Initially, there was some talk that I would be flying someone around this weekend, but I never heard back about it. By the time Saturday came and I saw how nice it was outside, the thought that I should have been flying resurfaced. Not being able to suppress the thought, I called Phil to see if he would want to be a safety pilot for a few hours.
My initial thought was a quick trip out to Grant County (W99), because it has an interesting approach, and would be an easy flight out and back. Phil brought up the idea of State College (UNV) again, from the times we've debated doing it in the past, adding that it would be a good spot for dinner. Unfortunately, the dinner idea didn't work out as well as we had expected, as the restaurant we wanted to go to would have been closed by the time we got there. Adding to that issue was that the wind at airports to the north and east weren't exactly the best. While we both noted that I had previously put a plane down on a tiny runway with a gusty crosswind (note that the link refers to plans to go to UNV, as well), I really didn't want to deal with it. We also looked at a few other airports, but as you've heard several times before, I knew there would be a car and a restaurant in Charlottesville (CHO), and the airport had an instrument approach along with favorable wind.
Phil and I preflighted and set up the equipment while waiting for fuel and oil. For some reason, it seems that the new FBO, ProJet Aviation, is a little slow with fuel requests. They were also the reason for our late departure on my last flight down to Raleigh (RDU). Given that they're new, I'll give them time to adjust, but it's still somewhat irksome when seemingly nothing else is going on.
Taxiing down to the runway, the bald spot the tire that we noted on the preflight was causing quite a rumble (you can see the camera shake in the takeoff video above). It wasn't bad enough to have to take the plane back, but it was definitely obvious. After departing, we headed west to get out of the SFRA, and then south towards CHO. In that process, I was able to throw the blinders on and log some time. Getting closer to CHO, I called Potomac Approach for flight following and a practice ILS approach to Runway 3. After being vectored around a bit for spacing from other traffic, I was turned inbound for the approach.For some reason, I managed to park in front of the wrong hangar, despite having flown there too many times to make that mistake. After moving the plane, we found the crew car gone (the people using it had kept it over the two hour limit), and the attendant unable to let us borrow the van "just in case he needed it." The curiosity, however, was that he was also unable to drop us off because he needed to remain at the airport. So, what exactly would you need to keep the van for when you're unable to leave the airport? Even more of a curiosity was the fact that he dropped us off at the terminal to get a cab, which is arguably just about the same amount of time as driving us to Timberwood Grill.
The cabbie we got from the terminal partially ignored us and was on his phone most of the time during the ride, to the point where I had to interrupt him a few times to point him in the right direction. A 1.5 mile journey for his minimum fee of $25. Luckily the food was good and the cab ride back was much better. It was cheaper and the cabbie was hilarious.
Heading back, there was a little bit of an issue with the comms that we somehow sorted out by the hold short point for Runway 3. Shortly after departing the tower closed (as a normal, nightly thing - not because of the impending tower closures) and I picked up flight following back to Leesburg (JYO). After a handoff to another controller, I isolated my comms (cutting Phil off from hearing me and ATC) and asked if I could get a touch and go at Dulles (IAD). The controller initially declined the request, saying "they don't do that anymore," but later came back with "expect an operation at Dulles - proceed direct to Dulles." I was given Runway 1L, which for anyone else flying into IAD is a punishment (because of the absurdly long taxi to the terminal), but was welcomed by myself as it meant I wasn't getting in anyone's way. Checking in with the tower controller, I was met with "say request," which caught me by surprise, as it should have already been communicated that I would be doing a touch and go. I responded that I would be doing a touch and go on Runway 1L, which was met with a slightly perturbed "and then what?" After letting her know I'd be going to JYO, we landed, took off, and headed off in that direction.
Phil got the landing at JYO. For not having landed a plane since we last flew together back in January, it wasn't too bad. In the end, I got 1.6 hours of simulated instrument time towards the 40 that I need for the rating. Looks like I need to cut down on the joyrides and force myself to work harder at it, but at the same time, all of the joyrides are contributing to the total hours that I'll need later for the commercial rating and beyond.
As long as the weather behaves, the next flight should be at the end of next month down to Roanoke.
Hours:
Pilot in Command Cross Country (PIC XC): 2.3 - 82.0 (of 50)
Actual/Simulated Instrument (Act/Sim): 1.6 - 12.1 (of 40)
