My boss John has a 160 acre farm in central Pennsylvania and each summer he has a large pancake breakfast for his family, friends, and neighbors. I had wanted to attend before, but its about a 3 hour drive so its not always an easy thing to do. Last year I intended to fly up as well, but the day of the breakfast was low visibility and fog. This year – perfect weather!
Maja and I departed KFDK in the R-22. This was Maja’s first extended flight in the helicopter. She has a tendency to get airsick on occasion so I was a little apprehensive about the longer flight.
We stopped in Allentown for fuel so that we wouldn’t need to stop on the way back.
The PA mountains made for some beautiful sightseeing.
There were a few times where the expanse of trees meant there were very few landing opportunities in the event of an emergency. I climbed to much higher altitudes to try to mitigate the risk, and pick routes over and along the valleys.
Here is John’s farm from the landing. You can see the audience moving in our direction!
Snap shot of Maja and I with John. The pancake breakfast was great- good food, beautiful weather, and fantastic hospitality.
We got a tour of the property which included this Bede-5 that is hanging unfinished in the garage. From what I understand it was acquired years ago unfinished as decoration. The engine is still in a crate. I have no idea if the engine was stored properly – its an interesting find. I wish I had taken more photos of it.
Love the little kids cart!
Unfortunately, I didn’t take many photos during the breakfast as I was busy being social. But here’s a final photo as we prepare to depart.
I also put together a quick video from the day.