Hot Times in the "Freeze"

Impetus

Eleven years ago and coincident with my joining the Williamson Flying Club, my friend Randy formed the Activities Committee while he was club president. I was one of the founding members and served as a prime mover of the committee for many years (sometimes in name, sometimes not). The committee was founded on the simple premise that it is more fun to fly places together than alone. While this seems obvious to me, the notion seems rare in aviation. In practice, whenever multiple aircraft depart Sodus bound for the same destination, we almost always pique the curiosity of air traffic control. "What's going on at X today?" These consistent responses suggest that multiple aircraft flying together is unusual enough that it merits comment from ATC.

But there was always much more to it than simple fun. Our committee encourages club pilots to expand their horizons by venturing beyond the local area. To help our members learn about and explore interesting new locations. To provide student pilots an opportunity to experience real world general aviation flying outside of the training environment and introduce them to what they can do once they have earned their pilot certificates. To support our member pilots in trying new things in aviation that might be too intimidating for them to try on their own.

WFC members at the College Park Airport (CGS) on July 6, 2024.

On July 6, 2024, we departed the Williamson Sodus Airport (KSDC) for College Park, MD (KCGS). College Park Airport is part of the "Maryland-3", one of three general aviation airports that became trapped in the Flight Restricted Zone (FRZ or "freeze"), created around Washington D.C. after 9/11. In order to reach College Park, pilots must receive specific training from the FAA, undergo vetting by the TSA to earn a personal identification number (PIN) necessary to authorize flight plans within the FRZ, and follow the unique and specific rules for operating into and out of the FRZ. 

If that sounds intimidating, it is. But it is also quite manageable and most of the effort -- the training and the vetting -- is a one time investment. Fortunately, College Park rewards all effort to get there in two ways. First, it is a friendly, interesting, and historically relevant destination as the oldest operating airport in the world. Second, it is the best gateway to Washington D.C. available to general aviation pilots because it is the only airport of its kind with a nearby Metro station. Proximity of a Meto stop gives arrivals to College Park unparalleled access to explore our nation's capital.

Our group included two pilots already experienced with FRZ operations (me and Gilead), two pilots inspired to get their PINs in order to participate in the trip (Ed and Simon), two post-solo flight students (Alyssa and Jerry), and one recently minted private pilot who just received his PIN, but wanted to see the flight put into practice before attempting it himself (Ziad).

Moreso than many of our club fly-outs, our trip to College Park in July 2024 met every goal of what the Activities Committee was created to do.

Fueled and Ready 

Date	Aircraft	Route of Flight	Time (hrs)	Total (hrs)
06 Jul 2024	N21481	SDC (Sodus, NY) - CGS (College Park, MD) - SDC	5.0	2845.0

Flying into the FRZ requires each pilot to file a FRZ flight plan. Typically, pilots create and file their flight plans electronically via apps like ForeFlight. Because of the additional security requirements and the need to verify the pilot's PIN while filing, FRZ flight plans can only be filed by a phone call to Washington Center using the old FAA domestic flight plan format. It is an old school approach and feels like a throwback to my earlier flying days.

The evening prior, I filed both the inbound and outbound IFR FRZ flight plans. Washington Center prodded me to file direct both ways and while I acquiesced for the inbound flight, I insisted on an airway route home based on my previous experience departing College Park. Specifically, I was told by Potomac Approach in 2023, "I cannot give you direct to destination out of College Park."

For the outbound flight from KCGS to KSDC, I filed the route BELTS V265 HAR T445 BEEPS. When my flight appeared in FlightAware, Washington Center had changed BELTS to KRANT, a waypoint that is deeper in the FRZ than College Park and only 2.5 miles from the US Capitol building. There's no way that they'll actually let me fly that, I thought. But if they do, it will make for an unprecedented photo opportunity. (Long story short, when I received my clearance that evening, it was to my originally intended BELTS waypoint.)

Ed and I staged our airplanes on the ramp that morning while Gilead took on avgas for the club's Bold Warrior. He had to use a temporary facility set up to allow club members to refuel during our fuel farm rehabilitation. Touted as being "the honor system...with cameras" by airport manager Mike, the trickiest part about the process is navigating the geometric challenge of removing the log sheet's clipboard from the lockbox.

Ziad and I launched first in Warrior 481. Ziad and I have made several cross country flights together before, including a picnic run to Piseco airport in 2020,  an overnight trip to Detroit in 2021 and a day trip to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame with me and Kristy in 2023 (not blogged). He earned his FRZ PIN a few months prior, but as a relatively new private pilot still building confidence in communicating with air traffic control, wanted to observe how it all worked before trying it on his own.

Jerry and Ed. Photo by Jerry.

Jerry is a post-solo student pilot who joined Ed for the trip to College Park. As it turned out, Jerry's daughters were already in Washington D.C. and planned to meet us there. Inspired by our planning of this trip, Ed managed to secure his PIN just in time to make the flight.

Third in line was Gilead flying Cherokee Eight One Six with student pilot Alyssa on board. Of the group, Gilead has the most experience with FRZ procedures because he trained for a portion of his private pilot certificate in the area. Alyssa is a student pilot who completed her first solo just four days prior to making the trip to College Park.

Our fourth pilot was Simon, who flew the Rochester Air Center's Cirrus SR-20 to College Park with friends the day before. He was also inspired to get his PIN by this trip.

Our plan for the day was to venture into Washington D.C. after landing and return to College Park in the late afternoon where we expected to have a cookout with local pilots hosted by WFC member and College Park-based pilot Chris K. The only issue was that we did not hear anything from Chris K in the days leading up to the trip, so we only knew at time of departure from Sodus that the meal plan would be played by ear.

En Route

Seneca Lake.

We had excellent weather for the trip to College Park and the scenery was beautiful as we flew through the Finger Lakes Region, across the ruffled landscape of central Pennsylvania, and into Maryland. We did pass through a few clouds along the way, logging 0.2 hours of IMC.

Penn Yan Airport (KPEO) on the shore of Keuka Lake.

I took special note of the Penn Yan Airport as we passed it. I had been on the ground there just two days before with my colleague Jesse and his wife for Penn Yan's annual Fourth of July pancake breakfast fly-in. As we overflew two days later, the activity level had dwindled significantly.

Proceeding into Pennsylvania, we saw obvious examples of the terrain manufacturing weather. 

Susquehanna River in central Pennsylvania.

Normally pretty affable as an organization, New York Center did not tolerate sloppy radio work from an itinerant pilot that popped up on frequency that morning.

"New York Center, Cessna XYZ off Williamsport, climbing through one thousand six hundred."

"For what?" responded the controller so brusquely with such non-standard phrasing that I found myself wondering momentarily if the voice belonged to another pilot on frequency just being snarky. But, no. The aircraft out of Williamsport eventually got his flight following request fulfilled, but Center made him work for it.

Tough room.

Airport Incognito

While still on with Harrisburg Approach, the inevitable IFR re-route came. We were cleared direct to College Park via the Westminster VOR (EMI). It was such a trivial change that it did not impact our inbound heading.

Susquehanna River near Harrisburg, PA.

Beyond the windscreen, nothing changed. The green Earth still existed below, crisscrossed by roads, undulating with hills and valleys, and dotted with pockets of civilization. But when the virtual airplane depicted on ForeFlight's moving map entered the red tinted virtual space of the FRZ, a kind of cognitive dissonance occurred. It seemed like something should happen. A shrieking klaxon. A flashing of lights. A change in tone for Potomac Approach to let us know that flying through the FRZ was serious business. But instead, everything continued on as usual, the greatest sign that all of our preparations to make the trip were done properly.

In the distance, the Washington Monument pierced the sky, subjectively larger than it really is purely on the basis of its placement in such restricted airspace.

College Park Airport is difficult to find. Set immediately south of the University of Maryland, the single strip airport is less than 3,000 feet long and completely surrounded by trees. When I finally spotted it, we were a little high and much closer than I would have preferred. We cancelled IFR (but kept the squawk!), dove for pattern altitude, and managed the noise sensitive areas around the airport as best we could by entering the pattern on a midfield crosswind for runway 33.

Gilead and Alyssa landing at College Park in Eight One Six.

College Park staff instructed me to park next to the Cirrus already on the ramp. This was perfect because it was the Rochester Air Center's SR-20 flown into College Park the previous day by Simon. A few minutes later, Ed took the next spot in the row, emerging from his Archer to comment on how hard the field was to spot.

Gilead and Alyssa with Eight One Six while a line guy prepares to refuel the airplane.

Gilead taxied to the fuel farm for gas, where a College Park staffer helped fuel Eight One Six.

Soon enough, all three of the airplanes that departed the Williamson Sodus Airport that morning were lined up on the College Park apron approximately seven miles from the National Mall. All went according to plan.

Using Warrior 481's wingtip as a tripod, we snapped a timer shot of everyone who flew in that morning: me, Ziad, Gilead, Alyssa, Ed, and Jerry. And look at all the blue shoes! When I was a kid, I loved blue shoes but was convinced by my junior high school peers that blue shoes were not cool.

All four aircraft flown into College Park Airport by WFC members.

"Oldest Continually Operated in the World"

Regrouped on the ground at College Park, we planned the rest of our day. We had not heard anything more from Chris K, so decided that we would eat in D.C. before returning home that evening. The National Air & Space Museum was a natural destination for a group of pilots, but we did not get timed entry tickets in advance because forecasts for potential thunderstorms over D.C. delayed our go/no-go decision until the last minute. By then, we could no longer secure enough tickets for everyone. We decided to visit the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History instead. We had talked about a walking or Segway tour of the city, but Washington was predicted to reach 97°F that day and we thought that indoor activities would be best. The official top temperature reached that day, as recorded at Ronald Reagan National Airport, was 98°F.

I have written before of College Park's tremendous impact on aviation history and will not revisit that here. It is hard not to feel the weight of the place's history while regarding the weathered historical marker from 1976.

We made our way off airport grounds to the College Park Metro station. We had a significant delay here while everyone worked out how to pay their Metro fares. The three options included buying a physical fare card (SmarTrip) at a kiosk in the station, installing and using the SmarTrip app, or adding a virtual SmarTrip card to Apple wallet. SmarTrip kiosks were challenging to use because their digital displays could not be read in direct sunlight. I had already advised the group that the SmarTrip app was not a value-added path because it demands a lot of information during setup and fare purchases are clunky. On the other hand, the SmarTrip Apple wallet add on is easy to add, easy to use, and easy to replenish with funds through ApplePay. This was the way to go.

Candid shot of me, Gilead, Ed, and Jerry riding the Metro southbound into D.C. by Ziad.

While riding the Metro into the city, we received word that Chris K was stranded in another city on a business trip and would not be joining us. He graciously recommended some food options.

Inside the L'Enfant Plaza Metro station.

We disembarked in the L'Enfant Plaza station, named for Pierre Charles L'Enfant, a French-born engineer who designed the original plan for the "Federal City" (later named Washington D.C.) in 1791. Although he was fired by George Washington for insubordination, enough of L'Enfant's plan is reflected by the modern city that he is still credited with the general layout.

WFC members briskly walking toward the L'Enfant Plaza Metro exit.

Small World, Small Airplanes

On the National Mall, we connected with Jerry's daughters. As he introduced them to the group, Jerry paused when he got to me. "And of course, you already know Chris." 

Huh?

Seeing me caught off-guard, Jerry laughed and explained that I had flown his daughters in Cherokee Eight One Six during the 2023 Apple Blossom Pancake Breakfast that we host each May. 

So that's why they looked familiar...

Photo by Gilead of Jerry's daughters in Eight One Six with me in 2023 preparing to fly.

"Did I give you a good ride?" I asked.

"Yeah, I think so," responded Jordan, Jerry's oldest. I concluded from this that it was at least not memorably bad! I remembered them now because it was the only time I filled all four seats in the Bold Warrior that morning. All three -- the two girls and a boyfriend -- were of slight enough build that we were able to make it work within weight and balance limitations.

The Constitution's "Federal City"

Jerry, Gilead, Ed, me, Alyssa, and Ziad secured photographic proof of being in Washington D.C. courtesy of Jordan.

I am weary of politics. I think many Americans are. But the sight of the United States Capitol is so iconic that I was nonetheless inspired by it. Becoming an aviator in a post 9/11 world (I soloed on my first flight after 9/11), I never thought that I would ever fly myself to Washington D.C. Yet there we stood, a group of Williamson Flying Club members on the National Mall. Despite the flaws in our political system and despite the hurdles limiting pilot access to College Park, the fact that we were able to accomplish it at all is a testament to freedom that does not exist in other places.

In the opposite direction from the Capitol, a Southwest Airlines 737 photobombed my picture of the Washington Monument, a modern tribute that perpetuates the basic shape of those Egyptian obelisks that so fascinated ancient Romans -- so much so that the form persists in western civilization across the centuries and halfway around the world.

Also present on the National Mall is the 1855 red sandstone Smithsonian Castle. It is home to the Smithsonian Institution and adds a colorful and distinctive profile to the Mall.

We expected Washington D.C. to be crowded a mere two days after July 4, but that was not the case at all. The lack of people on the National Mall was truly striking -- it was much more crowded in October 2023 when I last visited. Perhaps the heat chased everyone inside; at least the smart ones.

Getting on Board the Dinosaur Train

Gilead, Ed, and Alyssa heading for the National Museum of Natural History.

Opposite the Smithsonian Castle, we turned to the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, sighing in relief when we reached the entrance and experienced the embrace of cold air spilling from the building.

Reunited in the rotunda, we pondered the question of where to start. Butterflies? Rocks and gems? Dinosaurs? I offered that, since I am functionally a child anyway, we should start with dinosaurs. And so we did.

Our entry to the dinosaur gallery was perfectly timed. We arrived right at feeding time! Or was this "dinosaur enrichment"?

This exhibit gave incontrovertible proof that dinosaurs loved belly rubs.

After the dinosaurs, we looped through the gems and minerals exhibit where we saw the infamous Hope Diamond. I was unable to get a picture of it worth posting, but can assure that it was a very pretty rock. Seeing it also made me realize that I had seen it previously in 2002 when Kristy and I traveled to Washington D.C. to see Brian Stokes Mitchell and Christine Baranski in Sweeney Todd at the Kennedy Center. While I did not specifically remember visiting the Natural History Museum, I definitely remember seeing the Hope Diamond.

Rotunda of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.

Does anyone know a good chiropractor?

In the exhibit on sea life, we encountered this casting of a large mosasaur skeleton -- or as I call it, "the physical embodiment of pure terror". I'm pretty sure that this is actually one of those shrieking eels from The Princess Bride.

Amazingly, I also saw the United States Capitol while inside the Museum of Natural History! How did they do that? Oh, I was just looking out a window.

Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History rotunda.

We regrouped in the rotunda and made a decision on lunch. The first place we tried was packed with surprisingly enthusiastic soccer fans, so we took Chris K's suggestion of going to Hill Country Barbecue Market.

Leaving the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.

Pilots Amuck in Washington D.C.

Along the way, we passed the Washington D.C. Waldorf Astoria hotel. The structure was originally completed in 1899 as home of the United States Post Office. The clock tower is the third highest point in Washington D.C. Of course, the original Waldorf-Astoria hotel in New York City was once managed by George Boldt, an immigrant who made his fortune in that role and built the stunning Boldt Caste in the Thousand Islands region of New York.

We passed the National Archives, home to the original Declaration of Independence, United States Constitution, and Bill of Rights. Someday, I would like to return and see these original foundational documents for myself, a touchstone with where our nation began. Based on some of their rhetoric, I think some of our politicians would do well to review them also.

This striking compass rose accompanied the United States Naval Memorial. Unfortunately, aircraft access to this spot for swinging a compass would be tough to manage. We continued on to Hill Country Barbecue where everyone enjoyed substantial portions of delicious BBQ. 

A Brief Foray into Aviation History at College Park

Gilead to Chris K...where are you?? Snarky picture sent to Chris K.

After riding the Metro back to College Park, we made a brief visit to the College Park Aviation Museum. Because we arrived a mere 30 minutes before closing and one of our members was eligible for a military discount, we were effectively granted free admission.

Replica 1910 Wright Model B photographed October 10, 2023.

We received a demonstration of the museum's replica 1910 Wright Model B aircraft from a docent. More refined than its 1909 Military Flyer predecessor (the first Wright aircraft flown at College Park), it was an important evolutionary step in that it was the first Wright design to feature an elevator on the tail rather than a canard, it added wheels to eliminate the need to launch from a rail, and it had a more powerful engine. It also possessed two seats side by side, but these were design specifications for the preceding Wright Military Flyer. The US government bought two of Model B aircraft and brought them to College Park where they were designated as Signal Corps #3 and #4.

College Park Aviation Museum photographed October 10, 2023.

1924 Berliner helicopter photographed October 10, 2023.

We also spent some time with, to my mind, the most interesting artifact in the museum. On February 24, 1924 (just over 100 years ago), this very Berliner helicopter flew ("hopped"?) at an altitude of 15 feet with a forward airspeed of 40 mph in front of an audience of Navy officials and journalists at the College Park Airport. It is considered the first controlled helicopter flight. The museum has a video of the flight and, while deemed "successful" and "controlled", the flight is not elegant and the Berliners were never quite able to master a graceful landing. But it was the first and that alone is worth mention.

Out of the FRZ

It was so blisteringly hot, so squalidly humid, that time outside in Maryland / Washington D.C. was distinctly uncomfortable for people. But I worried even more about the 98°F day's impact on take off performance over trees at College Park Airport. I ran the performance numbers for Warrior 481 during my original flight planning and, with an added margin of safety, the available runway distance looked a little tight. I chose not to take on fuel at College Park specifically because I did not want the extra weight on take off. 

Inside the College Park Airport administration building, I snorted at the placard on Lee Somer's office. I suppose that when you work at one of the most tightly regulated airports in the country, a little levity goes a long way. We reunited with Simon before making our cellphone calls to Potomac for departure clearances.

As I suspected, I was cleared out of the area via BELTS on the northern edge of the FRZ rather than KRANT that was so much closer to the capital. By indicating that I could depart VFR, I was spared managing a release and/or void time.

I watched Ed depart first and, as I suspected, his ground roll was long and his rate of climb meager compared to the typical performance of his Archer II. When Ziad and I launched from runway 15, I treated it as a short field take off and handily climbed away from College Park with assistance from 25° of flaps. I had a bit of a scramble after making contact with Potomac Approach on take off when they sent me direct to a waypoint that was not part of my cleared routing, but other than that, our departure from the FRZ was a nonevent.

Debrief

"Well, what did you think?" I asked Ziad as we cruised home at 7,000 feet on our airway route, periodically sliding through the bases of clouds.

Based on what he heard and saw, Ziad was not sure that he was ready to tackle the D.C. area airspace on his own. To be fair, the communications came fast and furious the closer we were to College Park. It seemed like our trip gave him the data he needed. ATC communications become easier and more natural the more we fly; practice really does make perfect. The same will be true of Ziad. He may not be ready today, but if he keeps interacting with ATC, he will get there. I would not have been ready to tackle College Park within a year of earning my certificate either.

From somewhere behind us, Gilead called ATC from Cherokee Eight One Six and requested direct to Sodus. Calculations indicated that our airway route only added a minute or two versus the direct route home, so I was a little puzzled about why he bothered to ask. Heck, I dialed all of those waypoints into the GNS 430W, I wanted to reward the effort by using them.

The controller evidently struggled with this, too. "Uhh...sure. Eight One Six cleared direct destination."

Then, after a moment, "Hey, Four Eight One, do you want direct destination, too? I don't want to leave you out."

"Sure," I responded, the shrug evident in my intonation.

"Cherokee Four Eight One, you're cleared direct destination too."

Then, later: "Hey, Four Eight One, what's going on at SDC today? I have three of you headed there." (He did not include Simon's Cirrus because it was going back to Rochester.) Some club members are highly amused by this because, regardless of my position in the gaggle, that question seems to come to me more often than our other pilots.

So I answered from my position in the middle of the line, "SDC is home base. We had a club fly-out to College Park, MD today."

"Very cool," acknowledged the controller. It takes a lot to organize some of these outings, particularly this one with the additional challenges of flying into the FRZ. We cancelled a disproportionately high number of club flights in June due to weather and we almost cancelled this one due to persistent thunderstorm risk that only evaporated the night before. Considering all of that, I am in total agreement with the controller. It is very cool.

Sunbeams over Corning, NY.

For Simon and Ed, our pilots exercising their PINs for the first time, the day was a highly successful test drive of their new privileges. Ziad was able to assess whether he wanted to exercise his PIN independently and decided that he was not quite ready for it. Our student pilots Alyssa and Jerry received an excellent example of what a certificated private pilot can accomplish. Gilead got to lead a group of members back into his former home turf. And for me, while I was disappointed that I have not managed to bring my family to D.C. yet, I was pleased to refine my understanding of the whole process. Much potential remains for new adventures to College Park in the future and I am looking forward to the next opportunity.

It was probably the most heat-challenged general aviation flight I had ever taken, but I appreciate the irony that the FRZ was anything but freezing that day!