After a big trip like visiting Peoria and Sportys, the normal local flights seem more mundane. In reality, they are just as fun and exciting for me! Memorial Day weekend, we had a beautiful weekend of sunny, albeit slightly breezy weather. Michiko and I decided to do a nice day trip and she suggested Block Island, where we could walk into town at the start of the summer season. (Our only other visit into town had been in September after much of the island had started shutting down.)
Light tailwinds made quick work of the eastbound leg as we scurried down the coastline. Something I had never noticed before was a miniature Stonehenge on the shoreline in Guilford. I tried Googling it, but couldn’t find any details, but apparently it’s called Stonehenge-By-The-Sea. This photo was from a Google search, not my own shot, so photo credit to Marco08June.
EDIT: Courtesy of a friend, I got some additional detail regarding the Guilford "Stonehenge" and, courtesy/with permission of another blog writer, Ray Bendici, I'm pasting a description below and linking to the other blog: http://www.damnedct.com/henges-and-other-stone-structures.
And finally, here in Connecticut, there's "Clonehenge" -- aka "The Circle of Life" in the Sachem Head section of Guilford. Designed and built on private property, its history and purpose are a lot clearer. In 2003, Dr. Jonathan Rothberg decided he wanted to build an observatory on his property but was thwarted by the local zoning board. Being resourceful, he instead circumvented the board and commissioned renowned architect Cesar Pelli to design an astronomically correct and working replica of Stonehenge, an enormous celestial clock using 700 tons of granite . . . as a pure work of art.
According to the New York Times story linked above, Dr. Rothberg said, "My position is, if I put up a piece of art, I don't need permission."
Sure, it's not as old or as storied as the original Stonehenge or Avebury, but then again, the ancient people of Great Britain didn't have Yankee ingenuity, now did they? - See more at: http://www.damnedct.com/henges-and-other-stone-structures#sthash.irjiI6js.dpuf
On the trip outbound, I showed Michiko the new feature of the GPSS autopilot switch, alternating between heading bug steering and GPS course steering. Given that we had a couple of bumps and she was concentrating on getting her electronic anti-nausea watch to work properly, I’m not sure she was duly impressed but…..
After an okay touchdown, we were given one of the last tie-down spots available on the ramp, along the parking lot fence. I was actually surprised that, given a nice Saturday on a holiday weekend, we didn’t find the ramp chock full of airplanes. (Even when we returned to the airport in the afternoon, there were only a couple of planes parked over on the grass.) After signing in and paying the nominal ramp fee of $15 (only applies if you’re leaving the airport—if you’re staying just to dine at Bethany’s, the ramp fee is waived), we walked down into town, about a 2 mile walk on mostly-quiet side streets.
While it had been a bit chilly up at the hilltop airport in the breeze, once we got below the hill, the breeze was gentle and it was a perfect temperature for walking around town. We visited a couple of shops and then started looking for lunch and settled on Ballard’s Inn. We got a table out on the patio, despite the fact that the wind was really humming and it was very chilly, particularly in the shade. But the view out onto the beach and the water was worth it. Michiko had the Naked Lobster Roll (just lobster and butter on a hot dog roll) and I had the Fisherman’s Platter (beer battered cod, shrimp, clams and calamari and French fries), though it turned out to be a bit too much battered/fried stuff, even for me!
After lunch, we shopped a little more, with Michiko trying on some hats at The Mad Hatter. We stopped in at a couple of the t-shirt places as well (picked up a great fishing related one for my uncle). The best stop though was Chapel Sweets www.chapelsweets.com which is known for their fudge and their Sandy Feet Turtles—milk or dark chocolate, caramel and fresh pecans with a cinnamon sugar coating. Michiko enjoyed those a lot. I found some great dark chocolate nonpareils and a cherry truffle….delicious! As we walked around, the dark red biplane that gives rides was circling over the town on a tour.
Then it was time to wander back up to the airport to head home. The walk back always seems a bit longer—I think because of the steep hill to climb just before reaching the airport. Someday, the Island needs to get an easement and build a path from town back up to the airport—it would be a nice touch!
The flight home was another quick one, albeit facing a little bit of a headwind, but soon we were on final approach to Runway 29 and my landing was a very nice one for a change.
Last weekend, there was a possibility Philippe was going to do his first solo flight, so I planned to go out and take photos. Unfortunately, his airplane had an issue with the aileron, so his lesson was cancelled. Instead, we hopped in my airplane and headed up to Great Barrington. We stayed at about 2,500-3,000 feet since there were some clouds at about 4,000 feet, so it was a little bumpier of a ride, but we got great views of the northwest CT hills.
With a bit of a gusty crosswind for Runway 29, I made my approach, coming in over the cornfield and road to touch down with a bit of a bump. Shutting down on the ramp, I pushed the plane back a little ways (or tried too—it was HEAVY with Philippe sitting inside!) One of the CFIs came out to offer a hand, but she actually said where I was parked was fine for our short visit. We headed into the FBO and got refreshing lime seltzers and plopped down on the couch for a bit. Roxie, the white German shepherd, was thrilled to have new folks petting her and we met Bruce, who owns the pretty Cessna 337 Skymaster that I always see at KGBR.
After a relaxing chat on flying, we picked ourselves up off the leather couch, said farewell to Roxie & Bruce, and headed back out to the airplane. After back-taxiing to the start of Runway 29 and a run-up, we were off the ground and heading south again. I kept Philippe busy holding heading and altitude, but he did a great job—you can definitely see the improvement he’s made over the course of his lessons.
With winds coming from 210 degrees at 15 knots, I elected to ask Bridgeport Tower for Runway 24 instead of Runway 29 and they gave us instructions for a right base and to report at 4 miles out. After Philippe had brought us down to pattern altitude, I took the controls. It felt weird landing on 24—it’s been under construction for so long and has a significantly displaced threshold as the construction continues. But with the wind closer to the runway heading, it made for a nicer touchdown and shorter rollout to the taxiway.
Unfortunately, on Sunday night at midnight, I turned into a grounded pumpkin until the FAA aeromedical folks finish reviewing my paperwork for my next Special Issuance. We’re at 6 weeks now, which is a bit frustrating, but hopefully it will only be another week or so. Dr. Chien has promised to call on the 15th if I don’t have it by then. (Since I’m not a revenue pilot (eg flying for a living), he’s not allowed to call for 30 days after my examination. As the “interested party” however, I started making calls the week after my exam to make sure the FAA folks knew that I was interested in my application status and they’ve flagged it for quicker review. Fingers crossed.)