Terrific Day to Fly

[Lawreston]

Following about two weeks of either rain, overcast, or just crosswind conditions above my personal minimum today was a terrific day to fly. I left Wiscasset KIWI with no specific destination in mind. It was a great opportunity to play around with the facets of the new Garmin 430W. And yes, I'm going to like that new toy.
I flew several miles toward Bath Iron Works at its Kennebec River site, then turned South and followed Route #127 to search out my house and other places of interest en route to the ocean(mouth of the Kennebec River), the sands of Reid State Park, around Seguin Island, and the historic Fort Popham.
My house seemed so small up on the hill and in the trees; but it was an easy find because of the quick visibility of the round, above-ground swimming pool at
a neighboring home 1/2 way up said hill. And the two dormers on my roof are very evident.
A lot of circling ensued -- photos of Fort Popham(Google it - very early American history http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Popham), Robinhood Marine Center(not many masts in the water these days), and the Phippsburg Church(passed so many times by the BIW destroyers going down the Kennebec on each's virgin cruise to ocean waters. Then I followed the Kennebec North, took a couple photos of Bath Iron Works(and the bridge), and continued to Bowdoinham and Topsham. Over the latter I searched for and found the under-construction house my Massachusetts cousin is having built at Highland Green(nationally known development of 250+ houses and other residences for the over-55 generation. Fran's house should be finished in about two weeks. She has the highest elevation in the development.
Then it was time to head back to Wiscasset. Upon landing I refueled with 14 gallons. Not bad: two hours of flight varying between 1200 and 2000 msl, velocities anywhere from 80 to 120mph, maneuvering for photo angles.
7 gph doesn't seem too bad for the 0320-E2d with the Power Flow exhaust system. Perhaps I shouldn't dwell on the $5.69/9 100LL fuel, it having been such a good day, eh? And when I arrived home Frances said that she and her two Massachusetts guests, "saw you up there, circling." I hope the photos will be successful. I was using some slide film prior to putting the Sony A900 DSLR into use. It's somewhat of a stretch reverting to 35mm while my Sony A100 DSLR is in temporary sick bay. All-in-all, is there anything better than flying when no destination is the destination?

HR

EDIT: I just noticed this forum software doesn't recognize paragraph separations or indentation. It was not my intent that the above appear as one long paragraph. )

 

[Teller1900]

Sounds like a FANTASTIC flight! Lets see some of the pictures from the day! Does BIW having anything interesting going on right now? We never got to fly quite close enough to get a good view into their dry dock, it was disappointing. Are the leaves past peak colors up there already?

 

[Lawreston]

Sounds like a FANTASTIC flight! Lets see some of the pictures from the day! Does BIW having anything interesting going on right now? We never got to fly quite close enough to get a good view into their dry dock, it was disappointing. Are the leaves past peak colors up there already?

I was working with 35mm slides -- Fujichrome Provia -- and it'll be about 10 days before the film is processed(bummer) with CD. There should be some good shots. I didn't see much exciting at BIW, other than the gigantic #10 crane which I'm sure you've seen from 10 to 15 miles out. The huge dry dock was in the water but I didn't see anything in it. Of course, I had better things to do than linger at the scene; and I didn't get shot down.
The only photo from yesterday I can show is below; one of a couple I took with the new A900 after the bird was fed and put to bed. Note how close I single-handled her re the tape adhesive-marked lines. I need to get some pavement paint and do it properly. My end unit is a good location. I just pull her out, go left of where my truck is seen; preflight, and it's nearly a straight shot to Runway #25(if that's what happens to be in use).

HR

Added: I don't think the leaves are quite peaked in this immediate area, though it was colorful and I saw a lot of it as I headed toward my house and the ocean. About being "shot down": While I was repeatedly circling Frances' house at Highland Green(anyone who reads Downeast Magazine will see Highland Green advertisements on the (I think) inside back cover) I was only a couple nm off the North end of NAS Brunswick's two 8000' runways. That was within the 5nm "space" but I hadn't contacted the tower. Flying over the base one must be at 3000 msl. I was circling Highland Green at between 1500' and 2000' but I had gone around, not over the Base. Nobody contacted me and I didn't see any F-16 traffic after me. )