Colin McG
Member
Saturday morning dawned and the weather wasn?t looking too good for a one day return flight to Canada. We packed our tents while we watched the balloon launch and by 8.20am we were in the aircraft and ready to taxi. A little over 10 minutes later and we were airborne and heading north.
Departing Lakeland
After a solid 3 hours we were all in need of fuel and Rutherford (KFQD), VA looked like a reasonable place to stop. Having taken off in light winds it was somewhat disturbing to see the trees being blown around as we entered the pattern. The windsock was horizontal and I swear that as we came down finals it swung and gave me a downwind component. I should have thrown it away but there was plenty of runway left and I got it down with only my pride dented.
Rutherford was a great little spot with a small restaurant and friendly people. An hour later and we were once again heading north. Matt had upgraded the 496 to XM weather at SNF and we anxiously checked the METAR at Ottawa (Thanks to the good folks at the XM weather booth for getting this arranged so quickly.) After another bumpy 2 hours 40 we landed under darkened skies and a biting wind in York (KTHV), PA. In order to cross the border we needed to file eAPIS, file a flight plan and call Canadian customs with at least 2 hours notice. Not being certain of making it back we decided to get as far North as possible before landing and making a final decision. As we flew over Pennsylvania towards New York the turbulence increased and Matt throttled back to ease both the jarring on the airframe and our nerves.
Gloomy Skies Over New York
The weather at home was now IFR and we opted to land at Binghampton (KBMG), New York and reassess the situation. For most of the trip the non handling pilot worked the radios but for some strange reason I just can?t say Binghampton properly ? i.e. ?Bing-um-tun?. Despite a long day of some quite intense flying we were both reduced to hysterics as I phonetically practised my radio calls before calling approach.
Resigned to a night in a hotel we tied the aircraft down and used a tent ground sheet and duct tape to waterproof the canopy. Matt?s nice new canopy cover was sitting in the hangar at Carp - another reason for the abundance of space in the back of the RV. The weather was bitter and the light snow was a far cry from the Lakeland sunshine of earlier in the morning.
Homemade Canopy Cover
In hindsight BMG (however you pronounce it) was not the best choice. Nice airfield but it?s slap bang on top of a 1,600 mountain. The next morning it was solid IFR and, somewhat frustratingly, bright sunshine at home. The forecast looked like it would improve and VFR was predicted for 2pm. By 1.30 it still didn?t look good but almost on schedule the airfield became VFR. We?d already called Canadian customs and using our CANPASS authorisation we were cleared back into our home airfield. By 2.30pm we were airborne and soon crossing the St. Lawrence and into Canadian airspace.
We landed at 4pm and immediately started congratulating each other. Almost 15 hours of flying and roughly 2,300 nm. What a machine.
Colin McGeachy April 2010
Departing Lakeland
After a solid 3 hours we were all in need of fuel and Rutherford (KFQD), VA looked like a reasonable place to stop. Having taken off in light winds it was somewhat disturbing to see the trees being blown around as we entered the pattern. The windsock was horizontal and I swear that as we came down finals it swung and gave me a downwind component. I should have thrown it away but there was plenty of runway left and I got it down with only my pride dented.
Rutherford was a great little spot with a small restaurant and friendly people. An hour later and we were once again heading north. Matt had upgraded the 496 to XM weather at SNF and we anxiously checked the METAR at Ottawa (Thanks to the good folks at the XM weather booth for getting this arranged so quickly.) After another bumpy 2 hours 40 we landed under darkened skies and a biting wind in York (KTHV), PA. In order to cross the border we needed to file eAPIS, file a flight plan and call Canadian customs with at least 2 hours notice. Not being certain of making it back we decided to get as far North as possible before landing and making a final decision. As we flew over Pennsylvania towards New York the turbulence increased and Matt throttled back to ease both the jarring on the airframe and our nerves.
Gloomy Skies Over New York
The weather at home was now IFR and we opted to land at Binghampton (KBMG), New York and reassess the situation. For most of the trip the non handling pilot worked the radios but for some strange reason I just can?t say Binghampton properly ? i.e. ?Bing-um-tun?. Despite a long day of some quite intense flying we were both reduced to hysterics as I phonetically practised my radio calls before calling approach.
Resigned to a night in a hotel we tied the aircraft down and used a tent ground sheet and duct tape to waterproof the canopy. Matt?s nice new canopy cover was sitting in the hangar at Carp - another reason for the abundance of space in the back of the RV. The weather was bitter and the light snow was a far cry from the Lakeland sunshine of earlier in the morning.
Homemade Canopy Cover
In hindsight BMG (however you pronounce it) was not the best choice. Nice airfield but it?s slap bang on top of a 1,600 mountain. The next morning it was solid IFR and, somewhat frustratingly, bright sunshine at home. The forecast looked like it would improve and VFR was predicted for 2pm. By 1.30 it still didn?t look good but almost on schedule the airfield became VFR. We?d already called Canadian customs and using our CANPASS authorisation we were cleared back into our home airfield. By 2.30pm we were airborne and soon crossing the St. Lawrence and into Canadian airspace.
We landed at 4pm and immediately started congratulating each other. Almost 15 hours of flying and roughly 2,300 nm. What a machine.
Colin McGeachy April 2010
