Lunch at Greenwood Lake

A new friend, Garret, joined our mountain biking group. Turns out he is a pilot just starting to work on his instrument rating. We decided to get together on Saturday for a lunch flight to Greenwood Lake, an airport on the border of New York and New Jersey, within sight of New York City. Garret has been there once before and says it is good for lunch.

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Fun's fun, but where is the airport. We call in from 10 miles, but I can't see the airport. I realize that I have only flown in the flatlands of Pennsylvania, the coast, the islands, the Midwest, etc. It is new to me to land in these rolling hills and mountains. Garret cautions me that, depending on the runway, we will need to do a steep descent and clear trees near the threshhold.

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There it is. We enter the pattern and make a nice landing.

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Tied down a few minutes later.

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So here is the really unusual thing. They have a Lockheed Constellation tied into the building which is used as the pilot lounge and observation deck.

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The office is nice and the folks there are friendly.

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The airport restaurant has a nice menu, good food, and a view of the ramp.

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We go upstairs and check out the pilot lounge and check out the inside of the Connie.

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They kept the cockpit "as is" with the pilot's jackets still draped over the seats. The panel really makes me appreciate my glass cockpit.

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Views from the deck on the Connie.

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After lunch we fire up the plane and taxi to the departure end of Runway 6. If you click on the picture you will see an RV dropping down the slope over the trees for landing.



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We climb to 7,500 to get above the clouds and bumps and cruise home in beautiful still air at 190 knots.

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Garret takes the controls while I relax and check out the scenery. He is a good pilot and picked it up fast. He liked cruising so much faster than the Cessnas he's been renting.

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We spot the nuclear plant in Pottstown and start a cruise descent at 185 knots indicated and 500fpm down for the last 10 minutes of our flight. It was a fun day of flying.

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