The pilgrimage and #38

First Flight is the birthplace of powered flight.  Pilots are drawn to this place as it is the birthplace of what we love.  CC and I visited First flight back in the late 90s but my Dad never had.  He took his first flying lesson in 1944 and has traveled to all 7 continents but somehow had never made it to First Flight.

We had tried before.  About a decade ago we planned to go but a low pressure system in September brought huge lines of thunderstorms on our planned days.  Last December we looked at the trip but the short winter days made it hard to squeeze into one day.  A few months ago we decided to have another go at it.  He bought tickets to visit and we figured that with a 3 day window in October we would have one day good enough.

He arrived last night and luck was on our side this time, high pressure was sitting over the South East.  We woke around 6 AM and were at the plane as dawn broke.  We did the normal checks, I looked silly with one of those forehead flashlights but it really helps to do a good pre-flight.   We were soon climbing into the smooth cool morning air.

First Flight has an airport adjacent to the National Monument.  It is a nice paved 3000 foot strip and even has a nice planning room and bathrooms provided by the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association.  It does not have fuel though and the trip is 3 hours each way.  We flew up 2 hours and stopped at Lumberton, NC to top off.  Then it was off to First Flight.  We used Lumberton as a fuel stop on the way back.  This meant that we only burned 2 hours gas between fill ups and we always had copious reserves.

Arriving at First Flight, I was aware that I was being judge by generations of aviators and we all know a smooth landing is key.  Fate was kind again and I was able to gently roll the wheels on and was sure that I got high marks from the unseen judges.

We secured the plane and after taking a bunch of pictures of us and the plane at the First Flight Airport, we walked to the memorial.  When I went before they had a nice exhibition building but it is under renovation.  Not a problem as the history is not in the building it is the hallowed ground.    Our timing was good and we arrived just as the ranger had started to give the presentation on the history.  We listened and once it was over we took the "Walk".

The "Walk" is where you start from the spot where man first mastered powered flight and cover the distances of the first 4 flights.  It does not take long.  Flight 1 was 12 seconds and 120 feet.  Did I mention they did not really have the hang of it yet.  Flight 4 was 59 seconds and 852 feet, much better.  After taking the walk we returned to the "Spot".

The "Spot" is a huge chunk of Granite that commemorates where a heavier than air mechanically powered machine first took flight.  Wilbur and Orville had returned and touched this stone as had many other famous aviators and astronauts.  The ranger implied that it was the duty of all pilots to lay hands on the rock and who were we to argue.

After poking around a bit more and looking at the historical buildings we headed back to the plane and started the trip home.  While the weather had been just about perfect, that high pressure which had been such a good friend played one trick on us.  In the morning the high was a bit South of the outer banks but by the afternoon it had moved North.  In simple language we had headwinds both directions.  Not bad though and it was worth it for the blue skies.

One of my favorite things I have learned at the memorial is about the historic picture of the Wright Flyer.  We have all seen the picture in textbooks of the Flyer at Kitty Hawk.  I had always thought that was a picture they took after they figured things out but it is not.  Oddly in those days people did not carry cameras as part of their cell phone.  The Wrights had brought a glass plate camera and set it up before the first flight.  One of the local volunteers was told to squeeze the bulb if anything interesting happened.  As the flyer rose he did and we have the picture of one of the first seconds of powered flight.  Fun fact, it was the first and last picture he took.  This picture has become one of the most reproduced photos of all time.

Their first flight lasted 120 feet.  We traveled 1111 miles today to visit First flight today.  Oh and by the way #38, North Carolina is off the list.

In flight video

Back in April CC and I went to a fly in but for us it was a walk in as it was at our home field. The next day a few planes were going up to Jekyll Island to get some pictures of them arriving.  I decided to go as well.  While I was there I did some pattern work. I saw a person with a video camera but did not know I was being filmed.

My daughter recently was sent a link by a friend and surprise I was the subject of the video.

Racing to Lunch

We had planned a weekend getaway but work and other things got in the way so I was around.  One of the pilots on the internet Beechcraft group had posted a while back that he was buying lunch for anyone that showed up at New Smyrna (KEVB) airport by noon.  There is a nice place just outside the airport gate. 

The prospect of free food can draw a pilot from far far away.  The guy across from me flew all the way from New Jersey.  Another guy came from Iowa.  To be fair the New Jersey guy's parents lived down the street and the other guy had a party 30 miles away.

The journey for me was only 82 miles.  The weather was a bit of a question in the morning so I had filed IFR for the short trip.  A few days ago another Beech pilot from my airport had touched base and we determined we were both going.  We kept in touch and ended up leaving at about the same time.

We had joked about racing down there.  We both have the same airplane but his has a turbo charger which makes his plane faster.  As you climb, a plane become more efficient in the thinner air.  You can go faster on less fuel but as the air gets thinner the engine has less power.  As a practical matter, my normally aspirated engine does best from 7,000-12,000 feet. 

The turbo charger lets his plane move quite a bit faster and burns more gas.  I can make around 205 mph going all out and typically save some gas and run around 200.  He can move 210 around 7000 feet and up high in the teens, 230+.  So head to head he is just plane faster.  Down low though we are pretty close. 

While we had coordinated, it was a loose thing so when we ended up at the end of the runway together it was not totally planned.  He took off first and was given runway heading which put him 30 degrees off direct to destination.  I had to then hold for proper separation and when the tower released me, I was given my climb with a 40 degree turn away from destination.  This put us on a diverging course which made ATC happy but further dimmed my prospects of blowing by him.

Now I could see his position the entire flight as the ADSB system provides traffic information.  We had both filed for 6000 but you can't have 2 planes at the same height too close to each other. Since he left first, he was cleared to 6000 and I to 4000.  Once he got above 4000 I was cleared on course and leveling off I slowed down hoping to build spacing so ATC would let me climb.  Why did I want to go up? Less gas and less headwind.  The winds were around 25 down low and 20 at 6000.

After a bit I asked ATC and she informed me that 4000 would be my final.  Not the best news but on such a short trip, not a big deal.  I was making 165 knots which was a ground speed in the 140s I saw that with his superior speed he was making 160 over the ground.  We both followed the coast and then were pushed a bit East by ATC. 

The trip went quickly watching for traffic and keeping tabs on the competition.  I soon had the field in sight and was cleared for the visual to runway 20.  I knew I was behind but kept my speed up until 2 miles out where I dropped the gear and configured for landing.  I noticed that he had landed long.  The runway had a turnoff at about 1000 feet which was closer to the ramp. 

I realized I still had a hope.  Cleared to land, I did my final checks, nailed my airspeed to book values and placed the plane right on the numbers. A touch of brakes and I easily made the first turn off.  Switching to ground, I saw him taxiing by and was instructed to follow him.  We taxied in together and parked on the line next to each other.  Yes he was 1 plane length ahead in the end but he started with a minute lead so I took this as a great moral victory.

I am sticking with the victory story as his plane will easily take mine in any true test of speed.  After this fun we headed off to lunch with 25 other airplane buffs and enjoyed the hospitality of our host.  After lunch I headed out a bit early to get back home to do some work.  The flight home was nicely uneventful with a smooth ride through some puffy clouds.