Flight Time–Georgia Mountain Weekend

This weekend, we planned a trip to the mountains of Georgia to see some fall colors. I wanted to stay amongst the mountains, but the hotel prices were too high for everything except smoking rooms, and I just can't spend the night in a smoking room, at any price. As a result, I had to widen the search to include airports in western South Carolina. After rejecting several choices, I finally chose Greenwood.

Saturday, November 4

Saturday started with a briefing and the decision to go. The plan was to fly to Augusta, fill the tanks, then fly in and around the mountains, then fill the tanks before calling it a day. The forecast showed VFR weather for the entire route, but they also included some low clouds between Daytona Beach and Jacksonville.

Soon after departure, we knew we'd have to make some decisions based on the clouds. I wanted to fly at 7,500 feet, but the clouds prevented that. Given a choice between over or under, I wanted to stay on top, but that runs the risk of getting stuck on top and it also prevents you from navigating by visual references.

Clouds at our altitude

Approaching Daytona, I decided to drop down below the clouds. The airport was VFR, but it was pretty foggy, especially looking towards the ocean.

Fog around Daytona Beach Airport

The clouds continued in either broken or overcast form all the way to Jacksonville. Once in Georgia, the skies cleared, and it was smooth sailing all the way to Augusta. In Augusta, we stopped at Daniel Field, which has now become our favorite airport in Georgia, to top the tanks and eat lunch. While there, we were treated to seeing two Beechcraft King Airs - a C90 and a 350i. The 350i has been included in Flight Simulator for a long time and I've 'flown' it many times, but it is quite surprising and impressive to see how large it is up close.

As we were paying for fuel, Andrew remembered that we also wanted to buy an Atlanta Sectional. I had been looking for one in the pilot shops in Melbourne, but the one place that actually stocked them was sold out. They had them in stock and added it to our bill.

Route to Daniel Field

Back in the air, we began the scenic part of the flight. We headed northwest, basically following the route of the Savannah River. Our first landmark was Tallulah Falls and the gorge it flows through. We have visited this area by car several times, so we were able to find known sights quickly, like the Visitor Center and the rocky cliffs.

Tallulah Gorge, Visitor Center, and falls

After circling the falls, we continued to the south because the mountains were shrouded in smoke from a fire burning in North Carolina. I was concerned that the entire flight would be a waste of time due to the low visibility, but then I realized that the visibility around the plane was pretty good, so we turned west and continued our tour.

Smoke shrouding the mountains

Our next landmark was the town of Helen. Helen is another place that we've visited by car several times. The town is themed like a Bavarian village and is a huge tourist attraction. On previous visits we had to deal with traffic and parking, but this time, those issues did not factor in at all. As we circled the town, we saw a white castle in the mountains to the southwest of town. I will have to look it up and see if it is open to the public.

Helen

Next, we flew southwest towards Cleveland, the followed the highway to Vogel State Park. Vogel State Park is another place we've been to several times. Looking down at the lake, I remember hanging out in the pavilion over the water, listening to a man with a guitar singing songs.

Vogel State Park

From there, we flew northeast to another familiar landmark - Brasstown Bald. Brasstown Bald is the highest point in Georgia, at 4,784 feet above sea level. 

Brasstown Bald

Next, we headed southeast with the plan to leave the mountains the way we came. Looking around though, we decided that the smoke seemed thinner to the northeast. As we flew along, we came to an airport that I had been looking into. Heaven's Landing is a community airport located in a narrow valley. According to Foreflight, they have a 5,200 foot concrete runway, a GPS approach, and 180 home sites averaging 1.5 acres. If I win the lotto someday, maybe I'll buy a lot or two.

Again, we turned to the southeast to return, but then something caught my eye to the northeast. I turned left and we flew to a large, rocky outcropping near the Highlands, in North Carolina. Whiteside Mountain features 750 foot high sheer cliffs and is pretty amazing to see from above. Flying around it reminded me of when my pilot friend and I flew the Commander to Florida. On the that flight, we detoured off route to fly around Mt. Rushmore.

Rock outcropping in The Highlands, North Carolina

After our brief look, we headed southeast once again. We quickly reached one of the many lakes formed by dams along the Savannah River. Foreflight was indicating a Temporary Flight Restriction ahead, so I paid close attention to my track. The TFR was over the Clemson University football stadium.  Notre Dame was in town. With binoculars, Andrew could see the giant screen above the east end of the stadium, but he couldn't read the final score.

At this point, we flew more eastward over South Carolina. We flew right past our final destination and continued on a few miles to Saluda County, where gas was considerably cheaper. After a brief shutdown and top-off, we were back in the air.

Our final stop for the day was Greenwood Airport. I had called ahead the day before to check if there were any ramp fees and to verify that we could spend the night. The man on the phone was very nice and told me how to get back in the gate and told me about local transportation options. We parked, unloaded the plane, and walked out front.

Greenwood Airport, South Carolina

We tried to summon an Uber, but the one and only Uber driver did not respond, so we called a taxi. Twenty-five minutes later, the taxi arrived. He only accepted cash, so we had to find an ATM along the route. We found one, but it did not seem to work, so we went to the nearby convenience store. We arrived at the Quality Inn after sunset and checked in. Then we walked across the parking lot to New York Pizza and Pasta for dinner. Given that the clocks changed back to Standard Time, and that I was pretty exhausted, we were in bed by 9:00 pm.

Route through the mountains

Sunday, November 5

This morning, we were up in time to be the first in line for breakfast. We ate quickly and got ready to leave for the airport. It was cold outside, but not cold enough to worry about frost. I opened the Uber app and summoned a driver. To our surprise, the driver was five minutes away and accepted our request. A few minutes later, we had our things packed in her CR-V and were headed for the airport.

It was a beautiful, chilly morning and the sky glowed orange from the early sun and the lingering smoke. We loaded the plane and did the preflight, then prepared to depart. I attempted to start the engine, but unfortunately, the plane was not ready to go. It was almost like the plane was saying, "Nope, it's too cold to go flying. I'm from Florida and I don't like this one bit." I attempted to start the engine several times before it finally sputtered to life. As it warmed up, I turned on all of the avionics and checked the headsets. I talked, but no one could hear me. The intercom refused to work. I started to wonder if that had any effect on the radios. Luckily, we had a handheld radio with us, so we tuned it and the plane's radios to 123.45 and made a few test calls. With the intercom on, there was no transmissions, but with the intercom off, I could hear myself on the handheld radio. It wasn't ideal, but it worked.

We departed Greenwood Airport just after 8:00 am. We turned to the northwest to cross over northern Georgia. Rather than heading directly home, we decided to continue our sight-seeing a little bit longer.

Like yesterday, we wanted to re-visit places that we've been before. Our first point of interest was the town of Cornelia. Andrew and I spent a few nights there earlier this year. A little further west, we flew over Amicalola Falls. We could clearly see the Visitor Center, but the falls was hidden in the deep morning shadow.

Amicalola Falls Visitor Center

Continuing west, we flew towards Dalton. Dalton is one of our favorite places to visit for railfanning. The town is the location of the intersection of the CSX and the Norfolk Southern railways. They have a Visitor Center with a display showing the trains as they approach the intersection, so you always know when the next train is coming.

Further west, we flew over Cloudland Canyon State Park. The park is located the ridge that, if followed to the northeast, ends at Lookout Mountain in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Lookout Mountain, Chattanooga, Tennessee

From that point, we turned south along the Alabama border and flew to Pine Mountain. From Andrew's investigations, we knew that we would find cheap fuel here. Besides that, we spent the weekend here back in Fall of 2019. After landing, we waited on the ramp while a guy fueled his Cessna 152. It seemed to take forever, but we were not in a hurry. Once he finished, I taxied to the pump and topped of the Cherokee.

Pine Mountain Airport

Once parked, we headed inside and talked to the manager. He offered us the courtesy car and we accepted. Susan drove us into town, where we found a small grocery store and bought a few things for lunch. We then returned to the airport and ate at a picnic table.

Route to Pine Mountain Airport

After lunch, we started the final leg of our journey. This time, the plane started with ease, and to our great surprise, the intercom worked. We departed Pine Mountain and turned to follow the ridge, then headed southeast towards Jacksonville.

Jacksonville, Florida

As we passed Waycross, we turned slightly right to pass to the west of Jacksonville. We saw very little traffic along the way, but that was soon about to change. After passing Daytona Beach, we looked left and saw a Southwest B-737 heading towards us to the west, about three-thousand feet above us.

A few minutes later, we started to descend. Looking left, we saw a TUI B-787 approaching us from the rear. A B-787 is considerably larger than a B-737, giving the impression that it was much closer. It crossed over our path less than two thousand feet above us.

As we continued to descend toward Melbourne, we kept our eye on the TUI. It continued to the southwest before turning to line up with runway 9R at Melbourne. Meanwhile, another TUI B-787 departed runway 9R and flew east over the intercoastal. As we crossed over Melbourne at 4,500 feet, the TUI landed below us. To our surprise, we saw two additional TUI B-787s parked at the gate.

Three TUI B-787s at Melbourne Airport

We continued to descend and landed at Valkaria. Overall, the flights covered over 1,400 nautical miles and 14 flight hours.

Route to Valkaria Airport

Flight Time: 14 hours
Total Time: 551 hours

Flight Time–Immokalee

Today, I was looking for a route within Florida. I wanted it to include at least one stop a someplace new, and I wanted it to also include a stop at LaBelle. I got up early and studied the charts and eventually decided on a route. We would fly west over Marco Island, then stop at LaBelle for lunch, then fly home.

After the normal preparations, we departed Valkaria a little after 1:00 pm. The ride was low and bumpy due to a layer of clouds at 4,000 feet. After passing Okeechobee, I started to rethink the plan. I had had enough of the bumps and decided to land at Immokalee, then head straight to LaBelle.

Route to LaBelle

Immokalee is an interesting airport because its two runways are 90 degrees apart, with one being 09-27 and the other being 18-36. There was once another runway running diagonally from the northeast corner to the southwest corner, but it is now a drag racing strip.

After landing and taxing back to the departure end of runway 9, we made the short flight over to LaBelle. I had been there before with Andrew, and we enjoyed it. I was hoping to grab a bite at Short Cakes, but they were closed. Instead, we made the short walk to the nearby Winn-Dixie and found something to eat in their deli. We brought the food back to the airport and ate at a table on the long ramp-side porch. The only other activity was a pair of planes from a flight school at Merritt Island.

Outside LaBelle Airport

While eating, I noticed a Commander parked on the ramp. After eating, we walked over for a closer look. Looking closer, I discovered that it was a 112. I looked it up when I got home and it hasn’t been airworthy since May 2000, but most of the information on the FAA website is incorrect, so who knows if that is correct. By the looks of the plane, it may just be.

Commander 112 For Sale

I did a quick preflight, then we departed LaBelle, heading northeast back to Valkaria. After the bumpy ride over, Susan suggested that we climb above the clouds, given that we were currently in a clear section of sky. I climbed to 5,500 feet and we continued toward Okeechobee. Based on our earlier flight, we knew that the clouds ended at the beach. The ride on top was smooth and beautiful, with the sun slowly dropping below the broken cloud layer. We continued northeast to Fort Pierce, then followed the intercoastal up to Valkaria.

Route back to Valkaria

Flight Time: 3.0 hours
Total Time: 537 hours

Flight Time–Northern Georgia

Today we planned to go to the Georgia mountains to see the early stages of fall colors at the higher elevations. I got up early to brief the flight and verify that the weather was as expected. The plan was to follow the coast up to Savannah, then follow the Savannah River up into the mountains, then return home. The planned flight was longer than the plane's fuel capacity (plus a one-hour safety margin), so I planned a stop in Augusta. Daniel Field was advertising the cheapest gas in the area. Andrew and Susan got up a bit later and we all headed to the airport.

With all the preflight activities complete and the seats selected, we departed to the north. We climbed to 6,500 feet to fly over all airspaces along the route and flew towards Jacksonville. From the earlier planning, I expected a strong headwind. The predictions were unfortunately correct. Our ground speed along this leg were in the mid 80s. At this altitude, I would normally see ground speeds over 100 knots. With these headwinds, we thought we might not make it all the way to Daniel Field before needing to stop for fuel and would therefore need to find another place to land.

At Jacksonville, we turned to the east to follow the coast to Savannah. The slight turn was enough to reduce the headwind component and our estimated time of arrival dropped by about 30 minutes. This put us close to my limit of four hours of flight before stopping to refuel. Given that our new heading was easterly, we descended to 5,500 feet to be at a proper eastbound VFR heading, and to possibly reduce the headwind a bit more.

Along this leg, we passed over Jekyll Island. Many years ago, Susan and I flew here as passengers with our Commander-owning friends to attend the Commander Owners Group Fly-In. At the time, I was a 1/3 owner of a Commander 114, but the plane was located in Renton, Washington, so I obviously could not fly it to the fly-in. We stayed in a fabulous resort located about halfway between the bridge and the airport, along the intercoastal waterway.

Jekyll Island

We continued to fly along the coast until we reached Savannah. At this point, we turned northwest and followed the state line towards Augusta. Back on a westerly heading, we descended to 4,500 feet, hoping to reduce the headwind further. At this point, Foreflight was telling us that our flight time would be 2 minutes over my four-hour limit. Given that we sat at idle for over 5 minutes, waiting to take off at Valkaria, I decided to accept the 2-minute overage on the time.

Savannah Airport

As we approached Augusta, we passed near a large, nuclear power plant. Given the proximity of Daniel Field to Augusta, I decided to contact Augusta Approach. My first call went unanswered, so I tried again. This time the controller responded and asked for my request. I explained where I was and where I was going. He responded that he did not hear my request, so I repeated it. Again, he was unable to hear my request. I switched to the second radio and tried again. This time he heard me and cleared me through his airspace to Daniel Field.

Nuclear power plant near Augusta

Augusta Airport

Route from Valkaria to Augusta

Once clear of the airspace, the controller dropped me, and we continued a few miles further to Daniel Field. Approaching the pattern, there was a Civil Air Patrol plane nearby. When I announced my intentions, he said he could only hear the first few seconds of what I was saying. Again, I turned to the second radio, and he said he could hear me. I joined the pattern behind him and planned to extend my downwind leg to leave extra separation for landing, but then we realized that the Augusta Class D airspace was very close, so I made a quick turn to base to avoid entering the Class D airspace without permission. I slowed the plane a little more than normal and made some small S-turns to increase the separation. When the other plane exited the runway, I was still over 200 feet above the ground, so I continued and landed.

The FBO at Daniel Field is beautiful. We were guided in by the ground crew and parked where directed. I shutdown the plane, feeling a bit exhausted from four hours of flight. I took my phone out of Airplane Mode and enabled my Wi-Fi hotspot so I could close my flight plan. The iPad connected, but Foreflight was unable to close the plan. I called Flight Service to close the plan the old-fashioned way and they told me that the plan was already closed. I was confused by this, but later learned that they considered me late, so they called the FBO to see if I had arrived. I was already on the ground, so the FBO told them that I had landed, so they closed the flight plan for me. Meanwhile, Susan grabbed the cooler and we went inside to eat, while the ground crew topped off the tanks.

The FBO at Daniel Field

At this point, we had to make a decision. Did we want to continue to the mountains as planned, or did we need to have a Plan B? Given the current time and the travel time back home, and the potential for even more headwinds, we decided that we didn't have time to go as far as we originally planned. Andrew and I considered other options and fuel prices and we decided to fly north to Athens, then return home along a different route, with a fuel stop at Bacon County.

After lunch, I was feeling normal again, and we continued our flight. As we flew northwest, we could see the mountains in the distance. It was disappointing that we would not reach them today, but we accepted it, knowing that we'd try again at some other time.

Distant mountains

As we approached Athens, I thought I'd try to contact the control tower and let him know that we would be circling the university above his airspace. Once again, the radio was not transmitting properly, so I again switched to the second radio. The controller asked me if I'd like to go lower and I responded, "Yes please." He told me to report leaving his airspace. We descended into the Class D airspace and flew towards the University of Georgia. Andrew and I were here earlier this year, so it was fun for us to see the places we had walked from the air.

The University of Georgia

After completing our pass over the university, we thanked the controller and headed southeast. At this point, I was frustrated with the radio situation. Andrew told me that he noticed a little indicator on the radio while I was talking. We decided to try a little experiment. We tuned both radios to an unused frequency and I held the transmit button. We noticed that the indicator came on but turned off after about six seconds. I tried the transmit button on the co-pilot yoke and saw the same thing. I switched to the second radio and repeated the steps. The indicator stayed on the full time that the transmit button was pressed. Clearly, there is something wrong with the first radio.

We continue the flight to Bacon County Airport, in Alma. The traffic pattern was empty, so we flew the pattern alone and landed. As we taxied towards the fuel pumps, we were surprised by how deserted the airport looked. The contrast between here and Daniel Field was jarring. The sign above the fuel pump had broken panels and it looked like the cars in the lot were abandoned. I was concerned that the fuel pump would not work, and we'd have to find an alternative.

After shutting down, I walked to the FBO and tried to open the door. I expected it to be locked, even though the FBO was open, according to the hours posted on the door. The door opened and I walked inside. There was no one there. I used the facilities, then returned to the pump. The pump was functioning but had an error message. Luckily, it was just out of paper. I inserted my credit card and it reported that it was dialing for authorization. It took an uncomfortably long time to connect, but eventually it did. I topped the tanks, Susan took a picture of the pump to note the gallons pumped, and we were on our way.

Bacon County Airport

Route from Augusta to Alma

After departing, we climbed to 7,500 feet. This is the highest I'd ever been in this plane. Our intention was to reap the benefits of the strong tailwind. Within minutes, we crossed Waycross, and continued towards Jacksonville. Our ground speed was now showing 115 knots.

Waycross Airport, with rail yard nearby

Jacksonville Airport

New Smyrna Beach Lighthouse

Kennedy Space Center

As we approached Melbourne, we could see a layer of clouds in front of us. I started descending to get below the layer. The transition line was pretty cool to see as we passed from above to below the clouds.

Descending below the cloud layer

Parkway Meadows (Hershey Kiss)

During the final minutes of the flight, we were treated to a beautiful sunset. The flight was long and tiring, and we didn't reach our primary objective. but it was fun just the same. And the sunset was the cherry on top.

Sunset over the intercoastal waterway

Route from Alma to Valkaria

Flight Time: 8.8 hours
Total Time: 534 hours

Nags Head Weekend

Susan's sister's family likes to vacation at Nags Head, on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. This has been a family tradition going back many years. This year, we were invited to join.

Several weeks earlier, we had to make a choice: fly or drive. Given the long distance, I decided that flying was not an option. Turns out that was a great decision. The weather on Friday morning was abysmal. It was raining and foggy. We loaded the Audi early in the morning and were on the road by 5:00 am. The drive to Nags Head took 13.5 hours, with stops at McDonald's, Costco Gas, and Buc-ee's. Once there, we went out to dinner. Our first choice was too busy, so we chose La Fogata Mexican Restaurant. You may think this an odd choice for a beach town, but they had fish on the menu, and it was very good.

Saturday morning, we woke before sunrise. Susan and I went outside to watch the sunrise over the beach. It was cool, windy, and refreshing. We walked along the beach to Jeanette's Pier, then returned to the beach house for breakfast.

Jennette's Pier

Sunrise at Nags Head

Jennette's Pier

After breakfast, Susan and I explored Cape Hatteras National Seashore. Our first stop was the Whalebone Junction Information Center. Then we drove 47 miles south to the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse. Unfortunately, it was closed for repairs, so we didn't get to climb the stairs to the top. But luckily, the sun came out briefly while we were there.

Cape Hatteras National Seashore

Cape Hatteras Lighthouse

On the drive back to the beach house, we stopped at Bodie Island Lighthouse. This lighthouse was not under repair, but it was closed for the season. We missed it by less than a week. Then we stopped at BROS for lunch, where we had some interesting "nachos" that used waffle fries and BBQ pulled pork instead of chips and salsa.

After lunch, we crossed the bridge to Manteo, on Roanoke Island, and met the Pearces at the North Carolina Aquarium. The aquarium was small, but interesting. At the first display, we were met by a smiling purple fish. I really enjoyed the jelly fish display and the giant tank that include a few species of sharks. And I laughed out loud when a little girl asked about the 'croco-gators'.

Happy fish at the North Carolina Aquarium

After the aquarium, we returned to the beach house. Susan and I made ourselves dinner, while the Pearces went out for dinner. When they returned, we all went to Coastal Creamery OBX for ice cream.

Sunday morning Susan and I got up to see the sunrise. It was cool and cloudy, so I went back to bed, but she stayed up and saw a nice sunrise.

Sunrise from the beach house

After breakfast, we headed to the Wright Brothers Visitor Center in Kill Devil Hills. As a pilot, this was a must-see for me. I've been wanting to come here forever, and I really wanted to come here on the 100th anniversary in 2003, but I was too busy with other things at the time. Someday I will fly a plane here and land at the nearby airport.

Wright Brothers Visitors Center

The Visitor Center includes a museum and a recreation of the shed and living quarters that the brothers used at the time. There are also markers showing how far the Flyer flew on each of its flights. I came away even more impressed with how they were able to examine the existing research from "experts" and expand upon it - including findings faults in it - to come up with a working solution. I was also interested to learn that their mother and younger sister played such an important role in their continued drive to solve the problem of powered flight.

Memorial to First Flight

After walking the path of the full 852 feet first flight and back, we drove to the base of the hill with the monument on top. At the base of the hill, we parked near a set of statues depicting the scene of the First Flight. I really enjoyed this because you can walk around the scene as if you were there and see things from everyone's perspective. You can even climb on with Orville, if you want.

Statues depicting the First Flight

Next, we hiked to the top of the hill for a close up look at the monument on top. The view from the top is pretty nice, but I had a hard time imagining the surrounding area covered in sand. According to the text in the museum, the brothers chose this location specifically because it lacked trees and was covered with soft sand. Now it is covered with trees. I guess the only way to see it the way it actually looked was to go back in a time machine. :)

Wright Brothers Monument

After lunch, Susan and I returned to Kill Devil Hills to explore the sand dunes. I've always thought it would be fun to learn to hang glide in the same place where the Wright brothers learned to glide. We parked at the Visitor Center and started hiking up the dunes. Along the way, we saw a group of about six people learning to hang glide. The lessons were very basic, and they were only getting about ten feet off the ground, but it still looked like a fun way to experience gliding with very low risk of injury.

Susan at the Mountains-to-Sea Trailhead