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1736 nautical miles, with stops at...

• 2006 Cherokee Pilots Association Fly-In in Osage Beach, Missouri
• Amelia Earhart Museum in Atchison, Kansas
• New Abraham Lincoln Center, in Springfield, Illinois
• Cedar Point Amusement Park (Roller Coasters!), in Sandusky, Ohio
• Niagara Falls, in both New York and Ontario, Canada
• Flying into Canada
• Willow Run, Michigan

As with so many great flights, this one began with a single goal: To give the kids Niagara Falls. I say that awkwardly because I don't think you just "take the kids to see the falls." As with all the great wonders of the world, you can only give your children the opportunity to view the grandeur, and hope that they are sentient and mature enough to appreciate what they are experiencing.

Also, as with most great flights, our mission gradually expanded and morphed over time, until it ended up an 8-day, round-the-Great Lakes adventure, with stops at the Cherokee Pilots Association convention and cities in seven states (and Canada) along the way. Only a GA aircraft could make such a trip possible...and we did it in style!  Hang on, and fly along with me...

Cherokee Pilots Association Fly-In, Osage Beach, Missouri.

The Cherokee Pilots Association Convention has leapt to the top of our favorite fly-ins list. We've attended all four of their modern renditions, and have marveled at the way the organizers have honed their skills until the event now runs like a well-oiled machine. Even more remarkably, the fly-in is NOT organized by the CPA per se, but rather by a small group of interested members who simply decided that Cherokee pilots needed a convention. This loose confederation of interested (and widely separated, geographically) Cherokee pilots has managed to grow this convention into a top-notch event, with outstanding seminars, vendors, and keynote speakers.

This year AOPA's Phil Boyer graced the event, and did an excellent job as keynote speaker. As always, he was GA's number one cheerleader, and the "Win A Six in '06" Cherokee Six was a big hit, too. After arriving mid-day on Friday, we drooled on the Sixes newly upgraded panel and the new "speed" cowling (which, incidentally, is already shows some chafing wear - NOT a good sign), and Mary and I longed for all that extra space...

That evening the Missouri Pilots Association put on their annual (and outstanding) hangar barbecue for us, which was once again held inside the equivalent of a giant EZ-Bake Oven.  It seems that it's always hot in Osage Beach, and the heat and humidity were simply breath-taking inside that big tin box. However, the ice-cold beer and camaraderie soon made us all forget our discomfort, and we all enjoyed meeting new friends and getting re-acquainted with old ones.

The next day was filled with seminars, the most interesting (IMHO) of which was put on by a Lockheed-Martin flight service station employee. She spent an hour outlining the planned roll-out for the new consolidated flight service stations, and it was quite interesting to hear how all FSS radio frequencies and phone numbers, nationwide, will ultimately be answerable from just three locations. (Actually, from just one of those three, in the event of an emergency.) The technology behind all this is fascinating - I just hope it all works!

The gala event - the banquet - was quite excellent, with great food and service. If anything, the Tan-Tar-A resort's food has improved over the last three years more than any other thing about this fly-in. We had a great time, and truly enjoyed meeting Phil afterwards.

Then, it was off to the Big Bear bar, where the real hangar-flying began. We spent many more hours trading flying stories, and - after checking the none-too-promising prog charts -- toddled off to bed before midnight, knowing that an early launch was probably out of the question.

Sadly, the progs were right. Sunday morning showed a line of severe weather stretching from our position northeast directly to our planned destination, Sandusky, OH. This slow-moving front wasn't predicted to move out soon, so it was time for "Plan B" - but where to go?

Amelia Earhart Museum, Atchison, Kansas

We'd always wanted to visit Atchison, Kansas, home of Amelia Earhart, but never really had a good reason to head that way. Now, it seemed, we had a terrific reason to fly West - the weather was perfect that-away! So, Atchison became our new destination...

We weren't disappointed. The FBO in Atchison was surprisingly open for business on a Sunday (although it took a bit to find the guy, who was working down in the prop shop), and he let us use their excellent retired police cruiser courtesy car to run into town.

We explored this old railroad town, and had a wonderful time at the Amelia Earhart Museum, which is located in her old family home. (It has been completely restored by the 99s, the organization of women pilots, to which Mary proudly belongs.) We always tend to forget just how much Amelia Earhart accomplished in her brief life, before becoming immortalized by failure on such a grand scale. It was fantastic to see all the different things she accomplished in life, and we managed to score a bunch of new memorabilia for our popular "Amelia Earhart Suite" at the gift shop...

After a nice lunch at a river-side bar and grill called "Flyer's", we realized that it was only 1 PM on one of the longest days of the year!  With fully 8 more hours of daylight ahead of us, it was time to check on the progress of our front. Could we head east, or should we head west?

Lincoln Museum, Springfield, Illinois

The front had gradually pushed far enough East for us to make it to Springfield, Illinois, where the brand new Abraham Lincoln Museum and Library was located. We also had old college friends who live there, so the decision was made - we would continue Eastward, and the trip was still on track.

Immediately after take-off, we were able to see a single anvil-shaped cloud waaaaayy off in the distance. With no way to judge, we couldn't be sure if it was beyond Springfield, or before it - but Springfield was almost 200 miles away. So, we just kept Atlas aimed toward Springfield, talking to the various Centers and Approach controls along the way.

Amazingly, inexorably, this giant anvil cloud ground its way toward Springfield at precisely the same rate as us. Looming tens of thousands of feet tall - yet, easily circumnavigated, by air - it was an awesome sight. Underneath that tower of condensation, prodigious amounts of water and lightning were being produced, yet all around it was perfect, sunny VFR conditions. It was a typical summer sky in the Midwest, but one I never get tired of observing.

Incredulous, given the odds against it, we watched in horror as this single cell bore down on our destination. When we were just 15 miles out, Springfield ATIS suddenly went to ¾ of a mile, high winds, and heavy rain. Now what?

Talking to the tower controller, we were surprised to hear him say that there would be no problem at all getting in, as the cell was already moving off to the east. And he was right - as we approached the pattern, we watched in amazement as the "curtain" of water pulled away to the East, leaving the airport in sunshine while downtown was still getting pounded, just a mile or two away.

Finding a hotel and a car turned out to be easy - the folks at 1st Class Air were absolutely marvelous. They fetched the courtesy car for us, drove it out to the plane so we could unload, called the hotel for us, got us a great rate - and then INSISTED that we keep their car overnight. They even suggested that we take the kids to the new Lincoln Center, and to not worry about bringing the car back anytime soon! Even though we only bought 30 gallons of gas, these folks really rolled out the red carpet for us - it was great to see an FBO that really appreciates GA business.

We then hooked up with our friends (who, unbeknownst to us, had just lost their father that past week, so it was good to see them), and made plans for the following day. 

If you haven't been to the new Lincoln Center, there is little I can say that will tell you how cool it is. I was skeptical, at first - I mean, really, how much new can be said about Abraham Lincoln? But I'll be the first to admit how wrong I was - the place is simply astounding, with holographic presentations and displays of a quality I've never seen before. Even the kids - who were understandably wary of being dragged into yet another museum (we do this to them a lot!) - admitted to having a great time. If you can swing it, make a stop in Springfield - you won't regret it.

After the museum, I started to feel guilty about the FBO's courtesy car - after all, we had been using it for 24 hours - and drove back to the airport to return it. When they discovered that we were staying overnight again, they again INSISTED that we keep their car, and not bother with a rental! I can't speak highly enough of 1st Class Air - their name really fits.

Cedar Point Amusement Park, Sandusky, Ohio

Tuesday dawned clear all the way to Lake Erie, so we bid adieu to our still-grieving friends, and arced into a cobalt-blue sky. Atlas was running like a champ - even on that nasty old over-leaded avgas - and climbed easily up to 5500 feet, despite the heat, and our at-gross condition. Even after four years, we're still amazed at the difference those 235 horses make.

Sandusky, Ohio seemed like an odd duck of a town, to us. It sits on the shores of Lake Erie, and obviously was once highly industrialized, but is now living on tourism. Cedar Point juts out into the lake not far from Sandusky, and is home to one of the oldest amusement parks in America, having been in continuous operation for over 100 years. My sister lives in Michigan, and has been taking her daughter to this amusement park for over 20 years, so we had heard about the place for decades - but what REALLY got our attention was when the Discovery Channel did a show on roller coasters, and it became obvious that Cedar Point was THE roller coaster center of the universe.

There was a time when I hated roller coasters - but no more. I now actively seek them out, and Cedar Point offers 18 different coasters - including the largest and fastest in the world! Our kids were absolutely stoked about this part of the trip, and so was I.

After landing at Sandusky, we were surprised at the difference in service offered by this family-owned airport. No one came out to park us, and only directed us to park in the grass after we called them on the radio. After dragging our luggage into the FBO, we were flatly told by the girl that we weren't allowed to bring luggage inside the building, because they were a customs point of entry into the U.S. So, we had to leave our luggage unattended out in the vestibule of the FBO - a bizarre and unsafe situation, if I've ever seen one.

I told the girl that we'd be staying overnight, and asked that we be fueled - which brought little response. (This would become important later.) No courtesy car was offered, but we had been told that our motel was within "walking distance" of the airport - so we figured we'd just hoof it down there. Meantime, we discovered the little restaurant in the FBO - which turned out to be quite excellent, if you're not in too much of a hurry. (It's a one-person show.) So, the kids and I ordered hand-dipped strawberry malts, and enjoyed a wonderful high-fat, high-calorie dessert while I unwound from the flight. (Hey, strawberries are fruit!)

Luckily, one of the FBO staff overheard us discussing the motel, and found a line guy to drive us over. It turned out that the motel WAS the next business down the road, but walking with two kids and luggage would have really sucked. So, chalk one up for the FBO - they saved the day!

The Knights Inn by the airport is an adequate little econo-box motel, well-located between the airport and Cedar Point. If you're not looking for anything too nice, it fits the bill. For the four of us, it turned out to be way too small, but the price was right and it was clean - which is the best you can usually say about any "McMotel"...

Because it was still morning, we decided to head straight to the park right after checking in. We rented a car from the auto dealer literally right next to our motel, so that worked out remarkably well - and headed off in search of fun! Within minutes, we were entering Cedar Point's immense parking lots. The roller coasters are literally visible for miles around, and are truly impressive - and scary-looking! Some of these things go up 35 stories high, and plunge straight down at alarming speeds - and (of course) make noises designed to scare the bejeezus out of everyone. (I'm sure they could make a silent roller coaster, but what fun would *that* be?) So, for the next 8 hours, we roared, and plunged, and went upside down, and dangled, and even stood up while on roller coasters.

It was a wonderful day, marred only by the fact that we never actually got onto the world's fastest roller coaster, because it broke down - but not till after we had stood I line for over an hour. The danged thing goes from zero to 120 mph in four seconds, and then shoots you straight up into a hammer-head turn some 400 feet in the sky, where you plunge back to earth (with a snap-roll on the way down). The whole ride takes less than a minute, but everyone describes it as the closest you can get to flying with Sean D. Tucker - but, alas, something got FUBAR'd in the computer-control system, and they never got it working again that day. The kids weren't too disappointed, however - we simply went and rode two more coasters, before the park closed at 10 PM. What a day!

Flooding in Ohio

The next day, rain moved in, so we used our time to explore the area. Lake Erie has a rich maritime tradition, and we went up in the nearby Marblehead light house and drove out to Johnson Island (which is connected to the mainland by a private toll-road) to visit the Confederate Cemetery, on the site of what was once a Civil War POW Camp.

The skies cleared that afternoon, and I wanted to fly over to Put-In-Bay for dinner, but I was out-voted. We found many mainland restaurants that specialized in serving Lake Perch - a delicacy that is simply unavailable in Iowa, at any price. We were in heaven as we dined on what was once considered a "junk fish dinner" in my boyhood Wisconsin, but which is now selling for twice as much per-pound as the best angus beef!

It turned out to be a good thing that we didn't fly out to the island, as the storms redeveloped and intensified, with tornado warnings and lots of lightning. Having recently lived through a major tornado in Iowa City, we weren't real comfortable sitting in a motel room - but there weren't many other options. Along with the breathless local television reporters, we watched in awe as one major cell after another lined up in train, all the way back to Lake Michigan - and all aimed directly at US.

When they started showing cells that were producing golf-ball-sized hail heading our way, I became nervous enough to head over to the airport in search of a hangar. To my surprise, even though it was still broad daylight, there was no one at the airport, and no after-hours phone numbers listed. Atlas was tied down in an ever-growing pond of water, and there was nothing I could do about it.

We went to bed that night to the sound of driving rain and thunder... The rain continued all night long, dropping as much as TEN INCHES of rain. Flooding was widespread, and some areas were inaccessible. The next morning the weather was marginal VFR, but improving, so we headed to the airport for an 8-AM launch. To my surprise, there was no one there, we had still not been fueled, and the plane was accessible only by wading into ankle deep water. This made "un-tying" the swing-set chains (the worst things you can use to tie down your airplane) no fun at all, and I was really in a foul mood by the time the FBO girl rolled in at 7:45.

I asked that we be fueled, to which she responded that she really "wasn't here yet", and that no one was available to fuel us yet. I snapped back that it wouldn't be necessary to inconvenience anyone if only they had fueled us when we arrived, as I had ordered, which brought a non-judgmental shrug. So, we waited as she rustled up a sleepy line-guy to fuel us. There was no offer to tug us out of the muck, so I fired up Atlas (after discovering that he had leaked badly under the deluge) and taxied though the swamp, up onto the ramp, where he topped us off. I then went inside to check weather, and the airport owner approached me to see what the problem was - apparently he had overheard my comments and was trying to get to the bottom of it.

When I explained my frustrations to him, he apologized for his employees, explained the difficulties of trying to keep open a private, non-government supported business (to which I could certainly relate) on a shoe-string budget, and asked if there was anything he could do to make me happy. We joked around a bit about how good help was hard to find, and all was forgiven.

Breakfast In Erie, Pennsylvania

With ceilings in the 2,500 foot range, and visibility ranging from 5 to 8 miles, conditions were certainly marginal. Add to that flying into the rising sun, and "virtual" IFR conditions prevailed. As the morning progressed, and we continued to follow the shoreline eastward toward Niagara Falls, visibility gradually improved - but the immense amounts of rainfall combined with the heating of the day combined to keep things ugly, and the beautiful shoreline flight I had planned was anything but pretty. Still, we were gradually able to climb to a more comfortable 5500 feet.

As we approached Erie, PA, a few puffy clouds began to fill in below us. This gradually thickened into a solid layer, and the AWOS's ahead were calling for a pretty solid overcast, so we did a 180 and descended beneath this new ceiling. With Erie beckoning - and a couple of hungry kids in the back seat - we amended our plan and decided to have breakfast in Erie.

The FBO at Erie was very nice, and heartily recommended the terminal restaurant, inauspiciously called "Greg's Place". So, while they fueled Atlas, we hiked the short distance over to the airline terminal, and discovered (much to our delight) an excellent little restaurant, reminiscent of the old airline terminal restaurants of days gone by - right down to the white table cloths!

After an excellent (and very affordable) breakfast, we wandered back to the FBO. As expected, that 90 minute break was all it took to allow conditions to improve, and we launched into good VFR conditions for the remainder of our flight around the bottom of Lake Erie to Niagara Falls, New York, where we landed amidst C-130s and KC-135s doing touch & goes...

Niagara Falls

For those who have never seen the falls, they are really impossible to adequately describe. The experience of seeing that much water, falling that great a distance, making that much noise, is just not something that language was designed to impart. Niagara Falls has been on our list of "places to show the kids" since they were born, and we were FINALLY here.

But first, we needed a rental car, and a place to stay. The folks at Tech Aviation Services (the FBO) were very helpful, and recommended a couple of hotels on the American side of the falls. We eventually settled on a Holiday Inn (after being put on permanent "hold" by a nicer-looking, privately owned hotel. I *hate* when that happens!), which turned out to be a fine choice. Within walking distance of the falls, it worked out well as a home base.

No trip to Niagara is complete without a ride on the "Maid of the Mist" - those crazy, tug-boat-like excursion boats that drive you right up to the foot of the waterfall. When Mary and I had last been here, back in the 1980s, we couldn't afford the boat ride - but, to our surprise, the prices don't seem to have changed much since then, so we immediately got on board.

Thankfully, the day had grown warm, because we discovered that the raincoats they hand out are woefully inadequate to the job at hand. You are going to get WET on that boat, but it was marvelous and awe-inspiring, nonetheless.   They quite literally drive the boats right up to the base of the falls, providing a sound and visual show unlike anything you'll ever hear/see.

Afterwards, we hiked up as close to the falls as we could get, from down below - and became even MORE soaked. In fact, even though we never stepped in any puddles, our shoes became FILLED with water, just from the spray running down our legs!

The kids were clamoring to "go to Canada", so we made plans to head across the international bridge to the Canadian side of the falls. We had stupidly forgotten to bring any identification for the kids, but the Canadians didn't seem to care too much - although they did warn us that we *might* get some static from their American counterparts when we tried to return later that evening.

The Canadian side is remarkably different from the American side, just as it was twenty years ago. In fact, the American side is much cleaner and nicer now than it was then - but the Canadian side has continued to improve at about the same rate, so the difference is still sadly apparent.  Niagara Falls, NY (and its sister city, Buffalo) has depopulated to an amazing degree since the boom time 1960s, as all the industry has departed for cheaper labor. In fact, Buffalo has lost several hundred thousand people, and Niagara has lost almost HALF of its population, along with the loss of all heavy industry. The area has obviously endured achingly bad times, while the Canadian side - which has always relied more on tourism, rather than industry, for its job base - has done quite well. Of course, the Canadian view of the falls is MUCH better, which makes it a no-brainer for tourists...

Still, I found the Canadian side to be disturbingly over-commercialized. Although they still have the wonderful park that runs full-length along the falls, the city has allowed itself to grow into a combination of Las Vegas and Wisconsin Dells, with space needles, casinos, Ferris wheels, and just a generally shlocky atmosphere. I found it mildly disturbing that some people felt the need to ride carnival rides, or visit cheesy wax museums, as if the awesome Niagara Falls aren't enough of an attraction...

After walking many miles, and rejecting all the icky "corporate" restaurants, we found a remarkably authentic German restaurant called "The Happy Wanderer", located far enough from the falls as to not be have been bought out by Applebees/McDonalds/Marriott...yet. 

Anyone who grew up in the Milwaukee, WI, area, or who had a German grandmother (like both Mary and I did) will recognize authentic German food - and the Happy Wanderer has it. Mary and I split a combination platter, which offered massive quantities of spaetzel, sweet red cabbage, sauerkraut, kassler ripchen, schnitzel, sauerbraten, dumplings, and a zillion other delicacies - followed by (of course) dessert! We ate, and ate, and ate - and we discovered a fabulous new (to us) German beer (whose name I wrote down, and cannot locate, dammit) - it was simply fantastic. Not cheap, though. The bill was around $150, Canadian - but was worth every penny. It was by far the best meal on the trip. (And, I think, best of all, my kids got to hear real Canadians saying "Eh?" at the end of every sentence, just like the stereotyped joke they'd always heard. Our waitress was inadvertently hilarious to them, as she had a Brooklyn-style accent with a Canadian twist, as in "How was youse guy's dessert, eh?"! We just about died laughing, and my kids are STILL saying "eh?" at the end of every sentence...)

Afterwards, we waddled back to the falls, to watch as they were lit with gigantic colored spotlights. Although beautiful, I still found them to be mildly disturbing. The whole concept struck me as no different than Disney offering to light up the Grand Canyon with lasers - but I guess I'm in the minority on this, as the crowds were immense.

Then, it was time to go back to America. Paranoid after having a couple of beers, and worried about not having any ID for our kids, I cautiously pulled up to the customs booth. The guy looked at us, looked at our driver's licenses, and welcomed us home -- simple as that. It was nice to see that nothing had changed since 9/11, at least with our Canadian brethren.

The next day dawned clear to the north, with storms lining up in train (again!) along the Southern shore of Lake Erie. It appeared as if our desire to fly over Canada was going to pay off in spades, so I called Buffalo Flight Service, and got the poop on over-flying Canada. Strangely, they weren't all that helpful, with the briefer saying stuff like "I've never heard of any VFR pilots being charged" and "I think you'll be in touch with ATC throughout the flight". I found these "fuzzy" answers inadequate, so I also called the London, Ontario version of Flight Service, and got the Canadian version of instructions for over-flying Canada.

As opposed to their American counterparts, they were quite precise - file a VFR flight plan with the American FSS, get your squawk from Niagara Falls tower, talk to Buffalo FSS to activate your flight plan ASAP after departure, and talk to Buffalo approach as you cross the border. They will hand us off to Toronto Center, and the rest is business as usual. It was as easy as that, no muss, no fuss.

I hadn't filed a VFR flight plan in almost ten years, so the briefer helped me through that -- but otherwise it was quite simple. Once in the air, we climbed to 6500 feet, keeping Lake Erie off of our left wing (from where we could clearly see the crappy weather that was pummeling the other side of the lake), and proceeded across Ontario, toward Detroit. There were a few verbiage differences (I.E.: They say "radar identification" instead of "radar contact"), and "aboooot" instead of "about" - but otherwise, there was no way to tell Toronto Center from Chicago Center.

The flight was great, and we were able to see Lake Erie, Ontario, Huron, and St. Clair in the span of 90 minutes, which was very cool. Flying over Selfridge AFB (ever vigilant against those threatening Canadians!) was kinda cool, and (once we re-entered US airspace) Detroit Approach was VERY helpful getting us through the busy Detroit Class B airspace into Willow Run, in Yipsilanti, Michigan. In fact, we barely deviated at all, all the way through their airspace, thanks to some helpful altitude assignments.

And we even remembered to close our flight plan!

Willow Run, Michigan

The Willow Run plant was built during World War II to build the 4-engined Consolidated B-24 Liberator bomber. It is immense, and is currently owned by General Motors (after stints with the Ford Motor Company, and Chrysler.) They've got some of the biggest hangars I've ever seen, and the plant itself just goes on and on. The airport is still gigantic, and several businesses repair jets as large as Boeing 707s, although most of the traffic while we were there was GA with a smattering of military.

The plan had been to meet our friends Jim & Tami Burns at YIP (who were flying in from Stevens Point, WI), and go en masse to Greenfield Village and the Henry Ford Museum. Sadly, the day we spent grounded in Ohio had used up our built-in "weather day", and caused us to arrive too late for us to make it to the museum with the Burns'. So, instead, we had a nice dinner with them, explored a mall in the area, and had breakfast with them the next morning before bidding them farewell. (They were off to Grand Rapids next, to visit relatives.)

We intended to do the Museum on our own, but after 8 days on the road we were all bone-weary and simply ready to go home. When the progs showed the weather looking marginally crappy for Sunday, we opted instead to simply fly home Saturday, after bidding adieu to the Burns' - and enjoyed a thoroughly routine 3-hour flight around the bottom of Lake Michigan, back home to Iowa.

(But not until after Joe and I climbed up into the unexpectedly accessible old Willow Run control tower for a look-see. The view was great, and we discovered that the fire equipment - hoses, primarily -- was last inspected in 1973, when I was Joe's age. All the alarm boxes said "Ford Motor Company" on them - it was like stepping back in time...)

The trip: 1736 nautical miles. We'll just have to save Greenfield Village for a future trip!