Katama, July 24th

[kath]

Hey all,


Katama Airpark (Martha's Vineyard) --- Sunday July 24th


This is a place I've heard lots of good things about, and I've never been... and I finally got permission from my FBO to land a rental on grass! Yippee!

I'm no good at organizing fly-ins... so this is more of an "I'm going to be there, so if other people want to show up too, that's great" kind of event.

Some people may require pavement to land on. So let me know if you a) need a ride to/from MVY or b) can provide a ride to/from MVY.

--Kath

 

[BillG]

I'm in, of course. Wasn't this my idea? I can help ferry from MVY if necessary.

 

[Arnold]

Count me in "maybe" I will be up in Lawrence at a motel/hotel, don't know exactly where, that weekend as I am a witness in a civil trial on Monday. I will probably need to get away for awhile so if someone wants to pick me up at LWM I'd love to go. We'll have to stay in touch though as the attorney working the case may mess up my day.

 

[Toby]

I've not been able to get in touch with the guy I rent from. He may be on vacation. I'm hoping to be there and will be bringing two friends. Will keep you updated.

 

[Shipoke]

toby if you dont get hold of him,let me know ,i might try to make it , and could pick you up Dave

 

[BillG]

So the weekend is rapidly approaching and the weather looks great! Who is going to Katama this weekend? People should be showing up around 9-10 AM. Look for me on the beach - you won't miss me (if it's windy).

 

[kath]

So the weekend is rapidly approaching and the weather looks great! Who is going to Katama this weekend? People should be showing up around 9-10 AM. Look for me on the beach - you won't miss me (if it's windy).

Here's my "tally" for Sunday so far, combining from both AOPA and PoA boards:
---------------------------------
Bill G (Minuteman, MA)
Kath (Bedford)
Toby (LongIsland -- will need a lift from MVY)
Gary (somewhere in PA)
voyager11 (the local island sheriff)
172DBaron (Farmingdale)
Arnold (needs a ride from LWM, maybe?)
shipoke (Harrisburg -- maybe?)

 

[BillG]

Excellent! Should be quite a party...! There may be a couple more planes from my local EAA chapter, too. I am going to try to get there as early as I can and can ferry Toby et al from MVY if necessay (how many people, Toby?)

 

[Toby]

Excellent! Should be quite a party...! There may be a couple more planes from my local EAA chapter, too. I am going to try to get there as early as I can and can ferry Toby et al from MVY if necessay (how many people, Toby?)

Bill,

I'm coming by myself, and I should be there by 10. I plan to get to my airport at 8, will have fueled up the day before if necessary, and if there's no haze I'll be out of there by 8:30. Takes an hour-something to get to MVY.

Of course, if there's haze I can't see through, I might be held up. I'll give you a call, if so. If you don't hear from me by 9, you can assume I'm on my way! I'll call you when I land.

I'm sure you'll recognize me. Should I wear my hula girl sunglasses?

 

[BillG]

Uh, hula girl sunglasses? That might help! What plane will you be flying? When you have a good idea of what time you'll be landing it might be helpful if you call me. If I'm running late (likely) I could go straight to MVY although the plan is to go to Katama first.

Are people planning on bringing a picnic lunch or going over to the restaurant for lunch?

 

[Toby]

Are people planning on bringing a picnic lunch or going over to the restaurant for lunch?

I vote for the restaurant, but I'll go with the flow.

 

[BillG]

Those are lovely - I have a pair just like them. Definitely will make you easier to pick out of a crowd. What is the N-number of the plane you'll be flying, so I can listen for it on the air?

Actually I was about to suggest the opposite. How 'bout we make this a pot luck picnic on the beach? Waddyall think?

 

[kath]

Actually I was about to suggest the opposite. How 'bout we make this a pot luck picnic on the beach? Waddyall think?

I vote beach picnic. I was planning on baking a fresh loaf of sourdough and making a bunch of "sammiches".

--Kath

 

[Anthony]

I feel another Gaston's coming on.

Hula Girl sunglasses. Tres chic!

Have fun guys, but the Tiger will be patrolling the Rockies that weekend. Bill G. can represent the type very well.

Haze? What's that?

 

[BillG]

Oh yeah, I just found your e-mail about that, Kath - let's go with that! I can bring some sides or dessert or something. Or more cold cuts? Waddya think?

 

[Toby]

What is the N-number of the plane you'll be flying, so I can listen for it on the air?

C-172, tan w/blue trim, N9961V.

 

[SkyHog]

How're you getting there Toby, you gonna cross the ocean or fly along land and then cross the ocean?

Just curious.

 

[Toby]

How're you getting there Toby, you gonna cross the ocean or fly along land and then cross the ocean?

Just curious.

I fly up the north fork of Long Island, continue straight across to Westerly, RI, fly east along the coast till I pass Newport, then cross a little itty bitty water to get to MVY. It's a very beautiful trip. You pass over the bridges and mansions of Newport.

I am very out of practice doing cross countries and flying the 172....hope I can remember how.

 

[BillG]

My long student XC I believe took me down to Groton, then across that same coastline to Hyannis - it's a fantastic trip! Ah, flying a 172 is like riding a bike, isn't it?

Looks like a b-e-a-utiful weekend (just watched Bruce Almighty again) - is anyone else joining us at Katama?

 

[Skip Miller]

is anyone else joining us at Katama?

Almost! I ran into Toby at KMVY. I flew to Lake George on Saturday, spending the afternoon swimming in that beautiful lake, and tooling around at high speeds on a 38' Cigarette owned by my wife's friend. Dinner late and drop into bed by midnight. Up this morning for a leasurely breakfast and stroll around the grounds of the Hotel Sagamore, the grand old hotel on the lake. Then back to the Ticonderoga Airport and off to Martha's Vineyard to drop off my wife for several days of RnR (it is the girl's annual retreat). After meeting the crowd and lunching late at the Vineyard, I was back at the airport where I met Toby.

Unfortunately I was rushing back to KHPN and made it with 15 minutes to spare before the next reservation for the plane started. Hmmm, owning does have its benefits doesn't it? Anyhow it was a grand weekend for flying and judging from Toby's comments, you guys had fun at Katama!

-Skip

 

[Toby]

Almost! I ran into Toby at KMVY. I flew to Lake George on Saturday, spending the afternoon swimming in that beautiful lake, and tooling around at high speeds on a 38' Cigarette owned by my wife's friend. Dinner late and drop into bed by midnight. Up this morning for a leasurely breakfast and stroll around the grounds of the Hotel Sagamore, the grand old hotel on the lake. Then back to the Ticonderoga Airport and off to Martha's Vineyard to drop off my wife for several days of RnR (it is the girl's annual retreat). After meeting the crowd and lunching late at the Vineyard, I was back at the airport where I met Toby.

Unfortunately I was rushing back to KHPN and made it with 15 minutes to spare before the next reservation for the plane started. Hmmm, owning does have its benefits doesn't it? Anyhow it was a grand weekend for flying and judging from Toby's comments, you guys had fun at Katama!

-Skip

That was such a surprise! I know I was speechless for a second there, Skip, but I didn't expect to see you. This was about 5 seconds after Kath dropped me off.

What a great weekend you had, boating and flying in the incredible sunshine. (I'm assuming a Cigarette is a boat?) We did have a wonderful day on the beach. I'll try and post some pictures later. I know I got a couple of good ones of Bill's and Kath's kites flying together. All my other pictures seemed to feature the garbage can....

 

[BillG]

What a great day. Too bad my propeller kept stopping and the plane almost ended up in the ocean before I gave up on it (oh, you'll have to see Toby's pics to know what I'm talking about!), but other than that it was perfect weather! Hope everyone had great flights back.

 

[Gary]

Was a great day! Nicole will do the photo editing today and I'll post some of ours later. Thanks to Toby and Katherine for the excellent lunch! Neat place and certainly popular. No major issues on the return, although the DG died over Groton and NY approach roamed us over a major portion of nothern NJ. Was nice to put some faces to names, but by today I have forgotten most of the names.


Gary

 

[BillG]

LOL, I'm terrible with names too, but there weren't THAT many of us...! How long did it take to get back to PA? Tougher to hold heading without a DG, huh?

 

[Anthony]

What a great day. Too bad my propeller kept stopping and the plane almost ended up in the ocean before I gave up on it (oh, you'll have to see Toby's pics to know what I'm talking about!), but other than that it was perfect weather! Hope everyone had great flights back.

What??? Tell us more Bill. Hope its OK.

 

[Skip Miller]

I'm assuming a Cigarette is a boat?

Yes. It is a brand name for a go-fast, make-lots-of-noise boat with ocean racing heritage. Lots of fun for an afternoon!

-Skip

 

[Bill]

What??? Tell us more Bill. Hope its OK.

I'm guessing one of two things:

1. Bil was fying one of those wind up rubber band toy airplanes, or...
2. Flying RC planes?

 

[kath]

Hi, all,
What a great time! I can see how this grass field thing can get really addictive--what fun! I was pretty proud of my landings... takeoffs were much harder. Not quite so pretty. (I'm not used to the takeoff being the hard part.) But I got back with all three wheels still attached.

I got horribly sunburned on my shoulders, ouchh!! When you go into the water, be sure to reapply the sunscreen afterwards.


On the way back, I tried (again) to ask for a Boston city tour. Approach said that was up to the Tower and said he'd try to arrange something. He handed me off to Tower, who cleared me into the Bravo and up the Charles River, but he said I had to turn around before I hit the downtown skyline. That's okay... it was still pretty cool to get that close to downtown.

My G.P.S. (guy pointing at sectional) did a marvelous job navigating on the way back too.

See y'all at Block Island next time!

--Kath

 

[BillG]

What??? Tell us more Bill. Hope its OK.

Yeah, it's ok. I finally just let it sit on the sand. Eventually I took it apart and managed to get all the pieces into a plastic bag, with Gary's help.

Toby, where are those pictures?

 

[BillG]

Yeah, grass is really fun, and you got that extra landing in after coming back from MVY, too! Did you hit a bump and get launced a bit early on take off?

Ouch - I got pretty burned up, too, mostly on my stomach. And Hector burned his back. What were we thinking??

That's great that you got a bit closer to Boston. That happens when they're using the other runways at Logan - if you go too far you'll get in their way.

So, Block Island on Saturday? Where should we meet?

 

[Toby]

Yeah, it's ok. I finally just let it sit on the sand. Eventually I took it apart and managed to get all the pieces into a plastic bag, with Gary's help.

Toby, where are those pictures?

Bill, I'm at the office now, and I was pretty tired when I got home last night, so couldn't go through the whole resizing thing. Will do tonight.

Yes, Anthony, his prop stopped. We all just stood there and prayed.

My flight home was spectacular. Just the first part was annoying -- I got to the runup area at 4:20, and didn't take off until 5:45! There were 4 a/c ahead of me, 5 behind, and nonstop taxis on final. When it's Sunday rush hour at the Vineyard, and all those well-paying passengers want to head home to wherever, we little guys have to wait. I got a left turnout and there were planes flying in and out and turning every which way. You can't relax until you're past the shoreline and on top of those little islands.

But flying home....well, all I can say is that it's been many months since I've actually had the chance to fly alone. I've had 50 hours of dual tailwheel since Sept. No solo. I've flown with friends on a few occasions, upstate NY, MO/AR, and to the Wings Fly-b-que. But no flying on my own.

Then, just this past week, I flew alone on Fri. and Sat., just in the pattern and practicing my skills, and then Sunday to MVY. I feel great! I also know now how far I've come as far as adapting to new situations. On the way to MVY, the ATIS changed 3 times in less than an hour. They kept changing the active runway. The last report I heard said 33. So I looked at my chart and saw it was RT. Got myself ready. I heard Tower talking to 2 a/c both on the right dw for 33. There were also jets coming in on and taking off from 24. Then Tower told me to report LEFT dw for 33. So there were two doing RT ahead of me, me doing LT, there was some sort of powerful a/c on a 2-mile final for 24, and I was still not even at midfield. They asked me to shorten my dw if I could, and land and keep rolling, which I did, I landed just fine and smooth, and right after I rolled past the intersection of 24, that jet landed! A year ago, that situation would have made me very nervous.

Going home, I just wished the flight would last forever. *sigh*

 

[Toby]

Yeah, grass is really fun, and you got that extra landing in after coming back from MVY, too! Did you hit a bump and get launced a bit early on take off?

Ouch - I got pretty burned up, too, mostly on my stomach. And Hector burned his back. What were we thinking??

That's great that you got a bit closer to Boston. That happens when they're using the other runways at Logan - if you go too far you'll get in their way.

So, Block Island on Saturday? Where should we meet?

I just reserved the plane for Sat. at 12:00. I can be there by 1 and will meet you guys wherever you are.

 

[BillG]

Well, for someone who isn't a pilot, Anne did a pretty good job of keeping the plane out of the water while I was changing.

My trip home started with me ending up catching up to Gary just to the south of him, thinking that he needs to go south and I need to go north. Eventually I let him climb over me and I was able to turn north. I knew Hector and Nels were ahead of us somewhere and heard them talking to ATC but then we got switched to a different freq than they did which I thought was weird at the time. Eventually I got home 15 miles ahead of them even though I never saw them and didn't know when I passed them or where they were - S-turns to descend so we didn't make a Grum-per (Grumman-Piper). We eventually figured out that they went east of all the Class D's and I went west.

We landed, tied up, then grilled some chicken and went swimming off of Anne's boat in the lake (a tad warmer than the ocean) to wash off the salt water.

Let's do it again!

 

[Toby]

Kath, I heard you on the radio, asking for the scenic route, right after I took off. Glad you got the Boston tour, too!

Thanks, Bill and Ann and Katherine for all the delicious food. There's nothing like sitting on the beach, eating all day, and jumping in the ocean to cool off. I managed to get all the way in once -- the rest of you were very brave, staying in that cold water!

Also, thanks a million, Bill and Kath, for going out of your way and ferrying this paved-only pilot back and forth from MVY. I really appreciated it.

 

[Skip Miller]

My flight home was spectacular. Just the first part was annoying -- I got to the runup area at 4:20, and didn't take off until 5:45! There were 4 a/c ahead of me, 5 behind, and nonstop taxis on final. When it's Sunday rush hour at the Vineyard, and all those well-paying passengers want to head home to wherever, we little guys have to wait.

Ouch! I started taxi-ing at 4pm and was #3 behind a Bonanza and a Lear. By the time I finished the runup the Lear was gone and the Bo was in position and holding. I was cleared for T/O right after the Bo departed. I did notice that while I was still on tower frequency and then listening to Cape Approach, the traffic was building. Timing is everything, I guess!

-Skip

 

[Gary]

LOL, I'm terrible with names too, but there weren't THAT many of us...! How long did it take to get back to PA? Tougher to hold heading without a DG, huh?

Bill

Never been good with remembering names, even though there wasn't that big of a crowd!

Took 3 hours 1 minute home, those SW winds were right in our face and the extra routing added some time. Between the whiskey compass and the GPS, headings weren't that difficult to keep, air was pretty smooth, but its certainly much easier with the DG, oh well just another thing to fix, and a visit to the Everything's a $100 (or more) Store.

Gary

 

[BillG]

Of course the best part, which no one has mentioned yet, was watching all the planes going in and out of Katama, including the beautiful biwing giving rides! The beach doesn't get any better than that.

Next time, Toby, you'll fly your own plane onto the grass.

 

[BillG]

One of my mechanics once told me he was going to name his next plane "It's Always Something". It always seems to be the "Everything's a $1000 (or more) Store" for me...

 

[Gary]

My trip home started with me ending up catching up to Gary just to the south of him, thinking that he needs to go south and I need to go north.

Eventually I let him climb over me and I was able to turn north.
Let's do it again!

We took the scenic route along South Beach and Gay Head, over the smaller islands to the NW of the main island, WOW some really beautiful beaches with no one on them! We didn't turn west until the mainland. I never did see you although I did hear your take-off call.

Saw an interesting looking airport, Elizabeth, 0B8, on Fishers Island. Anyone been there, any reason to go there?

It was a planeload of fun, Block Island next week? Need to see if I can do some re-arranging of schedules and see how fast I can get the DG swapped out.

 

[Toby]

Ouch! I started taxi-ing at 4pm and was #3 behind a Bonanza and a Lear. By the time I finished the runup the Lear was gone and the Bo was in position and holding. I was cleared for T/O right after the Bo departed. I did notice that while I was still on tower frequency and then listening to Cape Approach, the traffic was building. Timing is everything, I guess!

-Skip

Whoops, I meant 4:45!