The Toledo Express

The family was scheduled to drive out to MI for a family birthday with my in-laws. I really wanted to go, but I do have a lot of things going on and felt that it would be better from a work/life balance perspective to keep going, especially since some of the activities are of the away from home variety anyway.

So, instead of driving 11 hours, I suggested that I fly them to Toledo and return home. They picked up a rental car in TOL to drive the remaining two hours, and I flew back to Leesburg. The flight out was very uneventful with very little haze or clouds. We even had a slight tailwind.

The return flight was equally uneventful except that the time to climb was noticeably shorter. I made a PIREP just west of the BSV VOR. After the report I checked back in with Cleveland center and decided to monitor 121.50. Much to my surprise, I was receiving a very strong Emergency Locator Transmitter (ELT) signal. This was a first for me. I reported that to the Center controller who said that he had received other reports at all altitudes as well. A quick check of the GPS showed that I was passing over the New Philadelphia airport (KPHD). I suspect there was an airplane transmitting a signal on the ground there.