CAVU (Ceiling & Visibility Unlimited)

Saturday, the 25th of November 2006, was truly a spectacular flying day. Not only because we were blessed with truly heaven-like weather, but because I was able to share the day with not only my Dad, but my wife as well.

We began our day like any other, arriving to the airport and giving the plane a thorough pre-flight inspection. I noticed how the heavy rain we had on Thanksgiving had washed any and all bird poop off of the plane, as well as the windshield. Before cranking the engine, I decided to pump the throttle 5 times since this seems to work best when the temps are in the 50's, but dip to the 30's & 40's overnight. No problem was had, and it started within 1-2 flips of the propeller.

After a brief warm-up, taxi and run-up on the taxi-way, we set the nose to the northeast on runway 04, applied full throttle and off we went, climbing briskly at a cool 1000 feet/min, feeling the propeller bite into every molecule of the cool, dense, morning air.

On a side note, my wife and I were driving around the hills of Warren County the day after Thanksgiving when we stumbled across the Merrill Creek reservoir, only wanting to return at a later date when we had more time to walk the path that surrounds this pristine body of water. Anyway, I decided that the next flying day we would circle the reservoir and shoot some pictures for the website, as well as see if we could spot any other trails that would be worth hiking.

So, after take-off that Saturday morning, I headed the plane directly west-northwest to the reservoir, or at least in the general direction. We climbed and leveled out just north of the Round Valley reservoir, then flew a course taking us just north of the Spruce Run reservoir, and finally saw the Merrill Creek reservoir up ahead. I circled once to the right so that my Dad and wife could get a good view, then circled back around to the left so I could shoot some nice photos.

After this, we began heading north and my wife suggested we land at Mount Pocono airport in the Pocono area of PA. So, a quick turn to the left and a heading of west and we were on our way, traversing the Delaware Water Gap, then flying directly over the historic town of East Stroudsburg. Finally, I could see the airport up ahead, but forgot just how high in elevation the location is. I took note and made a comment to everyone that I had to climb in order to enter the traffic pattern and land.....Hmmm, I must climb first in order to land. Anyway, after a very smooth landing, thank you very much, we taxied to the apron as I asked the attendant over the radio what the price of fuel was. I was excited when he said the weekend special was $3.69/gal. After a quick fill-up, I parked the plane, we grabbed our lunch bad and headed into the office, where after paying the bill, we enjoyed some hearty sandwiches, chips, pickles and some juice....the standard fare we always carry along with us for a day of flying.

After departing Mt. Pocono airport, we decided to head to Sullivan County International airport in Monticello, NY. We hadn't been there in over a year and wanted to see what was happening with the restaurant that I remembered as being closed the last time we flew in there. En route, we traversed the wilderness of northeastern PA, around the town of Sky Top where the large resort lies. Combine this with the intricate lakes and winding creeks and you have one magnificent view. The visibility was incredible, and at this point, half way between Mt. Pocono and Sullivan County airport, you could see the Catskill mountain range to the north and the Delaware Water Gap to the southeast.

As far as Sullivan County airport, the grounds and runway are huge, due to the fact that it is classified as an international airport. The fact is it was never used as an international airport. Back when the airport was being built, the idea was to add gambling casinos around the existing race track and to attract more resorts and family destinations to be built, thus producing a need for a large airport capable of handling jets. This never came to be, but the airport was still built with an international classification, which means that now I have a 6,300 foot runway to land my tiny, Cessna 172, 5000+ feet more than I need. Also, there is no control tower there due to the relative quietness of the field & very low usage for an airport this large.

We parked on the main ramp and noticed quite a few planes. A few were leaving, some were still parked and one was even fueling-up. We walked in the terminal, and I call it a terminal because that’s what it was built as. It features international airport style seating, check-in counters and a mini baggage door just like in larger international airports. The restaurant was in fact back in business, though we decided to wait until our next destination to partake in dessert and coffee.

After a brief stay in the terminal and snapping a few pictures, we boarded the plane, started the engine, taxied on the taxi-ways that are larger than my home base airport’s runway and positioned the plane on the large runway. Applying full throttle, the speed of the plane seems to be stationary because of the 150 foot wide runway, but quickly we were airborne and headed east towards Montgomery County, NY. On the way, we flew nearby some abandoned resorts that were left by the wayside, then over some relatively large mountain ridges near Wurtsboro, NY, then on to Orange County airport. After a tricky landing pattern entry, I set-up the plane in-line with runway 03 and commenced landing, but noticed that the plane in front was doing a touch and go, meaning he was landing and immediately after, taking-off again. And because the air was calm, the vortices produced by his propeller as he applied full throttle were just sitting over the runway, invisible to me, and as I was just about to touch down, the plane suddenly lifted, yawed uncontrollably to the left and all I could do to bring her down gently was apply full aileron (wing) control, along with work the rudder and elevator in unison, all to counteract this dilemma that I was in. Touchdown was uneventful, but I learned a lesson regarding the calm air and what can happen when a plane in front applies full throttle for a take-off. Something I should’ve realized before landing, but didn’t think of at the time.

Taxiing to the ramp, we entered the restaurant there, sat ourselves and waited an eternity for a server. I mentioned this in my last report, Rick’s Runway Café, though the service was better last week. Anyway, the wait was worth it, because we were treated to freshly- brewed Guatemalan coffee, a slice of fresh, homemade apple pie with a scoop of gourmet, vanilla ice cream placed nicely on top. Finishing, we took a stroll outside to soak up the warm sun and rather warm air, and then boarded for our flight home.

After taxiing to runway 03, we were soon airborne and turned 180 degrees to a heading of south. Dad then decided that instead of flying directly back to our home base airport, we take the scenic route along the valley where the town of Sussex, Newton and Andover reside. So, southwest we headed, taking us directly over the majestic onion fields around Warwick, Pine Island and Florida, NY. Soon we were over the quaint, little town of Sussex and Sussex airport, and then I could see the twinkling of sun, glistening off the cars around the bustling town of Newton which was ahead. While over Newton, I decided to shoot some pictures of the town for the website. With a slight turn to the left, we were over Jump airport and took notice that the runway was freshly paved…..a much welcomed sight. Again to the left and we noticed Andover airport as it sit snugly between two lakes at Kittatiny State Park. Continuing further, I headed over Wild West City in Byram to snap a few pictures, and even noticed some folks on horseback. The attraction is of course closed for the season, but it was interesting to see two people on horseback in the center of this simulated old west town. Finally, we traversed the towns of Flanders and Chester, then noticed the hills surrounding Round Valley reservoir ahead on the horizon. A quick glance to the left of the reservoir pointed the way to Solberg airport, and I made a bee-line directly to it.

After an uneventful landing to the northeast, I taxied to the fuel farm to gas up before we parked for good. To our surprise, Solberg airport has also reduced their gas prices to $3.69/gal just like Mt. Pocono, which is very welcoming. Finally, one last start-up to taxi the plane to the tie-down spot where we pushed her back into position roped her down and chocked the wheels until the next memorable flight, hopefully the next weekend.

Gloomy but Gleaming Flight

Saturday, the 18th of November 2006, started out gloomy but soon changed to a mix of shadows, rays of sunshine and interesting cloud formations, and it was nice to shake the water out of the wings after ALL of the rain we've had over the past few weeks. Today it was just Dad and I since my wife had a previous engagement elsewhere.

After a thorough pre-flight inspection, I pumped the throttle 5 times due to the cold weather and the fact that the engine has not been run in over 2 weeks. After 1 rotation of the propeller it started with gusto. As I taxied out to the runway but before I did my run-up, Dad noticed much water spewing from the right wing. We were going to taxi for a while to let it all run out, but after much shaking of the plane using only the brakes, we noticed that MOST of the water had spewed out.

Take-off was powerful but smooth, helped by the fact that the air is cold, dense and allows the propeller to "bite" into it, as I mentioned in my last post. I headed north and climbed to 2,500 feet. The turbulence was light and the visibility was 10+ miles, which was really nice. We could see the Catskill mountains soon after we took-off from about the Morristown area.

Continuing north, I climbed to a little over 3,000 feet since the moutains were higher in this area. We soon crossed Route 10, then Route 46 thru Dover, then Route 80 and the Rockaway Mall. Soon we were over Picatinny Arsenal and Green Pond, commenting how the hills of north Jersey looked so brutal and desolate with no leaves and the sky a gloomy grey. But just as we crossed Route 23 and approached the state border and the onion fields of Florida & Pine Island, NY, the sun was peeking out and with the spotty shadows this created against the backdrop of the hills in the area, the sight was simply astounding.

A quick check of the GPS showed our ground speed was a low 125 mph due to the headwinds from the north. I eyed our destination airport and circled it to shoot some pictures since I knew I had none of Orange County airport in Montgomery, NY. We soon landed and taxied to the Restaurant/Fuel area. The restaurant was newly renovated and opened last year. The new owners turned it into a real, first class joint, calling it "Rick's Runway Cafe", with a Panera Bread type menu, and awesome Dark Roast Guatamalan coffee - YUM !!! Anyway, since it was a bit crowded, we decided to take-off and shoot some pictures of a resort a few miles north. Once I had shot about a dozen or so pictures of this amazing place (I forget the name off hand, but will have these posted on my site sometime in the near future), we headed east across the Hudson river, just north of Poughkeepsi, NY, to Sky Acres airport.

This airport has a coffe shop as well, and usually not too crowded, but when we walked in, we could've swore they were offereing FREE meals as the place was packed. No problem, though, as we decided to simply look around the gift shop, then take-off and head west once again, back to Orange County airport for fuel and food. This flight took us back over the Hudson river, just north of Stewart International airport. Finally, after landing, parking and walking into Rick's Runway Cafe once again, we noticed the place had emptied out. Waiting for us, though, was a nice, warm slice of homemade appple pie and that dark roast coffee I mentioned above. A bit pricy, but then again, so is Starbuck's.

After a nice rest and warm-up with the coffee, we had the maintenance crew fuel us up at a whopping $4.09 per gallon (OUCH !!!) then taxied to runway 26, applied full throttle and we were off in a few hundred feet. Turning left, we headed south, climbing to 2,000 feet and heading towards Greenwood Lake and West Milford, NJ. This route took us over Greenwood Lake airport and once again the hills of northern NJ. I wanted to check-out Morristown airport, so I headed a bit more southeast and flew a course taking us over Boonton Reservoir and the interchange of Route 80 and Route 287. Soon, Morristown airport was dead ahead, and since I didn't want to bother with calling any control towers, I flew in the only slot available where I did NOT have to call anyone. This is 300 foot high gap between the upper boundary of Morristown's airspace and the lower boundary of New York's airspace. It works out quite well.

Finally, I turned a bit southwest now, taking us just east of Bernardsville, then over the Route 78 / Route 287 interchange, which I photographed since it looked so amazing. Again, I will post this and other interchanges I shot that day on my site in the near future. Entering the Solberg (my home base airport) pattern, it was smooth and a bit of sun was poking thru the clouds. I touched down ever so gently and taxied to my tie-down spot, giving the engine a quick run-up to ensure the plugs hadn't loaded up on landing.

So what seemed like a gloomy flying day turned out to be a fun-filled and gleaming day of airport hopping, photographing & otherwise beautiful views......

Six Flags Great Adventure Fly-Over

The weather on Saturday, the 4th of November 2006, finally cooperated, and I was able to take to the air in the hopes of shooting many aerial photos of Great Adventure's Safari, along with the entire theme park in general. My wife could not join me today, so it was only Dad and I.

I arrived at Solberg airport in Readington, NJ, gave the plane a thorough pre-flight, then started the engine. Because the plane sat for the past 3 weeks, the engine took a bit of throttle pumping to run. In no time, I was preparing for take-off and running-up the engine and checking the guages. Finally, I entered on runway 22 and added full throttle. Soon I was climbing out of the traffic pattern at 1,000 feet per minute & 90 mph. And because the air was cold and dense, the propeller bit into the air like a screw churning through butter, which is a nice feeling to say the least.

I set-up the GPS and punched in the coordinates for Miller Airpark airport; a route that takes me directly directly to Great Adventure. I then set the plane at a cruising altitude of about 2,000 ft and enjoyed the view, shooting some photos of various interesting structures along the way. Soon, I could see the Outlet Mall at the intersection of Routes 195 & 537, and I shot a few pictures of this before heading south.

As I neared the Lakehurst Naval Base airspace, I quickly turned back north and set myself up to shoot many pictures of Great Adventure's safari. I was able to capture the entire theme park and the Safari as well in one of the photos, and the remaining ones were only of the safari and theme park seperately.

In all of my flights over Great Adventure, I had never shot any GOOD photos of the Safari, and thus was my goal today. Also, upgrades for the 2007 season are to be underway in the Safari and I wanted to have something to compare when this finally happens.

After shooting these photos, I flew south towards McGuire AFB, but turned north well before their airspace, climbed to approx. 3,500 feet, and shot a few pictures of the entire property of Great Adventure, from Prospertown Lake to the Safari to Route 195.

After the photos were all shot, Dad and I headed to South Jersey Regional airport near Mount Holly, NJ for some coffee and a muffin. After we landed, the wind seemed to drop to near zero and the temps were waming up. We fueled-up there as well, and Avgas (aviation fuel) was still a whopping $3.89 per gallon. Soon, we were back in the air and heading north, with our course taking us over the NJ Turnpike Extension bridge into PA, just west of Trenton, NJ and then west of Flemington, NJ. I wanted to over-fly my home in High Bridge, NJ, so we made a few circles and I snapped a couple of nice, clear shots of my home from above.

In general, the color of the leaves were mostly brown with only a bit of yellow, and many trees were simply naked and only showing their "sticks". We then entered Solberg's traffic pattern and landed, shut down the engine and pushed the ole' girl back into her tie-down spot, ending an ever so perfect flying day....