CYHZ -> CYYZ -> CYHZ

The next day in Halifax we decided to take a short flight with our friends and visit Prince Edward Island. Unlike the United States, in Canada they allow the General Aviation Aircraft to park on the Airline ramp and use the same access gates to the terminal.

Prince Edward Island Dunes

Exiting the PEI terminal to board N21YF, as a West Jet 737 airline arrives.

Leaving Prince Edward Island

Arriving back to Nova Scotia after crossing the
Northumberland Strait

Landing at Halifax, jet holding short for us to land.

Halifax Day 1

For our first day in Halifax our friends Bob and Colette took us to dinner at a Halifax Harbor waterfront restaurant. Afterwards they took us to Fairview Lawn Cemetery to see the grave site of the recovered victims from the Titanic. It was erie since it was at sundown and to see so many graves with the same date. Many victims were unidentified, some were children.

Travel Update - Summer 2011

For those who are following, we arrived home in Merritt Island yesterday, Sunday August 21, just a few days ahead of hurricane Irene. Once we reached Canada, our days were so jam-packed we didn't have time to update the blog! Not to worry, we have plenty of photos and stories to share about our vacation adventures, including: Halifax, Prince Edward Island and Peggy's Cove in Canada; and Baltimore, the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum (DC Area), Heaven's Landing (Clayton, GA) and Atlanta, GA, USA. So thanks for following us and stay tuned for updates!

Halifax Stanfield International Airport

We landed on Runway 23 at Halifax at 3:37 pm local time on Saturday, August 13th. Joining us on the tarmac is a Canadian Military Chopper and the Louisianna State University (LSU) jet. After clearing customs, we met up with our friends Colette and Bob. We finally made it - yay!

KBDL -> CYHZ

N21YF on the Bradley, KBDL ramp

Saturday morning we ate breakfast at the hotel and prepared for our first international GA flight to Canada. We filed our flight plan, eAPIS, and made arrangements with Canadian customs. At 11:35 am local time, we departed Windsor Locks, CT, USA enroute to Halifax, Nova Scotia, CA. As we flew over New England, the coasts became rockier and the landscape morphed from cities and small towns to vast wilderness. (Total flight time approx 3 1/2 hours.)

Windsor Locks

Mike's friend Wes met us at the airport and took us for a bite to eat. It was great to see him again and we were especially glad he survived his first winter up north!

KMYR -> KBDL

Atlantic City NJ

New York City and Manhattan

JFK International Airport

Windsor Locks CT

Our flight from Myrtle Beach to Windsor Locks, CT took us directly over New York's Kennedy airport airspace. We were treated to great views of Atlantic City New Jersey, Long Island New York, and the Hudson River. The air traffic control radio frequency was very busy and we had fun listening to all the commercial jets. We landed at KBDL (Bradley International) just as the sun was setting - a spectacular end to the first day of our summer adventure.

KCOI -> KMYR

After patiently waiting for clear skies, we finally departed Merritt Island on Friday, August 12. Our first stop was Myrtle Beach, SC for fuel. Once again we were delayed by weather, so we took a crew car to the beach for lunch, and were on our way again after a short delay.

Departing Myrtle Beach, SC

Countdown to Canada!

A week from today - weather permitting - we embark on an international cross country flight to Halifax, Canada and Prince Edward Island.

This will be our first major cross country since our 2009 California trip and we're really looking forward to it!

Our outbound flightpath will take us to Myrtle Beach, SC for a fuel stop and Hartford, CT for an overnight stop. We calculate it will take us 9 hours 33 minutes over two days to reach Halifax.

Then we plan to work our way back home at a leisurely pace, stopping in Bangor, ME, Washington D.C., Charlottesville, VA and Atlanta, GA. If you happen to live along our flightpath we might just pop by to say hello!

N4541X

Last Saturday 3-19-2011 Tony and Mike flew on Delta Airlines with Mike's student David to Cleveland Ohio, to fly home David's new used airplane. Tony and Mike helped David with the process of researching and purchasing a airplane. They flew home the same day. The flight home was from Lorain Airport to Charlotte to refuel and then home to Merritt Island.

An interesting fact is that the time to travel from Merritt Island to Cleveland by commercial jet was essentially the same as coming home from Cleveland to Merritt Island in the general aviation aircraft. We left Merritt Island at 5:00 AM and arrived in Cleveland at noon. We ate lunch and looked over the airplane and departed Cleveland at 2:30 PM and we were home at 10:30 PM (7 hours up to Cleveland, 7 hours back home from Cleveland).

David, the happy airplane owner!

Sealing the deal

Take-off at Cleveland looking at Lake Erie

New River Gorge Bridge in West Virginia

N4541X at Charlotte

Number 1 for take-off at Charlotte

More pictures are available at David's web site:

http://picasaweb.google.com/dhslonim

Young Eagles Flights

On November 20, 2010, Mike flew 24 children in the EAA Young Eagles Program, 14 of them have never flown before. N21YF and Mike were also caught by Local News 13.

California Trip Videos

Flying over the Grand Canyon

Burbank Bob Hope Airport (N21YF is on the ground in California!)

Flying home over Arizona

New Orleans Arrival

Home Sweet Home

10/7 Today is the last day of our cross country trip, a nonstop flight from New Orleans back home to Merritt Island. The terrain is starting to look familiar again - blue and green swamplands instead of brown mountains, sandy deserts and green valleys. Even with the picutres to prove it, it's hard to believe we really flew One Yankee Fox coast to coast!

Leaving New Orleans

10/7 Before leaving New Orleans, we stopped at the famous Cafe Du Monde for Beignets. Then we were off to the airport and on our way back home.

Heading Home - Day 3

10/6 Today we flew from El Paso to New Orleans with a fuel stop in San Antonio. Tonight we're staying at the Marriott in downtown New Orleans with a gorgeous view of the Mississippi River. It's good to see the city coming back to life after Katrina, although some areas have a long way to go before they are restored. Seeing the extent of the damage first hand is sobering.