Flying out of Marcellus Airport we like to keep the plane with something less than full tanks during the summer months which makes clearing the trees much less stressful. Particularly with a west wind there is quite a downdraft coming off the trees that line the runway. This slows both acceleration once in the air and climb. With about 1/3 tanks we headed over to Skaneateles for a top-off. Once there we found the card reader out of order. Though we had enough fuel to reach Fulton and probably even Watertown, I decided to go back to Marcellus for the 5 gallons Kate and I keep in the hangar. As it turned out there was only 3 gallons in the can. But with that there was plenty for the 45 minute flight to Watertown.
In the air headed north with dad at the controls.
Passing Lake Ontario at Sandy Pond. This is the outlet to the lake. I love the colors and patterns of the sand in the water.
After fueling in Watertown it was only a short flight up to the Thousand Islands. Here is the Thousand Island bridge over the channel and onto Wellesley Island. A ship has just passed under the bridge headed towards Lake Ontario and beyond. I tried to find the ship name from various online sources but couldn't identify it.
Alexandria Bay
We used to rent a camp here back in the late 1960's. It's still there but the area has become much more developed. There is a little island just offshore that as a kid I would row, and later, motor out to for play and swimming. This now has a summer home filling most of the small rocky outcrop.
Boldt Castle
We landed at Maxon Field. It is only about a mile south of Alexandria Bay and a fairly easy walk into town.
We ate at the Admiral's Inn. I remembered this place from a previous visit to the town last year and liked the look and feel of the outdoor dinning. Lunch prices were reasonable.
Maxon Field is soon to be another closed airport. Currently it is abandoned and the field is being reclaimed by nature with grasses and weeds filling in from the sides and growing up through every crack in the asphalt. The first 1,500 feet of the runway on the east end isn't too bad but beyond that weeds became thicker and thicker until the runway was barely visible. Sad to see these small fields go...
Dad did most of the flying going both ways and did a fine job of keeping us on track and altitude.
Passing Nine Mile point, the sun and clouds came together for an interesting shot.
