Confinement V - The Flight Home

We said our goodbyes and headed to the airport form the con on Sunday.

Mr. B had the plane fueled up, and was properly chagrined that the Lebanon Airport charged a parking fee in addition to the fuel, when most airports waive that fee if you buy fuel there.

So we filed for a return trip to Pontiac, untied the plane, and did the run up.

We then had to get the clearance by phone and once received we then took off.

We climbed right up into the soup, which caused a little vertigo on Mr B's part, but he quickly shook it off and it was smooth after that.  We got out of the layer and it was a smooth and sunny ride above the clouds. I got to handle changing the frequencies on the radios as we moved through various sectors.

The layer then broke up as we went farther north cruising along at 9,000 feet. We had ground speeds in excess of 200 knits with a decent tailwind so the return trip would be quicker than the way to Tennessee.

We passed by Toledo, Ohio's airport:

Then at Ann Arbor, we passed by their airport:

 

We also hit a bit of light to moderate chop, and as we flew past the city the Big House was still quite a landmark.

We then headed to Pontiac and I got the ATIS so we could tell Detroit Approach we had it before they even asked (they appreciate that) and we setup for the RNAV approach for 9L.

This was Mr. B's first time landing on the 9 side at Pontiac, and I spotted the airport first, being more familiar with the area. Conditions were solid VFR at this point. 

 

But, while the visibility was VFR, The winds were whipping along with a gusting crosswind, but Mr. B. flew the approach right on, and did a fine landing even with the extra fun of the additional bumps caused by the lake on the approach path to the 9 side.

We then taxi'd to the terminal and as we waited for fuel, we saw a luxury Saudi PrivatAir 737-800 land.

To say that it's luxurious inside is an understatement.  

After the refueling was complete, I got my stuff together and headed home and Mr. B. flew back to his home.

It had been a memorable and very fun weekend and the flying with Mr. B. made it even more fantastic. We'll need to do more trips together soon.