Our friends Andy and Theresa Millin finished their fixed gear XL last year and flew it into Oshkosh for the first time. I flew my plane out to their home in Michigan last year for a mini Velocity fly in.
We planned for them to visit us and do some sight seeing over Memorial Day. At first, it didn't look like the weather would cooperate. Friday was windy and raining. Saturday the winds were in the mid 20's gusting over 30. I slept in figuring it wouldn't happen. I got up and found a voice mail message that they were on the way and would be here by lunch.
I tracked them on flightaware.com and was able to see their progress. They made good time, averaging around 150 knots. As they got close, I drove out to the airport to pick them up.
Click on the pictures to enlarge for a better view.
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I stood out on the ramp in the wind looking for them. It wasn't long before I heard that distinctive Velocity sound and spotted them beginning the downwind for runway 29.
Here is the same moment from Andy's viewpoint in the pattern.
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With the wind, base to final was very short and steep.
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...and Andy makes a nice smooth touchdown in the windy conditions.
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A nice shot of them as they taxi up to the ramp.
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I take photos as they pull up to the tie downs, then Theresa (who is still sitting in the plane by the way) takes pictures as I help Andy push the plane into place.
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Kalamazoo to Chester County in only 3.5 hours. Pretty good.
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Welcome to Pennsylvania! Andy has successfully completed his very first long cross country in the new plane.
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| Theresa and Nancy in Manayunk |
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| The Parkway from the Art Museum |
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| Andy and Theresa at the Philadelphia Art Museum |
Saturday night we took them to the galleries in Manayunk, outside Philadelphia. Sunday morning we went into Philadelphia and toured the art museum.
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After the art museum, they had to try a Philly Cheese Steak.
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As we were leaving the cheese steak place, I told Andy about a place a few blocks away called More Than Just Ice Cream which is famous for its apple pie. Turns out that Andy is a total pie hound, so we went over to check it out. As you can see, it didn't disappoint.
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For dinner, we went to our favorite Italian restaurant, Limoncella. It was terrific. However, I was starting to develop a forward CG issue, if you know what I mean.
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Memorial day Monday dawned bright and clear. Our plan for today was to fly to Cape May, New Jersey, then get a cab to the Wildwood boardwalk. Along the way there and back, we would try to get some nice air to air photos of the plane.
We headed out to the airport and Andy took off his cover while I went down to my hangar to load up and taxi out to meet him for departure.
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We taxi up and Andy is started and ready to taxi for departure.
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We line up for takeoff just as Andy rotates at the midpoint of the runway. Now we'll catch up and head for the beach.
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For once, the lighting and conditions are perfect and we have a great camera with a long lens. We got some terrific shots. We joked that this shot of Andy's plane looked too perfect - almost like it was computer generated.
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Here is the key. Get close and use a long lens. If you click on the photo, you can see Nancy holding the camera. Theresa was doing the same in Andy's plane. We got too many great shots to post. I'll put a few of them below.
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Great shots.
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A nice shot of Andy crossing the river. The smoke stack is my easy waypoint to avoid the Philadelphia airspace.
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Cape May comes into sight and I pull ahead to descend and start my approach.
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We call Unicom and are told that Runway 19 is the active. I start my pattern with Andy right behind me.
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Final for 19 Cape May.
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A few moments later, we are both tied down on the ramp at Cape May.
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We take a few moments to wipe down the planes and lock up.
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We stop in the air museum on the field and Andy checks to see if he has "The Right Stuff".
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Time to hit the boardwalk. This will be an eye opener for Andy and Theresa.
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| Saltwater Taffy and fudge |
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| Kohr's frozen custard |
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| Theresa in her happy place |
We head back to the airport to tour the cape, then head home. The owner of the Philadelphia Phillies has parked his jet next to us.
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As we taxi out together, I pass a boneyard of Caribou transports. I like the look of the very new against the old.
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Andy takes off first and asks Theresa "Where's Mark?". She looks out the window, sees this and says "Oh, he's coming! " as I climb towards them.
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Here is the video of our takeoff from Cape May. We didn't take off as a flight. I let Andy get about half way down the runway, then climbed out hard after them as seen from Theresa's perspective in the previous pictures.
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We form up for more photos. This is a fun maneuver- the break from formation. Push the stick all the way to the right, then pull it into your stomach when you are on your side.
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Some more nice shots on the way home.
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Here are some videos to give a feel for what it's like to fly two Velocities in loose formation while flying together. It's as fun as it looks.
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This is a video of our approach and landing back at Chester County Airport (KMQS).
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This is a pretty cool video of Andy's landing taken from the open door of our plane as we taxied back from our landing. Kind of an unusual perspective that again gives you a feel of what it's like taking two planes on a flight together. We had both imagined doing this for years.
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Back on the ground at Chester County, Andy and Theresa give a thumbs up for a great day of flying adventures.
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At home, we review the photos and Andy gives an Eagle One to his favorite shot.
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Tuesday brought rain and fog that kept them from getting home. That only meant that we had one more night to hang out together. The fog cleared by late Wednesday morning. I was already at work so Nancy drove Andy and Theresa to the airport. Here they are starting up and taxiing for the runway.
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Here is a video of their takeoff. It was a great visit and we look forward to more trips together.
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