Puddle Jumping...Again

Date	Aircraft	Route of Flight	Time (hrs)	Total (hrs)
5 May 2011	N21481	5G0 (LeRoy, NY) - FZY (Fulton, NY) - 5G0	1.9	1038.1

This morning, I made a lunch hop with friends. With the Silver Wing in St Mary's, Pennsylvania temporarily closed, it made sense to give Puddle Jumpers in Fulton, New York another try.  Dan and Devon were accustomed to flying with me, Nicole was not.  I studied the wind carefully before convincing myself that I was comfortable taking someone new to light aircraft aloft on such a day.

There was some mild chop down low, but once everyone verified that they were sufficiently comfortable in the pattern, we left the vicinity of the airport.  We climbed to 5500 feet and were rewarded with extremely smooth air.

Downtown Rochester, NY with skud over the waterfront

Although our departure and destination points were both clear, a low overcast hung over the waterfront, dipping inland from northeast of Rochester to Fair Haven, NY.

East of Irondequoit Bay, the ceiling solidified.  I wondered for a moment if I had misread the weather and that Fulton was overcast as well.  But beyond the edge of the ceiling, I could see the power plants just north of the Oswego County Airport.  The overcast was a highly localized phenomenon that existed between reporting points.

Lunch at Puddle Jumpers was tasty.  I tried that half pound stuffed mushroom and Swiss burger that I eyed on my first visit, but lacked the gut capacity to tackle.  It was good.  The meat was very flavorful and my mouth is starting to water just writing about it.  To paraphrase Devon, had the kitchen not been visible, we might have thought those burgers came from heaven (our waitress was very amused by her comment).

For the return flight along the lakeshore, the clouds had burned off and the air was extremely clear.  The ride home was absolutely beautiful.

East Bay in the foreground, Sodus Bay in the background.

Closer to Sodus Bay

Sodus Bay

I know that I post a lot of pictures of this bay, but I think it is just so darn photogenic.

It is always a pleasure flying with people who appreciate it.  I later learned that Nicole was not new to general aviation, but had logged a single, unpleasant, experience many years before with an uncle.  Kudos to her for giving it another try.  I am happy to report that she had a much better experience this time around.