The Great Eastern Expedition - 13 days away:)

Hi all,

My fellow RV addict and I are planning a weeklong trip (May 14-21) from our home base of Calgary to New York and back. Two planes and likely four people.

He has a vacant apartment in New York so that's our turn around point. Our only plan so far is to clear customs in Williston, ND (KISN) and then fly where the winds take us. We plan to return through Canada, so basically a tear drop shaped loop right around the great lakes.

I am looking for some suggestions on great places to stop/sights to see. I was told that there was a nice aviation museum in Dayton, OH. Other than that, and the Smithsonian, I'm clueless.

They don't all have to be aviation related, I'm just looking for some suggestions.

Also any info. on which airports have loaner cars. That would REALLY help us out, especially when the inevitable diversions hit.

Thanks in advance,

Darren

Fargo, ND (FAR) has a neat little Museum on the field, and several resturants and a couple hotels within a 5-10 minute walk of the museum. The museum usually has a P-51, and Corsair, and a TBM, among others.

The fuel prices are not great, but RVs don't use much

Aircraft Museum

Darren S said:

I was told that there was a nice aviation museum in Dayton, OH.

Click to expand...

It's the US Air Force Museum. Very impressive (see http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/)

Also might consider the Canadian Warplane Museum in Hamilton Ontario (see http://www.warplane.com/pages/aircraft.html)

One time if you're on a southern route and flying anywhere near Pensacola Florida, there's the Museum of Naval Aviation.

Have a great flight.

Dan

Thanks for that. Any thoughts on stops in Indiana, Pennsylvainia, Maryland, New England area?

Darren

Darren
Your are welcome to stay here at my farm strip, 1.5nm, north of St.Thomas,CYQS. I have room for two extra RVs in my hangar and also a couple of beds for the pilots. It is a beautiful flight along the St.Lawerence river, on either side of the border. Rockcliff, Ottawa would make an interesting stop, the Canadian air museum is based there and the scenery is quite pretty. I am about an hour and a half west of there (RV speeds). The trip along the north coast of Lake Ontario past Toronto can be spectacular, the CN tower is up close and is worth the flyby.
Call me at 519-631-1369 for more options.

A couple of other thoughts

You might consider a stop at CYTZ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Bishop_Toronto_City_Airport). It's a short - REALLY short - ferry ride across the canal and you're in downtown Toronto with virtually everything in walking distance.

You'll be close to Niagara Falls - worth a trip over there too. There are special procedures (US & Canada) for scenic patterns over the falls.

St. Catharines airport - CYSN (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Catharines/Niagara_District_Airport) is really close to Niagara On The Lake. You might check the local calendars to see if there's something going on that would be interesting.

And - while on the US side - watch out for Temporary Flight Restrictions - it's an election year over here and they're starting to pop up more frequently. The FAA site where they depict them is at http://tfr.faa.gov/tfr_map_ims/html/index.html.

Dan

Thanks for the invite Tom. I will certainly keep your number handy as we get close.
I guess the airport car thing is elusive. No listing on which airports have one and which don't ? Just take your chances or call ahead I guess.

Darren

If you are thinking New England, you must visit Laconia, NH and spend some time flying around Lake Winnepesaukee and the White Mountains.

Heading south from there, stop in Hyannis, MA and either Nantucket or Martha's Vineyard on the way to New York. The Vineyard is a lt closer to shore and NY than Nantucket FWIW.

Enjoy!

The Canadian Aviation and Space Musuem in Ottawa is worth a visit. The museum is at the Rockcliffe Airport, and the museum web site provides direction on how to get in once you park next to the museum.

Just had breakfast with Darren on Upper East Side. Looks like he is enjoying our beehive Here is his spot page. http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0UfG6ncgTo1vS4rlE4iQQLVb6TLVP1CyF

Ted was in NY and forwarded me this picture. KLDJ.

My finger blocked part of the view from yesterday's photo. Here is one from this morning. I was told Darren was leaving this morning too. We left first and made a Hudson River tour. Unfortunately, it was to busy and LaGuardia Tower denied our request to go up East River then cross central park.

Darren, Trust you had a good time in NYC and wish you a safe trip home.

You may notice that there were four overnight transit airplanes at Linden, A 7 , a 9A, a 10, and a spam can. RVs are great!

Will we see The Great Eastern Expedition log? How did you make it back Darren? Please share.