Boston to Roanoke to Nashville

George wrote:
Marc wrote:
.. fly down the NJ coast, perhaps stop at Cape May
There's nothing at the airport, but it's a short cab ride to town. Lots of nice
Victorian buildings there. Skip it if the weather's bad.

Why the heck is this airport so dead. I live in Arizona but I have
family ties out at the Jersey Shore. Last time I was out there, a
little over a year ago, I was a brand new private pilot - literally
days, maybe a week. I thought I'd run down to the FBO at WWD and get
checked out in a 172 and finally see the seashore in style. Boy was I
surprised to find pretty much nothing happening at the airport except
weeds growing. There's a "museum" there, which was a large hangar
thrown wide open basically with a coffee can for donations by the
door. A restaurant, if you want to call it that, consisting of a
single-wide trailer on blocks that was "open" from I think 11 to 11:15
on Tuesdays. I found one official looking gentleman standing in some
sort of radio hut (it's a non-towered field, the nearest FSS is miles
away at Millville I think) who told me where to find the FBO. There I
met a nice guy named Tom, an A & P, and had fun chatting with him
about lots of airplane stuff but in the end he was there working for
"the man", who wasn't around, and who wasn't into paying for insurance
and then I'd have to have a CFI around to give checkouts and bla bla
blah...

Long story short, I still haven't seen the cape and the beach from the
air. I would think an airport at the south Jersey Shore, particularly
in the summertime, would be teeming with people.

Rob

Dave Butler wrote:
Of course there's all the hoopla about the centennial of flight. That might be a
reason to go there, or a reason to avoid it, depending on your preference. If
your flight is during the centennial celebration, look out for presedential
TFRs, as Bush is expected to attend.

Oh the irony is too brutal. I'm sure he'll have some prepared remarks
for the occation. If Dubya's speechwriters are reading might I
suggest including something about how if the Wright brothers were to
attempt their experiment in that spot 100 years later they'd be
breaking the law and they'd be deemed an immediate threat to the
President and dealt with accordingly.

Regards,

Rob

Pitch, roll, and yaw - the axis of evil.

Rob wrote:

Marc wrote:
.. fly down the NJ coast, perhaps stop at Cape May

Why the heck is this airport so dead.

It may be better in the summertime, but the entire Jersey shore pretty much
closes up after Labor Day. It's really amazing to take a look at one of the
beaches on Labor Day weekend and compare it to the same beach the next weekend.

George Patterson
The actions taken by the New Hampshire Episcopalians (ie. inducting a gay
bishop) are an affront to Christians everywhere. I am just thankful that
the church's founder, Henry VIII, and his wife Catherine of Aragon, and his
wife Anne Boleyn, and his wife Jane Seymour, and his wife Anne of Cleves,
and his wife Katherine Howard, and his wife Catherine Parr are no longer
here to suffer through this assault on traditional Christian marriages.

"David Reinhart" wrote in message ...

Ocean City, MD (26N) is almost on the boardwalk It has a nice little eatery
and is a nice stop.

You mean Ocean City, NJ. Ocean City, MD (OXB) has no restaurant and it's
further than most people want to walk from the beach.

Yep, right. Got my cities mixed up. At least the ocean's the same!

Dave Reinhart


Ron Natalie wrote:

"David Reinhart" wrote in message ...

Ocean City, MD (26N) is almost on the boardwalk It has a nice little eatery
and is a nice stop.

You mean Ocean City, NJ. Ocean City, MD (OXB) has no restaurant and it's
further than most people want to walk from the beach.

"Marc" wrote in message news:nxhub.176207$275.567345@attbi_s53...


Thanks to everyone for their comments. Actually I was surprised to see
my own post, I had not completed it, and must have pushed the wrong
button, intending to save it as draft. Hope I don't do that while
flying.

I am still pouring over sectional charts plotting my route. My current
plan is to fly a direct line Boston - Harrisburg, PA - Charlotte, WV
-- Nashville (actually Murfreesboro). This will keep me to the west
of the Appalachia. On the return I will head due east to Roanoke and
then meander over to the coast for the return trip. I gather from
several people's comments that turbulance can be a problem when
overflying the Appalchia. I am looking at flying to Bristol/Tri-Cities
and then following I-81 NE to Roanoke to bring me over the mountains.
Any recommendations for this or alternate route?

I notice that my route from Harrisburg - Charleston brings me over a
section of West Virginia where there seems to be almost nothing. Not
exactly nothing, but almost nothing ... very few towns and almost no
airports in an area of about 2,500 square miles between Clarksburg, WV
(CKB) and Charleston, WV (CRW). One airport, Braxton Co (48I), in the
middle. It wasn't until I started flying until I realized there are
lots of very unpopulated areas of the country, even in the East.

-Marc

"m. lamphier" wrote:

I am looking at flying to Bristol/Tri-Cities
and then following I-81 NE to Roanoke to bring me over the mountains.

I've done that route through several times. It's usually great. Be prepared to
avoid the Bristol class-D; they have a habit of refusing to talk to transient
VFR aircraft. IMO, avoiding to the west is the best route. The area around
Wytheville is frequently IMC near ground level. ROA controllers are friendly
and professional.

My route from Knoxville is usually direct to Bristol, then ROA, then SHD, where
I stop for fuel. I then head to the Linden VOR near FRR, turn towards N67, and
head home from there. You would want to run a bit further north than N67. That
course takes me through (or under) the Dulles class-B and south of the Camp
David zone.

If you're IFR, then you'll have more leeway than I.

George Patterson
A man who carries a cat by the tail learns something that can
be learned no other way.

this would be high on my priority list of stops. i'd use phf
("new-willy"), spend a day in colonial wms'burg, and go to
"nick's seafood pavilion" in yorktown for supper.

mho,

g_a


David Reinhart wrote in message ...
Wildwood Airport at Cape May is not a particualarly nice stop. The area
around it is kinda neat, I agree, but the airport is a pain. Poor line
service, poor transient facilities.

Ocean City, MD (26N) is almost on the boardwalk It has a nice little eatery
and is a nice stop.

Jamestown/Williamsburg (JGG) is not far from Colonial Williamsburg, Yorktown,
etc. They used to have car rental on the field but I don't believe that's
the case anymore. The last time we flew down there we landed at PHF (Patrick
Henry Intl., aka Newport News/Williamsburg Intl.) because we were staying for
a week and it was easier and cheaper to get a car there.

Dave Reinhart


Marc wrote:

I am thinking of taking a week or so and fly south. Would appreciate any
recommendations of places to go, esp. interesting scenary or historical
interest (that is near an airport.....).

Right now my vague plans include..

.. a ride down the Hudson Valley Corridor past Manhattan.
.. fly down the NJ coast, perhaps stop at Cape May
.. stay along the coast, east of Washington DC
.. stop at Tangier Island in the Chesapeake Bay?
.. west past Charlottesville, stop at Luray Caverns.... (yes I know it is
tacky, been there twice by car)
.. aerial tour of Shenandoah Valley