After pulling 7ZK out of the hangar at KAVL Signature we loaded up and got ready to depart for Dogwood Airpark in Fredericksburg where Carl lives. We made a quick fuel stop at Orange County KOMH to top off with the cheapest gas around at $4.77 a gallon before landing on runway 27 at Dogwood. The facility at Orange County KOMH is great and the people we talked to inside the building were friendly. Once taxing to Carl’s we pushed 7ZK into his hangar next to his RV-8.
The trip included a train ride into the city to see the Smithsonian Natural History museum, White House, WWII Memorial, and Lincoln Memorial. We walked a little over 6.5 miles before the 4 and 7 year old were ready for the train ride back to Carl’s.
Once again Karrie had book work to handle so the kids and I took the opportunity to take a trolley ride around Fredericksburg. After walking the main street (Caroline Street) we ordered some grilled cheese from Goolrick’s before boarding the 75 minute ride. We learned all about the Civil War battle of Fredericksburg and local history while on the trolley.
The last event we experienced was the Steven Udvar-Hazy Center. Sure the Orbiter Discovery and the Air France Concorde are nice to see but what I was most excited to get near was a Vaught OS2U Kingfisher. This was Mr. Parker’s ride in WWII, flying off a steam powered catapult on the Battleship New York. After watching Mr. Parker build many RC models designed after the Kingfisher it was really neat to get to see a real one in person. They are somewhat rare with only (4) in the US on display. The kids also saw the Enola Gay among many other historic aircraft. Having seen all (3) remaining orbiters I can say that KSC in Florida has the best display and experience. Both the California Science Center (Orbiter Endeavour) and the Udvar-Hazy Center (Orbiter Discovery) have their orbiters sitting on their gear on the ground with their cargo bay doors closed. Atlantis has its doors open and gives a view inside so you can see just how small the crew area is vs the entire size of the space craft. It really was a flying pickup truck.
On our way to catch the 8:04 train. Fare was a $22.80 for a day pass for each adult.
Kids on the VRE (Virginia Railway Express) Car #V720 DC bound.
London finally got to see a real mummy (Natural History Museum).
Nice tree to enjoy an ice cream under on our way to the White House.
Can’t get as close to the White House as before but the kids enjoyed it eitherway.
Lincoln Memorial in the back ground.
Violet wishing she had some sun glasses.
Tom and Butch giving us a tour of the Shannon Air Museum.
Behind the scenes tour of the Shannon Air Museum maintenance hangar.
Patiently waiting for their grilled cheese at Goolrick’s.
Rv-8 and 7ZK sharing space.
Asheville KAVL to Orange County KOMH
Orange County KOMH to Dogwood Airpark VA42
KAVL – VA42
2.4 hours with the engine running,
24.11 gallons of Avgas burned,
0.2 hours of IMC,
369 miles flown.
Dogwood Airpark VA42 to Orlando Apopka X04 via Low Country KRBW for a bathroom stop.
VA42 – X04
4.3 hours with the engine running,
48.6 gallons of Avgas burned,
0.1 hours of IMC,
733 miles flown.
