My boss, Jason, is a pilot, but he hasn't flown in quite a while for various reasons. Yesterday, we were both talking, amongst other co-workers, about what I would be doing on my upcoming vacation. I had a couple ideas of what I wanted to do, but they either fell through or didn't interest me enough to pursue them. That led me to my comment "I'll probably just fly random places." Jason picked up on the comment and offered to chip in on a flight if I'd take him up. That being said, we eventually settled on Luray again, because it was short and simple.
We met up at the airport early in the morning, Jason having brought Fractured Prune donuts (the best, by the way). After wolfing down the fried rings of amazingness, I filed our flight plan, stopped to stare at a B-17 sitting on the ramp (that I'd actually serviced when I lived out in Phoenix and worked for Cutter Aviation), and walked out to preflight.
The weather for the flight, despite lower visibility, was great. The air was calm, the temperature hadn't quite come up yet, and there were few clouds in sight. There were, however, plenty of clouds that settled into the valley where Luray was located. West of that ridge, the rest of the Shenandoah Valley was completely clear. Because of that, I kept flying right past Front Royal, out to Staunton and headed down I-81 to Bridgewater (VBW). Oddly enough, Bridgewater was clear, while Shenandoah (SHD) was 200' clouds with 3/4mi visibility, and they're only 7nm apart.
Landing at Bridgewater brought us right over the college, where my brother went to school. Since he played football there, I went to the games as much as possible, but only drove past the airport a few times. I had never realized that the airport was used by a government contractor to refurbish aircraft for military duty. As I rolled out on the runway, I noticed King Airs, among other aircraft, sitting all over the airport and ramps, painted up in military colors. It really gave me the impression I was in the wrong spot, so we took a quick lap around the ramp and backtaxied to depart.
On the way back, I called the FSS to file a flight plan back in to Leesburg. When I landed, the B-17 we gawked at on the way out was just starting up for its quick run for veterans and thrill seekers. We taxied in, shut down, and went out for a quick lunch before coming back to watch the B-17 go back out one last time.
Hours:
Pilot in Command Cross Country (PIC XC): 1.9 - 23.6 (of 50)
Actual/Simulated Instrument (Act/Sim): 0 - 3.5 (of 40)
