Louise Hose
Well Known Member
The combination of an RV and XM Weather led me to a wonderful weekend of aviation and friendship. Good friends recently moved to Dayton, Ohio, and I brought Mikey back to Virginia mostly to make sure I had an opportunity to visit them before my permanent move to Texas. I’m sure glad that I made that decision.
The last two weeks at work were intense and I was relieved when my boss agreed to let me take Friday off. I slept in, leisurely planned the flight, caught up on the backlog of domestic work, and finally launched around 2:00 pm. Unfortunately, the afternoon cells had built up earlier than predicted and I had to rely on my Garmin 396 with XM Weather to weave my path around storms over the Appalachias (I don’t think I’ve ever been so pleased with spending money as I am with the 396 on almost every long cross-country.)
As I watched the storms build on the XM Weather, I kept remembering Paul’s words to me, just before departure: “You’re a good pilot, and a good pilot starts with good judgment first and stick-and-rudder skills are second.” I plotted my route with a couple extra miles of margin, just for Paul.
Once into Ohio, the weather became a non-factor and the trip into Dayton went uneventful. After a quick stop for less expensive fuel, I arrived at Greene County airport in Xenia, Ohio, about 4:30 pm.
An Introductory Flight
Saturday dawned beautiful and I made sure both friends got a flight over their new home. Karen, a non-pilot, works at the Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historic Park so I briefed her extensively on the RV (and GA aircraft, in general). Karen made it clear that she was lovin’ it as we flew over her office at the Wright-Dunbar Interpretive Center and other sites in the area.
The Interpretive Center is the building with the green roof in the center of the photo. The bike shop, family home, and factory are behind (above) the IC.
I offered Karen the stick, but, to my surprise, she declined. Seeing how relaxed and happy she seemed with the flight, I offered the stick again. “No, thank you. I always crash on the simulator and it would just freak me out to fly the plane.” Okay, I understand that concern. So, I started telling her more about what I was doing. As I explained the three-axis, electric trim, Karen volunteered that trim might help fly the simulator. Assuming she means PC-based system, I explain that there probably is trim on the joy stick but she corrects me. The “simulator” that she keeps crashing is the 1911 Wright B! I finally got her to take the stick just to follow me and pretty soon she was flying like a champ. She acknowledged that the RV seems to handle a lot tamer than the plane those Wright boys flew.
Wright-Dunbar Interpretive Center
The Wright-Dunbar IC is an urban national park (http://www.nps.gov/daav/). We began our visit with the excellent movie about the early Wright experiences and then wandered through their print shop, bicycle shop, home site, and charming neighborhood. The site is a work in progress, but nonetheless an inspiring experience.
Huffman Prairie
Our next stop was a visit to Huffman Prairie, which remains much as it was one-hundred years ago. A pleasant walk took us past the interpretive signs and replica hanger and catapult launching site. This is the site where man began learning to control and manage powered flight. The National Park Service now manages the land in partnership with the USAF. What an inspiration! From the flying field, we drove to the top of the bluff where we visited the Wright Memorial, the Huffman Prairie Interpretive Center, and looked down at the prairie/flying field and Wright-Patterson AFB.
Site of the first Flight School at Huffman Prairie
View from the Wright Memorial. Huffman Prairie is on the right.
Returning Home
The forecast showed fog and mist over much of the early trip home so I delayed my departure until a leisurely 8 am. Two hours later (10 am), Mikey was in his Virginia home and I’m starting a day of work. What a great weekend!
If you’d like to see all of the photos, they are at: http://picasaweb.google.com/DrKarst/DaytonAvitationHeritage
The last two weeks at work were intense and I was relieved when my boss agreed to let me take Friday off. I slept in, leisurely planned the flight, caught up on the backlog of domestic work, and finally launched around 2:00 pm. Unfortunately, the afternoon cells had built up earlier than predicted and I had to rely on my Garmin 396 with XM Weather to weave my path around storms over the Appalachias (I don’t think I’ve ever been so pleased with spending money as I am with the 396 on almost every long cross-country.)
As I watched the storms build on the XM Weather, I kept remembering Paul’s words to me, just before departure: “You’re a good pilot, and a good pilot starts with good judgment first and stick-and-rudder skills are second.” I plotted my route with a couple extra miles of margin, just for Paul.
Once into Ohio, the weather became a non-factor and the trip into Dayton went uneventful. After a quick stop for less expensive fuel, I arrived at Greene County airport in Xenia, Ohio, about 4:30 pm.
An Introductory Flight
Saturday dawned beautiful and I made sure both friends got a flight over their new home. Karen, a non-pilot, works at the Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historic Park so I briefed her extensively on the RV (and GA aircraft, in general). Karen made it clear that she was lovin’ it as we flew over her office at the Wright-Dunbar Interpretive Center and other sites in the area.
The Interpretive Center is the building with the green roof in the center of the photo. The bike shop, family home, and factory are behind (above) the IC.
I offered Karen the stick, but, to my surprise, she declined. Seeing how relaxed and happy she seemed with the flight, I offered the stick again. “No, thank you. I always crash on the simulator and it would just freak me out to fly the plane.” Okay, I understand that concern. So, I started telling her more about what I was doing. As I explained the three-axis, electric trim, Karen volunteered that trim might help fly the simulator. Assuming she means PC-based system, I explain that there probably is trim on the joy stick but she corrects me. The “simulator” that she keeps crashing is the 1911 Wright B! I finally got her to take the stick just to follow me and pretty soon she was flying like a champ. She acknowledged that the RV seems to handle a lot tamer than the plane those Wright boys flew.
Wright-Dunbar Interpretive Center
The Wright-Dunbar IC is an urban national park (http://www.nps.gov/daav/). We began our visit with the excellent movie about the early Wright experiences and then wandered through their print shop, bicycle shop, home site, and charming neighborhood. The site is a work in progress, but nonetheless an inspiring experience.
Huffman Prairie
Our next stop was a visit to Huffman Prairie, which remains much as it was one-hundred years ago. A pleasant walk took us past the interpretive signs and replica hanger and catapult launching site. This is the site where man began learning to control and manage powered flight. The National Park Service now manages the land in partnership with the USAF. What an inspiration! From the flying field, we drove to the top of the bluff where we visited the Wright Memorial, the Huffman Prairie Interpretive Center, and looked down at the prairie/flying field and Wright-Patterson AFB.
Site of the first Flight School at Huffman Prairie
View from the Wright Memorial. Huffman Prairie is on the right.
Returning Home
The forecast showed fog and mist over much of the early trip home so I delayed my departure until a leisurely 8 am. Two hours later (10 am), Mikey was in his Virginia home and I’m starting a day of work. What a great weekend!
If you’d like to see all of the photos, they are at: http://picasaweb.google.com/DrKarst/DaytonAvitationHeritage
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