July 21, 2013 - Fun Flight and Thunderstorms
The plan was to go for an hour-long fun flight over the Eastern shore.  Many boats were on the water enjoying the nice summer day.
   
Hart-Miller Island always has a lot of boats on a nice day.  The bottom is sandy so its a good place to swim.
   
Drop anchor and start the party!
   
Star party.
   
I headed across the bay and flew around.
   
Another water party on one of the many Eastern Shore rivers.
   
There are a lot more private boats than planes, I can tell you that.
   
Flying around, I noticed clouds building to the west.  But I didn't give it much thought.
   
This farm reminded me of the movie High Plains Drifter where Clint Eastood "The Man With No Name" painted the entire town red.
   
 
     

As I headed for home up the west side of the Eastern Shore, there definitely was weather on the western side of the Bay.  I continued south, then turned west for the short hop to Essex Skypark.  But rain was clearly over Martin State airport and Essex Skypark was iffy.  Plus the clouds were pretty dark so I decided to head further south to Bay Bridge airport, land and wait it out.   The weather was nice at Bay Bridge.  I checked the radar on the computer in the FBO and was shocked at how much weather was to the north and west.  It was amazing how fast it had moved in.  I walked a short distance to a food mart store and got a slurpee which tasted pretty good on this hot day.   Checking the weather again, not only had it not gone away, but it was moving this way!  I would have tied the plane down to wait it out but I had forgotten to bring my tie down rings and gust buster kit.  So I hoped into the plane and flew west to Ridgely.   In the air I could see lightning to the north and west.

Here I am on the ground at Ridgely looking at the weather to the north.
   
My XM Satellite weather on the GPS in the plane had not been working, so on the ground I fiddled with the wires, then the weather picture popped right up.
   
While I was waiting for the weather to clear, I walked around and checked things out.  Here is an old SeaBee that will probably never fly again.
   
I've always thought a plane like this would be a blast.
   
Some wild turkey walking across a field.
   
Another airplane that has seen better days.
   

After about an hour, I could see on my XM Satellite weather that things had cleared up.  There was still weather to the north but the way west to Essex Skypark was clear.

I took off and sure enough, it was clear sailing.  A little rain but nothing to worry about.
   
All the boats at Hart Miller island were long gone.  What a difference a few hours makes.
   

It must have really rained hard at Essex.  There was a lake in front of my hangar when I got back.  This is as flooded as I've ever seen it.

Well, my short fun flight took a little longer than I had anticipated, but I still had a good time.  Gotta be flexible in aviation.
   
   
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