Reflection 2022: Aeronautical Archaeology

Virtual Time Travel

Volunteering at an aviation history museum was a big part of my introduction to flying, so it should not be surprising that I love old airplanes and visiting aviation museums. Having explored many over the years, what excites me the most is seeing things that are rare or unusual. (Another Stearman or T6? Yawn.) Along these lines, 2022 was a year unlike any other for visiting aviation museums.

It included everything from a return to the very familiar Air Zoo (Kalamazoo, MI) to first time trips to the spectacular National Museum of the United States Air Force (Dayton, OH), Eagles Mere Aviation Museum (Eagles Mere, PA), and the Cradle of Aviation Museum (Garden City, NY) to repeat tours of Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome (Rhinebeck, NY), American Airpower Museum (Farmingdale, NY), and the New England Air Museum (Windsor Locks, CT) to a visit with the Commemorative Air Force. All of these places are full of rare and unusual aircraft (or spacecraft, in some cases) and my, "Wow, I didn't know that!" quotient was high.

These wonderful organizations allow us to see and touch history. I sat in the cockpits of a P-47 Thunderbolt and an F-100 Super Sabre, stood on the flight deck of a B-29 Superfortress (Fifi), and explored JFK's customized Boeing 707 (VC-137C, "Air Force One"). I saw an actual 1917 Curtiss Jenny fly. I peered into the cramped cockpit of the oldest airworthy Cessna in the world (a 1928 Cessna AW) held in a private mountaintop collection. I saw a completely restored F-117A Nighthawk stealth fighter whose starboard wing contains rivets that I set in 2021. I saw aircraft with some celebrity: Lindbergh's Curtiss Jenny (his first airplane), Cutter's Goose, the actual B-17 Memphis Belle (not its Hollywood doppelganger), the sole-surviving experimental XB-70 Valkyrie Mach 3 bomber, not one but two F-82 Twin Mustangs, Bockscar, the oldest F-14 Tomcat in existence, and a genuine lunar module built for space that never made it to the moon because its mission was scrubbed.

I feel that these places connect us with history in a way that the written word alone cannot and am thankful for the knowledge and understanding they have given me. What a fascinating year it's been!

Scenes from 2022

Each year, I select a few photographs from the preceding twelve months to highlight my year in flight. These are a sampling of my favorites from 2022. 

A 1917 Curtiss Jenny bearing down on the crowd at Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome.
("The Dreaded Black Baron of Rhinebeck")

Crossing the Mississippi River south of La Crosse, WI.
("Driftless, Part 5: Old Man River")

Northeast Pennsylvania terrain shrouded in mist.
("A King-Sized Day Trip to the Queen City")

1,500 feet over the East River along the Manhattan skyline with the Empire State Building visible.
("Liberty Enlightening the World")

Sunset. (Duh)
("Through a Dramatic Sky")

A grinning Bear ready for adventure!
("Driftless, Part 2: From Kalamazoo to Kickapoo")

I dubbed this "Broken Heart Bay". It is actually Bucks Harbor near South Brooksville, Maine.
("A Week Down East, Part 3: 'The Far East'")

On the flight deck of Fifi, one of two Boeing B-29 Superfortresses still flying in the world.
("Wookie not Included")

Montauk Point Lighthouse is just east of Camp Hero, the inspiration for Stranger Things' Hawkins, IN.
("Lobster and Even Stranger Things in Montauk")

A dissipating thunderstorm cell in the distance over Chicago.
("Driftless, Part 4: Breaking Away")

Bridge from the mainland to Little Deer Isle and the causeway to Deer Isle in coastal Maine.
("A Week Down East, Part 3: 'The Far East'")

Warrior 481's instrument panel photographed over Buffalo, NY.
("Through a Dramatic Sky")

Chimney Bluffs on the Lake Ontario shore.
("Autumn Cruise")

Turning an expedited final for runway 33 at Bradley International in front of a pair of regional jets.
("Astride the Thunderbolt: A Flight to the NEAM")

The US Navy's Very Low Frequency Transmitter array near Cutler, Maine for communicating with submerged submarines.
("A Week Down East, Part 3: 'The Far East'")

Westbound over Vermont at dusk.
("Adventitious Icing on Alton Bay")

After fueling in Viroqua, Wisconsin.
("Driftless, Part 4: Breaking Away")

Flying into the sunset over eastern New York State.
("Adventitious Icing on Alton Bay")

Low clouds over New York State.
("A King-Sized Day Trip to the Queen City")

See? It really is kind of shaped like a cinder block. Lake Placid near Lake Placid, NY.
("A New Favorite at an Old Favorite")

When Newark Tower specifically invites you to circle the Statue of Liberty, you comply!
("Liberty Enlightening the World")

Eastport Municipal Airport, the easternmost airport in the United States.
("A Week Down East, Part 3: 'The Far East'")

Sunbeams over the Catskill Mountains in eastern New York.
("The Dreaded Black Baron of Rhinebeck")

Niagara Falls producing a prodigious amount of mist during a morning flight across Canada.
("Driftless, Part 1: Return to the Hopeless Diamond")

Coastal Maine.
("A Week Down East, Part 3: 'The Far East'")

Fifi taxies in for parking. It is hard not to envy "Socks" up there in the seat of honor.
("Wookie not Included")

Homeward bound from North Adams, Massachusetts.
("Launch Window")

Catskill Mountains displaying the slightest of autumn blushes.
("The Dreaded Black Baron of Rhinebeck")

Montauk Airport, your gateway to fresh seafood!
("Lobster and Even Stranger Things in Montauk")

Haze over the Catskills en route to Long Island.
("Long Island’s Hempstead Plains: From Muslin To the Moon")

Hey! Watch where you're pointin' that thing! (Skylon Tower in Ontario, Canada.)
("Driftless, Part 1: Return to the Hopeless Diamond")

Retreating clouds leave frosted trees on the higher elevations.
("A King-Sized Day Trip to the Queen City")

Warrior 481 at Bradford Regional Airport at sunset after a delicious prime rib dinner.
(Not previously posted.)

An example of fine "crop art" crafted by Wisconsin farmers.
("Driftless, Part 2: From Kalamazoo to Kickapoo")

Old Rhinebeck puts on the ol' "flying farmer" routine with their J3 Cub.
("The Dreaded Black Baron of Rhinebeck")

A "glorious" morning evading the clouds over the Lake Ontario shore.
("Eagles Mere: Where the Twenties Still Roar on a Pennsylvania Mountaintop")

I don't really care what it's called, aeronautical charts still label it as the Tappan Zee Bridge.
("Liberty Enlightening the World")

Sunset over Rochester, NY, one of my last aerial photos of 2022.
("Though a Dramatic Sky")

Highlights

• After 20+ years of talking about it, I finally made it to the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, OH!
• Two extended flying vacations with my family, one to coastal Maine and the other to Wisconsin.
• I and some other WFC pilots were among the few to land at the Alton Bay Ice Runway during a short 2022 season. It was my fourth landing there.
• During a run through the New York Bravo airspace, Newark Tower invited my flight of three aircraft to circle the Statue of Liberty.
• Landed in Canada for the first time since 2018 to tour the Diamond Aircraft factory in London, Ontario.
• Added the 250th unique airport to my map of places landed.
• My family and I flew to the easternmost airport in the easternmost city of the United States.
• I made a pilgrimage to the Indiana University Department of Chemistry to pay tribute to my late PhD advisor.
• In my 20th year of holding a pilot certificate, I crossed the 2,500 total flight hours mark.

2022's Numbers

179.4: Number of hours flown in 2022, my second highest to date. I ended the year with a total of 2575.7 flight hours.

Straight line paths between airports shown; this does not reflect actual flight paths in all cases.

14: Number of states / provinces visited, with three of them being new, Connecticut, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Ontario (Canada), Vermont, and Wisconsin.

37: Number of people who flew with me in 2022, including other first time fliers, student pilots, family, friends, colleagues, and members of the community. Thanks to everyone who joined me in the air this year: Ed C, Gilead B (safety pilot), Paula S (safety pilot), Chris J, Steve S, Dan P, Jesse S, Jiwon H, Bogdan U, Steve Y, Kristy, The Bear, Mike and Caileigh S, Sean B, John G, Jamie O, Izzy G, Paul and Lisa K, Scott and Kim L, Tom C (safety pilot), Justin G, Mark G, Alan V, Harper H, and ten other members of the community during the WFC Apple Blossom Pancake Breakfast.

35.9: Largest number of hours ever logged in a single month (August 2022).

6.3: Hours of flight in instrument meteorological conditions (IMC) logged for a total of 70.3 hours.

46: Total number of unique airports visited in 2022, including 15 for the first time, to end the year with a total of 250.