On the morning of July 4th, 2008, six pilots and their aircraft participated in a cross-country flight which included four airports. The pilots were Don Schmotzer, Leon Strock, Norman Davis, Jimmy Berry, Ray Ackerman, and Randy Berry. The group congregated about 8:30am at Pelion Corporate Airport. Norm and Ray flew in first ... Norm from DoLittle Field (SC90) and Ray from White Plains Airpark. Then, Jimmy and Randy flew in from Gilbert Airpark (SC45).
A round of picture taking then ensued, as this meeting was quite unique in that there were six Baby Aces in attendance, along with one Taylorcraft. The Baby Aces were arranged in a row and several photos were taken (see below). That may be some kind of record (or very interesting, at the very least), so a photo may be submitted to EAA for hopeful inclusion in the magazine.
After some discussion about possible destination airports, the group finally decided to visit Dry Swamp and Orangeburg Municipal. Leon took the lead, but had no GPS, so Don moved up and took the lead a short time later. Unfortunately, North AFB was directly in the flight path between Pelion and Dry Swamp. Since NAFB is controlled airspace and the big Air Force C-17 Globemaster heavy lifters occasionally conduct operations there, Don detoured the group to the west around North AFB and warned everyone to be on the lookout for C-17's as we neared the approach end of NAFB's long runway. However, the group saw none on this particular day.
Landing at Dry Swamp (1DS) presented a bit of a challenge. It has a 2900' grass runway, BUT with a displaced threshold of 900' on each end due to tall trees (and off the sides). That actually leaves about 2000' for landing. Fortunately, all pilots landed safely. After all pilots had landed, everyone taxiied up to the 100LL gas pump and topped off. Several photos were taken by various members of the group, including the following photos.
After a brief stay, a pack of crackers and drink, and a bit of socializing, the group departed Dry Swamp about 10:30am. Taking off at Dry Swamp proved to be even more of a challenge than landing. The day had begun to warm up significantly. Also, there was a driveway "hump" crossing the runway at about 1/4th the length of the runway which gave everyone something to remember. One plane became airborne near stall over the hump, veered off to the side, and had to try again ... this time taking up ALL the available runway. Then, it was ... come on baby ... UP ... UP ... UP ... over the trees off the end. All pilots circled until the last plane was up. Then, it was over to Orangeburg Municipal Airport (KOGB) about 6 miles away, where all planes landed on runway 23, where the wind was mostly down the runway.
After a short stay at Orangeburg in the air conditioned terminal, the group decided to detour around by DoLittle Field in order to avoid NAFB again. Don took the lead and Randy followed. Jimmy was next. Then, Leon, Norm and Ray followed with a bit of formation flying. Unfortunately, Jimmy lost sight of Don and Randy (his GPS being temporarily out of order), so both Jimmy and Don traveled back to the airport where Don located Jimmy. Then, both continued to Dolittle.
Randy arrived first at Dolittle Field (SC90) and landed as much into the wind as
possible, but it was pretty much crossed. Randy was still on the runway when Norm, Leon and Ray arrived shortly thereafter
... from the opposite direction
Norm made a go-around and then landed, while Leon and Ray continued on to Pelion. Randy had
moved off the runway by then and shut down, so Norm came up in his golf cart and propped Randy's plane. Don and Jimmy
arrived at DoLittle a short time later. Randy made a (bit of a hairy) takeoff over the
trees (the winds were crossed and variable) and joined them. Then, it was back over
the open fields and countryside to Swansea and on to Pelion
Corporate. The winds had increased significantly and the thermals began to pop on the way back
from DoLittle, as it was nearing noon by then.
Randy had his GPS and Jimmy was in close proximity this time, so Don (being a bit faster) powered up and pulled away from the group over Swansea. Then, he landed at Pelion, while Randy and Jimmy continued on to Gilbert Airpark. The landing at Gilbert Airpark (SC45) just before noon was a bit hairy with about a 10-15 mph crosswind from the south on an east/west oriented runway. The bottom sort of dropped out below the treeline, but both pilots made it down safely.
All in all, it was a very interesting and exhilarating flight which we all enjoyed. It is also notable that within an hour of our arrival back at our respective airports, the skies clouded over, and the weather turned rather dismal. Significant thunderstorms developed over multiple areas of SC later that same day.
Click below to see our basic flight path ... except that (as mentioned earlier), we detoured around to the west on the first leg (6J0 to 1DS) in order to avoid North AFB. (Note: Randy's hour meter showed elapsed time of 2.1 hours and GPS indicated 139 miles covered upon our return.)
