For many years the instrument approach plates for Lebanon, New Hampshire, posted an ominous footnote: “Caution-hazardous terrain all quadrants.” For some reason this warning no longer appears, though I’m reasonably certain the mountains haven’t moved much. There still isn’t any radar coverage in the area and many of the approaches feature old-fashioned procedure turns. This is the only place we go regularly where our approaches are unsupervised by helpful controllers.
It is a few days before Christmas as I preflight our Cheyenne in Tampa in preparation for the trip to New Hampshire. DUATS has predicted a flight time of four hours and 38 minutes for the 1,100-nautical mile flight. This tells me that there isn’t much help from the winds. The forecast is for overcast skies with limited visibility due to haze and mist until 5 p.m. After that freezing rain and lowering ceilings are in the cards. Since our endurance is five and a half hours, I accept the need for a fuel stop. Sometimes we go non-stop, but only when the destination weather is clear and we get a little bit better boost from the winds.
