In search of fly-in picnic tables

By ROBERT DANT

Beyond the basic goals of getting somewhere or boring holes in the sky, I consider there to be three primary missions associated with flying: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I think I might have even done them all in one day.

And, recently, I’ve discovered a fourth solo mission: Dessert.

Unfortunately, COVID-19 put a major damper on these sustenance-based missions since most airport restaurants were closed or had takeout only. In addition, a summer calendar typically filled with fly-in pancake breakfasts and BBQ lunches was unceremoniously scratched out. With my aviation fix in jeopardy, I had to start thinking outside the box.

In order to satisfy the need for these cuisine quests, I started seeking out places to take friends for a flying picnic. It’s not that easy to flight plan good picnic table destinations that I can taxi up to, especially at a nice out-of-the-way grass field.

Sometimes, I make some phone calls if I can find a local contact. Other times I spy tables at airports from Google satellite images. Otherwise, it is a matter of just flying around or remembering strips I’ve been to in the past.

Sunbury Airport (71N) in Pennsylvania is a wonderfully cured grass strip on an island in the middle of the Susquehanna River where it splits into the east and west branches.

This is home to EAA Chapter 769 whose monthly chapter lunches I have flown into many times with flying friend Donald Hershey. We often scheme to surprise folks on a warm day with ice cream sandwiches on dry ice. On a hot summer day, our surprise tickles the fancy of the members and the children meandering about.

I called up Jim Staib from the EAA Chapter to confirm that the picnic table was still set up under the big shade tree and unencumbered by the police tape I see around so many outdoor seating areas. He assured me that it was there and we were welcome to have a picnic.

I invited him to join us and we boarded two aircraft and headed off with my mini propane grill and all the supplies needed for a nice feast. We had a great picnic that day, isolated from the many campers that surround the island during the summer.

I’ve discovered other picnic spots over the years, too. I recently lunched at the picnic table next to the main hangar of the little 1,000-foot ultralight strip at Shoestring Airport (0P2) near the Maryland border. The challenge of making my best ultra short-field landing always gets my appetite up.

And, recently, I decided to revisit the nice strip at Smyna Airport (38N) in Delaware where I discovered glorious tables under a big shade tree. I’ll be back.

The finely manicured grass strip at Keller Brothers Airport (08N) in Lebanon, Pennsylvania, has a nice table in the breezeway, and the quirky sideways runway at Beltzville Airport (14N) in Lehighton, Pennsylvania, offers a couple tables, too.

I’m certain that there are many more tables to be discovered.

Now, the dessert part. There is a private cropdusting strip, NJ74, west of Salem, New Jersey, that I decided to drop into one day last year. It sits adjacent to Hudocks Custard Stand on New Jersey Route 49.

Tom, the owner, is kind enough to allow occasional visitors to fly in. He welcomes mostly taildraggers and antiques, but I fly my Cessna 172 in on occasions or my one-quarter share of a Piper Cub (I own the left wing and right horizontal stabilizer; the rest is borrowed).

A short walk through the edge of the soybean field gets me to my favorite flying dessert, Hudock’s famous “dippo.” It’s a soft-serve vanilla cone pre-dipped in chocolate and stored in the freezer.

On really hot days, it’s the only thing that doesn’t immediately melt in the heat and create a total mess. The picnic tables are behind the store, under the big tree, adjacent to the bean field. Heaven.

Times have changed, and if this is the loathsome new normal, then maybe some old-time aviation and old-fashioned picnics are the way to accomplish these time-honored aeronautical missions.

Robert Dant flies a Cessna 172M and 1946 Piper Cub out of Brandywine Airport in West Chester, Pennsylvania. He is commercially rated with ASEL, ASES, and Lighter-than-Air, with 3,800 hours flight time.