A good friend of mine has been searching for a new plane. He's been looking at the Cessna 182 and after taking him to Norfolk, VA about a month ago, he finally decided to purchase a 1968 Cessna 182 up in Boston, MA at Laurence Hanson Airport. After completing all of his paperwork it was time for us to fly up to Boston to pick up his plane. So a couple of Friday's ago we found the time and the weather appropriate to fly. Dom, the buyer, and Steve, his CFI, and myself boarded 926GZ around 10 am for departure. There was a fairly nice tailwind for the ride up and a layer of partly cloudy skies at around 5500. My idea was to climb to 7500' with flight following and fly direct over the New York Class Bravo to Hanson. The estimated flight time was about 2 hours.
We lifted off and after avoiding a couple of big puffy clouds, climbed to 7500 and had flight following with MaGuire Approach who then handed us off to New York Approach. The flight was a nice gentle flight with only a little climb to stay out of the clouds as we crossed the bay. Hanson is a large former Air Force base that now serves as a hub for some major corporate jet centers. We were fourth in line for landing as we contacted Hanson tower. A really nice private jet was in front of us. With a little crosswind landing, we touched down nicely and rolled off the runway onto the intersecting runway and over the to the Jet Center. The guys were really nice to put me in a wonderful spot that really showed off N926GZ!
Yea, that me right behind that big beautiful private jet. I sure hope he doesn't decide to take her out for a test run. Anyway, after fueling up a little, ($7.75 a gallon), we sat at the FBO waiting for the arrival of the seller. The nice thing about an airport like this is there is always something going on. Take for instance the P-52 that took off being escorted by an F-16. Now that was a sight to see. Man, those guys could fly. Anyway, it wasn't long before the seller showed up and took us around to the private hangers where his plane was waiting. The plane had new paint, new interior and a five year old engine that had just 17 hours of time. Nice! Well after a very very through checkout, Dom and Steve took her up for a little test flight. I guess they were satisfied because it wasn't long before they were back on the ground and Dom was signing the papers and handing the guy a check. New plane for Dom! Way to go!
The ride home was going to be a lonely one for me. Although I kept in touch with Steve and Dom on the radio, they had departed a few minutes before me. Well, it gave me a chance to fly solo for a little while. After going through my checks, we got the ATIS and started up by contacting ground. A little confusion on the taxi ways on the way out, but soon I was ready for departure and climbing to 8500" for the ride home. Bradley Approach picked me up for flight following and away we sailed. A thick layer of clouds below me at 7500' really kept me on my toes. Not much site seeing on the way home.
Somewhere over West Chester, New York I had a first time experience. Seems a Bonanza east bound for Boston from Teaneck was at 7000' and was having engine trouble. I heard him contact NY ATC and ask for vectors to the closest airport. NY was sending him to West Chester which was about 10 miles away. The pilot was very calm and collected, but a few minutes later I heard him tell ATC that they were at 4,000' and still didn't have the airport. ATC told him they were only about 5 miles away, but shortly after that I heard him come on and tell ATC that they weren't going to make the airport and were putting the plane down in a grass strip next to a road. WOW! ATC lost radar contact and another pilot asked if ATC wanted him to make a pass to see what was going on. It was just then when ATC changed me to another controller. WAIT, What happened?? I had to find an app on my Ipad that night for ABC NY news to find out that they two guys walked away from the plane after landing on the lawn of an IBM plant. Thank God and good ending.
The rest of the flight was uneventful and by the time I got to Trenton, the skies cleared and I descended to South Jersey and caught up with Dom and Steve. Another great day, four hours and an experience to put in my book. I love this flying stuff! Till next time, fly safe and live life to the most!
No comments:
Post a Comment