Detroit Lakes, Minnesota

This week’s Cellpic Sunday photo was taken above northwestern Minnesota near the city of Detroit Lakes, Minnesota. The large lake in the background is Big Detroit Lake. The city can be viewed at the far end of the lake.

We were on approach to Long Lake in a 1947 Piper PA-11 Cub. I was just completing a biennial flight review and my friend and instructor took the controls for a few minutes so I could capture this image with my Samsung S-6. Fair warning, when the window is open, a large slipstream could easily suck an expensive cell phone out of the aircraft if you don’t hold on tight. I was aware and very careful not to lean toward the window. Better to have the window support in the view than to lose a cell phone. Photo edited by Snapseed via my iPad.

Join me with your own #CellpicSunday images. Only rule is the image must be taken and edited via a mobile device. Happy Imaging.

NB for my aviation oriented friends…

Departure from Long Lake, just west of the Detroit Lakes airport. Climbout for westbound heading and a couple of steep turns. Held altitude to within 50 feet (give or take) in both directions. The PA-11 is very stable, just a touch of extra throttle to hold altitude.

First lake landing parallel to the shore in extremely light winds and almost glass water (almost no ripples). Flared a bit high so dropped in a bit, but not far. Takeoff was long due to the smooth water, lifted a wing to get one float loose, the loss of water drag gave us enough speed to lift off. Instructor admonished to be sure to use enough opposite rudder to counteract the turning created by the wing lift, and be sure to stay in ground effect for a bit while speed builds.

One more lake to the south for another landing, then on to Loon Lake, my friend’s home base. On approach to landing, we could see lots of boat and jet ski traffic. We set up the descent, but just above tree level, instructor called for a practice go-around and we headed back to Long Lake. On the way, stall practice. The PA-11 is just as docile in a stall as it is in a steep turn.

Final landing at Loon Lake was interesting. The south end of the lake had a busy “moire-like” pattern in the water, undoubtedly due to the winds which had come up a bit. Last landing was a too-high flare, accompanied by a higher than normal sink rate. We dropped in pretty quickly, but safely. We speculated the change at the end was due to our transition from the “squirrelly water” to a calmer area. In any case, it was a safe landing, and we taxied to the dock to trailer the bird and do the paperwork. In the previous week, I’d completed the ground school portion of the flight review. The flying portion was postponed due to high winds that day. I logged 1.3 hours in “Single-engine Sea category. I’m legal to fly for another two years and current for 90 days in Single-engine Sea category.

John Steiner