The Mint 400 in Jean, Nevada

was a blast! Words can not describe the thrill of flying low level right next to these amazing trophy and other class trucks and vehicles. I did not know it was the Mint until the morning of the race. We flew out Friday late afternoon. Landed at Jean Airport which by the way is a super busy airport on weekends. Lots of gliders and sky diver flights going in and out all day along with 5 helicopters on our race. We spent the night at the Golden Strike which is heaven for smokers and hell for me. lol. I'm not used to being around that much smoke. Honestly, forest fires don't congest me or give me headaches like cigarettes. Smoke from the forest actually has an oddly pleasant smell, but smoke from cancer sticks(no offense to those of you who smoke)has an awful smell that gives me an instant headache and plugs up my sinuses. The next morning as I pre-flighted I took in the clean desert air and appreciated being out in the open air once again.

I could go on and on about how fun it is to fly low level next to these race vehicles, but I'm not going to do that. I'm going to keep this one short since I have been working non-stop with very little time to blog now adays and get caught up on posting pics and replying to comments. Let's just say it was a long day on that race day. Flew over 10 hours of flying. Whew! Also, I'll be honest, as much fun as it is to chase these cars, there is some serious risks involved, some occasional pucker factor. Honestly, flying these races can be more dangerous than firefighting and construction flying in my opinion since we are flying low level at high speeds for extended times in high density altitudes and heavy ships at the edge of power, but for sure along with that adrenaline and danger is where some of that excitement lies. Some serious risk management is involved in this kind of flying.