Flying Into Writing: Some Things Have Changed Over the Years…

By Eric McCarthyAhh…it seems like only yesterday! My long cross-country as a student pilot…I was speaking with one of my CAP squadron-mates the other day and asked how close he was to finishing his Private Pilot license. He said he had just a couple of items left, including his solo long cross-country. Since he was training at a Part 141 flight school, his cross-country merely had to cover at least 100nm. As I look at the FARs today, it appears that the requirements may have been relaxed from when I did my long cross-country years ago. As I recall, my flight had to have three legs of at least 100nm each.At the time I was training at Turners Falls (0B5), a remote, picturesque airport located at a sharp bend in the Connecticut River in north central Massachusetts. The airport has a 3,200-foot runway that sits on a plateau about 50 feet above the river, which to me as a young aviator provided an exhilarating view when approaching runway 16 over the river.I had planned my flight under the supervision of my instructor and just needed the weather and aircraft availability to cooperate. That day arrived in July, 1980. I had graduated from UMass that May, and had been making the 100 mile trek from my home in eastern Massachusetts to complete my training at 0B5 since then, but that was getting tedious – especially since I lived under the traffic pattern of Norwood Memorial Airport (KOWD). This would end up being my last flight from Turners Falls.My flight would take me from Turners Falls to Portland International (KPWM); from there to Martha’s Vineyard (KMVY); and then back to Turners Falls; total distance: about 360nm. It would take me almost five hours’ flight time to complete in the club’s Cessna 152, N49394.It was a beautiful CAVU day as I flew northeast to Portland, reaching the coast after a little more than an hour. I contacted Portland Tower, announcing that I was a student pilot and they cleared me to land on runway 36 – “Got that Convair at your 11:00? Follow him in…cleared to land runway 36.”I made what I considered to be a pretty good landing, but then heard a loud ‘thump, thump, thump…’ and the airplane pulled hard to the right. What the heck…? I immediately suspected something was wrong with the landing gear, but I couldn’t see it from the left seat. I had never heard anything like that before, so I knew something was wrong, but I didn’t know what!Aviate, Navigate, Communicate – it works on the ground too! I got the plane slowed down, cleared the runway at taxiway G and called Ground.Me: “Portland Ground, Cessna 49394, clear of the active - is there a Cessna dealer here?”Ground: “Yes, there’s one to your right…wait - standby! You’re not going anywhere – you’ve got a flat tire! Park over to your right; I’ll call the FBO and get them to tow you…”Well, that would account for the horrendous thumping and hard pull to the right! I maneuvered slowly through the taxi lights and shut down on a section of unused tarmac. I hopped out to inspect the damage (thankfully, there was none) and sure enough, the right main tire was flat!A few minutes later a truck backed to the front of the Cessna and a helpful gentleman hooked the nose gear to the truck and slowly towed it to the FBO, Maine Aviation. It was a Saturday morning, and they had had to call a mechanic in to affect the repair. I was impressed as he clocked-in, washed his hands, put on his overalls and gloves and got to work removing the tire. He showed me where the inner tube had slipped inside the tire and cut the stem, causing the flat. He was very meticulous as he cleaned the wheel surface and installed a new tube, then the tire itself and then pumped it up to precisely the correct tire pressure. He checked and pumped up the other tires as well – wow, what great service! Then, off came the gloves and overalls, another washing of the hands, and finally clocking out. An hour and a half later, and $73.50, and I was ready to go! It wasn’t until then that I understood that he had been ‘on the clock’ throughout the process… (The club paid for the repair which worked out to be exactly what aircraft rental for the day was – a total of 4.9 hours at $15/hour!)While he worked, I found a phone booth (remember those?), closed my flight plan, and called my instructor to inform him of my progress and situation. “No problem, get it fixed, call when you get to Martha’s Vineyard…”Now well behind my planned schedule, I departed Portland on Runway 29 and turned south toward Boston. My plan was to climb to clear the Boston TCA (Terminal Control Area – now Class Bravo airspace) which extended up to 10,000-feet (the Class B now extends only to 7,000-feet) rather than diverting around the airspace. Climbing to 10,500-feet in a Cessna 152 is a challenge, but I was lighter then and I didn’t have a passenger on board, so I went for it. I’d have a good 65 miles to reach altitude, so I wasn’t too concerned.I did not want to spend more time over the ocean than necessary, so rather than fly directly to Martha’s Vineyard, which would have put me 10-15 miles out to sea for way too much of the time, I planned to fly to the Lawrence VOR (LWM), then direct to the Martha’s Vineyard VOR (MVY) located on the field at KMVY. This route took me directly over a couple of airports I thought might be interesting: Pease Air Force Base (KPSM) and Boston’s Logan Airport (KBOS). Pease is now a joint use airport, a public use airport that also hosts the New Hampshire Air National Guard’s 157 Air Refueling Wing, but at the time it was an active Air Force Base. So I was hopeful I’d see something interesting as I flew over – maybe an F-15 Eagle or an F-16 Fighting Falcon, both were still fairly new and exotic back then – at least to a young aviation enthusiast like me.I was not disappointed! As I passed over, I did a double-take! I could not believe what I was seeing from my lofty 5,000-foot altitude! An SR-71 Blackbird on the ramp! Mind you, the SR-71 was still very much in active duty at that time, flying top-secret missions throughout the world, but rarely, if ever, seen in the Northeast! I was stunned; it’s unique, but beautiful form was unmistakable, surrounded by security and support vehicles. After briefly considering circling overhead and deciding against it ­– fearful I might draw some unwanted attention – I continued my slow climb toward Boston and Martha’s Vineyard.Light westerly’s at Logan Airport meant the dance of airline arrivals and departures silently played out beneath me as I slowly made my way over Winthrop and Deer Island two miles overhead. The skyscrapers of downtown Boston looked laughably small off my right wing. Arrivals from the west flew their exaggerated downwinds well north of the field and merged gracefully with other aircraft arriving from the south over Massachusetts Bay for their final approaches to runways 27 and 33L, while departing aircraft charged down runways 4L and 4R, launching skyward long before reaching the end of either. As a student pilot, it was a thing of beauty to see this carefully choreographed sequence of events play out in real time.As I passed over Boston Harbor the entirety of Cape Cod became visible, from Provincetown at the tip all the way around to the Cape Cod Canal, a 13-mile long canal that essentially makes Cape Cod an Island. Two large, identical arch bridges, the Sagamore and Bourne Bridges, as well as the Cape Cod Railroad Bridge, a vertical lift bridge with a span of more than 500 feet, connect the Cape to the mainland; these too, became visible as I droned south over the cranberry bogs of Plymouth and Carver Massachusetts. I began my descent as I flew over Buzzards Bay, then Woods Hole, stately sailboats plying the waters below. Vineyard Sound slipped by as I announced my presence to the tower then joined the airport traffic on a long final for runway 24. I touched down smoothly and cleared the runway; no flat this time – I was really getting the hang of this!I refueled and found someone to sign my logbook. It was getting late and I still had another hundred miles to go, so I saddled up and departed for Turners Falls. It was an uneventful flight, ending in a nice late afternoon landing. The repair in Maine had meant that I had interfered with another club-member’s flight. He was waiting patiently when I arrived, having been forewarned of my delay, and readily accepted my apology, understanding that some events were beyond my control.I left on my long journey home that evening exhausted from the mental exertion of the day-long flight, but giddy with the sense of accomplishment. I hope that my friend at CAP has a similar reaction to his cross-country flight. Like my first solo, it’s something I’ll never forget!Until next time, fly safe!