Navigating Camp David

Last Sunday, the Tiger was ready to be picked up from Hagerstown, where she had been in having some avionics work done. Greg's brother, Dave, was visiting him for the weekend, so, after some early morning excitment over a flat tire, we set off in Romeo for the short jaunt. The restricted zone around Camp David was expanded for the weekend, bringing it within two miles of the Hagerstown airport, so I sat in the front to help navigate while Dave sat in the back. Dave, as with most of Greg's passengers, couldn't hold in a few well-deserved screams on take off.

Greg pretended not to notice as we headed West to pick up the Potomac and then continued out over Harper's Ferry.

With the cooler temperatures finally having arrived in D.C., the leaves have started to change colours, making for pretty views. The rape seed fields also looked more vibrantly yellow than they had the week before when I flew the same route with Ruth.

It was fun to get chauffered for a change, as it gave me a chance to work on my photography. As we flew, Greg and I discussed how it is clearly a pilot's affliction to want to capture part of the plane in the picture.

Although I have been informed that I suffer from an afflication whereby I believe that "tilted is artsy", the day was clearer than it had been for awhile and made for some good photography.

I've flown over Harper's Ferry so many times of late, I think I'm going to put together a mural called "The Changing Weeks of Harper's Ferry." Then I'm going to sell it to the Ottawa Museum of National Art. Hey, they bought The Wall of Fire for $10M, so I figure I've got a shot.

The winds were pretty tough coming into Hagerstown, but Greg did a good job of landing a heavily loaded plane that he hadn't flown for a while. The Tiger was waiting for us when we arrived, so Greg and Dave hopped out to continue their explorations of West Virginia, while I flew Romeo home.

It had been awhile since I'd flown Romeo, so I was glad to have the Potomac as a visual landmark to keep me away from the Camp David airspace as I got used to the GPS unit in the plane.

My landing at Gaithersburg could have been better. Although it would be nice if every landing was perfect, I've noticed that the bad ones make you want to strive for perfection almost more than the good ones. I've also been told that the day I stop learning is the day I should stop flying, so, onward and upward....

Fly Girlz

Around 1 o'clock on Saturday, Ruth and I got tired of supervising the cast of characters working on our club's Cardinal, so we decided to skip out in the Tiger for a quick run over Harper's Ferry. The day was just too pretty not to fly.

Gashaw (a.k.a. one of my most devoted blog readers) was eager to join us - there were going to be two empty seats, after all! - but he eventually decided to be a diligent supervisor and remain behind to keep the worker bees at max productivity in our absence. John and his son, Nate, also considered coming, but decided on a raincheck.

So, in the end, it was just us girlz.

Before we left, John asked me if I'd tried flying the Tiger beneath the bridge (below) on the way out to Harper's Ferry. Although tempted, I decided to resist. It was, after all, the prudent thing to do. I figured I should pass the ten hour mark in the Tiger first.

As we flew along over the Potomac, Ruth tried her hand at the Tiger. She quickly compensated for the tendency (when one is used to flying Cessnas) to let the Tiger climb. So, as Ruth chauffeured me, I got to sit back and enjoy the views.

We looped around over the split in the river a few times to take photographs looking back towards Gaithersburg, before eventually deciding we "might as well" head for home.

Not every Thelma & Louise trip has to just keep going ... but it is tempting on a day like Saturday!

As I maneuvered for landing, Ruth caught some fun pictures - just look at that concentration!

I also suspect it will be the rare passenger that captures me landing on the centerline - I'm left, through and through, eh? - so thanks, Ruth.

You can be my wing[wo]man anytime!!

Proud Papa

For nearly ten months my parents, like most of my friends, have listened patiently as I recounted a seemingly endless number of flying tales. This past weekend, the stars finally aligned - or, I should say, the clouds finally lifted - and I was able to take my Dad and my friend Laura up for a ride. (Mum was eager to join us, but had hurt her back a few days before and could not negotiate the climb into the Tiger.) I had coordinated with both of them before leaving Garrett County, so my folks were waiting at the airport as I pulled up in the Tiger. As I preflighted and re-filed an ADIZ flight plan, Laura arrived, and the three of us set off on in search of Harper's Ferry shortly thereafter.

And no, my Dad and I did not color coordinate our shirts on purpose. We did, however, coordinate our "V for Victory" signs. Although I claim it as my flying call-sign, I actually learned it from my Dad, who used to flash it at cop cars for good luck as we sped along on any number of family cross country road trips.

I had flown the route only a half hour before on my return trip from 2G4, so warned my Dad and Laura that we might hit a little turbulence as we approached the mountains.

As it turned out, the winds had died in the late afternoon air and the flight was silky smooth. It was a bit of a strange sensation for me to be flying passengers over Harper's Ferry. Only ten months earlier, Greg had flown me on the exact same route and I had marvelled at the wonders of seeing the river and the fall foliage from only 2400 feet. While I don't think I'll ever take flying for granted, it is a great feeling to get to witness the wonder and excitement of first time passengers and know that you are the source of that excitement.

As we flew along, I did my best to recount the historic battle tale of Harper's Ferry (Greg has only explained its significance to me a half a dozen times), and Laura did her best to humor me. [Sigh]. Canadians!

When the plane was more or less trimmed, I let my Dad try his hand on the yoke. He did a good job of holding her level and even experimented with a few gentle turns. When Laura started to cry, I took the controls back.

After we had all had our fill of Harper's Ferry, we headed for home. I had a bit of troubling getting Potomac Approach to respond to my ADIZ entry request, but the Garmin 496's pink and blue lines assured me that I was circling in government-free airspace. I know, I know, real pilots don't need GPS. But there is a big difference between LIKE and NEED, eh?

My Dad took photos throughout the flight, and caught an especially cool one of me turning base to final. Although Dad and Laura did not have a source of comparison, I still marvel at the amazingly unobstructed view from the cockpit of the Tiger.

With the winds straight down the runway, I was able to demonstrate what a soft touch the Tiger can be on landing. Back on the ground, the quietness of the flight was quickly replaced by youthful exuberance as my Dad recounted the details of our flight to my Mum.

I couldn't help but smile. Children may grow up, but it always feels good to make our parents proud.

Mountain Waves

When Brigid and Michael invited me to drive to their cabin in Accident, Maryland to watch the U.S. Kayaking Open, it was with great delight that I asked if they would mind picking me up at the airport instead. They quickly agreed, and I took care to prepare for my first solo cross-country in the Tiger.

Low-lying clouds in the mountain valleys made for a beautiful sight as I sailed along. There was a bit of a headwind, but the Tiger was still averaging almost 130 knots. It didn't seem like long at all before Cleveland Center was telling me that the airport was at my 12 o'clock.

I was still 18 miles out when ATC gave me permission to change to the local airport frequency, so I stayed with them for another 10 miles, until I was able to pick out the airport carved into the mountain top. At nearly 4,000 feet elevation, I had been warned that the airport conditions could be tricky between high crosswinds and low-lying fog. Beginner's luck had the winds blowing almost straight down the runway, and the Tiger cleared the tree line and touched down like a charm. Brigid and Michael were waiving at me as I pulled up. We tied the Tiger down and quickly set off to watch the races.

The semi-finals were in the morning, followed by the finals in the afternoon. Several Beijing Olympic medalists were participating on behalf of the U.S., Canada (featured above!), Slovenia and Slovakia. Battling class 5 rapids, even former gold medalists were occasionally bested by the ever-changing waters. We cheered them on, taking a quick break for lunch and a little rock climbing excursion in between events.

After a fun night of visiting and catching up, we were all moving a little slowly on Sunday. We managed to make it out to the national forest and hiked along the river to the falls, enjoying the fall scenery as we went. Around 1:30 we headed back to the airport so that I could take advantage of the crystal blue skies once again. I called my Dad and Laura before I left, and arranged to meet them at Gaithersburg for a late afternoon flight over Harper's Ferry upon my return.

The air was even clearer on the flight home, and I snapped a quick picture of Deep Creek as I climbed up to 5,500 feet. One the way home, I took advantage of a tailwind that had me cruising at 165 knots. I eventually climbed up to 7,500 feet to get out of some mountain wave turbulence, and then cruised back down to 2,400 feet to get under the Bravo and ADIZ restricted airspaces.

As I passed over Harper's Ferry, I took note of the visual landmarks -- left of Sugarloaf Mountain and right of the Control Towers and you'll find Gaithersburg. Of course, I verified my route on the GPS as I flew along, but it's nice to have such prominent landmarks on a run I expect I'll do with a good many first time passengers.

Mum and Dad were waiting at the gates as I landed. As my Dad took photos, I couldn't help but laugh at my Mum, who had teared up something fierce. She was a bit hard to understand, but I think she said something about "not quite believing until now that my baby girl is a pilot."

I suppose seeing is believing, eh?