Empire - Northport Pancake Breakfast
Bruce Williams, August 10, 2004
I'm lucky that I have two family cottages to visit in the Traverse City area in the summer time. My family has a cottage on Birch Lake north of Elk Rapids on Williams Road. My girl friend Kathleen's family has a cottage on Lake Michigan near Glen Arbor. We try to fly to the cottages once or twice a summer. On those trips, flying to the cottage becomes part of the adventure, instead of hours lost riding in the car. If we could haul all of our summer toys in an airplane, we would fly more often. Its also great having family at our destinations that can provide ground transportation and a place to stay.
This August, we finally got our schedules lined up so we could fly to Glen Arbor the weekend of the Northport pancake breakfast and fly-in. We've driven to the fly-in before, and always wanted to fly-in. Empire has the airport nearest to Glen Arbor, and we've been there in the past with 1412V and 444UM. Empire is in the Sleeping Bear National Lakeshore, and Northport is at the northern tip of the Leelanau penninsula, about 30 miles north of Traverse City.
The Empire airport (Y87) is a wonderful little place to land at. There is a campground at the airport, and Empire is about 3 miles away. We check on the airport everytime we drive by, so if you're there and find a note on your airplane, its probably from us. A few years ago, we drove in around midnight, and like a deer in our headlights, there was 1412V. We left a note on the airplane to call us and got a call the next morning from a worried club member. We assured him that there was no problem, we just wanted to borrow the airplane. He was quick to ask if we had a car that we would trade for it. He was camping with 3 others, and they really wanted to see the National Lakeshore from a car. We traded vehicles, refueled 1412V in Traverse City, and had a wonderful Leelanau penninsula tour.
This year, we departed Ann Arbor under a 9000 foot overcast in light rain on Friday afternoon. The weather channel radar showed a big green blob to the south, with its northern border along I-94. A few miles north of Ann Arbor, the rain stopped and it was clear flying with visibility over 20 miles. We generally fly north to Mt. Pleasant (MOP), and then on to points north. We use the direct feature of the GPS to draw the pink line on the multi function display, and follow the pink line. We also tune in the VOR at Mt. Pleasant for navigational backup. If you have not used a GPS yet for navigation, it adds a lot of confidence to your dead reckoning and pilotage.
At Mt. Pleasant, we follow the pink line direct to Empire. Unfortunately, direct from MOP to Empire takes you through the NE corner of the Hersey MOA. Even though we were below the MOA, I followed highway 115 north aways to give the MOA some room. You can always supplement your GPS navigation with a little I Follow Roads.
A quick note for those of you who may fly with non-pilot passengers. Once you're sure of your navigation, give your map to your passenger and get them involved. Then they become part of the adventure and share in the fun. Kathleen sometimes says - oh we're doing just fine - when I want the map back. Sometimes it's best to give them an old map and keep the current one for yourself.
Our path took us over the Cadillac airport. Cadillac is easy to spot with Lakes Cadillac and Mitchell in the vicinity. At Mesick (corner of M37 and 115 - about 20 nautical miles south of Traverse City), we could see the dunes of South Fox Island on the horizon (60 nautical miles away).
So, after a beautiful flight, we took a couple pictures of Sleeping Bear dunes near Empire, and decided to land and close out the flight plan. The picture above shows South Manitou and North Manitou Islands off Sleeping Bear Point in Lake Michigan
Empire (Y87) has two runways. 17-35 is paved, 50 feet wide and 2600 feet long. 09-27 is grass, 150 feet wide and 2275 feet long. The surrounding area is wooded, with an orchard to the north. If you're ever there with a good stiff wind from the west, the takeoff from 27 is spectacular.
The Empire Airport has a terminal building. Its the red building on the far right in the picture below. In the terminal, you'll find a bathroom, a free telephone, and the airport log where you can note your arrival and departure. The requested donation for parking is $3 per day. Your $3 helps pay for runway and taxiway mowing. Just to the left of the terminal building is a red box that contains tie down ropes. The 172 SP in front of 888UM, that looks a lot like 444UM belongs to Kathleen's neighbor.
Remember, our ultimate destination is Woolsey Memorial (5D5) airport at Northport on Saturday morning. We invited Kathleen's neighbor to join us, but he was reluctant to fly into a very busy airport without a tower. German is his first language, so he likes to limit his flying to airports with 2 or 3 aircraft in the pattern instead of 5. We decided to drive from Glen Arbor to Northport which took about 45 minutes. This flyin is so popular that the local sheriff installed a temporary speed limit near the airport for the protection of many pedestrians. The decision to drive was an excellent decision.
Pictured below is the Woolsey Memoriam terminal building on this fine day in August. A community band played from their pavilion on the roof for the pancake eaters below. There might be half a dozen aircraft that reside at Woolsey most days of the year.
As you can see below, there are lots of pedestrians walking across the runway. Woolsey has 2 grass runways. The yellow twin (Vultee ?) is about to take off on 09-27 which is 120 feet wide, 3663 feet long and runs downhill a little. You can see aircraft parked on 16-34 in the background. 16-34 is 2670 feet long and 150 feet wide. There is a volunteer with a hand held radio who trys to keep the runway clear. You might notice a green and white Maul amphibious float plane on the left. He had to adjust his final approach to avoid a pedestrian who was running across the runway. He landed very nicely a couple hundred yards farther down the runway.
These guys know how to make pancakes ! A great breakfast was had by all, with pancakes, sausage, scrambled eggs, and plenty of syrup. Our friends the Lewrys (with plates outstretched) drove up from the Homestead, and joined us for breakfast.
Robin Williams flew up from Traverse City in his modern Waco biplane. It looks classic from a distance, but the cockpit instruments are all very modern. I believe these are built in Battle Creek now. Steve Monty knows more about them.
If you fly into this event, you'll need to be very aware of the current situation in the pattern and over the runway. High speed fly bys are very common. In the picture below, the Coast Guard helicopter is doing a rescue demonstration in the middle of the runway.
The University of Michigan Flyers needs one of these. Imagine 333UM with this paint job.
At noon, its time to head home. Breakfast is over, and the car show is done too.
Saturday evening, I took Kathleen's parents for a quick scenic flight. This is Leland, with Lake Michigan in the foreground, and Lake Leelanau behind.
On Sunday, we expected the weather would be less than perfect, and it was. We packed up to head south before the afternoon thunderstorms arrived. We found out from Lansing flight service that our trip would be a bit turbulent, and that scattered clouds were at 2500 feet around Cadillac. We made a quick flight into Traverse City Cherry Capitol airport, got fuel from the good folks at Harbor Air, and headed for Ann Arbor. Luckily, the low scattered layer near Cadillac had dissipated, and the forecast winds didn't materialize. We had a clear and a little bumpy ride home.
