Icing and the Big Apple (#13 Maine, #12 Massachusetts, #11 Rhode Island, #10 Connecticut)

Monday had pretty perfect weather and we decided to fly home.  The Lows were now North of us so while we had mostly clear skies, we had a strong flow heading up from Florida which meant headwinds.  We had a lot planned for our return home today and ended up packing in a bit extra. 

We departed Laconia, NH on time, we had one last look at the lake, now with the colder air covered in a light mist.  The departure was clear but some of the mountains had clouds clinging to the sides.  A good reminder to plan departures carefully. Our first stop was Sanford Sea Coast Regional in Maine. We had done the sightseeing the day before, now it was time to claim the landing.  It was an easy in and out and we soon were heading South towards Boston.  

I usually go IFR on these long cross countries but today we would be making several stops and with the good weather, I used flight following instead.  Heading towards Boston, I was not sure if they would let us through the class B airspace.  I could climb to 8500 but that would make descending for New Bedford, really steep.  Luckily it was a slow day and I heard the magic word, “cleared into the Bravo airspace”.

This let us cruise a bit lower and have a great view of Boston.  It also facilitated our descent into New Bedford Mass.  This clicked another state off the list.  We landed, taxied back and were in the air in just a few minutes.  I have been to Mass many times and we decided to forgo any direct sightseeing this trip.

The next stop was just 21 miles away in Rhode Island.  I had studied the state quite a bit and could never find anything to visit so this again was a technical stop.  After landing at Quonset State Airport, we soon launched for Danbury Connecticut.    This leg was a quick 94 miles.  Danbury was really just a fuel stop as CC and I have both toured Connecticut before.

I do a good bit of planning for these trips and especially the airports.  One thing I missed was the arrival into Danburry.  The approach to runway 26 is over a steep hill with trees.  They have a tall tower with a flashing red light to remind you not to hit the trees.  The Baron has the ability to descend rapidly so this did not create a real challenge but I was not expecting it.  We did a quick turn, added some gas and hit the facilities.  Our next leg would be rather busy.  From the ground, pictures do not make the hill does not look that imposing, it is and much more so from the air.

Departing Danburry we headed for the Hudson river.  There is a VFR corridor that allows you to fly down the river and sightsee New York.  You need to take a class online before doing this so you know the procedures.  Basically you fly between 1000 and 1300 on the West Bank (going South).  You have to stay below 140 Knots.  I chose 130-135 to provide positive control and to stay within the parameters.  

As you fly the river, you really need to pay attention, lots of traffic.  There are 6 mandatory reporting points and the trick is to be precise and quick.  This way you can hear where everyone is and what's going on.  In my case I say “Baron [Reporting point Name] 1100 Southbound”.  CC did most of the pictures though I clicked blindly with my phone a few times as I was focused on the flying.

The second to last point is the Statue of Liberty.  We had a great view and CC snapped all these pictures.  South of the Verrazano Bridge you are back to regular rules but still under the New York Airspace.  I had filed an IFR plan that started at an intersection called DIXIE, which is just North of Lakehurst NJ.  

Many people believe IFR plans must originate at an airport but they don’t.  You can use any fix in the system and I did.  I called the local controllers which you can find by looking up the nearest airports and seeing the frequency.  McGuire Approach had my clearance and I was soon cleared down to North Carolina.  

I had filed V1 which runs down the coast from DIXIE  to Norfolk and then direct Rocky Mount Airport.  It does seem odd that DIXIE is located in New Jersey but we went with it. Right after getting our clearance the skies went from clear to partly cloudy.  We initially were at 6000 but I had gone up to 8000 for better economy.  We had been fighting 15-20 knot headwinds since Maine so was trying to optimize as much as possible.

We were in and out of the puffy clouds and though the thermometer said 32 degrees, they were just wet.  As we progressed further the puffy clouds became a layer and then the temperature dropped to 31 degrees.  I was alert for Ice and had the pitot heat on.  I started to see traces on the windshield and immediately turned on window heat and the prop heaters.

At first there was nothing on the wings but as I watched, I started to see rime ice accumulating very slowly.  Even though the plane is made for flight into known icing conditions, I was not sticking around.  I told the controller we had ice and needed 6000.  We got it quickly and headed down.  As we got to 7000 we broke out and at 6000 the temperature was just above freezing.

I had resisted cycling the boots because the book says you need to wait till you have ½ to 1 inch of ice before cycling.  This keeps you from prematurely breaking the ice and leaving gaps.  I had maybe a quarter inch but since it was starting to sublimate on its own and the temperatures below were much warmer, I cycled them.  I have exercised them at least monthly since owning the plane.  This was the first time I saw them shed ice.

It just popped off, it was very cool.  It got about 90%, I would have waited longer if I was still in icing but I wanted to see them in action before it all sublimated.  The rest of the ice slowly disappeared.  There was a bit around the inlet scoops that took longer to go than the rest but it was soon all gone.  My first icing encounter had a good outcome.  I never would have ventured there in the Bonanza.  In the Baron I was ready for it and had an escape plan.  When I reported it, the controller had all sorts of questions and I have to say I delayed answering him a bit as I prioritized getting out of the ice and then playing 20 questions.

The ice was not supposed to be there.  The clouds were not supposed to be there.  We picked up the ice as we flew South over the Delaware bay. My guess is that the warm air below and the water combined to make these clouds just a bit different.  It is a good lesson to always be on the lookout.  There were no other reports and the controller seemed to be as surprised as I was was.  Also as we started down the ice accumulation seemed like it was dropping off.  It may have been a very local phenomenon.  That said I was not sticking around to test it.  

The rest of the trip to our fuel stop was uneventful.  We dropped by Rocky Mount again because they are convenient and had a great price on gas.  After that it was just a bit over 2 hours home fighting those headwinds again.  In the end the headwinds cost me about 20 gallons of gas and almost an hour but it was a great trip and another learning experience.  We flew around 2200 miles over 13 flight hours for an average ground speed of 168 knots.  Not too bad given the constant wind in our face.

Foliage, Bridges and Rocky Coasts

We made a good call moving cities a day early. The weather in New Hampshire was marginal to lousy and pretty bad back in Niagara.  Though it was overcast Saturday, we did not expect much rain.  We had landed in Vermont but had not really visited.  Today we would address that omission.

We headed off with our friends and worked our way West.  Our first stop was Rollins State park in New Hampshire to climb Mount Kearsarge. The mountain is 2,937’ and luckily the road goes most of the way to the top.  As we drove over mostly high overcast changed to mostly cloudy and I was less hopeful that we would get some good views.

The falls colors were very nice though cloudy conditions make the the pictures seem muted, they did look vibrant in person.  Arriving at the Ranger station we paid our entrance but before the ranger would take our money, he stressed that it was pretty socked in at the top. 

Maybe it was our overall ignorance or just youthful exuberance but we threw caution to the wind and accepted the challenge.  The road from the gate to the trail head parking is 3.5 miles and the farther we went, the mistier it got.  We started to think we would be the only idiots doing, you know, driving through clouds to hike in a dense mist. Arriving at the parking lot we found several other cars, so apparently we were not the only only ones.

We had remembered our hiking boots which was good because the “easy” path was steep, wet and rocky.  The trail is only .55 miles each way so not a big hike. It was wet and very muddy in places. We worked our way up the trail and we’re greeted by several scenic overlooks.  We saw a stunning pallets of grey at each one.   The trick is to gaze out and really take on all the subtle shades of nothing.

 

When we finally reached the Summit, we were rewarded with more insides of the clouds. Luckily it was not so dense that we had trouble navigating or seeing each other. It was still fun and sort of cool to watch the cloud insides blow by.  In the airplane it happens so fast, you can't fully appreciate it. The walk down was a bit tricky with the wet rocks but we all made it safely and were soon on our way to our next stop which was coffee and hot chocolate.

Sufficiently fortified we headed out for Quechee Gorge. As we approached the gorge our friends' attention was distracted by an antique mall which made us detour a bit to look at hand made wooden bowls.  Undeterred by the delay, we completed the last half mile and parked to view the Gorge.  The consensus was that it was gorgeous. I read there is a trail down but that it had washed out and was under repair.  I did not wish any ill will on the path but I was secretly happy that we could skip that hike.  It seemed too vertical for me.

Our next stops were covered bridges, I had lined up four to view but after the second  bridge we were once again distracted by a sign for cheese.  Our friends really like cheese and we went off the path for about 10 miles to score a pound of the white gold. We followed the signs to Sugarbush Maple Farms. I had seen this in my research but had taken it off the list because it was on a dirt road.  Cheese is a powerful motivator for some and our friends we not deterred by some rough terrain.

Reading the description and travelling down the unimproved road, I had figured that no one would be at this place.  Boy was I wrong. It was a zoo, literally and figuratively. They had calves, goats, rabbits and who knows what else.  The overflow lot was full and people were everywhere.  The store was over full of people, it may be because they had free samples but to me it seemed like a lot of work for a few cubes.  As you entered they hand you two cheese samples, then three more.  They top you off with four maple syrup samples. After all the samples, they allow you the opportunity to buy these cheeses.

We escaped but our friends were compelled to get some cheese.  We then continued on to the final two bridges, ending our Vermont adventure.  Driving home we did have some rain but still enjoyed the leaves as many areas had good color.

We finished the day by eating way too much food for dinner at a local Mexican restaurant.  We still had the dual storms heading our way and we’re unsure how bad it would be but we planned to drive the White mountain forest so we headed off to bed to see what the morning brought.

Our rain luck ran out this morning.  The main rain from the two systems was slowly closing in but we headed out to see what we could see before it was too wet. We had some nice foliage in Vermont but headed North to peep more leaves.  One of the best places to peep is call the Kank or more precisely the Kancamagus Highway. It runs between Lincoln and Conway NH and is part of the White Mountain National park.

We stopped at the visitor center to pay our day use fee and hang out on the suspension bridge.  The Kank had some great views but soon after we started our drive the rains came.  These did not seem like they were part of either system but rather the interaction between them. Regardless it got pretty wet. The only advantage to the rain was that this was prime season and this was the prime spot. The smart people were waiting a day so it was not as busy as usual. Probably just us and the others that climb Kearsarge in the mist.

The great views were a bit muted due to the clouds and rain but we had some good color.  We did one small hike to a waterfall between hard rains.  I did get pretty wet but it was a nice walk.  After some lunch, we gave up and headed home to just relax for a few hours before eating again.  Sometimes you need a kick back day on vacation.

For our final day sightseeing the Northeast we headed down to Coastal Maine to sample the New England lifestyle. Actually we were looking for lobster and ice cream but that comes later.  We drove from New Hampshire to Kittery and drove North along the waterfront.   We actually had no real plans other than food, walking and views. The weather had moved through and we were back in the blue.

As we passed Fort McClary, I say a cool pier off to the right.  Our host was driving and I was navigating so I made some guesses and started issuing vectors.  At the end of a long road we came to Foster Park.  The pier was also as good as it looked.  It had a nice view of the ocean, land, observation station and light house.  Frequent blog readers will know we like light houses so this was a nice bonus.  It had been a military installation and you could climb about the old gun emplacements.  

We walked about exploring the area and then headed North.  Our next find was a nice little beach in York.  We didn’t do so much beach stuff like frolic in the water but we did enjoy watching the waves crash over the rocks.  While I was still wearing my Jacket in the 60 degree weather with the strong gusty winds, I did see beach goers with just a bathing suit and they were touching the water.

I looked up the temperature and it was a chilly 62.4 degrees.  No thank you.  We did see a surfer but at least he had a wet suit.  Our next stop we saw was a Wiggly Bridge.  Actually that was its name.  The small suspension bridge was a bit wiggly and lead to a small nature trail.

After completing the nature trail and returning safely across the bridge we headed for another lighthouse. The far South had been pretty quiet but as we headed North the traffic and parking situation got grimmer.  The good weather and holiday weekend had brought out the crowds and by the time we got to the Nubble Lighthouse, it was pretty bumper to bumper.  Somehow we scored a space right up front and had a great view of the lighthouse and the waves crashing onto the shore.

Our next challenge was lunch.  As you drive through the small towns they are packed with people and no place to park.  We eventually worked our way up to Ogunquit where we found a place to store the car and proceed to feast on lobster rolls.  Suitably fed, we took a short walk and then headed further North.  

We made it up to Kennebunkport and it was also pretty much a zoo.  After searching for parking by the ice cream store and coming up empty, our driver sacrificed and sent us in by ourselves.  Just kidding, we did an ice cream pickup while he circled. The store had some unique flavors.  CC got spicy Rocky Road.  I went with the more mundane Dark Chocolate.

We were tuckered out and headed home where our hosts made a sumptuous dinner topped off with cake and ice cream.  We hit the sack as we had a big day ahead of us.

Clouds, Mountains and Water (#15 Vermont, #14 New Hampshire)

The squeeze was on, the front was coming faster than expected and Tropical Storm Philippe was heading to Maine.  It was time to get going while the going was good. Just one hitch. There was fog forecast in New Hampshire for the morning so we planned a 10:30 departure to let it burn off. All forecasts said it would be clear by our arrival time. Again the forecasters need to do a bit better....

I had awoken to 100 overcast at our destination but I had confidence that things would improve.  Our departure from Niagara Falls was easy. The FBO had forgotten to fuel us but they got that fixed pretty quickly and we were soon heading East with a good tailwind.  Ground speeds were between 205-210 knots.  Remember this tailwind, fondly, because it was the only one we had in 14 plus hours of flying.

We also picked up our fifth great lake, or as most people say, all of the great lakes. We actually flew over Lake Ontario, I reached out but touching was just out of reach. We can say the plane has seen all of them which is good enough.

Our first stop would be Rutland Vermont to pick up the state, we would do the sightseeing later from New Hampshire. Rutland is challenging as it is in a narrow valley and we would be approaching perpendicular over higher terrain.  I don’t use the terrain feature much in Florida but it comes in very handy in the mountains.  It confirmed my planning and what I was seeing.  VFR it’s an interesting approach, I had already decided that I would not mess with it IFR as it does not leave much room in the event of an engine out.

Rutland was clear when we arrived. When we departed Niagara the clouds at Laconia had lifted to 500. The approach to Laconia only gets you down to 433 feet so this looked like we would be fine as it was supposed to continue improving.  As we descended to Rutland, Laconia went to 300 feet. Laconia is only about 60 miles past Rutland so this created a dilemma, keep going or wait. I decided to go. We had plenty of gas and there was an alternate gas stop halfway that did not report weather but based upon our observations was likely clear.

After landing at Rutland, we looked at the weather one more time and texted our friend.  She sent us a picture from the airport showing the clouds breaking up to the West so that confirmed our decision.  We headed first towards the alternate just to check it out. Once we confirmed it was good VFR, we picked up our IFR clearance and were given the RNAV 08 straight in. 

I had studied the plate the night before, re briefed it before Rutland and was set for the approach and a possible a missed.  We were cleared to the initial fix and got everything ready for an approach to minimums or worse.  We could see the low clouds hanging on the mountains and I did one last brief discussing how we would miss. I also alerted the controller as to the reported weather and made sure she was expecting us to fly the published procedure.  Just as we turned final, 14 miles out, I spotted the runway.

The clouds were dense on the East side of the runway but the West side was much better.  We followed the glide slope and did not go through a cloud.  While the field was 300 OVC, technically speaking, It was really VFR at the 08 threshold and IFR at the other end. I always like to prepare but I was happy to get an easy approach and meet up with our friend as opposed to flying a missed approach to our alternate.

One other factor helped reduce the stress.  We had about 4.5 hours of fuel starting the approach so I had no worry on range or alternates.  After landing we waited our turn to cancel on the remote radio outlet.  Once we had closed our flight plan we parked and met our friend. 

Changing the travel day worked out great. The weather was stunning and after a quick snack we went out boating on Lake Winnipesaukee. It was a great afternoon for a ride and unlike Niagara it was cool on the water. 

We closed out the day with Lobsters, fresh corn and the fixings.  We still had to deal with the impending rain but it was forecast to move through before our departure.