This last Sunday, my friend Garrett asked if I wanted to go to a fly in breakfast. The weather throughout the Northeast was perfect and there were fly ins at Gettysburg, PA and Cumberland, West Virginia. It was so nice we decided to do both.
We met at the airport a little after 7:00 and were wheels up for Gettysburg at 7:30.
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The weather was perfect with clear, smooth skies.
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We passed two hot air balloons rising up out of low fog. Click on the picture to get a better view.
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A view back over the strake toward the rising sun.
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Morning fog in the valleys as we head into the mountains. Gorgeous.
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That clear area ahead is Gettysburg Battlefield. We did our approach right over it.
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On the ground at Gettysburg. We are one of the first arrivals. Time for breakfast.
Breakfast was great - special airplane pancakes, potatoes, eggs and juice.
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| EAA Flapjackerator turns out the pancakes |
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| Airplane embossed pancakes! |
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| Garrett marvels at the pancake technology |
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| Tang! |
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The owner of this Robinson R44 gave one ride after the other all day, using his own fuel. Wow!
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After an hour or so, we hopped in the plane, came around for a low pass, then headed further west into the mountains of West Virginia.
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| Here come the mountains. |
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| Terrain shown on the left screen, traffic on the right. |
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| Landing at Cumberland |
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| Parked and ready to check the place out |
Cumberland sits up high, surrounded by mountains. There are views in every direction.
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The fly in is small, but friendly. There was a band, breakfast and car show.
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The airport used to be a regional airline hub. It has a 5,100 foot runway, beautiful terminal and ..... no air traffic. It's a shame. The terminal is really nice as is the location. I hope things pick up for them.
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The state police have a beautiful Augusta Westland helicopter based there.
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By 11:00 we've seen all there is to see, so we head back to the plane and take off for home.
Here are some shots from the way home. The weather was still perfect and we cruised along at 185-190 KTAS with no bumps. The whole trip home only took 45 minutes.
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| A Ski Area |
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| York Airport |
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| Back in the flatlands. We can see forever. |
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| The Susquehanna river |
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Before long we are home.
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| 45 leg for downwind for runway 29 Chester County |
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| We follow my hangar neighbor's Mooney to our row |
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It was a great day of flying. I hadn't been up in a while so it was fun to knock the rust off and hang out with other pilots. Thanks to Garrett for doing all of the flight planning.
Our Chester County air show is day after tomorrow, so more pictures should be coming.
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