June 9, 2007 - Fly-in at Sky Manor, NJ
|
|
The forecast looked pretty good for this Saturday so I decided to fly
northeast to an EAA Chapter fly-in at Sky Manor Airport in New Jersey.
I would also stop at some airports for the CONUS challenge.
I flew over the eastern shore, then crossed the Delaware River into New
Jersey. This is a big toll plaza on the New Jersey Turnpike. |
|
 |
|
|
Spitfire Aerodrome: a little airport south of Philadelphia.
|
|
 |
|
|
Spitfire's ramp needs a little work. Their runway is in great shape
though. |
|
 |
|
|
I headed west across the Delaware River again to New Castle Airport,
also known as Wilmington. It's a big, towered airport but was
empty this Saturday morning. I had the airport to myself.
|
|
 |
|
| Parked on the ramp for the
photo-op. |
|
 |
|
| Leaving Wilmington, I headed
northeast along the west side of Philly. I could hardly see the
skyline though because of the haze. I flew right over this big grass
field which had a glider operation going. I didn't feel too much lift
as I flew over, though. |
|
 |
|
|
Sky Manor airport. A flight of three RVs zoomed by me when I was ten
miles out. Man, those RVs are fast! |
|
 |
|
|
That blue car is a Shelby Cobra, or at least a replica. That
Stearman is for sale, by the way.
|
|
 |
|
|
Sky Manor has a great shade tree, that's for sure. Under the blue
pop-up, burgers and dogs were to be had. |
|
 |
|
|
There were about 15 RVs at this fly-in. This was my favorite RV.
The colors and markings are spot on for a Navy training aircraft.
If you look closely, you can even see that this RV-8A has a tailhook!
|
|
 |
|
| As my loyal readers know, I like
the polished aluminum look. |
|
 |
|
| This RV had a really nice-looking
purple red paint job. Not to mention the sweet Citabria in the
background (actually a High Country Explorer). |
|
 |
|
|
The RVs were lined up along the treeline to the right. My Citabria
is on the left. There were about 30 airplanes total at the fly-in. |
|
 |
|
|
I finally met Kirk and his new RV-8. Kirk flew a Citabria before
his RV was airworthy but we were never able to get together. Turns
out he was one of the three RVs that went zooming by me. He has the
exact same powerplant and prop as what I'll be getting: Mattituck
TMX-360, one light speed, one slick mag, Hartzell blended airfoil
constant speed prop.
|
|
 |
|
|
Zach, someone I forget, and Kirk taxiing out. |
|
 |
|
|
I walked down to the other end of the airport. This is an
unusual-looking Russian amphib.
|
|
 |
|
| Looking back at the on-field
restaurant. |
|
 |
|
| All the EAA Chapter 643 members
wore bright blue shirts with their logo on the front. The fly-in was
very well organized and run. The Chapter really did it right. |
|
 |
|
| |
|
I took off , followed by Bruce R. in his RV-8. That's Bruce
after he passed me like I was standing still. |
|
 |
|
|
Right next to Sky Manor was Alexandria. I really liked this airport.
Looks like it would be a great place to operate out of.
|
|
 |
|
|
Penn Ridge airport. I landed here and watched some jumpers flutter
down. |
|
 |
|
|
This is a private asphalt strip. Probably an airport community of
some sort.
|
|
 |
|
| Perkiomen Valley. Not much to
this airport that I could see. |
|
 |
|
| Brandywine airport. This was
the site of a Revolutionary War battle. That's a helicopter museum on
the other side of the runway. I didn't have time to check it out,
though. |
|
 |
|
|
House of the day. |
|
 |
|
|
A big gyrocopter taxiing by at New Gardenairport.
|
|
 |
|
|
As I entered the eastern shore, I realized how scenic it is. The
area west of Philadelphia is all trees and houses; not very scenic. |
|
 |
|
|
Nice.
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|