AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2012 - 28

WAYPOINTS

BY THOMAS B. HAINES
EDITOR IN CHIEF

No place in particular

s the gear thunks into the wheel wells I crank the old Bonanza onto left crosswind— a bit more aggressively than usual, just because it feels right.

The Bonanza churns north, leaving the airport behind and finding only a patchwork of farm fields and rolling hills ahead. Crossing the Monocacy River I think of canoe trips under the snaking shaded canopy below. Just to the west, the Catoctin Mountains forming the edge of the Glade Valley bring back memories of hiking along dirt trails, my (then) little girls cavorting on rocks, our steps silenced by a carpet of autumn-tinged leaves. A yellow ring on the moving map reminds me of Camp There are, after all, no passengers to mind today. David on the ridge just beyond, the presidential Editor in Chief retreat demanding a small prohibited area even Most of my flights are long cross-countries on Tom Haines flies when the commander in chief is not there—and behalf of AOPA’s magazines and other media chanhis Bonanza A36 nels. The Bonanza A36 makes a terrific traveling a bigger ring when he is. Thankfully, this day he is (below, over the airplane, stuffed top to bottom, front to back with somewhere else, freeing up a big chunk of airspace. Maryland countrystaff members and photo and video gear as we visit Most days the Bonanza just wants to go—she side) for business loves 2,500 rpm—but this day she seems content aviation companies and events throughout the East and pleasure. and Midwest. Many of the air-to-air photos you see with me dialing the throttle and rpm way back and on these pages are shot from this airplane with the we loaf along at 1,000 feet agl, the engine analyzer two aft doors removed. I carefully plan these cross-country showing just 55 percent power. We explore the large dairy farms flights, watching weather trends beginning days in advance, in the valley and the numerous limestone quarries that scar the and then using the AOPA Internet Flight Planner to map it out earth as seen from above. Fortunately, trees and berms keep and file the flight plans. Some of these flights are VFR but most those on the ground from seeing these gaping gashes. While are IFR. The magic of IFR flying is that most airspace concerns truly ugly sights, they are at the same time interesting from simply melt away, simplifying planning. Especially with the above. Usually half filled with Caribbean blue/green water, the complicated and unforgiving airspace around Washington, gray rock terraces above the waterline create interesting shadD.C., I find it easier to file IFR in this region than to go VFR— ows and textures. Even on this January Saturday, trucks and even on the most spectacularly clear days. cranes work at extracting the limestone, reminding me of the Tonka dump truck and loader I had as a kid—toys still stored for some reason in my parents’ basement. I have a tradition of flying on New Year’s Day whenever possible. This year my daughter and her boyfriend and I headed to the airport for that flight, only to be greeted by a passing rain shower. We waited for the passage, but then another round of showers cropped up and, ultimately, we bagged the flight. Naturally, about the time we got back home, the sun came out. So, OK, the traditional New Year’s flight was out, but this flight, on the first Saturday of the new year, is a worthy substitute. There is no flight plan, no mission; just flying for the sake of flight. To feel the winds ripple off the ridges to the west; to allow the airplane to respond to little mountain waves without a need to command a return to the strict But today is different. Exiting the pattern on the downwind altitude limit usually demanded by ATC. On this day, I commit on this crisp winter day, I feel a little guilty about all the empty to not worrying about the future of avgas, the threat of user fees, seats. Heaven knows there’s a long list of people I have promised the crowding of development around the airport, the dearth of rides to over the years, but this flight is just for me. Throwing new airplane sales. Today, we fly just because we can. airspace caution to the wind, I launch on this VFR flight with only a quick look at the weather, notams, and TFRs. The destina- Email the author at thomas.haines@aopa.org; follow on twitter. tion: No place in particular. com/tomhaines29. 28 • MARCH 2012

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AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2012

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