Flying into Writing

By Eric McCarthy

2020

A recent flight over New England, specifically the northern portion of New Hampshire, shows the lakes, fall foliage, and marinas mixed with residential life.

(Eric McCarthy)

This has been quite a year so far, and I think we would all agree, not in a good way! The pandemic, fires, hurricanes, floods – this year has been like no other. For many the disruption to “normal” life has been profound and I certainly don’t want to minimize the suffering many have experienced or are living with now.

However, since this is an aviation magazine, allow me to leave the “real world” behind and return our focus to skyward. Regardless of the severity of your suffering, each of us has had, at the very least, our plans and hopes changed or suspended altogether. I had hoped to knock off a few of my personal aviation goals this past summer: I had planned to get my tailwheel endorsement; hoped to work on my sailplane ticket; expected to work on my CAP Mission Pilot rating; and I wanted to start training to get my CFI. I was planning to fly to the “old haunts”: Nantucket, Martha’s Vineyard, Block Island, Bar Harbor, Basin Harbor (the last two are new destinations I’d hoped to add to my logbook). Instead, I’ve hardly flown at all since February, and basically met none of my objectives. Needless to say, this has been a frustrating season, but I look forward to the future and a resumption of “normal.” For now, I’ll have to relive past adventures… My photo flights from SoCal up the Central Valley often took three hours or more each way, offering lots of time to get to know my copilots. Some I knew very well: I was blessed to be able to share these flights with both of my sons, as well as seven or eight of my CAP squadron mates. It was also an opportunity to take in the incredible diversity and beauty of the Earth below. Droning along at 8,500-feet northbound over the Central Valley of California it’s hard not to be impressed by the vastness of this fertile agricultural land that stretches beyond the horizon. Having just passed over the sprawling and densely populated Los Angeles basin and crossed over 30 or 40 miles of rugged mountains, the open, flat expanse of the Central Valley presents a dramatic change.

A sad find: Over Lake Winnipesaukee, the former Lakes Region Airport, has been converted to a neighborhood parkway. (Eric McCarthy)

To the west, just over the hills of the Coastal Range, lie more agricultural lands, much of it in the southern part dedicated to vineyards; to the north: garlic and other vegetables. Then there’s the Big Sur area – mountains precipitously plunging thou- sands of feet into the Pacific. Just a hun- dred or so miles to the east, over the Sierra Nevada Mountains, lie the even-more vast deserts of the southwest, hundreds and hundreds of miles of desolate wilderness, sprinkled seemingly randomly with pock- ets of civilization ranging from the metropolises of Las Vegas and Phoenix to small towns and villages and even individual homesteads, some so far from others you have to wonder how they survive in such isolation.

A recent aerial photography mission over New Hampshire offered an amazing view of the fall foliage and this year, it is spectacular!
(Eric McCarthy)

The recent wildfires have, I’m sure, created a hellish scene compared to what I’ve witnessed in the past. I saw the hillsides draped with brilliant yellow Mustard plants and the verdant green pastures of the Tahachapi’s covered in orange poppies. I did fly over several large burn areas during my forays north on photo missions, the largest of which was the Thomas Fire that blackened the mountains from the San Fernando Valley to Santa Barbara 70 miles west. That fire covered some 270,000 acres, nearly a third of the size of Rhode Island – an enormous area by any measure, yet completely dwarfed by the fires that raged in northern California. Over 3 million acres have went up in flames, decimating everything unfortunate enough to be in their way. Smoke from these fires has even reached the East coast.

Contrast that with a recent aerial photography mission I had in New Hampshire. Low clouds prevented us from passing through the White Mountains to the northern portion of New Hampshire, but our flight took us across a good portion of the state, including Lake Winnipesaukee where I saw a sad sight: the former Lakes Region Airport, now converted to a neighbor- hood parkway. The foliage this year was spectacular! All I can say is “wow!” New England has been suffering through a drought this year and the thinking is that that is what has lead to the brilliant colors.

Now, I’m a New Englander, born and raised just south of Boston – I’ve lived here for more than 50 years to the point where I’ve developed a somewhat jaded perspective regarding the changing colors of New England’s deciduous trees. For me to take note says something; yet, even I was impressed by the vibrant colors splashed across the landscape: the brilliant reds of the swamp maples, golden leaves of the birch and beech trees and fluorescent oranges of sugar maples mixed with the yet-to-turn greens of the oaks – absolutely stunning! The accompanying photos cannot do it justice. If you get a chance, check it out – you won’t regret it!

Civil Air Patrol

2020’s ongoing litany of disasters brought to mind the many missions Civil Air Patrol provides to various state and federal emergency services agencies involved in emergency management and disaster recovery. It was a CAP crew from Long Island that flew over ground zero Sept. 12, 2001 to provide photos of the damage – the only civilian aircraft in the skies of the U.S. that day. A couple of my squadron mates in California flew blood supplies from SoCal to the Bay Area during the days that followed as well, receiving a “cleared direct” from LA to the Bay Area, something unheard of when there are any other aircraft airborne.

More recently, CAP has provided aerial photography of hurricane, tornado, flood, earthquake and fire damaged areas throughout the country. Locally, during fire season CAP provides fire patrol services, “bug patrol” when the state forestry agency needs to track infestations, and many other missions serving our communities and country. While the name implies an aviation theme to our activities, not all are aviation based: CAP’s cell phone forensic team is credited with numerous Search and Rescue finds each year; CAP ground teams are trained to track ELT and PLB signals; ground teams also man communications stations. Here in New Hampshire, CAP teams have provided ground transportation support for PPE distributions throughout the state.

In addition to CAP’s emergency services efforts, one of CAP’s missions is youth development. CAP’s Cadet pro- grams seek to develop future leaders with a focus on aerospace education. As in any field, not everyone is a superstar, but most who stay in the program are respectful, disciplined, responsible, smart, and capable. I can attest to the high quality of these young men and women, many of whom go on to successful military and civilian careers, some even become astronauts!

If you’re interested in joining an organization that gives back either for yourself or for your young adults, please check into gocivilairpatrol.com. It is a great organization with a meaningful mission!

That’s all for this round. Until next time, fly safe!