Adventitious Icing on Alton Bay

Anticipation
(Cue Carly Simon)

February 2022: 

For the Northeast aviation community, the opening of New Hampshire's novel Alton Bay Ice Runway (B18) on the frozen surface of Lake Winnipesaukee is an eagerly anticipated annual event. Last week, the team in Alton Bay announced that the ice was finally thick enough (12"+) and that, pending weather and an inspection by the New Hampshire DOT, the runway might be open for the weekend. Several Williamson Flying Club members were eager to log their first landing on the ice. For my part, I had promised The Bear a trip to the uniquely frigid FAA-sanctioned airport and was looking forward to a father-daughter excursion.

Naysayer that I am, I was certain that the storm that dumped heavy snow on Rochester Thursday and Friday before moving eastward into New England would complicate efforts to plow and perform the DOT inspection of the ice in time for a weekend opening. There was no way it would happen for Saturday and even Sunday seemed like a stretch. But the weather throughout the region was promising and hopes were running high. Nevertheless, as of Sunday morning, the airport was still NOTAMed closed.

I pitched an alternative Sunday destination: Westfield-Barnes Regional Airport in Westfield, Massachusetts (KBAF). Westfield is home to Tobiko Sushi, considered by our small band of culinarily-inclined aviators as purveyors of truly excellent sushi. Dan (in 1DT) and Tom & Alicia (in 26R) were in. Gilead (in 85X) chose to explore Martha's Vineyard instead. 

Buckle Up

Date	Aircraft	Route of Flight	Time (hrs)	Total (hrs)
06 Feb 2022	N21481	SDC (Sodus, NY) - BAF (Westfield, MA)	1.8	2414.2

KSDC photographed 05 Feb 2022.

KSDC photographed 05 Feb 2022.

Most of us at the Williamson Sodus Airport have spent more time digging out of our hangars than actually flying lately. But Warrior 481's preheated engine turned over immediately and we navigated the slick airport surfaces with thoughtful awareness of wing position versus the mountains of snow towering above our aircraft.

Watch that wingtip!

At the departure end of runway 10 with Dan and Tom waiting for their turns.

A moody wind gusted directly across the runway, fickle in direction and occasionally belligerent in strength. Taking a lesson from a departure last week when wind gusts bounced me out of my seat despite a fastened seatbelt, I took a moment to pull the belt extra snug. A movable airplane yoke is a largely useless thing to cling to for dear life and I did not want to repeat that earlier experience. As expected, there was some intense rocking and rolling for the first few hundred feet of the climb, but this time, I stayed glued to my seat.

"Tighten those seatbelts," I advised on UNICOM. 

Departing in 1DT a few minutes later, Dan broadcast his own supportive advisory on the radio. "Chris wasn't kidding!"

Our three airplanes fell in line at 7,500 feet with mine in the lead. When I radioed Syracuse Approach for flight following, I advised that there were two other Cherokees behind me for the same destination. Having observed our aerial convoy on his radar display, the controller indicated that he was already putting everyone into the system and just waiting for them to call in. There is nothing better than a controller on top of his game who actively anticipates the needs of his customers. The brief episode would later contrast sharply with the manner of service we received while departing Westfield-Barnes that afternoon.

Snow White

Deep snow everywhere nearly masked the city of Syracuse as we passed 1.5 miles above the bleached terrain.

Otsego Lake near Cooperstown, NY.

Cooperstown Dream Park.

The inevitable question came within moments of being switched from Syracuse to Albany Approach.

"Cherokee Four Eight One, I have a question if you have a moment. I see there are two other aircraft inbound to Barnes behind you. What's going on over there today?"

We have been asked variations on this question so many times when traveling as a pack that, while still amusing, it no longer comes as any kind of surprise.

"Just three of us headed for lunch," I responded. Considering how often this question is asked, I need a more clever response.

The Catskill Mountains.

Castleton-on-Hudson and Alfred H Smith Memorial Bridges over the Hudson River.

.

It looked to me like the Hudson River was in need of some Lipitor.

The King Is Dead...Long Live the King

Despite all the whiz-bang tech I put into the panel since buying Warrior 481, I have continued to use a 50 year old King KX-170B radio as my #2 navcom. I usually task it with monitoring Guard, listening to ATIS/AWOS/ASOS reports, or speaking with Ground. Over the past year, that radio became increasingly frustrating to use due to random squelch breaks that would fill my headset with static. There was also the 2021 Ocala Incident where I missed some calls from Ocala Ground while using that radio. A couple of weeks ago, frustration exceeded inertia and I decided to do something about it. But what?

While the new Garmin GNC 255 radios are nice, they're also $5,000 just for the box without installation. I struggled with the notion of spending that much money to essentially maintain existing capability. Jake at Boshart Enterprises hooked me up with Bennett Avionics in Connecticut, who took my old KX-170B on trade and sold me a "1970 showroom new" (my words) refurbished unit for just a few hundred dollars. The new antique looks and sounds great and I definitely enjoyed the lack of random static during the flight to Massachusetts. (There was no static or meowing on Guard for me to listen to!) With excellent cosmetics, the new King radio looks less like it went through combat than its predecessor.

Notorious Nigiri

To my surprise, Bradley Approach informed me to "contact Tower" without providing the frequency. The same happened to Tom. It was not a problem, I already had the frequency dialed into standby, but it was definitely unusual. I wondered if Bradley Approach mistook us for locals.

I was cleared to land on the 9,000 foot long runway 2 at Westfield-Barnes, which I did while visually verifying that the military aircraft arresting barriers were properly retracted into the pavement. The admonishment in the Chart Supplement that they periodically fail in the "up" position could ruin the day of any pilot not paying attention, potentially resulting in a "gear up" (gear off?) landing for a fixed gear aircraft like mine.

My parking OCD got the best of me and I made several adjustments to the Warrior's position with the tow bar before deciding that it was satisfactorily centered over the spot. I imagined the tower controller watching me with amusement.

Tom and Alicia arrived next, having passed Dan flying the slower 1DT. But Dan holds no ill will. When he finishes his RV-8A, he will be passing all of us. Sweet vengeance will be his.

Once Dan arrived in 1DT, it was time to eat!

WFC aircraft at Westfield-Barnes.

Tobiko Sushi shares the terminal building with the FBO, Rectrix. (Or is it Ross Aviation? Both names appeared to be in use.) We arrived shortly after opening and had our pick of tables, but the place filled up as we ate. It was obviously a popular destination.

I was sorely tempted by the specialty rolls, especially the various combinations containing tempura shrimp, crab, and avocado. But I decided to keep it simple and ordered a traditional sushi platter instead. It was yummy and Alicia was kind enough to share some of her fried shumai (shrimp) dumplings. As before, everyone's meals were excellent.

Never Say Never

As we finished lunch, I opened ForeFlight on a whim and checked NOTAMs for Alton Bay. From our location in Westfield, Alton Bay was just under an hour to the northeast. To my utter surprise, the NOTAM closing the airport had been rescinded. Tom called the Alton Bay information number (603-271-7398) and learned that the runway opened at 12:07 while we were eating lunch. Within seconds of this discovery, I received a text from Gilead: "Alton Bay is open." Even though tone is hard to glean from text messages, the excitement in his message was obvious.

It was a short discussion. Of course we were going to the ice runway, whether we deliberately planned to or not. It would be a first time for Tom, Alicia, Dan, and Gilead. The Bear was going to be angry, but visiting the most ephemeral airport in the United States requires opportunistic action. Our only concern was the wind. Since Alton Bay became a one way airport in 2020, with landings only allowed to the north (runway 1), the increasing southerly wind could close the airport before we arrived. It was a chance that we were willing to take.

Outside, I paused to study one of the two brand new 2021 Piper Pilot 100i aircraft owned by Westfield's Fly Lugu Flight Training. These stripped down Archers feature advanced instrument panels, seating for three (rather than four), and comparatively hefty price tags from the factory. Fly Lugu rents theirs wet at $185 per hour. I wondered if this was truly a good value for training rather than retrofitting an older airframe with the same avionics. (Warrior 481 and Tom's 26R stand as good examples of that.)

Despite the large investment made in new Pipers, they were relegated to outdoor parking and this one had an incredibly contaminated wing. It would not be going anywhere anytime soon.

Pillar of Pedantry

Date	Aircraft	Route of Flight	Time (hrs)	Total (hrs)
06 Feb 2022	N21481	BAF (Westfield, MA) - B18 (Alton Bay, NH) - LCI (Laconia, NH) - SDC (Sodus, NY)	4.4	2418.6

Getting flight following from a towered Delta field can be hit or miss, but the Westfield-Barnes ATIS explicitly instructed pilots wishing flight following to inform ground of the destination and desired altitude. Awesome.

"Westfield ground, Cherokee Two One Four Eight One, at Rectrix, VFR to Bravo eighteen at five thousand five hundred, Mike."

"Cherokee Four Eight One, are you requesting flight following?"

"Affirmative, Four Eight One," I responded brightly.

"Shoulda been the first words out of your mouth." I was taken aback. That seemed unnecessary. I had been making that standard radio call for years at various towered airports and no one had ever been confused before. But I forged ahead, receiving my departure information and taxi clearance.

As I taxied for an intersection departure on runway 20 at taxiway Alpha, I heard the controller run roughshod over Tom as well, nitpicking his radio phraseology. Even though the controller knew what everyone wanted, he played dumb until requests were phrased exactly the way he wanted to hear them. Pedantry for its own sake is rarely an appealing quality. Then the finicky controller proceeded to give contradictory instructions to a pair of aircraft in the traffic pattern.

Westfield-Barnes Regional Airport seen on departure.

Before long, I was airborne, turned directly on course, and switched to Bradley Approach for flight following while Tom and Dan departed behind me. Fortunately, Dan managed to escape Westfield without rebuke, but after listening to our interactions with the controller, decided against making a flight following request.

The Connecticut River northeast of Westfield.

"Cherokee Four Eight One, you have a target at your six o' clock, three miles, same altitude and direction," cautioned Boston Approach. It was Tom. While I knew that he was there, I lacked a rear window and had no way of monitoring him visually. He was not on with Boston and I hoped that he had me in sight.

"Eight Five X-Ray, altitude your discretion," I heard Boston call to Gilead. I searched the traffic display and quickly found the WFC's flagship Archer tracking northward from Martha's Vineyard. He would arrive right behind us as though executing on a precise plan for an ice runway rendezvous.

A Bonanza checked in from a few miles southeast of Laconia. "Bonanza Three Bravo Lima, are you coming from Alton Bay?" queried Boston Approach. The Bonanza pilot was quick to boast that he had been the fourth airplane to land after the runway opened. Cool beans.

Icy Brigadoon

There's a runway hidden amidst all that white.

I navigated through a notch in the terrain immediately west of Alton Bay to enter downwind for runway 1. The poor contrast of white on white made for a nearly invisible runway until I entered the pattern, but I knew the lay of the land well enough to intuit where it was. The wind was picking up out of the south and caused me to land longer than I would have preferred, but the field remained open despite the elevated wind and I had no problem stopping before the end of the 2800 foot runway. From the parallel taxiway, I watched Tom settle his airplane to the ice like a pro.

As in past years, volunteers managed the choke point where the approach end of runway 1, the parallel taxiway, and the parking area all intersect.

Tom and Alicia arrive at Alton Bay.

As we pushed Tom's airplane back into parking, he went for his tow bar to square it up versus the edge of the parking area to avoid "triggering my parking OCD". 

"No need for that," said one of the volunteers who proceeded to straighten the plane simply by twisting it on the ice.

As in 2019, all arriving pilots were given an Alton Bay poker chip as a token recognizing their accomplishment. 

No monetary value.

After welcoming Tom and Alicia to the ice, I discovered that I was missing my gloves and ultimately realized that I left them at Tobiko Sushi. Who has two really cold thumbs and lands on ice without gloves? This guy. I usually bring boots and YakTrax to Alton Bay, but did not have them with me on account of my certainty that the runway would not open that weekend.

A few minutes later, Dan achieved his first landing on the storied ice runway as the rest of us watched. It looked good from where I was standing.

Congrats to Dan on his first landing at the Alton Bay Ice Runway!

Gilead appeared overhead in 85X a few minutes later, did not like the look of his approach, aborted, and went around the pattern to try again. It was an excellent choice and the second time around was just right.

Gilead being marshalled to parking in 85X.

Gilead arrived with his friend Teddy riding right seat.

Dan looks really happy to be at Alton Bay!

Gilead with 85X.

Group photo by Teddy: Dan, Gilead, me, Alicia, and Tom.

And that is how four aircraft from the Williamson Sodus Airport and three first time ice runway pilots unexpectedly found themselves at Alton Bay on opening day.

Traffic at Alton Bay was relatively quiet, but we got to see some interesting aircraft like this Icon A5 light sport amphibian. Probably not a very practical ride, but it looked like a lot of fun.

A nice looking Cessna 140 on the ice.

I met the pilot of this Husky, Greg, on Facebook after the fact. He memorably arrived with his dogs.

Cessna 185s have a reputation for being squirrely. I wonder how this one performed on the ice?

I had a moment to chat with Paul LaRochelle, long time volunteer manager of the ice runway who retired from the role this year and is supporting the new manager (Jason Levitt) during the transition. I expressed surprise that they were able to plow the runway and get their NH-DOT inspection done on a weekend. Paul grinned and pointed to one of the volunteers marshalling aircraft to parking, "He did the inspection Saturday afternoon." Because, of course, some of the volunteers worked for the DOT.

I shared with him how the Bonanza pilot bragged to Boston Approach about being fourth to land that day. Paul laughed and explained that the first aircraft to land that day was based in nearby Laconia and just happened to be passing by when Alton Bay's opening was announced on UNICOM. Right place, right time.

I was especially amused by the number of random people at Alton Bay getting their pictures taken with Warrior 481.

I have no idea how many people went home with pictures of themselves with my airplane, but it was quite a few. I also saw all of our aircraft in footage from Boston news coverage of the runway opening.

Finally, a moment's peace.

I later learned that ours were four of 29 total airplanes (plus one helicopter) to land at Alton Bay on opening day. It was certainly a much calmer experience than our 2019 Winter Carnival excursion when we were one of 150 aircraft to land on the ice that day.

I suppose that the novel milestone for me was being at Alton Bay with three airplanes that I have previously flown: 481, 1DT, and 85X.

Realizing that daylight was limited, we boarded our ships and went our separate ways. Tom and Dan flew directly back to Sodus with me about thirty minutes behind them after detouring to Laconia for fuel. Gilead and Teddy sought food at Sibley's because there had been no room for them in the diner at Martha's Vineyard. Gilead then flew 85X south to Nashua to drop off Teddy before heading west to Sodus and arriving 1.5 hours after I landed.

Tom launches from the ice runway in 26R.

It is always a joy to visit Alton Bay and I am sincerely grateful to Paul, Jason, and all the other volunteers who came together to make this a uniquely fun and safe destination for pilots in the Northeast.

Two Ice Runways in One Day

Warrior 481's performance was visibly reduced with the downwind takeoff from Alton Bay. But the departure corridor simply extended out over Lake Winnipesaukee and there was nothing to hit in the climb.

Lake Winnipesaukee.

Stopping in Laconia for fuel after departing Alton Bay has become a habit. I could have stopped elsewhere en route, but topping-off in Laconia simplified the fuel planning and avoided landing at unfamiliar airports at night.

Left base for runway 8 at Laconia with the runway barely visible.

The paved runway at Laconia was almost as icy as the one I had just left. After landing, I taxied to the northern reaches of the airport to Emerson Aviation for fuel.

Warrior 481 after taking on fuel at Emerson Aviation.

Laconia Airport

Mini Mountain Majesty

As the sun wrapped up its daily trek, the return flight was made against a 30 knot headwind. Although I hand-flew most of the day up to that point, I switched on HAL after departing the pattern at Laconia, set an aggressive power setting, and let my airplane carry me home while I gawked at the magnificent scenery beyond my windows. What a beautiful cruise it was! 

As the sun crept lower while I traversed Vermont, the warm hues of golden hour reflected from the snow-encrusted Not-So-Green Mountains and restored the landscape to the rusty tones of late autumn.

Golden Hour and Nightfall

There is a magic moment at sunset when the amber globe of the sun reaches an angle that transforms it into a crimson fireball that inflames the clouds from below.

Flying westward in Warrior 481, I witnessed that moment and it was breathtaking. One final gift granted at the end of an eventful day.

Like a switch was thrown, the sun retreated far enough beyond the horizon that the sky was suddenly drained of color; same clouds, but a very different aspect.

I flew the last hour home in darkness with just a dim red glow remaining along the horizon like the faintest trickle of current through an atmospheric filament that eventually faded to darkness.

Notus Awakened

To my surprise, the wind velocity did not relent significantly in the descent toward the Williamson Sodus Airport, but merely shifted to a southerly direction. The lights of Sodus Point slid sideways in my windscreen, hinting at significant wind drift. On downwind, a crab of nearly thirty degrees was required to track parallel to the runway. Despite severe buffeting at treetop level, I slipped the Warrior in for a successful landing on the upwind wheel with a significant amount of aileron fed in. I am grateful to Tom for sticking around to help push Warrior 481 back into the hangar from the icy ramp.

As expected, I returned home to an angry Bear that evening. It seems that I will be looking for another window of opportunity for Alton Bay in 2022. 

I can live with that.

GPS ground track for the complete round robin flight.