Luray for my Birthday

We were supposed to go to Luray Caverns last Saturday (on my actual birthday), but the afternoon winds were forecast to be at 14 knots, gusting to 23. So, we decided to go hike the Great Falls instead. Yesterday morning when I checked the winds, they were forecast to be at 12 knots, gusting to 20. I went down to breakfast more than a little disappointed. Sensing this, Rich was quick to suggest alternate options. As the plane wasn't booked until Sunday at noon, we decided to turn our day trip into an overnight adventure. It was just too pretty a day not to fly.

We took off runway 14 and hit immediate turbulence. I'd gotten a standard weather briefing a half hour before take-off and and no turbulence had been mentioned, so it was a bit of a surprise. I assured Rich that although it felt pretty rough, it was actually only moderate turbulence, and nothing the plane couldn't handle.

We followed my favorite flight route Northwest from Gaithersburg - out past the cement factory, along the Potomac River, and over Harper's ferry.

As we crossed through the cut in the mountains, the turbulence eased up and I snapped a quick pic of my backseat passengers. Although the turbulence was minimal, we decided to leave Isabelle buckled into her car seat out of an abundance of caution, as you never know when the next good jolt of turbulence may strike.

Rich, Isabelle and I had been to Harper's Ferry for a weekend earlier in October, so it was fun to see it from the air and try to identify where we had been on foot. The railroad tracks with the foot traffic bridge running parallel to it we the easiest landmarks to recognize. I did not see Jefferson Rock or the old church on the hill, but I think Rich might have. (A good pilot always gives her passengers the best view?)

The Potomac does a wonderful meander down through this part of Virginia, so we hugged the water for the stunning views as we made our way Southwards towards Luray.

Rich took pictures from the backseat and I took pictures from the front seat. We laughed on the car ride home as we realized that we both had purposefully included small snippets of the plane in most of our shots. It must be something about being in a small plane while taking photographs. Unless everyone knows you are in a small plane taking the picture, it wouldn't be as cool. Or something!

Once we landed at Luray, we were greeted by Doug, who kindly offered to drive us over to our hotel, The Mimslyn Inn. I had been expecting a "country quaint inn." Instead we were greeted by a three story colonial mansion built in 1914 with Jefferson style pillars out front. Although Doug kindly offered to come back and drive us to the caverns once we'd had lunch and gotten settled, we decided to set out on foot after partaking in the wonderful lunch buffet served at the Mimslyn. The caverns were every bit as cool as I'd remembered.

I had last been to the caverns with Tamlyn when she was visiting a few summers ago. We also had a great flight over, with Tamlyn practicing her hand at flying, and doing a great job, as I recall.

Rich had been to limestone caverns in Wisconsin, but was impressed with the size of the caverns at Luray. The stalactites, stalagmites, columns and fans were amazing. Although a 23$ entrance fee feels a little steep, the sting is eased by the impressiveness of the rock formations.

National Geographic apparently photographed the very same fans picture above, declaring them to be the most impressive in the world (at least according to our tour guide, anyhow).

Rich did a great job pushing Isabelle up and down some rather steep pathways, and she seemed to like both the sensation of having things hanging from the ceiling as well as watching (and flirting with) the various other children on our tour.

The last time I was at Luray, I don't think I'd quite figured out how to capture the caverns with my camera, so I apologize for the abundance of caverns photographs in a flying blog. It really is quite a sight to behold, though.

The above was the last pillar to have fallen in the caves. A soft landing on mud and water (at the time) kept it from breaking into small pieces. As it is, it looks like a tree that has fallen and pulled up all the surrounding dirt with the magnitude of its roots.

The color variation among the rocks is also fascinating. I particularly liked the white ones, made so by the presence of calcite.

One of the last stops on the tour is at the wishing well, which begs comparison to the wishing well discovered in the movie "The Goonies." I couldn't help but recite a few lines from the scene (as Rich groaned) and Isabelle marvelled at all the people tossing coins into the well.

After the caverns, we made our way over to the antique carriage and car museum that is nearby. Although Rich took almost as many pictures of cars as I took of the caverns, this is my blog, so I'm only putting in one token car photo.

Isabelle crashed out in her stroller on our walk back to the hotel and proceeded to sleep from about 4 until 6. When she woke up, we made our way down to a different restaurant in the Mimslyn and enjoyed a nice dinner before heading back to our rooms and calling it an early night. Early to bed, early to rise, so we were packed and waiting for our courtesy van back to the airport by 8AM.

Although there was a weather advisory in effect for moderate turbulence, our ride home was smooth. We decided to let Isabelle get out of her car seat for a better view, and also so she could see what Mum was doing up front.

The last time she'd worn a headset, she was four months old on a helicopter ride in Hawaii, and she hated it. This time, however, with her Mummy chattering away to her, she listened intently. As you'll see in the below video, she seemed to understand that the microphone was supposed to be near your mouth. Of course, she also licked it, but she licks everything.

I eventually had to ask Rich to take the headset back off her, however, as I needed to call Potomac approach for my SFRA clearance and didn't want to risk Isabelle letting loose with some loud baby chatter at an inopportune moment.

With my discrete code squawking, we continued to make our way Northwards towards Harper's ferry. I rarely miss an opportunity to fly over it, as most people who have flown with me know.

We passed the island from the opposite side this time, and Rich caught another nice picture of the train and foot bridges.

Isabelle checked out the passing scenery until we were about eight minutes out from Gaithersburg, at which point I asked Rich to get her buckled back in. She was not a happy camper at first, but was eventually distracted with a rattle and settled down. We were on the ground shortly after 10AM, and had the plane tied down and unpacked and the car re-packed by 10:30. Without a doubt, it was a very successful weekend (birthday) adventure!

Isabelle's First Flight!

The day that I had thought about for more than a year FINALLY happened on Sunday. Isabelle went flying, with her Mummy at the yoke! I say "finally", because I had truly hoped to take Isabelle flying long before she was 13 months of age. However, the reality of sleep deprivation and competing work and life demands, not to mention losing my flying certification while pregnant (all pilots must re-certify every two years), proved to be rather more substantial obstacles than I had anticipated. Of course, I was a few weeks shy of turning 30 the first time I went up in a small plane, so "relatively speaking," I suppose 13 months isn't bad?!

I had been up flying (and gotten re-certified by Gashaw) in May, thanks to my Mother's Day present from Rich (i.e., a weekend of "me time"!), but several weekend flying trips we had planned during the summer got cancelled due to bad weather and suddenly here we were in early October and still no first flight for Isabelle.

Something had to be done! With a weekend forecast of nearly perfect flying weather, and the generous offer our of friend (and my former flight instructor), Rich Fenati, to come along as additional insurance of my flight skills, we decided to head to Cambridge, Maryland (CGE) for lunch on Sunday.

Cambridge is about a 50 minute flight from Gaithersburg, which seemed like a good trial flight for Isabelle. It also seemed appropriate, as the last flight I had made while pregnant with Isabelle was to CGE for lunch with my friend Laura.

Isabelle, as usual, was alert and interested in everything going on around her. Rich commented that she seemed a little surprised that he was sitting in the backseat with her, and clearly delighted in being able to get out of her car seat after take off, so she could face forwards and watch what her Mummy was doing.

Although I was concerned that having such precious cargo in the backseat would make me a nervous pilot, it was a relief to discover that it did not. In fact, in the best sense of the word, I didn't think about anyone else when I needed to aviate, navigate, or communicate. Sure, I stole a few glances into the backseat, and delighted at seeing Rich and Isabelle sitting there, but they weren't a distraction from getting the job done.

As forecast, it was a warm and sunny day for our little hop across the Bay. Coming into Cambridge, there were a few other pilots in the pattern, and the FBO told us they had been so busy in the morning that they had planes parking on the grass. The restaurant was hoping, but we quickly dug into our crab dip appetizer, and enjoyed beverages served in over-sized mason jars before our sandwiches and burgers arrived.

With Romeo booked by another club member for the late afternoon, we didn't dawdle as we made preparations to take off, with the possible exception of watching a helicopter overshoot his landing and come back to touch down where ground personnel indicated. Isabelle also got her diaper changed on the tarmac in the shade of Romeo's wing (a detail that might embarrass her to know at 13, but which I happen to think is quite cool!) while Fenati and I finished pre-flighting.

Potomac approach was hoping, and it took us two attempts to get our SFRA squawk code back to Gaithersburg, but it was an easy and enjoyable flight home. Although she had napped in the morning, Isabelle tucked into her sippy cup shortly after leaving CGE, and the drone of the propeller caused her to doze most of the flight home.

All in all, Sunday was a pretty perfect day!

The $100 (Veggie) Burger

Yesterday was just too perfect a day to not go flying. Not to mention that I needed to christen my new flying shirt from Greg ("I'm a pilot. Frightening, isn't it?!"), one of my best friends was keen to be my wingwoman, and the restaurant at Cambridge (KCGE) was calling.

Laura had been up with me in the Tiger a number of times, so I warned her that the experience of a Cessna 152 would be somewhat different. The first time I flew it, Rich told me to "get ready to strap on an airplane." It's true, and the intimacy of flying a two seater is awesome.

It was only after arriving at the airport did we realize that Laura's high-tech camera had no memory card, and my high-tech camera was still sitting on my coffee table. Thank goodness Venable recently upgraded my blackberry to one that includes a camera phone. The quality could have been better, but the memories are the same.

We had a pretty run out through the corridor and across the bay. Laura did a fantastic job, as always, of practicing her pilotage skills and ensuring my GPS and compass bearings were not leading us into either the FRZ or the Baltimore Bravo restricted air spaces. We soon joined a busy pattern at Cambridge, and left N25883 parked among various other Cessnas and Beechcrafts as we made our way to the restaurant overlooking the airfield.

I had introduced Laura to the concept of "the $100 burger" on our flight over. I.e., when pilots fly somewhere to eat, add the cost of the flight, and you quickly find yourself enjoying a $100 burger. In our case, it was two $50 veggie burgers. And two drinks (both in mason jars). We took off around 4:30 and headed back across the bay. The water was the calmest I'd ever seen it. We attempted in vain to spot a whale, decided a tanker was civilian not military, and agreed that massive clusters of "white things" on the water had to be sea gulls. Laura managed to capture the sun just as it was beginning to disappear behind the clouds.

An easy landing at Gaithersburg was the perfect end to a perfect Saturday afternoon. As I tied 883 down, I still missed the Tiger, but I love the L'il Red Dragon too.

Future Aviators, Rich's First Flight, and Aerobatic Lesson #2

My instrument instructor professed to not remember me when I wrote him last week inquiring about a lesson. I am definitely guilty of fun flying this summer and slacking off on the lessons. But it has been a great summer, so I don't regret it. Last month I took our club's Cessna 152 and flew the short jaunt over to Annapolis (KANP) to visit with my student pilot friend Keith and his family. Keith had warned me that high trees at the edge of a narrow, short runway frequented by gusty winds off the Bay could make for a fun landing. It was indeed fun, but I have also had worse.

Kevin, Tracy, Evie and Allie drove out for the BBQ and we managed to collect all the girls -- including me! -- wearing our Girls With Wings "Yes, Girls Can Fly!" shirts. (Poor Allie has been neglected by her aunty and does not yet have a shirt, so does not appear in the photo. She will get one for Christmas, though!)

Lynda Meeks, the organizer of GWW, got such a kick out of the picture she made it her promotional picture on her store's website.

It was a lovely day, and Andrea and Keith hosted a yummy BBQ, while Aiden and Madeleine kept all of us amused with their beach treasure hunt, and Chuck showed us how quickly she could crawl off her blanket and start eating sand.


All to soon it was time to head for home. Keith was there to see (and photograph!) my departure, which was very cool. It's not every day you get photos of yourself flying the L'il Red Dragon.

It's a beautiful view as you take off over the Bay, so I swung out further than I needed to before heading for home.

Next on my list of memorable trips was my first time flying Rich! Poor guy. He really did not luck out on the weather. Naturally, I wanted his first time in a small plane, especially with me as pilot, to be as enjoyable as possible. Bad weather had already preempted our flight to Ocean City, MD to see Mum and Dad, and I was hoping the same would not be true of our trip to visit Lowell and Roxanne.

Fortunately, Rich was a very good sport and was not phased by the clouds, the turbulence, or the decreasing visibility as we attempted to get to the Windwood Airport (WV62; Pvt) in WV. He amused himself taking photographs while I kept an eye on the clouds and debated when we would need to get under them - and down into the mountain turbulence - before they closed in too tight.

It was bumpy once we went down below, but we got to see the changing colours of Fall and I tried to follow the mountain valleys to increase safety by maximizing altitude as much as possible.

It became evident at 4 minutes 15 seconds from Winwood that we would not have adequate clearance between the tree tops and the airport to make the landing safely, so I did a 180 and brought us back to Grant County (W99). Lowell and Roxanne had to drive an extra 45 minutes to pick us up, but they were very gracious about it. We left the airport and got lunch, which we ate in a lovely State park before hiking the Black Falls and returning to their cabin. We built a large bonfire and spent the evening enjoying the crisp mountain air, good company, and beautiful scenery.

Last, but certainly not least on my list of recent memorable flights was my second aerobatics lesson. I had seen my instructor up at the Flying W in August (where he was competing) but it has been six months or more since my first lesson. Fortunately, Adam declared me to be a quick study, and we did not spend too much time refreshing my knowledge of loops and rolls. We moved on to slow rolls and then it was time to combine the loop and the roll (the first one videotaped by Adam).

After we praticed the loop/roll combo three or four more times, Adam previewed my next lesson's maneuvers. After that, it was time to head for home. I still had time to do two more slow rolls while under the Bravo 2500 foot shelf before we hit the 1500 shelf. I also took a quick video of us, and the water, because it was just so darn pretty....



It was a gorgeous day, and I could see the Washington Monument as we flew towards the Potomac Airfield. It is a rare treat to be allowed to fly so close to D.C., given the restrictions imposed on general aviation pilots after 9/11.

All too soon it was time to get down to business and practice landing a taildragger. The winds had picked up and were their "usual gusty and variable self" as we came into Potomac. After we got on the ground, Adam teased me that I had landed not once, but three times, and was therefore that much closer to getting my taildragger endorsement.

I left the airfield only a tiny bit queasy and already looking forward to my next lesson when I will practice the Half Cuban 8 and Immelman maneuvers!

Flight of the Nanchang

Just arriving at Colin's hangar is exciting. You know there are going to be cool planes and plane pieces as far as the eye can see, but you never know exactly what projects they are going to be working on until you get there.

At Christmas, the hangar was full of sea planes. This time, there were not one, but two T-28s - both with equally beautiful paint jobs.

They were also working on a Mosquito, which has an all-wood frame. Once it's completed, it will be the only one flying in the world. Stripped down with the engines removed, it was hard to imagine it ever flying again. And yet, you know it will, because Colin and his boys are *magic*.

The second T-28 was outside and Colin said that her owner flies her quite a bit. It is SUCH a HOT plane. I think I may need to make a new friend...

Colin pressurized the engine on the Chinese built Nanchang CJ-6 we would be flying, pre-flighted and talked mechanics with Gordy. I forced myself to be cool -- literally -- until Arlene finished taking pictures of me with the planes and Colin had gotten a chuckle out of my Osh Kosh "I FLY PLANES" tank top, before I put back on the hoody I had brought with me.

Then I said a hasty goodbye to my Godparents and asked them to give Liz a call so she would be down on the dock waiting for our fly-by over Shawnigan Lake.

Next came the flight briefing. Colin walked me through the instruments and pointed out some noticeable differences. Manifold pressure in milliliters, inverted blue/brown horizon, intercom on the throttle, trim tab on the left with wires exposed, switches to turn on the turn coordinator and attitude indicator, brake on the stick, and the list went on.

Really, though, it could all be summed up pretty easily:

I sat in my seat vibrating with excitement as Colin buckled in and called Tower for a squawk.

The military grade harnesses were pretty snug. So snug, in fact, that I was glad that my hoody protected my neck from the scratchy material. I also quickly realized that my necklace had to go.

I latched my canopy as Colin finished listening to weather and hailing tower.

We waved goodbye to Arlene and Gordy, and taxied out to the runway.

Colin trusted me to take up both of my cameras, and although it was a bit of a challenge to hold onto the one, while sitting on the other, while rolling the plane with my free hand, I was very glad I had both. One for photos; one for videos. A girl has to have her toys, after all. And yes, that includes by Garmin 396, Richard.

Colin latched his canopy, accelerated down the runway and we were soon able to see the Tsawwassen ferry terminal as we climbed to 2,500 feet and left the airport behind.

The CJ-6 just sounded cool as we flew along. It wasn't long before ATC advised that we would be overtaking another plane at 3,000 feet. At 140 knots easy cruise, Colin said the plane burns 12-14G/hour.

Within minutes, we were approaching Shawnigan lake, where I had spent the previous five days drinking and relaxing with Lance, Liz and Celeste in the lake house they'd rented. Liz had requested an "Empire of the Sun" moment, and Colin definitely delivered. We could see her jumping up and down on the dock as we buzzed by. According to Liz, babies cried and a neighbor nearly fell off his dock as the sun went dark, but surely she exaggerates...

Once we had put the fear of G*d back into Liz, Colin gave me a two-part roll refresher, which I listened to with one ear while capturing the whole thing on video (below). It's good to be Gen Y, eh?




Afterwards, we headed out toward Duncan to a local "practice area." Colin gave me the controls as we left Shawnigan, and encouraged me to play around with the plane's capabilities as we climbed higher. It's no wonder Colin says he always feels motion sick when he lets a backseat driver fly.

My flying improved remarkably, however, after I was reminded that my turn coordinator and attitude indicator were switch controlled ....

The views over Duncan looking West were incredible. I practiced steep turns while holding altitude (more or less), got a feel for the pull of the plane, and then it was time to practice rolling.

We agreed that loops were less exciting than rolls, so I rolled some more. Then Colin took me on a backwoods flight through the mountain valleys before climbing again and contacting ATC.

As I flew home, Colin talked me through the landing. We agreed to come in "aircraft carrier style" and slid the canopies all the way back on final approach. It's a good thing I was not actually in charge of landing the plane as my hair, even tied back, further reduced the visibility experienced by the backseat passenger. I suppose that's what I get for forgetting my WTF flying hat!

Colin touched down lightly and we taxied back to his hangar. It was hard to believe that an hour+ flight had passed so quickly. It was hard to resist hopping up and down and crying, "Again, again!!"

We put the cover back on the plane - military camouflage, of course - and Lance soon arrived to pick me up. Back in the hangar, I thanked Colin profusely for letting me, once again, play with his planes and I foisted upon him the only form of payment he seems to accept.

After all, it may be eight hours bottle to throttle, but it's zero throttle to bottle.