Day One:
Luray Caverns, Luray, Virginia
We decided to head to Luray, Virginia to see the famous Luray Caverns. I hadn't been to Luray Caverns since I was about 7 years old and Shawn has never seen the caverns. The Luray Caverns is a massive tourist draw in the area.
Off we went from KLOM (Wings Field) to KLUA (Luray Airport). There was a direct crosswind, not strong but directly across the runway. My take-off was not that pretty but not that bad either. We called up Philadelphia Approach and received a transponder code and flight following. Easy, easy. Just as we were exiting Philly's class bravo, the right side cowl cover popped open. I reported to Philly that I needed to land immediately. They asked if I was declaring an emergency. I thought about it - it wasn't affecting the handling of the aircraft, it was impeding my view out the front of the airplane, we were not in busy airspace. It was just merely inconvenient. So, no, I didn't need to declare an emergency. Philly gave us vectors to New Garden Airport (N57) and we flew a standard traffic pattern and landed without incident. I shut down the engine, got out and re-attached the cowling. We took a 'biology' break (since we were on the ground), checked the cowling again (just to be sure), and then took off and continued on.
We flew down north of the Washington DC Special Flight Restriction Zone (SFRZ) but south of the P40 restricted zone. Potomoc Approach gave us vectors around Frederick, MD airport (home of AOPA) and then back on course. We flew around some of the ridges of the Shanendoah mountains and landed without effort at KLUA.
At Luray Airport (KLUA), we were met by Jim, the FBO Manager. There was no crew car, no taxi, and no Uber and so Jim graciously drove us around for the afternoon. He dropped us at 'Ole Bucks' for lunch and then came and picked us up to go back to the airport to grab our bags, then drove us around the town of Luray to give us the "50 cent tour" (as he kept calling it). Then he dropped us at the "Best Hotel" in Luray - The Mimslyn Inn. This was a beautiful, classic inn that stately sat on the top of a hill over-looking the main street through town. If you are ever in Luray, stay at the Mimslyn Inn!
Day Two:
Luray, Virginia > Durham, NC
Waking up early the next morning, we beat the crowds to the Luray Cavern's to take the tour (We walked as it wasn't that far from the hotel. It was off season and early in the morning, so we basically had the place to ourselves. The tour is about an hour and a half through the caves to view the beautiful rock formations that took thousands of years to form. After the tour, Shawn and I grabbed lunch at the cafe. After called Airport Jim, who came to get us (Luray Cavern's is only a 3-4 minute drive from the airport). We grabbed the luggage from the Mimslyn Inn and off to the airport, where Jim had fueled up 'Big Boy' so we just had to pre-flight and hop in and take off. Big Boy climbed to 8500' MSL and cruised along trimmed up - It was like we had an auto-pilot. Stunning views of the mountains still enrobbed with spots of mist were laid out below. We landed at Burlington Regional Airport (KBUY), to stop and visit friends, Kyle and Bryan (also Bonanza pilots). We went out to dinner and then a great little beer place in Durham. This was just a quick stop to see the guys.
Day Three:
Durham, NC > Myrtle Beach, SC
Kyle and Bryan were nice and let us crash in their guest room (thanks, guys). We woke up, played with the dogs, went to breakfast with Kyle and then Kyle took us to see the Chapel at Duke University. It is a stunning place with a beautiful organ and ceilings that reminded me of Cambridge University Kings College Chapel (I wonder if Duke 'copied' Kings in some small way).
Then it was off to the airport to pre-flight, fuel up and go. The gang at Burlington Aiport (KBUY) were great. They helped untie the plane, fueled it up and marshalled us out of the space when we left. They waived the overnight fee because we bought fuel, but we were amazed at how many other fees there were but for the service that we received, I figure the airport has to make money somehow to pay for the staff that provides the amazing level of service. We flew to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina at 5500' MSL. I did a wonderful job holding a VOR line and altitude (I was practicing my IFR scan ... NOT simulated, just practicing the scan). We were on with Fayette Approach pretty much the whole time and so they set us up with a straight in approach to runway 18 at KMYR - Sweet!
It was a tad bit weird seeing 180 and looking out to the ocean. That's because South Carolina curves around and so faces south toward the ocean, up on the east coast I'd have to be flying 090 to see the ocean. So that was a little weird.
We landed, grabbed a rental car, checked into a resort hotel (Marriot Grand Dunes) that was having a large conference - we decided to change hotels because it was really noisy that first night! We found a wonderful seafood restaurant (Hook and Barrel), had a wonderful dinner, then back to the hotel where we immediately crashed into bed (maybe I shouldn't use the word 'crash' in a flight blog, huh?)
Day Four:
Zack's Big Birthday
We woke up early, went for a walked on the beach, then changed hotels. This hotel had a balcony that overlooked the ocean (Hilton Anderson Beach Club and Spa). We spent the afternoon relaxing. Then found a great little 'fancy' pizzaria called 'Brixx' - because pizza is one of my most favorite meals so why not? Then back to the hotel and had a wonderful cheesecake with blueberry topping as my birthday cake (We had bought it the night before at 'Hook and Barrel'.
Day Five:
St. Simon Island, GA
Off we went again. While Myrtle Beach was nice, it was time to move on. We went to a wonderful polish restaurant for a Sunday Brunch (Pulaski Deli). It wasn't an official Sunday Brunch - just Sunday Brunch for us because we were eating late. We returned the fancy rental car. Pre-Flight complete, received clearance from the class C airspace, then off we went!
After about 2 hours we arrived in St. Simon (KSSI). Wow, did the ADS-B traffic light up! Lots of airplanes on the frequency, all buzzing around. We sequenced ourselves into the traffic pattern and landed to find a really, really busy airport. Apparently, a PGA tournament was just finishing up. That explained all the airplanes sitting on the tarmac (lots of private jets). Within 12 hours all those airplanes would be gone.
We had picked St. Simon because the hotel (Hilton Home 2 Suites) is directly on the airport. You literally walk out of the FBO and into the hotel. There are big class B airports that you can do that, but little GA airports usually hotels are miles away.
Day Six:
St. Simon Island, GA
Beach Bums in St. Simon! We spent the next day just walking the beaches, and the downtown. St. Simon's was a lovely little town with a tourist-y shopping district, pristine beaches, a pier overlooking a harbour and a lighthouse to tour. So that's what we spent the day doing.
Day Seven:
Martinsville, VA / Philadelphia, PA
After reviewing weather, there were some storms moving through the mid-west and the 'mid-south' that might have blocked our getting home (remember: VFR), so we decided to cut the trip a little short and head home for Thanksgiving. But it was going to be a 5 hour flight from KSSI to KLOM, so we looked for a fuel stop that would be half way home. Shawn found a great little airport - Blue Ridge/Martinsville, Virginia. Cheap fuel ($4.19 per gallon) and a restaurant on the field that had great reviews AND it was exactly half-way. Off we went. Lunch was great!!! The sandwiches were cheap and packed with meats and cheeses. The fuel was as cheap as advertised and as we sat and ate lunch more and more airplanes landed to fill up. By the time we were finished lunch, I had counted five airplanes - we were number six and there were two behind us. Fueled up, we were back in the air. Greenboro handed us off to Washington Center, who was friendly and accomodating, but kept changing our routing 'to save us time' - that was good practice for me as I had to find all the new waypoints and intersections quickly. We cruised home at 9,500' and so had to begin our descent south of Wilmington, Delaware. But because of our altitude and our direction, we ended up with a mighty good tail-wind and so was hitting near 180 miles per hour ground speed on the way home.
'Big Boy' is nestled under his new covers for a well deserved rest. He will be going to the mechanic's shop to get an oil change next week. It is well-deserved after all the flying he's done!
| Trip Metrics | |||
| Day One / November 20, 2019 | |||
| KLOM (Wings) > KLUA (Luray, VA) | 198nm (227 miles) / 2hr 11min | ||
| Day Two / November 21, 2019 | |||
| KLUA (Luray, VA) > KBUY (Burlington / Durham, NC) | 191nm (220 miles) / 1hr 26min | ||
| Day Three / November 22, 2019 | |||
| KBUY (Burlington / Durham, NC) > KMYR (Myrtle Beach International, Myrtle Beach, SC) | 149nm (171 miles) / 1hr 20min | ||
| Day Five / November 24, 2019 | |||
| KMYR (Myrtle Beach, SC) > KSSI (St. Simon Island, GA) | 220nm (253 miles) / 1hr 54min | ||
| Day Seven / November 26, 2019 | |||
| KSSI (St. Simon Island, GA) > KMTV (Blue Ridge/Martinsville, VA) | 350nm (403 miles) / 2hr 26min | ||
| KMTV (Blue Ridge/Martinsville, VA) > KLOM (Wing's Field) | 336nm (386 miles) / 2hr 13min / Top Speed: 172knots / 197mph | ||
| Total: 1444nm / 1662miles / 12hours | |||
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