First Flights 2018

Finally, I log my first flight time of 2018. With yesterday's Pittsburgh flight scrubbed and the Annapolis exploration by ground, I needed to break the seal on 2018.

I think Mary and I rattled off five or six potential destinations to head off to. We considered everywhere from Wilkes-Barre Pennsylvania to Richmond Virginia. The final decision was made to keep it local and off we went for breakfast at Kay's in Cambridge Maryland.

It was a straight forward hop with 10-12 knot headwinds but an overall smooth ride. I made my position calls and was soon turning  final with approach flaps selected. I quickly added the last two notches of flaps and settled into a very strange feeling. It was like slow motion, as if the life time line expanded and almost suspended. Zero Eight Romeo kissed the runway soft and smooth, then,  just as quickly as it seemed to slow, I was now back to speed and rolling out. Maybe I need to eat a little something before flying.

The ramp was loaded with aircraft, I've never seen Cambridge this busy. I secured the plane while Mary went in to get in line.  I quickly followed and once inside noticed the line wasn't that bad. Most of the pilots were in a separate room, maybe some sort of fly-in or meeting. Mary and I were seated and we placed our food order. I had creamed chipped beef with a side of scrapple, cooked on the grill not deep fried, Mary had eggs benedict with a hollandaise sauce. The food and service was excellent. Since it was the Eagles football NFC championship game we decided to each grab a slice of our favorite homemade cake to take home. I ordered up a big slice of coconut cake and Mary had Chocolate cake. This dessert would follow Mary's most excellent chili already waiting for us at home.

When we went out to the plane the ramp had cleared. There were only a handful of planes tied down and Zero Eight Romeo was all alone on the back row. I pulled the chocks and nose plugs as I did a walk-around, everything looked in order. The winds had shifted ever so slightly and one-six was now the active runway. I taxied out and completed my run up then launched for the Delaware coast line at Lewes Delaware.

 Once again a smooth flight with a bit of a tail wind. I was showing indicated around 100 with ground speeds from 110 - 122 knots. I climbed between 3,500-3,800 to clear the Delaware Coastal bee hive of activity. Our timing was perfect as we approached the airport, and one by one planes landed and cleared our ADS-B screen of traffic.

I located the Lowes store on RT 1 and pointed just south in order to circle my job site. I made a loop around taking a few pictures then climbed away for home. With such a smooth ride today I decided to turn due east and head for the cost. Once crossing the beach I provide a beautiful view of the shore line for Mary and I to enjoy. My view was nothing but ocean with a tug pushing a barge, Mary's side revealed the quiet beach towns in the off season.

The clouds reflected off the bay and tributaries that provided beautiful scenery. We made our way past each beach town, picking out the pastel color townhomes in Fenwick and our friends condo building in Ocean City.

We eventually made a turn for Ocean City Airport and entered on a three mile forty-five degree approach for left down wind runway one-four. I added approach flaps abeam the numbers and pulled the remaining power. Adding the second notch of flaps on my base turn and following with the last notch on final. Once again time seems to almost stop as Zero Eight Romeo soon rolls on the runway with a chirp of the stall horn. It was a bizarre sensation, maybe everything is just clicking and I'm flying the numbers spot on. Maybe it was landing without the typical crosswind or gust factors normally associated with the beach, who knows.