Autumn Aesthetic

Autumn Days

Without a doubt, fall is my favorite time of the year to fly. While it is true that I have a great appreciation for when the world is transformed by that first, clean snowfall or that moment when the landscape embraces the lush green vegetation of late spring, nothing really compares to fall. Brilliantly colored foliage, cool morning air, lingering valley fog, and great visibility all contribute to the incomparable aesthetic of fall flying. If autumn flying is combined with the camaraderie of a group fly out, that is even better.

Fly-Out

With Tom and Alicia in the club's Hawk XP (Six Echo Sierra), Don in his 1957 Piper Tri-Pacer, Brad and Paula in Brad's Cirrus SR-20, and me in Warrior 481, our small band of pilots set out from the Williamson Sodus Airport for breakfast at the West Wind in St Marys, Pennsylvania.

Date	Aircraft	Route of Flight	Time (hrs)	Total (hrs)
13 Oct 2019	N21481	SDC (Sodus, NY) - OYM (St Marys, PA) - SDC	2.7	2046.8

Tom and Alicia in Six Echo Sierra preparing for departure.

Don readies his Tri-Pacer for departure

Maybe it is the fact that I grew up in such flat country, but I never tire of seeing valley fog penned in by higher terrain on cool autumn mornings.

Radio Etiquette

Radio chatter was minimal on Cleveland Center's frequency, so the controller took a moment to express some curiosity about our trip to Brad in the lead airplane.

"What's going on in St Marys this morning? There are a bunch of you headed that way. It seems like this happens every year around this time." I wondered if he was the same controller who was working the same airspace in 2018 when the Williamson Flying Club and the Bloomsburg pilots simultaneously converged on St Marys.

I think that Brad is still getting comfortable talking with ATC. The tone of his response reminded me of a bashful middle school kid dragged unwillingly into casual conversation by a teacher; I will answer because you have authority here, but I really don't want to have a conversation with you. "Just a group from Rochester flying down for breakfast," he replied.

Much like the teacher that notices a shy student's reticence to engage, the controller pressed the conversation. "Is there a fly-in breakfast over there today?"

"No," Brad responded. "There's a restaurant there."

"Any good?" queried Cleveland Center.

"Yeah, pretty good," answered Brad.

"Is it organic?" the controller persisted. At this point, I was cracking up. Not quite understanding the question, Brad let it pass without response. With the conversation over, I was forced to rely on the stunning views beyond the windows as my sole source of in-flight entertainment.

The Aviator

Brad and Paula landed at St Marys first with me a few minutes behind them. This gave Paula plenty of time to position herself for taking pictures of the later arrivals.

Warrior 481 on short final, photo by Paula.

Photo by Paula.

I was pleased with myself for a decent short field landing; down and stopped in about 1,000 feet to make the turn-off to the ramp. Not bad considering that that the first half of runway 10 at St Marys is on a downhill grade.

I parked the Warrior next to Brad's Cirrus and waited for the others.

Don arrived next in his Tri-Pacer.

And, finally, Tom and Alicia in Six Echo Sierra. Tom reported that the mixture control was stuck. With some calls back to Sodus and some fiddling, he was able to return it to full rich and left it there for the flight home. The mechanical glitch certainly detracted from an otherwise beautiful autumn day and caused Tom and Alicia to cancel a side trip that they were planning for the day.

For breakfast, Don, Paula, and I went with The Aviator frittata. It is always an excellent choice. The waitress was thoughtful enough to cover Tom and Brad's plates with foil to keep their food warm while they fussed with the Skyhawk on the ramp.

One of the Guys

Don takes the runway for the flight home.

While departing St Marys, I was struck by the intense foliage colors. Fall color simply pops when viewed through minimal atmosphere. Though the scenery was still beautiful at 7,500 feet, atmospheric haze subdued the colors.

A 148 knot ground speed meant that the flight home passed quickly, 0.9 hours versus the 1.3 required to reach St Marys that morning. Smooth air facilitated a long stretch of hands-off flying.

Dansville, the Dansville Airport, and I-390 heading north toward Rochester.

Hemlock and Canadice Lakes.

On ForeFlight's traffic display, I could see that Brad was overtaking me off my starboard wing. He was not communicating with ATC on flight following for the flight home. Peering through the window past my own wingtip, I finally found the small dark spec that was Brad’s Cirrus positioned just above the horizon.

"Hey, Four Eight One, traffic, three o' clock, two miles, same altitude, overtaking. Is that one of your guys?" asked Rochester Approach.

"In sight and, affirmative, he's with us," I answered.

I wonder if we are getting a reputation for travelling in packs?

Overall, it was a beautiful day to fly with friends, even if a sticky mixture control in the Hawk XP put a damper on the fun.