It's been 2 weeks since the last flight, and I was ready with camera in hand for flying this past Sunday, March 25, 2007. The weather was pleasant; not too warm and not too cool, though in the morning hours while pre-flighting the aircraft with a slight wind from the north, it was a bit chilly. Dad and I boarded, brought the Lycoming engine to life, warmed it up, taxied to runway 08 and took-off. With a 90 degree turn to the southeast, we were now on our way.
Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson, NJ was our first aerial photo destination. It had been over a month since my last park fly-over, and since opening day is next weekend, I wanted to shoot some photos of construction and such taking place during this time. And indeed, lots had taken place. The new "Wiggles World" children's area was practically complete, and one of the large coasters there, The Chiller, had some of its track replaced. The park looked good, and many rides were testing as they readied the place for opening day.
After a few CCW circles at over 2,000 feet, we turned north and headed for the Wayne / Patterson area. I initially wanted to shoot pictures of the I-80 / Rt 46 / Rt 23 interchange in Wayne, as well as the Willowbrook mall, and planned on flying in the only altitude slot available (between 2,700 ft and 3,000 ft) without required radio communication. As we flew north past New Brunswick and crossing Rt 22 and the First Mountain, it became apparent that the base of the clouds that day were not going to let me climb to that altitude. The plans were ditched, and we transitioned through Morristown airport's airspace. Soon we were over the Boonton reservoir and the I-80 / I-287 interchange in Parsippany, NJ, headed for Lincoln Park airport. We hadn't been to this airport in quite some time, and this was my original home-base airport. After a little rest, we had our picnic lunch in the cockpit while sitting on the ramp, then decided to depart and head northwest towards Sussex, NJ.
With a quick turn to the northwest after taking-off of runway 01, we began flying over the mountainous terrain of southern Passaic county along Rt 23. This took us north of Ogdensburg and Franklin and to our next aerial photo destination, the now defunct Gingerbread Castle in Hamburg. I had always wanted to shoot aerial coverage of the castle and its grounds, and I did just that. The pictures all came out great, and will post them to my Amusements Page 2 in the near future. After this photo shoot, we turned north towards Vernon ski area and Mountain Creek. The only snow present was on the slopes and this created a neat effect. I shot some pictures here as well, and again will post them to my site in the near future. The main lodge was open for business with many skiers present, though not nearly as many as in the winter months.
We were now ready for a cup of coffee and some dessert, and wanted to try the Sussex diner adjacent to the Sussex county airport. While setting-up the plane for final approach on runway 03, I had to take note, and how could you not, of the home sitting almost directly at the end of this runway. A white house with green trim and a green shingled roof that I felt could almost blend into a green, summer field. My dream has always been to live near an airport, though not this close. Upon landing almost directly over this home and touching down on the runway, we taxied to the ramp and squeezed the plane into a parking spot. We headed down the wet, spongy dirt road to the cute, little diner, which happened to be closing in 20 minutes. Their cheesecake was so "cheesey" (in a GOOD way) and their coffee was most enjoyable. We then decided to depart Sussex and head for Allentown, PA. After starting the engine, we noticed that both taxiways were in very poor condition with potholes and loose rocks / stones present. Since there was no traffic present, we decided to back-taxi down the runway, turn 180 degrees and take-off. Soon we were heading south at about 2,000 feet.
We flew along Rt 206, passing just west of Newton and east of Swartswood lake, then over the quaint town of Blairstown. Because of no leaves on the trees, I could see the defunct Paulinskill railroad line, which is now a bike route, snaking through the hilly countryside. Up ahead and in the distance, we could see the Delaware river and far ahead, the smog from the Allentown area of PA. As we approached Allentown, we noticed the small airport of Easton, then made a shallow turn to the left and flew directly over the town of Easton. This diversion was done to clear the LehighValley International airport's airspace, and gave us more of a scenic flight as well. We than flew along I-78 as it passed just northwest of Hellertown, PA, then through a cut in the mountain ridge into Allentown. Like always, there's Queen City airport just ahead, and we enter a left downwind approach for runway 07. After a sl0000w and smooth landing into the wind with a vertical decent of over 1,000 feet per minute, we taxied to the main ramp for fuel. We always enjoy this airport for it's fuel service, pilot lounge, multi-runway option and the large, open feeling it gives when taking-off / landing here.
Soon, we were on our way, heading back east towards our home-base airport in NJ. Crossing the Delaware, we took note of some impressive mansions in the northern Hunterdon county area, then looked ahead at the mountain ridge surrounding Round Valley reservoir. After landing, we taxied back to our tie-down spot and shut her down, hoping the next flight will be just as memorable....Thanks for Reading - See you after the NEXT flight !!!
