Our trip to Belfast, ME began Wednesday morning. Of course there were hours of planning beforehand. I had initially planned to fly to Niagra Falls, NY and then over to Belfast but, the weather forecast up that way did not allow it. So the night before I laid out our new flight plan.
KHVC ? Hopkinsville, KY - We took off at 7:46 am and climbed to 7500?. We ended up climbing to 9500? to get over a cloud layer and stayed there for the rest of the trip to Ashland. I kept checking the weather at Ashland. I knew that it usually stays fogged in at times, because it is right on the river. I had already picked out two other airports just a little further in case I needed to go to one of them instead. Marsha decided to fly the plane for part of this leg, she even flew the pattern I took the control on short final and she stay on them just to follow my lead.
KDWU ? Ashland, KY - When we arrived at Ashland it was clear, so we landed and refuel. 1hr 40 mins. 13.6 gallons of fuel. We took off from Ashland about 40 minutes later. They are an hour ahead of us. 11:04 am takeoff. The takeoff picture to the north, below shows Kentucky on the west side of the river and Ohio is on the east side.
KUNV ? University Park, PA - 9500? worked out good so far so back up we went. After we were up and on the way, Marsha took the controls and flew some more. Everything went just as planned; we arrived at 1:00pm. We tied the plane down, went inside got the keys for the courtesy car. Our plan was to book a room for the night and go explore the town for a couple hours then come back to the airport and call for a shuttle to take us to our hotel. This was the plan, because if we continued on we would arrive at Belfast after the rental car company closed and wouldn?t have a ride to our hotel in Bangor. The lady working the front desk said that she thought she overheard someone earlier having a problem finding a room. That is when things started unraveling...
KHVC ? Hopkinsville, KY - We took off at 7:46 am and climbed to 7500?. We ended up climbing to 9500? to get over a cloud layer and stayed there for the rest of the trip to Ashland. I kept checking the weather at Ashland. I knew that it usually stays fogged in at times, because it is right on the river. I had already picked out two other airports just a little further in case I needed to go to one of them instead. Marsha decided to fly the plane for part of this leg, she even flew the pattern I took the control on short final and she stay on them just to follow my lead.
KDWU ? Ashland, KY - When we arrived at Ashland it was clear, so we landed and refuel. 1hr 40 mins. 13.6 gallons of fuel. We took off from Ashland about 40 minutes later. They are an hour ahead of us. 11:04 am takeoff. The takeoff picture to the north, below shows Kentucky on the west side of the river and Ohio is on the east side.
KUNV ? University Park, PA - 9500? worked out good so far so back up we went. After we were up and on the way, Marsha took the controls and flew some more. Everything went just as planned; we arrived at 1:00pm. We tied the plane down, went inside got the keys for the courtesy car. Our plan was to book a room for the night and go explore the town for a couple hours then come back to the airport and call for a shuttle to take us to our hotel. This was the plan, because if we continued on we would arrive at Belfast after the rental car company closed and wouldn?t have a ride to our hotel in Bangor. The lady working the front desk said that she thought she overheard someone earlier having a problem finding a room. That is when things started unraveling...