Like all Cessna 150, N512R is a great but little aircraft. With two of us on board and full fuel, there’s room for luggage equipment, but not too much of it. Two weeks before departure, we start working on the list of equipment that will be on-board with us…

• Portable radio and portable GPS - Because we’re prudent pilots
• Satellite tracking system - To publish our position live on this blog and make our families feel better
• Laptops - Because we’re aviators 2.0, and this project is also an online venture. We can’t afford to loose contact with myTransponder.com, our facebook fan page or Twitter
• iPod Touch - To run ForeFlight… may be some surprises for you…
• Camera and camcorder - To make pictures and video to feed this blog and upcoming projects
• Clothing and personal equipment for a couple of days

All the rest belongs to the “nice to have” category, and the selection will be really strict. Even if we’ll do some public speaking, there will no formal clothing on board. We will also not bring giveaways with us on board, we would need a second plane for that. But we’ll find way to treat you, both online and on-site supporters.

15 days before our departure, there are no days off anymore. Preparing the collaborations at all our stops is a lot of work and it’s great to see the General Aviation community reacting to our project. I just checked while wrting this post, my @flyingacrossamerica.com inbox contains more than 3000 messages… Getting everybody posted is an exciting task…

But work is not only going on on the promotion side. Preparation continues and Jason took N512R to her annual inspection. This was an “owner-assisted” inspection and a great opportunity to learn to know the aircraft better. Check the video he made for his blog:

While the aircraft is getting ready, we’re still looking for more patrons - the funding is not secured yet, please buy miles using the yellow buttons on the right-hand side - and local supporters. We need contacts in Roswell, NM and Pensacola, FL. Anyone flying there?

The countdown before our departure is now in days. Just like in NASA’s shuttle launch countdowns, we plan some activities before reaching zero. But unlike NASA, we have a lot of possible changes in our countdown. Here’s what is planed and fixed so far for the begin of our flight across America:

Day -3 - 18th of June - Vincent flies from Frankfurt (Germany) to Jacksonville, FL and the crew finally meets for the first time. Expect pictures to be online same day.

Day -2 - 19th of June - Rally in Dunnellon airport (X35). You can also RSVP per mail or via our facebook event.

Day -1 - 20th of June - Final preparation

Day 1 -21st of June - Dunnellon - Daytona Beach - Destin. We’ll stop by our good friends of DestinJet, a new FBO in Destin that supported us from the very beginning of our project.

Day 2 - 22nd of June - Destin - Baton Rouge. We’ll stop by PAI Aero, an FBO at Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport

Day 3 - 23rd of June - Baton Rouge - Houston

Day 4 - 24th of June - Houston. The 24th will be our first “non-flying” day, except for Jason, may be. If you want to take a flight lesson with him in N512R, let us know. Even if you’re not a pilot this is possible! We’ll spend the afternoon at the 1940 Air Terminal Museum. Come join us there, you could even win a plane! There is also a facebook event for this rally.

Day 5 - 25th of June - Houston - Sweetwater

There is still a lot going on behind the scenes. The funding is still not secured but we have great patrons and supporters. We are also talking with possible new sponsors. We also continue to collect giveaway gifts for aviation nuts that YOU will possibly win. More about this later.

On the plus side, AOPA online posted this great article about our project. This generated some extra traffic to this blog (may be you come from here, hello), but no extra donations. If you think that General Aviation is important and must be supported through bold initiatives like ours, please buy miles using the yellow buttons on the right hand side.

We do our best to secure the funding and clarify the planing to facilitate the execution of the flight. There will certainly be some improvisation and surprises but we try to minimize that. We believe that General Aviation supporters will continue to support us and make our flight a success. We count on you, more than ever. Buy miles, or goodies from our online shop, and spread the word about this website and our facebook fan page. Every fan counts!

General Aviation is a great community. If you see pilots are selfish guys locked in their cockpits, you’re completely wrong. Not only aviation is supporting our communities, but it’s also a strongly networked group of people. As we continue to prepare our flight, we work at reinforcing these links and creating new ones.

Building a group of pilots and aviation enthusiasts around our project, and seeing this group work together, interact and help us to make is a success is a great feeling. The more interaction in the community, the stronger the links, the better for General Aviation as a whole.

We already did bring some people based at the same airport in contact, that would not have known each other without our project. Each of our stop will be a great opportunity to rally aviation fans and make them meet, make them talk together and start new aviation-based friendships. This project is not only about how we can fly across America, but what will happen before and after our flight.

There are more people reading this blog each day, we hit the 1,000 Twitter followers mark yesterday, and we have more than 500 fans on facebook. You can also find us on myTransponder.com. There is no need to donate money to join (even if this is always appreciated - use the yellow buttons on the right hand side for that), you just have to be an aviation nut. And if you are close to our route, come meet us and meet other aviation fans from your area.

Last but not least, you can subscribe to our newsletter to get updates our flight directly in your inbox.

As our departure date gets closer, so does the moment of making the decision to start the flight… or not. The funding is not ensured yet and we don’t know if it will be possible to fly all the way from Florida to California and back as planed. We had a long discussion about that and made the following decisions:

• Vincent will fly from Frankfurt (Germany) to Jacksonville, FL anyway. The flight ticket was already paid for in late December (on our own funds) and is not modifiable or refundable. It was bought so to have the lowest possible fare.
• The first legs will be flown as planed, weather permitting naturally. Thanks to Destin Jet and our supporters in Baton-Rouge, we will save a lot on accommodation already during the first days.
• The decision to continue as planed, modify the itinerary to go first to places where we have supporters, or to turn around will be made on a “last minute” basis in accordance to available funding and donations.

We have great supporters who invited us at several places and we do our best to make all this happen. We have some ideas and surprises in preparation and even if the situation is not fully clear right now we hope that everything will unfold as planed.

At this moment, we need the following things:

• Miles purchases - Use the yellow buttons on the right hand side of this page for that
• Sales of t-shirts, mousepads and glassware from our online shop
• Contacts with aviation-oriented and mainstream media at our stops
• Contacts with aviation fans, particularly in Roswell (NM), Pensacola (FL) and Lafayette (LA)
• Aviation bloggers to post about our project

We do all what we can to continue promoting General Aviation, to not disappoint our great supporters and we need your help for that. Act now, buy miles!

The dates are set for our first event: this will be the 19th of June, at Dunnellon Airport (X35) in Central Florida, starting at 12pm. Food, Flying, and Fun at the Dunnellon Airport. Fly or drive in there will be ample parking for both. Join in and listen to Jason as he does a brief presentation on Pilot Error and uncovers how to lessen hazards in the cockpit.

This will be a wonderful opportunity for pilots and non-pilots of all ages to come out and network within the aviation industry.

Come meet us before we start our flight across America to promote General Aviation! It will be possible to see the plane and if you want to fly it together with Jason.

Please RSVP per mail, comment here or on our facebook event.

I have to confess something. Most of my flying so far was in low-wing aircraft. Even if I logged few dozen hours in a Cessna 172, the fact that I’m most a low-wing pilot makes Jason nervous. He seems to think that I will slam his aircraft  at the first landing and jeopardize the project.

Any tip about how to land a Cessna 150 without breaking any part of it and ensure that it still can fly afterward is welcome. Please don’t tell Jason about this

If you smiled while reading this post, why not buy some miles to give me more opportunities to improve my high-wing landings ? Use the yellow buttons on the right-hand side to buy 1, 2, 5 or 10 miles - We need 4000 of them and every purchase counts!

How could would it be for you to meet us at one of our stops, and then fly in N512R for 30 or 60 minutes, with Jason in the right hand seat? Even if you’re not a pilot, this is possible and Jason is a Certified Flight Instructor! Pilots will be able to log time with Jason in the very aircraft that flies across America and non pilots will profit from our visit to discover the joy of flying!

One of our goals with this project is to show that flying is not as expensive as many do think. You can get a 30 minutes flight for $50 or a full hour for $100! This is also the perfect gift for your favorite aviation enthusiast and also contributes to support our project.

Don’t miss this unique opportunity to fly with a great flight instructor in a cool aircraft. Check our flight schedule and contact us to book your flight today! We have flight opportunities at all stops, but not many of them, so book yet to be sure you get one.

On the 24th of June we’ll be at Houston Hobby Airport and visit the 1940 Air Terminal Museum. The museum is run by a great team of volunteers which organize events and care for the collections. They also run a giveaway to help with the funding. The prize is nothing else than… a Cessna 172! You can buy ticket for $50 and get a chance to win this aircraft. Click here on the picture below for all details.

Photo credit: Blair McFarlain

The raffle plane will be there for our stop on the 24th and we hope to see you there. We look forward to meeting all aviation fans from Houston there! Come shake hands with us, visit the museum and share the passion of flying. Contact us to let us know if you come or RSVP via our facebook event.

Our project needs your support. Use the yellow buttons on the right hand side to buy miles or visit the links on top of the page to read more about how we try to promote General Aviation.

As a European guy, I’m not familiar with all details of US geography and history, not to mention states’ mottoes. I recently learned from our friends at the Texas Aviation Association (TXAA) that Texas’s motto is “Friendship”.

I’m not really sure where this motto comes from, but I suspect it has something to do with TXAA’s secretary, Jay Carpenter. Since we got in touch via Jo Hunter, the aviation photographer, Jay did not stop working for us. Thanks a lot for all your work, Jay, it’s great to have you on board.

Our new Texas friends suggested we slightly modify our route, and replace the planed stop in Austin with a stop in Georgetown. Georgetown seems to be much more General Aviation friendly, and we will be awaited there with famous Texas hospitality. I can’t wait…

We’re still working on the final details, but there will certainly be a dinner, lots of hangar talk and lot of… friendship. Let’s show everybody how cool and useful General Aviation is.

If you’re anywhere near Georgetown, TX on the 9th, 10th or 11th of July, mark your calendar!

PS: our departure date becomes closer and we’re still short of money. Use the yellow buttons on the right hand side of this page to buy miles now and help us promoting General Aviation.