Beautiful morning for flying.

I left Northampton at 10:00 this morning and headed to Orange Airport. Other than the few drafts created by the cloud shadows, the flight up was smooth as silk. I settled into the pattern, did one touch & go and then headed back.

As I climbed out of Orange, I decided to detour a bit and head out over the Quabbin. At 2,300 feet, I was just over the northern tip of the west arm when I had a very large bald eagle come straight at me. I thought I was going to hit it but it swerved away at the last second.

I took this picture just after the encounter:

It was a little disconcerting but very, very cool to see that bird up close like that.

So anyways, I made it back to Northampton, landed and called it a day. Total flight time for me today was 1 hour and that included a little "bombing around" the northern end of the pioneer valley.

Here's a shot I took of Turners Falls in Montague:

Have I mentioned that I love this.

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You should click on these:

• Beer - Is there anything it can't do? (I have no idea what any of that story means)



• Only in Florida.



• Key phrase in this story: "...they have been trying to conceive a baby."