|
 |
||||
My college friends decided to all meet up in Cleveland, OH for a weekend of fun. All of them lived relatively close to CLE - Detroit, Buffalo and Chicago. I was definitely the odd man out coming the from the furthest distance. While a 6 hours drive on the PA/OH turnpikes sounded reasonable, compared to a 2 hour flight, I couldn't say no to taking my absolute favorite form of transportation - the RV-7! The trip out was relatively easy. Swing north of Pittsburgh, south of the low KCLE class bravo, and touch down in Lorain County airport (KLPR).  It was the perfect afternoon to take a flight out there. Severe CAVU!  I stuck relatively low at 4,500' to avoid the headwinds. WeatherMeister.com predicted about a 20 kts headwind, which was dead on.   The leaves were just a little before prime flying out there. However, the views from my afternoon office could not be beat.    I played hookie from the office for a couple of hours. Could you tell I was happier to be in the air than at my desk??!?!?!?  About 1/2 way there, the headwinds died out to something more reasonable.  The closer I got to OH, the better the leaves looked. Simply spectacular views from the air.  I landed at KLPR just a little before sunset. It was an absolute perfect flight out the Cleveland.  Fast forward a day. I was supposed to leave on Sunday, but the weather didn't look optimistic for a Sunday departure. So while I watched my friends partake in libations at many outdoor breweries all day, I acted like a responsible adult knowing I needed to take off to get home before the weather moved in. Weather in Cleveland and north-western PA was fine, but the clouds were about 4,000' scattered. Since I was flying mostly at night, I stuck low. I knew bigger tailwinds were up higher, and the closer I got east, the less clouds I needed to worry about. Even at 3,500', I had a nice 34 kts push on the tail.  The sunset and views were spectacular headed back home.  185 kts across the ground was also a nice touch!  Just north of Pittsburgh, all of the METAR's were calling for CAVU. I climbed up to see what sort of tailwinds I could find. Booyah! 54 kts at 5,500!  I was able to sustain about 211 kts across the ground on the rest of the way home after I crossed north of Pittsburgh. I was able to make it home in 1:20! While I would of liked to stay for another night with my buddies, getting home in next to no time was a nice second option! I can't say enough about this fine machine!!! I can't wait to see what the next adventure brings! 
|
|||||
|
http://RVplane.com |
Last Modified: August 13, 2023 |