Adventures in the Mitten | Part 1, Up North to Mackinac

Reboot

Each year since 2021, we have organized an annual overnight trip for the Williamson Flying Club (WFC). Our first was to Detroit for a visit to the Henry Ford, then Dayton to explore the National Museum of the United States Air Force, and most recently to Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina as a pilgrimage to the Wright Brothers National Memorial and the Outer Banks. Distance and weather along with varying piloting abilities, risk tolerances, and personalities add challenges to planning and carrying out these types of trips.

For 2024, I planned a three day / two night trip to northern Michigan from May 26-28 for the club with highlights including visits to Mackinac Island, the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, and the Air Zoo in Kalamazoo where I was formerly a docent. We had seven airplanes going, most of them helmed by instrument rated pilots. However, strong storms were forecast to sweep into Michigan on the middle day. It looked like an utter washout and, considering that our itinerary was focused on outdoor activities, it did not suggest a fun time. Because the deep low pressure system associated with the storm was a persistent forecast feature throughout the week leading up to departure, the overwhelming consensus -- despite some dissentions -- was to cancel. While the reality of the weather validated this decision, it was the beginning of what became a frustrating streak of weather related club event cancellations that persisted well into June.

In rescheduling the Mackinac trip, I tried to find days that worked for all original participants. However, I was told by nearly everyone not to sweat the details, to pick new dates that worked for me, and to let things shake out as they would. When I rescheduled for August 3-5, attendance contracted to two aircraft and four people. I tried to persuade Kristy and The Bear to join, but both had things going on that weekend that they did not want to miss.

Gilead tried to rejoin the trip a few days before departure, but discovered that last minute hotel rooms in Traverse City, MI cost more than double what the rest of us were paying. He decided that it was not meant to be.

And then there were four: Alicia, Alyssa, Tom, and me at Sleeping Bear Dunes on 04 August 2024

And so, on August 3 at 7:00 am, Warrior 481 carrying me and Alyssa broke ground from the Williamson Sodus Airport a few minutes behind Tom and Alicia in Two Six Romeo. While I was disappointed in the lower turnout, the practical reality was that the logistics -- everything from restaurant reservations to ground transportation -- were so much easier to manage with only four of us. While the whole thing did not quite go as planned because long general aviation cross country flights rarely do, it was a wonderful trip and a great opportunity to share some of the beauty of my home state with friends from the East who really had no idea what to expect. In the end, I think they were all pleasantly surprised and impressed by the places we visited. 

Spoiler alert: the trip was a huge success.

Diversion

Date	Aircraft	Route of Flight	Time (hrs)	Total (hrs)
03 Aug 2024	N21481	SDC (Sodus, NY) - HYX (Saginaw, MI)	2.7	2873.8

Cruising New York State somewhere near Rochester after departing Sodus.

We departed from Sodus VFR, picked up our IFR clearances in the air, and proceeded direct to St Clair County Airport (KPHN) just on the Michigan side of the border with Canada. It was not a pretty morning (above), but conditions were reasonably benign except for a headwind at 6,000 feet that stretched flight times.

Niagara Falls were not as grand when sapped of color by the overcast. But it was the first time Alyssa had ever seen the falls from the air and this sighting inspired a conversation about the logistics of flying the Niagara Falls sightseeing procedure. Our timing was excellent because Mike, the WFC's chief instructor, often has his students plan a cross country flight to the falls. This lesson was rapidly approaching for Alyssa.

A multi-state cross country trip like the one we were taking means a lot of time together in the close confines of an airplane cockpit . While company is generally welcome, it can be a long and awkward ride if personalities do not mesh well. Fortunately, Alyssa and I had already flown together enough to be comfortable with one another. Conversation flowed well and the time passed quickly, even despite the headwind.

Not much going on in Ontario, Canada.

For Tom and Alicia, this trip marked their first time flying themselves in Canadian airspace. Although I think nothing of crossing through Ontario between New York and Michigan, I realized that it was a noteworthy milestone for them.

As we flew over London, Ontario, I told Alyssa about our club trip there in 2022 to tour the Diamond Aircraft factory. This caught her attention because she has some Diamond time in her logbook.

After three hours of flying, we planned a fuel stop and restroom break at the St Clair County Airport in Port Huron, MI. West of London, I began paying closer attention to Port Huron weather. Unfortunately, the airport was socked-in with highly localized fog and conditions were below minimums for even the most precise instrument approach procedure available. Unless the weather lifted before we arrived, there would be no getting into Port Huron.

Tom was clearly concerned about the same thing and asked Selfridge Approach for a diversion to Tuscola Area Airport (KCFS) in Caro, MI. Per the chart, the field generally has fuel available and, while there was no NOTAM about fuel being unavailable that day, I could not find a fuel price in ForeFlight. However, I could see a reasonable fuel price ($5.65/gal) at Saginaw County / H.W. Browne Airport (KHYX) in Saginaw and decided on that airport instead. Once Tom was squared away with Selfridge, I requested and was approved for a deviation to Saginaw County.

Over the Canadian shore on the south end of Lake Huron.

Tom and I turned to new, slightly diverging courses that would take us to our chosen diversion airports. As we neared the international border that is physically identifiable by the St Clair River, the atmosphere became quite hazy. Although Port Huron was still calling IFR as we passed by, a lag in AWOS reporting was evident because I could clearly see the airport. We could have made it in had we opted to try, but there was no need to change course again.

For only the second time in my travels, we flew over the Greenwood Energy Center in Avoca, MI. Exactly like the first time I saw it, I wondered about the curious geometry of the ponds surrounding the facility.

Though we were 6,000 feet above them, it was clear that we were looking at fountains placed in the waterway. I assume that they have a practical rather than decorative purpose. Aeration, perhaps?

ForeFlight ground track from Sodus (KSDC), across Ontario, Canada, to H.W. Browne (KHYX).

Beloved Undertaker

In the traffic pattern, I quickly decided that "Saginaw County / H.W. Browne Airport" was a mouthful to say on the radio. There was no other traffic on frequency near the field, so no local naming conventions to emulate. Once we landed (airport #279), Alyssa assisted with refueling and then we walked to the terminal building in search of restrooms.

N21481 at my 279th airport: Saginaw County / H.W. Browne Airport (KHYX).

A group of older (well, older than me) pilots were gabbing in the terminal. I asked one of them what the locals call the airport on the radio.

"Harry Browne will work," said one.

"It's named after a black undertaker who championed the airport when the town wanted to shut it down," added another.

A third chimed in. "It's an old airport, too. It has been here since 1910, one of the oldest in the country!" He proceeded to share tales of how Amelia Earhart and Charles Lindbergh once visited Saginaw's former municipal airport. These stories reminded me of how both aviation pioneers similarly visited the original airport in Le Roy, NY and the grand opening of Greater Rochester International, respectively.

If 1910 was the correct year, the airport would have been founded not long after College Park Airport in Maryland. Established in 1909, College Park is considered the oldest continuously operating airport in the world. Follow-up reading suggests that the airport was established closer to 1912, which still makes it quite old. It is considered the oldest airport north of Detroit. 

Research on Harry Browne was even more interesting. Harry W. Browne (1908-1990) was a beloved pillar of the Saginaw community. He was a community organizer, the first black president of the local UAW chapter, and the first black man to ever lead a United Way funding drive. He studied Mortuary Science at Wayne State University and founded Saginaw's successful Browne's Mortuary in 1941. His service on the Tri City Airport Commission led to the airport being named in his honor in 1973. All reports of Harry W. Browne describe a man who valued education, who always smiled, who took every opportunity to better his community through leadership, and was admired by those who knew him. As happens so often, an unplanned visit to a new airport led me down a fascinating historical rabbit hole.

At some point in conversation with the Saginaw pilots, we realized that one of them and I had once worked at the same place during the 1990s: the AC Rochester - Flint East facility on Dort Highway. What were the odds of that? He described receiving a commendation for singlehandedly shutting down a fire at the spark plug plant that might have burned the whole facility down had he not intervened.

A 2012 photo I took of the former AC Rochester - Flint East site.

"Yeah, so they could tear it all down just a few years later," I added sourly, receiving an emphatic nod in response. I described how I flew over the site -- now a brownfield -- in 2012 and could see the former footprint of the engineering building where I worked because the trees that once surrounded it were still there. My former workplace was literally excised from their midst.

Smoke Signals

Date	Aircraft	Route of Flight	Time (hrs)	Total (hrs)
03 Aug 2024	N21481	HYX (Saginaw, MI) - MCD (Mackinac Island, MI)	1.8	2875.6

The Zilwaukee Bridge over the Saginaw River.

Climbing away from Harry Browne Airport, I contacted Great Lakes Approach for flight following to Mackinac. This inspired a long discussion with Alyssa about the value of flight following and why we use the optional service from air traffic control. Climbing skyward, I was surprised to see a huge bridge that towered significantly above the pancake-flat terrain around Saginaw. It was the infamous Zilwaukee Bridge that was built between 1979 and 1988. It carries eight lanes of I-75 across the Saginaw River and replaced an older drawbridge that caused significant traffic backups on the Interstate whenever ships were passing. A significant snag occurred during its construction in 1982 when one of the concrete segments of the bridge unexpectedly sagged, an incident that added years to the project. I was still a kid when this happened and even though Saginaw was an hour north of home, even I was aware of the news.

I described for Alyssa how residents of southern Michigan often go "up north" on weekends and holidays to where they have cabins. For many, crossing the Zilwauke Bridge northbound marks the official start of "up north".

The Saginaw River winds through Bay City to Saginaw Bay in Lake Huron.

Smoke from western wildfires prevailed over northern Michigan, intensifying into significant haze as we neared the Straits of Mackinac where Michigan's upper and lower peninsulas are at their closest. Although conditions were undeniably VFR, the haze is very evident in all of the pictures I took inbound to Mackinac Island.

Mackinac Island photographed while over Round Island.

I have flown into Mackinac Island a few times over the years, but this was the first time an easterly wind prevailed that favored runway 8 over runway 26. 

While descending to the 1900 foot pattern altitude published for Mackinac Island, we remained outside the lateral boundaries of the island per local noise abatement instructions. Most of the population is on the south side of the island, including the eponymous town itself, Fort Mackinac, and the Grand Hotel made famous by the 1980 movie Somewhere in Time. The airport is farther north and confined to the island's interior.

From here we could see the Grand Hotel (left of frame), downtown, and the long ramp across the bluff leading to Fort Mackinac (right of frame). 

What appears to be excess silt streaking from the island's east face is actually the lake bottom visible through shallow water. When we visited the island in 2012, low Lake Huron water levels allowed us to walk quite far from shore.

August 20, 2012: The Bear walking out on the exposed bottom of Lake Huron off the east end of Mackinac Island.

Mackinac Island Airport (KMCD)

We entered the traffic pattern for runway 8 on the north side of the airport using a conventional 45° entry to the downwind. As we did so, I was annoyed by an Arrow III that announced a straight in final approach from a few miles out that forced me and Alyssa to extend our downwind to accommodate them. I felt another flash of irritation when the Arrow stopped on the runway and dawdled for a while as we rapidly closed the distance with the runway threshold on short final.

It was a typical turbulent, gusty, unpredictable Mackinac Island arrival. I fought the airplane through sporty breezes that chaotically swept across the runway and settled her onto the pavement more firmly than I would have preferred. When I made a disappointed sound on the intercom, Alyssa was quick to counter it. "I think you handled that pretty well!"

ForeFlight ground track from H.W. Browne (KHYX) to Mackinac Island (KMCD).

Rare Internal Combustion Engine Traffic on Mackinac

Alicia, Tom, and Two Six Romeo ("Petrie") at Mackinac Island. Photo by Alicia.

Tom and Alicia landed first. Day visitors were directed to park on the grass east of the paved parking apron. Similar to our Block Island experience, there was ample parking despite a large number of airplanes already parked there.

Our new friend in the Arrow III was parked between us and Tom's Cherokee 180. As we climbed out of the Warrior, the Arrow pilot gave us an exuberant wave. "How are ya doin'?! Great day, huh!" I smiled and returned the greeting in spite of my annoyance with his airmanship.

Me, Alyssa, Alicia, and Tom.

Using Warrior 481 as a camera tripod -- it technically is a tripod -- we commemorated the arrival of a Williamson Flying Club group on Mackinac Island, even if it was a smaller group than originally planned. At least this time, we were not rained out.

Grumman Widgeons are not very common aircraft and I experienced some cognitive dissonance on seeing "Barry's" airplane with the "wrong" paint scheme on Mackinac Island. As I contemplated the amphibian, I wondered which was less expensive, arriving to the island as a twin engine airplane or a boat.

Our airplanes are waaaaaay down there near the end of the line.

Day parking on the grass was quite crowded by the time we arrived. For those wishing to secure their airplanes more rigorously, there was a steel cable running the length of the parking area that could anchor tie down ropes.

We saw this hefty Cessna Caravan turboprop arrive and taxi to parking. Its flight history shows a lot of short haul flights around the upper Midwest between places like Mackinac Island, MI; Traverse City, MI; Oshkosh, WI; and Howell, MI, etc.

Arrivals staying overnight were given premiere parking on the ramp. I had never seen the ramp so full before.

The Mackinac Island Airport Terminal.

Horse drawn taxis can be hired to convey airport arrivals into town. On a previous trip in 2012, we shared a taxi with the former Editor in Chief of Flying magazine, J. Mac McClellan. In this case, I suggested that we walk to town to stretch our legs after the long flight and plan to tackle the uphill return trip by taxi.

The Great Turtle

Mackinac Island (pronounced "mack-ih-naw") is a Michigan State Park and, as part of the park, the airport is administered by the Mackinac Island State Park Commission. Single engine aircraft pay a $12.50 landing fee and a $12.50 overnight fee per night, the proceeds of which support the beautiful little airport. In 1875, Mackinac Island was originally established as the second national park in the United States (Yellowstone was the first) and was administered by United States Army troops garrisoned at Fort Mackinac during those years. When the fort was decommissioned twenty years later in 1895, responsibility for Mackinac Island was transferred to the state and it became Michigan's first state park.

The island is a popular vacation destination that can only be reached by boat or airplane. Except for emergency and construction vehicles, a ban on motor vehicles has been in place on the island since the nineteenth century. (Evidently Vice President Mike Pence did not get the memo when he visited in 2019 with an eight SUV motorcade, an entirely unprecedented spectacle for the tranquil island.) As a result, most people get around on the island by foot, bicycle, or horse power. Bicycle rental is big business on the island and we saw a number of signs in the airport terminal building prohibiting the use of e-bikes, though we nonetheless encountered several on the remote roads connecting the airport to town.

Mackinac Island is a historic place. Once a colonial center for fur trading, the British established Fort Mackinac high on a bluff overlooking the harbor in 1779 in an effort to control the Straits of Mackinac during the American Revolution. The fort was central to two battles during the War of 1812, neither of which went well for the United States. Because of its place in history, the entire island is designated a National Historic Landmark.

Me and Tom walking into town. Photo by Alyssa.

When we were on Block Island a few weeks prior, Alyssa commented, "I have never seen so many bikes in my life!"

"Just wait until we go to Mackinac!" I suggested in the moment.

I think Mackinac Island delivered well on my promise to her. We walked the full length of town along Lake Shore Drive and the street was lined with parked bikes.

A simple two horsepower runabout.

As we explored town, a ship horn sounded loudly from the harbor.

"HONK!" I said in response.

Alyssa looked at me in surprise. "I was going to say exactly the same thing, but I thought you would all think I was weird." I think that this was the moment that our quartet of weird travelers began to gel.

We narrowed lunch options down to two places, both highly recommended. One was the Pink Pony and the other was the Chuckwagon, one of them fancier than the other. We put our names in at the Pink Pony on the east end of town, but it was going to be a long wait.

When we reached the Chuckwagon on the west end of town, there was no waiting at the no-frills burger place boasting the "best burgers in town". We surrendered our spot on the Pink Pony's waiting list and enjoyed some excellent burgers at the Chuckwagon instead.

During lunch at the Chockwagon.

The day was only half over, but we had already flown four and a half hours, diverted to unexpected airports due to a fogged in fuel stop, landed at a place that is a bucket list item for many pilots, and walked into town on a hot summer day. We had earned a good lunch!