01.21.08
New pilot flies me over White Mountains
WOO HOO, at last!! Ezra just achieved his Private Pilot’s license after successfully completing his year-long training and flight test, and I finally got to go flying with him!!!
outside the Piper looking in at Laconia airport…
Ezra doing his pre-flighting…
Gilford’s own hometown Gunstock ski/snowboarding area
With very good flying conditions, Ez agreed to fly me over the White Mountains on Jan. 19. His takeoff out of Laconia Airport was perfect, we circled N and E over Lake Winnipesaukee then headed north towards the Whites and Mount Washington. A small cloud band was present over the mountains which he skirted around, and Mt. Washington was cloud-capped on the summit.
Taking off westerly from Laconia NH airport, circling north then east, passing over Lake Winnipesaukee and turning north again. Bearing is then set NNE for Berlin NH.
Mt. Washington summit is cloud-capped
This early leg was very smooth, cruising about 2500 feet, bearing NNE towards White Mountains. 360 view of plane. (The propeller looks funky in the videos due to frame rates, believe me it is NOT going slow OR backwards!)
Early on the air was calm and the plane ride very smooth. It is a good deal different from a passenger jet though! I got to wear headphones so we could talk to each other and I could hear Ezzie’s reporting during the flight, but the headset served mostly to deaden the noise because the engine noise is really loud. The 4-seater Piper Warrior single-engine plane was cozy, borderline cramped inside. A bit awkward to get in and out of too, as you have to climb onto the wing then drop down into the cockpit seat below wing level.
A little mild turbulence in this video, as compared to video above just starting out (all the shaking is the plane, NOT ME!). Apparently it was unusually calm for being above the White Mountains, otherwise we would never have flown so close to them!
To me it felt exciting and surreal to be up like that, staying pretty close to the ground. It was not scary, but you sure have a sense of your own vulnerability. We ran into some light turbulence flying over the mountains, and your heartrate definitely jumps up a bit when the plane bounces around. Ezra handled it fine as far as I could tell, and he never seemed rattled. In fact, he told me that turbulence over the mountains was usually much worse, due to rising air currents disrupted by the mountain masses, which is what also causes the clouds to form.
Ez checks his airmap
Ez was busy navigating, checking instruments, listening to traffic, keeping visuals going in all directions spotting for any other planes. I helped with watching for other planes while taking pix and videos. He did a practice landing on the air strip in Berlin NH, north of Mt. Washington, which appeared totally deserted and I guess is usually unmanned, but does have a homing beacon to navigate by. At least the runway was scraped. Ez’s landing and takeoff from Berlin were perfect.
Approaching Berlin NH air strip
Landing at tiny Berlin NH air strip just for the new pilot’s practice. Approaching from the South (Berlin is north of Mount Washington) we pass the runway and bank left back to it to land going South.
Some ground features…
Takeoff out of Berlin NH air strip (heading N), banking to West. North slope of Mount Washington (Tuckerman’s Ravine) is then to our left (S). Bretton Woods ski area is seen off the plane’s nose left.
Looking to northwest face of Mt. Washington, Cog Railway visible on slope.
Cannon Mountain ski area
Top of the tram lift on Cannon seen at top right
Our flight took us east and north of Mount Washington and well west of Franconia Notch. If there had not been a low-hanging cloud, we might have flown through (above) the Notch, but not this day– Ez seems a very cautious pilot which is a good thing. Still we had a nice look at Cannon Mountain Ski Area from the north and could see it was pretty crowded with skiers.
The I93 corridor heading south from the Whites
Returning to the runway back in Laconia was one of his best landings, very smooth. In the small plane I didn’t feel when it touched down or left the ground, I guess that’s a good thing too. There is so much noise and vibration though that once walking on the ground again my legs felt wobbly and I was a little woozy, sort of like after being on a large boat on the ocean for a long time. I was happy I didn’t feel the slightest airsickness (thank you Dramamine!)
Home sweet home! Ezra’s plate on his car reads KLCI26 for the Laconia runway!
Hopefully I’ll have the opportunity for some more flights with Ezra. Dad (jokingly?) says he’s waiting til he gets a little more experience under his belt!
