I swapped text messages with my friend and fellow pilot Dave S. Dave is based at South Jersey Regional KVAY and it's a short hop for him and maybe twenty-five minutes for me each way to meet at Cape May NJ. I looked back through my blog and it has been a year since I went to Cape May!
I made a quick trip to the airport on Wednesday for fuel and to plug in the pre-heats and cover the top cowl with two soft moving blankets. The plan was to turn on the pre-heats the first time I got up last night but I forgot. Instead I turned on the preheats at 6am.
My fuel sump was good to go to complete the pre-flight and I tugged 3 Tango Charlie out of the nest. The oil temp was 85 degrees when I started up this morning. At least some preheat is better then the 40 degrees in the hangar. I taxied out for runway three-two, completed the run-up, then launched.
There was a thin cloud layer that was blocking my course so I crossed the Bay at five thousand eight hundred, just over the top. Once clear I let down for Cape May and made a nice landing on runway one.
I grabbed a table and Dave walked in as soon as I ordered a hot tea. We each enjoyed breakfast and had a good time catching up. It was fun to hear about Dave's Osh trip and the formation flight with the Piper group.
We sat and chatted a bit since the restaurant had started to empty from the breakfast crowd. It was time to head for home for the both of us. Dave's phone was blowing up and I figured I should get home for Lucy since Mary was also out having lunch with the Women's Club.
Dave was going to stop at Woodbine for cheaper fuel on his way home. I needed to circle and climb to altitude in order to safely cross the bay, then point straight for home. The ride along the coast was very nice, despite some bumps. I crossed midfield at Ocean City and made a nice landing on three-two. I did take the time to clean off the bugs and plug back in for the chilly morning temps. I updated the data card for the Garmin 480 so we are ready to go on our next trip. Next week I should have some good video B roll from the Biltmore Estate, stay tuned!
No comments:
Post a Comment