SP.com Reading, PA Fly-in

So, today was a day out with "the boys". Kaden was at my parents' house and Laura was off to work when I was getting up. After a shower and shave, I was out the door to drive to Columbus to meet up with the others. Due to a change of plans, I was not flying us all to Reading, PA (RDG), but we were going to be taking Jeff S.'s Beechcraft Baron 58. I got all of 100 yards down the street when I decided that I could at least get a little flying in by getting myself via air to the Ohio State University Airport (OSU). I turned around, grabbed my flight bag and headed to the airport. After firing up the Arrow's IO-360 and pointing southeast, I ended up in Columbus about 30 minutes later.

Lenny was already at the airport and Scott showed up a few minutes later. Lenny and I headed to Barnstormers for a quick egg sandwich for breakfast and then Jeff showed a few minutes thereafter. We all loaded up, me up front and Scott and Lenny in back, and then blasted off for Reading, PA. One word sums up Jeff's Baron - CHERRY. We eventually climbed up to 11'000' to take advantage of the winds aloft and finally worked up to a cruise around 215knots GS. (Sweet, but we payed for it later.) After a little IMC and some great views of the clouds, we landed in Reading, much to the satisfaction of our fellow SP'ers.



After a little chit-chat on the ramp and a B-25J "Mitchell" landing and taxi back down to the museum, we all headed into the airport terminal for some food at Malibooz. Good eats. I had the Philly steak and cheese sandwich with fries and a side of marinara. (Yeah, marinara. Not sure where that came from.)



After lunch, half of the fly-in guests blasted off for home and the rest of us taxied across the field to the FBO/museum side. The two Baron's fueled up for the flights home and we all browsed through the Mid-Atlantic Aviation Museum, also known as MAAM. (I can't stop thinking about Al Bundy and his "No Ma'am" shirt.) They had quite a few older planes outside in different stages of decomposition with others bordering on "scrap metal". However, once you walked into the hangar, you can see all the great examples of aviation history. If you are in the area, I would recommend stopping and planning for a solid hour or two, depending on how much detail you want to see.




After an hour or so at the museum, we were all ready to head back to our bases. We fired up and blasted into the air at 7,000' to try and duck the nasty winds aloft we loved on the way to Reading. I sat in the back of the Baron, facing aft, and it was a very, very comfortable ride. I can see why he chose this to transport his family around the country. It beats a cramped 4-seater any day of the week.

After landing in Columbus, we all did the handshake shuffle, took the requisite photos and headed in our separate ways. I had a nice sunset while landing in Bluffton and couldn't have asked for a better day.



Thanks to Jeff for taking us all to the other side of Pennsylvania, thanks to all three for putting up with my shenanigans and thanks to all who came to Reading for good conversation. It was a great group of guys who showed.

Until next time...

View ALL the photos by CLICKING HERE.