February 5, 2005 - Flight to Suffolk, VA
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This Saturday looked to be the first decent flying day we've had in some
time -- it snowed the last two weekends -- so I planned a
cross-country to the Norfolk area to take a look at some Kitfoxes.
The sky was blue and visibility clear and unrestricted. It was still
cool in the morning -- low-30s -- but it was forecasted to get as high as
50 during the day. Wow! |
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And I had a co-pilot -- the famous Margaret. She found my digital
camera and she knows how to use it. This is one of 30+
self-images!
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We made good time heading south with a northern tailwind. 130 mph
groundspeed -- pretty good for the Citabria. It's hard to imagine
cruising at 170-200 mph without wind assistance in the RV. Our first
stop was at Newport News International Airport (KPHF).
We taxiied by about six of these jets which I believe are Israeli Kfirs.
Their markings indicated them as privately owned. I know the U.S.
Navy owned some years ago, using them in their aggressor squadrons for
dogfight training. My guess is a private company bought them and
provides adversarial services to the Navy, Air Force & Marines.
We met Ron Smythe and he showed me his Kitfox IV classic. Then we
took off and headed over to Suffolk, about 30 miles to the south. On
the way we could see the big Navy base to the east. I could see two
big aircraft carriers in the distance. I could put the Citabria down
on a carrier, no problem. |
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Overhead Suffolk (KSFQ).
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| We landed, met Glenn, had lunch in
the terminal. Then Glenn showed me his beautiful Kitfox II. He
just passed his inspection on it and will be flying it soon. I took
about 30 images of the Kitfox to help me finish mine. |
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| Typical western shore of the
Chesapeake Bay. On the North-South axis, you cross river, peninsula,
river, peninsula. We crossed the James, York, Rappahannock, Potomac,
South, Severn, and Patapsco. I knew flying home was going to be slow
because of the headwind. We only made around 80mph groundspeed. |
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| The obligatory shot of the U.S.
Naval Academy. |
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