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Posted By:
Don Maxwell
Date Posted:
Jul 1, 2016
Description:
Number One Son Chris and Number One Daughter-In-Law Bea live in the country near Gordonsville, VA. It's an easy enough 1.5 hour drive to visit them (AND the new grandbaby)--but it would be quicker and a lot more fun to fly there, instead. Sure, there's an airport about 10 miles' drive from their house. That's fine, but it still requires driving.
BUT there's a farm pond only a few minutes' walk from them, and I've become sort of semi-obsessed by the idea of landing in it. Unfortunately, it's an iffy pond: just long enough if the wind is right; but no good place to tie up a Searey and no really easy way to hike in and out through the woods. And permission, of course.
So far, all I've done is ponder the matter and fly over it a few times.
Date Taken:
2016-06-10
Place Taken:
Green Springs, VA
Owner:
Don Maxwell
File Name:
Pond-Chris+Bea.JPG - Photo HTML
Full size - <img src="/show.php?splash=72TxZjfxSh">
Medium - <img src="/show.php?splash=72TxZjfxSm">
Thumbnail - <img src="/show.php?splash=72TxZjfxSs">
Category:
Max_Pix
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Click on photo to view the original size. |
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Read what others had to say:
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Don Maxwell - Jun 14,2016
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Here's how the pond looked on a recent flyover:
NeighborPond
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Don Maxwell - Jun 14,2016
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This is the younguns' place. Used to be a farmhouse in the 1880s and a general store:
Farmlet-N
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Don Maxwell - Jun 14,2016
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The pond, from above the house, view to the south. It's possible...
Pond-N
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Don Maxwell - Jun 14,2016
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View in the opposite direction, to the north, with the Blue Ridge mountains in the distance. That's a different lake, much longer, open to the public, closed to seaplanes. (Sigh.) So near and yet so far.
ViewAboveFarmhouse
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Chuck Cavanaugh - Jun 14,2016
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What's easier? Asking permission or saying you're sorry? Go for it.
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Daniel Myers - Jun 14,2016
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They can't discriminate one vessel (which you are on the water) vs. another. They can give you a ticket or whatever they want, but
you'll win in court. If you feel comfortable operating there, do it!
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Nickens, Dan - Jun 16,2016
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Be careful. If it is a privately owned impoundment you could be prosecuted for trespassing.
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Don Maxwell - Jun 16,2016
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Right, Dan. I wouldn't try it without first getting permission from the owner. (And for more reasons than legal ones.)
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Eric Batterman - Jun 14,2016
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Yuck, pond scum. What about KGVE Gordonsville Municipal Airport?
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Don Maxwell - Jun 14,2016
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Eric, KGVE is the 10 mile drive I'm trying to avoid.
The other lake is much nicer and about the same walking distance. But I made the mistake of asking for permission there: denied.
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John Dunlop - Jun 15,2016
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Looks like you might just have enough room for a 360 on the step to get out of there 
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Don Maxwell - Jun 16,2016
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I don't think it's that wide, John. But you see how tempting it is to try.
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Mike Reisz - Jun 16,2016
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It is tempting for sure. If you have as much room as depicted (1500), there is enough length to get off the water in the right
conditions. For me a big concern is the obstacle height and proximity. They always look much bigger from the ground than from
above.
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Don Maxwell - Jun 16,2016
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So far it's just a thought-landing, Mike. On a gusty pass at about 200 feet AGL I counted 15 seconds at 70 mph from the dam to the green goop--1540 ft--but didn't get a photo down there. There are some other challenges: the dam is probably about 20 feet high but looks a lot higher as you approach from the east, the pond bends where the open water ends, and the trees at the western end are probably 70 or 80 feet tall, typical hereabouts.
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Dave Edward - Jun 17,2016
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Well now Donald......me thinks that maybe we are getting a tad adventure prone in our senior years.
I hate to think of what the 'Feds ', or worse, the Insurance Company folks would say in the event of a mishap.
"" It is inconceivable that a pilot with Mr. Maxwell's experience undertook a take-off from such a confined space "". blah....blah....blah .
Just my humble opinion, and yes, I would love to see you do it, but only with about a 20 mph headwind down the middle of the pond.
Preposterous pondering perchance ?
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Don Maxwell - Jun 17,2016
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Aw, jeez, Dave. This is America, not Canada. Down here we live right on the bleeding edge of sanity and good sense.
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Dave Edward - Jun 18,2016
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Well now, I can't Trump that .
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Peter Brown - Jul 01,2016
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Late to the Party Don but Foreflight is showing 1300 ft dam to scum line -
[URL=http://s512.photobucket.com/user/barefootr/media/image_zpsnyjmxlwk.png.html]
[IMG]http://i512.photobucket.com/albums/t325/barefootr/image_zpsnyjmxlwk.png[/IMG][/URL]
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image
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Don Maxwell - Jul 01,2016
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Peter, that's about what GoogleEarth says, too. But it's about 1800 feet in a straight line from dam to dirt. That ought to be plenty. Maybe I'll stop in and have a chat with the owner some day.
Dam to dirt
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