Summer haze?

[mhorowit]

In Northern Va, summer haze can cut down horizontal viz. to three miles.
Do you have that haze on the west side of the Blue Ridge? - MIke

[Jim Herpst]

Re: Summer haze?

Mike , Sure have it ( Summer haze)in South Carolina . When I was a boy flying with my dad at the age of 12 in 1969 in ol NC 43831(46BC12D) in and around Mars PA , Butler Zelinople and the like (West of the Blue Ridge) sure seemed like the skies were clearer, bluer and life much simpler. (All true) Hang in there, September will be here before we know it or want ol man winter banging on the door behind it.
Jim

[Brady]

Re: Summer haze?

The south can get really hazy. For the past two weeks, Louisiana and Arkansas have been bad.

Flew a T-craft from Shreveport, La. to Petit Jean State Park, northwest of Little Rock, AR this weekend and camped. The vis was about 3-4 miles on both days.

BTW...The Petit Jean airport (KMPJ I think) has a great little campground for aircraft. There is an aircraft parking ramp and established camp sites with water, electricity, and a clean well lighted bathhouse with showers. The State Park has impressive terrain and many activities. The airport attendant (Marvin) will drive you were you want to go. Nice!

[Richard Boyer]

Re: Summer haze?

It's pretty nasty here in Georgetown too. I flew this morning and couldn't see more that 3 miles. Kind of got up close and personal with a couple of blackhawks before I knew it.

That Tcraft sure can turn in a hurry if you want it too!!!

Richard Boyer
N95791

[hangarb7]

Re: Summer haze?

Mike , Sure have it ( Summer haze)in South Carolina . When I was a boy flying with my dad at the age of 12 in 1969 in ol NC 43831(46BC12D) in and around Mars PA , Butler Zelinople and the like (West of the Blue Ridge) sure seemed like the skies were clearer, bluer and life much simpler. (All true) Hang in there, September will be here before we know it or want ol man winter banging on the door behind it.
Jim

Jim,
Flying out of Rostraver (Southeast of Pittsburgh) and up to Butler, Zelie, and Lake Hill (Mars), it is mighty soupy right now. I can't imagine it being any worse. The haze builds and stacks up on this side of the ridge and just won't dissapate. As the sun climbs in the sky, it gets more and more bright white.

But I have a friend that moved to South Carolina a few years back and he thinks that area is definitely worse also.

A front is due here in a day or two with lower temps and clearer skies. Hooray!

Ever get back up this way?

Jack Dernorsek
'46 BC12D
N44057

[Jim Herpst]

Re: Summer haze?

No unfortunantly I do not get up there anymore. We kept the Taylorcraft at LakeHill back inthe late 60s/early 70s. Lake hillAirport was then part of LakeHill Farm. Really nice setting with the Home and Barn on the Hill looking over the pond and airstrip! A guy named Shenck owned it. I visited since and could see the land being broken up and sold off . Glad the gentleman that now ownes the strip is keeping it up and open to the public.
Your not suprising me with the haze. My dad swears it was clearer up there in Mid summer when ever we fly now down here. May have been then but everything seems better in the past sometimes. I know for a fact that the weather for flying around Western Pa is nothing to right home about. Lots of Gray days in the winter anyway .

[Howard Wilson]

Re: Summer haze?

Something else to look out for in the Allegheny area are thunderstorm cells lurking about in the haze. Is that what they call an imbedded thunderstorm? Sometimes you can hear them before you see them.

[hangarb7]

Re: Summer haze?

Hi Jim, thanks for the reply.

My first taildragger lesson and my first ride in a taildragger and my first ride in a Taylorcraft was in my instructor's TC out of Lake Hill back in '93. I had just passed my flight exam in a C152 out of McVille but took lessons at Butler Graham.

Take off, downhill (don't actually have to lift the tail...) but I've been too chicken to take my own TC back in there! HA!

I loved the strip and the fact that it was real grass roots flying. He kept the TC in one of the lower hangars where you had to taxi up that very narrow gravel driveway with hangars on the right and small trees on the left until you reached the airfield. What a hoot! He would never let me taxi it back down to the hangar.....

Thanks for the little trip back in time. That's what Taylorcrafts do for you.

Real time machines.

Jack

[taylorcraftbc65]

Re: Summer haze?

No kidding Jack. Mine was bought by the University of Chicago for flight training. They took delivery in November of 1940. I wonder how many Airline pilots got their first lessons in my plane.
When I was 7 to 10 years old, I used to get my mother to take me to the local airport (Teterborough),so I could watch the planes, listen to the radio traffic on the boxes you stuck quarters into, and walk up to pilots, talk to them about how to become a pilot, and what it was like to fly large planes. A lot of them would give me their autographs, and one, brought me onto an Eastern Airlines Electra freighter that was parked on the ramp at night so I could sit in the left seat!!! That would NEVER happen today!!
Wouldn't it be something if one of those pilots who spoke with me in the mid fifties LEARNED to fly in my plane?

[flylo]

Re: Summer haze?

It's been really hot,humid & hazy in Michigan for the last couple weeks.Not what we're used to.That's why I love fall flying the best.

[Jim Herpst]

Re: Summer haze?

Jack, The little hangers you refer to down the hill were just part of the cow pasture back in the early 70s. Dads Taylorcraft was kept in the big old wood green color hanger on the hill. I think the new owner built his house over to the right of it. I believe it was under construction anyway when I was last up there in the late winter of 99 on Business and to see my Grandmother for what turned out to be the final time... It was getting dark and I was looking up thru the bare trees from Forsyth Road (sp?) and I did not drive all the way up in there as I did not want to intrude....