MikeAdmin29 March 2021
Augusta GA to Swanton VT – 6hrs
All good things must come to an end and our vacation was no different. Thankfully a low pressure system that brought rain to much of the East Coast and snow to VT forced us to spending one last day in Augusta:-). The weather was actually OK on Sunday morning and we were able to help Robert disassemble a swing set that had been left in his backyard and he sold for $300. After helping the buyer load up the swing Robert and I headed over to “The Patch” his local municipal golf course for a much anticipated round of golf. Unfortunately the weather gods are fickle and the rain stared as we teed off on the first hole. By the second hole it was pouring and by the third hole we pretty much knew we were not going to make it:-(. Robert did manage to get a rain check which was especially nice since he was treating:-).
After one last home cooked meal by chefs Robert and Claire we played a couple of rounds of cut throat cribbage before going to bed early in anticipation of a long day of flying on Monday. The weather forecast was for clear skies but high winds from the North West. The sky’s for Northern NY and VT were forecast to be low ceiling and snow showers until about noon with winds from the northwest at 20kts gusting >35Kts. So while we had planned to make an early start and try to get home around noon it seemed more prudent to take our time and enjoy the trip so we would arrive later in the afternoon when things were clearing up and the winds were calming down.
The FBO at Daniel’s field was great, fueling the plane and taking care of the rental car. We even talked to the Gentlemen who was assigned the role of being the tower control during the week of the Masters. Daniels Airport is a non-towered airfield 51 weeks of the year but there is a tower placed at the intersection of runway 5 and 14 that is manned during the week of the Masters.
We departed runway 5 about 0830 and headed north on an IFR clearance into clear skies. About an hour into the flight we started getting vectors to the east and a decent to 5K feet to keep us clear of traffic going into Charlotte. One of the cool things we saw as a river that was flooding but because of a retaining wall the water along the shore remained clear.
The winds were brutal especially when we turned back north to continue to Winchester VA. Despite doing 170Kts + IAS we were making a mere 140KTS ground speed for much of this leg and were bounced around by turbulent winds off the Blue Ridge Mountains. The last half hour of this leg had us flying directly over the famous Blue Ridge Parkway – though the scenery was less than spectacular this time of year.
We also saw an unusual (for us at least) ski area with the condos at the top of the hill and with the ski slopes below them.
We landed runway 32 at Winchester into a gusting 32kt wind, but it was right down runway. The FBO in Winchester is very modern and unbelievably scheduled for renovation next year. They kindly loaned us one of their three former police cruiser Crown Vics for a lunch run. Based on the recommendation provided by the FBO lady we went to the Paper Mill Place. This traditional breakfast place had a waiting line out the door and we were lucky enough to be share the time with two couples who had both been pilots. The time waiting went very quickly and both of these older couples gave us a nice wave good bye as they left.
After a hearty late breakfast, biscuits and gravy for me:-), we headed back to the airport for a 1330ish take off. The winds had dropped to 15Kts with gusts to 28, but remained down the runway and the skies in VT had cleared, though the winds remained in the 20s gusting in to the 30 range. Take off and climb up to 8500 was normal but our intentional delay resulted in our IFR clearance dropped out of the system and the harried Potomac Approach Controller was in no mood to provide any additional service so we went over to the FSS (Flight Service Station) Frequency to put a clearance in the system. Though this wasn’t something I had done in about 20 years the controller was helpful and we quickly got our clearance in the system and were able to pick it up over Hagerstown PA with a direct routing to Franklin County VT.
The flight over PA and NY was uneventful at 9000 despite the heavy winds, though this leg did take us about 3 hours despite the fact that we bumped it up and let the RV have her head a little at 177KTS IAS and 11.9GPH.
While I was anticipating a challenging crosswind landing in VT the winds had dropped to 23kts and once we got below the trees on landing it was almost calm. A firm but safe landing on center line ended the adventure. We taxied in and put the RV10 to bed for a well-deserved rest after 6 hours of flying. The longest single day of flying Jaimie and I have done together.
