February 28, 2010 - Flying over Snow |
|
The Essex Skypark runway was finally clear of snow and I
was flying for the first time in almost month, winging my way west to
Frederick. The weather forecast was good, and the weather over Essex
unremarkable. I could see that I would be flying into some kind of
misty front. Once I was in, visibility dropped significantly to
about five miles. I looked at my wings and didnt see anything, but
when I looked directly ahead, I could see ... snow! This
picture makes it look a lot worse than it was. |
|
 |
|
| This is the first time I've ever flown
through snow. Kinda cool. |
|
 |
|
|
Only a few minutes later I popped out into unrestricted
visibility. That's Sugarloaf mountain in the center of th
epic.
As you can see, there is still a lot of snow on the
ground. The elevation here is about 500 feet higher than Essex and
where I live. I was completely dependent on my GPS for nagivation because
I lost all sense of where I was flying over the snow-covered
countryside. |
|
 |
|
|
I met
Mike and Dave on the ground at Frederick. We briefed the flight over a cup
of coffee and then went flying.
I was a
little rusty and nervous at first but proficiency came back fairly
quickly. It was fun flying
with three ships. Dave flew
lead the first half, then Mike.
Mike took us into the snow which was interesting. I felt like I was over
England in bad weather during
WWII. Mike flew an ILS
approach back to FDK with us in tight form. We had a good debrief, then Mike
and I had breakfast at the Airways cafe.
Mike and I made a good form takeoff, then we split up. The sun was out now and there were
good cumulous clouds at 4000 feet.
Visibility was outstanding – I could see the eastern shore before I
reached Baltimore. |
|
 |
|
| It was exhilerating flying over the
snow-covered ground, alongside puffy clouds with the bright blue sky
overhead. |
|
 |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
The arrow is pointing to Clearvew Airport, still buried
under the snow. I had a hard time finding it, even though the GPS
said I was right on top. |
|
 |
|
| Baltimore dead ahead. |
|
 |
|
|
The famous Pimlico race track, still covered in
snow. |
|
 |
|
| Getting close to Baltimore. |
|
 |
|
| The downtown area off my right
wing. I have to stay below 1500 feet at this point to stay under BWI
airport's Class B airspace. |
|
 |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|