To Providence

We got up bright and early again the next day and were at the FBO by about 7.30. The weather was not looking good. At Providence, they were forecasting minimums; although it might have been legal to fly it, it was daft to try.

So we waited to see what was happening. The weather between Niagara and Albany was forecasting isolated rain but the weather radar was painting lots of red. Matt was distinctly uncomfortable about it.

By about 11 am, we were discussing alternatives, how could we get to Providence that night? Flying direct would take two and a half to three hours, going commercial would take five hours and if there were weather problems longer. Hiring a car would take 8 hours. We knew therefore that if we wanted to be in Providence before midnight, we needed to be away from Niagara by 3 pm if we wanted to drive the 480 miles.

The weather looked to be improving but the radar was still giving plenty of red. Matt was not happy so I rented the car.

As we drove down towards Albany it was clear the enroute weather was fine. We took the I-90 which is the route followed by the airway too. We could have flown down to Albany and picked up a car from there. To Albany was about 280 miles. From Albany it was then onto the Massachusetts Turnpike (still the I-90) and then the route 146 into Providence.

Frankly it was a tremendous anti climax arriving in Providence by car. All I could say was that we were safe and that in the end, the right decision had been made. The weather at Providence had turned nasty in the afternoon. The low cloud had lifted to be replaced with plenty of thunderstorms. So whatever, the situation was still well below my personal minimums.

My minimums are based on what’s legal plus an allowance for practice (+200 ft) plus an allowance for the passenger (another pilot +100) (family +200). We could have saved 280 miles in the car by flying to Albany but Matt was really unhappy. The chances of returning to Niagara were quite high and the time we would have lost would have meant a very late arrival to Providence.

The rationale for the trip had just evaporated. We were on the east coast but the plane was at Niagara Falls - what was I going to do?


	The cunning plan

I decided to bring the plane down to Providence. This meant returning to Niagara Falls. As we got through the business I decided that after dinner on the Thursday night to drive up to Niagara through the night aiming to get there early morning, rest up for a couple of hours and fly down. The weather was for CAVOK conditions so I could do it either IFR or VFR.

Thankfully, a dinner in our honour finished a bit earlier than expected I managed to get a couple of hours rest before setting off. I left Matt in bed and told him to expect to see me about lunch the next day.

The drive back to Niagara Falls was OK. I was a bit pumped up on adrenaline thinking about the whole caper but the journey seemed to pass quickly. A stop every hour for 10 minutes and one for fuel ensured that I remained wakeful. Matt also lend me his “Dead Ringers” dvds to help pass the time too.

The only nervous moment came within 5 miles from Niagara Falls airport when the fuel warning light came on. The tank was nearly empty and there was not a gas station in sight on route 62.

I arrived back at Niagara Falls at about 6.45 am checked in with the FBO, checked the weather and filed my flight plan aiming for a 9.45 departure. I then settled down for a nap. About 8.30 I woke up and had some breakfast from across the road. Coffee and pancakes with plenty of maple syrup got the system going. Then it was a case of getting the preflight done, paying the bill and calling for my IFR clearance. I decided to go IFR just to have another pair of eyes follow me down to Providence.

The clearance was as filed and as I departed from RWY 6 taxi time was minimal. After take off I was back with Buffalo departure and cleared to climb to 5000 the cruising altitude this time.

The trip went exactly as planned. No weather issues, no diversions. I followed the airways all the down to Providence. To save time and inconvenience I asked for vectors for a visual approach to RWY 23. I managed to land between a couple of South West Airlines 737s.

The FBO moved the plane to the tie downs and then gave me a lift over to the airport terminal where I planned to catch the hotel bus. Coincidentally, my fellow travellers on the bus were the two crews from the South West planes. They saw the flight bag heard the accent and put 2 and 2 together. So that made for an interesting trip back to the hotel.

Arrival at Providence was 12.50 local on the Friday, I was back in the hotel a shade before 14.00 local a mere 15 hours after slipping out.

Approaching Providence I got to see the Atlantic. I had made it to the east coast. Part one was complete.

Our return to Madison was to be on Sunday, so just a day to chill out.


	[Home] [Oshkosh] [To the East Coast] [To Niagara] [To Providence] [Back to Niagara] [To Morey] [Introduction] [Gallery]