Getting Vince to Atlantic City

I had swapped multiple messages with Vince’s brother Joey. Joey was putting together Vince’s bachelors party in Atlantic City and I was going to be his transportation. I was excited to be part of the surprise transportation plan and get some fly time with Vince. 

It’s been a crazy few days here at the beach. My 2003 ML 320 left me stranded for the first time, at least it was in the driveway. It was sad to see old blue on the hook but she’ll be back good as new. Mary had to drive me over to the airport so I could preflight and return to pick me up when I returned.

3 Tango Charlie had forty-seven gallons on board which will cover the missions needs. With the preflight completed I got the fan turning and taxied for runway two-zero. The ride at three thousand was smooth with good tailwinds. I picked up flight following with Dover Approach as I closed in on the Waterloo VOR.

I decided to cancel flight following north of Dover and contacted the Wilmington Tower.  My first instruction was to enter right base runway nine then was switched to right downwind runway one-four. No problem, a nice landing and short taxi clear to FlyAdvanced. 

Vince was at the gate with his brother, kudos to Joey for pulling off the surprise. Vince and I saddled up for a flight to Millville Airport for breakfast before we would head to Atlantic City. 

I taxied out following Vince picking up our taxi instructions and once cleared we launched to the south east. Vince took controls and did a great job flying and lining us up for the downwind runway ten. We transferred controls and I made a nice landing despite the gusty winds.

I taxied to the south parking area across from the restaurant and was ready to shut down when we both agreed Verna's Flight Line Restaurant was closed. I saw an Ops vehicle and asked them on the radio if they knew if the restaurant was open. Ops did a drive by and confirmed our suspicions.

Well that shot the plan all to hell. We taxied back out and headed to Cape May, KWWD. I was lined up for runway one-nine and made a long straight in with a good landing. 

The Flight Deck Diner parking lot was crowded, but the ramp was empty, we secured a front row spot. We were quickly seated, passing on the two counter seats, instead, selecting the one table just inside the door.

Breakfast was excellent and once finished we made our way back out to 3 Tango Charlie. Once belted in and the fan turning Vince and I reviewed our plan for ACY. First the taxiway diagram and then weather so we worked through our arrival  and potential taxi to Signature.

We taxied out to runway one-nine and launched for our short trip north up the coast. I did pick up the current ATIS then flight following with Atlantic City Approach. One bit of traffic was called out, passing overhead, a massive C5, very cool!

Once the traffic was clear we were handed off to the ACY Tower. There were two military aircraft, KC10 Extenders aerial refuelers, doing touch and goes so wake turbulence was a concern.

Once cleared to land I made my way to the numbers for runway one-three and with gusty winds pulled off a good landing. I followed the taxi instructions to Signature and pulled up as directed by the lineman. I did not shut down, and had to wave him away as Vince exited to the rear of the plane. The lineman motioned for me to come in and I shook my head no and motioned I was heading out. Vince confirmed they wanted to charge me a ramp fee, what a rip off. I used no services.

Coast Guard Helo just off the coast

I taxied out to one-three following my clearance and had to stop and copy a change once on the roll. I hadn’t asked for flight following, I just wanted to head down the coast. I made note of the revised clearance and continued to the runway. 

Once cleared to takeoff I climbed out as directed, runway heading up to the assigned sixteen hundred feet. The tower handed me off to approach and I was immediately turned on course and given my altitude of three thousand. 

I headed home across the Delaware Bay reflecting on a fun day flying with a great friend and someone who seems more like family. It’s been fun to watch Vince grow up since our first flight back in January 2010.