Today, I flew GXRP up to 14000 feet. That’s about half way to jet altitudes, and twice as high as I normally go.

It was a gorgeous flying day, in terms of visibility. By the time I reached 14000 feet, the airplane was climbing at a measly 300 ft/min carrying me and 800+ lb. of fuel, and my portable oxygen supply. The top of climb occurred about forty miles east of my home airport, over the middle of Lake Ontario. From that high, from that single point, I could see the entire shoreline of the lake: from Hamilton to Watertown, from Rochester to Trenton.

Pressurized aircraft drivers must be used to such sights. I probably never will, considering the inconvenience of portable oxygen (tanks empty rapidly at 1.5L/min) and the lack of a turbocharger (so the engine power is meagre and the airplane feels sluggish).