N329ME - C172S - 1.4 hours
In an earlier post, I mentioned there were people I hadn't taken flying since getting my license. Several of those people are in my own family. While I've taken a few family members up - my grandma, my aunt and uncle, to name a few - none of my immediate family had been up with me until today.
A little while back, my dad proposed that my brother and I set up some activity for each month so that we actually see each other regularly. What better to draw my attention than flying?
Originally, we'd planned on flying the day before, but it was supposed to be windy, so we delayed until today in hopes that it would be better. I'd also planned on trying to get out earlier rather than later so that we could fit in an early lunch, or breakfast, and not get in the way of plans later in the day. Luckily both of those worked out. It wasn't too windy and we were able to get out right on time to head down to Luray.
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| Front Royal - FRR |
The departure was standard, with a little turbulence over the mountains. On the way out, I pointed out Upperville (2VG2), Mount Weather, Front Royal (FRR), Skyline Drive, and a random assortment of other roads and landmarks. The turbulence really didn't let up in the valley, but it didn't bother me too much. Being a frequent flier of the commercial sort, it didn't bother my dad much either.
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| Final into Luray - W45 |
The approach into Luray ended up being a little high, so I ended up slipping the plane in during the approach. I'm not sure how my dad had heard of that before, but when I mentioned what I was doing, he was familiar with it. I also explained the whole "barn door" approach path indicator system and how it would let me know if I was high or low with about as much technology as smoke signals for communication, but it works, right? The slip worked out well, and I ended up greasing in a nice landing on Runway 22. Despite the nice landing, I ended up locking the wheels up slightly as the runway dips right after the touch down zone and we ended up getting airborne for a few feet. Since I was braking and we lost contact with the ground, the wheels didn't have to work against the aircraft's weight and locked. When we settled back on the runway the locked wheels took a second to catch back up. In the end it wasn't a big deal, though it did catch me off guard. In any case, I turned around and taxied back to the tie downs so that we could run into town for a few hours.
John, the airport attendant on the weekends, suggested a place called Uncle Bucks for breakfast. Initially, I thought we'd just go back to Artisans Grill, but it was early enough that we could get breakfast. Despite the wait, it was actually pretty good. I had corned beef hash, and it was awesome. I really can't remember what my dad ate, but my attention was taken by the amazingness of my own dish, to be honest.
After breakfast, we figured we'd walk around town before calling John to pick us back up, but the quick walk ended up being all the way back to the airport. It was nice out, so why not? The town is pretty small, and had some interesting small town sights. On the outskirts of the town, we passed the entrance to Luray Caverns, and then continued past a petting zoo and corn maze back to the airport. I still have yet to actually go into the caverns, though I've driven by them several times.
The flight back was uneventful. I ended up filing a flight plan on my cell phone using DUATS, instead of bothering with Flight Service, on the phone or in the air. Closer in to Leesburg, past Front Royal, the turbulence started to get worse, and my dad got to run his own mini-experiment with the altimeter, where he watched to see how much we actually "fell" when we dropped in turbulence. It's really not that much, even though I explained that basic altimeters have some lag in their indication. Unfortunately, when we made it back to Leesburg, I proved planes can fall quite quickly - onto the runway. It wasn't a terrible landing, but compared to the nicer landing into Luray, it wasn't nearly as graceful.
I'll have to dream up an interesting destination for next time.
Hours:
Pilot in Command Cross Country (PIC XC): 1.4 - 38.6 (of 50)
Actual/Simulated Instrument (Act/Sim): 0 - 4.2 (of 40)
