January 6, 2019 - Lunch flight to Lancaster

Mugsy asked if I wanted to go flying today.  I said sure.  It was a little cool and sunny but it was clear wind would be the primary consideration.  The weather guessers were saying 15 knots gusting to 25.  But it was from the north which means down the runway.

I was low on gas so I had to make a quick flight over to Martin State Airport to fill up.  The wind was over 20 knots but right down runway 33 and I made a smooth wheel landing.  Heading back to Essex Skypark, I hit an rough air pocket which banged my head against the canopy!  Another good landing at Essex.  I usually have a hard time with wheel landings in the RV-7 but with 20+ headwinds, they are much easier.

Mugsy had arrived at the Skypark and was hanging out in Chuck's man-cave hangar checking out his new video camera.   We debated just going to Pizza John's for lunch but decided to stick with the plan and go somewhere.  We would go to Chester County airport which has an onfield restaurant, but if there was too much of a cross-wind, then try Lancaster, which had two runways.

And that's what happened.   As we approached Chester County, Mugsy checked the weather and the winds were howling there and not down the runway.  He checked Lancaster and they had a runway into the wind, which were less there.  So we decided to go there.   We arrived as a flight of two, and the tower let us do an overhead break which was fun.  The strong wind wasn't a problem since it was right down the runway.  Here we are parked on the ramp next to a Mooney which its distinctive tail.
   
Florentino's at Lancaster Airport is more upscale than your usual airport restaurant.  I haven't eaten here since the Citabria days.
   
Lancaster Airport looking straight down, from a picture in the lobby.
   
Lancaster Airport has a good-sized terminal which can handle regional airliner traffic.  I don't know if any takes place these days but the infrastrucutre is there.  There were a bunch of nice, large models hanging from the ceiling.  Here is an immaculate Stearman.
   
A Fokker DR-7.
   
The entrance to the restaurant.  The food was excellent; I'll have to come here more often.
   
Outside, a picture of aviation sculpture art.
   
A nice sunny day which belies how cold and windy it really was.
   
Mugsy's RV-8 actually jumped the tailwheel chocks while we were inside and his plane weathervaned a little.  Fortunately our planes were not parked that close together.
   
Heading home into the sun.
   
From the up-sun side.
   
We flew  down the Susquehanna River then I broke off heading south.  Mugsy continued straight ahead to go down the Delmarva peninsula.  With this wind, it was too bumpy to go down low and have some fun, so we called it a day.
   
Flying over Baltimore, I was struck by the uniformity of the row houses.  Who lives in all these houses?
   
Back at Essex Skypark, the wind was really blowing.  My final landing wasn't my best; I actually made three landings in one!
   
 
   
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