Fall Fly In

This Saturday I flew the Chief about 90 miles southwest to a Pilots of America fly in at the Windwood Fly In Resort near Davis, WV, in the Canaan Valley.

I was only there a couple of hours but a gorgeous location on a perfect day.

I couldn't take off until after 0915 as The Greene County Airport near Waynesburg was fogged in. I arrived at the airport at 8 AM, and tinkered and prepared the airplane and walked the taxiways until the fog lifted. ON the eastern edge of the airport property some folks were setting up for an event. They were well off the aviating parts so they were no problem.

I propped the Chief, checked everything, pulled up my stakes and chcoks, loaded up, and hopped in. The motor was putt-puttting smoothly and all was well. I taxied to the end of Runway 27. The valley to the north was still filled with fog but straight ahead and left all was clear. I added power and soon was climbing smoothly in the cool, still air.

There was not a single cloud in the sky and the fog was patchy along a few rivers and streams. It was an absolutely perfect morning and I was glad I had the time and this opportunity to fly on such a day. I continued climbing to 3500' and leveled off, letting the engine cool after the long climb. The ridges to the east slowly grew in the windscreen as I flew east at 75-80 MPH. Winds aloft were light and variable, so my groundspeed matched my airspeed closely.

I called Morgantown Tower and let him know I was overflying the field. The frequency was quiet as Morgantown was covered in fog, while immediately west and south it was clear and fog-free.Some valleys ahead were still filled with fog, and I kept a tight watch on time and fuel used so I could turn back if I ended up over widespread fog.

The ridges were higher east, so I climbed to 4,00 feet -- high above where this little airplane is meant to fly. The engine ran strong and all sounded well despite the thinner air, and I pushed on eastward. Ahead I could see windmills along the ridge on a heading of 155 or so -- right where I expected to see them. 

I was flying pure pilotage -- following waypoints on the ground -- so once I spotted the Windmills  I turned right up the valley and experienced some rotor turbulence off the mills and ridge -- wow!

There's one more smaller ridge before WV62, though, and after a few minutes of terrain associating figured it out and skimmed over the last ridge. In front of me lay the valley and the ski resort on the west face of the next ridge. I couldn't make out the airport so flew south until I was nearly on top of it.

I entered a left downwind and tried landing on runway 24 but wasn't happy with the airspeed once I cleared the trees so I flew about 20' off the ground and then climbed and went around for a landing on runway 6.

The result was the worst landing of the year with a bit of bounce quickly dampened with lots of up elevator.

Folks were at the tie down area so I met some and more came down to meet us. Everyone had questions about the old bird and seemed impressed by the Art Deco panel. It was nice to meet everyone and get a ride in Tim's Miata up to the lodge. We talked on the deck for a while and enjoyed the sunshine.

About noon the wind started picking up so I decided to head back before it got too rough. Takeoff was not optimal but a 70 degree crosswind on the narrow runway made it interesting. I lifted off and headed towards the left to avoid the trees on the 24 end of the runway. It was a rough ride climbing northeast along the valley but soon I reached 4000' and had enough altitude to clear the ridge.

It was pretty bumpy coming back from local winds and thermals -- it;s always this way mid-afternoon and clear days. I tried to enjoy the view and even took a few pictures but most of my time was spent keeping wings level and airspeed and attitude.

In the distance I spotted the tiny plume from the Morgantown powerplant and headed that way.

Bounce, bounce, bounce across the ridges with the engine running a bit rich at near service ceiling (no mixture in the airplane and it's really not meant to fly more than 5k). I reached the final ridge and descended over Cheat Lake and called MGW tower to let them know I'd be just outside the Delta airspace. A drama ensued as a Seneca called in with intermittent engine power on the right side. He was cleared straight in for 18 but I never saw him. I listened as long as I could then switched to the Waynesburg airport frequency.

My landing in the grass next to runway 27 made up for the lousy landing at WV62. Oh well.

Windwood Resort is a beautiful venue and seems like the perfect place for a Fly In -- especially in fall! While the leaves haven't peaked it's still that time, and the view from above is priceless.

I heartily recommend more attend next year!. I'll be there!