In Minnesota if you want to see something other than fields, trees and lakes you either need to fly northeast to Lake Superior or southeast along the Mississippi River.
With the daughter up at Grandmas, a free morning and a perfect wx day we decided to fly up to Two Harbors and overfly Duluth along the way. We don't get many chances to fly together due to busy schedules so this was a treat. We usually take turns flying legs but I really wanted to take pictures so Kari flew the whole trip and I took radios.
On a normally busy summer Saturday the drive from our house to Two Harbors will easily push 4hrs. Today the flight would be about 1hr20min each way
Right after departure I picked up FF and a Bravo Clearance so we could fly direct and climb higher. It was already hot and humid at 730am but a quick climb to 5500msl found air cool enough to actually start closing vents.
Aviation-wise it was pretty low key. The only interesting event was ATC calling out a very close contact heading directly towards us but altitude unknown. We never saw it and afterwards the gal on Duluth Approach said sometimes the radar picks up semi's that give false returns...interesting.
We had some good laughs along the way but trying Track-Up was the funniest. On the flight back I said lets try Track-Up. So I tap the 'N' to switch it. She looks at me and says "You realize one pillar of our marriage is North Up." We both laughed! Neither of us can stand Track-Up.
The Two Harbors airport is very nice. There is a nice long paved runway with full length taxiway. Crossing that is a nice grass strip. They have great fuel prices with self serve 100LL at $3.53/gal. A nice small heated building. Plus they have (2) courtesy cars that you can reserve several days in advance!
The first nice change of scenery is the St.Louis River Estuary. The curved bridge is the US-HWY-2 crossing over into Wisconsin.
20200627_090450.jpg
Looking directly down over the lift bridge (it's lowered) and Canal Park. Two big boats are at anchor. Lake Superior is smooth as glass.
20200627_090656.jpg
Looking towards Wisconsin. You can see KDYT - Sky Harbor. This Sky Harbor a bit smaller than the one in Phoenix LOL! Looks like a little aircraft carrier with the water on the side. People often land here and uber/walk to Canal Park.
20200627_100754.jpg
A big guy heading back out. It looks so small. Its not!
20200627_090734.jpg
Heading back home. Down below is the Grand Casino at Hinkley and a very small airport nearby called Field Of Dreams (04W).
20200627_103253.jpg
It was calm even up at altitude so the rare day where ground speed matches TAS = 153mph (134kts).
20200627_103336.jpg
Every TAF called for skies clear for the entire day. Eventually it built up to few for a bit which was no surprise given the heat, humidity and lack of any winds. So we climbed up and went over.
20200627_104058.jpg
Yours truly starting Covid beard # 2.
20200627_100837.jpg
Happy wife! Great Day. Life is good.
20200627_100904.jpg
With the daughter up at Grandmas, a free morning and a perfect wx day we decided to fly up to Two Harbors and overfly Duluth along the way. We don't get many chances to fly together due to busy schedules so this was a treat. We usually take turns flying legs but I really wanted to take pictures so Kari flew the whole trip and I took radios.
On a normally busy summer Saturday the drive from our house to Two Harbors will easily push 4hrs. Today the flight would be about 1hr20min each way
Right after departure I picked up FF and a Bravo Clearance so we could fly direct and climb higher. It was already hot and humid at 730am but a quick climb to 5500msl found air cool enough to actually start closing vents.Aviation-wise it was pretty low key. The only interesting event was ATC calling out a very close contact heading directly towards us but altitude unknown. We never saw it and afterwards the gal on Duluth Approach said sometimes the radar picks up semi's that give false returns...interesting.
We had some good laughs along the way but trying Track-Up was the funniest. On the flight back I said lets try Track-Up. So I tap the 'N' to switch it. She looks at me and says "You realize one pillar of our marriage is North Up." We both laughed! Neither of us can stand Track-Up.
The Two Harbors airport is very nice. There is a nice long paved runway with full length taxiway. Crossing that is a nice grass strip. They have great fuel prices with self serve 100LL at $3.53/gal. A nice small heated building. Plus they have (2) courtesy cars that you can reserve several days in advance!
The first nice change of scenery is the St.Louis River Estuary. The curved bridge is the US-HWY-2 crossing over into Wisconsin.
20200627_090450.jpg
Looking directly down over the lift bridge (it's lowered) and Canal Park. Two big boats are at anchor. Lake Superior is smooth as glass.
20200627_090656.jpg
Looking towards Wisconsin. You can see KDYT - Sky Harbor. This Sky Harbor a bit smaller than the one in Phoenix LOL! Looks like a little aircraft carrier with the water on the side. People often land here and uber/walk to Canal Park.
20200627_100754.jpg
A big guy heading back out. It looks so small. Its not!
20200627_090734.jpg
Heading back home. Down below is the Grand Casino at Hinkley and a very small airport nearby called Field Of Dreams (04W).
20200627_103253.jpg
It was calm even up at altitude so the rare day where ground speed matches TAS = 153mph (134kts).
20200627_103336.jpg
Every TAF called for skies clear for the entire day. Eventually it built up to few for a bit which was no surprise given the heat, humidity and lack of any winds. So we climbed up and went over.
20200627_104058.jpg
Yours truly starting Covid beard # 2.
20200627_100837.jpg
Happy wife! Great Day. Life is good.
20200627_100904.jpg
