicht mehr Platz.

Coole Lieferung. Wie ein Stück Fleisch vakumiert.

Ja, wenn der Zeitpunkt da ist wo das Panel zu leuchten beginnt, dann ist ein grosser Schritt vollbracht.

Like in Mexico.

Hopefully works this mission...

Es läuft...

Ready to go :-)

Irgendwie muss die Box in die Garage.

Carl hat alles im Griff.

Box und Auto haben Platz. Zumindest jetzt noch...

1. Internet-Box im Laden kaufen und Abo lösen. 10 Minuten später zu Hause einstecken und lossurfen. Perfekt!

Erste Sachen verstauen.

Ja der Tisch...

Nach einer kurzen Nacht mit einer Packübung steht am 25.06.2016 um 08:00 Uhr der Shuttle zum Zürich Airport bereit.

Die Boeing 777 steht bereit. The Burch Brothers are ready for boarding.

Anflug Los Angeles.

Erstes Abendessen: Beim Mexikaner (San Clemente).