Since the completion of my instrument training, I had yet to take a cross country flight. The opportunity presented itself when I flew up to Duluth for a day trip with some friends. As it so happened, the days leading up to the trip had been cloudy. Although the weather prediction for my flight did not indicate that I would encounter any clouds, I went ahead and filed an Instrument flight plan with ATC. This would allow me to use my instrument rating as well as be able to fly through clouds if encountered.

We departed from Crystal in the evening around 5pm and the skies looked clear. On the way, at 5000 feet, we came across heavy clouds. With the IFR flight plan, I was able to punch straight through it. We kept going but eventually I had to ask ATC to let me lower altitude so I can be out of the clouds. While being in clouds is OK, it gets boring very fast as there is nothing to see outside. Fortunately, ATC was able to clear me for a lower altitude and we could see the Minnesota scenery while flying north.

I had planned for Sky Harbor airport (KDYT) in Duluth as it was a small runway with beautiful views of Lake Superior on either side. The Duluth International airport (KDLH) is further inside the mainland and is a commercial airport.

As we started getting closer to Sky Harbor, the skies had cleared up and we saw the vast Lake Superior and the small runway at Canal Park. It was an amazing experience to land at an airport which is so close to the water.

The airport’s office is being renovated, so they had a temporary accommodation for it. There was no staff at the moment but we were able to sign in and take the courtesy car for a couple of hours.

As we were alums of University of Minnesota Duluth (UMD), this felt like coming back to our old stomping grounds. We drove through Canal Park and ended up at the iconic PortLand Malt Shoppe, reliving our college memories. After enjoying some delicious sundaes and malts, we drove through our old campus and were amazed at how much had changed in the past two decades. The university and its surroundings had new buildings come up and new artwork installed on campus.

A couple of hours later, it was time to head back home. We returned the car at the airport and after a preflight, we were ready to go. In the couple of hours we were there, a mist had rolled in from Lake Superior and it was low visibility. Thanks again to my IFR training, I was able to file my IFR flight plan with ATC, and we were ready to go.

The low visibility was only over Sky Harbor and we were in the clear within 10 minutes of departure. On the way back, we got clear blue skies and a good tail wind. While our flight to Duluth took 50 minutes, our return flight was close to 40 minutes.

Overall, it was a great day to hang out with friends and visit our alma mater. Despite some cloudy weather, we were able to make the most of it!

Have you been to Duluth? What do you think of it? Do you plan on visiting? Share in the comments below.