Depart to Michigan

July 7, 2012 -- We dropped Luniquan at George's house, and -- after a baggage load up at home, headed straight for the airport. A little behind time because it took some doing and thinking to get three sets of golf clubs into the airplane.  Weight was not a problem, but length of drivers was.

We got off -- after a long 20-minute wait for Potomac to clear us into the traffic -- about 10:30 a.m. from Leesburg. Soon we were out of the heat and up in the cooler climes of 8000 feet.  The co-pilot's ventilator wasn't working, but I redirected the pilot side and that seemed to help.  Headwinds, but we made good progress and ATC did not give us any changes to the flight plan.

We crossed into and out of Canadian airspace over Lake Erie.  The water does not change color and we never changed to a Canadian controller.  You would not have known we left the U.S. except for the message on my cell phone announcing that AT&T charged me for roaming in Canada. I didn't even use the phone.

Up in Michigan, we changed from our original destination (Oscoda-Wurtsmith (KOSC)) to land at Saginaw County (KHYX). I thought it might be a better place with better facilities.  As it turned out, the air field was deserted, not a soul in sight.  There was a self serve fuel set up, so that worked well.  We looked around for a restroom, but the terminal (a weathered shack, at best) was locked.  There was a flight school, and the proprieter, Mel Johnson, said we could use his restroom.  "If I'm here, it's open!," he repeated several times.  Mel couldn't hear too well, probably from too many years of airplane engine noise.  He said he was selling his airplane (a sign on the wall confirmed that) and getting out of the flight instruction business.

He was a really nice guy in a Midwest kind of way.

We sat and ate the sandwiches that Marcia had packed under the shade of a big tree by the ramp.  There was a flag pole with two large rocks.  People honor the things they don't have much of -- like rocks.  We drank water that we'd brought along.  No money left in Saginaw, except for the gas purchase. I called Flight Service for a briefing and to file a flight plan, and we took off.

It was about an hour to Mackinac Island (pronounced, we learned, "MACK-in-aw"), a small spit of land in the water between Lake Superior and Lake Michigan.  There's no tower, and not even an FBO, but the KMCD field is in great shape -- nice clear markings and fresh asphalt.  No one directs you to a parking place, but there is a U.S. Park Ranger in the terminal who collects $10.50 for landing fees and $10.50 for overnight parking.  She advised that we could probably walk to the Inn at Stonecliffe sooner than  the horse drawn carriage would get to the airport terminal, if we called it.

So, we locked the plane and walked, carrying a few overnight things.

The Inn at Stonecliffe was a former manor house, converted to a lodge, with additional rooms in a more modern building.  We were just as happy to be in the annex because it had air conditioning.

The weather was wonderfully cool, and the sun shone over the water beyond the Inn's back yard.  The long Mackinac Bridge stood proudly in the distance, and little boats motored around it.  Sitting on the veranda with a white wine, there was no reason to complain. A wedding was underway in a tent on the lawn, but it really did not interfere with our enjoyment of the surroundings.

We had dinner in the dining room by the window with a great view. Now I understand why people rave about Mackinac Island, and we still had not seen the town or the rest of the island.

Flying Home: Brainerd to Leesburg

Saturday, July 14, 2012 -- Departure day from Maddens.  I planned our return to Leesburg as a one day flight, really just a straight run with a stop in the middle for gas and lunch.

After one last Minnesota breakfast (cheesy scrambled eggs, sausage, and caramel rolls), Darren drove us (and the golf clubs) over to the Brianerd Regional Airport (KBRD)  about 8:30 a.m.  He was able to drive onto the ramp and unload bags right beside the airplane.  We quickly loaded up, using pretty much the same plan we figured out for the trip up.

We took off to the east and circled back at 2000 feet AGL for a look at Maddens and East Gull Lake about eleven miles east of the airport.  It was a bright clear morning, so the resort was easy to see and photograph.

After a slow, low turn over Maddens, we turned east and picked up our flight plan from Minnesota Center.  Just about exactly three hours later, after crossing Lake Michigan at 7000 feet -- thirty minutes over water,  we landed at Jackson, Michigan (KJXN).

Jackson is a welcoming airport with two long, wide runways, cheap fuel delivered by truck, easygoing and helpful tower controllers, and a very friendly little restaurant that overlooks the field.  The restaurant caters to both pilots and airplane watchers alike.

As I commented on the DC Pilots forum, this is a great stopover point from the DC area for northwest-bound pilots.

An hour later we were fully fueled and on our way back to Leesburg.  It was an easy flight, with a few diversions to go around some towering cumulonimbus clouds that threatened turbulence.  We landed right on schedule at 5:45 p.m. at KJYO and put the airplane away.

Remembering, and paying tribute to Ambassador Eagleburger

Today was the Memorial Service at Fort Myer for Lawrence S. Eagleburger, Ambassador to Yugoslavia and Secretary of State.  He was my ambassador in Belgrade for a couple of years in the 1970's, and something of a mentor during my time in Washington while he was P, D and finally S.

The service was held in the larger of the two chapels at Fort Myer, and the crowd pretty well filled the modernist building.  The start was delayed about 15 minutes, probably because one or another of the dignitaries was stuck in the Fort Myer security gate system.   

It was sort of stunning to look around the room and realize that not only did we have the current Secretaries of Defense and State, but former Secretaries of State Colin Powell, James Baker and Henry Kissinger, but also former Secretary of Defense Frank Carlucci, former CIA director Webster, former Senate Majority Leader Howard Baker, and a bevy of former ambassadors and ex State Department officials. 

The group of us who served under Larry in Belgrade was well represented with Mark Palmer, Burt Gerber, Sheldon Krys, Bill Pope, Chris Hill, John O'Keefe, and several others who looked familiar but I never quite put a name to.  Notably missing were some folks like Bill Montgomery (in Croatia), Victor Jackovich, Ron Neitzke, and surely others. 

I was also surprised to learn at this ceremony that the Bureau of Diplomatic Security has a four-man honor guard capable of doing flag duties.  The uniforms look a bit like something borrowed from the Romanian national opera, and I have a little trouble with the idea of the RSO's learning to do close order drill, but "oh well."  I think LSE would have preferred a standard Marine Security Guard detachment.

The remarks were well done, drawing out various aspects of LSE's life and character.  Jim Foley spoke very well on behalf of the Foreign Service, telling several stories about working for and with "the Eagle." I enjoyed his accounts of getting screamed at by Eagleburger.  I guess the story was that they were in the car, on the way to the White House for a meeting to plan a speech that Foley had been told to write in support of the President's re-election campaign.  Foley very carefully began to explain to Secretary Eagleburger that he was not sure he could do this, as he was an FSO and not sure he would be voting for the President.  "Hell," yelled Eagleburger, "I don't even know if I'm going to vote for him, but would you write the !#%&*%#! speech!"  All of us had those experiences, but we also knew they weren't aimed at us. 

Scowcroft talked about how he and Larry kept things under control over a period of about twenty years as they coordinated, often with hourly phone calls, between NSC and State under Presidents like Nixon, Ford and Bush.  

Howard Baker is getting on in years and suffering Parkinson's, but did a credible job of talking about Larry's relations with Congress.  Ken Juster read the poem "High Flight" by John Gillespie Magee, Jr.  Secretary Baker talked about how he was convinced to chose Eagleburger to be his deputy -- despite considerable "doubts about a guy who smoked and was kind of rumpled, when I'm a buttoned down kind of guy." 

Kissinger was really quite funny, telling a number of stories to illustrate how Larry believed that it was the Secretary's job to run the Department of State, and the Foreign Service's job to run the Secretary.  He admitted that Eagleburger kept his (Kissinger's) ego under control too.  Kissinger recounted how once, during a particularly difficult negotiation in the Middle East, after a very long day of talks, he Kissinger finally went to bed, only to be awakened by the muzzerein's call from a nearby mosque.  It was so loud that it sounded like it was emanating from right outside the Secretary's room, so he donned his robe and stomped over to Eagleburger's room next door to demand that Eagleburger do something about it.  Without missing a beat, he recounted, Eagleburger in his underwear picked up a yellow pad and pen, and asked, "And, to whom would you like me to send that message, Mr. Secretary?"

Gates talked about Larry Eagleburger the person, and told some stories about their travels and travails together in the Reagan and Bush administrations.   He told how the President several times sent the two of them to Europe to deliver some sort of unpleasant messages to the European allies.  They always began with Prime Minister Thatcher in London, thinking that if they got past her, the rest would be comparatively easy.   On at least the second or third of these trips, where the message was not much to her liking, she welcomed them both into Number Ten and said, "Please sit down.  In fact, sit right there where each of you were a month ago."   After the meeting, as she escorted them to the door of Number Ten, Gates said, Thatcher said with a warm smile to them, "You know you are always welcome here at Number Ten." But then, turning icy and stern, "Except, that is, if you ever try to raise that subject with me again."  Later, said Gates, she said something to the President about his having sent "Tweedledum and Tweedledee to see me."   To laughter in the chapel, Gates said he and Larry Eagleburger often debated which of them was which.

Secretary Clinton was also very good, especially recounting a story about her own first encounter with Secretary Eagleburger when his one piece of advice to her as incoming Secretary of State was, "Keep your eye upon the donut...and not upon the hole."  She made particular note of his being the first and only FSO to become Secretary of State, and his particular way of energizing a room of FSO's with his plain speaking and reputation for speaking truth to power.  She told the story of his getting dressed down at the Kennedy White House when, as a junior desk officer for Cuba, he analyzed the Bay of Pigs action on the first day and insisted it would fail.  And she told a nice account of his visit to the Department last month for the fifty year anniversary of the Op Center's creation. 

Many speakers talked about his love of country and service to the Department, but she make a unique point about LSE's love for, and belief in, the Department and the Foreign Service.

Flying the VFR Flyway Between BWI and DCA

A friend asked how you fly the VFR flyway between the Eastern Shore and Leesburg.  It's not as straightforward as you might wish because of the Special Flight Rules Area (SFRA) that bedevils all D.C. area pilots.  The alternative is to go IFR.  But, if you file for IFR, the Potomac controllers will make it easy on themselves and route you way north of Baltimore at 7000 feet or more. 
The beauty of the trip is to do it at low altitude so you can see the Bay, the boats, the houses, the U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, College Park and the University of Maryland, and all the golf courses along the Potomac estuary.  And you save time and fuel with a more direct routing.

The entire route of flight

So, the VFR flyway is a really nice way to make the east-west traverse from Leesburg to the Eastern Shore or Delaware/NJ area or the reverse when returning home.  Last time I did it was June 13, returning from Cape May in southern New Jersey.

I planned a route from, in this case, KWWD-GRACO-VPOOP-VPONX-KGAI-KJYO.  By using GRACO instead of PALEO, I stay south of Dover's airspace on the way across Delaware.  I have, however, in the past called up Dover and asked permission to transit their airspace. They are always very helpful, even if sometimes you get a trainee controller who is a little unsure what to do.  On June 13, we flew from KWWD to GRACO at 2500 -- nice views of the Delaware Bay, tankers, Eastern Shore, Chesapeake Bay, sailboats, the bridge, etc.

Before departure, I filed a SFRA Inbound flight plan that only showed PALEO-VPOOP-VPONX-KGAI-KJYO.  I filed for VFR/25 (hundred feet) and estimated the time enroute.  Taking off from Cape May, I figured it would be 20 to 30 minutes from KWWD to GRACO, so my flight plan was timed to start 30 minutes after our anticipated take off time.

When I was about 10 miles east of GRACO, I called up Potomac on the PALEO frequency (132.775) and asked for a squawk code.  The controller gave me a code and said "Continue VFR, remain clear of Class Bravo."  I dropped down to 2300 feet before crossing the western shoreline by Annapolis so that I would be safely under the Bravo.

In fact, the Potomac controller treated me like flight following, and called out traffic for us.  Of course having the traffic alert working was great too.  There were a few planes landing and taking off from Tipton and Suburban airports, so it was good to keep an eye on them.  The views are great, and you can see the Capitol building and everything downtown on a clear day.

Our return was pretty effortless, and Marcia thought the view was much better.  Except for having to circle once north of Leesburg to let a Cessna fly the ILS 17 approach, we came straight in from Gaithersburg and flew the RNAV 17 approach ourselves just for practice.  Potomac told us about the other traffic and when we were at CACAS he told us to "keep the code and frequency change approved."

You can see the VPOOP-VPONX slot on the back side of the Terminal chart for Washington.  There is another one down on the south side for transiting around the south end of the SFRA.

Commercial Pilot Training

Today was a spectacular early fall day. A great day for some flight training, so I met Mark at Atlantic Airways at 10 a.m. We reviewed flight maneuvers for about 45 minutes, and then headed out to the hanger. Our departure into gusty north winds was a soft field takeoff on RWY 35. I need to practice that more: got to hold the nose off the ground, without touching the tail to the runway, while increasing airspeed down the runway to rotation speed.

Once up in the air over the Shenandoah Valley near Winchester I did a near perfect steep turn, some steep spirals, a steep spiral to landing, a balked landing, two power off simulated emergency landings, and several chandelles. The flight ended with a direct return to Leesburg for a short field landing. Proud to say that I nailed it, right on the big white touchdown marks, and while we didn't want to burn out the brakes, we clearly could have stopped in under a 1000 feet.

It's a dog's life...

Nikki seemed under the weather Wednesday, but was pretty perky Thursday. However, when Marcia took her for her "long" walk (usually about a half mile total), she sat down twice and then laid down twice to rest -- and she seemed tired/out of breath on the way home.

Marcia took her to the vet. Unfortunately, he found a large mass in her belly. We spent much of Saturday at the internist having a sonogram to show more than x-rays could tell. The tumor is large and on the liver. Odds are it's malignant.

The decision is to do exploratory surgery on Tuesday, and the prognosis is guarded. There's a chance it will be a benign tumor and surgery will resolve the problem. Chances are, however, that it will be be more serious, we hope surgery (getting rid of the mass) will make her more comfortable.

The good news is that Nikki doesn't know she is sick -- she is her usual happy self most of the time...just with less energy and stamina.

The other consequence is cancellation of our planned departure to Geneva, Riga, and Burgundy. We were to have departed Thursday. We just can't leave the nice young lady (who normally stays here in the house with Nikki) alone to deal with her post-operative recovery. Suppose decisions have to be made? Maybe she will need care during the day while the dog-sitter is at work.

So, we've canceled the trip, the party in Latvia, and the wine harvest tour in France. Marcia has called our friends in Latvia to apologize for upsetting their plans, and she is trying to recover what we can of the air fare and hotel reservations. I am getting in touch with the former President's office and the embassy to un-do those plans.

If there is a silver lining, it is that the money we don't spend on the trip can be applied to paying for Nikki's medical bills!

On the sunny, bright Sunday of Labor Day weekend, we flew downfrom Leesburg to West Point, Virginia. There we picked up friends Sue and Ron. After a pass or two over their nearby house in Barhamsville for aerial views, we headed to Tangier Island for lunch.

Tangier Island is, on a summer Sunday, an idyllic spot in the center of the Chesapeake Bay with just 600 inhabitants. It is accessible by only boat or airplane, and reminds some people of Shelter Cove in California.

We flew due east from West Point to a fix called JAMIE (in honor of Jamestowne?) and then due north about ten miles to land RWY 2 at KTGI. This rectangular pattern enabled us to skirt restricted area R-6609, a bombing practice area for the Patuxent Naval Air Station.

Upon landing we paid a ten dollar parking fee, which I did not resent because this little island has few ways to bring in any civic revenues. After all, there are no parking meters or police speed traps.

Houses and commercial buildings on the island vary in their condition. It is a fishing community and there are remains of boats and crab pots everywhere. In the harbor, fishing boats rocked on the waters alongside pleasure craft.

Many houses were freshly painted, some with shutters in contrasting gay colors, and trimmed lawns. Flowers bloomed in window boxes, and there seemed to be lots of childrens’ toys strewn about. A large Methodist church stands at one end of town, and it appeared there was a Baptist chapel at the other end. At the least, there was a parson’s lodge.

There are at least three or four restaurants in business (and about an equal number no longer in business), all of them doing a brisk midday trade in crab sandwiches and other regional dishes. There were long lines at the first restaurant we tried, but the second had a table for four in about five minutes. Just lucky timing, I guess.

There were offers of “island tours” by golf cart (another local industry on summer weekend days) but we chose to walk around a bit before returning to the plane. We saw the island’s clinic, served by a doctor who comes weekly, flying his own helicopter over from the mainland, as reported recently in an NPR story.

Tangier Island is pleasant enough in summer, but I bet it can be a cold and lonely place on a January weekday when the winds are blowing.

Still, I think we’ll come back some time again. The crab sandwiches make it worth the trip.