WebRuss
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This article is part 5 of a multi-part review of our summer trip from Florida to Idaho then out to Tillamook Oregon then east to NYC then South to Tennessee then home to Florida.
Day 15 July 23rd
We were so close to the holy land, Notre Dame University, that we considered it our duty to make the pilgrimage. This day we flew from KDVN Iowa to KSBN South Bend Indiana. This was a very easy trip. I flew slightly southeastward to stay out of O'Hare's airspace and just south of Lake Michigan. I didn't use flight following this time, as it was a short hop. We did see several other small aircraft in the area and I swapped between CTAFs for several of the local airports and was able to self-announce and navigate the slew of municipal airports without causing any problems for the local traffic.
The Route on SkyVector
The landing at South Bend was pretty much uneventful. I did however initially line up on 9 right instead of 9 left as instructed. I caught my mistake when I was still far enough out that it did not cause any issues for all the passenger jets landing there. I did confirm with approach at South bend that they wanted me to land on 9 left and then did confirm that I should land on the runway with the big “9L” painted on it. I guess it was a slow day and they were feeling snarky.
Piper Cherokee landing at South Bend IN:
[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwXoUdZychE[/ame]
The local FBO, Atlantic Aviation loaned us a crew car for a few hours and we went on campus, visited the grotto and the bookstore as I needed a new hat. A quick shout out to the really great people at this FBO they treated us as nice as the folks coming in on the Lear jets. I had them top us off with fuel and this waived any landing and parking fees.
After visiting the grotto, lighting a candle for all my aviation family, and buying a hat, we headed back to the FBO and traded the crew car for my plane. The ground control folks wanted to know our destination and we ended up chatting it up about us flying to Niagara Falls. The departure folks even wished us a safe journey to the falls, some really nice people in that tower. Our planned route took us northeast along the coast of Lake Erie and then finally north to the town of Lockport New York.
The flight along the lake was easy going and we stayed on with flight following all the way. We did run into a few clouds on the way up and I had to climb up to get over the layer. Once we reached the northeastern edge of lake Erie, the clouds stopped and we made a leisurely decent into the town of Lockport. A few words about this airport, the runway was in rough shape as you will see in the video. The western edge of the runway was full of potholes and were marked with orange cones so I had to land to the right side of the runway. You will hear my wife's comment in the video that it was a bumpy runway.
Piper Cherokee Landing 0G0 Lockport NY
[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BTc2NHdGy0[/ame]
All during this trip I looked for small airports and local attractions that we could patronize. Lockport was a gem of a place to stay. We found a locally owned and operated motel, Lockport Inn and Suites, right out of the 50's that was super nice and there was a fantastic Greek diner, Kalamata, which served really good food. In fact I tasted some of the best haddock I've had in a long time.
Day 16 July 24th
We arrived late in the day and got a great night of sleep in our motel. The next morning, we rented a car and spent the day exploring Niagara falls. We walked around and looked at all the falls and generally had a good time as it was my first trip there.
To top off our evening we went to the local drive-in theater, Transit Drive-In Theater, and ended up seeing the Disney movie Planes 2 which was really fun. Lockport boasts one of the few triple feature drive-ins that shows three different movies on three different screens at the same time.
https://www.transitdrivein.com/
More to come soon!
Day 15 July 23rd
We were so close to the holy land, Notre Dame University, that we considered it our duty to make the pilgrimage. This day we flew from KDVN Iowa to KSBN South Bend Indiana. This was a very easy trip. I flew slightly southeastward to stay out of O'Hare's airspace and just south of Lake Michigan. I didn't use flight following this time, as it was a short hop. We did see several other small aircraft in the area and I swapped between CTAFs for several of the local airports and was able to self-announce and navigate the slew of municipal airports without causing any problems for the local traffic.
The Route on SkyVector
The landing at South Bend was pretty much uneventful. I did however initially line up on 9 right instead of 9 left as instructed. I caught my mistake when I was still far enough out that it did not cause any issues for all the passenger jets landing there. I did confirm with approach at South bend that they wanted me to land on 9 left and then did confirm that I should land on the runway with the big “9L” painted on it. I guess it was a slow day and they were feeling snarky.
Piper Cherokee landing at South Bend IN:
[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwXoUdZychE[/ame]
The local FBO, Atlantic Aviation loaned us a crew car for a few hours and we went on campus, visited the grotto and the bookstore as I needed a new hat. A quick shout out to the really great people at this FBO they treated us as nice as the folks coming in on the Lear jets. I had them top us off with fuel and this waived any landing and parking fees.
After visiting the grotto, lighting a candle for all my aviation family, and buying a hat, we headed back to the FBO and traded the crew car for my plane. The ground control folks wanted to know our destination and we ended up chatting it up about us flying to Niagara Falls. The departure folks even wished us a safe journey to the falls, some really nice people in that tower. Our planned route took us northeast along the coast of Lake Erie and then finally north to the town of Lockport New York.
The flight along the lake was easy going and we stayed on with flight following all the way. We did run into a few clouds on the way up and I had to climb up to get over the layer. Once we reached the northeastern edge of lake Erie, the clouds stopped and we made a leisurely decent into the town of Lockport. A few words about this airport, the runway was in rough shape as you will see in the video. The western edge of the runway was full of potholes and were marked with orange cones so I had to land to the right side of the runway. You will hear my wife's comment in the video that it was a bumpy runway.
Piper Cherokee Landing 0G0 Lockport NY
[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BTc2NHdGy0[/ame]
All during this trip I looked for small airports and local attractions that we could patronize. Lockport was a gem of a place to stay. We found a locally owned and operated motel, Lockport Inn and Suites, right out of the 50's that was super nice and there was a fantastic Greek diner, Kalamata, which served really good food. In fact I tasted some of the best haddock I've had in a long time.
Day 16 July 24th
We arrived late in the day and got a great night of sleep in our motel. The next morning, we rented a car and spent the day exploring Niagara falls. We walked around and looked at all the falls and generally had a good time as it was my first trip there.
To top off our evening we went to the local drive-in theater, Transit Drive-In Theater, and ended up seeing the Disney movie Planes 2 which was really fun. Lockport boasts one of the few triple feature drive-ins that shows three different movies on three different screens at the same time.
https://www.transitdrivein.com/
More to come soon!
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