February 8, 2024 - St. Marys Airport with Mugsy
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We had pretty good flying weather on this Thursday in early February. I flew over to Easton Airport to meet Mugsy at his hangar.
We went over to visit Mick in his hangar and look at his recently finished Mustang II. Nice polish job! The last time I saw this plane up close it was in Mick's garage over four years ago. Link.
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Mick has about 80 hours on the plane so far. He just took off the prop to replace the crankshaft oil seal.
I am envious of Mick's aluminum plenum. I need one.
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| Mugsy and I did a formation takeoff at Easton and soon were winging our way southwest across the Chesapeake Bay towards the Patuxent River. |
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On final for runway 11 at St. Mary's Airport (2W6). Mugsy has just landed.
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| On the ramp at St. Mary's. |
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| We came here to try out the relatively new onfield restaurant: the Bird Dog Bistro. It is open from 10 - 2. It's closed now but we got here around 1:30 and had a nice lunch. The Bird Dog Bistro is located in the big terminal building. |
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| Now we are headed back across the bay towards the big marsh area south of Cambridge. |
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Heading downhill to the Eastern Shore.
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| Following Mugsy around at 500 feet. |
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| Everything is brown in the winter but the winter afternoon sun lights it up somewhat. |
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| A huge flock of geese sitting in the water. |
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On the move.
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| Passing by the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge Visitors Center. |
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| Back at Essex Skypark, I check out the just-started renovation on what we call the "FBO Building", although it has been many years since a fixed-based operator existed. Other than the bathroom, the FBO Building is little used and has become a real eyesore over the years. |
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| In order to "use it or lose it", the Maryland Aviation Administration is providing a $200,000 grant to restore the FBO Building. That's not nearly enough, so the 37 Essex Skypark hangar owners -- whether we like it or not -- are also ponying up somewhere between $90,000 to $190,000 for the renovation, which only addresses the building structure and exterior -- not the interior, HVAC or plumbing. It really should be called "The Money Pit". |
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