So Jeff P. flew into Champaign on a commercial flight around 5 PM.  Both he and Jeff B. immediately drove over and met me at the hangar where I had already had the plane pre-flighted and ready to go.  We talked about the weather a bit and I commented that the temperature/dewpoint spread looked like it would get close but the TAF wasn’t calling for reduced visibility until after 1 AM.  It was pretty clear and well above freezing with hardly any wind so we decided to take off.  Our destination was Springfield, IL (KSPI).  This would be my first trip to Springfield.  I had filed IFR and we had a very nice, uneventful flight there and an excellent landing (if I must say so myself).  We had a great dinner and had good discussion through the whole dinner.  As soon as we walked out the door though all three of us noticed a ‘mist’ in the air.  I think we all pulled our phones out at once and checked the weather and Springfield was reporting 8 miles visibility and clear but Champaign was reporting overcast a 400′ and 4 miles visibility with mist.  We discussed our options and there is an airport about halfway in Decatur, IL (KDEC) that was reporting clear and 5 miles visibility so we decided to start heading back and keeping this as our “out”.  The whole way back was very clear and we could see the ground.  As we approached Champaign we received a report from a plane that just landed that they saw the approach lights at about 300′ AGL and the METAR was reporting 2.5 miles visibility.  We could see the layer but it was well below us.  We all discussed the plan and I felt comfortable taking a shot at the ILS.  If we went missed we wouldn’t try again and just head for Decatur where we’d call someone to come pick us up.

Everything was looking good.  We were on the final approach course ILS32R and I was ready to concentrate on the approach.  I asked both CFIIs in the plane to please point out if they saw any large deviations.  A commercial jet was cleared for the approach just ahead of us and when they were on the ground they reported entering the muck around 1500′ (750 AGL) and seeing the runway lights around 1000′.  The ILS DH is only 950′!  This would be a true test of my skills but I was very confident as I’ve practiced this many times and I’ve remained current and proficient.  As we intercepted the glideslope I reduced power and started to follow the glideslope in.  I used the autopilot to help me stay on the localizer and to reduce the workload so I could really concentrate on the glideslope.  I was doing well following it in but I found myself fixating a bit on the glideslope and I noticed that was doing about 110 knots.  I pulled back power and the nose up a bit to slow down which caused me to be a little high on the glideslope.  I quickly corrected and then at about 1000′ (250′ AGL) I saw the approach lights pop out of nowhere.  It was an awesome feeling and I honestly didn’t expect them as close as they were but I was elated to see them!  I was just about ready to go missed and then I saw them.  The other 2 Jeffs in the plane reminded me that I still needed to fly the plane and land it which I did with another smooth landing.

In looking back on this situation I am very happy that I was able to experience this.  I believe we managed the risk very well and always had a plan and an “out”.  The temperatures were well above freezing as even at our cruise at 5000′ we were seeing temperatures a few degrees above freezing so this wasn’t a factor.  I made one mistake of fixating on the glideslope and not paying as much attention to airspeed as I should and I shouldn’t have tried to over correct when I did.  I had plenty of runway and should have gradually slowed down rather than trying to get to 90 knots immediately.  I didn’t expect to fly an actual ILS approach to minimums tonight but I feel that I was well prepared for it.  Many thanks to my instrument instructor – Frank Dorrin – for preparing me for this day and for all of the other safety pilots and instructors who I have worked with in remaining proficient.  Thank you Jeff B. & Jeff P. for joining me on this adventure!

2011 Hours: 77.1

Total Hours: 484.1 – I was hoping to break 500 hours in 2011 as well but this will now have to wait until 2012

2011 Approximate Mileage: > 6,500 miles

New Airports: 21 – KDEC, KTIP, KMTO, KBMI, KCPS, KHUF, KIKK, KTAZ, KLAF, 1C1, C16, KPUJ, KISM, KCHA, KDNV, KPRG, 3MY, KAAA, KPNT, 50I, 1H2

Notable flights:  Flew the family to St. Louis for Spring Break, Multiple trips to MI to see family and also to see the Michigan State-Wisconsin game in October, and the big trip was to Disney World in Florida where we had our summer vacation.

So even though I didn’t fly as much as I would have liked we still got some good use out of the airplane in 2011.  I look forward to many more trips in the coming year!

Happy New Year to all of you!

A couple of days before the trip one of my coworkers had to back out so I made a call to Bob Buckley who lives in Michigan and asked if he could meet us for the day.  The weather outlook was looking great and everything was falling into place.  I picked Brad up early on Saturday morning and took him through the preflight ritual.  This was his first flight in a small airplane so I made sure to explain as much as possible and answer any questions he might have.  We were soon loaded up and taxing out to the run-up area where we quickly got our clearance and departed for our flight to Kalamazoo, MI (KAZO).  One of Brad’s good friends, Mike, would be meeting us there and we would be driving up to East Lansing.  The flight was one of the smoothest flights I have been on in a very long time.  I always like for someone’s first flight experience to be comfortable and this one didn’t disappoint.  Within about 90 minutes we were setting up for an uneventful approach and landing into Kalamazoo.

Mike picked us up and we made the drive over to East Lansing after a quick stop at McDonald’s for lunch.  We were very early for the game but the campus was busy with tailgaters already.  We walked all around the stadium and checked out what was going on.  We made a stop at the Bookstore and the Dairy for some excellent ice cream!  Bob finally met us and tailgated for a couple of hours before we headed into the game.  On the way into the game we saw Barry Alvarez, Wisconsin’s Athletic Director, talking to a group of Badger fans and alumni.

Even now I can’t explain how exciting of a football game this was.  It started out looking to be a blowout when Wisconsin scored two quick touchdowns.  Michigan State’s defense then came alive and got a safety, intercepted a pass, blocked a field goal and a punt.  The offense also followed up each of these with a couple of touchdowns and even a two point conversion on one of them.  At the half MSU was up 23-14.  In the 3rd quarter the defenses battled it out but then in the 4th Wisconsin was very strong and scored two touchdowns to tie up the game with only 1:26 left in the game.  It was looking like the game would go into overtime when on 3rd and 1 with 4 seconds left in the game Michigan State completed a 44 yard Hail Mary pass in the end zone to win the game!  The stadium was louder than I’ve ever heard a sporting event.  It was the best football game that I’ve ever been to and I’m sure it will be a long time if ever I see another one that tops it.  Click here for a recap of the game.  Bob snapped this picture right after the catch was ruled a touchdown and the team rushed the field.

After the game we finally made it back out to the parking lot and said our goodbyes to Bob.  Mike drove us back to Kalamazoo where we stayed at his house for the night.  In the morning he drove us to the airport and we departed for Champaign on another gorgeous day.  We flew right over South Bend on the way home and Brad was able to snap a couple of pictures.  We were back in Champaign before lunch.  It was a very fun adventure and I look forward to the next one!

The family woke up early on Saturday morning and enjoyed the breakfast at the Hampton.  The schedule was to meet up with the Mascelli’s at the Nashville Zoo.  We left the hotel early as we wanted to explore a little bit and also needed to get our Nashville Total Access passes.  We used these passes to see all the things that we wanted to see and it was really worth the money.  Nashville at 8 AM was pretty quiet and I noticed that we were right near the Hampton Inn in Downtown where the Mascelli’s were staying.  I had just gotten a text from Gary so I thought we’d surprise them by popping in and saying hello to them at breakfast.  After catching up quickly we left for the zoo and let them finish their breakfasts.

View at Picasa The Freys at the Nashville Zoo 0903201103-Sep-2011 09:03, Canon Canon PowerShot SD70, 6.3, 7.466mm, 0.004 sec

The Nashville Zoo was the first adventure of the day.  Temperatures were forecast to be very hot so we thought we would get through the zoo early before it got too hot.  The zoo was really nice and setup very well.  The natural habitats were large and much of the walking paths were covered.  By lunch time we had seen most of everything and found a local place to eat right across from the zoo and all enjoyed cool drinks and a homestyle lunch.

View at Picasa The Freys on the Grand Ole Opry stage in Nashville TN 0903201103-Sep-2011 15:13, Canon Canon PowerShot SD70, 2.8, 5.8mm, 0.02 sec

Right after lunch we headed to The Grand Ole Opry.  We bought tickets for the backstage tour and only had to wait about 30 minutes for the tour to start.  This tour was really interesting and we were taken through all the dressing rooms, The Family Room, and even were able to take pictures on stage.  It was a really cool venue and we would love to see a show here some day.  After the tour we made plans to meet up with the Mascelli’s for dinner and each went our own way for a couple of hours.  We drove around the outside of the huge Opryland Hotel and then headed back towards our hotel.  Right near our hotel is Centennial Park.  There was a music festival going on in there but we drove in to see The Parthenon.  We spent about an hour exploring this really interesting attraction and then went back to the hotel where the kids and I went out to the pool for a bit while Lori relaxed in the room.

For dinner we met up with the Mascelli’s at the Wild Horse Saloon.  This was a really fun place that had a big stage and a dance floor where they had line dance lessons.  Lori and Hannah got involved in the line dance lessons and Bryan even went out to show off a bit.  The food was good and by the time we were leaving a band was playing on stage.

View at Picasa Inside the Wildhorse Saloon in Nashville TN 09032011d03-Sep-2011 18:34, Canon Canon PowerShot SD70, 4.0, 14.333mm, 0.067 sec

View at Picasa Lori and Hannah line dancing in the Wildhorse Saloon in Nashville TN 09032011d03-Sep-2011 18:46, Canon Canon PowerShot SD70, 2.8, 5.8mm, 0.017 sec

View at Picasa Bryan dancing in the Wildhorse Saloon in Nashville TN 09032011a03-Sep-2011 19:16, Canon Canon PowerShot SD70, 2.8, 5.8mm, 0.017 sec

After dinner we made a short walk down the street and stopped in at the Hard Rock Cafe gift shop so Lori could add to her rather large collection of Hard Rock bears from all around the world.  Nashville was hopping.  It is a very vibrant town with lots to do.  There were a lot of people around, musicians on the street and all the Honky Tonks had bands playing in them.  Weather was coming in the next day so Gary made the good decision to leave early the following day to beat the storms.  We said our good-byes and walked around a bit before heading back to the hotel.

View at Picasa Inside the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville TN 09042011d04-Sep-2011 10:05, Canon Canon PowerShot SD70, 2.8, 5.8mm, 0.017 sec

View at Picasa The Freys on the stage in the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville TN 09042011b04-Sep-2011 14:03, Canon Canon PowerShot SD70, 2.8, 5.8mm, 0.017 sec

Sunday morning we got up, ate breakfast and headed into town again.  The first stop was the Country Music Hall of Fame where we spent a few hours viewing all the exhibits.  We finished about lunch time and decided to get a pizza at Sbarro just as the rain started.  The Ryman Auditorium was a short walk and we decided to spend the afternoon there.  The Ryman Auditorium has a rich history and was the original home of the Grand Ole Opry.  It was a rainy afternoon but we made the best of it and headed back to the hotel to rest a bit and decide where we were going to go for dinner.  When we got back to the hotel there was loud renovation work going on so we decided to check out and start the drive back home.  This was a good decision as the rain from Tropical Storm Lee started to come in.  We drove through it for about an hour and then it was dry the rest of the way home.  We were back in Illinois a day early and would have Labor Day to relax and recover from the weekend.

View at Picasa Gary and Mary Mascellli in front of the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville TN 0903201103-Sep-2011 13:53, Canon Canon PowerShot SD70, 5.6, 5.8mm, 0.003 sec

Even though we ended up driving, we had a fun trip to Nashville.  It was great to see Gary and Mary and we hope to be able to catch up with them again soon.  Both Gary and I commented on just how much we miss being able to fly with each other.  Nashville is an exciting and vibrant town.  There is a lot of history and interesting things to see and I’m sure that we will be back someday!

Click here to see all our album of pictures from our weekend in Nashville.

As you may or may not know Jeff has done quite a bit of the family’s genealogy over the years.  By doing some quick searches Jeff found quite a bit of information about Lori’s family and surprisingly we found many relatives that were from the area where we now live.  These are all descendants of her Grandfather – William Darrell Hassinger.  His father was Louis Franklin Hassinger and both of his parents Samuel Adam Hassinger and Emma Pitts Hassinger are buried in Goose Creek Township Cemetery in Deland.  This is only about a 10 minute drive from our home in Monticello.  We went up there and the Sexton helped us locate the grave and cleaned up the top of the stone.

Even more surprising, we found that her Great-Grandmother’s Parents and Grandparents are buried in Monticello Township Cemetery, which only about a mile from our new house.  William E. Kesler, Ella Troxell Kesler, Salem Kesler and Malinda Stebleton Kesler are all buried in the same plot.  Salem Kesler is Lori’s 3rd Great-Grandfather and he lived from 1830 to 1924.  Here is a picture of him that I found during the search.  The Sexton for the Monticello Cemetery was also very helpful and pointed us in the direction of the plot where all 4 are buried.  All of their names are on the grave stone but they also each have an individual headstone.  Below are pictures of the family plot.

It is quite a coincidence that we moved to this area and have uncovered this about Lori’s family history.  Please leave a comment and if you come across this page and have additional information or are a relative please reach out to us.  If you are interested more in these relationships and to see the family tree click on this link: William Darrel Hassinger Pedigree

For the week leading up to the trip the weather was looking good all the way to Florida.  As with most of our flights, we left the house at the crack of dawn.  The weather is usually much better in the early hours of the day as the afternoon heat and humidity brings on bumpy clouds and thunderstorm possibilities.  We were off the ground just before 6 AM and were flying direct to Paulding Executive Airport (KPUJ) which is in the northwest Atlanta area, just under the Class B airspace.  We had excellent tailwinds at 9,000 feet and were getting a ground speed around 150 knots (173 mph).  We were on the ground in the Atlanta area in about 3 hours.  At Paulding Airport we were treated like we flew a corporate jet in.  This airport is less than a year old and the restaurant on the field is not yet open.  L.J. knew we were coming and picked up some breakfast for us – oatmeal, donuts, fruit and juice were waiting when we arrived!  We couldn’t believe how beautiful the facility was and how well we were treated.  Fuel was also reasonable at $4.99/gallon compared to more than $6/gallon at other airports in the area.  After breakfast and filling up we all piled back into the plane for the next hop down to Kissimmee (KISM).  It was hot, humid and hazy as we departed, but still no storms.  We bumped around a bit as we climbed out but it wasn’t too bad.  Soon we were again cruising along in the cooler air at 9,000 feet.  I was getting some erroneous readings on my engine temperature monitor on cylinder #2 exhaust gas temperature.  They were very erratic but there were no other indications of anything wrong so I suspected a bad probe.  I paid close attention, but decided to continue on as all other CHTs, EGTs, RPM, oil temp & pressure were all normal and the engine was running smoothly.  In no time we were descending and getting vectors to our destination.  I noticed that we were getting close to the Disney TFR (Temporary Flight Restriction) but since I was on an IFR (Instrument Flight Rules) flight plan this wouldn’t be an issue.  We were able to get a very good view of Walt Disney World including The Magic Kingdom, Epcot and the All-Star Music Resort where we would be staying.  We were soon on the ground and the crew at Kissimmee Jet Center had us parked and brought the rental car right up to the plane for us to load.  Total flight time down was less than 6.5 hours and we were on the ground by about 2 PM.  Not too bad for over 925 miles!

We were very happy to be in Florida two days earlier than our original plan.  We found a Country Inn & Suites resort that gave us a good rate for the two nights prior to us checking into Disney.  The resort had multiple pools with water slides, a miniature golf course and many other nice amenities.  We found a Buffalo Wild Wings for dinner which has somehow become a tradition for us to eat at when we fly somewhere.  That evening we just enjoyed the resort and spent time in the pool.  The next morning (Saturday) we spent time checking out Walt Disney World and shopping at Downtown Disney.  In the afternoon we again enjoyed the pool at the hotel and then we went out to dinner at the Bonefish Grill.  On Sunday we woke up early, had breakfast at the Country Inn & Suites and then headed over to Disney where we were able to check into the All-Star Music Resort.  Disappointingly the room wasn’t as nice as the Country Inn & Suites and it was more expensive, but it was nice to be staying right on the resort.  We decided to make the best of it and enjoy the trip.  We wouldn’t be spending a ton of time in the room anyway and we were quickly saddled up and heading to the Magic Kingdom for the day.

We all had a great time at the Magic Kingdom and rode many of the rides throughout the day.  Hannah’s favorite was Splash Mountain and Bryan’s was The Haunted Mansion.  We stayed all day until after dark when the Electric Parade completed.  It was a long day and we were all tired but everyone really enjoyed themselves.  Monday we planned on going to Hollywood Studios and George Anthony (Jeff’s step-dad) met us in the morning.  He was down visiting a friend and was able to spend a couple of days with us.  Hollywood Studios was fun but the kids didn’t enjoy it as much because everything was more of a show than a ride.  In the afternoon we went back to the resort and enjoyed the pool for a couple of hours before being treated to dinner at Longhorn Steakhouse.

On Tuesday morning I woke up early and went out to the airport to check on the plane and to troubleshoot the engine temperature issue that I had on the trip down.  George met me out there and I pulled off the cowling and swapped a couple of the probes to see if I could isolate the issue.  I noticed that the wire may have been sitting on an exhaust tube and addressed this.  After a couple of tests I did not see the erroneous indications anymore so I fired up the engine and we did three laps around the pattern.  A short flight but piece of mind as all indications were normal.  We then met the rest of the family and headed off to Epcot for the day.  Epcot had quite a few more things for the kids to do and we went on just about everything that we could.  We had lunch with the Princesses in a Norwegian restaurant in the World Showcase that was very good.  Everyone really enjoyed Test Track and Hannah and Lori even went on the intense Mission Space ride and both loved it.  We stayed for the light show at the end of the day and walked around the whole World Showcase.  We were very tired by the end of the day and returned to the room where we all crashed for the night.

Wednesday was our “off” day.  Instead of going to one of the big parks we decided to go to Blizzard Beach which is one of the water parks.  We had a good time trying out the water slides.  Our favorite was Teamboat Springs which was a family raft ride down a long water slide.  In the afternoon we went to Disney Quest which is an indoor park that has a lot of video games and virtual reality adventures.  We then had a great dinner at The Cheesecake Factory where we were able to sit outside and the weather was beautiful.

On Thursday we were back at it and visited Animal Kingdom.  We enjoyed the Safari, the Lion King show and a few other things.  We finished everything we wanted to see around mid-afternoon and headed back to Downtown Disney where we all picked out our souvenirs.  Hannah bought a Rapunzel doll, Bryan bought Phineas & Ferb, Lori a photo album and Jeff got a shot glass.  We returned back to the the resort for dinner and to enjoy the pool for awhile.

Friday was our last full day in Florida.  We woke up in the morning and went to Typhoon Lagoon – Disney’s other waterpark.  Hannah and Bryan both went on some of the larger water slides with Daddy and enjoyed them.  We were all getting a little burnt out by this time so we decided to head back to the hotel to rest for awhile before going out to dinner at The Olive Garden for our last night.  We had an early day planned the next morning so we packed up everything and called it an early night.

It was Saturday morning and the week had flown by.  We had a great time but it was hard to believe that we were heading back to the airport already.  We loaded up the plane and soon were taxiing out for departure.  The leg from Kissimmee to Atlanta was uneventful and smooth sailing.  It was a little more hazy than the trip down.  It was smooth sailing but we were not making as good of time and received some re-routes on the way up to Paulding.  I actually received my first STAR (Standard Terminal Arrival Route) which was the DIFFI ONE.  It was so hazy and visibility wasn’t much more than about 3 miles so I requested the GPS-A approach into Paulding.  We purchased fuel and borrowed the courtesy car to grab a quick lunch in Paulding.  I had been watching the weather radar and I was concerned that we would have to contend with some storms over Kentucky & Illinois.  We departed and it wasn’t long before I was weaving around some buildups that were just starting to grow.  Surprisingly the XM Weather radar showed some yellows and reds just over the mountains by Chattanooga that had suddenly popped up.  At first I was looking for a route around this but it became quickly apparent that I wasn’t going to have any good options.  Bryan had been watching a video and with the addition of the weaving he started getting sick.  It wasn’t a bumpy ride at all as I was remaining clear of clouds.  With limited options I called ATC and asked them for some vectors to the closest field.  I got a quick descent and vectors to Chattanooga (KCHA) which was only a few miles away.  On the way down Hannah also got sick and Lori was quick on the draw with the bowl!  In no time we were on the ground though and we beat the line of storms that came over the area.  After an hour or so it looked like it was starting to clear but the storms I had originally been concerned with looked like they would be more of an issue so we decided to stay in Chattanooga for the night.  We were checked into another Country Inn & Suites which was beautiful and we had dinner at the Cracker Barrel.  We were all tired so it was an early evening.

On Sunday morning we had a quick breakfast at the hotel and were on our way back to the airport in the taxi.  The flight plan was filed direct from Chattanooga (KCHA) to Champaign (KCMI) and we were soon climbing out over the mountains.  It was a very smooth flight.  We were above some clouds but there was no “weather” to contend with.  Ground speeds on the return were around 115 to 120 knots (135 mph) which isn’t bad at all.  It was about a 3 hour flight home from Chattanooga and total flight time for the return trip from Florida was roughly 7.5 hours.  We were on the ground, unpacked and the plane was secured in the hangar by around 10:30 AM.

So that’s the story about our trip to Walt Disney World in Florida.  We all had a wonderful time and it was a great week with the family.  Even with the diversion due to weather it was well worth using the airplane.  The family is getting much more experienced in traveling this way and it is opening up new opportunities the way we had planned it to.  I had never landed in Tennessee, Georgia or Florida and added all of these to my map of states that I’ve landed in.  Now we need to start planning our next family getaway!  Click here to be taken to the photo album with all of the pictures that we took for the week.

2010 Hours: 136.1 – First time to break 100 hours in a calendar year!

Total Hours: 407

2010 Approximate Mileage: > 11,000 miles

Ratings: Instrument Rating – 3/19/2010

New Airports: 10 – KRDG, KACY, KMFV, KONX, KGWW, KSFQ, KLDJ, KPKB, KCMI, KVTA

Notable flights:  Flew the family to Myrtle Beach for a week vacation over Spring Break, Two trips to MI (Memorial Day and late September), a couple of trips to Champaign, IL to check out new area, flew in twice to Linden, NJ to go to Yankee games, Flew family to Concord, NC to see family friends for Labor Day.

It was a very productive year!  Hopefully now that we have moved to Champaign, IL (KCMI) I will get to explore some new areas!

Happy New Year to all of you!

View at Picasa Flights – MI Trip – May 2010 – 2327-May-2010 11:05, Canon Canon PowerShot SD70, 5.6, 5.8mm, 0.005 sec

We flew the airplane to Michigan for Memorial Day weekend in May 2010.  The trip had been planned for a couple of months and I started looking at the weather earlier in the week.  The outlook was good for the whole weekend.  To reduce the possibility of running into an afternoon thunderstorm we planned to leave early in the morning on Thursday 5/27/2010.  We were at the airplane before 6 AM and the loading and preflight were quickly completed.  Flight plans were filed and weight and balance checked the night before so we were ready to go.  We were off the ground right around 6:30 AM which was the plan.  The air was smooth but a bit hazy and I was glad to be on an IFR flight plan.  I was cleared west directly over Baltimore, MD and climbed up to 10,000 feet.  Luckily we had a slight tailwind even though we were heading west which is unusual.  It wasn’t much, but we were still getting ground speeds around 125 to 130 knots (143-150 MPH).  We settled in for the 2.5 hour flight to our planned fuel stop in Conshocton, OH (Richard Downing Airport – I40).  Lori kept busy by reading a book and listening to music, Hannah played with her toys and Daddy’s iPad, and Bryan watched a DVD and eventually fell asleep for awhile.  We landed in Choshocton on schedule and had a quick stop to take on fuel and use the restrooms.  After a quick snack of popcorn we hopped back in the plane as we were excited to get back in the air and get to Allegan.  I wasn’t able to get Indianapolis Center on the radio so I departed VFR and quickly was able to pickup my IFR clearance in the air.  The leg from Conshocton to Allegan was only about 2 hours and before long we were handed off to Grand Rapids Approach and cleared for the GPS29 approach into Allegan (Padgham Field – 35D).  It isn’t unusual to have good landings when the plane is full and has an aft CG but my landing in Allegan was one of my best ever.  Too bad no one was watching!

View at Picasa Flights – MI Trip – May 2010 – 90 – Baltimore, MD30-May-2010 15:12, Canon Canon PowerShot SD70, 5.0, 18.633mm, 0.002 sec

We spent Thursday, Friday & Saturday in Allegan seeing family and friends in the area.  Lori’s family all got together at her parent’s house on Saturday and we had a very nice time.  Lori also was able to see one of her best friends from school that she has not seen in many years.  I didn’t see many of my friends but I did catch up with Troy for one evening who also lives in Allegan.  I had a very busy week planned at work the following week and it looked like weather might affect us if we decided to stay until Monday.  We opted to leave on Sunday morning and were off the ground right around 11 AM.  Again the flights went very well and we stopped in Conshocton for fuel.  They had an outdoor grill open so we decided to sit down and have lunch.  It was very hot and there was hardly a breeze.  After lunch we hopped back into the plane and were off for the final leg of our journey.  There were some scattered clouds that had popped up and we brushed up against a few of them as we climbed up to our assigned altitude of 9,000 feet.  I took quite a few pictures of this as it is a fun experience for me since prior to getting my instrument rating I could not do this.  We also flew into the Washington, DC Special Flight Rules Area (SFRA) and right over Baltimore.  Another great flight and we were on the ground back in Delaware (33N), tied down and unloaded before 5 PM.  It was hot and everyone was tired but it was definitely better than the 13 hour drive or flying commercially.  It is great that we are able to use the airplane for longer trips now with the whole family!

Click this link to view more pictures of the flights

View at Picasa Flight to Myrtle Beach – 040210 – 0402-Apr-2010 07:59, Canon Canon PowerShot SD70, 5.6, 5.8mm, 0.004 sec

Early in the year we were planning a family vacation for Spring Break.  The plan was to fly the airplane to wherever we decided to go.  When we first started making the plans we thought that Disney in Orlando, FL might be the destination.  At the time I was still working on my instrument rating and the goal was to complete it before April so that I could use it and weather wouldn’t be as big of a factor.  After looking into Disney it was obvious that over Spring Break it would be very busy and the prices would be very high because there were no discount specials.  I also wasn’t sure if I would complete the rating in time so we started looking at other destinations up the east coast.  Someplace that was far enough away but not too far in case we ended up having to drive.  After looking at a few destinations and getting recommendations we settled on Myrtle Beach.  My parents (Jeff & Peggy) own a house in Myrtle Beach that they rent out and they stay at a place called Compass Cove when they go to Myrtle Beach to check on the house a couple of times per year.  We looked into it and found out that it has numerous water attractions including pools, hot tubs, lazy rivers, kids pools and even water slides.  The prices were also very reasonable and the rooms were well setup with efficiencies that included a microwave and a refrigerator so that you could eat breakfast and lunch in the room.

On Friday, April 2nd we loaded up early in the morning into N2893Z and departed for Myrtle Beach.  I filed IFR even though the weather was perfect which I plan to do most of the time.  Total flight time was planned to be around 3 hours and 30 minutes due to the headwinds.  This is just a bit too far without a stop for the kids so we decided to find somewhere in North Carolina to stop for fuel and to eat lunch.  We ended up planning a stop in Goldsboro, NC (KGWW) as this was not far off the airway and also had reasonable fuel prices that I found on AirNav.com.  Goldsboro is also where Grandpa Anthony now lives.  We had a very nice flight down and as we got closer the haze started to increase a bit but it was still a beautiful VFR day.  It actually was forecasted to be the hottest day of the year with temperatures in the mid-80s in Goldsboro.  When we landed in Goldsboro Grandpa Anthony was waiting for us.  He had a great picnic lunch all setup for us with lunch meats, peanut butter and jelly, chips, drinks and even ice cream!  It was a great lunch and great to see Grandpa for a short time.  We took on fuel, paid the bill and all hopped back into the plane for the short hop to Myrtle Beach.  It was very warm and I quickly got the engine running to cool us down.

We departed Goldsboro and climbed up back onto the airway down to Myrtle Beach.  The haze had increased significantly and I was glad to be IFR.  This leg of the flight was a little less than an hour and it went by very quickly.  I requested the ILS 18 approach into Myrtle Beach (KMYR).  I’m glad I did because it was very hazy and even at the final approach fix I could barely see the airport.  I flew the approach down to below 1000′ and had a nice landing while 2 commercial jets waited for us.  The line man at Myrtle Beach Aviation was very helpful and helped me tie-down and load everything into a van.  We all piled into the van and the family stayed in the van while I checked in and got the rental car keys.  Then we were driven to the rental car lot and again helped with the bags into the car.  Great service!

View at Picasa Compass Cove – Myrtle Beach – 0103-Apr-2010 17:23, Canon Canon PowerShot SD70, 2.8, 5.8mm, 0.002 sec

Compass Cove was only a few minute drive from the airport.  We checked in and checked out the facilities.  Everyone was excited to be at the beach and the weather couldn’t have been better!  For the next few days we had a great vacation in Myrtle Beach!  We spent a few hours each day in the pools or on the beach.  Most days we ate breakfast and lunch in the room and then went out on the town in the afternoon.  One afternoon we visited Broadway at the Beach and another day we went to Barefoot Landing.  We also visited a park and a new shopping center called The Market Common.  On our last day we went out for breakfast at a pancake house and then walked on the new boardwalk in downtown Myrtle Beach that is currently being built.   We had a great time as a family and enjoyed many of the sites of Myrtle Beach including a round of miniature golf.  On Monday evening we went back to Barefoot Landing and the family got our picture taken with a white tiger cub at Preservation Station.  Each evening we went to someplace different for dinner including Liberty Taproom, Cici’s Pizza, Outback Steakhouse, Gordon Bierch Brewery, El Cerro Grande.  By the end of the day we were all very worn out from the pools and running around.  We got to sleep in later than normal each day as well.

View at Picasa Pools at Compass Cove in Myrtle Beach – 040410 – 0404-Apr-2010 15:41, Canon Canon PowerShot SD70, 5.5, 23.2mm, 0.005 sec

View at Picasa 03-Apr-2010 13:29, Canon Canon PowerShot SD70, 2.8, 5.8mm, 0.002 sec

View at Picasa Worn out in Myrtle Beach – 04041004-Apr-2010 20:07, Canon Canon PowerShot SD70, 2.8, 5.8mm, 0.017 sec

View at Picasa Flight – 040810 – KMYR to KILM – 0508-Apr-2010 07:03, Canon Canon PowerShot SD70, 5.6, 5.8mm, 0.001 sec

On Thursday morning we woke up early as we were planning to check out and go up to Wilmington, NC on our way home.  The weather forecast was calling for a very windy day so we got rolling early to beat the weather and wind.  Not long after dawn we got to the airport and loaded up the plane.  I filed IFR to Wilmington the night before and it would only be about a 45 minute flight.  We departed and climbed out to about 5000′.  There was a layer of clouds at about 5500′ so I asked ATC if I could climb to 6000′ which was granted.  This was one of the highlights of the trip for me as it was the first time that I was using my instrument rating.  I took some unbelievable pictures right above the clouds.  We quickly approached Wilmington and I flew the ILS 24 into KILM.  It was already starting to get a little windy and bumpy and I had to fly through some small clouds on the approach which was really fun!  Lori was a bit nervous but I had a nice landing and we taxied to ISO Aero Services on the north ramp.  Interestingly enough I completed my primary flight training at KILM and took my checkride right out of the same ramp where we parked.  I hadn’t been back to KILM since 2004.

We stayed at the Jameson Inn in Wilmington on Thursday and Friday nights.  We spent time driving around Wilmington on Thursday and saw the old neighborhood and house that we built and lived in from 2001 through 2004.  We also drove out to Wrightsville Beach.  We stopped at a vet clinic where a couple of Lori’s friends and past co-workers work (Tammy McCloud and Dr. Audrey Mizrahi).  On Thursday evening we went to Buffalo Wild Wings where we met up with a group of friends that I used to work with at Corning.  It was great to see all of them and catch up.  On Friday we met up with another friend of Jeff’s (Dr. Doug Dixon), saw his office and had lunch together in downtown Wilmington.  We then went downtown by the waterfront for a couple of hours.  The Azalea Festival was getting kicked off and vendors were setting up and a lot of people were around.  There was a tall ship that was docked that we also got to tour.  Grandpa Anthony drove down and met us for dinner that evening and we had a nice dinner and visit at Carrabas.

View at Picasa Lori, Audrey Mizrahi and Tammy McCloud in Wilmington – 040810 – 0208-Apr-2010 12:31, Canon Canon PowerShot SD70, 2.8, 6.63mm, 0.017 sec

View at Picasa 09-Apr-2010 17:26, Canon Canon PowerShot SD70, 2.8, 5.8mm, 0.017 sec

View at Picasa 09-Apr-2010 18:41, Canon Canon PowerShot SD70, 2.8, 5.8mm, 0.017 sec

Unbelievably the vacation was almost over.  Saturday morning we woke up and had breakfast at the hotel.  We drove to the airport and got everything loaded into the plane.  Surprisingly the FBO hadn’t filled us up with fuel as I had requested and there was an issue with the truck.  I think the kid working the line could tell I was a bit upset and he went to try to get the truck running.  Within a few minutes the truck was going and he was filling us up.  It was frustrating because the plane had been sitting for two days and could have been serviced much earlier.  I had filed IFR for KILM to 33N.  Unfortunately we were again going to be fighting a headwind back.  It was slow going at 7000′ and only getting about 100-110 knots of ground speed.  About 90 minutes into the flight Bryan had to use the bathroom so I looked at the Garmin 496 for a place to divert to.  I decided on Suffolk, VA (KSFQ).   After a quick pit stop we jumped back into the plane and I departed VFR as there was a lot of traffic and I wanted to get on my way.  Once I got in the air I called up Norfolk Approach and requested a pop-up IFR clearance to 33N and was cleared direct.  This would take us pretty much straight up the Chesapeake Bay which was a very beautiful flight.  Originally I requested 5000′ to try to get a little more ground speed but it was a bit bumpy so I requested 7000′ which smoothed everything out.  I flew the VOR27 Approach into 33N.  It was a bit gusty and turbulent on the approach and I could hear Lori in the back gasping.  She was glad to be back on the ground after a not so good landing in which I bounced a bit due to the winds.

View at Picasa Back home in Delaware – 04101010-Apr-2010 13:18, Canon Canon PowerShot SD70, 5.6, 5.8mm, 0.004 sec

We had a great trip!  The week went by fast but it was nice to come home.  It gave me great satisfaction to be able to load up my whole family with luggage and take a week long vacation with the airplane.  I was well prepared and we had great weather!  I look forward to many more opportunities to use the airplane and take the family places.  Please check out all of our pictures of the trip by following this link:  Myrtle Beach Vacation Pictures – April 2010