We had always wanted to see Martha's Vineyard, a beautiful island off the coast of Massachusetts. Andy and Theresa Millin had flown their Velocity to Massachusetts to visit friends and agreed to bring their friend Debbie to join us on the island.
This is a 350 mile drive from our home near Pennsylvania that would involve 5 1/2 hours in the car, then a 45 minute ferry ride. In short, I don't think I'd ever drive there for just a weekend visit.
In the Velocity, it flight planned out to an hour and 40 minutes, making a day trip possible. This is exactly the sort of possibility that makes having a Velocity great.
I told my wife that I would go out to the airport to fuel and preflight the plane and that she should meet me at 7:40 so that we could be wheels up at 8:00. I then filed our flight plan on the Ipad using Foreflight (very handy) and went to bed.
The next morning we were at the end of the runway only 10 minutes later than planned. The picture above is the departure end of our runway at 8:10.
Martha's Vineyard here we come.
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Sean is excited about the early departure. Katie, not so much.
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....and 5 minutes later.
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The ride is incredibly smooth. We ask for and get flight following from Philadelphia approach, and are soon handed off to New York, which clears us direct through their airspace, within sight of Manhattan at 3,500 feet.
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Nancy looking down at miles and miles of New York city stopped traffic below us. I'm really glad I'm not driving.
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The new ADSB receiver pays off. There is a ton of traffic, as depicted by the many black boxes on the right screen.
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After we pass New York, the scenery is beautiful. We cruise up the coast with Long Island sound off the right winglet.
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Here is a view as we leave the coast for the island as seen on the screens and out the window.
You can just make out Martha's Vineyard in the top of the bottom photo near the horizon. 15 minutes over water and we're there.
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Crossing over the shore of Martha's Vineyard. It is a really small island.
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The airport comes in sight. The tower clears us to land on Runway 33.
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Here is a quick video of the approach and landing.
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Andy and Theresa spot us in the pattern and get some shots of the landing and taxi.
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| That's us just behind the light tower |
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| Pulling up to parking |
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| Nancy climbs out- less than 2 hours after leaving home in Pennsylvania |
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Andy and Theresa were already there with their friend and host, Debbie 10 minutes before our arrival.
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We pull around and park right beside them as an oversize golf cart pulls up to take us all to the terminal.
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Andy helps me tie down and we load up
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Sean loves golf carts and thinks this ride is great.
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The whole gang at the terminal. We go inside, register, and catch a taxi van into the nearby town of Oak Bluffs.
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The town is beautiful so we walk around and take in the sights.
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There is a famous section of town filled with tiny Victorian cottages. No cars, no bikes, no speeding. I decide to flout their speed laws.
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My wife, Nancy, finds her namesake restaurant.
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Andy and I celebrate the achievement of two long held goals. First, to fly to New England in our Velocities. The second, to have lobster rolls together.
Missions accomplished.
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I'm sure Andy also promised Theresa some choice destinations like this while he was toiling away in the hangar for all those years.
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| The wild bunch ready to ride |
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| Nancy and Katie |
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| Sean and I- It's hard to look tough on a scooter at 25 mph |
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| Directionally challenged |
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| Cheesy Rider and son |
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| Andy and Theresa |
Next up, we rented scooters to tour the island. We spent over 4 hours on them and toured the entire island. It was a blast. We were a major traffic headache as the things only did 25 mph flat out.
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Andy stopped suddenly so Theresa could take this picture from the scooter. She had to explain it to me- "It's a fork in the road!". Very existential.
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| Nooooooo! |
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| Theresa reenacting the first time she was shot out of a cannon. |
Hamming it up at Chappaquiddick.
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It was a beautiful spot. Here's a quick video of the view.
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We reach the lighthouse at Gay Head. The scenery on the cliffs is gorgeous. This is the far point of our ride. At these speeds it will be a long, scenic ride back to the scooter rental place.
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The obligatory Eagle One! Debbie said it made her want to slap us. Oh well, it's a tradition!
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We return the scooters, have dinner at a nice Italian place, then head back to the airport. I want to take off by 6:30 so that we are home before dark. We say our goodbyes, load up and taxi out to the run up area with Andy, then are cleared for takeoff and pull out onto the runway.
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| Stupid knot! |
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| Andy preflights while Theresa loads up |
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| Nancy and the kids don life jackets and climb in |
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| We taxi behind Andy to the runup area |
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| Running up next to Andy |
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| We finish run up and taxi out to depart |
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| Cleared for takeoff! |
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| Andy gets a shot of our takeoff roll |
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On the way back south, we are once again cleared through New York airspace, this time even closer to the city.
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This gives us a great view of New York City.
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It also gives us traffic all around us from multiple jets and light planes . We follow rapid fire commands from the controller to climb, descend, change course, etc. to avoid the traffic. Nancy took pictures of some of the closer ones.
The ride home in the setting sun was beautiful.
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We land into the setting sun at Chester County Airport, taxi to the hangar and unload. We made it back in only 1 hour and 40 minutes, touching down at home at 8:10.
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This was a great trip. Being able to take day trips to exotic destinations in other regions hundreds of miles away is wonderful. This is just what I dreamed of when building the plane.
More to come.....
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