Milestones

Milestone: a term we use to connote an accomplishment or passage of some significant event or marker.  Recently, I had two such happenings that seem worth sharing. 

Call me "Captain."

If you've been reading anything my posts in the last year, then you know that I have been working on my commercial certificate.  The logbook entry from June 2, 2015 says that I successfully completed the commercial practical test.  It was a doozy!  

We actually conducted the oral examination on the Saturday prior, but the weather was not going to permit any VFR flying.  Great instrument day, and I really wished I could go out and shoot approaches.  It would have honestly been more fun as I can say I was not as well prepared for this thing as I thought I was.  My previous experiences with check rides were that I presented myself fairly well, knew things pretty well, learned a few things that I didn't know, and the like.  This time, the ante had been seriously raised and I did not totally appreciate that.  

When my examiner put in his instructions that he was expecting a presentation, I think he may have literally meant a powerpoint or something.  I did use the PAVE model to formulate my discussion of the flight I was asked to prepare, but some of the things I needed to talk about I did not for two reasons.  First, I got nervous and just forgot to talk about some things such safety equipment and terrain over the flight path.  Second, I had in my head that this flight would really go off IFR since it was pretty much IMC for most of the projected flight I did not discuss things like flight plans and flight following - I mean, if it's an IFR flight those things come with the package.  I also think that because I have expressed interest in pursuing the CFI, the examiner was giving me some push for my edification.  It became hard for me to know where was I not doing well as a commercial applicant and where was I being shown I had work to do for CFI.  

Sometimes it was just packaging and I could tell that.  For example, we discussed my chosen altitude.  I explained my reasoning, which can be (and from his view should have been) encapsulated in legality, safety and efficiency - in that order.  I'd argue that I caught all of those things but didn't quite say it that way. 

Needless to say, I was very happy that I was not going to fly on Saturday.  I was not feeling good about my performance, and I was pretty tired.  The examiner and I agreed on Friday as the day to fly.  

After I got home, I looked over the weather and things did not look good for Friday.  The plane became available on Tuesday, and we negotiated an earlier day to fly.  It was a beautiful day.  

The schedule was pretty tight because I needed to drop my kids off at school at 9, drive 75 minutes to the airport, preflight and fly to meet the examiner all by 11 am.  The examiner wanted to start earlier as he had a phone meeting at 1 pm, but I really could not get there much earlier.  Making matters worse, KDPA was full of NOTAMed taxiway and runway closures.  I ended up with a nearly 2 mile taxi and wanting for 15 minutes after announcing ready to depart.  

I made best speed to KUGN in the Arrow (25 squared, baby) and cut as close to ORD as the airspace and my low altitude tolerance would allow.  Three miles out I was cleared to land runway 5.  From 2500 feet and 130 KIAS, I pulled power to 15 inches, dropped the gear once below Vlo, ran the pre-landing flow and BAL-GUMPS checklist (boost pump on; autopilot off, landing light on; and the usual GUMPS features... and you know, Gear down, Undercarriage down, Make sure the gear is down, Put the gear down, See if the gear is down).  I then started applying flaps once below Vfe.  At three-quarters of a mile I was on airspeed and on glide slope - and was rewarded with touchdown on the 500 foot markers as planned.  "LIKE A GLOVE!" 

I shut down and deplaned, and the examiner met me on the ramp.  We looked the plane over, he asked a few questions to make sure I knew what those scoops and such were, and we got ready to go.  My inner Ace Ventura was silenced as the damn plane would not start.  "Isn't there a hot-start procedure for this plane?"  Yes, yes there is.  It's essentially the same as the typical one and we got the POH out to have a look.  After a solid 8 minutes of trying to start the plane, it FINALLY fired up.  Not a good start..... 

As expected, the flight began with demonstrating that I could use pilotage and ded reckoning.  This went well as I was pretty much on course and on time... despite the fact that I almost NEVER do this with any precision.  I follow the charts along my course line, but I don't do much ded reckoning.  Confidence returning. 

Next we went through several of the maneuvers.  Steep turns were fine once I stopped losing altitude.  I didn't bust PTS, but I was on the margin.  Slow flight and stalls went well.  Chandelles were nice.  Lazy Eights - my nemesis - were passable.  I was a bit high and fast (how the hell does that combination happen, anyway) on my last 180, but still within limits.  Emergency descent was good, steep spiral was nice.  I was just recovering from the steep spiral at 1400 feet AGL when the examiner decided that this was the time for an engine failure.  Sigh.  Well, I took a bit longer to get with it than I had hoped, and turned in to land too quickly.  Without enough time to circle back, I called an audible and said that I'd land in the field ahead of me, dropped the gear and flaps, and slipped to demonstrate that I could do that.  I said how I'd secure the aircraft, and then said, "well, I'd like to go around any time."  

Lastly were performance landings.  My heart sunk as the examiner said that we should go to Westosha (5K6) to do a short field landing.  I HATE this airport.  The approach sucks in either direction (over trees to runway 3, and over a drop off for 21), the runway is like 38 feet wide, and is chewed up.  Did I mention pattern altitude is like 650 feet AGL?  I bounced hard and went around.  He asked me what happened, and I said that I was never stabilized and should have gone around sooner.  Second attempt went just fine.  Relief.  

Back to Waukegan to finish up performance landings.  A solid soft-field landing and take off, then the moment of truth.  The dreaded 180-degree power-off landing.  For the uninitiated, this maneuver requires cutting the power on downwind abeam the agreed-upon target and gliding it onto that spot... +200/-0 feet.  The Arrow has the glide ratio of a truck, though I have practiced this many times and usually get it right.  This day, I flared at the right spot and then ballooned on flare.  I still got it there, but not in a pretty way.  

Checkride passed.  Temporary Commercial certificate issued.  Sweet. 

Mom, You're Going to be a Grandmother... Again.

There comes a time in every aviator's life where he figures out that what he wants cannot be had without drastic measures.  I have been salivating over the thought of co-owing an airplane, and driving my wife crazy with such discussions.  

I really love my flying club.  Fox Flying Club is a great group of aviators with four really nice planes.  Ok, I have decided I hate Skyhawks but there are two nice Pipers from which to choose.  And honestly, almost all missions that I fly are adequately accomplished in any of our aircraft.  But not all.  Sometimes, I need a plane that goes faster or a plane that has a better useful load.  We were working on a program where a Bonanza became available on leaseback, but this took a lot of work and eventually fell through. 

Then a few months ago I went to breakfast with a man who owns a Bonanza and a club instructor with whom I needed to fly for my semi-annual checkout.  Turns out the instructor and another man were talking about partnering in a Bonanza, and I got interested.  So did the owner referenced above.  The short version is that the four of us have partnered in the V35A Bonanza that the first guy owns.  

"Mom, you're going to be a grandmother again." 

"Really?!?!?"  

"Yeah, but not in the way that you think."  

"Explain, please."  

"You have a grand-plane."  ;-)

Hi, Grandma!!!

N2458A is a Beechcraft V35A.  Yes, a Vee-tail and it's immaculate.  The good thing is that one of the partners has owned the plane for the last 18 months, and we therefore know it's most recent history.  He did an amazing job searching down information and making sure that what he purchased was solid.  Thus, we all feel pretty confident that we probably don't have too many big, expensive surprises waiting for it.  Yeah, can happen and it sucks to split that bill four ways instead of 60 ways. 

I am stoked, but the transition training is going slower than I'd like.  I have completed the online portion of the Beechcraft Pilot Proficiency Program, but I have not gotten much time in the plane yet.  We need to have the dual yoke we rented installed so that we can take instruction in the plane, and then one of the partners will get me going with a high performance endorsement and initial transition training.  I'll then make an appointment with the Bonanza-Sensei up at Poplar Grove (C77) to do the flying portion of the BPPP.  

But overall, this is sweet.  One of the partners took the plane to the east coast this past week, and made it from the western suburbs of Chicago to Frederick, Maryland in just under 3.5 hours.  Nice! 

Landing on a Cloud that Flies?

Recently, I was able to accomplish the long cross country required for the commercial certificate.  It was a LONG day. 

As a reminder, this requirement means that you must be the only occupant of the airplane, that you land at a minimum of three points, and that there be at least 250 nautical miles separating two of those three points.  Of course, when one is actually going somewhere would be the best time to accomplish these tasks, but alas that was not to be for me. 

My trip for the day included a flight to Flying Cloud Airport in Minneapolis, Minnesota (KFCM), a return to Rochelle, IL (KRPJ) and then finally back to home base at DuPage (KDPA).  On the day of the flight, an AIRMET-T was issued for turbulence below about FL010 until about 50 miles west of my departure airport.  To make matters more interesting, the headwinds were out of the west at a solid 40 knots.  FUN!

To Flying Cloud

I took off from DuPage in VMC but on an IFR flight plan.  It was VERY cold that day, so I had no intention of spending much time in the clouds if I could avoid it.  Because the headwinds were a solid 20 knots faster 2000 feet higher, I filed for 4000 for the trip to Minneapolis.  In retrospect, I'm not sure I gained much.  That AIRMET should have extended to just short of the border of Iowa, Wisconsin and Minnesota, and the bumps were so big that I slowed to maneuvering speed.  I think that climbing and taking the additional headwinds would have been a wash with respect to ground speed, but far more pleasant a trip.  

The views of course were beautiful as I approached the Mississippi River:

These views never get old.  However, they do come close when your ground speed barely breaks 90 knots on a TAS of 120.  Just saying.  

As expected, Flying Cloud was severe clear and very cold.  I was initially cleared to land on 20L, but then was switched to 20R.  Turned out that 20R had a bit of ice and such on it, but I had a nice smooth landing just past the numbers (as expected).  Reminded myself to stay off the breaks and slowly increase elevator pressure to break.  

Total flight time: 3 hours and 25 minutes.  No wind time would have been 2 hours 15 minutes.  Sigh.  

Bet They're Not Jumping Today

I initially planned to park the plane and head to nearby Punch Pizza, a favorite of me and my psychology department colleagues for their AWESOME wood-fired pizza.  It's really my favorite place to get pizza, but time was ticking.  Instead, I taxied back to 20R and picked up my clearance to Rochelle.  I was off shortly thereafter and on my way to more enjoyable flight conditions and a rockin' ground speed.  

As you can see from the Aspen panel, level at 7000 at 65% power settings, I had a true airspeed of 135 and a ground speed of 170.  It hit 181 at one point with no intervention from me.  This was much more like it, and sort of made me feel better about my trip up. 

When I find myself off doing these kinds of things, I usually try to land at new places.  However, I have been to Rochelle a number of times as the Flight Deck is a favorite $100 hamburger stop for members of my flying club.  I needed to stop by as they were kind enough to donate a gift card for our flying club's holiday party raffle.  They have quite a large skydiving operation on the field, and I started to plan a strategy for dealing with this given that I was going to be landing on 25.  It would have been a beautiful day for skydiving... except that it was about 10 degrees outside.

I doubt they are jumping today.  A pretty quiet CTAF supported my conclusion.  A smooth landing and taxi over to the ramp. 

By the time I shut down the engine, I had been in the plane for about 5 hours and 45 minutes or so.  I was so ready to stand.  I got out of the plane and stretched, and then "Oh, crap!  That's cold!!!."  I was not happy about the walk over to the Flight Deck, but a kind man from the FBO drove me over there in a very warm car.

I was getting hungry, but it was also getting late.  This stop took longer than expected as there was a communication SNAFU that needed to be resolved.

Back to Base... in the Dark

By the time I was ready to return to DuPage, the sun had set and it was getting dark.  I back taxied to 25 and blasted off for home.  Although not exactly smooth, the worst of the bumps had died off.  Given that the short distance and KORD's Bravo airspace demanded a cruising altitude of 3000, I was grateful for that.  I dialed up DeKalb traffic as I would be passing just south of the field, and it was a good thing as it was a pretty busy pattern.  There were two planes departing and two more in the pattern when I went by.  I had to do some maneuvering as it seemed that at least one of those two departing aircraft was going to hit me.  One of them ended up behind me and I could no longer see it, which honestly was a bit unnerving because he seemed to be going the same direction and had one more engine than me.  That is unnerving, and I could not see him on Foreflight/Stratus either.  

I approached DPA and was cleared to land on 28, and I executed a very nice landing.  Couldn't really ask for better.  And since it was after dark, I could take a night landing.  Since I needed one more at a controlled airport this worked out well.  

Total flight time today: 6.3 hours.  Miles flown?  Roughly 580.  

Lessons and Training Status

I think the first lesson learned is that when things are pretty bumpy, it might be worth it to go ahead and request a climb for smoother air.  The trade offs might be worth it.  In this case, my need to slow to maneuvering speed may have made the difference in ground speed due to stronger headwinds at higher altitudes a wash.  I certainly would have been less tired from the bumps.  

Second, maybe it was not the best day for this flight.  I had a bit of "git 'er done-itis," and while that really didn't compromise safety in this case it did affect my comfort and a need to abort plans for a nice lunch.  I need to pay attention to this for when safety does matter.  

Finally, it's good to keep track of the fuel burn.  I was confident that I could make it on full tanks, and found myself marking where I was in my tank switching.  Upon landing, I figured I burned about 54 gallons.  Fuel truck to tabs plus the remaining capacity was 54.8.  Not bad.  

Not so much a lesson, but flying a plane without traffic really stinks.  I really don't understand why the FAA will not give any pilot with a portable ADS-B solution access to traffic information.  It is STUPID.  No, having that on board does not really absolve the pilot of see-and-avoid responsibility.  But it sure would help to have that information in those situations where the traffic has moved behind you. and improve situational awareness.  I sure would like more available to me than "I pray that guy sees me!"  

As for training toward the commercial, I'm getting close.  Updating from a few posts ago:

So, what's left?

- Tighten up all maneuvers

- Day VFR XC with instructor on board (at least 100 miles between two landing points)

- Night VFR XC with instructor on board (at least 100 miles between two landing points)

- Long solo XC as detailed above.  Sigh.  Would have been nice to knock that out last weekend.  

- 1 more solo night landing at a controlled field.  

- Study for the oral. 

Given the weather, I'm not sure that I can wrap this up before year's end.  It would be challenging.  However, I have made significant progress in some of the hardest maneuvers: Eights on Pylons, Lazy 8's and Chandelles are all to PTS or pretty darn close.  Steep spirals are close.  Stalls are all fine.  Need to tune steep turns, I think.  I tend to lose some altitude as I figure out just how much power to add.  Performance maneuvers are all pretty good.  I need to go fly the Arrow some more to tighten them up - particularly the 180-degree power-off accuracy landing.  

Soon, very soon.  

Summer Adentures in a "New" Arrow

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AOPA Fly-In at Indianapolis

So, Where Have You Been?

Sad... it's been about three months since I've rolled through these parts, with my last post being a brief one regarding pilot mental health.  Really, one should go to the article to which I linked and review some of the comments that were left.  As a clinical psychologist with specialized interest in working with men in therapy, I have heard just about all of that before.  It still bothers me, though. 

I have not had much to write about recently.  We will not soon forget the horrific winter we had that seemed to never want to end, which resulted in quite a few scrubbed missions.  I even had to cancel a flight for practice approaches and other fun at the beginning of May because of an icing threat at 2000 feet MSL.  Really?  In May?  As of this writing I have a whopping 26.9 hours for the year, with 4.3 of that coming within the last few days.  Most of what I have been able to do has been fun, but not really qualifying as adventure or anything like that.  

Off to Hoosier-land

I have been looking forward to the AOPA Fly-In in Indianapolis since these were announced months ago.  I have had a plane reserved for months to make sure that I had a seat for some stick time for this event.  I have wanted to partake in the fly-in experience for some time, and this provided a great opportunity.  I was one of the major instigators for a club fly-out to the event, though our fleet was rather small this time as illness, unexpected commitments, and the "NOTAM-W" (W for "wife" - a dreadful combination of AIRMETs Tango and Zulu coupled with communication malfunctions) for at least one member left us with just one club plane going and another member flying down in his own plane. 

Based on experience and comfort, it was decided that I would fly from DuPage (KDPA) to Indianapolis Regional (KMQJ).  I was jazzed, and preparations commenced.  

Flight Planning, Preparation, and Getting Night Current

AOPA released a NOTAM and other instructions, and both my flying partner and I put the waypoints in ForeFlight to ease our transition through the airspace.  We both had studied the published procedures so that we were not caught off guard by any instructions we were given.  It unsurprisingly amazing just how much easier the whole thing is when you know what to expect.  Despite these preparations, I still filed an IFR flight plan.  As we will see later, this was rather moot.  

As part of the preparations, I needed to get night current.  My flying partner for the Fly-In is not instrument rated, and though we expected very nice weather and his flying the route back, one just never can be too prepared.  I had several flights where my currency would have been updated get canceled due to weather, and thus my currency lapsed.  Even Tuesday before the flight out we got Thunderstorm threats and IFR conditions.  The man I was to fly with is instrument rated... in helicopters.  But the weather was poor and neither of us likes to fly in thunderstorms, we scrubbed.  That left flying Friday night before leaving Saturday morning.

Val and I hopped in our club's Archer N41598 and he flew us over to Rochelle (KRPJ), where we enjoyed a nice dinner and conversation about life, the club, flying and whatever.  We had never flown together before or had much time to talk, so it was nice.  I was particularly interested in his experiences flying helicopters in the military.  After sunset, Val headed out to the plane and took three laps around the patch to reinstate his own night currency.

After he shut down, we switched places (him the bench outside the FBO, and me the left seat).  I then took my own three laps.  As I turned final for runway 7, I noticed one of the things I really hate about landing at night at small airports... the dreaded black hole illusion.  I really dislike that feeling and the inability to judge distance from the ground.  There is no visual glide slope at RPJ, which of course exacerbates the problem.  There is an LPV RNAV procedure, but I don't think I was going out far enough to pick up its glideslope either.  That means I have a tendency to come in high, which of course is better than the alternative.  Lesson #1 from my first attempt: how about a flare?  I rounded out but landed flat and with a lot more feeling than I would have preferred (hard enough to wonder how many bolts I shook loose).  

I thought that over as I back-taxied on 7 (there are no taxiways at Rochelle), and reconfigured the plane for my next attempt.  Lap number 2 went much more smoothly as I flared over the numbers and on the mains just like the plane prefers.  Lap number 3 was similarly pretty good.  After taxiing over to pick up Val, we headed back for DuPage.  Landing number 4 for the evening was a bit long, but still passable and no bolts were shaken loose.  

The time was now 10:30 pm, and I had to be back at the airport at 6:30 am to leave for Indianapolis.  With an hour-plus drive each way, I had already rented a hotel room so that I was better rested for the day.  

Off to Indianapolis...

The next morning, Stan and I met and prepared our Archer for departure (see what I did there... I promise I did it without planning).  He was wondering why someone left their Halos in the plane.  "Because I knew I was going to be flying it again this morning" was my answer.  A good chuckle.  As with the previous evening, this was the first time I have ever flown with Stan.  It was another good chance to expand my relationships with members of the club and add to my list of flying buddies. 

I had filed EON then direct, but I got a mostly reasonable clearance of EARND ELANR EMMLY JAKKS VHP then direct.  I say mostly because the Brickyard VOR (VHP) is on the west side of Indianapolis near.. you guessed it, the Speedway.  We were cleared for takeoff and on a 180 heading for quite a while, then we were cleared direct JAKKS.  I was hearing a lot of that intersection, and it became clear that this was just how Indy Approach was routing everyone in.  

As we flew south of Lafayette (KLAF), Grissom Approach informed us that they were no longer accepting traffic at MQJ because it was full.  We advised Grissom that we wanted to go to our planned alternate Indianapolis Metropolitan (KUMP).  We were then advised that no IFR traffic was being accepted into this airport unless it had been previously filed.  Rather than arguing that it was my planned alternate, we canceled IFR and asked for flight following in.  Stan and I got to work on devising an alternate alternate since it seemed from what the controller was saying that we could have a hard time getting to UMP.   There were a few other machinations here, but the short version is that it was not that the field was full but that something apparently happened and that the holding patterns got stacked up.  By the time we arrived at Morse Reservoir, things had cleared up and we could still get to Indy Regional.  

Traffic was NUTS.  There were a lot of planes, one had to be very quick on the radio to get a word in, but the controllers at Indianapolis Approach all deserve a big raise.  They handled some craziness like champs.  The VFR procedure was well planned, worked pretty well in my view, and touchdown on runway 7 was pretty smooth.  With the guidance of the volunteers, we got ourselves to a parking spot along the taxiway parallel to 16/34.  

A Brief Public Service Announcement

My fellow aviators, can we please talk about radio discipline for just a minute?  Seriously, some of the things I heard yesterday really bothered me.  Of course we hear these things all the time, but I think for me hearing them all repeatedly and in such a compressed time it really got my goat.  

First, where specifically in the Pilot/Controller Glossary do we find such entries as "Tally ho" and "Here we go?"  While I am not the radio master and I surely could be more "correct," these phrases are confusing and honestly make you sound like a cowboy.  I don't want to share airspace with cowboys.  I realize that this is neither a necessary nor sufficient condition to earn the label of cowboy, but I have found it to be a pretty reliable indicator.  

Second, read the damn NOTAM.  There was at least one person who clearly did not know what he was doing.  He was insisting to go direct MQJ, but the controller sternly informed him that this was not going to happen.  When asked if he had read the NOTAM and procedures, he insisted that he had.  Based on the questions this pilot was asking, the controller clearly did not believe him.  I didn't either.  

Third, if you are going around for the third time and you've decided that you've had enough, by all means state your intention to depart and how you're going to do that.  But do not give us a commentary on the CTAF about how dangerous it is.  Based on what I was hearing on the radio, part of the problem might have been poor separation at times (which might not be that particular pilot's fault).  There was also a disabled aircraft off the south side of the runway, which was plenty clear but may have made some people nervous. 

Speaking of poor separation, do not push pilots to depart sooner than they are comfortable given the traffic situation.  More on that in a minute.  

I hope that some of these pilots went to the radio communications safety seminar that was given by some folks from the Air Safety Institute.  

A Few Words About the Fly-In

I'm bad.  I partook of very little of the offerings.  I did walk around the exhibits where I ran into an instructor who flew with me a few times during my private training.  He is now a jet jockey and is preparing to go to "Phenom school" in a week or so (jealous a bit).  It was nice to catch up with him and get a glimpse of the Eclipse he was showing off .  He told me that they have a hard time keeping pilots, and that anyone with ATP minimums would get strong consideration for a position. 

I also had a chat with a friend from college that is involved in maintaining a Harpoon.  It was nice to see him and talk about how things have been for us since college.  We know about each other's doing from social media, but in person is always better.  

Our club president and I attended a seminar given by Mark Epner, who is president and one of the founders of Leading Edge Flying Club at KPWK.  He gave a very nice presentation on how LEFC does things, and they have a very strong membership at an airport where AvGas is very expensive.  Yet they make it work and have aircraft that have a lot of the gizmos that I appreciate as a pilot.  I seriously considered joining them when I was shopping for a club.  Both of us got some very good ideas to help us think about things regarding our flying club and how we can work to make it stronger. 

The airshow was interesting if brief.  Plus EAA had their B-17 there and people were getting flights.  I showed a picture to my daughter, and she smiled big as she remembered our visit to the bomber as well.

We did not get there in time for the breakfast I paid for, but we did get lunch with a HUGE pork tenderloin.  I've never had one of these outside of the Hoosier state, but I'm sure they exist other places.  

Departing

It was time to depart, and Stan and I headed over to the plane to make our way out of there.  It was his turn to fly and I would help out as he asked.  We had already decided that I would request flight following at the appropriate time.  Of course, there was a line to depart.  One of the most frustrating things about this was the pressure that pilots were exerting on each other to hurry up and take off.  Someone claiming to be a CFI stated that this was pilot controlled, that there was no hold-short line and that multiple aircraft could be on the runway at the same time.  So, as one plane began the takeoff roll, another would taxi into position and follow.  At times, the separation was well under 1000 feet.  Feeling this pressure but not flying, I said to Stan that he should start his takeoff roll when he felt it to be safe and appropriate and not a minute before - no matter what others are saying.  I don't know if what that CFI was saying was accurate, but legal is not always the same as safe.  

I confess to really watching that all checklist items were done because it was a higher pressure situation, and having two people checking things out couldn't hurt.  I know that Stan appreciated this, and had I been flying I would have as well.  As one might imagine, the traffic advisory was going crazy.  We had a plane pass underneath us; I can only assume he departed right behind us and passed underneath to get by us.  Really?  

As we crossed pattern altitude and got a little ways from the airport, I called Indy Approach to request flight following.  Unfortunately, we got dropped with the handoff to Grissom.  Then Grissom dropped us instead of handing us off to Chicago Center.  Approach never accepts VFR flight following hand offs, so that was expected.  I don't know what was going on, except that apparently workload did not allow for coordination between sectors.  

The flight back was a bit more bumpy, but all in all things went well.  We made it back to DuPage and Stan got us on the ground safety even in the face of some interesting winds.  

Final Thoughts and Milestone

This was a great time.  We had a lot of good flying that was full of challenges that were handled competently, saw some interesting things and otherwise just had a good time.  The three of us from the club who were there spent a lot time discussing flying,  the club and life in general.  I also enjoyed getting to know members with whom I have had very little interaction.  

I also hit an aviation milestone.  When I shut the engine down at MQJ, I hit the 300 hour mark... literally.  I have exactly 300.0 hours, with 239.9 PIC.  Once I cross 250 hours PIC, I hope to get connected with Lifeline Pilots down in Peoria to do some charity flying for those needing non-emergency medical transport.   That will be another great excuse to fly.

The Flying Shrink and N41598 pose for a picture at KMQJ before we departed

2013: Year in Review

Wow!  What a year. It has been full of flying, a few new-to-me airplanes, and a couple of big accomplishments.  At the beginning of 2013, I set out several goals.  

• Fly at least 100 hours (do all GA pilots say this?)

Did I ever.  I actually flew 142.1 hours (well, to be honest 2.9 of that was in a simulator).  I spent far more time in the air then I ever thought I would... which probably explains why I have less money than I think I should.  Funny how that works.  

• Fly at least 15 hours at night

I came pretty close with 12.9.  I had a few night flights scrubbed for various reasons, and honestly I'm still a bit nervous about night flight.  Almost all of those hours are with another pilot on board as either a safety pilot as I practiced approaches or we were going somewhere together.  I did complete my first [partially] night cross country through on my way back from Lunken (KLUK) in Cincinnati.  I have very little time with any non-pilot at night, which is where the "Holy &%$^ Approaches" tag comes from.  

• Fly at least 70 cross-country hours

I actually racked up 94.8 cross country hours this year, with a decent chunk of that came when I took my family on vacation in July.  It was on this return trip that I logged my longest cross-country to date from Queen City (KXLL) to DuPage (KDPA) with stops at DuBois (KDUJ) and Wood County (1G0), which took 7.4 hours by itself.  More on these adventures later . 

• Complete my instrument rating.  

I successfully passed my instrument check ride on July 19, 2013.  That was a very challenging day as the winds were anything but calm.  I wrote about the test in detail here, so I won't rehash it.  

• Complete Complex Endorsement and required transition training in our club's Arrow. 

Done and done.  The complex endorsement was completed May 18, and I managed to log a total of 68.6 hours in the aircraft before it suffered a gear-up landing and was totaled in October.  Fortunately, our club has just procured a new-to-us Piper Arrow but it is not yet on the line as there are some things that need to be addressed before it's ready for prime time.  

My other times for the year look like this:

• Time for 2013: 142.1 hours
• Total Instrument Time: 69.2 hours
• Simulated instrument time: 39.3 hours.  
• Actual Instrument Time: 26.9 hours
• Simulator Time: 2.9 hours
• 100 total Approaches
• 67 Simulated Approaches
• 26 in Actual IMC
• 7 in the simulators

• Total time as of 12/31/13: 273.1 hours

Other Major Accomplishments and Notable Events

• Completed three WINGS phases
• Added a total of three airplanes to my "fleet:" A Piper Archer III, A Piper Arrow IV (although the club's newly acquired Arrow is an Arrow III), and a Diamond Star DA-40.  Each of these planes has something to commend it, but I will say that I am most comfortable in the Arrow.  It's the most stable of these planes in my view, and I may be biased since I had far more time in it than the other two combined.  
• Gave three first flights - Flying Shrink's Mama, The Old Marine, and Killer.  
• Landed at many new airports: KVYS (Illinois Valley/Peru); KUNU (Dodge County, WI); KCMI (Champaign, IL); 1G0 (Wood County, OH); KFDY (Findley, OH); KOVS (Boscobel, WI); I68 (Warren County, OH); KAXQ (Clarion, PA); KFIG (Clearfield, PA); KXLL (Queen City/Allentown, PA); C09 (Morris, IL); 39N (Princeton, NJ); KALO (Waterloo, IA); KLUK (Lunken/Cincinnati, OH); and KSQI (Whiteside County, IL).  The most important to me though was KDUJ (DuBois, PA).  As I mentioned before, this airport was built on my great-grandparents' farm.  
• Added four states: Pennsylvania, Ohio, New Jersey, and Iowa.  
• I made a number of longer cross country flights that offered plenty of learning.  I wrote about a few of them previously (flying to PA for my grandmother's funeral, family vacation).  A few others of note:
• I had a very difficult IMC flight from KDPA to KLUK in October.  I went to Cincinnati for three days of continuing education sponsored by the American Academy of Forensic Psychology, which is of course the best excuse ever to fly.  I spent a solid 1.5 hours without seeing anything except the instrument panel.  I also had the pleasure of 50 knots straight on the nose for a whopping 80 knot ground speed on a TAS of 130.  That flight was no joke.  It was taking a lot longer than advertised, and because the plane was only fueled to tabs I was beginning to think I was going to have a fuel problem.  I had plenty of landing options, and was very carefully considering my fuel burn.  
• I put the family in a Skyhawk to fly from KDPA to I68 so that we could visit friends in Cincinnati.  I had calculated the weight and balance, and again when I got back on the ground.  Despite being properly trimmed the plane jumped off the runway at about 45 knots with the stall  horn blaring.  That's not cool.  I quickly put the nose in a less aggressive climb attitude and rough trimmed.  It turns out yelling "oh, s***" is a very unwelcome utterance with non-pilot passengers.  We also had to leave earlier as we had to beat in some thunderstorms.  
• I took a flight out to Waterloo, IA just because.  

Goals for 2014

It feels like it would be pretty hard to top this year.  However, I do have a few things to shoot for:

• Fly at least 110 hours (this feels like a downgrade from last year...)
• Fly at least 70 hours of cross country time
• 20 hours of night flying
• Begin training for the Commercial SEL.  
• Taking after Steve, I want to lose an hour's worth of fuel from my waist.  I've been griping about planes and their weight and balance limitations, and honestly I am the biggest culprit over which I have any control.  Hard stuff, but I have a few "incentives" for myself.  At unspoken intervals:
• Transition training for something speedy and better useful load.  I am considering an SR-22 for this, but I'm a bit perplexed by some of the things I'm reading about safety, ease of overcontrol particularly in the pattern, and the like.  I have also found a place that rents a V-tail Bonanza, but it fits me like a sardine can.  
• Take some upset recovery training.
• THIS.  'Nuff said.... other than we are talking a lesson.  

• A few other goals that are harder to quantify:
• Improving stick and rudder skills - seems they degrade some when you focus on instrument training.  Mine are not bad, but I want them sharper.  
• Continuing to stay even further ahead of the airplane
• Spend time in the simulator drilling things that just do not make sense in the airplane.  During my last session, I had a near total loss of engine power in IMC.  We'd have lived, and Fort Wayne would have needed a new fence. 
• Complete at least two charity benefit flights.  There is always Pilots and Paws, but after crossing the 250 hours PIC time I can get involved in Lifeline Pilots.  I should cross that threshold soon.  

Happy flying!  

L'Dor V'Dor (From Generation to Generation)

On November 26, I had a very interesting and unique opportunity: to take both my father and maternal grandfather for their first flights in a small airplane.  Unfortunately, this had to be done in two separate flights because we all take up more of a share of the weight limitations of the planes I can fly than any of us would like.  On the bright side, I got to fly more... ok, I guess that makes up for it.  Since the plan was to fly along the Chicago shoreline, the clouds just had to be "high enough."  Despite a 3500 foot overcast, the ride was quite smooth. 

"Killer"

Ever since I was a young child, I have called my grandfather "Killer."  The story goes that when I first met him (they lived a long way away), I kept asking him what his name was.  Apparently, I was smart enough to question his answer of "Killer."  However, the playful name has always stuck.  Tuesday morning, Killer and I got in the car and headed for Waukegan (KUGN) to load up in one of Skill Aviation's Skyhawks.  On the drive up, we talked about a number of things - possibly more than he and I have ever sat and discussed.  We talked about his transition to being a widower (I talked about my flight home to bury my grandmother here), his move into a smaller apartment in an assisted living facility, and his experience with small aircraft.  Turns out his last trips in small aircraft included helicopters, large munitions, and Korea.  I explained that I did not expect any anti-aircraft fire on today's flight.  

We arrived at Skill, and after the pre-flight we loaded up 97VA, a G1000-equipped model that would serve as our trusty steed for the day.

"Killer" and the Flying Shrink preparing to depart Waukegan (KUGN)

Getting Killer into this plane was a challenge, but it would have been impossible for him to crawl into the Diamond Star.  Although Killer is pretty stoic overall, even he was having a hard time containing his excitement.  The pre-flight briefing was delivered, and we lit the fires and prepared for departure.
We lifted off of Runway 23 and headed south toward Gary, Indiana (KGYY).  Normally, I would hand fly this trip, but today I used the auto-pilot more than I might have otherwise because I really wanted to show Killer the sites (I'd say it was a 65/35 split).  He had not seen it before, and honestly may not get a chance to see it again.  He is 82 and not in the best of health.  As I would glance over at him, he was still having a hard time containing his smile. 

As we approached Gary, I explained the normal traffic pattern as I expected this to feel quite unusual to him.  After initially being cleared to land on 20 (essentially a right base to final turn coming from the north), the clearance was changed to enter right traffic for 30 for conflicting traffic.  Now, that was a mighty large jet that touched down ahead of me for not receiving a warning about wake turbulence.  However, I made my own correction and all was well.

We taxied back to 30 and I sent a text message to my mother that they should leave "now."  I thought that was pretty unambiguous, but as we shall see it caused confusion.  Lifting off again we were enroute to Chicago Executive (KPWK) as this airfield is the closest to my home.  The plan was that we would land there, have lunch, and then I'd give my second first flight of the day.  As we worked our way in from the shoreline, I continued pointing out landmarks such as my house and things near my home.  "Man, we are awful close to the ground."  Indeed, we were at 1700' MSL, which is just around 1000' AGL.  I explained that the jet traffic into O'Hare does not appreciate us in their way, and that getting too much higher would result in an uncomfortable conversation with the FAA.

Touchdown on 34 at PWK was not exactly a greeser, but it was good enough and got the approval of the passenger.  Perhaps I'm too hard on myself.   As I got into Signature, I sent another message to my mother wondering where they were.  Just leaving?!?!?!?!  Sigh.  I guess we will have a cup of coffee and wait for them.  Killer said several times that he really enjoyed our flight, which of course made me smile. 

Snow what?

 As we waited for my parents to arrive, I of course took the opportunity to check the weather.  I noticed in flight that things to the northwest did not appear as advertised, and some time with Foreflight confirmed this.  The overcast layer was getting lower, some visibility challenges were occuring that direction, and the snow and associated IFR conditions were expected around 3 pm.  It was going to be after 1 when they got to the airport, and a 2 pm departure was very optimistic.  No lunch for me... a granola bar would have to hold me until returning the plane to KUGN.  By the time my parents arrived, I had determined that my father and I could fly down the shoreline as planned and turn around abeam Soldier Field.  This should get us in well before the expected snow, though I was mentally prepared to fly the ILS 23 approach if things got crazy.  Of course, it was COLD complete with an Icing AIRMET so the clouds were about the last place I wanted to be.  If I had to fly an approach, visibility was going to be my problem.  

The Old Marine

Truth is, I come from a line of Marines.  My father, both my grandfathers and other family members were all Marines.  My uncle went to the Air Force, and we're still not sure how that happened.  You also have to understand that in my family the Navy is part of the Marine Corps and not the other way around.  We just have to let the Navy feel better about itself.  My father, a Vietnam vet who worked on F-4 Phantoms and talks about his "low power" license for run-ups and maintenance checks, really was not excited when I agreed to meet with the Marine recruiter before my senior year of high school.  My ASVAB scores were apparently really high, and the recruiter said that normally he has to look at the different types of jobs available in the Marines and cross out what is not available based on those scores.  But there was only one thing he had to scratch off for me... pilot.  Apparently, one must have perfect vision to fly in the Corps.  He never said so, but I don't think the Old Marine wanted me to go into the military.  He would have supported me, but he never encouraged me in this direction.  Perhaps he knows my penchant for not liking orders. 

The Old Marine had never actually flown in a small aircraft before, but some of his accommodations between the States and Vietnam make the Skyhawk seem luxurious.  

The Old Marine and the Flying Shrink prepare to depart KPWK

 

I explained the weather situation to the Old Marine, and we agreed that it was best to get on with it.  After liftoff, we headed quite directly to the shoreline.  I contacted approach control so that I was already on frequency and set up with a squawk code in case that pop-up IFR clearance was required.  The Old Marine also had questions and we talked about the sites, about flying and other matters.

As we reached Soldier Field, things to my east did not look friendly.  I turned slightly east and then warned the Old Marine that we were going to have a pretty tight turn to avoid overflying buildings and such.  Personally, 30 degrees of bank is not all that much but it seemed prudent to warn him so he didn't worry that we'd go for a swim.

Turned out that the ugly weather never materialized, and we made a nice stable straight-in for 32.  The winds had certainly picked up and were gusty but right down the runway.  As we are about 800' AGL, my father points out that he would not mind having a tree stand about where we were to aid his deer hunting efforts.  I forgot to mention that sterile cockpit thing to him, but said something after I chuckled.  Smooth touchdown and roll out along with a taxi back to Skill rounded out our flying. The Old Marine had a good time as well - a pretty big smile.  I got some grief from the fine folks as Skill for bringing back a different person than the one I left with.

The Old Marine and I were hungry, so we headed to an Irish pub for a late lunch.  Since the flying was over, the Guinness was flowing.  See how that worked? 

First Flight: Flying Shrink's Mama

At the end of last month, my mother decided to pay a visit to the grandchildren as a change of scenery,  On May 31, I took her on a short flight along the Chicago shoreline.  I expected it to be a somewhat bumpy day given the weather - gusty winds and somewhat low ceilings (although just fine given all the higher we could get to avoid KORD's Bravo airspace) for example.  My mother likes roller coasters, but I was not sure how she'd feel about the flight.  "If you say it's safe, then it's up to you."  She knew what she was getting into. 

She watched as I carefully pre-flighted our G1000-equipped Skyhawk, and she had a few questions as we light the fires and taxied out to Runway 23 at KUGN.  She also took my request that she tell me know about traffic just a bit too seriously.  Soon we were off and climbing out to our final altitude of 2500 MSL. 

It was fun to point out so many of the sights - Baha'i temple, Northwestern University, the mall near my home, the high school my kids will attend, the Hancock Building, Sears Tower, Navy Pier, University of Chicago, and of course the area once called Meigs field.  Unfortunately, the filthy windscreen made for lousy pictures. 

We landed at Gary KGYY, and I shut down long enough to clean the windshield for our return flight.  We were off once again and looked at our sights again (along with some different ones).  As we entered the downwind for 23, I was looking for the Diamond in which I had done a lot of my training.  The winds were quite squirrley, so I was thinking that the instructor on board that plane was about to have some fun.  Not a bad landing overall. 

So, mom enjoyed her first flight in a small plane and is looking forward to her next adventure.