Well, Monday dawned clear and bright. I was off work that day and had a few small chores at home to do. After a brief spell in the sunroom reading the news and weather I was about to get started when my phone rang. It was Dick, and I assumed we were about to work out a time to go to the hangar to clean up. As it turns out, that wasn’t exactly what he had in mind. The weather was great. He suggested we get to the hangar without further delay and get in the plane to go back and get the last three airports I needed to complete my passport: Shannon (EZF), Warrenton (HWY) and Culpeper (CJR). I quickly put my more mundane plans on hold, grabbed my flight bag and drove over to pick Dick up.
We did another check of the weather to verify we would have good VFR for the day, and the forecast showed we were good for another nice day. We had gassed the plane up the evening before, so we entered an itinerary in ForeFlight that had us back by noon if we didn’t spend a lot of time anywhere, 1300 if we were a bit less hurried. After a preflight, I started up and taxied down to the runup pad at the threshold of runway 25. After completing run-up checks, we taxied onto runway 25 and departed a few minutes before 0900, flying out to the north toward Shannon.
The visibility was still good, but it was considerably more hazy than the previous two days. We again checked in with Norfolk Approach and got flight following for the long leg up (106 nautical miles). As I flew, Dick worked on his notes from the previous days to make logging easier, and then he took the controls for a bit. We both looked for the airport once we got close, and after acknowledging a traffic call from Potomac Approach, we checked out and descended for landing once we had identified the airfield. We landed smoothly on runway 24 at Shannon (EZF) and taxied to the terminal. It had some new construction done and we entered via a side door. We were warmly greeted and got our stamps from the girl at the counter. The lady managing the place was named Billie Toombs, and she was quite a character! We chatted for a while before departing, thoroughly enjoying the talk.
The terminal at Warrenton-Fauquier Airport (HWY)
Dick got in and took off on runway 24 for the hop over to Warrenton (HWY), about 21 miles away. There was a little more traffic in the pattern there, so we merged ourselves in and landed with a 5 knot crosswind on runway 15. We taxied over to the terminal and parked where the marshal directed us and got out of the plane. He asked if we needed any services, but we declined any but the stamp. We chatted for a short while in the terminal and then bid our farewell as we had one more stop to make before heading home. I took the next leg.
After landing at Culpeper (CJR) to get my last stamp.
We took off on runway 15 and after climbing straight out, turned to the southwest for the eight mile hop to Culpeper (CJR). We maneuvered to enter the downwind leg of runway 22 at the 45, and soon landed smoothly on 22 and taxied to the terminal. It was a great feeling knowing I had just landed at the last airport in Virginia that I needed for the Ambassador’s passport. We ambled inside and were met by the manager, a British fellow, who congratulated me on my accomplishment after being told the significance of this landing. He provided the stamp and posed for a photo with me before offering us many different refreshments and snacks. We refreshed ourselves and made ready to return home.
Receiving my last Virginia Aviation Ambassadors Program stamp.
I got in the left seat again for the flight home. A Grumman departed just ahead of us and as we left runway 22 behind him we saw he was climbing out on more or less the same course, so we kept him in sight. As we climbed out of the pattern on our way to the south, we checked in with Potomac Approach and got flight following to assist with traffic separation and settled out on our homeward leg at 3,500 feet. I passed the controls over to Dick for the first part of the trip and again settled back to watch the scenery go by. As we got close to Richmond we had a great view of Kings Dominion off the right side of the plane. It was now getting a good bit bumpier just as it had the day before. As we crossed the James River and re-entered our home territory, we got a check of the weather. With winds out of the southwest we would again be landing on runway 22. We made our traditional howdy-do lap over the neighborhood before passing west of the aiport and entering the downwind for 22, landing smoothly and heading back to the fuel ramp to top off.
Now we had increased our total to 22 airports in three days and a total of 1,460 miles. Both of us had completed our Virginia Aviation Ambassador passports. We had an absolute blast, and can’t wait to do it again! If anyone reading this is thinking about a similar journey, go for it, but make sure to study everything you can about the trip and plan well ahead of time. Perhaps we’ll start on the Operation Fly NC program now!
Fly safe!