Lancaster, PA
February 17, 2002

February 17th finally took us to Lancaster, PA. The weather forecast did not look too bad as far as clouds and visibility, but the winds would be the challenge. I checked the weather once more on Sunday morning and if I listened to Winchester’s AWOS as the only source for weather data, it would have been a no-go decision. The visibility was only ¾ of a mile with 100 feet overcast and winds gusting to 30 knots. I dialed into DUAT and also called the Leesburg FSS for a detailed weather briefing and an update on the latest TFRs. All the other airports along the route and the destination were reporting winds only in the single digits, but with a forecast also between 20 and 30 knots. John and I talked it over and decided to go. The low ceiling and visibility in Winchester was just a snow shower moving through.

John stopped at OKV to get some fuel and came to my hangar just as I was pushing the Pacer out. The wind had died down to gusts in the mid 20 knots, so it wasn’t too bad. The only other person we knew who was coming along was Jeff Sharp. I had talked to him on my way to the airport. Jeff had just returned (in his Cessna 172) the night before after midnight from a dinner in Williamsburg with his girlfriend Hiroko. They were running late, but he was determined to make it.

John took off before me and scouted ahead to meet some RV friends who were supposed to join us at Carroll County airport. I climbed up to 3,500 feet and found the turbulence to be only moderate. The wind at that altitude was pushing with a slight tailwind of about 10 to 15 knots on the first leg over to Frederick, MD. John made it to Carroll County by the time I made it to Frederick. We listened on 122.825 MHz (the "reserved" RV frequency) for any RV guys, but the frequency was silent until we picked up one of the RV guys flying his helicopter on duty as a Maryland State Police air-ambulance. Overflying the airport, John did not see any of his RV friends at Carroll County, so he stayed airborne and went ahead towards Lancaster. When John neared LNS, I was so far behind, he decided that he had enough time to fly over to New Garden, PA where some of the RV guys are based to see if he could find them. New Garden Unicom reported 25 gusting to 30 knots direct crosswinds. So it became clear that noone would venture out of that airport that day.

When I called the tower at Lancaster, the wind was reported as 18 gusting to 26 knots, but it was almost straight down runway 31. The landing was pretty uneventful with a touchdown speed close to a brisk walk. John was cleared to land right behind me.

I haven’t been to Lancaster for at least five or six years and was surprised to see the changes to the terminal building and the restaurant. The menu was also much better than I remembered it. We called Jeff by cell phone right after we walked into the terminal and found out that he was just finished with his run up and was ready to take off from Warrenton, VA. We estimated it would take him about one and one-half hours to get to Lancaster. So John and I decided to go ahead and have our lunch while we waited for Jeff and Hiroko. The food was better than I remembered it from the last time I was there. I wouldn’t mind to stop in Lancaster again for some lunch. Sure enough, about the time we were done eating (we took our time) Jeff and Hiroko taxied on to the ramp. We stayed for a while to keep company with them before we decided to go ahead and start the journey home.

Lancaster restaurant

Lancaster Ramp

John took off before me again and started to give me weather reports ahead. The wind did not diminish at all (as we had hoped), but the ride was not too bumpy until we came up to the mountain ridge close to Harper’s Ferry. John reported a 4G bump when he crossed the ridge. At that time I was about 30 miles behind him making my way through and around some light snow showers. When I came closer to the ridge I slowed the Pacer down below it’s maneuvering speed just in case I would need full control displacement to keep the wings leveled. John and I discussed whether it would be OK to keep the speed up to the maximum structural cruising speed when flying through the turbulence or not, but none of us could really remember from ground school what the proper procedure was or what arc color was advised. I thought I would just stay on the safe side and slowed down anyway since the difference is only 15 knots indicated. Maybe some of you could write me a short mail with your advice (jpmnies@visuallink.com).

Snow Storm

Landing at OKV was not too bad either (even though the wind was gusting now 32 knots) because it was again almost down the runway. I think John had a much bigger task to master in Front Royal where the wind must have been more at a crosswind. In Winchester it was almost more difficult to taxi the Pacer than it was to land it. I remember the time when I flew the Champ in wind like this. I always had the feeling the Champ was ready to lift a wing when I taxied because the Oleo-struts landing gear. The Pacer’s landing gear is much stiffer and I also have the drooped wing tips, which prevent the wind from getting under the wing too easy. I hope the flying condition will be better next month for our fly out, so some of you can attend. Stay tuned to our Web Page for any updates.

This is Jeff’s report about his flight home:

We departed about 4:45pm just before the end of the Daytona 500. It got really dark and gray (and windy of course), and we waited for one thick snow shower to pass. I think the wind came up even more from the sound of the tower (gusting to 27) but the take off was smoother than the take off from Warrenton earlier in the day.

I looked back at the timer. 1:27 elapsed time enroute to LNS. 1:16 to get back home. It was really dark and ugly over Baltimore skies on the way home. Low clouds and snow showers. I am glad my path took us just between two big ones. Just went through snow for a few minutes. I think I got some carb ice. I kept the heat on full time there was so much snow. Then got a clearance directly from EMI to a right down-wind by Dulles (over Reston) on a heading of 220, and all the IAD traffic was doing a right downwind 500 feet under us. It was fun to watch them, they passed us like we were sitting still, Dulles would call the traffic, I couldn't see it, and then the other pilot would chime in and say we are just coming up behind you on your (left or right) side. With no rear window you can't see the traffic behind you too easy. Hiroko just kept saying "they are so fast". Anyway, landed at dusk, 6:00pm. By then the skies were absolutely beautiful with small puffy clouds glimmering in the setting sunset sunlight. By the time we drove home, it had completely cleared up and nothing but stars. We joked about going back flying now that the skies were clear and the winds were down to only 17mph.