East Hill Flying Club EHFC Blog

To Colorado by Skyhawk - and back!

Michael Brown — Wed, 31 Oct 2018 00:44:38 GMT

I've finally made it back, and it's nice to be home after more than three weeks away.

When I got up this morning, the weather was VFR in Dayton and MVFR in Ithaca (forecast to clear to VFR by the time I got there). There were large patches of IFR and LIFR reported in eastern Ohio along my route, but the forecast was for them to clear up by 11AM.

As forecast, the overcast at Dayton broke up to the east, and within ten minutes of takeoff I was flying along at 5,500 feet under cloudless skies and smooth air.

Someone was burning something in Chesterville, Ohio/

Two Rorschach Ponds for the last day of my trip...

All roads meet in Hartville, Ohio.

Lake Milton, Ohio.

The bridge and dam on the Mahoning River in Girard, Ohio.

There was a broken undercast at around 200 feet above ground level for a stretch of about 75 miles from Franklin, Ohio, to Bradford, Pennsylvania. The undercast was never complete, but as I approached the Ohio/Pennsylvania border, it broke up into these parallel waves of clouds. It was like looking down on the earth through a picket fence.

The undercast ended shortly before I reached Bradford, Pennsylvania.

The Canisteo River near Cameron, NY.

After three and a half hours in the air, my destination is finally in sight - that's KITH, Ithaca Airport, just past the lake.

The view up Cayuga Lake was spectacular, and a great "welcome home" for 493 and me.

Home at last.

From Colorado by Skyhawk - Day 12 - Oshkosh to Dayton

Michael Brown — Tue, 30 Oct 2018 00:35:01 GMT

Greetings from Dayton, Ohio, home of the Wright Brothers!

The weather was good enough this morning to leave Oshkosh and head south, but worse weather began just east of Dayton. The 24- and 36-hour projections looked better back home in Ithaca, so I decided to break up the trip home and stay here in Dayton for the night.

Leaving Oshkosh, there was a thin scattered cloud deck at around 2,000 feet. I climbed above it and flew most of the day's three-hour flight at about 3,300 feet under sunny skies above the layer. As I neared Dayton, though, the layer rose to about 4,000 feet, so I got under it and finished the trip under cloudy skies.

Today's Rorschach Pond - I see a dragon.

The huge particle accelerators at Fermi Lab.

The twisty roads here were puzzling. I looked up the location in Google Earth tonight, and it turns out to be the Burlington WI home of MGA Research. Apparently, this was originally the proving grounds for American Motors (remember them?). MGA was founded by people from Cornell Research Laboratories (later Calspan), and does testing work for auto manufacturers.

A housing development that never was, in Frankfort, IL.

Fountain in Aurora, Illinois.

The Wabash River near Peru, Indiana.

A flooded quarry near Converse, Indiana.

I was cleared to enter a right downwind and land on Runway 24 Right at KDAY from twenty miles out. Here, turning base to final on 24R.

N46493 parked at Wright Brothers FBO. The brothers themselves were not at work today, sadly, but Enterprise had a rental car waiting for me. The Air Force Museum had added another exhibit hall since my last visit, bringing them up to over a million square feet under cover, which definitely merited a visit.

I started out in the WWII hangar. This is the original "Memphis Belle" B-17F bomber, which went on display at the museum in May. This bomber was one of the first to survive 25 combat missions, after which it was rotated back to the States for a bond-drive tour. The producer William Wyler flew with the crew for two missions, including the 25th, and his footage taken on the missions became the documentary "Memphis Belle".

A poignant collection - the Doolittle Raiders cups in the Air Force Museum. These cups were presented to the surviving Doolittle Raiders in the 1970's. Each one is engraved with a name of one of the 80 men who flew with Doolittle in the 1942 raid on Tokyo. The cups were engraved on both sides in opposite orientations, so that the names could be read right-side-up or upside-down. Each year the remaining Raiders would get together and toast the lost, and as the Raiders passed away, their cups were inverted. Today, only one remains - Dick Cole, Doolittle's copilot, who made the case in which the cups are stored. I was privileged to meet him and hear him speak about the raid at Sun'n Fun earlier this year. At more than a century old, he's still sharp and funny.

The huge B-36 Peacemaker bomber seems almost lost in the even huger Cold War hangar at the Air Force Museum. It really stands out in the brighter lighting they've installed since I was last there. On my first visit in about 1975, there was only one hangar at the Museum, and the B-36 barely fit inside.

The newly restored XB-70 Valkyrie supersonic bomber, one of only two made (the other crashed in a midair collision with one of the chase planes during a test).

It looks like the weather should be good enough to make it home (finally) tomorrow. If everything goes well, I should be back by mid-afternoon.

From Colorado by Skyhawk - still in Oshkosh

Michael Brown — Sat, 27 Oct 2018 22:44:06 GMT

The Chapter Leaders Academy ended yesterday, but I decided there was no point in leaving. At most, I'd have been able to get a couple of hours southward before the weather turned IFR. Today wasn't any better, and tomorrow's supposed to be poor weather here and in Ithaca. Discretion being the better part of valor, I've moved into the Hilton Garden Inn at Oskhosh AIrport until Monday morning (and 493 is remaining in one of the EAA's hangars).

Since I'm in Oshkosh on a Saturday, I took the opportunity to check off a bucket list item - I helped out in the restoration of a warbird. The EAA is restoring its B-25 "Berlin Express" at the Kermit Weeks Hangar, and on Saturdays any EAA member can volunteer. What better way was there to spend my Saturday in Oshkosh?

I helped replace the o-rings in the Auxiliary Landing Gear Door Up Latch Timing Valve. As I fitted the o-rings and reassembled the valve, Gracie Field's WWII song kept running through my head - "I'm the girl that makes the thing that holds the oil that oils the ring that takes the shank that moves the crank that moves the thing-ummy-bob"...

My valve, assembled and soon to be tested under 1,500 psi of hydraulic pressure. It didn't leak at all... "it's a ticklish sort of job, making a thing for a thing-ummy-bob, especially when you don't know what it's for..."

My valve, back in place amongst the maze of wires, cables and hydraulic lines in the nose wheel compartment of Berlin Express.

The cockpit of Berlin Express. My next job was to remove the screws holding the hydraulic pressure gauge in place. That gave me a chance to sit in the cockpit for half an hour while the fitting on the gauge was replaced, then I put the screws back in place. Not a big job, but mine own..

With the gauge reinstalled, I worked the emergency pump handle to build up 1,000 psi hydraulic pressure to test the system for leaks.

That is MY thousand pounds of hydraulic pressure... and the gauge didn't leak, even a little.

In between all of that, I had a chance to explore the Ford Tri-Motor and the B-25 and talk to the restoration folks as we worked.

Pure heaven for an airplane nut...

Tomorrow I've been invited to a hangar breakfast. Fingers crossed, I'll be out of here and home on Monday. We'll see...

From Colorado by Skyhawk - Day 11 - Mason City to Oshkosh

Michael Brown — Thu, 25 Oct 2018 02:47:48 GMT

So, I've made it to what started this whole trip in the first place. I'm in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, at the EAA Air Academy Lodge, for a three-day EAA Chapter Leaders' Academy.

My flight today went well, once the frost cleared from my airplane - 220 miles in 2.2 hours. It was 22 degrees in Mason City when I got up this morning, and when I got to the airport the Cessna was covered in frost. You don't want to fly with even a little frost on the wings or tail surfaces, but the sun was out and it was getting warmer. I turned the airplane so the sun could hit all the surfaces, and within half an hour or so all of the frost had turned to liquid and I could take off safely.

The Cedar River in Iowa.

This Iowa farmer clearly believes in wind breaks - and living on the Great Plains, he probably needs them.

Field patterns near Ridgeway, Iowa.

A church at the crossroads in Decorah, Iowa.

I made my westward crossing of the Mighty Mississippi this morning. At this point, it's pretty broad and filled with islands - Iowa is on the left, Wisconsin on the right.

The Wisconsin River in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin.

Today's Rorschach Test Pond:

Skies were clear until just before Oshkosh, when a cloud layer appeared at about 2,800 feet.

Not long afterward, about ten miles out, I was cleared to land on Runway 9 at KOSH, Wittman Field, in Oshkosh.

I landed at around noon, and was met by an EAA staffer and two other folks who had just flown in. Cessna 493 was pushed into a hangar, where it will stay until I fly out on Friday (I hope - weather's not looking great).

The next hangar over is the Kermit Weeks Hangar where the EAA does maintenance on its aircraft. This is the Ford Trimotor I flew in when it visited Elmira about five years ago. Next to it on the left is an AirCam that EAA volunteers and staff are building.

This is the EAA Air Academy Lodge, where I'll be staying. There are about 40 other EAA folks here, from chapters all over the USA (and a few from a new chapter in Canada). As might be expected from that many aviators, we've been spending the evening sharing flying tales and comparing notes about our chapters.

We finished off the evening with a tour of the Sonex factory, led by John Monnet, the founder of the company and designer of the aircraft.

From Colorado by Skyhawk - Day 10 - North Platte to Mason City

Michael Brown — Tue, 23 Oct 2018 23:16:28 GMT

Greetings from Mason City, Iowa, home of Meredith Willson and The Music Man! Today was a perfect day for my 360 nautical mile three-and-a-half hour trip from North Platte, Nebraska, to Mason City. The skies were clear, the ride was smooth and I even had a tailwind for much of the time.

The day dawned cold and clear in North Platte, with no wind at all. I loaded and untied the airplane, did my walk-around preflight, and took off.

This is a floating dredge in a gravel pit next to the airport.

Flying over southern Nebraska, you cover miles and miles of nothing but miles and miles.

Go Z's! Erm... "N's". The playing field in Norfolk, Nebraska.

Two Rorschach Test Ponds today:

Approaching a left downwind for Runway 30, KMCW Mason City Airport, you fly along Clear Lake.

I spent the afternoon at Music Man Square and touring Meredith Willson's boyhood home. The weather forecast for tomorrow's flight to Oshkosh looks good, so I expect that by tomorrow afternoon I'll be at the EAA Chapter Leaders Academy.

From Colorado by Skyhawk - Day 9 - Cheyenne to North Platte.

Michael Brown — Tue, 23 Oct 2018 01:50:36 GMT

Today's flying was only a short two hundred miles, from Cheyenne, Wyoming, along the Nebraska-Colorado border to North Platte, Nebraska.

The weather was perfect - clear and sunny with light winds.

The scenery... well, let's just say it's flat. Very flat.

A target for the world's largest lawn darts...

The town of Pine Bluffs, Wyoming - Nebraska is just ahead.

More right angles...

A feed lot outside Sidney, Nebraska.

I like the road pattern - a new housing development, perhaps?

The former headquarters of Cabelas, in Sidney, Nebraska.

Pac Man, eating a farm.

Today's Rorschach Pond is next to KSNY Sidney Airport - a Giant Sloth, I think.

It's a face...

Irrigation canal outside Paxton, Nebraska.

The North Platte River has a braided appearance as it flows across the plain near the city of North Platte, Nebraska, my goal for the day.

North Platte Airport KLBF has two non-intersecting runways, 12/30 and 17/35. The wind was 100 at 11, so I landed on 12.

Airplanes aren't the only winged things landing at KLBF...

The fuel truck met me as I parked Cessna 493 in front of "The FBO of the Plains", as the sign called it. The FBO folks were nice enough to give me a list to my motel.

After I checked into my motel, I spent all afternoon at the Golden Spike Tower overlooking the Union Pacific's huge Bailey Yard watching the trains.

The East Hump - cars are pushed up to the top of the 30-foot-high hill by an engine or set of engines at the rear, which are remotely controlled by a switchman standing at the top of the hill. He uncouples the cars in one-, two- or three-car sets, and the cars roll down the hill to be switched by a computer onto one of the 64 parallel tracks. The car just coming off the hill in this picture is being slowed down by trackside retarders, which are controlled by the computer such that the car rolls to a stop at just the right spot without slamming into the other cars on the siding.

Tomorrow's weather looks good for the four-hour flight to Mason City, Iowa.

From Colorado by Skyhawk - Day 8 - Mack Mesa to Cheyenne

Michael Brown — Mon, 22 Oct 2018 00:47:16 GMT

I'm in Cheyenne, Wyoming, this evening.

I'd originally planned to leave Fruita on Tuesday morning and fly to Oshkosh on Tuesday and Wednesday morning. The weather, as always, had other ideas. On Friday it looked like Tuesday wouldn't be good, but Monday's weather should be OK. As Monday approached, however, the weather picture got worse rather than better. As of this morning, it was supposed to get cloudy and rainy in Fruita tomorrow - but the various models and websites differed as to just when that might happen. This is the 24-hour depiction as of this morning:

As you can see, the green "precipitation possible" area covers all of Utah and most of western Colorado. The depiction for Tuesday morning, when I'd originally planned to leave, was even worse:

More to the point, the only ways from Fruita to Oshkosh involve flying over, or around, the Rocky Mountains, so even if rain holds off, unless you want to fly all the way south to New Mexico or west a long way and then north a long way, you need the clouds to be well above the 10,500 foot elevation of the passes. The non-aviation weather sources varied about when Fruita would change from "partly cloudy" to "cloudy", and when the rain might arrive - and had no forecasts for cloud bases. Windy.com had cloud predictions which were marginal. In the end, I could probably have made it out tomorrow morning, but "probably" isn't a concept I'm comfortable with when the subject is flying over mountains.

So, I decided to leave this afternoon. By two o'clock I'd put fifteen gallons more fuel in the Cessna (you don't want to have full tanks getting out of a 2600 foot strip at 4,724 foot elevation), and I was climbing out on a left downwind from Runway 25 at Mack Mesa Airport 10CO.

From Fruita you have to climb up out of the Colorado River Valley and over the Book Cliffs. I was at 7,500 when I crossed the cliffs.

Not long afterward I was at 8,500 - the Cessna was maintaining a comfortable 500 foot per minute climb - and could see over most of the peaks, which meant we were higher and could safely pass.

It's rugged country, with dramatic cliffs.

I suppose we have to have a Rorschach Test Pond for the day - I'm guessing prehistoric fish?

After passing Meeker (KEEO), we'd climbed to our final altitude of 11,500 feet and were well above the terrain, heading directly for Robert VOR (BQZ) near Steamboat Springs. Steamboat Springs is in a valley, with the steep northeast end of the valley sloping up to a pass at around 10,500 feet.

There's snow on the ground at the upper end of the ski lifts at Steamboat, but not on the lower slopes - snow is in the forecast, so skiers can hope...

We crossed the pass above the ski area at 11,500, about 1,000 feet above ground level.

The other side of the pass drops steeply down to a broad, flat and dry valley called "North Park", which makes up most of Jackson County, Colorado, Colorado's third-least inhabited county.

The Canadian River snakes through North Park.

The eastern border of North Park is another ridge, but the pass near Walden, CO, is much lower than the one at Steamboat. I descended down to about 10,000 feet as we crossed the ridge.

Once through that pass, it's all flat - and downhill - to Cheyenne, about 70 miles eastward.

Right angles... always right angles...

A train on the line between Fort Collins, Colorado, and Laramie, Wyoming.

By a little after four o'clock, I was on a right downwind for runway 27 at Cheyenne KCYS. The winds were light, by Cheyenne standards - 280 at 11 gusting 15. The last time I was in Cheyenne they were gusting 34, so that seemed quite comfortable.

We landed, and soon afterward the FBO was giving me a lift to my motel.

The weather from here eastward is supposed to be nice over the next few days, so unless something changes I'll be in North Platte, Nebraska, tomorrow afternoon, Mason City, Iowa, Tuesday, and Oshkosh by mid-day Wednesday. Watch this spot for developments!

By Skyhawk to Colorado - Day 7 - Marble Canyon to Mack Mesa

Michael Brown — Tue, 16 Oct 2018 22:26:42 GMT

I'm in Colorado, so I suppose future posts will have to be titled "By Skyhawk from Colorado" - but that's not for a week. For now, I'm in Fruita, Colorado, home of Mike the Headless Chicken (no, really) and where, Jerry Friedman assures me, it never rains (except when I'm here). My flight from Marble Canyon followed the Colorado River into the Glen Canyon Recreation Area and Canyonlands National Park, over Moab, UT, and up into Colorado.

The weather this morning at Marble Canyon was cloudy, with low clouds obscuring the peaks to the south toward Grand Canyon. To the northeast, however, the ceiling was much higher than I needed to clear the ridge at Lees Ferry. The winds were light, so I took off from Runway 21 to save back-taxiing the length of the airstrip.

Glen Canyon Dam impounds the Colorado River to form Lake Powell.

Antelope Point Marina in Lake Powell

Flying up Lake Powell, I was able to stay at 7,500 feet - although there was much higher terrain to either side. This is Navajo Mountain, which peaks at more than 10,000 feet.

Bullfrog Bay on Lake Powell, with the town of Bullfrog, Utah, and Bullfrog Airport U07.

A houseboat meets up with some RV'ers on Lake Powell.

Smith Fork River flows into Lake Powell.

Ticaboo, Utah, and Mount Ellsworth.

Upstream from Glen Canyon and Lake Powell, we fly into Canyonlands National Park, where the Green River meets the Colorado. There's a lot of air tour operations out of Canyonlands Airport. I was glad of the ADS-B system here, as well as in Grand Canyon, to get a picture of at least some of the traffic - it seems that many of the tour operators have installed ADS-B Out transmitters.

The White Rim is a layer of harder stone which runs through Canyonlands. Softer rock above and below have eroded away, leaving the White Rim. The White Rim Trail follows the rim - Jerry Friedman and I drove the entire trail in an International Harvester Scout in 1978.

The world's largest blue butterfly awaits the aviator in Canyonlands... actually, it's evaporating ponds at a potash mine. Pretty, though...

Rattlesnake Ranch Airstrip, along the Colorado River.

The town of Moab, Utah, is the gateway to both Canyonlands and Arches National Monument.

Castle Valley.

My destination for the day - Mack Mesa Airport 10CO, which sits on top of a mesa, about eight miles from Fruita.

I landed at Mack Mesa Airport 10CO around 11:20AM in light winds and clear, sunny skies. Jerry was waiting for me at his hangar, and we pushed N46493 inside for a week's rest and annual inspection. We drained the oil, checked compressions (perfect) and removed the inspection plates all around. Tomorrow we'll empty out the interior and start cleaning.

Here's Jerry and his Sonex:

By Skyhawk to Colorado - Day 6 -Grand Canyon to Marble Canyon

Michael Brown — Tue, 16 Oct 2018 01:28:55 GMT

I've seen the Grand Canyon from the ground, but today's flight was the first time I've flown myself over the Canyon - and it was awe-inspiring.

The airspace over the Grand Canyon National Park is covered in a Special Flight Rules Area (SFRA), which is designed to keep General Aviation flights like mine away from the huge number of flight tours (400+ a day), and also to keep everybody away from noise-sensitive areas. So, there are no-fly zones with corridors between them. The tour operators fly set routes and stay between 7,500 and 9,500 feet, and GA pilots are at 10,500 or 12,500 southbound and 11,500 or 13,500 northbound.

The winds at KGCN Grand Canyon Airport when I was ready to leave were rather high - 050 at 19 gusting 32 - but at least they were only a twenty-degree crosswind for Runway 3, and by 9:00 I was in the air.

I was at 10,500 by the time I reached the edge of the SFRA south of the Zuni Corridor, and at 11,500 when I entered the corridor. KGCN is at 6,600 feet, and the plateau rises to about 7,500 where I crossed over into the SFRA. It's like flying over a flat forest and then...

The Colorado River stretches off to the horizon as you enter Zuni Corridor.

Side canyons split off from the main canyon, and flat-topped buttes are everywhere. Some of them are reporting points - all pilots in the corridors monitor the sector frequency (120.05, in this case) and announce their ID and altitude (and color/number route, for tour operators) when they hit a reporting point.

After passing through the Zuni Corridor, I followed the Colorado eastward to the confluence of the Colorado and Little Colorado rivers.

This is the confluence of the muddy Little Colorado and the clearer Colorado - the muddy water remains separate for quite a way downriver.

From the confluence, I followed the Colorado northward into the Marble Canyon Sector. This sector has an 8,000 foot ceiling for tour operators, so I was able to descend down to 8,500 to stay above the sector boundary.

The canyon is much narrower in the Marble Canyon Sector than in the main part of the National Park to the south.

Marble Canyon Airport L41 is a 3,700 foot runway, 35 feet wide, at 3,600 feet elevation. It's located at the northern end of the Marble Canyon Sector, which poses a bit of complication, since you are only allowed to descend to the airport when you're within three miles - which means losing 5,000 feet in altitude in three miles. I flew a sort of really high upwind, descending through crosswind (picture below) down to pattern altitude by midfield downwind. The winds at L41 weren't as bad as they were at KGCN, only about 10 knots straight down runway 3.

Everything went smoothly, and less than an hour after leaving KGCN I landed at L41 Marble Canyon Airport, across the street from the Marble Canyon Lodge.

Once I'd tied down and checked in at the Lodge, I walked over to Navajo Bridge and into Marble Canyon. I'll finish this post with a few pictures from the hike.

My last picture is another HDR-processed image, combined from five pictures taken at one-stop exposure intervals.

By Skyhawk to Colorado - Day 5 - Albuquerque to Grand Canyon

Michael Brown — Sun, 14 Oct 2018 03:49:21 GMT

I'm in Grand Canyon National Park (or just outside it, actually, in Tusayan).

When I checked the weather this morning, KABQ was reporting 2,200 broken, and conditions were good VFR along my entire route. The only potential problem was that Grand Canyon Airport KGCN forecast showed MVFR - 1,500 foot ceilings and fairly high gusty winds - from about noon on. I decided to leave as early as possible for the three-hour flight, so as to avoid any potential problems.

When I got to KABQ, there was a 1,900 foot overcast, which meant that the mountain tops to the east were obscured - but to the north and west, the deck was higher and I could see blue skies in the distance.

The country between Albuquerque and Grand Canyon is desert, and until you get quite close to Grand Canyon, very dry and eroded desert indeed. Here are a few shots from along the route:

Rio Puerco, NM

Where there's water, like along this rambling stream, the desert is green. Elsewhere, not so much...

Mount Taylor, near McCartys, NM, rises over 11,000 feet - well above my 8,500 foot cruising altitude. However, by following the valley (with road and railroad) running through Gallup, NM, I had plenty of clearance from the ground all the way.

The ground is wrinkled near Gallup, NM - evidence of a fault line, perhaps?

Got to have a Rorschach Test pond...

Fern-like erosion patterns in the desert in Arizona.

As we neared the Grand Canyon, the high plateau shelved off to a lower level. I think these are wind erosion patterns leading back from the cliff edge.

On the other side of the valley, the land rises up again, with Grand Canyon Airport on the far edge of the plateau.

By leaving Albuquerque early, I made it to Grand Canyon Airport well before the time the MVFR conditions were predicted, and in fact, while there were some scattered clouds at Grand Canyon, they didn't get in the way at all, and the winds were only five knots. Here is my first glimpse of the Grand Canyon, coming in over the pines to enter a left base for Runway 21. There's a continuous stream of helicopters flying in and out of the airport giving air tours of the Canyon, so you have to stay above 7,200 feet above sea level until you're on final.

I landed at KGCN, which is actually in Tusayan - they moved the airport since I was last here forty years ago - and the FBO gave me a lift to my hotel. The National Park runs a shuttle bus from Tusayan to the park visitor center, which turned out to be free if you have a Senior Pass, and other buses shuttle around the park on a frequent schedule.

After lunch I walked the Rim Trail for three or four miles, then rode the buses back to Tusayan as the sun set.

You're supposed to stay at least 100 feet from elk in the park, but what do you do when they walk up the trail behind you? I just stepped aside and let four elk walk by no more than two feet from me. They weren't bothered, and seemed perfectly happy to pose for a picture as they went by.

You can see the rain falling on the North Rim, but we didn't get any on the South Rim - at least, not where I was.

The dramatic lighting in the canyon and the clouds gathering over the North Rim seemed to call for HDR treatment - this is a combination of five pictures taken at differing exposures, and combined to exaggerate tonal differences. It's not photorealistic, but I like it.

All in all, a Good Day...

By Skyhawk to Colorado - at the Albuquerque Balloon Festival

Michael Brown — Fri, 12 Oct 2018 17:37:46 GMT

No flying for me today, but that doesn't mean I neglected aviation. The weather cooperated beautifully for today's Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta - in fact, the announcer said this was the best weather they've had all week. It was well worth getting up at four AM to catch the shuttle bus to the Fiesta site in time for the Dawn Patrol launch at six.

An hour later, the mass ascension saw dozens and dozens of balloons rise into the clear sky.

The balloons compete to make precision landings through a gate, and drop streamers on a target as they come in. The winds at Albuquerque are such that the balloons can rise up to catch a wind which blows them away from the field, then descend to catch a wind which blows them right back again.

After the mass ascension, there was a Special Shapes Rodeo, where balloons of all sorts were inflated and, in most cases, rose into the sky.

The Special Shapes Relationship - Uncle Sam and Chiquita Banana (I think), meet a Beefeater and a British Bulldog.

Vincent Van Gogh

Smokey the Bear and some bees...

Some more special shapes - a scarecrow, an alien, the Bimbo Donuts Bear... and Jesus?

"Luke... I... am... your... balloon..."

"Balloon I am, yes."

Note the very appropriate British registration on this Koala balloon - G-DAAY

"When pigs fly"? Well, now they can...

Finally, a couple of colorful balloons to finish off with.

By Skyhawk to Colorado - Day 4 - Wichita, KS, to Albuquerque, NM

Michael Brown — Fri, 12 Oct 2018 02:38:03 GMT

I'm in Albuquerque, as planned - although how I got here is nothing like what I'd planned. When I got up this morning it was nice and sunny in Wichita, and Albuquerque was showing clear skies and forecast to remain VFR all day. Great! But, today was a good lesson in why you can't just rely on the end points of a trip being VFR - you need to look at the whole route.

Although Albuquerque was VFR, most of the section of my direct route from western Kansas through Texas into New Mexico was IFR or Low IFR - ceilings in the range of 500 feet down to 100 feet. Worse, they were all predicted to remain IFR all day and into Friday. There was an Airmet issued which lay right across the route:

I didn't want to give up entirely - it was nice in WIchita, after all, and if I could get out of there and fly somewhere in the right direction under decent flying conditions, it beat sitting around in Kansas in a motel room. There was an airmet, but it did end if you went far enough south. As I zoomed out and looked at more of the map on Garmin Pilot, it appeared that there would be at worst marginal VFR conditions heading southward into Texas, and most of New Mexico south of Albuquerque was showing clear skies or good VFR. So, I took off from WIchita and headed southward as high as I could go and still stay under the clouds.

One thing you notice as you fly is that all Midwestern towns, nearly without exception, have a railroad line and grain silos. Norwich, Kansas, follows the rule:

They're not just farming grain these days - they're farming wind, too...

I suppose we have to have a Rorschach Test Pond for the day, too...

I'm not at all sure what this shows - the white lines could be salt, leaching from the earth, maybe?

Circular irrigators are a fixture in the northern Midwest - I was actually surprised that I had not seen any yet in this trip. These are the first, as I flew into Oklahoma:

I usually make it a point to set a waypoint every 50-60 miles along my route, preferably an airport. That not only gives me something to look for every half an hour or so, but it also means that if I need one, I'm never more than 25-30 miles from the nearest airport. As I flew over Elk City, OK, Airport (KELK), I saw this Stearman taxiing out for takeoff.

An intersection in Texas:

The Red River, on the Oklahoma/Texas border, is very well named:

Roads snake around for purposes known only to the makers in this Texas oilfield:

When I flew by it, I couldn't figure out what this mysterious structure was. Looking at the picture more closely, I wonder if it's a collection of oil pipelines being excavated?

When I landed in Midland, Texas (KMAF), I wasn't sure if I'd be taking off again that day or spending the night. There was a solid overcast at 1900 feet, and there was a strong wind from the southeast. While 493 was being topped off, and I was enjoying a great Chile Relleno plate at the cafe in the FBO, I checked the weather further along. My original re-route from Midland had become IFR while I was flying, but not far south Pecos, TX, KPEQ was reporting 4,000 foot ceilings, and the route from there into New Mexico and up to Albuquerque from the south had ceilings of 7,000 feet or more. I rerouted the reroute to go even further south, hopped back into 493 and launched Pecos-ward.

As I went along the clouds lifted more and more, and I climbed to stay under them. By the time I reached the Texas/New Mexico border it was bright and sunny, and the clouds were well over 10,000 feet and scattered as we passed from dry flat country into the high desert.

The ramparts overlooking Capitan, NM, marked the point where the route turned almost due north - finally, I was flying toward ABQ...

Willard, Texas, supplied a view of all of the circular irrigators I'd missed earlier in the trip.

Who thought it was a good idea to put a housing development out in the middle of featureless desert? They have big lots, at least...

There was a little light rain just before I reached Albuquerque. Typical of desert conditions, the shafts of rain were widely scattered and easy to avoid - but created beautiful rainbows.

Finally, we were on final for Runway 21 at KABQ.

I left N46493 in the hands of Atlantic Aviation, picked up my rental car and drove downtown to my motel.

In the end, my four and a half hour direct flight became a 7.8 hour flying day, with two legs - Wichita to Midland,TX, and Midland to Albuquerque via Pecos, TX.

Still, I made it. Now, if the weather will hold off, tomorrow morning, early, I plan to be at the Balloon Festival for the 6:00AM Dawn Patrol launch.

By Skyhawk to Colorado - Day 3 - Clinton, MO, to Wichita, KS

Michael Brown — Thu, 11 Oct 2018 00:26:03 GMT

Hello from Wichita, Kansas!

My strategy of getting as far west as I could yesterday worked. When I checked the weather early this morning, this is what I found, with my route indicated by the yellow arrow. As you can see, the main front had moved through with most of the rain now to the east of Clinton. There was a secondary cold front still in front of me, but the light rain associated with it was south of my route:

I only had to wait for a bit over an hour at the airport in Clinton before the ceilings lifted enough on my route to Wichita for me to get in the air. Here's Cessna N46493 at Clinton Airport, with the courtesy car they loaned me yesterday. I recommend Clinton for a stopover - the fuel is the cheapest I've bought this trip and the people were great.

Looking eastward as I left Clinton - nothing but low clouds and haze.

To the west, though, I could see under the overcast with clear visibility all the way to a sharp horizon.

It might have been theoretically "marginal VFR", but by central NY standards it was a beautiful day to fly.

Two Rorschach Test ponds today. Is the first one a man wearing a funny striped hat, maybe? The second could be a whale...

An intersection in MIssouri.

The rain I hit in Clinton had been stalled over western Missouri and eastern Kansas for the better part of a week, dumping nearly a foot of rain in some spots. As I got into Kansas (that's state seven for this trip, if you're counting), I saw more and more flooding in low-lying fields.

The former Wichita Municipal Airport, bought by the Air Force in 1951. Today it's McConnell Air Force Base, home to a KC-135 tanker wing. The Kansas Aviation Museum in on the right center of this photo.

As I passed McConnell, Wichita Approach told me to expect a right base for Runway 1R. I'd listened to the ATIS, and the winds at KICT were 320 at 11 - a fifty-degree crosswind - but there is a Runway 32 at Wichita, which was perfectly aligned with the wind. For the student pilots in the group, if something like this happens, you are the pilot in command. If you don't like the runway you're given, ask for another. I just asked ATC if I could get Runway 32 instead, and the controller immediately said it was no problem, cleared to land Runway 32. So, I did...

I was in Wichita before 1:00PM. Another tip - check Foreflight or Garmin Pilot, if you have them, or the AOPA Airport Directory website if you don't, before you go to an airport. KICT, as it turns out, has two FBOs which sell 100LL fuel. Yingling was a dollar a gallon cheaper than Signature, so guess which one I picked? As soon as I'd taxied in and shut down, 493 was all set at Yingling Aviation for a top-off and overnight tie-down

The folks at Yingling gave me a lift to the terminal, and I picked up the sub-compact car I had reserved at National Car Rentals. It turned out to be a Chevy Silverado 4WD club cab pickup truck. I'm glad I hadn't asked for a full-size car. It probably would have been an eighteen-wheeler or a Greyhound bus. Here it is parked outside the Kansas Aviation Museum, which is housed in the old Wichita Municipal Airport terminal at what is now McConnell AFB.

The Kansas Aviation Museum has an interesting collection of aircraft which were made in the Wichita area, as well as artifacts relating to Cessna, Beech, Stearman, Mooney and other less-well-known aircraft manufacturers which were based in the area. Here are a few pictures from the museum:

A single-seat Mooney Mite:

A recently restored 1931 Stearman Model 4D:

No fancy glass cockpits in 1931...

B-47 Stratojet bomber - think Jimmy Stewart in Strategic Air Command:

B-52 Stratofortress - first flown in 1952, and still in service.

Wichita's Old Town District has lots of interesting restaurants and entertainment venues.

I had a great plate of ribs at Bite Me BBQ, chosen for the name, of course...

Now I am relaxing in my hotel room, ready for the trip to Albuquerque tomorrow.

By Skyhawk to Colorado - Day 2 - Marion, OH to Clinton, MO

Michael Brown — Tue, 09 Oct 2018 23:08:11 GMT

Today's flight was from Marion, Ohio, to Clinton, Missouri. That's about 175 miles further than I'd planned to go today - my original overnight for today was going to be Alton, IL. When I got to Alton, though, it was only noon, and the weather wasn't half bad. The rain was over Wichita and moving east, with VFR conditions predicted for early afternoon tomorrow. The further east you go, the later the clearing was going to happen, so it seemed worthwhile to go as far west as I could today before the rain set in.

The weather was perfect when I left Marion, clear blue skies and calm winds.

Much of Ohio is very Midwestern - flat, with large, square farms. The drainage doesn't follow the squares, though...

This farmer is into angles, even for his drainage.

This far seems to be growing the biggest Band-Aid you ever saw.

Indian Lake, Ohio:

Even water-treatment plants can be interesting from the air - this is Fort Henry, Ohio.

A colorful intersection in Indiana, my second state for the day.

Muncie, Indiana, seems to have discovered a love affair with the Roundabout (a/k/a Traffic Circle) - they even put them out in the farm fields.

"If you build it, they will come..." to tell you how pretty your baseball field complex is from the air.

"Go Cardinals!" - today's sports team is from Ball State University in Muncie.

I like the pattern made by this development in Indianapolis.

An interstate interchange in Indianapolis:

Here's another one of those mysterious water features I first saw in last year's trip. This time, at least I know what it's used with, if not for - this is attached to a power plant in Coffeen, Illinois.

My first stop for the day - final approach to Runway 17, KALN St. Louis Regional Airport in Alton, Illinois. Top off the fuel, check the weather, and I'm off again as the clouds start to move in.

Here's our "what does this pond look like?" picture - "head of a tiger" is my thought.

I crossed two major rivers today - the Mississippi and the Missouri.

As it happened, "as far as I could go" was Clinton - I landed in light rain which became heavy as I tied down the Skyhawk.

So, here I am, typing in my motel room and listening to it pour. I'm only two hours from Wichita, so as long as it clears to marginal VFR conditions or better by tomorrow afternoon, I'll arrive in Wichita on schedule and on the back of the weather system.

By Skyhawk to Colorado - Day 1 - Ithaca to Marion, OH

Michael Brown — Tue, 09 Oct 2018 00:33:22 GMT

Greetings from Marion, Ohio! When I got up this morning, it was sunny in Harford, but the Ithaca airport and all of the other airports west of Ithaca along my planned route were low IFR - ceilings of 300 feet or less.

Finally, around noon, Ithaca changed over to VFR, and by 1:00PM I was in the air.

The clouds overhead were broken, and I could see blue sky through the gaps, so around Hornell I climbed above the thin layer. I don't normally like to do that, but the METARs for all of the airports after Dansville were reporting unlimited ceilings, and I could see the ground through gaps in the clouds the whole way, so it seemed worthwhile for the cooler, clearer air just above the deck at 4,500 feet.

Chautauqua Lake near Jamestown, NY:

As I continued westward, the clouds thinned out, and by the time I reached Erie, PA, there were only a few widely scattered clouds.

Every pilot's dream is to live on a runway - I guess this development, Sunnyslope Lake in Medina, Ohio, is the equivalent for golfers and boaters.

Go Colts (whoever you may be)!

Farms and intersection near West Salem, Ohio:

Speaking of fly-in communities, I thought I'd caught the birth of one near West Salem - but when I checked it out on Google Earth tonight, it turns out to be a dragstrip, Dragway 42 to be exact. Shame, really - it would make a great runway.

The Rust Belt - a disused factory rusting away near Mansfield, Ohio.

KMFD - Mansfield Airport - with a nice collection of C-130 Hercules transports.

I suppose I'll have to start a collection of "what does this pond look like to you?" pictures for this trip...

By about 4:30 I was in the pattern at KMNN Marion Airport, Ohio. It started to rain as I was on downwind for Runway 25, but it was just a passing shower.

I can't say Marion was a particularly lively airport - '493 is the only airplane on the ramp, and there was no one at either FBO or the airport office - but I got an answer on the number posted on the door, and they're going to top off the Cessna when they open tomorrow morning.

With any luck I'll be able to make it to St. Louis Regional Airport in Alton, IL, tomorrow. This is the surface prognosis for 8:00AM tomorrow, with my proposed route indicated by the red arrow.

I'm hoping the front moves through and I might even be able to make it to Wichita on schedule on Wednesday. We'll see... The surface prognosis for Wednesday morning isn't wonderful.

I'll post tomorrow from Saint Louis (well, Alton, IL)... I hope.

By Skyhawk to Oshkosh - via Arizona and Colorado

Michael Brown — Mon, 01 Oct 2018 17:45:41 GMT

Skyhawk 46493 and I will be heading westward again this Fall. I'm going to attend an EAA Chapter Leaders Academy session at Oshkosh, so of course I decided to stop by and see Jerry and Barbara Friedman in Fruita, Colorado on the way - and as long as I was doing that, why not stop off at the Balloon Festival in Albuquerque and fly over the Grand Canyon? No reason at all, so that's what I'm going to do. I'll be posting to this blog and to Facebook as I go, starting on October 8th or 9th (as always, weather permitting).

Here's my route as currently planned - the dark blue dots are overnight stops.

Tangier Island Trip

Lucja Kot — Sun, 09 Sep 2018 15:41:25 GMT

Last week, I made a fun trip to Tangier Island, in the middle of Chesapeake Bay. The trip also completed my experience requirements for my commercial pilot certificate, counting as my long solo cross-country. (I had flown plenty of much longer cross-countries but all with my non-pilot husband as a passenger, so they did not count).

Tangier Island is a remote and beautiful island in Chesapeake Bay, with a small airport. I originally found out about it a few years ago, from a helicopter pilot that I met by chance at Beaufort Airport in North Carolina. He mentioned that it was a worthwhile destination to visit, and it had been on my list ever since then.

Tangier was a good destination for my commercial solo cross-country because it was interesting and at the right distance to meet the requirements. From Binghamton - where my trip would be starting - to Tangier is 263nm, which meets the 250nm requirement. Since no fuel is sold on the island, a third stop at the nearby Accomack County Airport would provide me with the required third point of landing in a natural way.

I also wanted to fly to Tangier because it would challenge me with a shorter runway; the runway there is just under 2500 feet. This is obviously not extremely short, but in a Mooney it is more challenging than in a Skyhawk. Therefore, I saved this cross-country until relatively late in my commercial training, to give me time to practice short-field landings in the Mooney to a high standard.

Other than honing my short-field skills, planning the trip was relatively easy. The main concern would be the significant amount of restricted airspace over the Chesapeake Bay and the Delmarva Peninsula. Tangier Island is itself under a restricted area, but the floor of that area starts at 3500 feet, giving me plenty of room to fly under it. Before the trip, I also reviewed the required course for flying VFR within 60nm of the DCA VOR.

On the day of the trip, the weather was good VFR if extremely hot and humid. I brought plenty of water to drink and wore light-colored clothing. I also brought a life jacket since a portion of my flight would be over water.

The flight down was uneventful, a standard VFR flight with some standard hiccups such as Harrisburg Approach dropping my flight following and forcing me to request it again from a relatively busy Philadelphia Approach. Also, for some reason my Stratus decided to display the entire 60nm ring around DC as a TFR, even though - according to a phone weather briefing I got - no such TFR was in place. To be safe though, I diverted around that 60nm circle anyway.

Although it was a hot and hazy day, the views of Chesapeake Bay were spectacular and it was easy to spot Tangier Island. Winds favored landing to the north, so I entered a right downwind for runway 2 - the right-hand pattern is to avoid another restricted area west of the island. The runway at Tangier used to be longer, so landing to the north I benefited from an "extra" strip of decaying concrete that gave me a long underrun area. I came in low over the underrun and landed on the numbers, with plenty of runway to stop safely.

After that, I went into town for some excellent soft shell crab sandwiches at Lorraine's restaurant. My husband is a huge fan of soft shell crabs and was disappointed that he couldn't come with me on the trip. So, I bought a second sandwich to go, and brought it back for him in an insulated lunch bag with ice packs.

Walking around Tangier, I could see that it is a very beautiful place with a small and close-knit community. I wished I could spend more time on the island, but I was concerned about thunderstorms building in the afternoon, so I paid the $10 landing fee at Tangier using the honesty box and was en route off the island to Melfa, VA (KMFV).

This was a short leg of just 16nm, so I made sure not to accelerate the Mooney to cruise speed. I could already see cumulonimbus clouds building up to the east on the coast proper.

Accomack County Airport turned out to be a very nice airport with an air-conditioned terminal building and a friendly attendant who helped me fuel the plane. I called a briefer for updates on weather and TFRs, and took off just as rain showers were beginning over the airport.

I diverted to the west over the Bay to stay well clear of the weather. The flight back was also relatively routine. The only annoyance was that a broken layer of cumulus-going-on-cumulonimbus had built up, forcing me to complete the whole flight at low altitudes of 3000 or 3500ft. This meant it was less comfortable due to heat and turbulence, but the alternatives were worse. Doing the flight above that altitude would have meant a zigzag course between the clouds, and picking up an IFR clearance - to avoid the zigzag - would have restricted my ability to deviate around potential-thunderstorm cloud buildups. So, I soldiered on down below, diverting around a few storm cells en route.

Thankfully the actual storms were few and far between and they were not moving, so they were easy to spot visually and divert around. The one in the photo below is near Hazleton airport, which you can see just behind my wing. Note the mini-rainbow.

Finally, I made it back to Binghamton and landed safely. The whole trip took 5.1 hours, and on the way home I passed the 500-hour total time mark.

The trip was a wonderful way to finish off my first 500 hours of flying. It was also a great bookend to my JFK flight, representing in many ways the other extreme of flying challenges. The two destinations, although both coastal airports, could not be further apart in terms of size, infrastructure or location. The runway I landed on at JFK was almost six times (!!!) as long as at TGI. Both landings required special techniques, with an accelerated approach at JFK and a short-field landing at TGI. Both flights were completely or mostly VMC, but the JFK trip was IFR with very positive ATC control. The Tangier trip was VFR with occasional pauses in flight following. I had to navigate restricted airspace and dodge weather and non-radio-talking VFR traffic on my own.

I would highly recommend Tangier Island as a destination for anybody; it is a great day trip from our area. By the way, the soft shell crab sandwich I brought back made it in great condition, and my husband was very happy. We'll be back, together this time!

A few additional photos from the trip are available on my Flickr site here.

JFK by Mooney

Lucja Kot — Sat, 28 Oct 2017 15:34:09 GMT

On October 27th, 2017, I flew the club's Mooney (N747CF) to JFK and back. Accompanying me was club instructor Pete Daiuto. The trip was designed to satisfy the dual day/night cross-country requirements for my commercial pilot training, but also as a "bucket list" achievement.

The customary way to meet the commercial dual cross-country requirements is to do them both in one day. You fly to a desirable destination, have a meal while you wait for the terminator to pass overhead, and then return. That is exactly what we did, with two twists. The airport was extremely desirable, and the meal we had was breakfast. Yes, we did the night cross-country first, then waited for sunrise and flew back.

This post tells the story of how we planned the trip and how it all worked out.

TL;DR - the trip was a huge success. You can see our photos here and a video shot during our taxi before departure here. I would recommend for any pilot to attempt this trip with no fear, assuming certain minimum experience and qualifications. Specifically, this should not be your first trip into the NYC Bravo, you should be able and willing to file IFR in and out, fly something faster than a Cessna 172, and - preferably - bring along a second pilot.

The Planning

This summer, I decided to begin training for my commercial pilot certificate. I fly only recreationally and have no practical need for this qualification, but I thought it would make a good project and a way to improve my piloting skills. Upon reviewing the experience requirements I realized I met a lot of them already. However, I did not have the dual day and night 2-hour 100-nautical mile cross country flights. Since I have substantial cross-country experience, I wondered how to make the most of the requirement/opportunity to do relatively long cross-country flights with an instructor. Rather than artificially introduce difficulties into a trip that I would be very comfortable doing single-pilot, it seemed better to pick an extra-challenging destination.

Living in the northeast, any pilot knows where to find challenging airspace and destinations. New York City airspace is second to none in the world for traffic volume and complexity. I had prior experience flying the Skyline Route in the NYC Bravo airspace (single-pilot) and an IFR cross-country into Teterboro (dual, while in IFR training). I had also flown single-pilot into Philadelphia International (KPHL) , so knew that flying into an actual Bravo airport presents unique challenges and thrills. In summary, the obvious destination was a NYC Bravo airport - either JFK, LaGuardia or Newark.

After some research, I settled on JFK as the most likely. Of the three, it seemed the most general-aviation-friendly, both in terms of people posting their experiences on Airnav, ForeFlight and Youtube and in terms of landing fees.

I want to highlight some of the resources that I used during trip planning in case they are helpful to anyone else. First, the Port Authority website with information about landing fees. Click on "Rules, Regulations and Charges" and look under "Schedule of Charges". This lists landing fees for each airport as well as periods where those fees are higher - e.g. JFK has a $100 surcharge if you land or take off between 3pm and 10pm. This information is useful not just for saving money, but also as an indication of the busiest times at each airport. Also, for anyone considering LaGuardia, be aware that IFR slots are required and must be reserved online before you fly. I also tried calling the Towers at all three airports, but had some trouble getting through and/or getting useful information. This was probably just bad luck, though, and I still recommend anyone considering a trip to a Bravo airport to try calling Tower on the phone beforehand.

Pete and I planned and replanned the trip several times. We considered a variant where we would arrive into the city late at night and ask for touch-and-goes at all three airports - anecdotal evidence suggests some people have been able to do this. However, we discovered that LaGuardia is closed between midnight and 6am due to construction, so decided to limit our destination to JFK.

Another concern was making sure we meet the commercial requirements. The distance from KITH to KJFK is 164nm, which satisfies the 100nm requirement. However, each flight had to last at least two hours. As the Mooney is a fast plane, we could not guarantee a two-hour-plus duration even with some delays due to IFR routing. To be safe, we built in a detour via Syracuse. On the way back to Ithaca, we would monitor time en route and could divert directly to Ithaca if the two-hour requirement could be met without stopping at KSYR.

We initially planned the two cross countries in the customary order - day first, then night. However, JFK is busy in the afternoon and evening, as evidenced by the steep landing surcharge between 3pm and 10pm. This would suggest arriving in the morning, spending a whole day in the city, and returning late at night. This could have been fun, but it was not the best option for a variety of scheduling reasons.

Since Pete and I are both morning people, he proposed that we order the flights the other way - night in, day out. This seemed like the best idea despite the discomfort of a back-side-of-the-clock night leg. We would not need to spend extra time on the ground at JFK, and the second flight - when we would both be tired - would be during the day, in easier conditions.

The only issue we had to be careful about is timing our arrival with respect to sunrise, so we could legally log the entire inbound flight as night time. Fortunately, in late October Daylight Saving Time is still in effect, so sunrise at JFK on the 27th was very late - at 7:20 am. We needed wheels-down one hour before, so by 6:20am. With some calculations allowing in extra time due to uncertainty about IFR routing, we figured three hours ought to be enough for the flight. So, we decided on a 3:20am departure out of Ithaca, and a 2:30 am arrival time at the Ithaca airport.

The Preparation

A few days before the planned flight, I made final preparations. We would be filing IFR, of course - I would not attempt to get into a Bravo airport VFR except in the very small hours of the morning, and we would be arriving around 6am, which is not so early. Therefore, I carefully reviewed all JFK IFR procedures - arrivals, approaches and departures. I also identified suitable alternates in case a last-minute divert was needed for any reason; Islip (KISP) seemed a good alternate as did Republic (KFRG).

I called the JFK FBO and confirmed landing fees. $25 landing unless you land between 3pm and 10pm, when the aforementioned $100 surcharge applies. $45 for each eight-hour increment of parking, and a $33.60 facility fee waived with 10 or more gallons of fuel purchased. All in all, very reasonable for any Bravo airport, let alone one in New York City.

Two days before the trip, I started getting up at 5am and starting my day with a cardio workout, to shift my sleep schedule earlier and ensure I would be wide awake by the time of our 6am JFK landing.

The evening before the trip, I double-checked the weather - everything looked great, with perfect VFR except a layer of clouds forecast over Syracuse. We would be IFR of course, but it was cold so icing could be a concern. However, the layer was forecast to be thin and limited to Syracuse and points north. I also filed my IFR plan from Syracuse to JFK, for a 4:15am departure. I had never filed a flight plan so far in advance of a trip, but it certainly can be done the night before. Then I focused on getting as much sleep as I could before the 1:30 am alarm went off.

The Night Flight

As planned, we met at the Ithaca airport around 2:30 am. After a quick but thorough preflight and an updated briefing, we were soon en route. That time of night, Ithaca Tower and Elmira Approach are both closed, so we self-announced on 119.6 (Ithaca Tower/CTAF) for taxi and departure. We took off from Ithaca around 3:30 am and flew to Syracuse VFR.

The Syracuse detour provided two additional benefits apart from guaranteeing we would fly for at least 2 hours. First, it took us to an airport which has ATC service 24 hours a day, and provided a way for us to pick up our clearance to JFK on the ground. That way we could study our route and enter it into the GPS without having to fly the plane at the same time. Second, the leg from Ithaca to Syracuse provided me a "warm-up", which was much appreciated as my flying was initially somewhat lacking in precision due to fatigue (flying at 4am is somehow much harder than at 4pm!). However, by the time we landed in Syracuse, I had my act together and was ready to proceed.

In Syracuse, we picked up our clearance without shutting down the engine. We received a full route - SYR V483 RKA V433 PETER V270 ATHOS V44 DPK KJFK. The routing did not surprise us as it basically corresponds to the Pawling Two arrival into JFK. We took off just before 4:30am, at 4:26am according to FlightAware.

We climbed out of Syracuse and brushed past the expected layer of clouds. The clouds were very thin, and we picked up minimal if any ice. Then we were in the clear. As we flew, Boston Center spontaneously cleared us direct to points that "cut a corner" and made our route shorter. We flew over the Catskills and it was very dark, but we had a strong tailwind and soon we saw a bright glow to the south - the lights of New York City!

We picked up the JFK ATIS. They have three ATIS frequencies, and we went with what appeared to be the "main" one. The other two are labeled as "ARR-NE" and "ARR-SW". Since we were arriving from the northWEST, I was not sure which one would apply. But the main ATIS worked fine.

On the radio, the New York approach sectors were not busy except the very last controller who set us up into JFK. The controllers were relaxed and greeted aircraft with a "good morning". It seemed that the airspace and the airport was just transitioning from slow/sleepy night mode into morning mode and things were starting to kick into high gear. A number of "heavies" were on the frequency with us, also landing at JFK.

Our route and vectoring took us south over Long Island. Pete spotted JFK airport to our right, and I was glad of his help. You might think an airport the size of JFK would be easy to see, but at night finding an airport in a huge city is actually a very hard task. You fly above an endless sea of lights, and the airport could really be anywhere unless you look hard.

At that point we were at 2000 feet and receiving frequent vectoring to set us up for the visual approach to runway 31L. Both runways 31L and 31R were in use. We were coming in from the east, and the vectoring would take us further south over the water, then UNDER the ILS arrivals on 31R, and on to final for 31L. I was focusing on flying the plane precisely to the vectoring instructions, and was glad of Pete's presence and help to keep general situational awareness of traffic and airport position. I'm not saying this can't be done solo, but having a second pilot on board reduces stress and workload greatly.

As I mentioned, the vectoring briefly took us south over the water, which at this point is the open Atlantic Ocean. The sea of lights suddenly turned into utter blackness, and I suddenly understood all the articles and warnings about the "black hole." Night aircraft arrivals/departures over water have resulted in numerous accidents due to pilot disorientation. I remained in control and flew the plane safely, but I experienced a very sudden and strong feeling of vertigo.

I now understand why "black hole" accidents happen. The key is that this was a visual operation - we were IFR, but VMC and on a visual approach - and I was not primed to be in the "instrument mindset". IFR pilots know that "flying on instruments" and "flying visually" are two very different mindsets that require a deliberate transition. During this night visual operation, I was not in the instrument mindset, so the disorientation was startling. I have much experience with spatial disorientation while in clouds or under the hood, but when I am in the instrument mindset I am expecting the disorientation, and my training allows me to ignore and dismiss it. Anyway, again, I remained in control and safety was never compromised, but I gained a new respect for "black holes".

We were now turning back towards the airport. A 767 flying the ILS for 31R passed 1000 ft above (and a little behind) us. I could see its landing gear and it seemed incredibly close. Then we were on final, with a request to "keep our speed up as long as possible". We were prepared for that, having even practiced accelerated approaches before the trip. And then we were down - I had landed at JFK! It was almost exactly 6am.

Of course, we were not done yet. We now had something fast and heavy behind us, and needed to get off the runway. The tower controller was patient and she did not rush us, but requested an expeditious exit to a taxiway. We did as requested and were soon taxiing on a sea of concrete the scale of which I had never seen before. Fortunately from 31L the taxi to the FBO was easy, with no runways to cross. There was also not a lot of conflicting traffic on the taxiways - indeed, it was so non-busy that the Tower controller did not hand us off to Ground but gave us taxi directions as well.

After we landed, we heard the Tower controller politely but firmly admonish the aircraft that landed behind us for taking too much time/space on the runway before getting off, or more precisely for not letting them know in advance he would need this extra time/space. We looked at each other and had a "whew, at least it's not us" moment. However, the contrast with how we were handled clearly shows that JFK controllers are GA-friendly and understand we do not have the same capacities as the "typical" JFK traffic.

Finally, we made it to the FBO. There is just one FBO at JFK, Sheltair, and we were soon parked and requested a fuel top-off. For this night cross-country, we had logged 2.8 hours of total time. We now filed an IFR flight plan for our departure, grabbed a crew car and went to the Cross Bay Diner for a well-deserved breakfast.

The Day Flight

After breakfast, we were ready for the trip back. The first order of business was to obtain our IFR clearance. We had filed to Ithaca rather than Syracuse, since with the headwind we were anticipating we thought it would be easy to meet the 2-hour requirement. It would also be easy to extend that trip if needed.

I was concerned about picking up the clearance based on past experiences at Teterboro. I was worried clearance frequency might be very congested and we might have to wait a long time with the engine running. However, there was almost no-one on the frequency but us and the controller. Pete suggested that the airlines probably do clearance delivery electronically now, bypassing the need for voice communication. This made perfect sense. We got our clearance - another full route, the "Idlewild Climb" from the Kennedy Three departure, then radar vectors to SAX V188 LVZ V29 CFB V423 KITH. With great VFR en route, our plan was to get airborne and out of the NYC airspace, then cancel IFR and continue direct VFR.

We did our runup on the ramp and requested a taxi clearance. This time we would have to go to 31R - a more substantial expedition over the sea of concrete. The Foreflight airport diagram with a display of our GPS position was very helpful, as was Pete's help. It's actually a lot harder to divide attention between the outside and a diagram while taxiing than it is while flying. So I focused on physically taxiing the aircraft and on acknowledging and writing down the progressive taxi instructions, while Pete kept a lookout inside and outside as to which taxiway we were currently on.

We taxied alongside 31L which was in use, as Pete's video shows. With what residual attention we had, we admired the airport operations and infrastructure around us, as they were much easier to see in daylight. It was clear that this was an airport geared towards commercial airline operations. General aviation, even the big and fast kind like corporate jets, was not in evidence, and it definitely felt like we were guests in someone else's world. It was clear we were welcome, but it just felt like a different kind of airport, different even from a busy Class C like Providence or a busy corporate GA place like Teterboro or White Plains.

We taxied past a Delta jet that was instructed to hold short and give way to us; I wonder what the pilots thought of us in our little Mooney. I waved at them but they probably couldn't see me doing that.

As we reached our assigned runway 31R, the ground controller instructed us to "monitor Tower". Pete had experience with such instructions at other airports and explained this meant we should NOT call up Tower, but stay quiet and wait for their instructions. Sure enough, after a few other planes were out of the way, Tower instructed us to "line up and wait" behind something departing. Then it was our turn and we were cleared for takeoff.

As you can see from our FlightAware track, we were directed by vectors well east of the airport. We were rapidly instructed to climb to 8000 feet. The ADS-B traffic display was showing an incredible amount of traffic, and we could hear some of it and see some of it as well. It was a clear and gorgeous morning; the vectored route allowed us great views of the airport and all of New York City. The Manhattan skyscrapers were easy to spot, and it was a wonderful comparison with the night-time view of the city we had seen just a few hours before.

Once we were out of the lateral limits of the Bravo airspace, I canceled IFR and we descended to 6500 ft. The rest was an uneventful direct VFR flight to Ithaca, over the meandering Delaware river and the last of the fall foliage. When we were handed off to Wilkes-Barre approach, we heard a Piper on the frequency talking about doing touch-and-goes at Cherry Ridge. This felt really unusual after the environment we had just come from; we were back in familiar small-plane GA territory. A good headwind ensured we didn't need to add detours to meet the two-hour requirement, and we landed in Ithaca with a 2.3 hour day cross-country accomplished.

By Skyhawk to the Pacific - and back!

Michael Brown — Fri, 04 Aug 2017 02:15:47 GMT

I'm home, and as much as I enjoyed my trip, it's great to be back. I left Bloomington, Illinois (KBMI) at 7:30AM, and was on the ground in Ithaca around 2:30PM.

Today's flight was smooth and pleasant. The weather at Bloomington when I took off at 7:30 was clear but hazy. I climbed up to 7,500 feet to get over the haze and into to cooler air.

The Illinois countryside, with an oval development to match the round one from yesterday's pictures.

I stopped for fuel at Akron-Canton Airport (KCAK) in Ohio. It turned out to be a big day for the Football Hall of Fame, and the airport was very busy - lucky I didn't need a rental car, as there were none to be had. Half an hour or so to top off the tanks, and back in the air.

As I left KCAK, the clouds became more defined, if widely scattered. Bases were around 4,500 feet, and the tops were generally around 9,000, with some towering peaks well over that. I climbed up to 9,500 (the new ignition system really seems to help with climbs) and steered through the valleys, avoiding the higher peaks. You seldom get much of a feel for your speed when you're flying, so having clouds to watch is kind of fun.

While the predicted afternoon thunderstorms had made their appearance by the time I reached Bradford, PA. I descended to 4,200 feet to stay under the clouds, so I could see any precipitation and avoid any I couldn't see through. As it turned out, there was a clear corridor between the storms right along my route, and the ADS-B display once again came in handy in confirming the clear route.

I landed at Ithaca around 2:30. The only scary moment of the day was trying to remember where I'd put the keys to the hangar and my car once I'd landed at Ithaca (they were in the glovebox of the Cessna, I discovered after I'd emptied out my bags).

My house rabbit, Natasha Rabbitova, seems to have forgiven me for my absence, and all's well with the world. Now, where to fly next...

By Skyhawk back from the Pacific - Day 10 - Longmont to Bloomington, IL

Michael Brown — Thu, 03 Aug 2017 03:15:59 GMT

I'm more than halfway home from Colorado.

I got a late start this morning, and didn't leave Estes Park until 8:30, so I didn't get into the air until nearly 10:00. However, with a small tailwind and an efficient fuel stop in Hastings, Nebraska (KHSI), I was able to make up some of the time and landed in Bloomington, Illinois (KBMI) by 6:30 Central Time, Total flying time for the day was 7.3 hours.

East of the Rockies, Colorado flattens right out, although it remains green for quite a while.

Eventually, though, the land becomes dryer and the green circles of the circular irrigators appear.

The weather was warm and hazy, so I few higher than usual (7,500-9,500 feet) to get above the haze and into cooler, dryer air - the tailwind at that altitude, and the better economy were factors, too.

Above the haze layer, with some small clouds below, navigation across the plains is easy - just follow the roads as they run straight east-west for mile after mile.

A circular housing development adjoins a circular irrigator in Nebraska.

As I went further east, the clouds began to build up. They were very scattered, though, so I could avoid the patches of rain by flying in the clear open air between the clusters of clouds.

Finally, the Mississippi River came into sight, and I was in Illinois.

The clouds became thicker and more active in Illinois, so I had to descend to get under the bases. There was more rain, and stronger, so I had to divert around strong showers - if I can't see through the rain I won't fly through it. The ADS-B radar display and help from ATC allowed me to skirt along the northwest side of the storm, then turn southeast through a gap to get east of the system. By the time I reached the Illinois River near Peoria, the skies were clear again.

About 30 miles further on, I landed at Central Illinois Regional Airport (KBMI) in Bloomington, Illinois. There are two FBO's, but one of them - Image Air - sent a "follow me" truck to meet me as I left the taxiway, so that's the one I went with. They were nice enough to give me a crew car to take to the motel for the evening, and "thanks" for that!

I'm only about 600 miles from Ithaca, so with any luck, and some favorable weather, I should be home tomorrow afternoon.

By Skyhawk back from the Pacific - Day 9 -Mack Mesa to Longmont, CO

Michael Brown — Sun, 30 Jul 2017 02:54:13 GMT

Day 9 of my trip, and I'm still in Colorado, but on the other side of the Rocky Mountains.

7:00AM - we've loaded and fueled 46493 and were ready for takeoff.

I'd planned three different routes from Mack Mesa (10CO) to Longmont (KLMO), depending on what the weather would turn out to be. When I got up this morning, it was overcast in Fruita, but pretty much everywhere was reporting the cloud bases to be at least 14,000 feet above sea level, which meant that we could go over most of the mountains and make it through Rollins Pass at 12,078 feet. So, that was our route when we took off.

With its new exhaust the Cessna was noticeably quieter than it had been, and I think the electronic ignition helped the climb from Mack's 4,750 feet to our cruising altitude of 13,500. Here, we're leaving 7,500 and still climbing at 500fpm on our way to 13,000-plus.

All went well until we were about 15 miles from Rollins Pass, and it turned out that although we were still well below the clouds and over the pass, there was an area of rain around the pass which made it impossible to see the mountains. That made Rollins a Bad Idea, but it was clearer to the north, so we headed that way - at the worst, we knew conditions on the Wyoming border were good, and we could get through that pass at 10,000 feet or less. As it turned out, once we got into the southern end of the wide valley which led to the northerly pass, we'd passed the rain and we could see over the Milner Pass to the east.

We flew through Milner Pass at 13,800 feet (a record for me).

As we approached Milner Pass we could see the land beyond it - a good rule of thumb is that if you can see lower terrain through a pass, you're above the pass and can safely fly through it.

Very quickly we were through the passes and descending over Estes Park, where I'll be spending the next few days.

Within fifteen minutes after that we were descending into Longmont Airport (KLMO). I don't think I've ever been at a pilot controlled (a/k/a untowered) airport which was so busy. We entered a downwind after three other aircraft, with another three or four behind us in the pattern.

We were on the ground by 9:30, picked up our rental car (an Audi SUV, if you can believe it) and set off for the family reunion.

My route for the day - the straight lines from waypoint-to-waypoint is the planned route, the red line shows the GPS log for the actual flight.

I'll be here until Wednesday, and then will be on my way back East.

By Skyhawk back from the Pacific - Day 8 - Concord to Mack Mesa, CO

Michael Brown — Mon, 24 Jul 2017 03:38:31 GMT

Day 8 of my trip, and I'm headed eastward.

I took off from KCCR (Concord, California) before 8:00AM in order to cross the Sierra Nevada Mountains before the winds picked up.

Concord is a sea level, but within 100 miles we had to be at 11,500 feet altitude to cross the Sierra Nevada mountains. It took a while, and I had to pause a few times to let the engine cool from the hard climb, but we made it in plenty of time to enter the mountain passes.

The land is still rough and hilly on the eastern side of the Sierras, and I had a very nice tailwind at 11,500, so we stayed high above the lower hills.

As we approached our fuel stop at Tonopah, Nevada, there was an incredibly bright glare to the north. It's a solar plant, with hundreds of mirrors focusing the sun onto a central pillar.

Just under three hours later, I landed at KTPH - Tonopah, Nevada - for fuel. The light area is KTPH - or, rather, the huge concrete ramp where World War Two heavy bombers once parked.

493 at Tonopah

Clouds started to build up while I was at Tonopah, and I was dodging rain showers for the next 250 miles or so.

Typically for desert rains, the showers were widely scattered, if heavy, so I was able to see and fly around the worst of the rain, but the storms made the last four hours of flying into a roller-coaster ride of updrafts and downdrafts.

Once we reached eastern Utah, the skies cleared and the land became eroded desert. This area is just north of Canyonlands National Park, and the canyons are very much the same as in the park.

Interstate 70 crosses a canyon just west of Green River, Utah

Further east, you start to see green patches where the Colorado River irrigates the land - Fruita, Colorado, straight ahead!

I gave Jerry a call on my ham radio when I was twenty eight miles out from Mack Mesa, and he was already at the airport waiting.

Seven hours of flying, and we've reached our destination! Final approach to runway 7, 10CO (Mack Mesa). The runway starts at the top of a steep cliff, which makes the approach interesting - don't land short, whatever you do. Of course, taking off on Runway 25, as soon as you reach the departure end of the runway you're 500 feet up.

N46493 is in a hangar at 10CO, where it will spend the next week or so being upgraded with electronic ignition and a PowerFlow exhaust. When we fly over the Rockies to Longmont in a week, we'll see how much of an improvement the changes made. Watch this space after July 30th...

By Skyhawk Along the Pacific - Day 7

Michael Brown — Thu, 20 Jul 2017 23:40:33 GMT

Today's flight followed the Pacific Coast from KONP Newport, Oregon, down to KCCR Concord, California.

Day 7 of my trip started out grey and dreary, with low clouds in Newport, OR. While the skies were clear in inland Oregon, there was no way to get over the Coastal Range to where the weather was better. By 9:30 the ceilings were up to 3,400 feet at Newport, and over 1,500 feet all the way down the Oregon coast, so I set out.

I stayed under the clouds and just off shore for about 45 minutes.

As I flew further south, the ceiling dropped a bit and it started to drizzle. Then there was a break which let me get on top of the cloud layer at 5,500 feet. I followed the (unseen) coast until, finally, the clouds broke at the California Coastal Range.

The weather was clear all the rest of the way. I crossed the Coastal Range at 0Q5 - Shelter Cove, California - and turned eastward.

A few miles further down coast, I angled inland toward Ukiah, then down the valley.

Eventually, my destination of KCCR - Concord, California - came into sight across Suisun Bay, a tidal estuary which is connected to San Francisco Bay. KCCR is just visible at the upper right-hand corner of the picture.

Concord is a very busy airport. They had trainers doing touch-and-go's on the parallel 19 Right and 19 Left, and as I crossed the bay I was told to report a five-mile final for 19R. The frequency was so busy that my first few calls got stepped on, but at three miles out I got a word in edgewise and was cleared to land, number three. A short taxi afterward, 493 was tied down on the ramp at Sterling, one of the three FBOs at KCCR.

I'll be here for a couple of days with cousins, and then I'll be off again on Sunday morning to start the leg to Colorado.

By Skyhawk to the Pacific - Day 6 - Olympia, WA to Newport, OR

Michael Brown — Wed, 19 Jul 2017 04:15:55 GMT

Today - Day 6 of my trip - was a perfect flying day, and it ended at the Pacific.

When I took off from Olympia, it was cool and clear, with a light haze layer I quickly climbed above. I could see a number of snow-covered volcanic peaks as I climbed.

At the recommendation of a corporate jet pilot at Olympia, instead of heading straight to my destination, I aimed for Mount St. Helens.

The diversion was well worth it, and the view was spectacular of the mountain with part of the crater wall missing - signs of the devastation from the 1980 eruption are still evident, nearly 40 years later.

From the slopes of Mount St. Helens, I descended down over lower hills into the Salmon River valley.

Forty-five minutes later, I landed at McMinnville, Oregon (KMMV). The Evergreen Air Museum, home of the Spruce Goose, is across the street from the airport, and they sent a van to pick me up. The museum is great, with dozens of aircraft under the wings of the huge flying boat - the collection is well worth a trip to see.

I didn't have time to tour the Space building with jets and spacecraft, but the older aircraft are more interesting to me, anyway. I did pay extra to get a chance to sit in the pilot's seat of the Goose - how could I pass that up?

The tour guide took my picture - note the pipe behind the pilot's seat. Howard Hughes, a notorious germophobic, had a separate filtered air system installed to provide germ-free air to him at the pilot's position.

This is the starting crank for the Spruce Goose. No, really - it is. The crank starts the Auxiliary Power Unit (APU), which in turn provides the power to start the eight 3,000 horsepower engines.

After that, I took off for the remaining 55 miles to Newport, Oregon (KONP). As I approached the low hills of the Coastal Range, the Pacific Ocean appeared - my flight to the Pacific had reached the Pacific.

Those were the only clouds I saw all day - a single row about 1,200 above the beach. Once over the last of the hills, I turned southward and flew down the beach to enter a downwind for runway 34 at KONP, Newport Airport.

Enterprise had a rental car waiting for me at the FBO, and after checking in at the motel on Agate Beach, I went down to the Bayfront for dinner. There was a beautiful sunset today over the beach in back of my motel - a perfect end to a great flying day.

I'll be here in Newport all day tomorrow, and on Thursday morning I'll head south to Berkeley.

By Skyhawk to the Pacific - Day 5 - Glacier Park to Olympia, Washington

Michael Brown — Tue, 18 Jul 2017 03:58:05 GMT

Day five of my trip (OK, it's really day seven, but I'm only counting flying days...), and we're in Olympia, Washington.

We were off the ground early on a cold (44 degrees) and clear mountain day. The airplane was happy to climb in the cool, dense air, and we were up at 8,500 feet in very little time. While KGPI is in a valley, it's surrounded by mountains which go up well over 6,000 feet, so climbing is essential.

The first part was over the mountains of western Montana and eastern Idaho.

About two hours from Glacier, we passed Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, and Spokane, Washington, and we were back over flat and dry plains.

The plains are table-top flat and dry. This is Harrington, Washington, where the railroad and highway split, only to rejoin some miles further on.

A spiral pond?

Circular irrigators are common in eastern Washington. This is a particularly interesting cluster, with some of the fields subdivided like a math teacher demonstrating pie charts.

Before long the snow-covered cone of Mt. Ranier appeared on the horizon, and stayed there for more than an hour as we crossed the Cascades.

Even at 8,500 feet, the mountains to the north of our course towered above us.

Finally, we flew close by the huge mountain, passing just north of the national park which encompasses it.

With a little rerouting to avoid Seattle's Class B, we descended to land at KOLM, Olympia Airport.

We've spent the day in Olympia, touring the state capitol and walking along the waterfront. John will be leaving tomorrow morning to catch a flight back home, while I continue on to Newport, Oregon.

By Skyhawk to the Pacific - Day 4 - Havre to Glacier Park

Michael Brown — Mon, 17 Jul 2017 02:30:47 GMT

Day 4 was a short one - just 190 miles from KHVR - Havre, Montana - to KGPI - Glacier Park International.

We left Havre around 8AM, and flew in clear blue skies all the way.

The flight was a bit slow - we had to climb to about 10,800 feet to clear the mountains in the pass from East Glacier Park to the airport, and at that altitude we had such a strong headwind that our ground speed was only 60-70 knots.

After a couple of hours, the Rocky Mountains appeared in front of us.

Our flight path was from Havre to East Glacier Park, the eastern gateway to the park. From there, we flew IFR - I Follow Roads -following Route 2 through Maria's Pass, the lowest pass in the Rockies.

The road leads down a steep valley to West Glacier. Along the way are spectacular views of the mountains.

Past West Glacier, the valley opened up into the wide plain where Kalispell is located. We contacted Glacier Park tower, and were cleared to land on Runway 2, after an Allegiant Airbus and a Beech twin.

The FBO was very accommodating, and we said goodbye to N46493 for a few days.

Once we'd parked the airplane and picked up our rental car, we headed into Glacier Park, and we've spent the last two full days there. Here are some of my pictures from the park.

We rented a motorboat and spent an hour on MacDonald Lake.

The Going to the Sun Road crosses the park from west to east. We drove halfway on Friday, before we checked into our motel, and covered the entire length on Saturday.

From Logan Pass, halfway along the Going to the Sun Road, you can hike up a steep path to Hidden Lake - quite a slog, with much of the path still under snow, but well worth it when you get to the lake.

Columbia Ground Squirrels are all around.

When we got back down to Logan Pass Visitor Center, we found this Mountain Goat in the Mens Room - who says you can't get close to wildlife? You just have to look in their natural habitats - like restrooms.

St. Mary's Lake is at the eastern end of the Going to the Sun Road.

This bear was just off the trail we were hiking on in the Many Glaciers region of the park.

Hidden Meadow, in the western part of the park.

The weather looks perfect for our flight tomorrow, so we'll be off for Olympia, Washington, bright and early. Watch this blog for pictures of our flight.

By Skyhawk to the Pacific - Day 3 - Oshkosh to Havre, Montana

Michael Brown — Mon, 17 Jul 2017 02:04:23 GMT

Sorry about not posting here for a few days. I'll catch up today, and will try to post as each leg is completed from here on.

Day 3 of the trip was a long one - ten hours flying time, with two fuel stops, for a total of 922 miles.

We left Oshkosh, Wisconsin, with nice weather predicted for most of the day - but for a low deck of clouds extending from Wisconsin to the North Dakota border.

As we went along, we could still see the ground through the deck, and it wasn't very thick - 1,500-2,000 feet.

We decided to get on top of the clouds, where it was clear and sunny. The tops climbed to about 4,800 feet, so we had to climb, as well, up to 6,500.

When it came time to descend, after about 400 miles, the deck was solid, so John got an IFR clearance to get back under. It only took a few minutes, and we broke out at 1,800 AGL. A few minutes later, we were on the ground for lunch and fuel at KBWF - Wahpeton, ND.

Wahpeton is just over the border, with Breckenridge, WI, next door. It's just a short walk into town, and the Wahpeton Deli has great burgers. You can tell Wahpeton's a Midwestern town, because it has the requisite railway line and grain silos downtown.

After we (and 493) were refueled, we took off again. From there we flew under the clouds, over the North Dakota countryside, which is flat, with huge farms surrounding the towns.

Within ten minutes or so the sun broke through.

Winding rivers and streams are everywhere in the Plains

Minnesota claims to have ten thousand lakes - and it sure looked like it from the air. It's always interesting to play a sort of Rorschach Test with the ponds - what do they look like to you?

We crossed the Missouri and Yellowstone Rivers as we flew through Minnesota and into Montana.

Circular irrigators began to appear as we flew west, and, once again, I found Pac Man eating a farm.

We stopped again for fuel at PO1 - Poplar, MT.

Poplar has self-service fuel carried to an extreme. When we landed, there wasn't anyone anywhere around. But, the fuel pump was unlocked and so was the FBO, manned only by two friendly dogs. We pumped our fuel, then went inside the FBO and called the number we found on an invoice on the counter. The person who answered talked John through running his credit card on the terminal, and we were done. Pet the dogs, and back in the air.

Two hours later we'd arrived at KHVR - Havre, MT.

So, by flying forever, or so it seemed, we were back on schedule. "Thanks" to Tony, the airport manager at Havre, who gave us a car to use for the evening.

By Skyhawk to the Pacific - Day 2 - Mackinac Island to... Oshkosh?

Michael Brown — Thu, 13 Jul 2017 01:17:45 GMT

Yes, Oshkosh, not Fargo. Oh well, it's one of my long-distance trips. What did you expect?

A line of heavy rain went through this morning, leaving low ceilings behind all along our planned route. Every airport was IFR between Mackinac Island and Fargo, and predicted to remain so all day. But, there appeared to be a route of clearer skies further south, if we could only get down there. Finally, the clouds lifted enough at Mackinac Island for us to take off, and we followed the Lake Michigan shoreline about 500-800 feet above the water.

It proved to be no problem to stay under the clouds, and so we did. While we were heading westward we had a great tailwind, and we were seeing ground speeds of 135 knots - but then as we turned southward, the tailwind became a headwind, and ground speed dropped to 83 knots. Such is the reality of flying...

This is at Seul Choix Bay in Michigan, where they seem to have a whole lot of sand or gravel to load into big ships...

Before too long. the clouds broke enough for us to get up on top.

At that point we headed straight for Oshkosh, and by the time we got to Menominee there were just widely scattered clouds around. Flying down Green Bay, we passed over Chambers Island, where the pointy eastern tip makes interesting patterns in the water.

At the end of Green Bay is, not surprisingly, Green Bay, Wisconsin.

For the Green Bay Packers in the club, here's their Lambeau Field stadium:

A weir on the Fox River in Green Bay forms a reservoir for a park:

Two and a half hours after leaving Mackinac Island, we were on final for Runway 27 at KOSH - Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

We taxied over to the Hilton Garden Hotel's private ramp and tied down. Unfortunately, they'd sold their last room while we were flying down, but the desk clerk was nice enough to find us one across the street, so everything worked out well.

We've spent the afternoon touring the EAA Aviation Museum at Oshkosh.

The hangars at Pioneer Field were open, so we started there. This is a Swallow - you can buy a ride in it, most days.

This Bugatti racer was one of a kind. It never flew, as the Germans occupied Paris before it could be tested. Amazingly, the prototype survived the war, and is now in the EAA museum. A flying replica was made recently, but was destroyed in a crash in 2016

A collection of prototypes of the popular RV series of homebuilt aircraft, including the prototype RV-1

An AirCam hangs in the museum. Through the windows you can see the hangars at Pioneer Field, across the grass runway. — at EAA Aviation Museum.

If you would like to see more pictures, I've been posting many more to my Facebook page.

There are severe thunderstorm warnings for tonight, but we hope for better weather tomorrow. With any luck we'll be able to get to Havre City and be back on our flight plan. We'll see how that works.

By Skyhawk to the Pacific - Day 1 - Ithaca to Mackinac Island

Michael Brown — Wed, 12 Jul 2017 01:30:21 GMT

Unusually for one of my long-distance flights, the weather cooperated and we (N46493, John Hrubos and I) were able to take off as planned, on time.

Before long, we were passing Niagara Falls

From Niagara, we passed into Canada. This is a ship on the Welland Canal.

Overflying Canada is no big deal. You just need to be on a flight plan, Buffalo hands you off to Toronto, and off you go.

I think this Canadian pond looks like a rabbit - or maybe a triceratops?

This part of Canada is basically flat, with large farms having large collections of grain elevators.

A couple of hours of Canada, and we passed into Michigan. The St. Clair River divides Sarnia, Ontario (left) from St. Clair, Michigan (right).

The weather remained good, with a broken layer of clouds extending from 2,500 to about 3,500 feet. We mostly stayed on top, as there were more than ample holes to drop down through when we needed to.

As we headed northward in Michigan, the land flattened out even more, and the roads became straighter.

After three hours and fifty minutes flying, we were on final approach for runway 32, KMBS Saginaw, Michigan, for lunch and fuel.

After lunch, it was only 140 miles to our destination. Along the way we passed the first, but I'm sure not the last, rocker pump of the trip.

Soon the shore of Lake Huron appeared and we crossed over to follow the south shore of Bois Blanc Island westward to Mackinac Island. The pattern at Mackinac Island is a bit odd - you're requested to fly the downwind and base legs over water, so basically for runway 26 you fly downwind along the east coast of the island, then turn and follow the north coast as your base leg, then turn final.

And, we were landed. We tied down 46493 at the end of a satisfying day of flying, about five and a half hours total.

The FBO called a taxi for us, and when it arrived it had about eight seats and two horsepower. Well, two horses. It turns out that cars were banned on Mackinac Island in 1910 and today all transportation (other than a fire truck and an ambulance) is horse drawn or by bicycle. This is the island's UPS delivery vehicle - of course, the horses are brown - what else?

This is "City", the only town on Mackinac Island.

I'll finish up with a picture of one of Mackinac Island's inhabitants.

Tomorrow, weather permitting, we're off for Fargo, ND. We'll see how far we get...

Skyhawk 46493 is heading West again - watch this space

Michael Brown — Sat, 01 Jul 2017 14:58:16 GMT

493 and I will be flying to the West Coast, starting on July 11th, plus or minus weather. I'll be posting our progress, with pictures, as we go. Watch this blog as well as to my Facebook page

46493 in Colorado at the end of its first trip West in 2011

493 at La Junta Colorado on the 2013 trip.

493 at Oshkosh on the 2015 trip to Florida via Colorado.

Mike Brown

Welcome to the new EHFC blog!

Lucja Kot — Sun, 07 May 2017 13:13:00 GMT

This is a test post to the new EHFC blog. More information and posts coming soon.