AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2020 - 35

If you can bring a destination into
your life it will positively revitalize your
aviation enjoyment-as well as your selfworth, since you will be in demand. You
are elevated from a hamburger hound to a
PanAm captain with admiring passengers.
Your family will begin to help you plan the
flights-and even bend their own schedules
to accommodate weather.
How do you find this destination? Take a
sectional and draw a circle around your airport commensurate with one hour's flight
time. Your destination will be in this circle. Look for lakes, oceans, rivers, resorts,
and recreational areas. Search out places
that would take at least three to four hours
driving-and perhaps even a ferry boat. Be
aware of the seasonal aspects. Winter places
have winter weather-such as snow, ice, low
freezing levels, less daylight, the need for a
hangar. They also might feature mountainous terrain-and for skiers, you want to go
when a big snow is forecast. Summer places
have none of the above, but they may have
fog and thunderstorms.
So, find that place at the ocean or on
the lake. You may prefer the solitude of the
lake-but it's your family who will make
the decision. It will be a place the family
loves and where they want to hang out,
make friends, have fun.
What did I do? Living in the Boston area
provides several choices. Winter-wise, there
are the ski resorts in New England. Summer
offers lakes and the ocean. Additional factors include proximity to a suitable airport
with good instrument approaches. I drew
the circle for my airplane (at that time a
Beechcraft Bonanza). There was a period
when we as a family were sampling places,
and we explored. The place we came back
to again and again was Nantucket Island.
Besides being a top-notch resort, it had
a great airport, long paved runways, and
several instrument approaches. The family liked to be there and loved its beaches,
and so did I. Driving to Nantucket took two
hours on the road plus a two-hour ferry ride.
It fit my definition of destination.
For several years we rented for two-week
vacations and decided that Nantucket was
where we wanted to be. The flying component met my every need and the family was

delighted with the air-taxi convenience. We
bought some land and built a home.
Our house was completed in 1988 and
we have enjoyed our time there. Sometimes
it was just a day in the off-season, or a weekend, and then the full season when my wife
and I retired. It's terrific to have a destination I can fly to in less than an hour
year-round at a moment's notice where
there is a car, a house, and friends. I've had
no problem keeping current-taking care to
fly back to Hanscom Field weekly to check
our stateside house, fetch the mail, and do
some shopping. I would tell friends tonguein-cheek that I needed to go to Boston to see
if any light bulbs needed replacing. And offseason I would say the same about needing
to fly to Nantucket. But I really had that
grand feeling of being able to fly whenever
the urge moved me-and have a mission.
In the 1980s I transitioned to a
Beechcraft Baron B55, which solved the
overwater segment concern, as well as made
IFR more relaxing. Missions? I've had occasion to bring trash to the mainland as well
as laundry and to bring firewood back to
the island along with Costco purchases. I
learned to manage during fog and stratus,
and to avoid the thunderstorms. Boston and
Cape Cod ATC is superb-center, approach,
and tower-and very understanding of GA. I
believe I became a much better pilot.
I've seen Nantucket grow as a destination. Years ago, a Bonanza or Baron was
heavy iron. No more. As Nantucket was
discovered its flight line became busy with
jets from across the country. In the summer
Nantucket is second only to Boston's Logan
as the busiest airport in New England. I
guess I'm not the only one to realize the
importance of having a destination.
Now I am 86. I found the next owner
for the Baron and retired from flying.
Fortunately, Nantucket is well-served by
the commuter airline Cape Air to Boston
and even some airline heavy iron. I sometimes sit in the right seat of a Cessna 402 as
they trace the route I know so well.

In 1940, ASA began
its journey into
flight training and
aviation education.
We can't wait to
see what the next
80 years bring!

L. DENNIS SHAPIRO has amassed more

than 5,000 GA hours in many models of
aircraft. A retired electronics engineer, he
lives in the Boston area.

aopa.org/pilot AOPA PILOT | 35

asa2fly.com
http://www.asa2fly.com http://www.aopa.org/pilot
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2020
