South Carolina Bound!

I ended up needing to go down to South Carolina for work for a little under two months. Since the airports down there with commercial service are small and have only a few flights per day, which all require connecting through Charlotte, deciding to take Rudolph was an easy choice. This decision had the added bonus of providing me with plentiful weekend entertainment!

After checking out a couple of local airports by car, I found a grass strip not too far from where I would be staying that could rent me a hangar for a couple of months. The grass strip is Edgefield (6J6) and is located just outside the tiny town of Trenton, SC. This nice little airport was built by the military "back in the day" and has two wonderfully smooth grass runways. These days, it is maintained by a very nice gentleman named Johnny who keeps the place looking beautiful. It is also home to the Trenton Flyers, a friendly and active group of pilots and friends. They can usually be found hanging out on the porch of the club house on Sunday afternoons. They also hold several events throughout the year, such as a Halloween Candy Drop for local children and club parties. A group of them also fly to lunch every other Friday. They are a very warm and welcoming group of aviators.

Edgefield Airport

South Carolina has a very vibrant aviation community. There are numerous fly-in communities and active aviation groups. The South Carolina Breakfast Club (http://www.flyscbc.com/) holds a fly-in breakfast at a different airport in the state every other Sunday, and there is of course the aforementioned Trenton Flyers lunch trip. After learning about all of this I was really looking forward to spending some of the best flying weather of the year gallivanting about the state with Rudolph!

The fight to SC started off with beautiful views of the mountains

On departure day, the weather was beautiful! The route of flight would keep the mountains off to my right for much of the way down, with flat land below me. It was kind of the best of both worlds - easy flying and great views all at once! Flying further south, I saw some beautiful lakes. Passing near Smith Mountain Lake, I could hear several other pilots on the radio, enjoying the beautiful day.

Near Smith Mountain Lake

My last stop in Virginia was Blue Ridge Airport for some fuel before heading to the Carolinas!

Blue Ridge Airport (MTV)

Flying south, the weather remained nice with a slight headwind. As I passed near Charlotte, NC at 2,500 ft and into the flatlands I came across a cluster of towers that went up higher than I was! I made sure to give those a wide berth.

I made one last fuel stop at Union, SC (35A) since Edgefield doesn't have any fuel. The rest of the flight was uneventful and I landed a bit before sunset. I got Rudolph tucked away in his new temporary home full of gas and ready for some South Carolina adventures!

Sunset at Edgefield