Northampton to New Bedford is only 84 NM to the Southeast. Monday was a windy day from the West/Northwest. So Monday's flight home was quick and bumpy. It only took about 45 minutes. There was no need to go any higher than 3,500 feet.
On Saturday's flight from Salisbury to Northampton, we had headwinds and ground speeds of 85-95 knots. With the tail wind on Monday we were doing 135-139 knots. It was a nice quick flight to finish the trip.
Now for the numbers.
We were gone for 7 weeks.
Put 41 hours on the plane.
Landed at 18 airports.
In 7 states.
And 2 countries.
Pete did some recon for next winter and now has some ideas about where he wants to go when it gets cold. Speaking of cold. We spent 7 weeks being warm, wearing shorts and t-shirts. This morning in Swansea it was 35 degrees!
That's all for now, thanks.
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Monday, April 9, 2012
Spruce Creek, Knoxville, Easter and a Birthday
Once again you haven't heard from us for awhile. We've had a busy week and have covered a lot of ground.
After we left Tampa we flew Northeast across Florida to Daytona Beach. We went to visit John and Kathy. They own and run the business in New Bedford that maintains Pete's plane. They live in a development called 'Spruce Creek Fly-in'.
It's a large gated community with many homes, condos, swimming pools, a golf course and a RUNWAY. Yes a runway. A lot of the homes have their own hangers so they can taxi right from their homes to the runway. There are also other hangers on the property that are for rent. John & Kathy showed us all around the place. It's a very cool place for pilots and golfers. Their condo looks out across one fairway and on to the end of the runway. Their plane is in one of the rented hangers.
Pete found Spruce Creek very interesting and may be spending some time there next winter.
The next stop was 400 miles to the Northwest, Knoxville, TN. Pete's sister in law, Garnet lives there as well as his niece, Alicia, and Alicia's husband, Rod.
Alicia took us out to see Oak Ridge, TN. It's a town about a half hour outside Knoxville. It was built in secret by the government back in World War II as part of the Philadelphia Project, to develop the atomic bomb. The location is back in the hills so it was easy to 'hide' it. They built not only the facilities for the nuclear material needed for the bomb but also a whole city for the workers. At it's largest point there were 70,000 people living there. The city was walled and had armed guards at the gates. The residents were not allowed to talk about the place and they didn't even know what any of the other resident's jobs were.
When the war was over they finally knew what they had been working on and the city was opened up.
Rod showed us the rowing shell he built last year. He bought a kit and used the 'stich and glue' method to assemble it. It came out great. Pete had hoped to row it but time didn't allow so maybe on his next visit to Knoxville he'll get to row it. We had a wonderful time in Knoxville. Thanks to Garnet, Alicia and Rod.
We then took advantage of some clear weather on Friday afternoon and Saturday to fly all the way up to Northampton, where Pete's daughter and her family live. The sky was very clear and calm up at 7,500 feet but bumpy down low. Friday we made a fuel stop in Mecklenburg, VA and then continued on to Salisbury, MD (our 3rd time there) for the night.
Saturday was also clear and calm up at 7,500 feet. So we had a nice flight up the NJ shore, over the edge of NYC and Long Island then up thru CT to Northampton.
The goal was to get there before Sunday. Not only was it Easter Sunday but it was also Pete's 81st birthday!
Ann & Kevin had a bunch of family members over to celebrate Easter and Pete's b-day. There were about 20 people and 3 dogs. The kids had an Easter Egg hunt. Everyone enjoyed a great meal of baked ham and all the trimmings. Unfortunately, we also watched the Red Sox lose in extra innings.
Everyone had a great time. Thanks to Ann & Kevin!
Here's a photo of Pete breaking out of an old jail in TN.
Alicia and Rod stopped by the airport to see us off.
Pete's grandkids, Nat and Sarah met us at the Northampton airport. They got in the pilot's seats.
After we left Tampa we flew Northeast across Florida to Daytona Beach. We went to visit John and Kathy. They own and run the business in New Bedford that maintains Pete's plane. They live in a development called 'Spruce Creek Fly-in'.
It's a large gated community with many homes, condos, swimming pools, a golf course and a RUNWAY. Yes a runway. A lot of the homes have their own hangers so they can taxi right from their homes to the runway. There are also other hangers on the property that are for rent. John & Kathy showed us all around the place. It's a very cool place for pilots and golfers. Their condo looks out across one fairway and on to the end of the runway. Their plane is in one of the rented hangers.
Pete found Spruce Creek very interesting and may be spending some time there next winter.
The next stop was 400 miles to the Northwest, Knoxville, TN. Pete's sister in law, Garnet lives there as well as his niece, Alicia, and Alicia's husband, Rod.
Alicia took us out to see Oak Ridge, TN. It's a town about a half hour outside Knoxville. It was built in secret by the government back in World War II as part of the Philadelphia Project, to develop the atomic bomb. The location is back in the hills so it was easy to 'hide' it. They built not only the facilities for the nuclear material needed for the bomb but also a whole city for the workers. At it's largest point there were 70,000 people living there. The city was walled and had armed guards at the gates. The residents were not allowed to talk about the place and they didn't even know what any of the other resident's jobs were.
When the war was over they finally knew what they had been working on and the city was opened up.
Rod showed us the rowing shell he built last year. He bought a kit and used the 'stich and glue' method to assemble it. It came out great. Pete had hoped to row it but time didn't allow so maybe on his next visit to Knoxville he'll get to row it. We had a wonderful time in Knoxville. Thanks to Garnet, Alicia and Rod.
We then took advantage of some clear weather on Friday afternoon and Saturday to fly all the way up to Northampton, where Pete's daughter and her family live. The sky was very clear and calm up at 7,500 feet but bumpy down low. Friday we made a fuel stop in Mecklenburg, VA and then continued on to Salisbury, MD (our 3rd time there) for the night.
Saturday was also clear and calm up at 7,500 feet. So we had a nice flight up the NJ shore, over the edge of NYC and Long Island then up thru CT to Northampton.
The goal was to get there before Sunday. Not only was it Easter Sunday but it was also Pete's 81st birthday!
Ann & Kevin had a bunch of family members over to celebrate Easter and Pete's b-day. There were about 20 people and 3 dogs. The kids had an Easter Egg hunt. Everyone enjoyed a great meal of baked ham and all the trimmings. Unfortunately, we also watched the Red Sox lose in extra innings.
Everyone had a great time. Thanks to Ann & Kevin!
Here's a photo of Pete breaking out of an old jail in TN.
Alicia and Rod stopped by the airport to see us off.
Pete's grandkids, Nat and Sarah met us at the Northampton airport. They got in the pilot's seats.
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