Washington DC, October 30th 2004
Leg 2
Philadelphia – Washington
I only stayed for one night in Philadelphia, a night without incident.
I called up an old friend of mine, Bobby Clark, the managing director of the Philadelphia Flyers NHL team. Since the NHL is currently in a lockout, he had plenty of time to show me around town. We spent most of the evening at O’Neal’s,
a nice sports bar on 3rd Street which has a choice of 19 different beers on tap.
I had prepared an interesting flight plan to take me to Washington and was looking forward to testing the American security system.
My plan would take me right overhead the Andrews Air Force Base and Camp
David. If I don't get shot down by the US Air Force, I'll be able to continue on my world tour.
At 14:52 on October 30th I started my engine. The checklist completed, I contacted tower and asked for takeoff clearance. The sky was overcast, barometric pressure 29.87 as I headed out towards runway 27. I found myself fourth in line on a busy afternoon in Philadelphia.
I climbed out through turbulence with reduced visibility. My flight plan called for a cruise altitude of 5000 feet, but I quickly asked for permission to climb to 6000 in order to break through the cloud layer.
Unfortunately, the air traffic controllers in the area decided to change my plan and made me fly to the north of my proposed route.
So I never got the chance to test the security precautions during the time leading up to the presidential elections. At least I am safe and sound and my aircraft is in one piece.
The descent towards runway 19L was beautiful with an incredible sky. I had to slow down to allow a United Airlines aircraft to clear the runway in front of me so I didn't have to go around.