Day Two of the Adventure

The second day we wanted to get an early start. We headed to Denny’s at 6:00 a.m. for breakfast and some flight planning. We arrived at the airport at 7:00 a.m. to start the second day of our adventure. We started flying up the coast and got 45 minutes or so of flying in when the clouds ahead started to get bigger. Aviatrix tries to navigate around them but at our slow speed realizes that this is a futile effort so we divert and land at Fernandina Beach. The great thing about the Southern states is that there are numerous airstrips. We landed and a couple of guys quickly came over to ask about the plane. One offers us hangar space if we get socked in. Aviatrix and I go in to the Airport to check the weather but I am confident that this is a typical short term Floridian storm. The satellite images, and one of the experienced locals confirms this and says expect the storm to blow over in about 45 minutes. Just enough time for me to check my e-mails from work and look at the stock market activity at opening bell. The local is right about the weather and away we go again and this time we make it to Claxton, Georgia.

It is a spectacular day and we land at a small strip in Claxton, Georgia. The weather is warm, the day is bright and the sky is clear. The strip looks well kept. There is a base station but it looks like no one is around. In fact, the door has a keypad lock and there is a sign posted to use the UNICOM radio frequency number for entry. Inside there is a sign that indicates that there is a courtesy car for use and to call the police station for the keys. We locate the keys and head into town for some MOGAS and lunch. It is interesting stop and I learn a lot about the small town of Claxton from the gas station operator. Claxton is known as the Fruit Cake Capital of the World. The gas station operator tells me about the founder of the Claxton Bakery and his successor Albert Parker. It is a very interesting story and a quick look at the following site is a great example of the positive differences one individual can make in a community www.claxtonfruitcake.com/page.php?page=tribute.

After a couple of trips to the gas station I am back at the base station pulling in behind a guy in a nice sporty car. He is out of his car and quickly racing towards my plane shouting over to Aviatrix and then looking behind at me “is that your plane?” Aviatrix answers ”it is her plane” and he continues to descend upon my plane. He has never seen anything like it and asks Aviatrix several questions. It is only the second day of flying my little plane and at each stop, we seem to have several men approach us with a barrage of questions. None of which stumps Aviatrix.

After our discussion with the onlooker and a call to the manufacturer about a few things we are on our way. This time we are heading to Union County, South Carolina. It is a great day to be flying and I am getting a lot of experience. The take offs and landings are done by Aviatrix but I am getting a lot of flying time in between. The climbing is a little more challenging for me as my seat needs to be adjusted higher so I have a better visibility over the dash during the climb. But I am thoroughly enjoying the experience. After approximately 3 hours of air time, we are in Union County. It looks a little more barren then Claxton and I don’t see a courtesy car. It is after 7:00 p.m. and there isn’t a sole around and no entry into the base station. There is a sign that lists the Airport Manager’s contact number. Aviatrix and I decide to give him a call and ask him for a phone number for a local taxi service. The manager answers the phone and Aviatrix explains that we are at the airport and need to get a taxi into town. He says he will be right there to pick us up and sure enough moments later there he was.

The Airport manager is very helpful. He shows us the two motels in town and also recommends a few restaurants. He also gives us a tour of the small town and showed us the football field that he manages. We explain to him that we are going to need MOGAS in the morning and that we plan to take off early. He says he will arrange to have MOGAS for us and to call his receptionist in the morning and she will pick us up at the motel and drive us to the airport. He cautions us about the prison workforce that he has working at the Airport. He says they are mostly a bunch of guys that skipped out on their child support payments. They will be wearing orange coveralls. Is it rude to ask him if they are chained? I don’t ask.