Striking Sussex sky-divers and marvelous Michigan

In a nutshell, this week was one of the most brutal ones of my 17-year (almost 18-year) life. But, it's finally Friday and I can relax and finally write a new post. I'll start with my flight to Sussex, New Jersey on October 4.

I wasn't sure where to go on this day because it was so clear out, therefore my options were essentially limitless. I like to think of the recent weather as California weather - sunny, clear or few clouds, and a very comfortable 75 degrees. At the same time, the leaves are just starting to change colors, exposing the full beauty of Pennsylvania. As a result, I keep thinking that this is my favorite time of the year.

So, I set my mind on Sussex, New Jersey, a small town about 55 miles northeast of Allentown, as the destination. My Dad came along, and the plan was that we would get something to eat at the restaraunt at the airport, but our plans ended up changing.

Like all of my flights, I arrived at Queen City Airport in Allentown, PA about one hour before my intended departure time to prepare as adequately as necessary. On the drive over, however, I already reached a conclusion that the skies were so clear it was almost a crime that more people weren't flying. Therefore, no flight plan would be necessary. As I guessed, the radar and forecast called for clear skies for at least the next 24 hours if I recall correctly. Also, there wasn't anything on the radar for at least 400 miles in any direction! At this point, I was starting to wonder whether I really needed an Instrument Rating...

Since the weather decided to comply with me today, I was done with my planning in only a few minutes. The only other information that I required was the estimated time enroute in both directions, the distance, the Sussex Airport information, and some other details. Before I knew it, I was out on the ramp making sure that the aircraft, a Piper Warrior II designated N8015X, was airworthy to my specifications, and I concluded that it was. The above picture was taken as I was in position for takeoff, waiting for a departing aircraft to turn crosswind.

I'm guessing you don't know what the term "crosswind" means either. Well, I guess I am obliged to elaborate. Crosswind actually has two definitions. The first is in reference to the wind. If one has a crosswind, it means that the wind is coming toward them at a relatively sharp angle, which causes the aircraft to fly along a track at an angle. During the approach and landing phase, this can makes things seem weird and sometimes challenging in high wind conditions. This is because we'll be flying along a straight line towards the runway, but our nose will not be pointing straight down the center. Instead, the nose will be turned into the wind, perhaps best illustrated here. This phenenomon is known as "crabbing," because you move slightly sideways. Just before touchdown, pilots will kick in the rudder to straighten the nose to ensure that the aircraft stays on the centerline of the runway. And just because you're in a bigger plane doesn't mean that you become invincible to mother nature. Just look at this Boeing 767 landing at Honk Kong's old Kai Tak Airport and this Singapore Airlines Boeing 747 landing in Zurich, Switzerland. In fact, the wind will actually have a more profound effect on larger aircraft because they have more mass.

The second definition of crosswind, and the one I used above, refers to the typical traffic pattern. In a normal pattern, one starts out with takeoff, and then once he is in the air flying directly away from the runway, he is on the upwind leg. Although it may depend on the airport rules and procedures, the pilot will then proceed with a 90-degree left turn to establish himself on the crosswind leg. A few seconds later, the pilot will make another 90-degree left turn onto the downwind leg, parallel to the runway from which he just departed but heading in the opposite direction. During all of this, the pilot is climbing to the pattern altitude which is 1000ft above ground level (AGL). If the pilot is remaining in the pattern (i.e. maybe to practice some landings), he will then begin his descent back to the runway after he is abeam the threshold of the runway while on the downwind leg. In other words, after he passes the end of the runway in the opposite direction, he'll start his descent. Shortly thereafter, he'll make yet another 90-left turn onto the base leg, followed by the last 90-degree left turn onto final approach.

So, while on the downwind leg and exiting the traffic pattern, I took a quick picture of Queen City Airport, followed by another of the nearby Lehigh Valley International Airport. After leaving the traffic pattern, I contacted Allentown Approach Control and they gave me advisories before handing me off to New York Approach. Now, I know that some people may think that if I am in contact with New York Approach, I must be very close to the city. Tell me, does this look like New York City? From this point, we were still approximately 65 miles even from Newark Airport. This sector of New York Approach just controls the aircraft in this area which surrounds the busier part of the airspace. Actually, we heard callsigns of many large airlines over the radio, like Continental, AirTran, American, and ExpressJet, who were likely all inbound to Newark or one of the nearby New York airports.

After cruising for only 25 minutes, I began my steady descent down to Sussex Airport, which has a base elevation of 421ft. From what I taught you before, can you tell me the pattern altitude at this airport? I hope your memory isn't that bad and you answered 1,421ft. However, many pilots won't bother including the extra 21ft, so we'll just level out at an even 1,400ft. Just as I turned onto final approach, another aircraft announced that it was taxiing and I immediately spotted it on the ground. However, it looked as though he was about to enter the runway, so I immediately prepared for a go-around. Thankfully he stopped short with plenty of room to spare, but did not respond to my radio calls when I asked him to confirm that he was not going to enter the runway. Nevertheless, I continued with the landing without a problem.

My Dad and I were surprised to find out that there was not a restaraunt at the airport, so we began to consider to head back home. However, that aircraft that I mentioned before was actually carrying sky-divers, so we decided to stick around and watch them come down. My brother went sky-diving, and so I was already somewhat familiar with the process. The first few times you go, it is mandatory that you jump with an instructor on your back - literally. When it comes to the landing, both the student and the instructor land on their butt while solo jumpers will land on their feet. See the difference betwen this video versus this one. After watching all of them land, my Dad and I headed over to the enormous Pilatus Porter that carried the sky-divers to 13,000ft. I immediately admired the gigantic engine which would do wonders in my Honda Civic. However, it does not come remotely close to competing in size and power with General Electric's GE90 turbofan which is used on some Boeing 777s.

After my Dad and I spoke with the pilot who kindly allowed us to examine the aircraft and answered our questions, we hopped back into good 'ole 15-Xray and headed back to Allentown. As we were taxiing out, we saw the next batch of jumpers boarding the Pilatus. Our flight took place during twilight and sunset, and we encountered some clouds which further emphasized the setting sun. It's something that I will never get tired of. See the video here.

My Dad also took a video of the landing at Allentown, but I haven't yet had the chance to upload it to my youtube account. Fortunately, I have uploaded the video of the takeoff at Sussex.

The following week, I flew the longest trip of my life: Allentown, PA to Ann Arbor, MI via Cleveland, OH. The flights between Allentown and Cleveland ended up being about 2 and a half hours each and covered exactly 286 nautical miles each way, while the two flights between Cleveland and Ann Arbor were about one hour each over 120 nautical miles each way. At the end, I gained about 7 hours and 40 minutes of flight time and flew a total of 408 nautical miles over two days. Furthermore, believe it or not, every flight was in the clearest of weather. I did not have to fly through a single cloud for the entire trip! I think I was meant to go!

My Dad came along with me as I was heading out to Michigan to visit the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor (turned out to be a great visit, by the way), and we departed Queen City Airport at about 3:15pm in the Cessna 172RG (retractable gear) designated N5176V. Programming the GPS was simple...direct routing to Cleveland Burke-Lakefront Airport. There are multiple Cleveland airports, the better known one probably being Hopkins International which is 9 miles from downtown and is a hub for Continental Airlines. The second and closest to the city (1 mile from downtown) is the airport I chose, Burke Lakefront (BKL). When I researched this airport, it immediately reminded me of the former Meigs Field in Chicago, IL, a general aviation airport located only minutes from downtown on the banks of Lake Michigan (see more info and the controversial history of its closing here). Burke Lakefront seems to be just like Meigs Field in terms of location relative to a large city and the general aviation purpose it serves. The convenience was astonishing, as my Dad and I were driven to a restaraunt in downtown within five minutes to grab something to eat and stretch our legs after a long flight (remember, there aren't any 'lavatories' on a Cessna). The Cleveland Browns stadium was also on the lakefront and only a one minute drive from the airport!

About two hours later, my Dad and I took off into the Ohio night sky, and flew along the banks of Lake Erie to Toledo, OH before turning north towards Ann Arbor. If I wanted to, I could've flown a direct flight across the Lake from Cleveland to Ann Arbor, but that is highly unadvised beause, well, I only have one engine, if you get the hint. We arrived at Ann Arbor Airport at about 9pm local time, just after the control tower closed for the night. Just for reference, Ann Arbor is just outside Detroit's Class B airspace, about 30 miles from downtown.

After a great visit to University of Michigan and Ann Arbor, my Dad and I headed back to the airport for our long return trip. Once again, we would make an intermediate stop in Cleveland at Burke-Lakefront Airport. This flight began in mid-afternoon, so we got much better views of Lake Erie, Toledo, and the largest amusement park in the world: Cedar Point.

Shortly after passing Cedar Point and while speaking with Cleveland Approach Control, an incident occurred as I approached Cleveland's airspace at 5,500ft, heading east. All of a sudden, I heard the control say to me, "Cessna 7-6-Victor, traffic twelve o'clock, 1/2 mile, 5400ft, westbound." Translated into English, the controller said to me that there is an aircraft directly ahead me in 1/2 mile, about 100ft lower than me, and heading in the opposite direction. This really got my attention, and my eyes focused directly in front of me. Only a few seconds later, I saw the wings take shape and I immediately began a tight right turn to avoid a potentially serious mid-air accident. The pilot of the other aircraft must've seen me at the same time because he also began his right turn at the same time I did. Remember, though, that because he was going in the opposite direction, his right was my left, and therefore we passed by each other safely, albight too close for comfort. How did we both know to turn right? It is actually one of the first things a pilot learns along with right-of-way rules. If two aircraft are on a path for a head on collision, then both pilots must begin a right-hand turn. I am thankful that my training came so instinctively when the situation called for it.

However, I still felt obligated to report the "near-miss", as we like to call it, to the Cleveland TRACON (Terminal Control Center) once I landed. I did just that, and while the supervisor reviewed the recording of the radar image, he commented, "Oh wow, that was close." I also told him that I felt that the controller's warning was fairly late, because he later advised me of traffic that was more than 2000ft below me and heading southbound. If we could've warned me of that aircraft, then why could he not have told me about the one directly along my path and in the opposite direction? It also turned out that the other aircraft involved was not in contact with any controllers, which was perfectly fine. In the area he was flying in, he was not actually required to speak to anyone, as long as he obeyed the basic rules of VFR (Visual Flight Rules) flight. Anyway, the report was filed and that was the end of it. From my perspective, the other pilot nor I committed anything against any rules. If the pilot had been cruising at 5,500ft heading westbound, then a regulation would've been broken because while flying eastbound under VFR, one must cruise at odd thousand foot intervals plus 500ft, while westbound aircraft cruise at even thousand foot intervals plus 500ft. If anyone, I would blame the controller, who was not busy at all, for not giving me more of an advanced notice.

Like the last time, my Dad and I exited the plane and went downtown to a sports bar to enjoy a good meal before the last and longest leg home. We discovered that unfortunately for the Michigan football team, they lost to Toledo. I immediately thought of the taxi driver back in Ann Arbor who drove my Dad and I back to the airport and said, "If we lose to Toledo, we've got problems." During the drive back to the airport, we passed by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which I had no idea was in Cleveland, nor on the lakefront along with the Browns stadium and the airport.

Back at the airport, I prepared the Cessna 172RG while at the same time admiring the Cessna Citation and Bonanza on the ramp only about 20ft from my smaller Cessna. The weather was still unusually perfect, and so the rest of the planning was a walk in the park. We took off into the late afternoon sky and we were finally heading home.

While slowly (relatively speaking) working our way over western Pennsylvania at 136 knots, we began to pass some familiar sites, like University Park, the home of Penn State, where we also got a view of the seemingly endless ridges. Of course, my Dad and I couldn't resist to take another photo of ourselves. We finally had the small town of Selingsgrove in site, which also meant we could see the Susquehanna River, which, if followed to the south, would lead directly to Harrisburg, the capital of Pennsylvania. We also saw the sunset (and here) from 9,500ft just before we began our descent for Allentown.

The landing in Allentown was perfectly normal. I wish I had gotten a shot of the airport at night, but there will be other opportunities to do so I guess. I'm glad I had this opportunity to fly such a long distance, as it certainly had its benefits experience-wise. My Dad and I also calculated that this was the cheapest method of going to Michigan. A few weeks prior, I had researched the price of an airline ticket from Allentown nonstop to Detroit, and came up with an astonishing $743/person one way. That means $1400 for both of us one way, and $2800 round trip! All together, the cost of renting the aircraft, 20 gallons of fuel in Cleveland, and other inexpensive airport fees added up to a grand total of about $800. In other words, the cost of me flying to Michigan was equivalent to a single one-way ticket to Detroit, plus perhaps some extra time. In addition, this trip counted towards my hours, which only adds to the value. Lastly, the convenience of general aviation is infinitely better than common air travel by airline. I could play around with this all day and night if I wanted to, but I think I've made my point.

As always, comments are appreciated on all of my websites (see links to the right). My blog is only a glance at the photos I have taken during my trips, so be sure to check out my flickr site. Also, I rarely include videos on my blog posts, so be sure also to see my youtube site and my videos there.