Just Barely XC: Luray

N172DR - C172R - 1.6 hours

A note on the title: The FAA Considers (for the purpose of Private Pilot Licensing and Instrument Ratings) a flight more than 50nm (57.5 "regular" miles) as "cross country." Luray is 50.2nm.

I'd been trying to get my friend Kelly to join me on a flight for a little while, but our schedules hadn't met up until today. That being said, our schedules finally met up, so off we went. I decided to keep it shorter than the last few flights, so I planned a flight to Luray, VA (W45).

The day was the typical hot and humid day of the summer, so it made for a slightly uncomfortable taxi, but once we were in the air the temperature improved, though the turbulence was another story. The combination of the hot day, the hilly terrain and being forced to keep a low altitude (to remain under Dulles' airspace) made for a bumpy ride all the way out past the Blue Ridge mountains. After that crossing, it lightened up. Luray is in a valley, though, which creates turbulence issues of its own. That being said, we followed route 340 down the valley until getting close to Luray.

The approach to Luray is slightly odd for two reasons: Luray uses Approach Path Alignment Panels (APAP), and the runway slopes up (when landing on runway 4). APAP is a system of orange panels aligned so that when you're on the right glidepath (the angle of descent to the runway) they will all be lined up. It's very rudimentary when compared to the Precision Approach Path Indicator (PAPI) systems most pilots are used to. The PAPI uses lights to tell you if you're high or low. Here, I'm essentially telling if I'm high or low based on someone painting barn doors bright orange and sticking them in a field (in actuality, they're metal highway signs with the orange reflective coat on them). The runway slope issue confuses the matter because in most cases you approach a relatively flat runway. When you are used to how that looks, and you approach a runway that slopes up, you feel higher than normal, so your approach is somewhat off. Beyond that, actually setting the plane down becomes and issue because you have to point the nose higher to land the same as you would on a flat runway. If you think about it, the runway moves up, so you actually have to land in a slight ascent to land as if the runway were flat.

This being the first time I've flown to Luray, I had an interesting time adjusting to both the odd barn door approach path indicators, and sloping runway. Once on the ground, though, I taxied up to the tie-downs (parking spots) and caught a ride from the airport attendant into town. He brought us into the town and pointed us to a local burger place, called Artisans Grill, that claims it has the best burgers in Virginia. They used local beef, and it was actually pretty darn good. I'd say they rank up in the top five best burger places, but I'm not sure they take it. I'll have to go back for another try. Interestingly enough, as we were sitting there eating and catching up, one of the fans ended up shaking off one of its bulb covers, which shattered everywhere. Always interesting, right?

I called for a ride back to the airport, and we took a couple pictures in town before he showed up. Back at the plane, I attempted to get through to the Flight Service Station to file a flight plan back in, but Sprint and Luray's airport apparently don't agree with each other. In order to allow us more time and catch a smoother ride, I decided I'd fly out west to New Market, and follow I-81 north to Staunton, and back to Leesburg.

Luray Caverns Airport - W45

The flight back was uneventful, but bumpy, which didn't completely agree with Kelly's slight motion sickness, but she made it back in one piece so all was well. If you haven't flown to Luray, I'd recommend it. It's right by the caverns, and it's definitely a break from the city life.

Hours:
Pilot in Command Cross Country (PIC XC): 1.6 - 21.7 (of 50)
Actual/Simulated Instrument (Act/Sim): 0 - 3.5 (of 40)

Back to Charlottesville

N172DR - C172R - 1.9 hours

The morning started off with the plan being a flight with the roommates - Mat and Geoff - and another one of our friends, Katie, heading down for a trip to Harrisonburg. Unfortunately, flying privately doesn't really get you away from weight restrictions in the summertime heat. Really, the restrictions are worse as far as weight goes. Had the previous pilot not refueled the plane after their flight, we would have had plenty of fuel to make Shenandoah airport (SHD), and enough room with the weight to fit all of us, but they'd refueled the plane after the last flight, so I could only take two people, max. Geoff and Katie volunteered to stay behind. Since they were the JMU contingent (having the interest in Harrisonburg), Mat and I opted to head back to Charlottesville, to grab burgers where I had gone previously.

The flight was uneventful until the very end. The first interesting bit was that we had to break east of the field so that the tower controller could get a departure out. After that, a Stearman called inbound, southwest of the field. Mat snagged a couple shots of the Stearman as I taxied in and shut down. From there, we ran off to Timberwood Grill for burgers and headed home.

Upperville Airport - 2VG2

Hours:

Pilot in Command Cross Country (PIC XC): 1.9 - 20.1 (of 50)

Actual/Simulated Instrument (Act/Sim): 0 - 3.5 (of 40)

Let the Cross Country Begin

N172DR - C172R - 1.9 hours

Since I was still pretty excited to be back in the air, I called my friends to see if they'd like to join in a quick flight down to Charlottesville (CHO). After coordinating schedules, we met up at the airport and headed south to CHO. On the ride down, my friend Matt sat up front and picked out landmarks as we flew over, while my other good friend Christina sat in the back, laughing at our commentary and providing some of her own. As we got closer to CHO, I listened in to the weather, and checked in with the tower. Tower cleared me straight in to land on runway 21. After taxiing off, I parked the plane at Landmark Aviation and got out so that we could make a quick trip into town for dinner.

As Christina and Matt were getting out, and I was making sure the plane was all situated (didn't leave the battery on and so on), a Citation Excel rolled up and out stepped a tall guy with some small instrument case.

"Is that Dave Matthews?"

The Crew Car

From afar, I'm not sure what exactly made us think it was him, but it definitely looked like him. Sitting at the airport in Charlottesville, which is apparently where he lives, it would fit. After we got over the initial questioning back and forth, we walked inside to pick up the crew car. Sure enough, Dave Matthews was standing there at the counter, waiting for a car of his own. Oddly - or at least 'oddly' to those not expecting it - he struck up a little conversation about flying. To him, flying with the airlines isn't as fun as flying the smaller stuff, though he'd never been in something that small (that being a reference to our little 172), but it looks like fun. I debated offering to take him up sometime, but I chickened out (so, Dave, if you read this, post a comment and we'll figure it out - haha). After he headed out, we grabbed the crew car and were off for burgers at a place called Timberwood Grill.

Put simply, the burger there was one of the best I've had.

After the dinner, we made our way back to the airport, checked the car back in, filed a flight plan back into the SFRA, and were off. The flight back was pretty uneventful. Christina took command of the front this time, while Matt had to sit back. At some point, Matt pointed out Montpelier, where he worked for at least part of college, but little else other than highways provided landmarks along the route. All in all, a good flight.

Hours:

Pilot in Command Cross Country (PIC XC): 1.9 - 18.2 (of 50)

Actual/Simulated Instrument (Act/Sim): 0 - 3.5 (of 40)

The Biennial Flight Review

N172DR - C172R - 1.4 hours

The day started early in the morning at Leesburg (JYO) with Ben, the CFI, and N172DR, a Cessna 172R. The weather was pretty good for a summer morning, with good visibility and calm winds, so we set off towards Martinsburg, WV. It's a towered field. I figured I might as well get some interaction with ATC in while practicing landings and otherwise satisfying the flight requirement for my BFR. On the way out, we worked in some slow flight and a power-on stall. That all looked pretty reasonable for not having flown in over a year and a half, so we carried on to Martinsburg (MRB) to practice landings. Four laps around the pattern got me back in shape with the landings, so we headed back in the direction of JYO. Since I'd filed /G instead of the required /X in order to participate in the Leesburg Maneuvering area, I called up Potomac TRACON to get clearance back into the SFRA, as is required to get back to JYO. After getting back, we put the plane in its spot and I got signed off for another two years of flying.

As far as posts go, I know the narrative on this one's pretty weak, but nothing truly interesting happened, and I know as much as I love flying, the vast majority of people don't follow my aviation-speak-laden rants, so I tried to keep it simple. From here on out, though, these posts will just be a running narrative on my flights and adventures. For now, it'll just be me getting through some of the initial time requirements for the instrument rating. Later, when I start getting more into the instrument rating content - instrument approaches and the like - I'll add in some comments on flight training.

Let the Instrument Rating (IR) Begin:

Pilot in Command Cross Country (PIC XC): 0 - 16.3 (of 50)

Actual/Simulated Instrument (Act/Sim): 0 - 3.5 (of 40)

In the Air Again - Finally

After another year of sitting on the ground, not moving forward, I finally got myself back in the air. My delays were primarily money-related, and a raise at my job eliminated that issue, so I really had no excuse.

At first, I figured since I had "lost" my medical (physically, not medically), I would just get my BFR done and get my medical as soon as I found time (my current job doesn't lend well to much weekday time time off). From there I'd burn cross country time before jumping into instrument training.

Before I went up for my BFR Flight, I made sure to get my paperwork in order, and made sure I had everything in my flight bag. As I was pasting that special SFRA certificate (a certificate from an online class you have to take to fly around Washington DC) in the back of my logbook, the last page separated from the back cover and my medical fell out. Turns out the ink stuck the pages together, hiding it since my move to AZ. That said, I was able to log PIC in the BFR, and have been enjoying cross country trips on my own and with friends.

That being said, I'll finally use this blog for its renewed purpose:
Trip reports (those include pictures) and training notes from the flights. Look for those here soon (and if you're looking for the old posts, they're gone).