Thursday, July 26, 2007

Flight Plans...

Mary and I will be heading back to one of our favorite beach stops, Ocean City Maryland (KOXB). This early August trip will have us making a quick run to 40N Chester County to pick up two "first time" General Aviation passengers. From Chester County we will again head south back towards our home base KILG, Wilmington, Delaware. From the home drome we'll continue south to Dover Delaware via the Smyrna ENO VOR. I hope we have clear skies so our passengers can get a good look at the Dover AFB and Dover Downs/Monster Mile (for the NASCAR fans). Once crossing ENO I'll dial in the Waterloo VOR at 112.6 and over fly the Cape May Lewes Ferry Terminal in Lewes Delaware. From ATR it's a straight shot south for about 30 miles then setting up for pattern entry to KOXB.

We plan on spending two nights with a scheduled return on Saturday. If the weather looks good we'll head out one day to take the ladies shopping in cape may while the men stroll through the aviation museum. We may even saddle up and head to Millville for a museum tour also....you know the ladies will not be done shopping.

For the non-flying readers this trip by car would take about 45 minutes to Chester County from Wilmington and then another 3.5 hours to Ocean city Maryland from the Chester County Airport. By aircraft it will be 15 minutes to Chester County and then 1 hour and 15 minutes to Ocean city, MD.

Late September is shaping up for a southern run. Two stops on the flight plan drawing board will have us spend two nights in Williamsburg/Newport News, Va and adding KPHF Newport News as a new airport. As much as we both love JGG as a place to land, PHF will serve us a bit better this trip since our friend Susan is providing the wheels. We plan to attend a show at the Ferguson Center (always a must) to see the play Hairspray and of course who can resist a day at Busch Gardens. Mary and I each purchased a season pass on our first visit this year, it will provide a cost savings, which is always good for more Av gas.

The second leg of our trip will have us departing KPHF, Newport News, VA and heading further south. We made arrangements to stay on the beach in North Myrtle with a first time visit to Grand Strand Airport,KCRE. Our room will overlook the beach and we will spend two nights and three days of pure R&R. Mary checked out a few shows at the Palace theater for evening entertainment so that should be fun.

I decided to start posting drive times for the non-flying folks who read about our travels. The trip to Newport News, Va from our Home in Wilmington, Delaware takes about 5.5 hours with traffic moving steady. This flight takes about 1.5 hours en-route and I figure the pack/unpack of a vehicle or aircraft is a wash. From Newport News, VA to Myrtle Beach, SC is about 6 hours by car and 2.25 hours by air.

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