selhardt
Well Known Member
Spring has been endlessly delayed in Minneapolis.
Between my first flight last September and this spring (yet to arrive really) it has been really a challenge to keep flying and finish Phase I.
That was done a few weeks ago and we have been anxious to get on with the aviation adventuring. Last weekend, my wife and I drove (I know) to Mount Rushmore because the weather was horrible and forecast to be horrible and well we had these reservations....
Fast forward a week - the next destination is Mackinac Island, but wait - again only a single VFR day in a row coinciding with the long weekend. BUT as it turns out, if you are up for it. Mackinac Island is a 394 NM day-trip from Minneapolis and that is what we did.
Wheels up from KFCM at 7:30, shortly after the tower opened for the day, skirt the southern edge of the Minneapolis class B and we are on the way!
My front office is well furnished and with the autopilot on, leaned to 50 LOP and 5500 feet, we were making 155Kts on the ground and 7 GPH (headwind - ugh). tried up and down, but 5500 seemed to be the best.
First stop - Iron Mountain KIMT for some leg stretching and fuel. A very nice, hospitable airport with friendly folk and good coffee.
The terrain in this area of Michigan is heavily forested - higher felt better as we skirted the northern edge of lake Michigan.
We were anxious to turn sought to Mackinac, but felt better mostly over land than water.
The winds were light 90 degrees to the runway and we made a high circuit over the island, descending to land on runway 08. It feels like the ocean to us prairie locked midwesterners.
The airport on Mackinac is a state park and looks brand new. It is modern, clean and friendly with a 10.50 fee to spend the day. Happy to pay it.
There is a taxi phone on the wall if you want a horse-drawn taxi ride to town, but we chose to walk the 1.7 miles. The forest is gorgeous, with trillium and trout lilies in bloom and smells of very fresh air and pine, well and horse poop, but that is the price paid for an island with no cars!
The half-hour walk to the city takes you past horse stables, a one-room police department and the Grand Hotel with horse-drawn everything clipping and clopping by every few minutes. We were mesmerized by the the the things going by on horse carts - furniture, trash, a treadmill. We dubbed the sound that of the the famous roman emperor clippicus-cloppicus.
The national pastime of Mackinac seems to be fudge. I'm not sure I get this but on any given corner 3 of the four businesses might be fudge related and the sight line allows views of 5 or 6 more! It is delicious and we brought some home.
We toured Fort Mackinac, walked main street from end to end and generally scoped out the lay of the land for a more extended trip later.
Reverse the process - up the hill, wheels up and 2:40 minutes later, we are home in Minneapolis, dodging light rain showers on the radar display and into KFCM.
A magic carpet indeed....
Bang, buck, sand, paint countersink - whatever it takes...
Between my first flight last September and this spring (yet to arrive really) it has been really a challenge to keep flying and finish Phase I.
That was done a few weeks ago and we have been anxious to get on with the aviation adventuring. Last weekend, my wife and I drove (I know) to Mount Rushmore because the weather was horrible and forecast to be horrible and well we had these reservations....
Fast forward a week - the next destination is Mackinac Island, but wait - again only a single VFR day in a row coinciding with the long weekend. BUT as it turns out, if you are up for it. Mackinac Island is a 394 NM day-trip from Minneapolis and that is what we did.
Wheels up from KFCM at 7:30, shortly after the tower opened for the day, skirt the southern edge of the Minneapolis class B and we are on the way!
My front office is well furnished and with the autopilot on, leaned to 50 LOP and 5500 feet, we were making 155Kts on the ground and 7 GPH (headwind - ugh). tried up and down, but 5500 seemed to be the best.
First stop - Iron Mountain KIMT for some leg stretching and fuel. A very nice, hospitable airport with friendly folk and good coffee.
The terrain in this area of Michigan is heavily forested - higher felt better as we skirted the northern edge of lake Michigan.
We were anxious to turn sought to Mackinac, but felt better mostly over land than water.
The winds were light 90 degrees to the runway and we made a high circuit over the island, descending to land on runway 08. It feels like the ocean to us prairie locked midwesterners.
The airport on Mackinac is a state park and looks brand new. It is modern, clean and friendly with a 10.50 fee to spend the day. Happy to pay it.
There is a taxi phone on the wall if you want a horse-drawn taxi ride to town, but we chose to walk the 1.7 miles. The forest is gorgeous, with trillium and trout lilies in bloom and smells of very fresh air and pine, well and horse poop, but that is the price paid for an island with no cars!
The half-hour walk to the city takes you past horse stables, a one-room police department and the Grand Hotel with horse-drawn everything clipping and clopping by every few minutes. We were mesmerized by the the the things going by on horse carts - furniture, trash, a treadmill. We dubbed the sound that of the the famous roman emperor clippicus-cloppicus.
The national pastime of Mackinac seems to be fudge. I'm not sure I get this but on any given corner 3 of the four businesses might be fudge related and the sight line allows views of 5 or 6 more! It is delicious and we brought some home.
We toured Fort Mackinac, walked main street from end to end and generally scoped out the lay of the land for a more extended trip later.
Reverse the process - up the hill, wheels up and 2:40 minutes later, we are home in Minneapolis, dodging light rain showers on the radar display and into KFCM.
A magic carpet indeed....
Bang, buck, sand, paint countersink - whatever it takes...
