Flying Over Metro Athens, GA

Athens Ben Epps Airport

A few years ago, my brother-in-law received a birthday gift to fly over Athens, GA in a single-engine prop plane. The plane had a total of 4 seats – and I was invited to come along.

We took off from Athens Ben Epps Airport. Here’s some of the pictures.

We stayed right around 10,000 feet or less for the entire flight. I was amazed at the perspective. On a commercial flight, you’ll rapidly ascend to over 30,000 feet where you lose a lot of the details on the ground.

But at this height, if was much easier to see and focus on individual landmarks rather than general patterns. I can totally see why aviation is such a popular hobby despite the cost and danger.

We started the flight with West Athens.

West Athens from 1500 ft

We headed back towards East Athens and flew over the east campus area of UGA.

Flying Over Metro Athens, GA 1

After that, we turned towards Downtown and headed east to Oglethorpe County.

UGA & Downtown Athens from 1500 ft

Then we banked low over my in-laws’ property. It was interesting to see the tree farms and land features that you cannot see from the road.

Oglethorpe County Georgia Poultry Farm

We turned North and flew over northwest Oglethorpe and Winterville. I was thrown by the amount of tree cover even on pasture land.

Flying Over Metro Athens, GA 2

We went back to do a pass by the airport, where there’s a huge granite quarry.

Athens Ben Epps Airport from 1500 ft

As it turns out – there are lots of granite quarries all over east Athens and Oglethorpe County. I’ve seen some evidence from the road, but had never realized just how many there are.

Abandoned Quarry in Oglethorpe County Georgia

We landed after only about 30 minutes – though the flight felt much longer. It’s amazing to experience just how far you can travel at 120mph with no intersections and direct travel paths.

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