Saturday, December 28, 2013

Breakfast Meetup with Jeff

On my ride to the airport
Jeff had sent an email out Yesterday, early morning.

"Guys, the weather forecast looks near perfect for this weekend.  I'm planning to fly with someone here in Richmond and he suggested flying up to Kay's in Cambridge.  It's about an hour flight for me.  Anyone interested in meeting up?  We will probably plan to be there right around 10 AM."

I responded that I would be there since Mary and I cancelled the overnight to Myrtle Beach, SC.  Wx is looking bad Sunday for South Carolina and even though I am current I am not proficient enough to tangle with what they have in store.

Saturday Night: Mostly cloudy. A chance of rain this evening. Rain after midnight. Lows in the upper 40s. East winds 5 to 10 mph with gusts up to 25 mph...increasing to southeast 15 to 20 mph after midnight. Chance of rain 90 percent.

Sunday: Scattered thunderstorms. Rain in the morning...then showers likely in the afternoon. Some thunderstorms may produce gusty winds. Breezy with highs around 70. South winds 20 to 25 mph... becoming southwest 15 to 20 mph in the afternoon. Chance of rain near 100 percent.

Back to the meet-up....

The plan was to be at the airport around 8 am then get 08Romeo ready to fly. I took on fuel on my last flight so I was ready to go after my pre-flight. Mary decided to stay home, not that she was dealing with a migraine but instead she broke out in hives, who knows.
I was on my own and all be it rare that I don't have someone in the right seat I was looking forward to just me and the plane. After my run up I launched from runway two four and cranked up some oldies. Yes, I was singing along, mixing in some slow flight and a steep turn or two as I took in the 50+ mile visibility.  As I passed 58M, Elkton MD, I could look to my left and see the tip of Lewes Delaware at Henlopen, just awesome!
bridges at Bay Bridge
I made my calls and entered a left base for landing on one six. I had a Bonanza behind me working his way into the pattern number two to land. A made a nice landing followed by a turn out on the midfield taxiway and point 08Romeo towards Kay's ramp. I parked next to a Baron and the Bonanza parked next to me, a Beechcraft reunion of sorts. As I walked towards the terminal I saw 93Zulu cross the numbers and touch down, nice landing Jeff!
Jeff's Archer II
It was a good breakfast and Jeff's friend from KOFP-Hanover picked up our check, Thanks Scott. It was great to catch up, and of course talk airplanes and flying. We missed Frank D and Mike B, I hope your ears were burning guys. With Jeff back in the 'area' (Richmond) I see many more meet ups in the future.

Jeff and Scott filed, I just made the hop VFR. I did monitor Dover and Philly as I worked my way north. The visibility was perfect today. I could see Salem nuke planet from Easton airport and had a clear view of the Baltimore skyline too. As I worked my way north passing Ridgely, KRJD I could see the two cooling towers at Pottstown.
Salem from just north of Easton Airport @ 55 miles
I made my calls for New Garden and worked my way into a very busy pattern. I was number two following my hangar mate in his Turbo Saratoga and there was a Bonanza number three. I made a nice landing and made the midfield taxiway, one of my goals for working on the short field technique.
more of my ride to/from the airport
As we all taxied towards the north hangars the fuel line was stacking up. Most of the aircraft waited in line clear of the taxiway, all except for the silver Cirrus. He shut down and his passengers were out having a gab fest as if they were meeting up at a flea market. UGhhhh....I motioned that I was trying to get by and they looked at me then turned around and continued to gab. OK, no problem, I added in some throttle to get their attention and squeezed by hanging the right wing out over the grass. The pilot was chit chatting with the person fueling and his head popped out immediately, the three ladies that were flapping now stood at attention looking at me...I smiled and waved as I went by. Ok, I muttered jackass but I was by myself and I did not hit the PTT. I never claimed to be PC about anything.

3 comments:

Chris said...

That's great that you got to see Jeff! I was hoping for a nice day, too - but we lot low ceilings and gusty winds instead until the sun came out around 2:00 pm.

Careful about squeezing past people! Remember the reaming I got a couple of years ago? :-)

Gary said...

Great visibility today that made for fun flying!
The "ramp rage" post, that's why I just smiled and waved, besides, it confuses folks. :)

Chris said...

Well played, sir!