EDITOR’S NOTE: The following is the second in a weekly series of stories adapted from William Kelley’s book, “Wind Socks, Grass Strips, and Tail-Draggers.” Last week: How Kelley’s grandfather inspired his sense of adventure.

There are several types of aviation charts available to pilots.

The Sectional Charts are preferred for the newer pilot, and the slower, smaller planes. Each inch represents 500,000 inches, or a scale of 1:500,000. The World Aeronautical Charts have a scale of 1:1,000,000 and are used by faster planes with more experienced pilots.

However, that is not a hard-and-fast rule.

A pilot can use whatever chart he or she desires. I happened to like the Sectional Chart because the landmarks were easier to identify, which made it easier for me to stay on course as I followed the chart over long distances.

As I traveled across the country, I tried to acquire any chart I did not already have. I sometimes bought charts I might already possess, just to have the latest version. Eventually, I ended up with Sectional and World Aeronautical Charts to cover, essentially, the whole contiguous 48 states.

Within the first year of having my pilot license, I had covered most of the Lower Peninsula and part of the Upper Peninsula.

In 1967, my brother-in-law and I drove my 1967 Mustang to Idaho. We basically drove straight through. It was on that trip that I fell in love with the mountains of Montana and Idaho.

Any time I was close to an airport, whether in a car or plane, I inquired about the Sectional Charts for that area and surrounding areas. At that time, charts cost 25 cents. The last charts I bought cost $9.25 each, and I am not sure they are available anymore. Many people rely on their iPad for navigation. I still use my charts.

As the spring of 1968 approached, my brother-in-law and I began to discuss a trip to Idaho in my Cessna 140. We had some charts acquired from our 1967 car trip. I scrounged a few and ordered others from the local airport until I had all the Sectional Charts to fly from Alpena to Grangeville, Idaho.

As in most adventures, the planning is the most time-consuming — and, in many ways, the most fulfilling — part of a trip.

To prepare, I placed the charts end-to-end and side-to-side after folding the edges so they mated all across the living room floor.

After I figured the course, I drew the course across the charts with a yardstick and a red pencil. Then, with a plotter, I marked off 10-mile segments and numbered them. Then I circled landmarks and checkpoints. In a spiral notebook, I listed the potential fuel stops. I listed every heading possible: magnetic heading, true course and heading, corrected headings, possible winds.

I made the trip into a scientific problem with various scenarios.

Even then, there were bits of information I had to factor once we were on the trip.

The Cessna 140 has a gross weight of 1,450 pounds. Something we soon learned was that a change of underwear, a toothbrush, and a spare pair of socks, along with the two flight bags full of charts, full fuel of 25 gallons, full oil of four quarts, two people of 170 pounds each, and the Cessna 140 was at gross weight.

We spent the whole spring planning the flight. By the time we made the flight in June, we had each flown at least 10,000 miles in our minds.

Check The News next week for the next installment. William Kelley was a teacher for 32 years and has been a pilot since 1966. He lives in Herron on the family farm where he was born and raised.