My plans today started off lofty and were scaled back a touch. I was flying the Sierra out of Bay Bridge (W29) and decided that I would fly to Georgetown, Delaware and back. My plans changed and I instead tried for a quick flight to Ridgely (RJD) and back. At close to the last minute my daughter decided to come with me as my "co-pilot." I was glad for the company and the opportunity to take her out and do something fun with just the two of us. She became me photographer and an extra set of hands to hold papers and charts. This was her first time in the Sierra and I thought she would enjoy the differences. After we got up in the air we headed west toward Ridgely. Once we got closer and started to descend I could hear the radio call for Skydivers in the area. In addition to that I could see that there was ultralight and hang glider activity around the field. We could see an ultralight towing a hang glider headed west as I made my way in the downwind leg for runway 30. Once we started down on final we heard the radio call for two canopies in the air. Once we taxied over to the ramp area we craned our necks looking for the chutes. They were hard to see and we weren't able to find the skydivers until they were just about to touch down. They just suddenly appear out of nowhere about 75 feet off of the ground and then flare and touch down. It's kind of cool but I don't think that I would be interested in trying it. My "co-pilot" took this shot of us on final approach. I think she has a future in photography, she just needed a boost up over the panel.
We took a few pictures on the ground and them started the trip back. I climbed out to about 2500 ft. and headed for the Bay Bridge.
On the way there I saw an airplane headed up at a very high angle. I started to get worried until I saw the white smoke streaming from it. The plane continued up at a high angle and looped over, all the while trailing white smoke. I had never seen aerobatics from the sky. The only problem was that this aircraft was between me and the Bay Bridge. I made a left turn to give this plane some room. I wasn't sure what the pilot was going to do next and I certainly didn't want to get tangled up with him. As I watched he pulled straight up into the vertical and then gave it full rudder and yawed into a dive. I know that there's a name for that. I made more of a left turn to avoid traffic coming from my right side.
We were probably watching the other plane and didn't see each other until we got closer. Once we set down at Bay Bridge I was the last flight of the day. That meant I had extra work to do to get the plane cleaned up. I was unable to find the fuel card despite a thorough search. Once I got the plane over to the tie down, I had to install the pitot tube cover, gust lock, bungee the stick, and put on the canopy cover before I could leave. Doing it for the first time slowed me down. I can't wait to fly this plane again.
(Aerobaticist is probably a made up word. Aerobat is the singular form of Aerobatics, oh well.)
We took a few pictures on the ground and them started the trip back. I climbed out to about 2500 ft. and headed for the Bay Bridge.
On the way there I saw an airplane headed up at a very high angle. I started to get worried until I saw the white smoke streaming from it. The plane continued up at a high angle and looped over, all the while trailing white smoke. I had never seen aerobatics from the sky. The only problem was that this aircraft was between me and the Bay Bridge. I made a left turn to give this plane some room. I wasn't sure what the pilot was going to do next and I certainly didn't want to get tangled up with him. As I watched he pulled straight up into the vertical and then gave it full rudder and yawed into a dive. I know that there's a name for that. I made more of a left turn to avoid traffic coming from my right side. 
We were probably watching the other plane and didn't see each other until we got closer. Once we set down at Bay Bridge I was the last flight of the day. That meant I had extra work to do to get the plane cleaned up. I was unable to find the fuel card despite a thorough search. Once I got the plane over to the tie down, I had to install the pitot tube cover, gust lock, bungee the stick, and put on the canopy cover before I could leave. Doing it for the first time slowed me down. I can't wait to fly this plane again.
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