Global Positioning Support

Part I
Late summer 1993, my student pilot logbook’s second and third pages shouted: Bor-ing! Two-thirds of the “remarks” in the space for remarks and endorsements my instructor wrote, “pattern work.” Sensing another day of upwind, crosswind and downwind to final, “Today,” I told him, “I want to go somewhere…anywhere!”

Never was I so happy to leave the sand and sea salt from my Cessna’s tires on runway 29 as we ascended for my first trip to a place other than the Bay Bridge Airport traffic pattern.

Our destination: 62 miles southeast of W29, Crisfield Somerset County Municipal (W41) at the very tip of the lower eastern shore of Maryland. The asphalt runway had been recently repaved and my first memory is of glowing surface markings, or at least they seemed to glow making the 2500’ strip easily recognizable even from 2000’ up and 10 miles out. The panoramic view of the turf field perpendicular to the hard surface runway and the thriving farm land encasing the border of the county’s property created an ethereal thought cloud practically visible above my head of Lindbergh or Earhart landing effortlessly on the plush green grass, slowing to taxi then standing tall in the open cockpit aircraft, scarf trailing in the wind.

Multiple downwind to finals later, my instructor and I departed runway 32 extending our final, edging the peninsula and above Tangier Sound. Usually high summer humidity obscures any chance of good visibility over the water, but this day we could clearly see Smith Island, top on the list of things to do around Crisfield. The bonus was that our departure coincided with the setting sun creating a surreal backdrop to the island like the closing credits from Gone with the Wind. It was a great day.

Although the stars just weren’t aligned for me to set down and explore this intriguing Mayberry-esque town, I was certain another day would present itself. And so it did, the emergent city of Crisfield was chosen as the ideal destination for the inaugural piece for this column.

Trackback URI | Comments RSS