Sunday dawned a wonderful flying day with 7,000 ft ceilings, calm winds, and 30 miles of visibility. Steve and I were itching to get in the air. We decided to fly to Lancaster, SC (KLKR), then zip over to Chester (9A6) for a quick bite. Home base (KJQF) has been undergoing work on the taxiways - resulting in many changes on the ramp. They have taken a number of the aircraft tiedowns away and moved Aggie a couple of times. This would come into play after we returned home.
After a quick pre-flight, Aggie started right up with me in the left seat. We taxied to Rwy 20, performed a run-up and were cleared for departure. We took off on 20 and made a slight left, straight for 4 antennas, the highest of which is 2,000 feet up. The good news is we had plenty of time to climb above them before we got there.
Charlotte departure was cooperative and allowed us a direct route to LKR, a brief 40 nm trip. Aggie was her usual stable self after we leveled off at 3,000 feet. As we approached the town of Lancaster, we had some difficulty seeing the airport - it's right next to the Catawba River. Once we had it spotted, we entered a left downwind for Rwy 6 at pattern altitude (it sure seemed low). I set us down with another greased landing. We taxied by the FBO which looked closed, so we decided to just taxi back and head over to 9A6. I nice departure role on 6 and a left turn and we were headed to chester at 2,500 feet.
As we approached Chester, we noted a very low layer (about 300 feet) just west of the airport. Just as we were setting up to land, I decided there was too great a chance we would be grounded by weather, so we did a 180 and headed back to Lancaster. 8 minutes later, we were on the ground, though my landing wasn't nearly as soft.
We taxied in and found the FBO now open. We got to talking with the manager and learned they do a Saturday lunch - we'll be back. The folks there were friendly, though I wish the runway was in better shape (lots of weeds have broken through, though they are dead and at least cut.
After 20 minutes in the FBO, we jumped back into the aircraft. With Steve in the left seat we took Rwy 6 for departure and headed back to JQF. On the flight back, clouds were starting to close in a bit, but not enough to impact the flight home. With a short Easterly detour, we let up for a left downwind for Rwy 20 and Concord. Steve put us down with one of his better landings. We taxied to the first available tiedown, 2 over from where Aggie normally resides. The first two spots had helicopter carts, one occupied, the other empty. Right after we tied down, N999xx, a beautiful Bell 407 landed right next to Aggie. No offense, but I hope the choppers are back on the north ramp soon. I don't like having them lifting off and landing right next to my plane.
Anyway, a lovely 1.4 hours in the air.
