The Long Instrument Cross Country

N944DB - P28R - 5.0 hours

While I've been planning multiple variations for my long instrument cross country for some time, I never actually got around to flying it. Usually, it came down to an issue where I had other plans for flying, and that meant that there wasn't enough left in the month's flying budget for the longer flight in addition to the extra cost of having a CFI in the right seat. About a month ago, though, I was checking my progress against the requirements of the instrument rating and commercial pilot certificate and noticed that I'm getting rather close to both (as such, those who have read earlier posts here will notice the new additions to the hours section at the end of this post). Given my tendency to plan things out in great detail, I began to plan out the time between now and commercial minimums.

Aforementioned Simulated Aircraft

As one could probably tell, given my lack of updating this blog despite having flown a decent amount, flying the same aircraft that I've been flying for 12 years has been wearing on me. It's not that flying itself is getting boring; it's that one of my jobs allows me to fly simulations of some rather complex aircraft, and in comparison, a Cessna seems rather dull. Luckily, to satisfy my need for something different, the commercial requirements require 10 hours in a complex aircraft, and the school I rent from has an Archer to fit that purpose. In order to get my instrument rating I also need more instrument time, so on top of the new aircraft and a route to satisfy the long instrument cross country, I figured I'd do a significant portion with the blinders on. So, apart from getting to experience something new, I'd be able to maximize my flight dollar by knocking off several requirements in one long flight.

In order to get as much time in the Arrow as I could, while still getting the instrument cross country done, I planned out a flight that somewhat followed the shape of Virginia. This would allow me to depart Leesburg (JYO) and fly a route that provided flexibility for the approaches I wanted to fly. As planned, the routes were KJYO CSN V286 CCV V1 ORF [VOR 23] KCPK - KCPK FKN V266 SBV V136 PIGGS [ILS 34] KROA - KROA MOL V143 HOAGE [RNAV 17] KJYO. I had figured that the initial VOR approach into Chesapeake (CPK) would get the VOR approach out of the way, but also allow for a circling approach at a relatively calm airport if needed (though the forecast showed the wind favoring Runway 23 anyway). After that, Roanoke (ROA) had an ILS, an LDA, and a few RNAV approaches that I could fly, which allowed me to fly the opposite approach - ILS or RNAV - at JYO.

After getting back from my earlier flight, I grabbed the book and checklist to go familiarize myself with the plane for about an hour before the flight. The flight school I had worked at back in 2009 had a fleet of Archers and a couple Arrows that had a similar layout, so it wasn't entirely unfamiliar even though I had never flown them. After coming to grips with where everything was and getting all of my accessories situated - kneeboard ready, blinders readily available, and iPad within reach - Tim met me at the plane and we set off toward CPK.

Potomac TRACON (PCT) cleared us via STILL CSN WAIKS, despite my well-intended filed route. We were cleared to CSN well before getting to the STILL intersection, and it was about that point that I began to see how sluggish the Arrow can be in the summer with full fuel and two people in it. Passing through 5000, PCT asked us if we could give them our best rate to 6000, which we acknowledged, and then joked to each other that we were essentially already giving it to them, despite it being rather paltry. Just prior to reaching CSN, we were given a vector to the southeast, and then direct to CPK. Closer to CPK, Norfolk TRACON sent us to the ORF VOR and cleared us for the approach.

The approach clearance came a little late, which resulted in needing to turn back toward the approach course, but that also allowed me to get rid of some extra altitude, so it wasn't unwelcome. The rest of the approach wasn't bad, and having Tim calling the altitudes and managing the radios made things a lot easier. After switching to the CPK common traffic advisory frequency (CTAF), we were somewhat surprised by the lack of traffic in the pattern as it was such a nice day. After taking the blinders off, I maneuvered for landing and brought the plane in. For my first landing in an Arrow, it wasn't terrible, but managing the heavier controls made things interesting.

After taxiing off the runway and back down to the runup area, we began to set up for the next leg of the flight. Unfortunately, we couldn't raise anyone on the clearance or approach frequencies for a clearance while still on the ground, so we planned on departing VFR and picking up our IFR clearance in the air. While we were on the ground hoping for a response from the controllers, I snapped a picture of the altimeter. I know I've flown to Ocean City (OXB) a few times, which is close to sea level, but I don't think I ever paid attention to how close to sea level the altimeter showed that we were. To me, seeing it so low was novel enough for a picture.

Soon after, we were airborne and flying the noise abatement departure procedure, as there are houses pretty close to the airport on the west side. Tim called for clearance while I maneuvered toward the FKN VOR to begin my planned route. Unlike with PCT earlier, Norfolk cleared us "as filed," which made things easier as I didn't have to write down a full route clearance and set a new flight plan into the GPS. Approaching Suffolk Airport (SFQ), we were vectored away from it in order to avoid parachute jumpers. Later on, after FKN, we were given direct ROA, with a vector around restricted airspace near Blackstone Army Air Field (BKT). Closer to Lynchburg (LYH), we were handed off to Roanoke TRACON, who noticed the remark on the flight plan requesting the ILS or RNAV approach, and were cleared for the ILS approach to Runway 34. I chased the localizer and glide slope more than I would have liked, but I ended up generally where I wanted to be when I took the blinders off, so all was not lost. The landing, too, wasn't too graceful, as I chopped the power a little early and the nose dropped some just prior to touching down.

After we taxied over to Landmark and shut down, Tim gave the line guy the fuel order and I snapped a picture of the plane and walked inside. By then we were pretty hungry, so we grabbed a crew car and set off in search of food, which ended up being Sonic right down the road. That trip turned into another trip as we'd been handed the wrong order and drove off without checking it. After scarfing food, joking a bit with the staff, and settling the fuel bill, we went back out to the plane to head home.

Tim, working the radios again, called for clearance. Like the initial clearance from JYO to CPK, this one was altered, but it was also altered to the point that the whole clearance was just a single fix, so it was a simple change. We were given Runway 34 for departure as well, which meant a relatively immediate turn after departure because of terrain. The Arrow climbed slowly through the now hotter air, though some updrafts off of the terrain assisted at times. The associated turbulence, however, wasn't as welcomed.

The leg home was rather uneventful. We flew right up the eastern side of the Shenandoah Valley, and as soon as we crossed over into the Piedmont we were sent up to the initial approach fix for the RNAV approach to Runway 17 at JYO. The approach went relatively well, but an intermittent GPS position issue knocked my vertical guidance out and I had not caught it. The result was that I was slightly below path for the latter part of the approach. For future approaches, I'll have to be more mindful of the flags. In order to mesh better with traffic in the area, we broke off the approach and circled around to land on Runway 35. This landing was better than the one at ROA, but it'll take me more time to get used to the Arrow.

Rolling out long, we jumped off on the taxiway that put us right near our parking spot, shut down, and put the plane away. Despite the sluggishness in the climb, the Arrow was an enjoyable departure from the norm. In the end, the flight was 5.0 hours, which means that I have another 5.0 hours in it to finish off the commercial requirement. Having knocked out the long instrument cross country, 3.9 combined actual/simulated instrument, and my biennial flight review (BFR), I'd consider it a success. Now all I need to do is rack up 12.8 more hours of instrument time and I can go take care of the instrument rating. Having that will really open up the possibilities for flying days to begin taking a closer aim at the commercial requirements. Along those lines, I need to finish the aforementioned 5.0 hours in a complex aircraft; fly a solo cross country trip with a leg length of greater than 250 nautical miles between JYO and some other airport, stopping at another airport on either the way out, or the way back; and finish up the remainder of the 69.3 hours between what I have now and the 250 hour minimum. So close, yet so far away.

Hours:
Pilot in Command Cross Country (PIC XC): 5.0 - 112.0 (of 50)
Actual/Simulated Instrument (Act/Sim): 3.9 - 27.2 (of 40)
Dual Complex: 5.0 - 5.0 (of 10)
Total Time in Aircraft: 5.0 - 180.7 (of 250)

So I Almost Ran Out of Fuel

Granted, I almost ran out of said fuel in a sim – where you can print your own money and fix planes with free mouse clicks – but the lesson I learned was an important one.

It's a situation you really don't ever want to be in.  Well before you're handed the keys to an airplane, an instructor is supposed to have drilled the idea of proper planning for just about anything into your head.  That's all nice information for your average fly-by-day weekend warrior, but it becomes even more important to your instrument flight rules fliers: running out of fuel and not being able to see the ground doesn’t quite give you a fighting chance to set down somewhere forgiving.

I, of course, strapped into a plane, knowing the weather was low even at the departure airport, and set off for an airport buried in mountains.  The only thought in my mind when planning fuel was "the flight takes about 50 minutes, so two hours of fuel looks good."  Why?  That’s the value I generally always use to get there.  I didn’t give any thought to hold fuel, alternate fuel, or contingency fuel, which ended up getting me close to trouble.

Here’s how it all shook out:

One of my favorite routes is Dulles (IAD) to Roanoke (ROA) and back.  It’s short, and when the weather isn’t ideal – read as “less than nice, but not terrible” – you often have to shoot a somewhat challenging LDA approach that brings you down a valley.  Even at the departure airport, though, things weren’t particularly nice.

KIAD 170152Z 00000KT 2SM -DZ BR OVC005 11/10 A3027 RMK AO2 SLP250 P0000 T01060100

For the non-pilots reading this, that's a wonderful combination of low clouds and low visibility, due to drizzle and mist.  This makes approaching and landing at an airport more difficult than normal.

Of course, I paid little attention to the fact that bad weather at IAD often means worse weather down near ROA.  Sadly, that’s something I should know all too well, having spent four years near ROA while at Virginia Tech.  Moreover, one of those years included a trip back to Tech in this same month of November where Interstate 81 got shut down due to an accident caused by poor weather.   I chose the Blue Ridge Parkway as an alternate route, assuming it was something others wouldn’t think of, and would choose Route 11 instead.  Unfortunately, the November weather was all too similar, and I ended up crawling along the Parkway in heavy fog.  My assumption that nobody would be driving on it proved correct, however.

That lesson was apparently forgotten.  Had I bothered to check the weather, I would’ve seen this:
KROA 170254Z 14003KT 1/2SM FG VV002 11/11 A3025 RMK AO2 SLP244 60001 T01110111 56004 $

Again, for the non-pilots, that’s worse visibility than at IAD, because of fog.  Beyond that, I would’ve also checked a few alternates around ROA to be sure I could land there if the weather at ROA was too bad.  Alas, I did not.


Everything was normal until I got closer to ROA and finally decided to check the weather.  Even then I didn’t really put the weather together with the minimums on the charted approaches (the weather was below the minimums for all of the approaches at ROA).  As I got closer to the airspace controlled by ROA Approach, the controller restated the weather and asked my intentions.  My response was what most pilots say while still in denial: “we’ll give it a shot and head to an alternate if we can’t make it in.”

At that point, I reduced my thrust to slow the aircraft down in hopes that arriving later would mean the weather would clear up some.  This move ended up costing me extra fuel though that I really didn't have, as I didn’t add any contingency fuel.  Of course, had I actually looked at the forecast I would’ve seen that the move was futile, as weather wasn’t supposed to improve until the following morning.

Getting closer to ROA, I started looking at the weather at other fields:

KBCB 170255Z AUTO 00000KT 1 3/4SM BR OVC016 11/11 A3025 RMK AO2
KPSK 170255Z AUTO 00000KT 10SM OVC013 11/11 A3024 RMK AO2


Since Blacksburg (BCB) was a little closer, I chose to try an approach there, despite the lower visibility.  I flew the LOC/DME Runway 12 approach, which is an approach I’ve flown before outside of the sim, one snowy February day in a Cessna 207.  I flew it down to the minimums twice before deciding to try somewhere else, making nervous glances at my fuel on the second approach.  Having looked at Pulaski (PSK) before, I decided to try an approach there.

The ILS Z Runway 6 approach into PSK was nice and easy.  With the glideslope and increased visibility, I was able to spot the approach lights while still pretty far out with no issue.

By the time I’d landed, I had about 45 minutes of fuel left, so I ended up landing with a reasonable amount.  The issue, however, is that it all came down to chance.  I got lucky that the weather at PSK was as good as it was.  Had it not been that good, 45 minutes of fuel may not have been enough to get to another destination, make an approach, and land.  Had I properly planned, I would have planned better for the weather by adding fuel to accommodate any issues it might have caused.

While the sim doesn’t have the same dire consequences as the real world, the stress I was feeling in the situation will hopefully stick with me.  I’m hoping it’s memorable enough to push me to plan all my flights such that I won’t find myself in a similar real world situation.

Actual/Simulated Instrument (Act/Sim): 0.0 - 13.7 (of 40)
Despite all of this happening in a sim, it wasn't in a sim approved by the FAA for logging time.

Visiting an Old Friend

N96178 - C172P - 3.2 hours

My cousin got engaged about a month ago, which is, of course, a reason for celebration.  Because my cousin's now fiancée grew up in Roanoke, and that's where they currently live, said celebration would be down there.  I decided to save myself the hassle of driving and fly down.  Excuses, right?

Sitting right seat was my buddy Aaron (from one of the several CHO flights), who was along to enjoy the flight and share some time at the controls.

In order to cut costs slightly, I booked a C172P, which is an older model than I normally fly.  As an interesting aside (okay, it might be slightly more interesting to me than it would be to you), the only C172P left at Av-Ed (JYO) is N96178, which is the plane I soloed in 9 years ago.  Since then, it's gotten a few avionics upgrades, to include a Garmin 530.  If you're wondering where the post's title came from, it's an allusion to the plane.

EMB-120 that arrived during the delay

The day didn't start off too well as Landmark Aviation JYO had apparently forgotten to order fuel prior to today, so they were out by this morning.  Because of that, the local planes were having to fuel up in Winchester (OKV), which is some 20-30 minutes away by air.  In the end, we got the plane an hour after we were supposed to depart with it.  Despite the delay, I've read enough horror stories in past issues of AOPA's magazines and other books to remind myself to always be thorough, even when in a rush.  After my normal preflight, we jumped in and took to the sky.



Of course, the clouds had dropped slightly lower, which cut us off from my over-the-mountain direct plan, so we had to fly south past Charlottesville (CHO), follow the I-64 mountain pass, and then continue down I-81 to Roanoke (ROA).  This, of course, added more time.  I can't really argue, though.  Aaron is working towards his private pilot license (PPL), so I let him take the controls for a good portion of the flight.  We definitely got to see some cool scenery, though.  The weather being nicer, people were all over the rivers and lakes, too.

After calling Roanoke Approach up, they vectored me inbound for an approach on Runway 6.  If you watch the video, you an see that the flight path follows I-81 for a while (prior to and after ROA's vectors).  From there, we flew west of Tinker Mountain (the twin-peaked mountain in the picture at left), then over Carvins Cove Reservoir, and onto the downwind.  Approach turned me over to tower, who cleared me to land midfield on the downwind.  In an effort to get in a little quicker, I turned base way too close to the runway and ended up having to slip to kill altitude all the way down final.  The approach was salvaged, I landed pretty well all considering, and made my intended taxiway, so all wasn't lost.  Tower sent me to ground, ground got me pointed towards Landmark ROA, and after parking we set off towards family and food.


The way back also had clouds in the way of my intended more direct route, but this time larger breaks allowed a slightly more direct route than the way down.  After departing ROA, I asked for flight following and in the 1.6 hours that followed we had a few traffic calls, mostly as we got closer to Dulles (IAD).  Nothing too incredibly interesting happened otherwise.  Sorry for the relatively boring narrative for the way back, but sometimes, things are just simple and that's all you can say.

Hours:
Pilot in Command Cross Country (PIC XC): 3.2 - 61.4 (of 50)
Actual/Simulated Instrument (Act/Sim): 0.0 - 6.6 (of 40)