November 15, 2021 - To and From Johnson City, TN

Today was a major first.  My oldest daughter Lucy would be flying with me for the first time!  We would be flying down to Johnson City, Tennessee to visit my Mom and Lucy's Grandmom.

Here is Lucy right before takeoff, feeling a little nervous.
   

A very nervous passenger during taxi for takeoff.
   


It was bumpy crossing Baltimore city -- as it almost always is -- but then we were able to climb through the broken layer and get up to smooth air.
 
   

By the time we got to Frederick, we were on top of a solid layer.  The air was smooth as silk and the scene was beautiful:  blue and white.  I knew the clouds would break up as we proceeded on course.  It's nice to know where you are via GPS when flying over a layer.
   
 
Here we have just passed Front Royal, Virginia and are looking at an interesting picture of the Shenandoah Valley -- the portion east of Massanutten Mountain -- with a clouds on each side.   The South Fork Shenandoah River winds its way through the green valley below.
   
Cruising in smooth air above a broken layer at 8,500 feet.  The wind was coming from the northwest so we were only making 160 mph groundspeed (slow for an RV at altitude).  It was cold but Lucy is warm snuggled under her blanket.
   
While we cruised -- pretty much within sight of Interstate 81 -- the plane would suddenly be climbing at times and then descending at others.  When descending, if I tried to maintain altitude, I would lose airspeed.  Finally I realized that I was probably flying through mountain wave:  large areas of lift and sink caused by the high wind reflecting off the mountains.  It was an experience I've never really had in the RV before.
 
Below, the clouds are almost gone.
   
Descending to  our destination, I noticed the higher portions of the ridge to the east were frosted over.
   
Safe on deck at Johnson City Airport (0A4)!  The flight took around 2 hours and 45 minutes.  Lucy said she actually enjoyed the flight once we were up in the air.
   
Tied down at Johnson City Airport.  The plane has been here many times over the years.
   

We had a great visit with my Mom and Sister, then headed for home the next day.   By the time we got to the airport, around 12:30, the outside air temperature was over 50 degrees so I didn't have to worry about the engine being too cold to start.

Here we are about ready for takeoff.  With one flight under her belt, Lucy felt much better flying today.
   

We took off and headed east.  Our first stop was Mountain Empire Airport -- about 60 miles away -- to get fuel.  I had to fly about 2,000 feet above ground because of a cloud layer, but even at that low altitude, I was screaming at over 200 mph.  Today the wind was my friend.  We landed at Mountain Empire Airport, topped off, talked with Brian the friendly airport manager, and then continued on our way.  The overcast disappeared east of Mountain Empire so we climbed up to 7,500 and zoomed home, averaging about 210 mph groundspeed.
   
I decided to take a different way home.  Instead of going around the Washington DC SFRA via Frederick, we'd go around the other way via St. Marys, so Lucy could see the Chesapeake Bay from the air.  The distance is about the same.
 
Here we are transiting over southwest Virginia.
   
Clear blue skies, strong tailwind, and not as cold as yesterday -- doesn't get much better than this!
   
As we passed Richmond, we started encountering bands of thin stratus layers, just below our cruising altitude of 7,500 feet.
   
Around St. Mary's, the bands turned into one continuous broken layer.  We could see the ground through the holes.
   
After St. Mary's, I dropped through a hole and the Chesapeake Bay opened up before us.
   

We flew down Tilhman and Kent Islands, then turned northwest towards Essex.

Although it looks like a sunset, it was only about 4PM at this point.   Our entire flight time was slightly over two hours.  Compare that with 7 hours of driving.  RV's rule!
   
The two routes we flew to and from Johnson City.  As you can see, it's a wash as far as total distance.  It would be nice to fly direct, but we can't thanks to the worthless SFRA.
   
 
   
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