Chorman-Lanseair Farms

My next flight was another short hop to another one of Doherty's Difficult and Dangerous approaches. After taking off from Chorman, I headed east. After crossing the Chesapeake, I arrived at Lanseair Farms (MD97) in La Plata, MD. A couple of go arounds were needed before I landed the plane, and even then I landed almost off the runway. The night was still young.

D74-MD97

Cape May-Chorman

My next leg took me south to Delaware. After taking off from Cape May, I headed south across the Delaware river. I then headed to Chorman (D74) which is a small grass strip located near the center of the state in Framington. After a go around, I landed the plane semi-successfully. The go around was partly due to the fact that it was a night flight.

KWWD-D74

Arnold Palmer Regional-Cape May

This next flight took me back across Pennsylvania. After taking off from runway 5 at KLBE, I banked right and headed across southern PA to Cape May, NJ (KWWD). After leveling off at 2,000 feet, I encountered some turbulence and decided to climb to about 4,000. As I made my way across got to see another beautiful sunset. As I neared the New Jersey/Pennsylvania border, I decided to travel in between the PHL and Washington Class B airspace. By the time I reached KWWD, it was almost night. My first approach was high, as usual, and I changed landing runways in order to give myself more time. My second approach was decent, and I landed the plane successfully. Taxiing was a bit more difficult. Overall, it still was a good leg.

KLBE-KWWD

Aeroflex-Andover-Arnold Palmer Regional

Next, I headed across Pennsylvania to an airport that is listed in Doherty's Difficult and Dangerous Approaches (www.simtours.net). After taking off from 12N, I banked and headed almost due East to Latrobe County, PA. The flight was relatively uneventful other than some rough turbulence over the Appalachian mountains. I got to take in a beautiful sunset along the way. The pattern and approach went relatively well, and I enjoyed a nice descent into KLBE, which happens to be a very nice airport. Definately the best leg so far.

12N-KLBE

LaGuardia to Aeroflex-Andover

Next, I headed to New Jersey. While at KLGA, I had re-registered my plane to N269RK. After taking off from runway four, I headed west towards Manhattan. I turned South down the East River, and then turned around the southern tip of Manhattan. This gave me great views of the city as well as the Statue of Liberty. From there, I headed west over New Jersey. On the way over to Andover I passed Newark Liberty International (EWR/KEWR) and saw some great snow-covered scenery (FSX doesn't have built in smog). The approach to Aeroflex (12N) didn't go as smoothly as I had hoped. First, I missed the airport entirely because I hadn't zoomed in far enough on the GPS. Then, I made a go around because I was too high. I finally landed it, although I ran out of runway and I slid off the end as I tried to make a high speed turn off the runway. I guess you just have to live and learn.

KLGA-12N

Westchester County to LaGuardia

This is the flight that started it all. I started off in Cessna 172SP G-BAFM (default reg) on runway 34 at Westchester County (HPN/KHPN). After taking off, I turned south and headed for New York City. I flew east of Manhattan, over the Bronx to Queens. The Tower gave me clearance to fly the right hand pattern for runway 4. I entered on the base leg. While flying the pattern I got to see Shea Stadium (Let's Go Mets) and a great view of the Manhattan skyline. I lined-up for final (albeit poorly) and landed the plane about three quarters of the way down the runway, a tribute to my flying abilities at the time. I hit the breaks hard, kicking up dust and snow on the ground. I then taxied back on taxiways R and B, accross runway four and over to General Aviation parking. The tour had begun.

Leg: One
Total Hours: 0.5
Day: 0.5
Night: 0
Non-instrument: 0.5
Instrument: 0
Aircraft: Cessna 172SP Skyhawk G-BAFM
Date Flown: 2/25/07

KHPN-KLGA

Welcome to the Blog

It started with a simple flight from Westchester Country Airport (HPN/KHPN) to LaGuardia Airport. It evolved into a world tour. The tour will feature approximately 667 airports representing virtually every country. Ideas for what airports to fly into came from www.airliners.net, www.simtours.net (including Doherty's Difficult and Dangerous Approaches), landmark airports (historical significance, aircraft production facilities, etc.), and other random sources. It's going to be an amazing ride. Welcome aboard, and enjoy the flight.

Note that the first 25 legs or so have already been completed, so the posts about them will come quickly and not in real time. After that, the posts will come as I fly each leg.