Birthday Surprise Flight

My friend Andy Matlack has a son, Ethan, who had a birthday coming up, almost the same day as his wife, Audra. He asked if I would help surprise them with a flight in the plane.

The plan was that he would tell them that he was taking them out to breakfast at the restaurant at Chester County Airport. We would have the Velocity staged right outside the terminal building and would instead fly Ethan and his mom to Ocean City Airport Diner.

They got there and were duly surprised. We loaded up and got ready to go.

Ethan straps into the copilot's seat.

Audra ready to go in the back 

__________________________________________________________________

Ethan helps tie the plane down

The Birthday Mission crew

Tied down in Ocean City after a picture perfect flight in still, clear air. We could see Philadelphia and Wilmington and saw Ocean City while still 20 miles out.

_________________________________________________________________

The obligatory location shot.

________________________________________________________________

Time for the breakfast part of our outing.

___________________________________________________________________

The birthday duo have breakfast at the beach.

__________________________________________________________________

The breakfast was good, but the real reason to fly into Ocean City airport is that it is only a 10 minute walk to the beach. We head over to check it out. They can't believe that we've already flown here from Pennsylvania and had breakfast.

_________________________________________________________________

It is much warmer here. We shed the jackets, take off shoes and find the water is still warm.

________________________________________________________________

Back to the airport and time to head home.

_________________________________________________________________

Here is a video of our takeoff from Ocean City taken by Ethan in the front seat.

Audra didn't like the takeoffs much, but was a total trooper.

_______________________________________________________________

The view as we climb out and head West. Unfortunately, an arriving front has brought cloud buildups and bumps. We climbed and flew over them at 6,500 until the last 10 minutes. Audra did not like the bumps at all.
 ________________________________________________________________

Ethan checks out the view

 _____________________________________________________________________

 Here are some shots of Audra's view from the back seat.

_________________________________________________________________

Here comes the Delaware river. Wilmington, Delaware is straight ahead and Philadelphia is to the right over the canard. We are still over New Jersey. Three states in one picture.

_________________________________________________________________



 Of course there was a traffic jam in the pattern, but I got us back down on the ground as quickly as possible.

The whole Matlack family was waiting for us when we landed. We got a quick shot of the family with the plane.

__________________________________________________________________

Ethan's siblings Hanna and Jonas try the plane on for size.

__________________________________________________________________

It's always fun sharing the joy of flying with your friends. I had a good time and they got to get their first rides in a light aircraft. This is what it's all about.

________________________________________________________________