Getting into Las Vegas was one thing. Getting out was quite another. Especially when you have one controller who is clearance delivery, ground, and tower. It took us twenty minutes after start up to just make initial contact. Someone always beat us to the mic to ask for clearance. It was only when the cavalry (the controllers own words for his coworkers) showed up that we were actually able to get our taxi clearance. We departed 30L, got handed off to McCarran approach and before long we were cleared en route.

Ryan Airfield in Tucson was our destination. We passed just west of Kingman, AZ on our way south and intersected our route from the day before. It was neat to actually start recognizing towns and features that we had already flown over on other flights. Gila Bend was planned as a flyover point only, but we decided to land and check the weather into Tucson. Turns out it was good we landed as at least one pilot was in dire need of a washroom. The weather looked passable in Tuscon and we headed to Ryan Field. Flew through a few showers but it was a great flight at fairly low level over the rugged Arizona desert.

United Indian Mission was our reason for returning to Tucson. We parked our planes in one of their hangers and then talked with the director about UIM’s goals and pilot requirements. They lent us two vehicles for the evening and we were able to head into town for a movie.