    On todays Angel Flight we flew from home base (Luray Caverns Airport, Luray VA) northeast 209 nautical miles to Akron Ohio, where we picked up Leanna and Cristina (two of our favorite Angel Flight Passengers) this would be their second flight of the day… their first flight was from Kalamazoo MI and was flown by Angel Flight Pilot Gytis Udrys, from there we flew eastward 225 nautical miles to Harrisburg PA where Angel Flight Pilot John Clough would give them their third flight of the day onto Boston MA, their destination. After helping Leanna and Cristina safely into John Cloughs Mooney and saying goodbye we departed Harrisburg and flew south/southwest 122 nautical miles back to home base. Total Flight time today was 5.2 hours and total distance was 556 miles.
    Flight conditions today was from flying thru snow to flying thru the clouds picking up a little ice at times to being on top of it all at 9000 feet with the beautiful blue sky above us. It was cold at all times, with the lowest temperature at about 8 degrees. The wind was a factor as well, we had a fairly strong headwind of around 30 knots flying to Ohio…. which then gave us a nice tailwind flying east to Harrisburg PA. And although the wind was strong, the ride for the most part was very smooth. Our landing at Akron Ohio required an Instrument Approach to get down out of the clouds (ILS 23) (Click here to view video of our approach)…. our landing at Harrisburg PA was a visual as well as our approach back into Luray (Home Base)  We flew a total of 1.8 hours in IMC (Instrument Meteorological Conditions…… no outside visibility)
    Hope you enjoy the following pictures of our flight and please feel free to leave comments at the bottom of the page. Thanks again for following our Angel Flight Missions !
That brought back memories of a flight I had with John with no visability most of the way from Luray and coming into Hilton Head Airport when none of the other planes could (or would) . I had confidence in my pilot -but still managed to be a bit nervous!!!
Barb
Before I started flying with John in 2009 I would have never even considered flying in these conditions….. but over 1200 hours later, side by side with John, my skill level and confidence has certainly changed
God Bless you, Captain Billings. One of a kind! Keep ’em flying. I flew with you as your tail-gunner on the night of April 10th. 1945 to the West Po’ Valley with my Navigator, Lt. Thomas Bonna and waist-gunner-dispatcher, Benjamin Montgomery. We were with Lt. Henry Loser’s crew when we subbed for your 3 crewmen.