Of Interest: January 2007

I decided to attend the Geneseo Air Show last summer, on a beautiful weekend in early July. Considering my love of airplanes, and that it's a simple two hour flight to Geneseo from my home in central Connecticut, the decision was easy to reach. I invited a friend and co-worker, Bob, along since he too loves airplanes and is working toward earning his pilots license. Because Bob lives a considerable distance from me, in the Northwest hills of Connecticut, the plan was to him meet him at the Great Barrington airport in the Berkshire Mountains of Massachusetts.

The early morning departure was enjoyable with morning ground fog typical of early summer, but surprisingly the Connecticut River valley was clear around my home airport in Hartford. The mountain valleys in the Berkshires were completely enshrouded in fog though and I was beginning to think our plans wouldn't work out. The Geneseo airport closes at 10:00 a.m. to allow the airshow to begin. Late arrivals are out of luck. A diversion and delay, due to fog, would prevent us from arriving on time. It must have been our destiny that day to reach Geneseo because, as I approached Great Barrington, the fog was cleared in a five-mile circle around the airport. Departure, and continuation of the flight, was un-eventful. The entire trip was smooth and scenic allowing a relaxed discussion with Bob about the benefits and operation of some newly installed avionics equipment. Occasional patches of valley fog throughout the Catskill Mountains with mountaintops protruding through the haze provided new experiences and lasting memories for Bob.

The Geneseo airport is nicely maintained airport with a 4,700' turf runway in the Finger Lakes Region of upstate New York. Located just West of Canesus Lake, adjacent the town of Geneseo and about 20 miles Southwest of Rochester the airport is situated in a picturesque setting and is a nice place to relax for a day. The town of Geneseo is close enough to the airport that a short walk will get you into town. It’s even easier if you take folding bicycles with you in your plane.

For those who might like to attend a future show but wonder about airport conditions: The runway and taxiways are smooth enough for most planes to operate without difficulty, or special technique, and there were certainly planes of almost every kind in attendance. For me though, I prefer a smoother surface for continual operations. My plane is designed for smooth field operation and has very stiff landing gear legs. Also, as anyone familiar with retractable landing gear Cessnas knows, it has smaller tires than most comparable aircraft and inflation pressures are much higher than normal. The result was some rather jarring periods while taxiing especially since aircraft get parked in normally unused areas during the airshow.

All together it was a great day that I feel privileged to have shared with a good friend and aspiring pilot. The weather was ideal with nearly perfect flight conditions and we got to spend an entire day in fresh air and sunshine with the sound and smell of radial engines everywhere to be found. The Geneseo Airshow, billed as "The Greatest Show on Turf", is hosted by the 1941 Historical Aircraft Group Museum located at the airport. Information can be found by visiting their website: http://www.1941hag.org/index.html

Following are just a few of the great sights experienced that day: