October 20, 2021 - Surf City, North Carolina
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| On a beautiful fall day, Lynnette and I hoped into the RV-7 and headed almost due south to Surf City, North Carolina to visit some old friends for a couple of days. |
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"We are now at cruising altitude. You are free to move about the cabin."
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Overhead Tarboro Airport, North Carolina. We landed for a quick fuel stop. "Only" $4.25. At most places in Maryland it's $5.00 or more.
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We landed on a public grass strip called Holly Ridge/Topsail Island Airport (N21). It's only three miles or so from the ocean. Our friends Rick and Meredith live in nearby Surf City. Their beautiful house, pictured below, is only a 10 minute drive to the airport.
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| We go way back with Rick and Meredith. Rick and I were in the same class at the Naval Academy. Then we were in the same first P-3 squadron, VP-26, in Brunswick, Maine. Rick was a pilot and I was an NFO (he was Maverick and I was Goose). We were both stationed in Charleston, South Carolina at the same time, Rick with the Cruiser/Destroyer Group staff and me with the Destroyer Squadron staff. There the four of us plus kids weathered Hurricane Hugo in September 1989. Our paths crossed again Rick and I did our P-3 squadron department head tours in Jacksonville, Florida. |
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Looking down at the backyard and gazebo. Rick is in his boat.
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| Looking westerly where the canal goes out to the inland waterway. |
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| Looking easterly where the ocean is only a few blocks away. |
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| The next morning I took Rick up in my plane. We had fun flying up and down Top Sail Island. There is a lot of restricted airspace to the northeast to be mindful of because of Camp Lejeune, the big Marine Corps base. Then there is the Class D airspace of Wilmington Airport to the southwest. |
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Approaching Surf City.
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| Looking for Rick's house. |
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It's on this row....
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| There it is! (Center of the picture with the boat trailer in front on the other side of the road.) |
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| Heading south down Topsail Island. The Inland Waterway is to the right. |
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| After the flight, it was time to go out on the boat. |
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Underway!
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Captain Rick.
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| Cruising slowly through the canal and approach to the Inland Waterway. |
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| Tying up at a dock/bar restaurant for lunch. |
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| Ready for some delicious seafood! |
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Back at Rick and Meredith's house, preparing to dock.
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| Reggie, the friendly house dog. |
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Lynnette and I checked out the beach.
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| Shifting sands have almost buried this mailbox. |
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The next morning it was time to say our goodbyes and depart.
I had landed at this airport before, back in June 2011, when a JMac and I had visited our old boss. Link. At that time there was nothing here -- no hangars, no taxiway, nothing. I talked with the airport owner Mike and he told me all the hangars had happened in only the last two years.
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Saying goodbye to "Bonecrusher".
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One of the hangar owners invited us in his hangar to show us his toys. This is a Sonex Waiex.
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His other toy is this nice-looking gyro-coptor.
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| Another new hangar row where there used to be nothing but grass. |
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| We stopped in Tarboro again to top off on fuel. |
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Although there is no FBO, and only a couple of hangars, Tarboro does have this little pilot's lounge with bathroom, some information, some cokes and water, and a Lazy-Boy. That's all a pilot needs.
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| We had enjoyed a tailwind when we flew down, so I was surprised when we enjoyed an even stronger tailwind on our trip back! A tailwind both ways? That NEVER happens. We boomed home at over 200 mph groundspeed. |
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| Above a broken layer, the air was smooth and cool. |
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| After passing Patuxent Naval Air Station, when I turned northeast to cross the Chesapeake Bay, my speed really picked up. Below I'm clocking over 250 mph! True disclosure: I was also in a shallow dive. |
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| We stopped at Cambridge Airport for lunch at Kay's At The Airport onfield restaurant. |
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Parked on the ramp at Cambridge Airport next to a Mooney.
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| After lunch at Cambridge, it was a short hop home. It had been a fun two-day trip, made possible by the total performance of the RV. What an amazing airplane! |
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