Tonight, Lance from Georgia was in town, and asked if any of the pilots in the Dallas area would like to get together to meet after work.  Dave invited us to join him in his pressurized Baron 58 for a sunset/night flight to KSEP for some world-class BBQ at the Hard Eight.

Dave's Baron is based at Addison in North Dallas.  We all arrived about 6pm.

We tried to leave Dave alone so he could preflight without distractions, but I don't know how successful we were, with all the questions and good-natured ribbing.  :-)

The sun was setting as the plane was pulled out of the hangar, making for some beautiful shots.

N322KS in all her glory.

Lance rode shotgun and did checklists for Dave, as well as flew the enroute portions of the flight to KSEP and return.

And here's a video of the engine start, pre-takeoff checks, and departure from runway 15 at KADS:

Can't see the video above? Download it (3.41 MB).

Right after departure, we were cleared into Class B airspace, to be routed over DFW to head the 80 nm southwest to KSEP.  As we turned westbound, we could see the runways at Dallas Love.

And then, we crossed over the massive DFW complex.

 

 

Lake Grapevine sits just to the north of DFW.

The business office.  Dave flies this thing very smoothly, carefully, and with an attention to details that garners your respect from the very start.  He's a man who knows his bird.

Over Fort Worth, the Naval Air Station is just to the left of the center row of street lights.

Sun is just about gone now.  I think this photo might become Dave's new wallpaper!  It might become mine!!

At KSEP, a quick phone call to Spike's secretary (Stephenville Directory Assistance) garnered us the telephone number of the restaurant and a ride from the airport to the restaurant, across the street from the airport, by a nice young lady that worked there.  The golf carts are no longer at the airport, per our hostess.

Many large BBQ pits, all wood fired, outside.  You can see one of the cooks/servers back there at the pit they were serving from tonight.  You grab a tray, tell them what meats you want, he cuts 'em up, you go inside and they weigh it, you grab your fixin's and sit down at long benches to grub!

One of the smokers had a hot fire going inside.  The picture above is with the flash...

...with the flash off, you get a better idea how it appeared to us.

After dinner and a recalculation of our new weight & balance we headed back to DFW.  This shot with the ballfields in the foreground really turned out.

Finally, DFW once more.  We were told to head direct to the airport beacon at 3500', and watched the southbound arrivals slide under us as we headed northeast to Addison in the silky smooth night air over the DFW metroplex.  The flight home?  About 30 minutes, with a 7-knot tailwind and a 209-knot groundspeed.  This is good!

Dave, thanks for giving my first ride in a twin!  And a fine one it was at that!  Lance, it was a pleasure to meet you and I hope to see you in April during my business trip to Atlanta.  And Spike, thanks for keeping me company in the club seating at the back of Dave's plane, the tour of the club aircraft afterwards.  Those are some nice aircraft at RFC Dallas!