Transition

Date	Aircraft	Route of Flight	Time (hrs)	Total (hrs)
18 Mar 2022	N21481	SDC (Sodus, NY) - FZY (Fulton, NY) - SDC	2.1	2428.3

Every winter, the blanket of snow covering New York state seems to leach the residual green from ground vegetation. When the snow retreats, it leaves behind a landscape scoured of color, blanched and dead. I have always thought that spring is the most unappealing time of year for aerial photos.

Five days earlier, the region was trapped in subfreezing temperatures with light snow swirling through the air. Today, surface temperatures were 60°F and all but the largest piles of snow had vanished during the intervening days.

The winterization plate came off the oil cooler before pulling Warrior 481 from the hangar.

Our weather was in transition. 

On the east end of Lake Ontario, ice still dominated Henderson Bay and the entrance to the Saint Lawrence River. Even when outlined by a dead landscape, the disintegrating ice sheet always makes for interesting sightseeing.

There is beauty in both the chaos of ice formation as well as in its destruction.

I flew the shoreline and followed my nose toward the interesting ice formations. To the north over Alexandria Bay, the airborne gloom reached down to the surface. I turned away from the rain and captured a southwest heading back toward Watertown, Oswego, and ultimately, Sodus.

Because I fly year-round, there is no particular "season" for aviation. (Sorry boaters.) But I always look forward to the renewal of the landscape and a warmer atmosphere that restores utility to my instrument rating. 

It's almost time to explore new places again.

I can hardly wait.