Sunrise over the Little Miami

Plane: Cessna 172
Route: MGY-40I-MGY
Weather: Clear, 47 degrees, wind calm

Last night's fun flight to Dayton International resulted in the flip side of flying and renting from Stewart - the airplane was still at Wright Brothers. No runway lights means no night landings. Since I live just a couple minutes from MGY, I told Jamie I could fly the plane back this morning. So I got there around 7:30, preflighted the 172, warmed up the oil, and turned onto Runway 20 just as the sun started rising into the sky.

Turning onto Runway 20 for takeoff

Watching the sun rise above the horizon on this beautiful morning

Now, I'm not much of a morning person. Never have been, never will be. Accordingly, I rarely fly in the early morning hours. This might have actually been the first time I've ever flown at sunrise, to be honest. My logbook doesn't appear to dispute that statement.

But that doesn't mean it's not a spectacular time to fly. The air was smooth and the warm orange glow of the sun rising over the farms and valley fog was downright beautiful. I don't know that I'll ever be a frequent morning flyer but it was absolutely worth getting up early this morning!

Morning fog in the Little Miami River Valley 

Passing over the valley on downwind for Runway 26

Red Stewart Airfield in the early morning sunlight

The logistics at hand were a bit convoluted. I landed at Stewart and picked Jamie up. Sidenote here that there's simply nothing like landing on grass in the morning, kicking up a spray of dew as the wheels roll over the turf. Certainly one of the pleasures of flying. Anyway, I stopped and let Jamie climb on board - then took back off on Runway 26.

Flying down the Little Miami River Valley

Given the perfect weather and views, I decided to take the scenic route down the valley back to Wright Brothers. Jamie and I both snapped a few photos as I flew south, then I turned northwest back towards MGY, making a pass at Stewart since we were flying directly overhead anyway. I landed back on Runway 20 and hopped out of the plane on the ramp; Jamie flew the plane back to Stewart so he could start his day of flight instructing.

Not a bad morning. Not bad at all.

Flight Track: Google Earth KMZ File 
Today's Flight: 0.5 hours
Total Time: 292.5 hours