I still miss my folks so much, Mom always the tough one and Dad the teacher and best friend. I miss his words of wisdom and all his quick come backs, I guess I got them honestly. I visited where my Grandparents are buried and most of my Aunts and Uncles, their generation is almost gone. It's kind of scary, the place I called home really doesn't have a lot of family left, just great memories of times gone by. I had to stop by and say a prayer for my dad's sister Rita, who always had a smile to share, her husband Joe and one of my favorite Aunts (really like a second mom) Josephine and her husband "Murph". Murph passed a month after my Mom in November 2003, he was awarded a bronze star and a purple heart during his military service. He and I really got along well, all the time. Between my Dad and Murph's construction stories it doesn't take much to understand why I do what I do for a living.
Back to the flight to get here....
679er ran great as she always does. It was a smooth flight north in decent time and flight following provided the extra eyes. I was kicked around by Philly approach, handed off to another section, then kicked to Potomac, then to Harrisburg, I was starting to get a complex. Finally I called Allentown and they said I had about ten miles until their area. Great, I respond that I'll ride along this frequency, 679er. Sure enough in just a few minutes Allentown contacts me with a squawk and I'm on my way. I flipped frequencies so many times in that short span I think I have a blister!
Once on the ground Ed from Valley Aviation met me with chocks and I shut down where I was instructed to park. No crew car so I had to call Enterprise. They showed up and gave me a lift to their office (paperwork) then I was free to roam. I made the rounds as noted above, made a quick stop for lunch at Burger King and wandered my way back to the car rental office. I had a short wait for a ride back to the airport and was soon playing counselor with the young driver. I must be getting old. We talked about work, dealing with the boss and job prospects in Delaware. He was a nice young man, fresh out of college with a biology degree.
Finally back to my plane! I hang out with Ed for a few talking about how much the area has changed since I was a teenager and places of interest for future travel and the latest update how his family was doing. Well, there is not a lot of traffic today so instead of playing airport bum any longer I decided to tour the river. On departure after contacting Wilkes-Barre Approach I flew south and really had a hard time picking out the mountains that lined my path. I climbed to 6,500 and the haze was still covering the valley. I decided it would not be fun slow and low having to pick my way and the camera shots would really look crappy so I turned for home. I advised approach that I was changing my final destination to ILG, India Lima Golf, Wilmington, Delaware the controller thanked me. Once south of Blue mountain I dropped down to 4500 and rode that until Reading Approach couldn't get me handed off to Philly. Not a problem, I continued down to 3000 ans monitored approach until needing to contact ILG. I picked up the ATIS and called Wilmington at 11 miles out. An easy straight in for runway one nine with a five mile call on final.
Not exactly the day I had planned but a good day for my heart and soul none the less. I just needed to get north and recharge, reconnect with the area and my family. I feel better, I still have the tour to complete and I had fun just flying with nothing to think about but "flying the plane".
2 comments:
Another Nice video Gary! Pretty Hazy flight, but seemed clear down low on your approach. Looks like a nice little airport.
Yep, WBW is a quiet place with nice folks working the FBO. It was really hazy when I was ready to head south along the river so I decided it will wait for another day when I can really enjoy it.
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