Flight to Sullivan County International.
I arrived at the airport for a planned 0700 departure. However, during pre-flight, the GPS failed to initialize and showed a bunch of gibberish on the screen. Since I had already filed /G and was hoping for some direct routing, I opted to switch aircraft. The second C172 was fine and I received my clearance to Sullivan County Airport via "radar vectors BOSOX V419 BDL V205 TRESA direct".
I entered the flight plan into the GPS and spent about 5 minutes trying to find TRESA on my charts. I was assigned 6,000 feet for my initial altitude. After runup, I was released and cleared for takeoff. Without another passenger and in the cold air, the plane was climbing at a perky 900 fpm as I contacted Boston Approach control. Approach cleared me direct BOSOX so I climbed to 6,000, set the throttle to cruise and leaned the mixture. 
There was some haze over the Connecticut River as I passed over Bradley Airport but the ride was smooth. The small headwind which cut my groundspeed to 105 knots was pretty steady with littlke turbulance, so I settled in for an enjoyable hour ride. 
Crossing over the rolling hills on the Connecticut - Massachusetts border near Winstead, Barkhamstead reservoir was a prominent landmark on the left.
On the right was another pretty body of water, West Branch Reservoir. It sported two seperate dams, one on the southernmost part of the reservoir and one near the center. There didn't seem to be any roads girdling it and looked like a nice secluded spot to fish. Need to keep that in mind in the future. About 15 miles east of TRESA, I was handed over to New York Center who cleared me direct to Sullivan County Airport. 
By this point in the flight, I was approaching the Hudson river valley with view to the south stretching out to Poughkeepsie with its railroad bridge and the mid-Hudson Bridge crossing. Beyond it, I could see down to the Newburg-Beacon Bridge, about 25 nautical miles away. 
Directly in front of the aircraft was the Hudon itself with Kingston on the far shore and Saugerties looking like a little concentration of buildings to the north. Beyond Kingston I could make out the blue of Ashokan Reservoir and the mountains of Catskill Park. Most were still topped with snow and the ski slopes of Hunter Mountain could be seen stark against the mountainside. 
The Hudson itself was absolutely brown with the silt and mud from the recent rains which had caused so much flooding in New England and New York. On the east side of the river was a good view of Hyde Park, NY with route 9 snaking through the center of town. This is built on the old Albany Post road, a major stage route between New York City and Albany in earlier times. Once across the Hudson, I entered what I call "the Funnel", the approach into Sullivan County airport with the Catskills bordering to the north and Ice Caves Mountains, near Ellenville, to the South. ATC started to step down my altitude to 5,000 then 4,000 feet and I started to pick up some turbulence, not uncommon here. There are often hang gliders soaring on the side of he mountain catching the thermals that are prevalent. 
I didn't see any hang gliders but did notice a large resort near the top of Ice Caves Mountain that I hadn't noticed before. It turned out to be Mohonk Lake Resort in New Paltz, a retreat established in 1869 and a National Landmark to boot. Need to visit it sometime with the parents to check out the gardens and restaurant. 
The descent took me south of Rondout Reservoir and I overflew Sullivan County Airport at 3,500 feet to check for traffic. There was one other plane in the pattern so I made a decending 270 degree turn to the right and entered the left downwind for runway 33 at 2,400 feet. The landing was smoother than silk and I taxied to the ramp, shut down and found my father.
After a couple of hours visiting the old homestead, it was back to the ramp to take on some fuel. I burned 17.7 gallons on the way out vs. a plan of 17 gallons so I topped off the tanks and radioed New York clerance delivery via a remote communications outlet they have on the field.
I was cleared via V106 to BAF (Barnes Airport VOR) DREEM and then direct to Hanscom Airport. This route would bypass the heavy traffic over Bradley airport in Hardford, CT and instead route me over Pawling, NY and Springfield, MA. Takeoff was uneventful and I intercepted V106 and started my climb to 7,000 feet. The flight through the "funnel" was very turbulent with my head banging off of the ceiling a couple of times. The west wind and the afternoon thermals conspired for quite a roller coaster ride as I headed east. It improved a small amount as I crossed over the Hudson and was cleared direct to Barnes VOR doing about 135 knots over the ground with a little push from a tailwind. 
In less than an hour, I was passing over Barnes Airport near Springfield, MA. Just beyond the Connecticut River, I passed directly over Westover Air National Guard base. Westover used to house a Q site during the cold war where nuclear weapons were stored and assembled. Westover ARB is the nation's largest Air Force Reserve base, and is home to the Air Force's largest cargo aircraft, the C-5 Galaxy. More than 2,700 military and civilian workers are assigned to Westover's 439th Airlift Wing, a unit of the Air Force Reserve Command. 
I could make out a number of the monsters on the tarmac below, even from 7,000 feet! By now, I was under the control of Bradley Approach who asked me to descend to 5,000 feet. Just north of Worchester, I descended again to 3,000 just over Worchester Reservoir which is a favorite spot for flight training. There were targets everywhere, below me, above me.....finally I maneuvered through the area and headed for Hanscom. The wind had shifted from the east so I was able to make a straight in approach to Runway 11. Nice flight!
I entered the flight plan into the GPS and spent about 5 minutes trying to find TRESA on my charts. I was assigned 6,000 feet for my initial altitude. After runup, I was released and cleared for takeoff. Without another passenger and in the cold air, the plane was climbing at a perky 900 fpm as I contacted Boston Approach control. Approach cleared me direct BOSOX so I climbed to 6,000, set the throttle to cruise and leaned the mixture. 
There was some haze over the Connecticut River as I passed over Bradley Airport but the ride was smooth. The small headwind which cut my groundspeed to 105 knots was pretty steady with littlke turbulance, so I settled in for an enjoyable hour ride. 
Crossing over the rolling hills on the Connecticut - Massachusetts border near Winstead, Barkhamstead reservoir was a prominent landmark on the left.
On the right was another pretty body of water, West Branch Reservoir. It sported two seperate dams, one on the southernmost part of the reservoir and one near the center. There didn't seem to be any roads girdling it and looked like a nice secluded spot to fish. Need to keep that in mind in the future. About 15 miles east of TRESA, I was handed over to New York Center who cleared me direct to Sullivan County Airport. 
By this point in the flight, I was approaching the Hudson river valley with view to the south stretching out to Poughkeepsie with its railroad bridge and the mid-Hudson Bridge crossing. Beyond it, I could see down to the Newburg-Beacon Bridge, about 25 nautical miles away. 
Directly in front of the aircraft was the Hudon itself with Kingston on the far shore and Saugerties looking like a little concentration of buildings to the north. Beyond Kingston I could make out the blue of Ashokan Reservoir and the mountains of Catskill Park. Most were still topped with snow and the ski slopes of Hunter Mountain could be seen stark against the mountainside. 
The Hudson itself was absolutely brown with the silt and mud from the recent rains which had caused so much flooding in New England and New York. On the east side of the river was a good view of Hyde Park, NY with route 9 snaking through the center of town. This is built on the old Albany Post road, a major stage route between New York City and Albany in earlier times. Once across the Hudson, I entered what I call "the Funnel", the approach into Sullivan County airport with the Catskills bordering to the north and Ice Caves Mountains, near Ellenville, to the South. ATC started to step down my altitude to 5,000 then 4,000 feet and I started to pick up some turbulence, not uncommon here. There are often hang gliders soaring on the side of he mountain catching the thermals that are prevalent. 
I didn't see any hang gliders but did notice a large resort near the top of Ice Caves Mountain that I hadn't noticed before. It turned out to be Mohonk Lake Resort in New Paltz, a retreat established in 1869 and a National Landmark to boot. Need to visit it sometime with the parents to check out the gardens and restaurant. 
The descent took me south of Rondout Reservoir and I overflew Sullivan County Airport at 3,500 feet to check for traffic. There was one other plane in the pattern so I made a decending 270 degree turn to the right and entered the left downwind for runway 33 at 2,400 feet. The landing was smoother than silk and I taxied to the ramp, shut down and found my father.After a couple of hours visiting the old homestead, it was back to the ramp to take on some fuel. I burned 17.7 gallons on the way out vs. a plan of 17 gallons so I topped off the tanks and radioed New York clerance delivery via a remote communications outlet they have on the field.
I was cleared via V106 to BAF (Barnes Airport VOR) DREEM and then direct to Hanscom Airport. This route would bypass the heavy traffic over Bradley airport in Hardford, CT and instead route me over Pawling, NY and Springfield, MA. Takeoff was uneventful and I intercepted V106 and started my climb to 7,000 feet. The flight through the "funnel" was very turbulent with my head banging off of the ceiling a couple of times. The west wind and the afternoon thermals conspired for quite a roller coaster ride as I headed east. It improved a small amount as I crossed over the Hudson and was cleared direct to Barnes VOR doing about 135 knots over the ground with a little push from a tailwind. 
In less than an hour, I was passing over Barnes Airport near Springfield, MA. Just beyond the Connecticut River, I passed directly over Westover Air National Guard base. Westover used to house a Q site during the cold war where nuclear weapons were stored and assembled. Westover ARB is the nation's largest Air Force Reserve base, and is home to the Air Force's largest cargo aircraft, the C-5 Galaxy. More than 2,700 military and civilian workers are assigned to Westover's 439th Airlift Wing, a unit of the Air Force Reserve Command. 
I could make out a number of the monsters on the tarmac below, even from 7,000 feet! By now, I was under the control of Bradley Approach who asked me to descend to 5,000 feet. Just north of Worchester, I descended again to 3,000 just over Worchester Reservoir which is a favorite spot for flight training. There were targets everywhere, below me, above me.....finally I maneuvered through the area and headed for Hanscom. The wind had shifted from the east so I was able to make a straight in approach to Runway 11. Nice flight!
posted by Robert at 6:16 PM
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