Violet's First Adventure - Summer 2025

In Summer 2025, Katherine, Violet, and I (and our dog Magic) took our 1984 Mooney M20J on a flying 'road trip' from Orlando, FL to Laconia, NH and a bunch of stops in between. Lots of photos and details about the flights linked below.

The original plan for this trip was simple... do some kind of flying adventure with Violet. We really weren't sure how any of this would work this time. The first and only real goal was to bring Violet to meet with her great grandmother in Bardstown, Kentucky. If all went well with that, the secondary goal was to make a "road trip" out of it... we had an idea that we'd like to visit Katherine's dad in Cincinnati and her mom in Philadelphia, and my aunt and uncle in New Hampshire, and possibly Salem. Along the way we decided to throw in a few new stops we hadn't visited before. Unlike our prior trips, we really winged in this time, figuratively and literally. We had no real plan other than to just fly to interesting places when the weather allowed and generally enjoy ourselves.  

Trip Highlights

Photos of some of our favorite moments on this trip.

About Us

We are Ryan, Katherine, Violet 🌼, and Magic 🐶! For this trip, our family has expanded! Our baby girl Violet was born on March 6th, 2025, and she is absolutely beautiful!

About Us
About Us

As a bonus, we arrived home on Violet's 4 month birthday!

Photos
Photos

The Airplane

This is N374SM, our 1984 Mooney M20J.

  • 1984 Mooney M20J 201
  • Typical Cruise: 160 KTAS @ 12 gph
  • Fuel: 64 gal usable
  • Equipment: Garmin G3X Touch w/ EIS, GTN 650Xi, GFC 500 Autopilot, GTX 345, SiriusXM Datalink Weather  

Trip Stats

 

  • Total Distance: 2,996 nm
  • Direct Distance: 2,669 nm
  • States Visited: 8 plus DC
  • Hours Logged: 22.1
  • Total Days: 18
  • Flying Days: 10
  • Legs: 12 (4 VFR, 8 IFR)
  • Longest Leg: Orlando, FL (KORL) to Chattanooga, TN (KCHA) - 3.4 hrs - 437nm (direct) - 491nm (actual)
  • Longest Day: Orlando, FL (KORL) to Chattanooga, TN (KCHA) to Bardstown, KY (KBRY) - 5.0 hrs - 705 nm
  • Shortest Leg: Philadelphia, PA (KPHL) to Monmouth, NJ (KBLM) - 0.8 hrs - 55nm (direct) - 63nm (actual)
  • Approaches Flown: 2
  • Fuel Purchased: 202.5 gal - $1,447.36 ($7.15/gal avg)
  • FBO Services / Overnights / Fees - $300.32  

Trip Legs

Leg 9 - Salem, MA to Laconia, NH

Back to New Hampshire again for a couple days on scenic Lake Winnipesaukee. A drive-in movie experience and Violet's first lake cruise.

Trip Preparation

This trip actually began a couple months earlier than our departure date... When planning a trip like this with an infant, you need to know she will be happy and safe! I had test fit our carseat/stroller quite early on and gotten a few pairs of ear protection to make sure we had one that fit correctly. When she was around 2 months old, we did our first local test flight (pictured below), which went very well! She slept the entire time. That gave us confidence to plan a trip like this.

Violets First Flight
Violets First Flight
Violets First Flight
Violets First Flight
Violets First Flight
Violets First Flight

Final thoughts

This was a short trip, but a fun one! We really enjoyed our stops in Bardstown, Put-in-Bay, and Laconia. As it turns out, Violet tolerates airplane trips much better than road trips, chiefly because the engine sounds put her to sleep and she likes to be able to get out of her car seat and play a bit. That works much better in an airplane than a car. This trip has given us the confidence to try other trips in the future! It seems to have been especially beneficial for Violet to get out of the house and on the road... the stimulation every day of the new places, sights, sounds, smells, etc. really made her happy. She slept very well each night!

We keep expanding our trip map! We've pretty well covered the US now, and it's time to start hitting some more out-of-the-way spots in the US that we passed by on earlier trips.

Trip Map