The weather cleared up enough today for my first flight to Wilkes-Barre. I managed to fly direct to KWBW, in Forty-fort Pennsylvania, where I picked up my father for a little joyride to his house.
One the way to KWBW there were a few clouds at 4500, so I kept the Skyhawk at 3500ft. A few light rain showers popped up near Hazleton, so we flew between the precipitation. Scattered rain showers are easily identifiable and avoidable from the air during a clear day.
I was planning on using runway 25 at KWBW, but it turned out that runway 7 was the active. I overflew the field at 2500, and made a quick descent for a 45 degree entry towards runway 7.
The layout of KWBW is a little different than the airports I’m familiar with. First off , there is no taxiway parallel to the runway. So pilots have to “backtaxi” on the runway. There also is no AWOS weather reporting station nearby, just a ground level windsock that is absolutely useless.
My touchdown at KWBW was smooth, and we taxied to the parking area. I was planning on taking my father for a little scenic flight, but there were a few scattered showers coming in from the northwest. Using Foreflight on the iphone, I was able to determine that the weather would clear up soon.
We grabbed a bite to eat, and took off for a very short sightseeing trip around Dallas, PA.
After about 30 minutes, I dropped off my father, and Lindsey and I were back in the air headed to KMQS. As we departed west, the Geisinger lifeflight helicopter flew above us off our left wing.
After getting past KHZL, the sky cleared up, and I was able to climb to my designated VFR cruising altitude of 4500 ft. As we approached the familiar 45 degree pattern entry for KMQS, I was greeted by an older Skylane entering from the south. We touched down at KMQS, and finished the day after 2.8 hours total flight time.
This was also the first flight for my new Lightspeed Zulu headset, which is quite an improvement over my old one. I now know what the fuss is about..