From: powell@wraith.netops.gtefsd.com (Mike Powell "GTE FSD Net Mgr")
Subject: My Northeast (NEFI) Adventure (long)
Organization: GTE Federal Systems Division (Telecom)
Date: Sat, 3 Oct 1992 14:53:31 GMT

Well most of you that attended the NEFI, didn't know that we did
make it to Katama on 09/19, but not until they were cleaning
up the tables and chairs. :-(
We couldn't have made it any earlier, without comprimising safety.
Neither of us is Instrument Rated.

We broke ground from Manassas, Va (HEF) about 1200 clouds were 4000 BKN.
The further north we went the higher the clouds got and the higher we flew.
We went west of the New York TCA, hung a right at Greenwood Lake, NJ and
landed at Bridgeport, CT. They had a $1.85 weekend special, not bad.
Service was OK. Weather and pilot update, and we were on our way.

I flew the Bridgeport to Katama leg, direct Bridgeport to Providence,
RI. The PL99 makes this alot easier. :-) Hung a right at Providence and
headed out over the water towards Martha's Vineyard. There was a cloud
deck over the Vineyard, so we decended and went under. David, did you have
a cloud over your head that day? Going past MVY and right on down to 
Edgartown, landed, a nice gentleman in a Cessna, pulled off to the side
to let us by, thanks, David (Isenberg). Sorry I didn't, get a chance to
meet you. I found Greg (Travis) and we did the airplane shuffle to MVY,
but not before I had a chance to let some sand between my toes. :-))

Greg and his SO were excellent hosts! Good Hangar Flying, got to meet
the Dave "The Beast" Touretzky, and actually see the "Beast" and "placarded"
nose gear. Greg, Beautiful palace, excellent location, is this going to
be a yearly affair? 

Sunday, we launched for our second part of the trip, several days in Maine.
It is a beautiful time of year.
On the way out, we flew over the palace, took some photos from the air
and headed up over Woods Hole, climbing all the way.

Once I reached 7500, I leveled off and called Boston Approach. We
were still about twenty miles from the TCA and above it, but I was going
to talk to them anyway. They appreciated it and so did I. I wanted to know
where these guys were going too. Boston approach was very civil.
The view from 7500 was excellent. I could see for miles, 40 or 50, I'd
guess. Pease AFB (NH) wanted nothing to do with us. Flew over Georges'
place, He has the whole point!, over Portland, ME on up to Boothbay,
descending. I brought it down to 1000 and let Joel the autopilot take over. OK,
so you have to feed it, but it does make good ballast for lateral stability.
I wanted to take some pictures of the area. I have been going there since
I was born. We then climbed back up to 3500 and headed for Rockland, ME.
Rockland is a nice little airport, out on a point, with two FBO's,
one was courteous, Penobscot Air Service, one wasn't. Penobscot
got our business. Parking is $2/night for singles, ropes included, what
a deal.

The trees were just starting to turn, the wind was a blow'n and the 
temperature was pleasant. Monday, we went sailing around the bay,
Tuesday, we went shopping, LL Bean and the like (it was foggy, and raining),
Wednesday, we aquired some taffy and fudge in Boothbay Harbor, then headed
out to the airport.

We departed Rockland at about 1500 with the winds 20G30 right down
one of the runways. Needless to say we had a short takeoff roll. I already
had half of my airspeed for rotation.

We took some more pictures on the way out but it was a little rough in
the air. 

The winds aloft were strong behind the front that came through the night
before. I tried 8500 but the loran said our ground speed was less than 100
knots, so we went lower, to 6500, much better, 110 kts over the ground.


(Short paragraph about inflight de-fueling of the pilot, skip to next one
if you don't want to read it)
While we were over NH, I started to feel pressured to relieve myself.
Over Lower NY, I had to GO BAD! There was no way I would have been able
to land this thing in my current condition. Must have been something to
do with the numerous lakes around. I had my water bottle. I emptied it
out the storm port, some (not much) of it came back in. Lesson here,
don't empty anything out the port that you will reget. I tried to
relieve my sitting down, this didn't work. Fortunately, I had an auto-pilot,
Joel. I unbuckled my seatbelt, turned around carefully, I didn't want
to kick the yoke, and was finally able to achieve satifaction. :-) This
has now become my MRP approved Hazzardous Materials container. I would
have been in real trouble if I was alone.


Our Scheduled stop was Greenwood Lake, NJ. I called about 10 miles out,
no answer, again 5 miles out no answer, again 2 out, no answer. We
landed anyway, taxied to the ramp, still no signs of life, shutdown, walked
around, couldn't find anybody. the sign said open 7AM-9PM 7 days a 
week!, but what year?

They had a Constellation there, converted to a restaurant :-(.

We had enough fuel in the aircraft to go from Rockland,ME to Manassas, VA,
but the tanks would have been dry. I wasn't going to take the chance. I
will never take that chance! It was getting dark, and we were getting anxious.
We made four phone calls before I got a human to answer the phone. He
agreed to stay AFTER CLOSING because he knew we were coming. Off we go
to UKT, Quakertown, PA, 60NM, a 30 minute ride, damn, airplanes are nice!
We landed, and the gentleman was waiting for us. Thirty gallons for
the airplane, some fudge for him, he appreciated it, and off we go
for the final leg home. Lesson here, call ahead, I didn't at Greenwood Lake.

Shortly after we tookoff from Quakertown we could see Baltimore, MD.
I was navigating at this point, after five minutes of flight planning
on the fuel pump. This is possible, when you have one to fly and one to
navigate, but not as feasable when you are alone. Baltimore, cleared us
into the TCA at initial callup!, he gave us a squawk code and cleared us
in, in the same breath!, no "Radar Contact", nothing! Dulles vectored
us around a bit, they were laneding to the north, the normal way,
and we were at "pattern" altitude, once clear, we dropped down and
turned in for the airport. By now were were southeast of Manassas,
but this still beats the "reach the beach" VFR flyway. Manassas tower
cleared us for right base, "cleared to land 34L", towers sure are nice!
Home at last, 2130.

The trip got off to a rough start, but the rest sure made up for it!
We'll have to do this again.

Mike
--
Mike Powell PPASEL
"It's hard to find router bits for your cisco"
Disclaimer: I speak for myself. No direct relation to the DUAT folks.
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