The event of the summer for both pilots and non-pilots alike was the total solar eclipse which was visible across a wide swath of the United States on August 21, 2017. Like many pilots, Allen and I decided to use our airplane to go see the eclipse. We talked about viewing it from the air, but decided we would rather find a nice spot to watch from the ground so nobody had to concentrate on flying the plane. After making this decision, Rudolph's (my L-16 Champ's) greenhouse was deemed unnecessary and we decided to take the Bellanca so we could get down and back in the shortest amount of time.
Where to watch the eclipse from also merited some thought. We didn't want to have to take too much time off for it, and it would be easier if we didn't have to try to find a hotel along the path (since rates were astronomical), but we definitely wanted to be in the path of totality. We settled on Tennessee. Next, to pick a specific airport. We wanted one where we would mostly just be left alone to watch the eclipse instead of there being a big to-do (festival or event). I chose Smithville, TN (0A3). It looked like a nice little airport conveniently close to Allen's family, who live in the southwest corner of Virginia. We headed down to their place the day before so we would be closer to the path of totality and ready to change to a different airport if needed due to weather.
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| Airplanes converging on airports shortly before the eclipse began. Fortunately, most of them were going to the event at Upper Cumberland, not Smithville. |
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| Nearing Smithville, TN |
Smithville worked out beautifully. It was fairly small and peaceful, but with just enough people that there were food/drink vendors, and an ex-NASA employee turned science fiction writer who called out first contact and counted down to totality.
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| Taxiing in to the airport with the buildings and tents visible. |
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| Smithville Municipal Airport (0A3) |
Unfortunately, when she called out first contact, the sun was behind a cloud! We were worried that the clouds would obstruct our view of the eclipse, but less than an hour later, the skies were clear!
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| First contact...behind the cloud |
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| Eclipse glasses are important for eye health! |
Even less than a minute before the eclipse, the sun was bright enough to saturate my (cell phone) camera. There was a noticeable change in the light, but that didn't come until very shortly before totality. Many people I talked to were saying that at their house it would only be 80-90% totality, which they thought would be good enough. It is not. This experience made me realize the enormous difference there is between even 98% obscured and a total solar eclipse.
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| Less than a minute before the eclipse and still going strong! |
A minute before totality, it was evening, with a sunset in every direction. The taxi lights came on automatically. The stars came out! Someone near the airport set off fireworks!
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| Sunset at the airport, with the sun 'setting' behind the moon! |
The moment we had all been waiting for: totality. I understand now why people travel to the other side of the world to spend two minutes in totality. It is an experience unlike any other. Many amazing pictures were taken of the eclipse, but not by me. I considered buying nice camera equipment including filters and such before the eclipse, but decided to instead spend the time enjoying it, which I did.
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| The eclipse (by cell phone camera) |
It was over all too soon and the sun came back out. After briefly basking in the beautiful moment we had all shared, everyone took to their planes and flew off on their separate ways.
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| The eclipse may have been over, but the fireworks weren't! |
We hung around for a bit and talked to some of the locals. Then we also got in the plane and headed home. We had to fly over some clouds, which thankfully didn't impact our eclipse viewing. In about three hours (non-stop! I love this plane!) we were in the pattern at Warrenton at (real) sunset. It was a beautiful end to a magical experience.
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| Flying over and around some clouds |
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| Arriving back at Warrenton |
We are already looking forward to the next total eclipse on April 8, 2024. Coincidentally, my parents live right in the path of totality!
See NASA's website for information.
