I Really Do Fly... Honest

Let's just say that I am busy... really busy.  When presented with the opportunity to fly or write about flying, guess which one wins?  You guessed it - flying.  To date, I have spent 92.2 hours in the Bonanza - 61.4 of them within the past year.  Obviously, I'm not flying as much as I'd prefer. 

I figured I drop by here and talk about the family flight taken back in July.  It is far more interesting than shooting approaches or making a $100 hamburger run, which has been the majority of my flying since this trip. 

I Don't Need No Sleep!

Unlike previous years where our trip where the Banana and the Boy get dropped off at Camp Grandma, a business trip was scheduled right before our flight.  The plan was that I was to get home about 9 pm Saturday night, and we would be off mid-morning on Sunday.   There is a Yiddish expression: "Man makes plans.  G-d laughs."  

My return trip from DCA was quite less than ideal.  Right after arriving at the airport, I watched as a very strong thunderstorm made its way toward the field.  It was a very large system that disrupted pretty much all traffic coming to and from the middle of the East Coast.  As a result of this, my plane was delayed at ORD as they waited for the storm to pass and traffic to normalize.  Ninety minutes or so after we were scheduled to depart, our aircraft lands and taxis to the gate.  Great! 

Or not.  One of the pilots who was to fly us back to ORD timed out, and thus we had to wait on a crew.  Swell.  Two hours later, said crew member arrives and we FINALLY start boarding.  Unfortunately, the ground air conditioner was inoperative and it got pretty steamy in the cabin very quickly.  As we seem to be making final preparations to leave, I hear one of the engines cycling up and down.  This is not good.  Just as I finished sharing this concern with the man sitting next to me, the pilot comes on to announce that they have an engine issue.  The ground crew disconnected the APU before the engine was prepared to accept the load of the generators, which overheated the engine.  Really, Republic (I'll blame them and not United since it was them running the equipment)!?!?!  You do this how many times a day? Fantastic.  

Thirty-five minutes later, and we learn that the issue is resolved and they are awaiting the logbook entries so that they can depart.  "Um, the only thing that I can see happening is that if we are not underway in the next 20 minutes or so, I will time out and will no longer be legal to fly."  Really?  Time now is 10:53 pm Eastern.  

Fortunately, we made it out of there.  After a few more opportunities to practice patience and restraint, I finally got home at 1:30 am.  Sleep... sort of.  

Curse You, "Cold" Front!

I can't really say WHY it was called a cold front.  It would be more accurately described as "only hot as Hell" while the one in front of it was "hotter than Hell."  An "only hot as Hell" front was pushing through, and thus a squall line from north of Milwaukee curving southwest to below St. Louis was working its way through.  I woke up far earlier than I think I needed to and began packing and monitoring the weather situation.  

I really was not amused by what I was seeing, and I really was less impressed with the the thought of driving a total of 13 hours or so this particular day.  As time moved on, it appeared to me that the storm was dissipating over Lake Michigan.  This just might leave us a good enough hole to get through.  I planned to fly over the lake though that hole, over Detroit and Cleveland, and on toward KDUJ.  We'd depart, have a look, and if it it was bad we'd turn back. 

I shared this plan with my wife - something I don't normally do.  However, one can easy see the traps into which I was vulnerable of falling.  I REALLY did not want to drive that long, and if I"m going to go out there and have a look then there is pressure to soldier on into deteriorating and dangerous conditions.  I said, "pay attention, and if I start getting bull headed remind me that I said that I was going back rather than taking a chance."  

A Mostly Nice Trip

After arriving at the airport, speaking with a weather briefer about my plan, and loading up the Bonanza, we took off in the most unusual direction of north.  Typically when going toward Northern Ohio and Pennsylvania, I'd head south to southeast around the lake.  I was also taught that it was a very bad idea to fly a single engine plane over water when one is out of glide distance.  Since I was going to violate that teaching today, I provided a very careful brief about how to get out of the plane in the event that quick egress was required.  A note to self and others: this does more to increase anxiety than anything else. 

As you can see from the picture below, the sky opened up and the trip was conducted almost exclusively in VMC.

The skies open up!

 Although this screen shot shows a fairly old radar picture, it was only somewhat more narrow than it is shown on this map.  Also, let's just say that I'm very happy that we were going east.  Behold, most GLORIOUS tailwinds at 9000:

That's like 253 miles per hour!

On a TAS of 160, this ground speed is fantastic.  This means that I made it from DuPage (KDPA) to DuBois (KDUJ) in about 2.5 hours - including flying north to just before Milwaukee's Charlie to KMKG, getting vectored around Detroit, and finally on to our destination.  This was a hit amongst the family.   

What was not so popular was the increasing heat and rather unpleasant up-and down-drafts as we were on approach to DUJ.  My poor son became airsick as my family took the most bumpy ride they have ever had in a small airplane.  Fortunately, there are provisions for such things in the airplane for such occasions.  

Before moving on, I must tell a story on the ground crew at DuBois.  As we were unloading, an airport worker came speeding toward us in his golf cart to ask us about fuel.  I usually take on fuel, and made that request.  "Well, that's what I was coming up here to tell you about.  See, we don't have no fuel and we won't have any for a few more days." 

"Was there a NOTAM?"  (I had not seen one, but it could have gone up after we departed). 

"Naw, our computer that we do that on is down." 

"So, you could call Lockheed." 

This was aggravating.  Fortunately, between the engine analyzer we had installed at annual and my keep meticulous track of time on each tank, I was able to determine that we had plenty of fuel to make it to our final destination.  However, this could have been a real problem as the V-tail Bonanza has a placarded limitation about taking off with less than a certain amount of fuel in each tank. 

My wife and I were in a hurry, and she was also not feeling terribly well after that hot and bumpy approach.  After stretching and taking care of some pilot and passenger comfort, Mrs. Dr. Flying Shrink and I again departed and turned toward Queen City/Allentown (KXLL) to see our friends.  

Can You Hear Me Now?

All was progressing just fine until about I switched over to talk to Harrisburg approach.  Suddenly, I could hear them but they could not hear me very well.  I was yelling just to send a loud enough signal.  Not cool.  We landed at KXLL - much to the relief of Ms. Dr. Flying Shrink and her uneasy stomach - but no one heard me coming in.  It explained why an aircraft took the runway while I was on a mile final. 

We unloaded and were taken to our friends' home, just five minutes before dinner was served and the wine began to flow.  I had taken on what felt like on of the most challenging flights of my flying career, and comfortably lived to tell about it.  Fatigue, some pressure to complete the mission quickly and in the most efficient way possible, weather, sick passengers, and radio problems all affected this flight - and quite honestly, I was pooped.  

The next day, I went out to the field to figure out what was wrong with my radio.  My plane was towed into the shop.  While I was waiting, I updated the GPS database and decided to test those radios ago.  They worked.  I changed to my usual headset, and it worked as well.  WTF?  Let's just say that after flying later in the week to Virginia (KOKV - Winchester Regional) for a few day couple-oriented vacation as well as flying back to KDPA, I learned that the problem had to be an intermittent short in my headset.  We'll see if the warranty will take care of this problem.

The Rest...

As mentioned, Ms. Dr. Flying Shrink and I took the hour flight down to KOKV for a bit of exploration of the Shenandoah Valley.  I expected a relatively straight shot, but instead I was sent almost all the way to Dulles (KIAD).  But it was an otherwise routine flight.  

On the return trip to KDUJ from KOKV, we had very strong thunderstorms moving southeast over Johnstown, so again we had to do some creative avoidance to get to our destination.  The next day, we were back to KDPA with plenty of cloud time and a race against more thunderstorms.  

Reflections

As I mentioned above, I was quite tired when I undertook the flight from KDPA to KDUJ and then on to KXLL.  I was quite aware of the internal and external pressure I felt to take the flight and complete it, but believe I mitigated this by making certain promises to myself and sharing them with my wife - who would talk me out of my tendency to believe everything will work out OK.  My real concern is why I did not really appreciate what it might mean that Harrisburg could not hear me, and thus why I didn't try to do something about it.  I suspect that it had something to do with my increasing fatigue level.  

I am reasonably sure that I would not have taken this trip hard IFR - even with our reasonable autopilot - because I was just not up to it.  11.7 hours in the logbook, a new state (Virginia), and a few new experiences (e.g., flying over open water).  Nice.  

Tower?!? Umm... Ok.

The downside of having only three partners in an airplane is that it is often hard to align schedules so that I can work on IFR proficiency and currency.  Recently, the stars aligned and one of my partners was able to go up for awhile.  On the particular day, the weather created some pressures.  A cold front was expected to bring through some thunderstorms, and this limited our options.  The entire day was marked by marginal VFR to IFR weather due to low ceilings.  Awesome - REAL IMC. 

I checked over all the weather and other pertinent information, including NOTAMS for where we were going to go... I thought.  The plan was that I would make the very short flight from KDPA to KLOT (Lewis University) to pick him up, then we would fly to Lake in the Hills (3CK) to return some keys to the shop that worked on our plane, and then we would determine things from there.

Say What? 

Even at a quite reduced power setting, Lewis University is just about 10 minutes away.  Because the ceilings required flying an instrument approach, I had set everything up on the ground at DuPage in order to reduce my workload in flight.  Everything checks out, and eventually I am cleared for departure on runway 10.  After switching to approach, I immediately informed the controller that I wanted to fly the RNAV 20 approach and was cleared direct BEPKE.  If one were to look and notice that the DPA VOR is 5 miles west of the DuPage airport, you'd see how fast this all happened. 

Cleared for the approach, and get myself established inbound.  Still in the clouds, I receive the most odd instruction.  "Bonanza 2458A, contact Lockport Tower now on 120.3."  My head froze for just a second - TOWER?!?!  What bloody tower are they talking about?  Lewis is an uncontrolled field!  Of course, I didn't dispute this with the controller.  I simply acknowledged the instruction like I was expecting it, tuned the unexpected frequency, and called up this tower as if someone would answer me.

And they did.  Alright, then.  I was cleared to land and had a smooth touchdown.  On final, I noticed an awful lot of biz jets on the ramp.

"58A, contact ground now."

"Contact ground - could you remind me of the frequency, please?"

They did, and I taxied to the ramp without further incident.  But what happened here?  Turns out that I SAW the NOTAM.  I READ the NOTAM.  But that this NOTAM applied to my flight TODAY did not register in my head.  Turns out that there was a NASCAR race in Joliet, and a temporary tower and Class D airspace was established around KLOT - guess all that extra business jet traffic required some extra TLC... or ATC if you prefer.  I'm very glad that it was a very marginal VFR to IFR day if for no other reason than I didn't bust airspace that I would not have known existed.  I'd have made all my happy radio calls on CTAF and wondering why it was so quiet at an airport with a university aviation program.  Then I'd have gotten that number to call.

A Few More Flights

I picked up my friend from Lewis, and we agreed that we would go ahead and fly up to Lake in the Hills a relatively short distance away to return these keys we somehow acquired and plan from there.  The flight up was almost entirely IMC, which made me quite happy.  However, as I was getting established on the RNAV 8 approach (to circle to 26) I was issued a descent.  Instead of hitting the yoke button to disconnect the altitude hold, I disconnected the autopilot.  In about 15 seconds, I noticed that we were in a descending turn to the left and accelerating.  I had a flash where I thought - well this is just how fast it would happen.  I corrected and got set back up on course in a more usual and customary attitude.  The rest of the approach and landing came off without incident.  

After reviewing the weather, I decided that it made the most sense to return to Lewis since the thunderstorm was about 80 miles or so away.  We filed, hopped in the plane, and were on our way back. Nice and smooth but again a lot of IMC.  

After arrival at Lewis, my friend hopped out and I returned back to DuPage.  I somehow got myself off frequency, so I sat for 10 minutes waiting for a clearance while ground control tried to talk to me.  Oops.  Got ahead of myself getting set up.  Soon, I was back on my way with a take off on Runway 2 and an immediate left turn to 270.  As I came on frequency, I had been cleared to Bomer Intersection on the ILS 2L approach at the same time I was handed off.   When I checked on, the controller just said I should fly a heading "for now."  I could hear I was number three for the approach, and then a Medivac came up and took priority.  This left me and the second aircraft being vectored around a bit while the Medivac got established inbound.  

At this point, I am in solid IMC complete with dark black clouds and a NEXRAD image 15 miles away that made me shutter.  The controller issues me a left turn of about 220 degrees in order to vector me onto the approach.  He apologized about the delay, and I acknowledged but did voice my desire to stay away from the thunderstorms.  I flew  nice path down the localizer but was a bit high.  I have not yet gotten the hang of flying the Bonanza on an approach.  Supposedly if I am all trimmed out for 105 knots and I drop the gear at the FAF, I should only have to make small power adjustments to keep on glidepath.  Yeah... well, the Bonanza is a slipper lady and I have work to do here.  

Touchdown, taxi, and self-serve fueling all occurred without incident or rain drops.  The skies opened about 10 minutes after I shut the hanger door.  Sweet.  

Reflections

As you can see, one of the things that prompted me to write this up was that I somehow managed to completely miss that I had a major NOTAM that applied to me.  It's not like I was getting there and finding out a taxiway was closed and I'd need to adapt.  This one would have resulted in an uncomfortable phone call at least.  I learned here that my discipline about fully considering NOTAMs needs to be improved.  

Another major issue for me is that I know I need to focus on hand flying in simulated instrument conditions.  I was not happy about how much I used the autopilot during this flight.  However, several things have contributed to me feeling less proficient.  First, I did not do much instrument flying during the time I was training for my commercial certificate.  Second, I am transitioning to full steam gauges from an Aspen panel.  Third, the Bonanza is a lot less stable than the Arrow and can therefore get squirrely much more quickly.   Not only am I out of practice, but I am also needing a wider and more focused scan to capture the six pack as well as the navigational information that I need.  I really need practice on this.  In fairness to myself, I did hand fly the final approach course on three of the four approaches I flew (not the first since I knew I was going to be overloaded) and did so reasonably well. 

On a related note, I need to be careful about what buttons I'm actually punching.  I accidentally disconnected the autopilot and found myself in the early stages of an unusual attitude. Fortunately I caught it very early and corrected.  I do not think that the deviations from level descending flight would have occurred had I known what I did as I would not have over-focused on altitude and power.    

But it was still a good day to fly and left me feeling a bit more confident in this airplane.  I've not moved my personal minimums as a result of this flight, but I am more comfortable that I have them set in the proper fairly conservative place for now.   

Getting Some Cloud Time

Yesterday I actually got out to do a little flying in actual instrument conditions.  As Ms. Dr. Flying Shrink will tell you, this makes me giddy. I was definitely happy to get some time in a soup warm enough in which to fly before our long and no-doubt cold winter sets in. 

I was scheduled to take our club's Arrow out for a stroll, but unfortunately it remains down for the annual inspection that seems like it will never end.  I guess this is the joy of the club having an older plane that seems to need some TLC. It's gotten a lot of love, and so it should be leveling out soon.  I'm told that one can spend a year or two with undetected gremlins.  I was going to scrap the whole thing, but cloud time sent me to the schedule to find that our very capable Archer was available. 

I blasted off from DuPage (KDPA) around 10:45 into marginal VFR conditions, and before long was chugging along in the clag at 3000 until I was clear of O'Hare's arrival stream.  Up to 6000 and eventually heading toward Illinois Valley (KVYS), I continued to run mostly into and occasionally out of clouds.  I briefed the RNAV 18 approach and made said request to Chicago Center (nice to have those folks back up and running).  I allowed the auto-pilot to do its work while I briefed and set up, and then took over hand flying as I arrived at the initial approach fix.  I kept the needles relatively pegged the whole way down to the minimum descent altitude (despite having vertical guidance, this was an LNAV+V approach and therefore non-precision).  Sweet.

Although I had the runway clearly in sight, I executed the published missed as communicated to Center.  Flying the missed approach gave me the chance to enter a hold that conveniently served as the procedure turn for the RNAV 36 back in.  Two currency birds with one stone. 

While flying the missed, there was a helicopter on approach to 36 and then some other traffic, so I was sent to 5000 MSL despite a holding pattern of 2500.  That made things "fun" later.  While I got myself turned around and fully prepared to do a few laps around the holding pattern, I was instructed to descend and start inbound.  This gave me about 6 miles to get down 2800 feet, but since the Archer flies like a rock that was not too much of a problem.  I don't like idle descents, and fortunately this was avoided. 

I was again on my way inbound and the needles were pretty close to pegged.  Breaking out about 1500 feet AGL, I went ahead and executed the dreaded downwind landing (5 knot wind) as sometimes you just don't get a choice, and these are of course different.  Landing at 75 knots ground speed verses 60 is quite a difference in picture and performance.

After taxiing to the ramp, I attempted to call Chicago Center and Kankakee Radio to obtain my IFR clearance back to DuPage.  After no success, I elected to take off and obtain my clearance in the air. I was about to regret that. 

An Expensive Lesson

I departed 18 and headed south since there were rain showers directly to the east that didn't look like fun trying to punch through VFR.  I called up Chicago center, and after making radar contact asked me if I could maintain visibility and avoid hitting anything until I was at or above 3000.  

"Unable."  

Yeah, so that's the wrong answer.  Turns out that this whole blasting off without an instrument clearance in marginal conditions - or at least with ceilings below the minimum vectoring altitude - will result in hanging one's cowl in shame as he returns to the airport.  I don't recall learning that at any point in my instrument training; only that one had to be able to fly VFR or out of controlled airspace and obtain a clearance before entering controlled airspace or IMC.  

I wonder if I had a growl in my voice as I announced my positions in the pattern.  

After I returned and taxiied to the ramp, I called up IFR Clearance Delivery.  I spent about 10 minutes on the phone with them - 7 of that was on hold.  Don't they know the hobbs meter is running?  This is one of two reasons why I don't like calling on the ground.  The other is waiting for release when someone has not cancelled IFR. 

Return Trip

With clearance now firmly in hand, I again took off from VYS and turned on course toward PLANO.  It was a different controller on the Center frequency, so I was glad that I could avoid reliving my embarrassment.  Motoring along at 5000, I took a few pics of my view out the wind screen.

Somewhere over Ottawa, Illinois

Conditions were very marginal at DPA due to low ceilings and light rain, and I was vectored for the ILS 10 approach.  I was told to expect a circle to 2R, which made no sense to me given that the winds were 110 at 8 according to the ATIS.  However, I figured I would take that up with the tower.  A King Air was vectored in front of me... I can't imagine why.  They could fly the approach at 90 knots to clear out the stall horn, right?  

Again I was pleased with my flying of the approach as I was always within 1 dot and I broke out looking at the runway right where my needles said it should be.  It's a very comforting feeling.  

At about 2 miles from touchdown and just before breaking out, the tower asked me to pick my speed up.  I was miffed by this because I am set up stable at 90 knots and preparing to slow once I have the runway in sight.  I said I'd keep my speed up and probably waited until about a mile out before slowing the the Vref of 66 knots.  I have a bad habit of getting high once I break out,  but other than this I was pleased with the approach and landing.  

2.6 in the log book along with 2.0 actual, a hold and three approaches.  Not bad.  

Now, if I could ever get that long cross country in... 

Do you even fly?

It has been a strange year.  As of this writing, I have less than 70 hours in the log book for the year.  This is pitiful.

Most recently, I was scheduled to fly from DuPage/Chicago (KDPA) to Burke Lakefront (KBKL) in Cleveland for my sister's wedding.  Depending on timing, I was planning to use one direction of this trip to satisfy the long cross-country requirement for the commercial certificate.  This requires the pilot to be the sole occupant of the aircraft, for there to be at least three points of landing, and the straight-line distance between two of those points has to be at least 250 nautical miles.  I have a number of flights where I am missing just one of these requirements, including this one where the straight line distance between KPWK and KISZ was 239 nm (GRRR). In this case, though I was planning to just jog south and then to destination. 

Well, except for the weather.  Since I had been watching the forecasts all week, it was no great shock to me on Friday morning that I was going to be driving.  DuPage was IFR and raining, but flyable.  Burke was forecast to have winds 20 gusting 35 from 70 degrees off the runway.  In case that was not enough, a very long and wicked line of thunderstorms and other convective nastiness was strung from Kentucky to Canada.  I flew the Sonata instead.

You mentioned Commercial?

Yes, yes I did. 

Always more to learn...

If you've used Gleim, you know that you'll be doing a lot of reading.  I finished the ground school months ago, and passed the written exam with a 95%.  Acceptable, but the perfectionist in me is not satisfied.  Chris over at Photographic Logbook totally understands, I'm sure.  

On to the flying.  This is coming along, and though surprisingly weather has not been a factor in my training, life and travel have.  Between work, travel in the summer with the family, and my instructor off to OSH, this has gone more slowly than I would have liked.  I have done all of the maneuvers, and it's now just about tightening to PTS.  Oh, and there are a few cross countries that have to be wrapped up.  And, I think one more solo night landing at a controlled airfield.  That last part just floors me... what difference does it make, anyway?  I think it's harder at uncontrolled fields to be honest.  

I did have a mock check ride, and the oral was actually relatively strong.  A few areas for me to work on include better understanding of the controllable pitch propeller, better presentation of information overall, and high altitude operations (beyond the Ox regulations).  Flying?  Well, it was ok.  Actually, it was about what I expected.  The navigation portion was actually pretty good, but some maneuvers - maneuvers that I had not performed for awhile - were not really there.

The owner of the school where I'm training really questioned me about why I'd transition to and fly the 182-RG that they have on the line when I have access to a perfectly good Piper Arrow (in which I have just shy of 100 hours in type).  Apparently the retractable Skylane is a PITA to land, and even the very experienced chief pilot informed me that it took him a solid 50 hours before he felt comfortable landing it.  Hmmm... and I need to be down in 100-200 feet of the agreed touchdown spot?  So, I took our club's Arrow to a nearby uncontrolled field and performed all the performance take offs and landings and 180 degree power off, and I'd say that it all seemed to be within PTS or darn close.  I guess when I said that I could get in the Arrow that day and be pretty close I was not really blowing smoke.  I think a few more hours of practice with these maneuvers will be sufficient. 

Have I mentioned that Skip at Skill Aviation is a very honest guy, and if you're in the Chicago area and considering training then you should talk with him.  He has been quite generous to me with his time and knowledge.  It says something when a person makes a recommendation clearly not in line with his financial interests.  

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.  

I hope to have this wrapped up by the end of the year, but we will see.  It's not like I'm up against it for a BFR or anything or that a job depends on it.  

Out to Pasture - The Chanute Air Museum

I have been looking forward to the chance to take a flight down to Rantoul, Illinois (KTIP) in order to visit the Chanute Air Museum.  This airport was the site of Chanute Air Force Base from 1917 to 1993, and the museum memorializes the history of the base and the city.  Most interesting to me, it has a number of military aircraft (and even a few nuclear missile silos!) on display.  While it was fascinating to learn about all that the museum has to offer, it was also disheartening to see all the aircraft that had clearly seen better days.  Faded paint, corrosion, flattened tires, bird deterrents, and painted glass to protect the cockpits corrupted planes that were far from their prime.  To the staff's credit, there are active efforts to restore these planes so that they can be seen in their former glory.

However, this P-51 Mustang was absolutely awesome!  There was no one to ask if this aircraft was airworthy, but she sure is beautiful.

This F-4 Phantom II peaked my interest as my father was a mechanic on these while serving in the Marines in Vietnam (although this is the Air Force version).  He does not tell many stories about the war itself (common amongst veterans, as it turns out), but he does talk about the thrill of running one of these bad boys up to make sure that everything was operating properly after maintenance.  He also mentioned a few shenanigans about "re-assigning" parts from Navy planes.  

This F-15 is in need of some restoration, but I remember dreaming about flying one of these or an F-14 Tom Cat (thanks, Top Gun) when I was about 12.  Honestly, I still do.

The museum also has a T-6 Texan and a B-25 Mitchell Bomber that are in the midst of restoration, a Skymaster, a number of other fighters,  a C-130, many other vintage aircraft, and even a room full of old Frasca simulators.  The entire list can be viewed here, thought honestly I don't recall seeing all of these aircraft.  Makes me wonder if I missed part of of the museum.  Eh, guess I'll just have to go back. 

Over the City and Above the Woods

I was accompanied on this flight by my mother, who flew with me several months ago along the Chicago shoreline.  This day we would be flying in that Diamond Star DA-40 that I wrote about a few weeks ago.   I initially planned to take the school's G1000-equipped Skyhawk since I knew that she could get in and out with little problem (and I have around 70 hours in type), but because of bad weather Thursday morning it did not fly and thus had too much fuel on board.  I really need to work on my contribution to weight and balance.

I picked up my IFR clearance: cleared from Waukegan (KUGN) to Rantoul (KTIP) via vectors JORJO - BACEN - BLOKR - RBS - DIRECT.  Some of these are points on the JORJO1.RBS departure procedure.  This took us over the metropolitan Chicago area just west of O'Hare (KORD).  We saw plenty of aircraft coming and going from KORD and KMDW.  

Departing runway 5, I was turned on headings that essentially took me along the shore line of Lake Michigan until I was turned southwest.  Before long, we had broken through the clouds and were skimming along at 7000.  This was the first time my mother had the experience of going through clouds and being essentially VFR on top (except that there were more clouds and the overcast layer hardly made for a good horizon).  

As we began our descent into Rantoul, we had to fly an approach in order to come down through the scattered to broken layer.  Smooth sailing and a very gentle touchdown on runway 18 earned some accolades from the very satisfied passenger.  

Great Hosts

The folks at KTIP were great.  They set us up in a courtesy car, and suggested a nice little home-cookin' Mexican place called Sol Azteca.  The food was very good; seemed very authentic, tasty, fast and very reasonably priced.  I'd highly recommend checking this place out if you are out that way.  

After lunch and visiting the museum, we needed to spend a little time at the FBO while we waited out some storms that were passing through the Chicago area.  Soon, we were off and on our way back to UGN... maybe.  

The Pink Dot

Picking up my IFR clearance, we were cleared to KUGN via PNT - PLANO - OBK - DIRECT.  We had more time above and through the clouds as we motored along at 8000 MSL.  Based on my weather check at the FBO, I knew that I was going to need to fly an approach into Waukegan, and that I'd expect Runway 5.  I was all set up for that and briefing the approach by the time I crossed PLANO, and as I checked the ForeFlight weather from the Stratus I see the... dreaded... pink... dot.  UGN had gone LIFR due to fog with 200 foot overcast  However, I was flying a non-WAAS aircraft and there is only an RNAV approach into runway 5.  There was no point in flying this approach as the non-precision minimums were far higher than the weather.

I began considering my options when ATC advised me that two jets had just gone missed from KUGN.  Having checked the weather at other reporting stations, I decided to fly the ILS 16 approach into Chicago Executive (KPWK).  Although I had only flown this particular approach in a simulator, I am very familiar with this airport since I did my private training primarily from this location.  My approach and landing were quite solid, and we taxied to Signature and shut down to enjoy their very comfortable accommodations while I sorted out what I was going to do next.    

Deliberation

Sitting on the ground at PWK, I started to review options.  The organization from which I had rented this plane recently stopped operations at PWK, so this removed one option.  It was a 45 minute cab ride home, and I could have taken my wife's car and my mother to retrieve my car from UGN.  I finally got a hold of the owner of the school, who said that he had just come in not long ago on the ILS 23 approach with a slight tailwind but no problems, except that it was right down to minimums.  "Do you think you can do it?"  

I thought this over for 20 minutes, and decided that the two-axis autopilot that I had been using all day because of my low time in the plane could fly the approach - it didn't know it was dark and down to minimums, after all.  Though I had hand-flown the other two approaches, this seemed to be the time to allow the computer to earn its keep. 

Earning a Manhattan

We loaded up in the Diamond Star and were cleared vectors to UGN.  I briefed the approach on the ground because it is a VERY short flight (it was all of 16 minutes according to my track at Flight Aware), and I just wanted to hit the highlights for review in the air.  I had everything loaded up and ready to go when I was cleared for takeoff.  

I was a bit worried because PWK had been marginal VFR and then went IFR with a 600 foot overcast as I was preparing to leave.  There was a guy who really wanted to depart VFR to the east out over the lake, and the controllers were really trying to talk him out of it.  I hope they did because that would have been pretty high risk.  But I hoped that these changes did not reflect further deterioration at my hoped-for destination.  

Here was the METAR from my weather briefing: 

KUGN 042252Z 02004KT 4SM BR OVC002 18/18 A2996 RMK AO2 SLP138 P0001 T01780178

Now doesn't that look like fun?  I know some of you are jealous.  

As I am passed off to the departure controller, it occurs to me that I am flying in pretty solid IMC in the dark and flying my first night approach in actual IMC (although I have flown quite a few approaches to minimums in simulated conditions during night flight).  I saw myself as focused, but my mother informs me that she knew I was a bit nervous.  She was thrilled by the whole thing and really enjoyed the entire day of flying, but I had to tell her that I was pretty focused and needed a sterile cockpit until we were on the ground.  She understood and was quiet.  

"419AM, turn left heading 260 to intercept the localizer.  Cleared ILS 23 approach, maintain 2500 until established."  It's on, and I'm in the soup past my eyeballs.  Two miles from the final approach fix, I am passed off to tower and am cleared to land.  I peak up and see only clouds through the windscreen, but I am on path and glideslope, but a bit fast.  

Descending through 1600 for 930, I am able to see the ground.  At 1100, I am very happy break out and see the runway.  The controller then states that "things are clearing here if you'd like to circle to land on runway 5, that's approved."  Was this guy crazy?  It was pitch black out, I just broke out and he thinks I might like to circle to land.  Umm... no.  I'll take that five knot tailwind when I have a plane that can be stopped in well under 1500 feet and I have 6000 feet of runway.  "9-Alpha-Mike will stay with 23."  

Although I floated a bit because I was a bit fast, I had my third gentle and on-centerline touchdown of the day.  "Oh, yeah!" I failed to mention to my mother that this was the first time I had flown an approach at night in actual instrument conditions.  I did offer to send her home in a cab and I'd go by myself, but she insisted on going with me.  However, she claims to have not been worried the whole time.

Reflections

I have to say that I would have been far less anxious had I been flying my club's Arrow or Archer because I am so much more familiar and comfortable in them. The only part of the flight I've really spent time reflecting on was my decision to fly the short flight and approach into Waukegan.  It worked out well, and the flight was never in any risk beyond the typical risks of flying in these conditions.  But was we know, night IFR is the riskiest flight in which most GA pilots will ever engage.  Add to this that I was flying a pretty new-to-me aircraft and I had a passenger, and it seems that it was "pretty interesting" to say the least.  

However, I had been using the auto pilot all day because I was not yet totally confident in my ability to hold altitude solid in this plane.  I always use it while briefing an approach or doing some other task with high cognitive demands.  So although I prefer to hand fly most of the time, this last flight was not the time to decide to give it a go (although as I mentioned above I hand-flew the other two approaches).  It obviously worked out just fine, and fortunately I was overall pretty well practiced in approaches and night current.

 

First Trip with the Family

Over Memorial Day Weekend, my family packed up the club's 172SP and headed for a little getaway to the Cincinnati area.  Mrs. Dr. Flying Shrink and I earned our doctoral degrees from the University of Cincinnati, and during our time there we made a number of friends that we have not seen in quite some time.  It was time to show why we fly... it's more than just buzzing around and eating pancakes (though that is fun, too).

The first interesting change was my need to dictate strict requirements on what could be taken into the plane.  Usually it seems that we are packing for a mid-sized platoon, but this time we had to keep it reasonable.  There is only so much physical space back there, and then of course we had weight and balance issues.

Speaking of weight and balance; I figured this based on the Skyhawk fueled to "tabs."  We were well under max gross and were good to go with a more aft than usual C.G., but comfortably within the envelope.  Despite the club rules about filling to tabs unless the next pilot specifically requests otherwise, someone filled the darn thing completely.  This put us about 10 pounds overweight, but by the time the long taxi and run-up were completed we should be fine.

Trimmed for "take off," I start the roll... and the plane lifts off at about 45 knots.  Ummm... that's not supposed to happen.  There are certain words and phrases that are unwelcome when flying with one's family, but one of those slipped out.  Nose down elevator, fix the trim, accelerate in ground effect and then away we go.  3SP was now behaving herself, thank goodness.

"Are we there yet?"  "How much longer?"  Yeah, I heard these two questions repeatedly from about 15 minutes from take off until 10 minutes before touchdown.  But, the flight down was absolutely beautiful in nice, smooth air until about 15 miles from Warren County Airport (I68).  Just got a bit bumpy as we made our descent.  We had some interesting winds - gusty and shifting direction, but my touchdown was smooth and on center line.

We got tied down and I asked for fuel to those tabs.... sigh.  More on that in a minute.  Our time in Cincinnati was nice - visiting some old haunts and enjoying old friends.  Of course, we had to have Graeter's Ice Cream.  If you've not had it, you need to get to that area and get some.  We are able to get it in pints here in the Chicago area, but it's not the same as being dipped out at the store.

Saturday had me periodically checking the weather because some nasty convective activity was forecast for our scheduled return time.  By 9 pm, I announced that we were leaving by 9 am so that we could make it home.  When the alarm went off, Ms. Shrink asked if we had to leave so early.  "Honey, we have two choices.  We can leave early, or we might not get home today.  Looking at Monday and Tuesday, we might not get back then either."  Since my mother was coming in for a visit with the grandchildren the following day, sitting in Cincinnati until Wednesday just did not see prudent. In fairness, this was merely token resistance.  Ms. Shrink has come to understand and appreciate PIC authority and responsibility. 

Pre-flight.  Everything looks fine, except... full fuel.  I am 97% sure I asked for the tabs but it didn't really matter now.  I set the trim much more nose down for the takeoff roll, and the plane still popped up early.  But, at least it was rotate speed this time.  A little nose-down elevator until Vx and then away we went.

Are we there yet?  No.

I was watching as nasty things seem to be brewing to the west and somewhat south of our position.  Although I was talking to ATC, I also continually checked the weather observations (on the radios the old fashioned way) to make sure that the observations matched what I was seeing in my direction of flight.  As I dialed up Kankakee (KIKK; about 35 miles from my destination), I heard a few terms that I did not like - lightening strikes southeast of the field.  As I checked to Flight Watch for a more formal update, someone else was getting the same information and going to the same destination - and things looked good.

Landed without incident or problematic weather.  Within several hours, the picture changed substantially.  Leaving early was a good call.

Seems the family is starting to see the benefits of being able to fly places, which is great.  My children complain much more in the plane because there is far less entertainment available (e.g., DVD player not on board). 

The Rain, the Cold, and the Presidential TFR

Yesterday, I attempted to take a little fight for myself in our club's Archer.  You know, the weather gods are just not being very kind to me these days. 

I was hoping to be wheels up by 11 am, but marginal VFR weather that was scheduled to clear up before another system worked its way into the area late afternoon pushed back my departure time.  Adding to my joys was a campaign stop of the president to push for green energy technology, and apparently Argonne labs was the place this had to be accomplished.  So much for sequestration, right?

Finally getting more clear weather (or so I thought given the weather observations), I pulled out the plane and was finally wheels up with my unique squawk code and heading southwest toward Illinois Valley Regional (KVYS) where I intended to so some landings, some air work, and then a return to DuPage.  I had a few extra stops on my flight plan just in case the humor was on me. 

As I lifted off of 20R at DuPage, I immediately noticed complete CRAP to the west.  As I leveled off at 3500 (4500 would have put me in Bravo airspace) and started to get trimmed out for the ride, the next piece of bad news hit... rain on the windscreen.  Now, I've never really flown in rain before and they were light showers.  Had it been 50 degrees outside and getting stuck somewhere was not a big deal, this could have been a fun experiment.  But the icing SIGMET and near freezing temperatures at the surface really got my attention.  Just as Aurora Municipal (KARR) was passing under the nose of the aircraft, I asked the center controller about the weather en-route or to see if I needed to go off frequency to get it.  He informed me that I would be in rain showers all the way there but that my destination was reporting decent VFR weather.  The controller was probably kind enough to help me out because I transmitted in the blind for him to a helicopter that was out of communication. 

After another few minutes, I decided that this trip was just not worth the risk of continuing into IMC or becoming a test pilot with iced wings.  It was still wet rain that was just sliding off the plane, but who knows what I would have flown into.  On a normal day as a VFR pilot, I could just make a 180 and return to my departure airport with no problem.  When flying under a presidential TFR, it is always best to get a clearance for such things so that there are no unpleasant surprises waiting for you on the ground. 

With my clearance on the tape, I completed a 180 and returned direct KDPA.  Winds were calm so I was given my choice of runway.  Since I had to put fuel in the plane before putting her to bed, the best choice would have been 15/33 or 10.  But because I could not see that well, I wanted the one with the brightest lights and chose 2R, or 2L, or whatever... It got questions from the controller and changed, and probably sounded like a complete idiot as I clarified that I was cleared to land 2L.  Well, I knew it had a 2 in it.  I said to the controller, "better to sound silly and land on the right piece of concrete."  His reply was "roger, that." 

So, here we are again.  Complaining about winter and early spring flying weather.  I got all of .6 in the logbook with one landing (that was nice, flare on the numbers and on center line) rather than what I had planned for.  I also got weathered out of an instrument lesson on Tuesday, though I did fly with another club member last Saturday and got four practice approaches and other hood time in. 

Will this lousy winter NEVER end? 

DuBois... Denied

Tomorrow (Saturday) morning, the kiddoes and I were supposed to fly to DuBois Regional Airport (KDUJ) to visit my parents.  Here is the prog chart for the time we're to be airborne:




As you can see, we're forecast to have a nasty mix of marginal VFR and IFR weather along with some rain between Chicago and Western Pennsylvania.  Grandma is already disappointed and the kids will be in the morning when I don't wake them up at 6 am.

I've been looking forward to this in part because KDUJ was built on my great-grandparent's farm that was commandeered by the federal government because it seemed like a swell place to put an airport.  I also have heard that until recently there was a tree near one end the runway that my father fell out of and broke his arm as a kid. 

Of course, if I had that instrument rating this would all be of little consequence.  Well, there is that freezing level and turbulence... but the latter clears out by the next chart. 

A Hazy Trip to Michigan

Yesterday I took a flight from Chicago Executive (KPWK) along the Lake Michigan shoreline around to Benton Harbor, Michigan (KBEH), which was enjoyable as usual.  It was a very smooth day for flying, although the wicked heat and humidity made from quite a bit of haze that really disturbed my view out over the lake.  The words of my instructor rang through my ears when we did my night cross country... would not want to go through that without an instrument rating.

I did not take advantage of flight following on my way to Benton Harbor, figuring that I was staying low enough to be out of the way of any airliners that might be heading into ORD or MDW, but it turned out that there was a fair amount of traffic.  I did listen in to Chicago approach so that if I became the subject of discussion I'd know about it.

The haze did more than make for a less than ideal picture out over the lake, but also I could see that stuff I read about haze making objects seem closer than they appear.  One small aircraft that passed just 400 feet below me to my left seemed quite a bit further away, but the TIS probably was not lying.  It was a bit unnerving, but we certainly maintained adequate visual separation.  It also left me thinking that those reports I was reading where a bit deceptive, or that I have mistaken "CAVU" flying for 10 miles visibility.  The automated weather information for PWK, GYY, and BEH all said that the ceiling was clear below 12000 and visibility was 9 or 10 miles, but it sure didn't seem that way.

Benton Harbor was actually pretty easy to find, and though I was using GPS to aid in navigation I had my iPad charts open on my lap to verify my position.  It's a fairly nice airport, although I had an interesting situation.  I was making all the appropriate radio calls and had just announced and initiated my base-to-final turn for runway 28 when the Cessna that had been holding short of the runway announced his departure.  I repeated that I was on final and he stopped.  I was miffed and befuddled by this, and that probably showed in the bounce and go around that insued.  I didn't bother complaining to the pilot because it was an honest mistake, but it would have helped if I could have used more of my brain for landing and less of it for go-around planning and general frustration.  Fly the plane, Dr. Shrink... fly the plane.   My next two landings were pretty good, so I was happy about that.

After departing the pattern I picked up flight following from our friends at South Bend and headed back around the lake shore.  South Bend then told me to squawk VFR and that radar services had been terminated, but that I should contact Chicago Approach.  I did that thinking I'd have to ask for flight following again, but they were expecting me and assigned a new squawk code.

I said goodbye to the fine folks at Chicago Approach once I was over Northwestern University and Ba'hai Temple (very cool sight from the air), and managed to get it back on the ground at Chicago Executive, where the winds were squirrelly and I did need a go-around.   I was using 12 even though winds really favored runway 6.  If you've ever landed on 6/24 at PWK, then you know that this runway is interesting - 50 ft wide, a bit of a turn toward the south, in the midst of it, a nice "Dukes of Hazzard" jump in the middle, and if you're coming in on 24 a very displaced touchdown.  My last experiences with this were not ideal so I wanted to avoid it.  I had a reasonable landing on my second try, so I'll take that.

Nice day to fly, and I crossed the 100-hour mark with this flight.  I also added both a new airport and new state to my travels.  I love this stuff.   I hope the weather holds up as Ms. Dr. Flying Shrink and I are planning a day get away up to Door County. 

Flight: KPWK - KBEH - KPWK
Plane: C-172S
Hours: 2.4  (100.4 hours total time).

Damn Storms....

Yesterday (July 1), the Banana and I set off for what was supposed to be a fun little "around the area flight."  She had been asking me to go flying again, so how could I possibly resist?  We were going to depart from Waukegan (KUGN) and trace the Lake Michigan shoreline and enjoy the views of downtown Chicago on our way to Gary (KGYY).  After a quick touch and go we would tack the Joliet VOR until we approached Lewis University, at which point we would turn north for Dupage Airport (KDPA).  Finally, we would depart Dupage and head back to Waukegan.  We had only one additional task: it was the Boy's birthday party and we didn't want to miss that. 

The weather called for an increased risk of thunderstorms after 3 pm. I really should quickly learn rule #2 from my previous post.

The Banana and I arrived and conducted our pre-flight, and departed Runway 5 in N408ES and turned south along the shoreline.  It was a bit hazy out there but nothing disconcerting.  The Banana enjoyed the views of the lake, Navy Pier, Sears Tower, and a bunch of other landmarks.  She also is starting to learn how to call traffic, which is very helpful.  As we approached GYY for landing, I noticed a lot of nastiness brewing out to the west, which was our planned direction of travel.  We did a full stop taxi-back on Runway 12, with a landing that was reasonable... only one small bounce and pretty much on center line.  I'll take that for now.

I was getting updated whether when the tower let me know that a weather advisory had been issued in the last 15 minutes stating that there was very bad news that direction.  Although a bit disappointed, the Banana did not complain that we were going back to Waukegan.  I decided to demonstrate a short-field take off for her (and a bit of practice wouldn't hurt, either), but as I started the takeoff roll things didn't feel right.  I peeked at the tachometer, which read 2100 RPMs.  That didn't seem right to me, so instead we had an aborted takeoff demonstration.  I did a new run-up, including giving full throttle and only got 2100 RPMs.  That didn't seem right, so parking at the Gary Jet Center and figuring it all out on the ground seemed prudent.

A few phone calls into the flight school from which I rent and 35 minutes later, I learned something very important: Static RPM.  It turns out that 2100 is perfectly normal for a 160-hp Cessna 172 at the beginning of the takeoff roll.  I suppose that one culprit here is that I usually fly a 180-hp 172S instead of this 172R.  Compared to the DA-20, the 172S already feels like a truck and the 172R feels like a tank.  Well, that explains a lot. Another way to know the plane, and I'll be making a note of this number from now on to avoid this in the future (and to detect problems!!!). 

Before strapping in for our return, I checked the weather again.  I REALLY did not like the nasty squall line heading our direction.  I was not sure I could get north of its projected line of travel before it got close to the Chicago shoreline, and after some deliberation and another chat with Sandy (a fine instructor up at Skill) I decided to be conservative and wait it out.  I might have been able to get far enough north before they passed through, but if not I had no diversion options and could only go out over the lake.  In a single-engine plane that just seemed like an unnecessary risk. 

Damn Storms. 

My daughter was exerting tremendous pressure on me to return home so that we could attend the party, and Mrs. Shrink was not exactly happy about the implications.  My explanations about the end result of flying a plane into the middle of a thunderstorm gave little solice regarding my decision.  Communicating that I understood the implications of this decision with respect to the storms gave little comfort as well. 

So, the Banana and I took a crew car and headed over to Jedi's for some food.  I'll say that the portions were ridiculous but the food was adequate.  The Banana enjoyed her hot dog and fries, so I suppose that this was workable.  We took our time and returned back to the Gary Jet Center to wait for the storm to go through.  By now the rains were pounding us, the lightening was flashing, and the winds at Chicago O'Hare were in the neighborhood of 30 gusting to 60.  Good call. 

After a good three hours of hanging out in Gary and obsessive checking of the radar, we finally strapped in and took off from runway 30 and made "best speed" to UGN.  The Banana took our pictures with our camera all the way back, and actually got some nice shots.  She took one of us on short final for runway 5 at UGN, and a few more on rollout.  Of course she got the evidence of my being a bit left of the centerline. 

So, we made it back for the last 30 minutes of the Boy's party, which was the important part. 

Mrs. Dr. Flying Shrink Goes Flying... briefly

Mrs. Dr. Flying Shrink (also a clinical psychologist) got her first flight today.  While all ended well, it was not exactly the fight I would have hoped we would have. 

I have been excited about sharing my passion for flying with her actually in the cockpit for quite some time, and it was finally here.  Of course, she has heard me droning on about flying for over a year, but this is just not the same thing.  The original plan was that we would take off from Chicago Executive (KPWK) and follow the Chicago shoreline down to KVPZ, where we would tie down and head to a local restaurant that my instructor tells me is pretty good and best known for its turkey.  Mrs. Shrink had managed to clear her schedule for today's flight, and so we were all ago.  Or so I thought: 

Flying rule #2: if there is a 30% chance of thunderstorms and you rented a plane, that means there is a 99% chance of thunderstorms.  

The forecast for the greater Chicago area has been calling for thunderstorms for much of the weekend, and as I typically do for short hops I decided I would take a "watch and wait" approach.  Things had been looking good for our trip despite some boomers on Thursday night.  I went to bed last night with flight planning completed and a pretty good forecast. 

HA!  I got up this morning and the forecast showed an increased chance of thunderstorms after 3 pm.  Because we had to be back by 3 pm to retrieve the Boy and the Banana, I decided that we'd just fly straight back and have lunch near KPWK.  Things looked great for this plan until I was just about done with my preflight, when I looked up to see that the sky had really gotten dark to the west.  I checked the weather again and all still looked safe and VFR, so we fired up.  The ground controller told another pilot that the storm I saw brewing was not supposed to be close for another two hours. 

I had already decided that we were not going to make it KVPZ, and that instead I would fly out to the shoreline and turn back abeam the Sears Tower.  That was my plan on takeoff.  Mrs. Shrink seemed to like being up high and seeing things from a different perspective.  We flew over our house but I really didn't spend much time trying to find it: I was at 1600 MSL with a 1900 MSL Bravo ceiling and not interested in practicing CFIT, and I was getting increasingly nervous about that brewing storm.  These tight altitude tolerances and worries about the storm really curbed my enthusiasm especially because I heard a pilot report that he could see lightening out in the distance just as we approached the shoreline. 

"We need to go back."  Gosh, saying those words sucked because I was really looking forward to showing off the shoreline and getting a few landings in.  I am of course trying to build cross-country PIC time as well in preparation for an instrument rating, so this was quite disappointing.  I had considered continuing the flight and the diverting to KVPZ, KGYY or even KUGN until the storm passed, but given our need to be home returning to KPWK was the best logical solution.  Mrs. Shrink already knew that I was concerned about this and did not fuss.  She did get to see downtown from the air, Ba'hai temple and the area around our home.  My landing was adequate but a bit bouncy because I landed fast as usual. 

So, a meager 0.5 was entered into the log book today, with at least 0.2 of that being on the ground waiting to depart.  But my decision to return showed itself to be an overall good one as the boomers hit about 20 minutes after leaving the airport.