Long-time EFA customer and student, Alan Oppenheim, gives us an inside look into his wonderful trip from Boston to Miami in a Skyhawk. Maybe this will give you inspiration to fly to new and far destinations…

EXPANDING THE ENVELOPE
by Al Oppenheim

More photos may be found at the end of this article.

As a fairly new pilot (PPL, April 03, IR Sept. 04) I’ve looked for ways within my budget and time constraints, to expand my learning and flying experiences. Consistent advice in books and from flight instructors has been to look for opportunities to prudently stretch the experience and expand the envelope. With this in mind I decided that a ten day trip in September from Boston to Miami and back in a Skyhawk could expand my horizons and confront me with a variety of weather systems, multiple stages of various types of flight planning and, of course, beautiful scenery (and help me dispose of some disposable income). While I didn’t quite know what I would encounter, I felt comfortable in the fact that if wanted, I had access by phone to Ed Keins at EFA as a resource during the trip to discuss weather forecasts and other flight planning issues that might arise. By taking advantage of that resource, I learned a tremendous amount about interpreting weather maps and charts and then, of course, comparing those against reality in the air. Quite likely many or all of the things that I learned, a more experienced pilot would already know or perhaps would disagree with. Nevertheless, I decided to write this as a summary for myself and with the thought that possibly some of it could be useful to others. And also that possibly I would get helpful comments back that would continue to expand my envelope.

PRE-FLIGHT PLANNING:

In the early planning for the flight and also in fine tuning or modifying the overall plan each evening during the flight, I found that the two most useful “big picture” charts were The Aviator’s Quick Reference Map Of The United States (by Airmaps, Inc.) and the Jeppesen low-altitiude flight planning chart. Overall, the Aviator’s Map is a very nice map of the US, shows the big picture and has all airports with scheduled service indicated on it. The Jeppesen flight planning chart was essential for the big picture of the airways. (I started with both the Jeppesen and gov’t planning charts but overall found the Jeppesen to be preferable and easier to use because it folds more compactly, has other useful information and has a northeast coast inset). Extremely useful both in planning and then helpful for chart reading during the various legs were colored erasable highlighter pens. Highlighting the route in advance made it particularly easy and convenient to review the route and quickly refer to it in flight. And being able to erase the highlighting so that only the current routing shows, is also convenient and helpful in quickly visually picking up the correct route.

Most of my previous VFR and IFR flying has been relatively local which implies the need for at most one or two VFR sectionals and low-altitude IFR charts at hand. On this trip there were many legs that involved having multiple charts available and close at hand in the cockpit - labeled and ready for immediate use. A number of years ago I had read an article in a book or magazine (perhaps by Machado) that suggested using a legal size clipboard with binder clips on it. On earlier flights I found that to be cumbersome and maybe unnecessary. On this flight it was invaluable. The sectionals were folded appropriately, labeled with post-it notes, arranged in order of use and clipped to the clipboard. Similarly, the low-altitude charts were folded and labeled appropriately, arranged in order of use and separately clipped to the clip board with a binder clip. Therefore, each set was easily accessible independently. I also found it useful to have a tether on the clipboard so that I could temporarily put it out of the way (on the right seat or the floor) without danger of it getting away from me. The clipboard was also extremely useful as a lap desk, when I wanted one.

Since I didn’t know from day to day where I’d be or where I’d be staying at night, I brought along a laptop with a wireless modem for access on the ground to weather forecasts, flight plan filing etc. without being dependent on internet access at hotels or computers at the FBOs. I also brought along hard copy of the various symbols for prog charts, surface charts etc. which don’t take up much room and which I found to be very useful, in part because I encountered some complex weather systems. There were a variety of other items that I brought along since I owned them but otherwise would probably not have purchased specifically for the trip. These included a portable GPS, a handheld radio and a spare headset.

In planning the trip I picked 9/8/07 as the day to leave KBED because it fit well with other calendar constraints that I had. My basic plan was to try to keep the trip to no more than ten days if possible but I had reserved the plane for two weeks just in case and planned to reassess after five days.

For the two weeks prior to 9/8, the weather had been incredibly beautiful VFR weather which was coming to an end as I left. As Ed Keins commented, “that’s just what you wanted since you wouldn’t learn as much with simple weather”. Gabrielle was in the Atlantic heading toward somewhere along the east coast but it was clear that I’d be past it before it became a serious issue.

THE TRIP

The trip started the morning of 9/8/07 from KBED. The destination I had picked for that first day was Kinston, NC. with a fuel stop at Ocean City, MD. Why Kinston? That’s a question that I still ask, especially since I now know more about Kinston. Among other things, in trying to get a cab from the hotel back to the airport, I learned that there’s only one taxi company in Kinston, many of the drivers are ministers, it was a Sunday and therefore drivers were unavailable, and most of the fleet was inoperative anyway for mechanical reasons. Eventually a very nice couple at the hotel gave me a ride to the airport. Echoing in my ear was something said to me once by another pilot that “in flying you get to rent a lot of cars”. And I quickly learned that overall, car rental was more reliable and quite often also less expensive than cabs.

I left Kinston the morning of 9/9 for St. Simon’s Island, GA (KSSI). Why St. Simons? Someone had once told me that they lived on St. Simon’s and I kept seeing in on the planning routes in the early stages of planning the trip, so I decided that there was some invisible magnet pulling me there and I had to check it out. Gabrielle was affecting the weather somewhat but not in any serious way for me. At Kinston the ceiling was 800’ and overcast but the forecast heading to Georgia looked good. Although the forecast was for higher, the tops were at about 6000’ and at 8000’ the weather was incredibly clear and beautiful. I landed at KSSI early afternoon and spent the rest of the day sightseeing around the island. It’s an incredibly beautiful place with lots of multi-million dollar vacation and year round homes. I originally had planned to spend another day on the island but there was a forecast for strong thunderstorms so I decided to leave KSSI the next morning (9/10) for Titusville Florida (KTIX) and a day visiting the Kennedy Space Center. That afternoon and evening, the thunderstorms, as viewed from my hotel window, were truly impressive.

9/11 was spent touring the Space Center. It was a weekday, no school vacation, and therefore no crowds. I arrived at the entrance at the opening bell and was one of the last to leave at the end of the day. It is, in many dimensions, a wonderful and interesting place to visit. From there, on 9/12, it was on to Miami, specifically Kendall-Tamiami airport (KTMB). That leg was my first real experience with Florida weather and in particular the hot moist unstable air leading to cumulus clouds with very low bases that continued to build during the day and showing various shades of white, grey and black. It was a combination of flying through some (for a really bumpy ride) diverting around some and flying under them eventually at about 2000’ (all with ATC approval, of course) and always with a clear contingency plan since there were lots of airports on the route.

During the trip overall, I got to experience a wide variety of FBOs and associated service. All were helpful and reasonably equipped. KTMB had all the usual amenities of a high end FBO and even beyond, such as a full home theatre setup and individual lounging rooms arranged for privacy and long naps. Definitely catering to the executive crowd but they (and all the other FBOs that I stopped at) seemed to give me and the little 172 the same service and courtesy as pilots of large corporate jets.

THE TRIP HOME

On 9/13 I left KTMB to start the trip home. This was also about the time that Humberto was becoming more serious in the Gulf of Mexico. Too far away to be a serious issue for me but perhaps its presence would affect the weather along the west coast of Florida and north with more moisture. The route that I picked was first across the Everglades to Naples and then up the west coast of Florida. A forced landing in the Everglades would be quite an adventure and a delight for the alligators, so from Miami to Naples I stayed close to the Tamiami trail, which is a paved road. Nothing very interesting to see looking down at the everglades, but it was fun to do it nevertheless.

In my flight planning in Miami I had decided to fly from Miami to Gainesville Florida for fuel and then on to Athens Georgia if the weather looked appropriate. Why Athens? I wanted to avoid Atlanta airspace, I looked up Athens and a few others on the web, and Athens seemed like an attractive and friendly place to visit. More about that later.

It was beautiful VFR flying to Gainesville, hardly a cloud in the sky, so after refueling and lunch I decided to continue on to Athens. Just about when cumulus clouds were starting to build. I was at 8000’ and before too long some of them were columns extending well above me. As the flight went on, the sight was awesome, somewhat like wandering (or rather slaloming) through a field of stalagmites, most white but some clearly building into thunderstorms. Again ATC was continually advised of my diverting around them, the ground and other airports were clearly visible, and I felt comfortable continuing on. As I got closer to Athens, there was precipitation and it was necessary to descend through light rain and overcast, and with some occasional lightning in the distance. The precipitation and overcast weren’t a concern. The lightning was. Into Athens it was a full instrument ILS approach. The name of the NDB and FAF on the ILS approach is bulldog. Didn’t mean anything to me. At the FBO is a statuette of a bulldog and various pictures of bulldogs driving to the hotel. Didn’t mean anything to me either. But it does now.

Probably the strongest mental image in my mind, from the entire ten day trip was the slalom flight from Gainesville to Athens through the building stalagmites of cumulus columns.

Athens, Georgia is, indeed, a beautiful and friendly city. However, I was totally unprepared for what happens (and in particular how hard it is to get a hotel room and a rental car) on a football weekend in the Southeast. I arrived in Athens on a Thursday, and no problem. On Saturday, The University of Georgia (the bulldogs) had a game. It was a fairly light opponent but that didn’t keep the crowds away or the hotel rates from doubling, with a Friday and Saturday requirement. I spent Friday, 9/14 sightseeing around Athens and then decided to leave Athens on Saturday before the big (little) game. On my next flight of this type, and in fact for the next leg, I quickly understood the importance of calling ahead to find out what might impact hotel room and car availability.

By now I was older (by a day) and wiser and decided to call ahead for my next destination, which was going to be Hot Springs, VA. When I called the field and asked about hotel or rental cars, after the laughter died down they informed me that normally Enterprise has rental cars on the field but no chance for that or a hotel room that weekend, what with Virginia Tech having a big game. Since I wanted to fly over and near the Blue Ridge and Appalachian mountains I next picked Roanoke, Virigina. Same story there because of the Virginia Tech game. The next spot the dart hit was Shenandoah Valley (KSHD). A call ahead confirmed there were no football games to worry about.

The flight from Athens to Shenandoah was truly beautiful. Athens to Shenandoah is over the foothills of and then along the Blue Ridge mountains.

KSHD is a county-run regional airport and so is the FBO. The FBO facilities were recently refurbished. The fuel truck was at the plane within minutes after shutting down the engine and the facilities are well equipped and clean, with the regional terminal, restaurant and rental cars right next door. I decided to spend the night and the next day in Staunton, VA, birthplace of Woodrow Wilson (not the reason I chose it, just a fact). It’s a small, quaint town with lots of B&Bs, one of which I stayed at. If I had thought about it more carefully I would have also spent a day at Shenandoah National Park. On the other hand, that’s an excuse to go back.

I was now nine days into the trip and decided that the next day (9/17) would be back to Bedford. Throughout the trip, I was always extremely conservative about fuel planning. My rough calculation with the Skyhawk is that four hours on the Hobbs leaves well over an hour of fuel, and none of my legs up to that point came close to that. (besides careful calculation for fuel, there’s the calculation required for the effects of drinking water and coffee. Generally easier to deal with if it’s single pilot). The straight line distance from KSHD to KBED is about 450 miles and the airways routing slightly longer. Based on the winds, I felt that it should be easily doable without a fuel stop, and that there were plenty of airports along the route. I decided that if I got to 4.5 hours on the Hobbs I would land for fuel without further thought. The weather was beautiful, although I filed an IFR flight plan since I’d be flying in busy airspace near Philadelphia, Baltimore, DC and New York. The clearance I received was basically “as filed” which was also beautiful to hear. However near Phila. ATC called with a re-routing, which was fairly complicated to copy and then mark with the highlighter. The clip board lap desk was definitely handy for that. ATC then did another re-routing near New York. The re-routing lengthened the distance (basically taking me further northwest than I had planned). With the re-routing, I starting identifying airports for a fuel stop, the most likely one being Worcester and then a few closer to Bedford. However, as I got near Worcester, it all still looked good for continuing to Bedford, which I did. The total time on the Hobbs from KSHD to KBED was 4.4 and the fill up was 39 gallons, leaving 14 in the tanks when I landed. That confirmed my comfort level with 4 to 4.5 hours on the Hobbs as a simplistic but reasonable way of estimating maximum time for a fuel stop. Of course I’m aware that other factors come into it and will but this long leg and attention to time and fuel was another step for me in expanding my envelope.

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Why I learned to fly:
It was something I had always wanted to do since college but always thought it was too expensive and time consuming. When my daughter graduated from college, she was given a gift by a pilot friend of five flying lessons (at EFA) and I completed the gift with the lessons for her PPL. Her comment after her first few lessons was “I can’t believe people get paid to do this.” She then went to Flight Safety in Vero Beach which turned the whole thing into quite a graduation present. She made it all look easy and consequently I decided that my time had come. I didn’t find it easy (particularly the instrument rating) but I certainly have found it to be fun.

Alan - thank you so much for sharing your wonderful story with us! Team EFA.