A Cub flying IFR? Not exactly. But we did some VFR-on-top flying on departure from SNA.

Huntington Beach pier. This is our typical cruise configuration: low, slow, clamshell door wide open, and 500 feet off the coastline.

It took forever to get up to 4500 feet for the northbound Special Flight Rules transition, but here we are over the top of LAX.

Our first stop was Santa Monica. I trudged over to the Angel Flight office to drop off some fliers and the whole staff ended up coming out to see the airplane. This is the head mission coordinator, Cheri Cimmarusti, and her grandson. They couldn't believe the airplane was covered in fabric.

Santa Monica

Must have been Gray's leg to fly. I'm up front handling navigation, traffic, and photography.

It's amazing how many $5 million homes you see when you're flying this low.

The view out the front. The little wire sticking up in front is the fuel gauge.

A greenhouse of another sort.

In the Cub there are no opaque or scratchy windows between your eyeball and the outside world. Colors are more vibrant, and you can see everything down there. Surfers, dolphins, seaweed, and more.

$$$$$

Our next stop was Camarillo, where we passed out flyers and spread the word that there was a J3 available at SNA. I love this view. Want a photo? Just stick the camera out into the breeze and take the shot. Just be sure you don't drop the camera...

On the ramp at Oxnard with a kindred spirit, a 1941 Navy N2S-2.

A windsurfer enjoying the water. And the air.
Many people on the water would take the time to stop and wave as we passed.

I often wonder what the cars on Pacific Coast Highway thought as they looked out their window and saw an airplane at eye level or below. They were probably wondering why we weren't going as fast as them.

A park south of Santa Barbara Airport.

Santa Barbara

This is the departure end of runways 15R and L at Santa Barbara. We flew so low that they just let us fly right under the departures going off those runways.

Final approach to Lompoc. You can already see the mass of yellow Cubs sitting on the ramp.

The ramp at Lompoc.

There were more that just Cubs there. Two Stearmans, a Waco UPF-7, a half dozen classic cars, and some interesting warbirds were also present.

Cute. This was on an Taylor E-2 Cub, the precursor to the J3. It was much simpler than the J3, believe it or not. I believe this one was manufactures in the early 30s.

Unlike many cities, Lompoc seems proud of their airport and realizes that the West Coast Cub Fly-In brings in a lot of business.

A Globe Swift with the P-51 landing gear modification. This is an ideal complex airplane for commercial training for those of you who abhor the thought of flying anything with a nosewheel.

The long yellow line. Piper produced something like 30,000 of these airplanes, most of which are still flying.

Cockpit of the Taylor E-2. Note the simplified elevator trim.

Practicing for the bomb drop and landing contest.