Big East Trip – Travel Day 2
Monday 5/31/04 (Memorial Day)
DAY 1 DAY 2 DAY 3 DAY4 DAY 5 DAY 6 DAY 7
Benton Harbor, MI – Sandusky, OH
Full Stop @ Sandusky, OH (KSKY)
Second travel day, second change of flight plan. The first leg was supposed to be to Bryan, OH, a small airport with reasonably priced fuel, but no instrument approach. After getting a check of the weather, it was solid overcast at Bryan, as well as everything east of Benton Harbor. We had to depart IFR (Instrument Flight Rules) and head for Sandusky, OH. Didn’t see much of Michigan or Ohio as we were on top of a solid layer. We had to shoot an IFR approach into Sandusky and broke out in plenty of time to get a view of Lake Erie and Cedar Point Amusement Park. We fueled up, got another weather briefing, and departed towards upstate New York, IFR within a couple thousand feet.
Sandusky, OH – Fulton, NY
Full Stop @ Fulton, NY (KFZY)
Once I decided on Sandusky, OH as our first stop, it was pretty obvious that overflying Niagara Falls probably wasn’t going to happen. Even though it’d be way out of the way to fly on the south side of Lake Erie then head towards the falls, I was holding out hope the weather would improve sooner than the predicted area between Buffalo and Rochester. But the weather forecasts were right and it was a solid low overcast over Niagara Falls and we didn’t get to see them. We also didn’t see much of anything but clouds until southwest of Rochester, even though we flew right over Cleveland, Erie, and the south shore of Lake Erie. But once we got near Rochester the weather cleared out and we were once again ahead of the storm.
On landing at Oswego County Airport (Fulton, NY) we were greeted with a deserted airport. The cafeteria we counted on being open, was closed. The FBO was closed and it’s doors were locked. No food, no bathroom. We called a taxi and it took us round trip to a Wendy’s in town. This was a taxi in pretty rough condition, I think it was the drivers personal car. But he was nice enough and we got to and from town quick and cheap. After eating we fueled up at the self-serve pump, thankfully that was working, and we were on our way.
Fulton, NY – Bar Harbor, ME
Touch & Go @ Montpelier, VT (KMPV)
Full stop @ Bar Harbor, ME (KBHB)
Hey, the first leg that went as originally planned! The weather was slowly trying to catch up to us and it sprinkled some on departing Fulton, NY. We outran that pretty fast and it was smooth and clear all the rest of the day. Upstate New York was really nice, as was Vermont. I knew by practicing on Flight Simulator that Montpelier might be a little challenging. The airport sits in sort of a bowl, surrounded by hills. It looked tricky, coming in from the angle I was, to set up a descent and pattern entry. And then figure a good way out to climb after the touch & go. I opted for a fairly standard left pattern and landed to the south, then did a left crosswind departure and headed for one of the passes. After that it was just a matter of outclimbing the terrain, which wasn’t a problem, and locating Mt. Washington, a nearly 6,300′ peak near the Maine border.
After spotting the peak and remaining south of it, it was all downhill (in elevation) towards the coast. We flew right over Augusta and Belfast. I tuned in Bar Harbors unicom (universal traffic frequency) which is also the frequency for many airports in the area. Up until then we hadn’t heard a lot of New England accents, that all changed on unicom. It was hilarious to listen to some of them, the thickest accents we’d ever heard. The Atlantic coast was dotted with islands and the water was fairly calm. The scenery of tree’s, homes, and coastline was something else. We landed, parked, and got our rental car. By the next day the weather was once again moving in. The same storm was about to get us again.
As with some of our other stops, Bar Harbor was a suggestion of my supervisor Dan. Originally, for distance, time, and simplicity’s sake, we were just going to go to Portland, Maine. After Dan’s urging, and doing some homework, we were sold on Bar Harbor. Our only disappointment was the whale watching boat that cancelled on us with no prior notice. Instead we explored Acadia National Park and the island Bar Harbor is on. That was mostly done in cool, cloudy, and occasionally rainy conditions. The next day, the day we were supposed to leave, was even worse.
Accommodations
Holiday Inn Sunspree, Bar Harbor, Maine
