PIREP: Chevy American Revolution 400, Richmond, VA

I happened to be in the office of a co-worker when he mentioned he had a
couple extra tickets to this year's Chevrolet American Revolution 400 NASCAR
race in Richmond, VA. Long story short: I saw an excuse to go flying while
introducing my teenage son to professional auto racing.

We met in Manassas (KHEF) the morning of Saturday, May 14, 2005, hopped in
the plane and flew the short flight to Richmond (KRIC). It was a visual
approach to KHEF with light winds and high broken clouds. Richmond, on the
other hand, required an instrument approach to descend through a shallow
cloud deck about 1500 feet above the ground. I was given the choice and
opted for an ILS approach. Once through the clouds, I circled to runway 20.

My co-worker had never experienced a flight from our side of the terminal
and I'm pleased to say the FBO I used in Richmond, Million Air, did not
disappoint. They impressed him with their offer to drive us to the rental
car counter and to take care of the car return on our departure.

He's been to the Richmond race for the last several years and knew of a
parking spot that would allow us to leave quickly after the race. We
quickly found the spot, paid the hefty $50 parking fee and walked onto the
grounds of the Richmond International Raceway. For those who may not have
been to a NASCAR event, there are acres of tractor trailers set up as
souvenir vendors for all the various drivers and many of the sponsors.

We had bought tickets to the Green Flag Club which included food, drink
and - more importantly - pre-race pit passes to let us mingle with the pit
crews. I'm not sure the pit crews appreciate the experience nearly as much
as the fans, though, as they were constantly having to clear people out of
the way of them doing their jobs. Some fans are simply oblivious to their
surroundings and when a pit team is pushing over a ton of steel and glass
onto pit road, it will not stop on a dime. Step in front of it - or ignore
the whistles and yells - and you may end up with a much closer look at the
car than you may have liked.

Eventually we worked our way to our seats between Turns 1 and 2 and settled
in for a couple hours rooting for our various drivers. Of course, me and my
son aren't known for being NASCAR fans, so we pretty much picked numbers at
random. Well, mine wasn't quite random. I remembered Kasey Kahne from my
trip to Charlotte last year and figured he had a decent chance of winning -
especially after winning the pole for Richmond.

My son picked the driver with his football jersey number - 48, Jimmie
Johnson. Too bad he was knocked out of the race. My co-worker's first and
second favorite racers were not contenders for this race and he ended up
rooting for his third favorite driver - Tony Stewart. The lead was traded a
few times, but my boy Kasey ended up taking the checkered flag.

Due to superior parking knowledge, we were in the car and on the road less
than 20 minutes after the checkered flag dropped. After a quick bite to
eat, we made our way to the airport to pick up the plane. True to their
word, the friendly folks at Million Air took the keys to the rental car
while I settled the bill.

Departure from Richmond was straightforward and we were routed right over
the raceway to give us a view of parking lots barely half empty. Poor
souls. The flight to Manassas was uneventful and I gave my co-worker his
first front-row view of a night landing. After seeing him off (long story
short: he locked his keys in his car), my son and I jumped in the plane for
the short hop home to Leesburg.

The controller prompted me for an approach preference, but I had the aiport
clearly in sight from 10 miles even though AWOS claimed 2.5 miles in mist.
While the weather in Richmond was warm and hazy but clear, there were heavy
thunderstorms back home that dropped a couple inches of water. Despite the
claims of the AWOS, a visual approach was easily made to home base.

All in all, a very pleasant flight. I got to shoot a real-life precision
approach (even though I only logged 0.2 hours IMC) and logged four landings.

http://tinyurl.com/82cjv

--
John T
http://tknowlogy.com/TknoFlyer
http://www.pocketgear.com/products_s...veloperid=4415
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John T wrote:
I happened to be in the office of a co-worker when he mentioned he
had a couple extra tickets to this year's Chevrolet American
Revolution 400 NASCAR race in Richmond, VA.

I'm glad you had a pleasant experience during your visit to my home town.
For the life of me I will never understand the popularity of NASCAR, but to
each their own I suppose. Next time, try to set aside a few minutes to
peruse our pretty cool aviation museum - it's right there at the airport.

"JohnH" wrote in message


Next time, try to set aside
a few minutes to peruse our pretty cool aviation museum - it's right
there at the airport.

Actually, that's on my list. I couldn't help but notice the Blackbird
sitting out front as we drove by...

--
John T
http://tknowlogy.com/TknoFlyer
http://www.pocketgear.com/products_s...veloperid=4415
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