It was a 838.5nm trip to the Big Easy and boy was it hot! Luckily we usually stayed above 7,000 feet each way to keep cool. We left for NOLA Friday morning, departing IFR due to a low ceiling. We made the trip in just over 5 1.2 hours with a 170 knot cross wind and one stop along the way (mentioned in the previous post). We flew over 5,000' mountains with beautiful and wispy clouds flowing over them.
Our airport of choice was KNEW, Lakefront Airport, just a 15 minute taxi ride to the city. It is right on the water and we enjoyed the blue waves while coming in on final over runway 18. Our pick FBO was
AeroPremier Jet Center. I have talked with the now manager of this newly built facility over the years so it was time to finally meet him. Tie downs are $10 a night and there is a ramp fee of $20 which is waived when you purchase AvGas. Apparently this is not unusual at this airport and is usually what you expect at a bigger city. They have a great cab driver, named Henry, who's been a driver in the city for 60 years! He really knew his way around and how to get you somewhere quickly. He charges a flat $25 fee to and from the airport, and is the cheapest you'll get for such a trip. Despite some higher fees than we are used to at smaller GA airports, our experience at AeroPremier was a very good one. Customer service was really helpful setting us up with a discounted hotel and the cab for our stay. The line guys were really great when we need some oil and air. They also brought us some screwdrivers so we could take down the bulkhead to put some new artwork we had purchased in Jackson Square down the tail. They loved the Glasair and were happy that Bob is so willing to chat about it.
What did we do in New Orleans? Oh so much! First, we walked everywhere, probably a total of 15 miles over three days. Although we can easily hike that much in one day, this was quite a feat in the 90+ degree heat and no shade. The first evening we enjoyed a delicious meal outside on of NOLA's top restaurants and continued to walk into the city and explore the French Quarter a bit. On day two we started with a trip to Riverwalk then took the ferry to Algier's Point to explore the calmer West Bank. Later, it was on to the French Market and Jackson Square. We attempted to go to the St. Louis Cemetery, but it was closed. So what did we do after a quick washup and dinner? What every person comes to New Orleans for: the nightlife of Bourbon Street! We took it very easy compared to many people we saw. I can't decide what was better: the people watching or all of the great music.
Day two involved more walking again! By the time we had woken up, had breakfast, and made the journey to the cemetery, it was once again closed. Yeah. Not so happy about that. So we enjoyed some shade watching the ducks swim around the fountain in Louis Armstrong park. Next was a fascinating trip to a voodoo museum which you can read my review and reviews of other places we ate at and visited in NOLA on my
Yelp list. It was very small, but really interesting. I even picked up some gris gris (juju) bags for my friends as well as one for myself. I'll let you know if they do the trick! We ended the night with people watching and ice cream eating in Jackson Square then a nice dip in the rooftop hot tub.
Day three we arose early so we could finally get to the cemetery on time. It turns out the wait was worth it. This was also the final resting place of one of the voodoo queens we had read about in the museum. When we arrived back at our hotel after the cemetery trip it was time to pack up and call Henry to take us back to NEW. After about an hour prepping on the ground (gas, air, and artwork arrangement) we were up in the very, very hazy and hot sky. Tropical Storm Beryl was to ruin our usual westward tailwind and caused us keep watch on a nearby line of storms. As it turns out, it dissipated shortly after landing at our halfway spot (details in the next post) and produced some beautiful rainbows and a stunning sunset on the remainder of the flight home.
The descent into Frederick Monday night was a big change from the cooler air above. The cockpit quickly became stuffy and warm. The new tower was closed which turned out to cause some confusion in the pattern with another aircraft, but it quickly got sorted out and I accomplished a decent night landing. We tucked the plane away in the hangar and headed home exhausted, but smiling.
Now this airport is a pilot's dream stop. 398nm from NEW, stopping at Madison Municipal Airport in GA left us with 455 to go to FDK. Unfortunately we didn't have the blessing of a usual tailwind from the west, Tropical Storm Beryl had other plans. A line of storms were forming along are path and it appeared that time was of the essence to hurry up and land and gas up at our halfway point, 52A, Madison Municipal Airport. After a nail biting landing from crazy crosswinds and wind shear we made it on the ground and gassed up at the self serve pump. We later read that if the winds are OK for it, it is best to land on runway 14 which is uphill and take off the opposite runway for downhill. This works best with the surrounding trees and displaced threshold as well.
