Pancakes for Bold Warriors

Outreach

Since 1964, the Williamson Flying Club has hosted the Apple Blossom Festival Fly-In/Drive-In Pancake Breakfast annually, only breaking from that streak in 2020 and 2021 for the pandemic. In addition to serving up typical airport pancake breakfast fare, the club also sells airplane, helicopter, and even pony rides (sometimes). 

Aerial view, Williamson Sodus Airport, during the 2023 pancake breakfast. Drone photo by Mike B.

In 2014, less than a year after relocating Warrior 481 to Sodus, I was fortunate to became a ride pilot during the golden anniversary of the breakfast. This is a much more interesting volunteer gig than flipping pancakes or rolling sausages! For liability purposes, I am required to fly the club planes rather than Warrior 481 and this is the main reason I have time logged in different aircraft over the past decade (aside from tailwheel and seaplane training).

Barry's 1946 Widgeon always gets a spot of honor at the pancake breakfast. Photo by Gilead.

Starting in 2022, I was assigned to fly the club's "new" 1974 Piper Warrior (N32816, PA-28-151) with a "Bold Warrior" upgrade to 180 horsepower. As hands-down the most experienced Warrior pilot on the field, this assignment was literally a no-brainer despite a handful of odd differences between the original Warriors and my Warrior II. In its first year with the club, the Bold Warrior had poor avionics with scratchy radios and was sufficiently nose heavy that caution was necessary in passenger loading. By 2023, Eight One Six was like a new airplane with an avionics package very similar to Warrior 481's. A redistribution in weight (they moved the battery aft) fixed the nose-heavy feel and increased loading flexibility while reducing the likelihood of exceeding the forward limit of the weight and balance envelope.

Seven Hops

Date	Aircraft	Route of Flight	Time (hrs)	Total (hrs)
21 May 2023	PA-28-151 N32816	SDC (Sodus, NY) - local traffic	2.1	2646.2

2023 pancake breakfast crowd. Photo by Gilead.

By far the best part about flying rides at the pancake breakfast is meeting new people and introducing them to the joys of flight. I flew twelve passengers that morning that included a group of teenagers, an old friend and his daughter (Bill and Sadie), an anxious friend of Bill's named Jamie who had a great time, a young adult who wanted to learn to fly, and a married couple that I flew over their nearby home. In the years that I have been flying rides, my interactions with the public have always been fun and positive.

While I was not in a position to take any photographs this year, Gilead B and Mike B (Williamson Sodus Airport Manager and Chief WFC Flight Instructor) captured hundreds of fantastic images from the event. I have only included a small number of them here.

Airplane ride staging area. Drone photo by Mike B.

The day dawned overcast, but this quickly burned off. We had all four club planes staged for rides that morning at a small taxiway loop. I was joined by Ed C and Tom C who were thrilled to have accumulated sufficient hours to also fly as ride pilots. We had two pilots scheduled for each aircraft except the Bold Warrior. While it is not so different from the other club planes, I was the only ride pilot besides the Chief Instructor with Warrior time and that included the other instructors in the mix. As a result, Mike B was to be my backup when I became tired.

WFC Fleet: Five Five Whiskey, One Delta Tango, Eight One Six, and Eight Five X-Ray. Drone photo by Mike B.

Considering that I have owned Warrior 481 for nineteen years, it is rare to see a picture of four airplanes together in which I have logged time, especially when Warrior 481 is not included. Eight One Six is third in line. I'm the one in shorts, waiting for passengers with the other ride pilots.

Me (in the hat) conferring with Mark R and Jason B near Eight One Six. Photo by Gilead.

We had a support team of club members that sold tickets, reviewed weight and balance, assigned passengers to airplanes, and even assisted with boarding and seatbelts. Of course, I had veto power as the ultimate responsibility for passenger loading and safety was mine.

Preparing for my first hop of the day with three teenagers. Photo by Gilead.

My first group of passengers was a trio of teens slender enough to put one in every seat. (This is an unusual state for a Warrior.) They were quite active with their cellphone cameras, though they said very little to me. When we landed, I wished them a great day. I received three polite "thank you" acknowledgements as they clambered out. As soon as all three were out of the plane, one of them exclaimed, "That was so cool!" This was immediately followed by a burst of excited chatter. I could not help but grin at their excitement, even if they did not want to express it in front of me.

Me flying Eight One Six on another hop. Photo by Gilead.

My landings that morning were consistently good. Smooth and soft with the nosewheel held off the runway for a few moments after touchdown before carefully lowering it to the pavement. After witnessing me do this three times in a row, Mike B (a different Mike B, but also an instructor) keyed his mic and congratulated me with a "nice landing!" 

I had a solo passenger, a young adult who expressed a desire to learn to fly. I turned the controls over to him and let him direct the Warrior along the Lake Ontario shoreline. Back on the ground, he shook my hand with a huge grin on his face before disembarking.

Taxiing Eight One Six to the fuel farm. Photo by Gilead.

After my sixth hop, I decided to take on some fuel. This involved taxiing to the transient parking ramp and shutting down at the line of twine separating the ramp from the fuel farm. I had strung that twine from the approach end of runway 28 to the ramp on the previous day to separate public areas of the airport from where flight operations took place. Once I shut down the engine, the twine barrier was lowered and a group of club members swarmed the airplane to push it through the crowd to the fuel farm while I steered from the pilot seat. I confess to being flabbergasted by the number of people crowding the area that stared dumfounded at the airplane rolling directly at them and did not move until explicitly being told to. Thanks to Lee S for crowd control during this operation.

Me at the controls of Eight One Six. Photo by Gilead.

Tom C and Lee S fueled Eight One Six while Mark R peeked in at the upgraded instrument panel. When the airplane was refueled to the tabs, the same team pushed me backwards to the transient ramp while I steered with the rudder pedals. Because I lacked a rearview window, Tom provided verbal prompts.

Dan manning the radio. Photo by Gilead.

Dan P helped sort traffic out on Unicom. We saw some of the usual fly-in bad behavior: the aircraft that called a straight in while multiple aircraft (including mine with passengers) were in the pattern ("maybe that's not a good idea" I heard someone respond) or the radio silent helicopter that tried to slip into the pattern unannounced until I called him out as NORDO on frequency.

Ed C in Eight Five X-Ray. Photo by Gilead.

In his first year as a ride pilot, Ed C got to fly behind G5s at the helm of Eight Five X-Ray.

Tom C in Five Five Whiskey. Photo by Gilead.

Tom C gave rides in Five Five Whiskey, back in the left seat of that airplane for the first time in years.

The breakfast line mid-morning. Drone photo by Mike B.

My last hop included a right seat passenger whose size blocked my access to the trim wheel positioned between our seats. (This is where those old school Piper ceiling mounted trim cranks really come in handy.) Already fatigued, holding the nose down in cruise was like bench pressing and holding the same weight for twenty minutes. Because I had it trimmed for take-off, at least the trim setting worked in my favor for the landing which was the only part of the ride that required any finesse. Regardless, I was well and truly tired when it was done. I started flying at 7:30 that morning and passed the torch to Mike B at 11:00 so that I could claim my breakfast. 

Transient ramp at the Williamson Sodus Airport. Drone photo by Mike B.

And how did the breakfast go? We served 1462 breakfasts, flew something on the order of 84 airplane rides, and hosted a large number of fly-in arrivals (I think around 50).

While requiring a lot of time and energy, this event is always a lot of fun and, from a community outreach perspective, it is absolutely priceless.