Charlottesville? Again?

N144ME - C172S - 1.6 hours

A few weeks ago, when I met up with my Washington Center (ZDC) controller friend, Julie, we decided she needed to get back up in the air.  At first, my plan was to meet a friend for breakfast, then run to the airport for a flight out to Luray or similar, and then run out to Strasburg to visit the grandparents.  Breakfast ran late, so I was late to the airport, and I had booked the plane later than I had thought, so I royally screwed up there.  After calling the grandparents, though, they decided that it was better to visit another weekend anyway, which freed up more time for a longer flight and a longer trip in general.

During the week, we were looking at several destinations, but the last two we were looking at were Luray (W45) and Cumberland (CBE).  Cumberland looks like a nice flight with some cool terrain around the airport, and I know Luray has a few things in town, but I wasn't sure about the availability of cars to get us around on a Sunday.  I did know, however, that my frequent flight spot Charlottesville would definitely have a car for me, so we headed in that direction.

Rolling on 17 JYO

The guy in N144ME before us got back a little early, but something happened to the software the school uses to track its aircraft, so that ended up negating an earlier departure.  In the end, I just grabbed the keys so that I could preflight while they worked out the computer issue.  Everything checked out with the plane and Julie managed to grab the book while I was finishing up, so we jumped in and taxied down to Runway 17 to head down to Charlottesville.

Final 21 CHO

On the way down, Julie got some time on the controls and called a few co-workers up in a few different sectors of ZDC.  The trip down was pretty smooth, but smooth means hazy, as the pilot folk reading this should already know.  I kept it high and fast coming in to Charlottesville to see if I could beat my time from the last flight.  I managed to make it in at 0.7 hours, tying the last flight.  As we walked in, I grabbed the crew car from Landmark to head into historic downtown for the first time in a long time, and grab food.

Charlottesville Historic Downtown

Driving towards downtown, I remembered why I hated the drive down to Charlottesville: stop lights, and an endless amount of them at that.  In any case, I managed to remember how to get downtown without too much of an issue, even though I hadn't been there in three years (not that it's too hard anyway).  I'd forgotten how short the walk is from end to end, but I missed the local feel of the whole thing.  We walked in a few stores to look at what they had, and ended up running in to Great Scott's Popcorn to get a snack.  I think I've only added butter, Old Bay, and maybe salt and pepper to popcorn, so the flavors they had there were quite the experience, and they were actually rather delicious.  Definitely worth a stop if you're down there.

Can you see the excitement?

When you have the crew car, you're only supposed to have it for two hours, max, so we made our way back towards the airport, stopping at Timberwood for lunch.  Our server, who I've had before but have forgotten her name again, made sure we were in and out and back to the airport with a little time to spare on the two hour mark.  It isn't that she's not memorable, it's that I'm horrible with names.  I guess I should work on that.

Unfortunately, when we got back, there was a crew waiting on the car.  We were definitely back within the two hour limit, but the guys seemed pretty irritated.  I can understand that to a certain degree, but relying on the crew car is luck of the draw.  I flew down to CHO and flew back without having ever left the FBO because someone took more than the two hours (Turning into a Charlottesville Regular has that story).  Stuff happens.  Even so, I still feel slightly bad, because some pilots get worked hard, and the last thing they want to do is sit in an FBO waiting on someone else to give them an escape.

Before we left, Julie, being a controller, was able to get us up in the tower last minute for a quick tour.  The controller there had been there forever, and had his quirks, but he also had cookies and a cool view of the airport.  We stayed up there for a few minutes and then decided to head back home while there was still a little daylight left.  On the way out we had to hold short for an inbound SAAB 340, but after they were off, we were off.  The trip back took just under an hour, and I got a few minutes of night PIC.  As an added bonus, Julie handled all the radio work and some of the flying until we got back closer to Leesburg.  I think the next time we head out, we'll have to hit somewhere northwest, or southeast.  Looking at my flight map, it's decidedly lacking in those two directions:

Hours:
Pilot in Command Cross Country (PIC XC): 1.6 - 40.2 (of 50)
Actual/Simulated Instrument (Act/Sim): 0 - 4.2 (of 40)

Breakfast in Luray

N329ME - C172S - 1.4 hours

In an earlier post, I mentioned there were people I hadn't taken flying since getting my license.  Several of those people are in my own family.  While I've taken a few family members up - my grandma, my aunt and uncle, to name a few - none of my immediate family had been up with me until today.

A little while back, my dad proposed that my brother and I set up some activity for each month so that we actually see each other regularly.  What better to draw my attention than flying?

Originally, we'd planned on flying the day before, but it was supposed to be windy, so we delayed until today in hopes that it would be better.  I'd also planned on trying to get out earlier rather than later so that we could fit in an early lunch, or breakfast, and not get in the way of plans later in the day.  Luckily both of those worked out. It wasn't too windy and we were able to get out right on time to head down to Luray.

Front Royal - FRR

The departure was standard, with a little turbulence over the mountains.  On the way out, I pointed out Upperville (2VG2), Mount Weather, Front Royal (FRR), Skyline Drive, and a random assortment of other roads and landmarks.  The turbulence really didn't let up in the valley, but it didn't bother me too much.  Being a frequent flier of the commercial sort, it didn't bother my dad much either.

Final into Luray - W45

The approach into Luray ended up being a little high, so I ended up slipping the plane in during the approach.  I'm not sure how my dad had heard of that before, but when I mentioned what I was doing, he was familiar with it.  I also explained the whole "barn door" approach path indicator system and how it would let me know if I was high or low with about as much technology as smoke signals for communication, but it works, right?  The slip worked out well, and I ended up greasing in a nice landing on Runway 22.  Despite the nice landing, I ended up locking the wheels up slightly as the runway dips right after the touch down zone and we ended up getting airborne for a few feet.  Since I was braking and we lost contact with the ground, the wheels didn't have to work against the aircraft's weight and locked.  When we settled back on the runway the locked wheels took a second to catch back up.  In the end it wasn't a big deal, though it did catch me off guard.  In any case, I turned around and taxied back to the tie downs so that we could run into town for a few hours.

John, the airport attendant on the weekends, suggested a place called Uncle Bucks for breakfast.  Initially, I thought we'd just go back to Artisans Grill, but it was early enough that we could get breakfast.  Despite the wait, it was actually pretty good.  I had corned beef hash, and it was awesome.  I really can't remember what my dad ate, but my attention was taken by the amazingness of my own dish, to be honest.

After breakfast, we figured we'd walk around town before calling John to pick us back up, but the quick walk ended up being all the way back to the airport.  It was nice out, so why not?  The town is pretty small, and had some interesting small town sights.  On the outskirts of the town, we passed the entrance to Luray Caverns, and then continued past a petting zoo and corn maze back to the airport.  I still have yet to actually go into the caverns, though I've driven by them several times.

The flight back was uneventful.  I ended up filing a flight plan on my cell phone using DUATS, instead of bothering with Flight Service, on the phone or in the air.  Closer in to Leesburg, past Front Royal, the turbulence started to get worse, and my dad got to run his own mini-experiment with the altimeter, where he watched to see how much we actually "fell" when we dropped in turbulence.  It's really not that much, even though I explained that basic altimeters have some lag in their indication.  Unfortunately, when we made it back to Leesburg, I proved planes can fall quite quickly - onto the runway.  It wasn't a terrible landing, but compared to the nicer landing into Luray, it wasn't nearly as graceful.

I'll have to dream up an interesting destination for next time.

Hours:
Pilot in Command Cross Country (PIC XC): 1.4 - 38.6 (of 50)
Actual/Simulated Instrument (Act/Sim): 0 - 4.2 (of 40)

They Just Hand Me the Keys Now

N329ME - C172S - 1.7 hours

Since my friend Jeanne is in town, she's been running all over Washington DC, exploring places I haven't been to in my entire life of living here.  One of the places she had yet to explore was the Udvar Hazy Center, which is an extension of the Smithsonian's Air and Space Museum.  Since my roommate Mat is a volunteer there, we all piled into a car and used his badge to avoid the $15 parking.  As we were walking around, I got the idea that we should all go flying somewhere to get dinner.  I really wanted to take Jeanne flying while she's here, and I figured it was a good opportunity.  Standing in the midst of so many aircraft really wasn't helping my addiction, either, to be honest.  My dad and I had also planned on going flying today anyway, but we opted to wait until Sunday in hopes of avoiding the strong winds that were supposed to rip through.

After we left the museum, we headed home to grab flight stuff and set off for the airport.  Since it was after hours, I got the keys from our flight school's lock box, and had hoped to find the extra headset I had asked for, but someone forgot to throw it in there.  Thinking they left it in the plane, I went up to preflight and explain the whole process to Jeanne, while Mat checked the fuel and explained anything I hadn't.  When I preflight, I tend to get into a 'mode' of sorts, so I can get pretty short since I'm concentrating so much on making sure everything is in order, which makes me a poor communicator of the finer aspects, unless I really try.  As I was making my final checks, Mat looked around to see if the headset was sitting around inside the plane, to no avail.  In the end, he gave his set up for Jeanne to use.

Jeanne at the controls

The departure was standard, out what I call the Southwest Exit, defined by Upperville Airport.  Heading directly south puts you in conflict with the SFRA, and also puts you too low over some terrain, so I head west first, and then south.  From there, once we were away from the airspace around Dulles, I let Jeanne take the controls for a while.  Surprisingly, she did pretty well, though the setting sun wasn't helping her see the horizon, which in addition to the turbulence, made keeping the plane level difficult.  In any case, we didn't dive, climb steeply, or bank too hard, so I'd call it a success.

Getting closer in to CHO, I called the tower and made a straight in approach to Runway 21.  After landing, we walked in to Landmark and picked up their crew car for a trip to grab burgers at the ever-so-awesome Timberwood Grill.



On the way home, Potomac helped speed up the return immensely as ASPER was able to clear me into the Bravo airspace so I could remain a little higher to better take advantage of the tailwind.  It was very nice of him since he had a departure push going out on Dulles' Runway 30, which meant they would be aimed right at me.  I set a new speed record for myself, getting from CHO to JYO in 0.7 hours.  For those averse to the concept of math, that's 42 minutes engine on to engine off.  Not bad.

Hours:
Pilot in Command Cross Country (PIC XC): 1.7 - 37.2 (of 50)
Actual/Simulated Instrument (Act/Sim): 0 - 4.2 (of 40)

Virginia Tech versus Miami

N6017N - C172S - 3.7 hours

As I mentioned in the last post, I've always wanted to fly down to Virginia Tech for a football game.  The campus has an airport on it, which happens to be right next to the stadium, making things really easy and convenient.  When I was a student there, I worked at the airport on game days to help with parking and fueling aircraft, and most of the time, I was plotting in my head how to make it work, and what the whole experience would be like.  I finally got to live out those day dreams from years ago today.

The build up to the flight was pretty rocky, because weight caused troubles, as usual.  I got a C172S in hopes that the larger engine and higher payload would allow us to bring a fourth person with us, but the G1000 equipment weighs a little more, in addition to some of the extra equipment that's installed in this plane.  With that, I had to cut us back to three people.  Originally, my friend Ashley's roommate, Megan, was going to bring one of her friends, but he backed out and Ashley took his spot.  Once that was all settled, things got back to the norm.

I showed up at the airport a little earlier than normal to run the weight numbers one last time, check the weather, file a flight plan, and get everything else set up.  When Ashley and Megan showed up, we headed out to the plane to preflight and get ready for the flight down.  I ran through my normal preflight, while Ashley went through her own, explaining the whole process to Megan so she knew exactly what we were checking and why.  After the plane was thoroughly shaken down, we set off to the southwest.

On the way out, I tried to pick up flight following from Potomac Departure (ASPER), but they dished me off on another sector of Approach (MULRR), who then dished me off on another sector (MANNE), who finally set me up with flight following.  I'm definitely not complaining - especially since they were able to accommodate me - I just thought it was comical (note the KOKV departure point - apparently there was something wrong with the way the flight was entered, because Center saw an oddity with it as well, not that it really matters).

Southwest of Staunton, VA

Further down the line, I talked to Center, Potomac again (CHOWE), and then back to Center (Hot Springs).  While with Center, one of my friends jumped on the position to say hi, and ask if we could take a few pictures so she could see what this area of the scope actually looks like.  If you think about it, they just stare at a screen with some lines on it all day, and the terrain and the colors all go unseen.  It makes sense you'd want to see what it looks like from the pilot side, just so you can get a feel for what's really there.


Just as soon as she jumped on, she had to head off, and we had to go talk to Roanoke Approach on the way into Blacksburg.  For those of you who are familiar with that area of the state, we flew west of McAfee's knob, down Blacksburg/Catawba Road, over the campus, and then made our way in for a landing.

Luckily, having worked at Tech's airport, I knew how the whole game day show went.  We parked on the closed runway, wing to wing with a Cirrus, and headed inside for a much needed bathroom break.  Mat and my friend Jeanne, who had come in Thursday night from Denmark, had driven down and met us in the terminal.

After that, it was Jimmy John's, begging for tickets, Tech slipping one by Miami for the win, and a walk back to the airport to head home.

Lane Stadium

I had thought we'd have more daylight by the time the game ended, but as we were walking back to the airport, it was very clearly dark outside.  Luckily, Tech has an obstacle departure procedure that can be followed, to ensure we remain clear of terrain, which helped any apprehension of the terrain to a certain degree, I think.  To be honest, I think we were more distracted by the King Airs and Citations that came screaming out of the airport on their way home.  Tech being uncontrolled, it's up to the pilots to coordinate not hitting each other, and two of them came pretty close to each other.  I wouldn't say they came dangerously close, but too close for my own comfort.  Luckily, none of them were too close to us.

After that, it was a long and dark, yet calm flight back.  After departing Tech, we talked to Roanoke, then Washington Center, and lastly Potomac.  For whatever reason, the controllers in Potomac seemed off on the way home, just in the manner of phraseology.  After making sure I'd be okay with the SFRA with CHOWE, I got dumped on MANNE, where I asked for a clearance into Dulles' airspace, so that I didn't have to fly so low over the terrain at night.  Instead of bothering with the coordination, MANNE dumped me on ASPER to ask him.  Long story short, they kept me out, but it wasn't a big deal.

Once we got back, I shut the plane down, parked it and headed home.  I know I was tired.  Hand flying for 3.7 hours will do that to you, especially when combined with the jumping and yelling that go on at Tech games.

Pass up the bird!




Hours:
Pilot in Command Cross Country (PIC XC): 3.7 - 35.5 (of 50)
Actual/Simulated Instrument (Act/Sim): 0 - 4.2 (of 40)

Newfangled Gadgets

N6017N - C172S - 1.1 hours

What I'm used to

Aside from flying to a vacation destination, as I mentioned in a previous post, I've also always wanted to fly down to a football game at Virginia Tech.  I've been offering to take people down to games, but up until now, nobody's taken me up on it.  Earlier this morning, my friend Ashley set me up with her roommate to talk about a trip.  Because it's supposed to be nice this weekend, most of the planes were booked.  The only one left with enough space in the schedule was one of the G1000 C172S models.  Since this isn't the standard panel most of us learned to fly on, it requires a checkout in order to rent it.  That being the case, I had to book the plane and an instructor tonight to get signed off to fly it on Saturday.  Despite the instructor, Thomas, and my joke that if you're under 30 you could probably figure it out pretty well on your own, requirements are requirements, so off we went.

See the difference?

To be honest, going into the whole thing, I wasn't too enthused about flying "glass," as it's called.  It's not that I'm afraid of it.  It's not that I hate technology.  I know they're IFR capable and I know they have battery backups, but as someone who works with computers all day, I'm very familiar with the idea of single point of failure.  All of your instruments on two flat screen panels reduces the number of points of failure, which is not a good thing.  Then again, as I'm typing this, I'm remembering that most of the planes I've flown in have only one static port, which is arguably worse as it truly is a single point of failure (a blockage of the static port can make a number of your instruments worthless), but I digress.

I think in the end my biggest aversion to them is that people think they're a huge leap forward in aviation.  Don't get me wrong the features (lean assist, among several others) are awesome to reduce workload and optimize performance, but there's something to be said for not putting too much faith in technology.  I'd prefer not to be in the soup with only the basic three instruments.  For those wanting to go down the "it's what the airlines have" route, you're right, but they also often have dual generators, dual batteries, and so on. In any case, I'm making it out to be a bigger deal than it really is, especially now, since I don't have my instrument rating anyway.  It's just an I-work-too-much-with-computers-to-fully-trust-them thing.

During the flight, as I was poking around at the displays, with my eyes distinctly not outside, I figured I might as well get some hood time, so I threw the hood on to start logging.  We tracked the Martinsburg VOR (MRB - a radio beacon), flew headings, and otherwise just prodded the screen to see what it would do for us.  One of the extra features Thomas managed to find was the XM Radio, so we listened to some of that before heading back in to Leesburg (JYO).  For those of you wondering how we hear ATC or other people on the frequency while blasting ourselves with XM Radio, it has auto-interrupt when it senses a transmission on the frequency.

By the end of the flight, I came to like the G1000, but I'm still not going out of my way to fly an aircraft with it installed.  Then again, I won't specifically avoid it.  That gets me thinking, though.  Because I just displayed an aversion to new technology, does that mean I'm getting older?  I'll tell myself no, since I used it with relative ease (if you've used a G530 before, you'll be relatively at home here), but who knows.

Hours:
Pilot in Command Cross Country (PIC XC): 0 - 31.8 (of 50)
Actual/Simulated Instrument (Act/Sim): 0.3 - 4.2 (of 40)