New pilot hopes to land at all New Mexico airfields
As a child growing up in New Mexico, Brennan loved airplanes; his family would take him to the observation deck at Albuquerque International Sunport to watch the departing and arriving jets. He took a detour from aviation in his teen years to learn how to play guitar. But the thought of learning to fly stayed with him. Eventually, following a move to New Hampshire for a job, Brennan got into Microsoft Flight Simulator and took an introductory flight in October 2003. He says he didn't enjoy that first flight; he was too busy concentrating on flying the airplane. A few hours later, when the pressure was off, "I knew I had to go out and get my pilot's license." He completed the bulk of his training in the harsh New Hampshire climate, scheduling four lessons per week to fly as much as weather permitted. A move back to New Mexico for his job with a national cable/ satellite provider permitted him to finish up in warmer and sunnier skies.
| Name: Nick D. Brennan |
Which brings us up to June 2005. Brennan, 24, was returning to Albuquerque after a visit to Gaston, Arkansas, flying with a pilot friend. As they crossed the countryside en route to a stop in Lake Havasu, Arizona, "I started seeing all of these airports, thinking, 'You know, that's kind of a cool airport. I should go there,'" Brennan recalls.
Don't most pilots muse along these lines? Well, yes. But Brennan continued to mull the idea until eventually it "clicked." He would land at all 56 public-use airports in New Mexico. He allotted himself one year in which to accomplish the goal, and in November 2005 he took to the skies. As this article was going to press, he had visited 10 airports.
There's more to the story. Brennan doesn't just land and snap a photograph. He takes copious notes --everything from terrain, weather, and airport conditions to the food and fuel available (or not). He posts these descriptions, along with photographs and sometimes video files, at Pilots of America (www. pilotsofamerica.com), an aviation Web board. (You'll find his accounts in the "Cool Places to Fly" forum.)
He is careful to include fuel prices and other bits of flying minutiae that pilots crave. On a visit to Moriarty Airport, for example, he observed, "Hold short line very hard to find near the end of Runway 26," and at Alexander Municipal Airport in Belen, "Cows on and in the vicinity of the field (moo!). Big dip in runway not noted elsewhere." Reading his accounts is like stumbling upon a folksier version of an online airport directory. He hopes that these posts will prove helpful to pilots who are considering a trek to New Mexico.
"It's funny, when I tell people, [they] hear the number 56--that's really not that many," Brennan says. "But New Mexico is a very large state--it takes a long time to get to them." And one of the 56, Conchas Lake Seaplane Base, is going to necessitate a water landing. Fortunately, Brennan says, he is looking forward to learning to fly floats.
After New Mexico, what then? Brennan isn't sure. He'd like to land at an airport in each of the continental 48 states. Don't most pilots muse about such an accomplishment? Probably. Check back with Nick Brennan in November of this year.
Jill W. Tallman is assistant editor of AOPA Flight Training magazine. A private pilot since 2001, she has approximately 300 hours.
Photography by Tony Bonanno
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