After my last flight, I wasn't sure if I'd fit one more flight in before I needed to go up for another biennial flight review (BFR). As I've alluded to recently, I'm letting my privileges lapse at the end of the month and not going up for a BFR for a little while. I have some big plans for flying in the future, but those plans are somewhat contingent on making sure my financial situation is rock solid. I won't go into details about it, but many of you have heard me speak about the plans on a personal level. I set a goal for myself, and I'm going to hit it. The only downside is this hiatus from flying, albeit temporary.
I actually have to admit not being able to control an urge to fly for this flight. A friend of mine posted something on Facebook asking what people do to find an inner calm, and I half-seriously offered a flight out of town if it would help. Of course, that got me thinking, and I booked a plane anyway. The weather was perfect, and I've always wanted to take some more artistic shots of the planes I fly without being around a ton of other planes, or people wondering what the heck I'm doing.
I tried charging my cameras in the car, but that didn't work as well as I'd expected. Luckily, only the ContourGPS complained when I loaded it into the plane. As such, I just gave up on the forward-facing camera view, left the ContourROAM2 on the wing view, and moved the ContourROAM to a panel-facing view, taking advantage of the lack of a passenger. And why not? I figured if it was going to be my last flight for a while, some solo time to bond with the plane would be appropriate.
I chose Luray (LUA) because there aren't many aircraft based there, and there are some great mountains as a backdrop. It's a nice short flight, too. The flight down was fittingly smooth, and I watched a few people take advantage of the nice weather on Skyline Drive down below. The landing in Luray was nice and easy. Landing uphill on Runway 4 makes it easy to roll down the runway with little braking to the transient parking.
[Video got lost when Contour closed down for a while.]
Kenny (the airport attendant) asked if I needed anything while I was on the downwind, and for once I didn't take him up on a ride into town. I just replied that I'd be taking pictures and he left it at that. Sparing the normal narrative, I figure I'll just get to the pictures.
See what I mean about those mountains? Awesome. It's nice to have a mostly empty ramp around you, too. A photogenic subject makes it pretty easy, too.
I'm still intrigued by the wing of the DA40. It definitely shows the company's roots in making motor gliders. Also pictured, the Blue Ridge living up to its name.
I posterized the heck out of this one. Why? Because I could. I figured it would give it an interesting effect.
This one is my absolute favorite of the whole group. The angle, the color, the sunburst, and the lens flare it caused are just awesome.
After standing around, taking pictures, and just getting away from the craziness of life for a while, I decided I should head back home. Part of me wanted to stick around to get some pictures of the sunset in the background, but that would've required waiting a couple more hours.
I brought the plane back to the end of Runway 4 and set off towards home. In order to keep the temperature down in the cabin, I kept both windows open until the end of the runway. I ended up forgetting the passenger side window, which you can hear in the departure video.
[Video got lost when Contour closed down for a while.]
Despite wanting to savor the trip home, I actually kept the speed up. I guess if I have the speed I'll use it. There was a certain amount of internal pressure that I placed on myself to make my last landing a good one, but I actually pulled off a landing I was rather proud of. The new camera angle (for the DA40, anyway - I used the same angle in the FDK 500 video, which was a C172R) is shown here.
[Video got lost when Contour closed down for a while.]
One thing the DA40 pilots can probably relate to is the fact that trying to put the plane back in its spot without a tow bar is quite the task. Without a second person, and uphill, it becomes nearly impossible. Up to this point, I've always flown with someone who could at least give a hand. I'm pretty sure anyone watching probably had a laugh at my expense, but as you'll see in the picture, I pulled it off in the end.
I plan on posting while I'm away from flying. What the posts will be about, time will tell, but I'm betting that it'll be related to keeping up with the technology and happenings in the NAS. If anyone has suggestions on what to write about, you can always drop a line either on Facebook, or Twitter.
Hours: Pilot in Command Cross Country (PIC XC): 1.3 - 86.5 (of 50) Actual/Simulated Instrument (Act/Sim): 0.0 - 13.7 (of 40)
Similar to the last flight, this one was somewhat of a last-minute flight, where I was asked at 1500 if I wanted to fly at 1700. Since my planned flight to Roanoke (ROA) got cancelled this past weekend because of wind, I was in need of a flight and jumped at the chance. Since the flight school likes us to keep current in the aircraft by flying the type of aircraft every 60 days, I needed to fly the DA40 before 6 June. Nick suggested Charlottesville (CHO), just to keep things simple, and I suggested the DA40 to keep me current. Unfortunately, as my flight bag was still prepped for my ROA flight, it lacked the blinders. That meant I didn't log any of the simulated instrument that I really should be getting. I'll have to make that priority one after my hiatus.
Apart from an intimidating towering cumulus cloud in the direction of Manassas (HEF), and some associated wind, the lead up to the flight was normal. I set up all three cameras - one looking out on each wing, and the third looking forward - the audio setup, and the aircraft in general. The fuel truck also passed by, asking if we'd like fuel. Given my luck with getting fuel recently, I accepted the offer. The departure was normal, though I'm still getting used to using rudder alone to keep myself on the centerline.
[Video got lost when Contour closed down for a while.]
Once out of the SFRA, and climbing under the Class B airspace, I passed the controls to Nick so he could get a feel for the Diamond. When he wasn't at the controls, he got some time picking the G1000 apart to find the various functions, which will definitely help in case he gets checked out at the flight school for either. I called the tower about 15 miles out and was instructed to proceed straight in for Runway 21. After landing, I brought the plane over to Landmark so that we could grab something quick from the vending machines and head back out.
[Video got lost when Contour closed down for a while.]
After jumping back in the plane to head home, I called the tower and the instructions were the usual: "Runway 21, taxi via Alpha." Getting closer to the runway, Nick switched the frequencies for me, and I let the tower know I was ready for departure. This time, however, the instruction was not the normal "Runway 21, cleared for takeoff, climb on course," or even the "Runway 21, cleared for takeoff, left downwind departure approved."
Here's what I heard:
"Diamond 571DS, [wind], Runway 21, cleared for takeoff - break - northbound departure approved."
You can even hear me questioning the word choice of 'break' for the transmission in the recording. 'Break' is a non-standard term used to quickly convey messages to multiple aircraft: "Diamond 571DS, Runway 21, cleared for takeoff - break - Cessna 172DR, make straight in, Runway 21." Given the way in which the message was conveyed, its use would not have made sense at all, but I somehow assumed he used 'break.'
My readback was "Runway 21, cleared for takeoff, north departure approved" (note the lack of direction - left or right - in my readback). Here's where, as the part I missed turned out to be important, the controller could have ensured I heard the transmission properly by repeating or clarifying the last instruction. Understand, however, that I am not trying to shirk my own responsibility for listening to and following ATC direction. I'm simply stating that both pilot and controller are charged with ensuring messages are received and understood (AIM 4-2-1 (b) and 7110.65 2-4-3 (b), respectively). From what I heard, the assumed use of the term 'break' seemed out of place, but the transmission as a whole seemed adequate and normal. When I didn't read back exact what was stated, the controller could have helped to avoid the situation by repeating the missed instruction.
Of course, since I didn't ask for clarification, the tower controller didn't confirm the one part of the readback (and Nick was probably wondering where my comments about the use of the term 'break' came from), I ended up turning the wrong direction after departure.
What was actually said was:
"Diamond 571DS, [wind], Runway 21, cleared for takeoff, right northbound departure approved."
While the instruction I had assumed - "Runway 21, cleared for takeoff - break - northbound departure approved" - would have given me the discretion for a turn, the actual instruction required a right turn. Since the traffic pattern at CHO uses standard left turns, and I have never turned right off of Runway 21, I made a turn to the left. Nick actually heard the transmission properly and asked "you know it was supposed to be a turn to the right, right?" By that time, the tower controller noticed I made the turn in the wrong direction, and instead of providing corrective action, advised me of my error and asked me to state my intentions.
Again, I'll take the hit for not clarifying, and for not following what was asked of me, but that last transmission irked me. My intentions were known (northbound departure), and it was also clear that I turned the wrong direction (even if not known to me at the time). Advising me of my error and asking me what I'd like to do wasn't going to solve anything. Without the vantage point from the tower and radar, I didn't know the traffic picture, despite having a general idea that two planes were inbound. My only response could be "let me know what you need me to do." Because of that, what could have been precious seconds were lost. In the end, I was provided a turn eastbound (though he initially stated westbound), and I managed to call the traffic in sight after Nick pointed it out.
To be honest, I'm very surprised that I made it out of that without getting the dreaded phone number (for the non-aviation readers, "the dreaded phone number" refers to ATC giving you a phone number to call to discuss the incident, and possibly corrective action). I was really glad when I finally heard "frequency change approved" as it meant he had no further instructions for me, to include said dreaded phone number.
After switching frequencies, I went to set up the radios for the flight home, but they had already been set by Nick. At that point, I didn't have anything left to do and just passed the controls to him so he could get more time. Closer to JYO, I took the controls back and landed on Runway 17. So far, that was one of the best landings I've had in the DA40.
[Video got lost when Contour closed down for a while.]
Despite the unfortunate departure out of CHO, it was nice to be able to go up for a quick flight.
Hours: Pilot in Command Cross Country (PIC XC): 1.1 - 85.2 (of 50) Actual/Simulated Instrument (Act/Sim): 0.0 - 13.7 (of 40)
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.
[Video got lost when Contour closed down for a while.]
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.
[Video got lost when Contour closed down for a while.]
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)
I normally embed my flight videos right into my posts, but that's because I upload the raw video to Contour or YouTube as I'm writing. Since I edited video from three cameras together into one for the Dizzy Yet? flight, I uploaded it well after publishing the flight narrative. For now, I'll probably post the flight narrative with a couple videos, and then follow that up with the edited video in another post, as with the case here.
I know some of you probably saw the Facebook or Twitter links to it, but for those of you who haven't seen the finished product, here it is (make sure to switch it up to 720p HD):
I learned a lot making this video, so the videos in the future should be better.
I was supposed to go on a flight with my friends Matt and Mike this past weekend, but weather got in the way of that twice. Saturday afternoon was cancelled because of low clouds and rain, and Sunday was cancelled because of wind and turbulence. Of course, having just received my new mounts and camera, I was itching to go play with the new toys.
As I've mentioned a few times in previous posts, the commercial pilot license requires a certain amount of solo night flight experience, and a part of that is 10 takeoffs and landings at a towered field. I've passively thought of my options since learning of the requirement, and my general conclusion was that none of them were particularly good. Charlottesville (CHO) requires about 45 minutes just to get there, though the tower stays open all night. Martinsburg (MRB) is closer, but the tower closes earlier than I'd need it to. Dulles (IAD) would be great, but the A/FD says "no flight training after 2200 local," and you'd be nuts to try to request pattern work there. After some thought, though, I remembered that Frederick (FDK) now has a tower, and it stays open long enough to fit in 10 landings after dark.
At first, I figured I'd wait and just take care of the flight later, but between the days getting longer and the potential for controllers to be furloughed in the near future, I thought the best time would be now. I booked a plane, packed my stuff, and set off towards Leesburg (JYO).
Before preflighting, I set up the three cameras so that I could get some video of it from multiple angles. The video that came from them wasn't the best, but the angles worked out pretty well for the flight itself. They'll all look better with a day flight, too. You know, being able to actually see things makes video that much better.
Here's the ContourGPS shot over the nose:
[Video got lost when Contour closed down for a while.]
I imagine that the ContourGPS will always be up somewhere on the windscreen so that it can get a clear shot up to the GPS satellites, so you'll always have that typical angle to look forward to. The next angle, shot from the ContourROAM is out the right window, which caught some pretty cool reflections off of the right wing. You can see the sunset reflected, and the moon as I turn north.
[Video got lost when Contour closed down for a while.]
The final angle I got with the new ContourROAM2 was of the panel, which included my back. Phil shoots from this angle with his GoPro, and the end result is pretty cool looking. I'll try it out the next time I fly during the day. Unfortunately, I didn't bother getting a larger SD card for the new camera, so it cut out just before I landed back at JYO.
[Video got lost when Contour closed down for a while.]
I also managed to get myself a copy of Adobe Premiere Elements 11, so the video edits in the future should be a heck of a lot cooler. Don't get me wrong, Windows Live Movie Maker is a decent starting point (not to mention, it's free), but it can't pull off what I'd like it to. We'll see what I can put together as I learn more about the program.
The flight up to FDK was nice and quick, and I was worked into the pattern behind another aircraft to begin what I saw as my own version of the Daytona 500. In order to pass the time, I made each lap a game of judging how well I got the nose up in the flare. After three times around, I told the controller taking over for the last controller that I was going to be doing seven more laps so that he knew what the plan was. He worked me in between a couple others who showed up for pattern work, and another couple of IFR arrivals. The last few trips around the pattern were under the guidance of the first controller. Getting closer to the 10 landings mark, I actually lost count, despite making tick marks on the scratchpad of ForeFlight. After an insurance lap, just in case I had double counted a lap, I let the controller know on the upwind that I was done bothering her for the night and was heading back to JYO. As she and I exchanged salutations, another pilot in the pattern checked to make sure I was spacially-oriented well enough to get home with "you dizzy yet?"
With the assistance of ForeFlight, I kept myself below the Class Bravo airspace as I got closer to JYO. The landing, which would make 12 for the night, was a simple straight in approach to Runway 17.
[Video got lost when Contour closed down for a while.]
I'm off to mess around with Premiere Elements 11 to see what I can to do these videos. So far, I haven't found a feature to correct my bonehead error of not properly leveling the ContourGPS, so I'll try to make sure it's level next time.
Hours: Pilot in Command Cross Country (PIC XC): 0.0 - 76.2 (of 50) Actual/Simulated Instrument (Act/Sim): 0.0 - 10.5 (of 40)
I joined the ranks of the more technologically advanced back in February when I got my ContourGPS. Since then, I've been gotten a few new mounts for it. The first one is the suction cup mount, which I've used for quite a while now, and you have all seen the results in the videos. It gets great shots over the nose of the plane, mounted up on the windscreen. Since the view from the inside is pretty normal these days (just look on YouTube), I started to look into ways to mount a camera externally. I've seen a few people mount cameras externally using the 3M tape that came with the camera, but I'm not so sure I'd trust tape against the relative wind and turbulence. Beyond that, the planes I fly are owned by other people, and I'm sure they wouldn't appreciate tape residue all over their planes. Looking around at the automotive mounts, I thought I'd found what I was looking for: a roll bar mount.
The mount comes with a hose clamp in a rubber sleeve, which keeps it in position and avoids scratching the strut. Since the included hose clamp is meant for a three inch bar, I bought a larger clamp and wrapped it in electrical tape. The ContourGPS is marketed as resistant to water, mist and spray, but I'd prefer not to find out how resistant it really is, since it was rather expensive. Because of that, I opted to hold off until I bought one of the basic models. Though all Contour cameras all have the option for a case, I could capture more video with a second camera, so why not get another?
The ContourROAM is slightly less expensive than the ContourGPS, is waterproof to one meter, has a wider angle lens, and has an instant record switch. The latter means I don't have to worry about it being on or off before trying to start recording, which has caused issues in the past. The still picture mode also allows a higher picture frequency than the ContourGPS (one picture per second, rather than every three seconds), which means the time lapse videos will seem a lot less jerky. My thought was that flights would be shot externally on the ContourROAM, and internally on the ContourGPS.
I tried to use the roll bar mount plus ContourROAM setup on my flight back in August, but it wasn't sitting correctly and seemed loose in the clamp. I wasn't about to lose the camera that I had just bought and potentially damage something on the ground, so I opted to hold off on using it. The roll bar mount is for round tubes up to three inches, but the Cessna strut is larger and flattened to be more aerodynamic. Because of that, the mount sits on top of it, instead of around it. I'm still working on a solution for it, but whatever I come up with has to be absolutely secure. Beyond that, I'm still trawling the regs to see if it would be in violation of something, but if you recall, the GoPro commercial did have externally-mounted cameras on an Extra. As to whether or not they had special approval for that or not, I have no idea.
The ROAM2 in its assorted colors
For now, though, I have two more suction cup mounts on the way from Contour. One will be used with the ContourROAM to snag different camera angles, and the other will be used with a ContourROAM2 I'm hoping to snag in the near future. I have plans to add more, but I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. In the end, I'm hoping to have an array of cameras for an idea I have to add more to what's written here.
One of the facts of life when it comes to flying is currency. Since I've been flying regularly since I had my biennial flight review (BFR), it hasn't been much of an issue. I haven't been flying much lately in order to save for a trip to Italy in two weeks. I needed to fly before the trip, though, in order to keep my currency with the flight school. If I didn't, my currency would've expired in the middle of the trip, requiring me to fly with a flight instructor the next time I went flying, to meet the flight school's requirements.
As I mentioned in my last post, I used this excuse to schedule a short flight out to Winchester (OKV), except this time the wind cooperated.
The preflight was one of the coldest excursions I've been on lately, but it was somewhat negated by new gloves I got for Christmas. As I got everything set up inside, I tried to set up the ContourROAM on the headband for my head lamp, but the band wasn't strong enough and it got in the way of my headset. I left it there and got some video from it, but nothing interesting came from it. I'm thinking of hooking it to my headset somehow for future flights. A daylight flight wouldn't hurt, either.
The departure was pretty standard, apart from me forgetting to check the carburetor heat initially. As I cleared the Class B airspace to the west, I noticed my groundspeed was about 80 knots, which was about 30 knots less than my indicated speed, meaning I had a significant headwind. If the wind is fast enough, you can drop your speed, put the flaps down and fly backwards. For those of you who can't comprehend that, the plane is still moving forward, but the Cessna 172 can still remain airborne down to about 40 knots. If the wind is faster than 40 knots opposite the direction you're travelling, you're actually moving backwards over the ground. Unfortunately the wind wasn't strong enough, so I only got the plane down to about 18 knots across the ground, but it looked like I was sitting still at 5000'.
I ended my experiment when I realized I was at 5000' only 15 miles away from OKV. Closer in, I lined up with the runway and brought it in. You can actually see a glow around the approach lights because they're reflecting off of some snow that had melted and frozen earlier in the day. Later on, as I was in the middle of my flare, I apparently had a subconscious thought to get the nosewheel up, which you can see in the video. That caused me to float, which I luckily salvaged by adding a little throttle. I have to say, I'm actually kinda proud that I got the nose up.
[Video was here until Contour closed down for a bit, and they went missing.]
After fully stopping - the FAA requires three full stop landings at night, after all - I went around for another landing. The second landing wasn't nearly as good as the first. If you watch the video, make sure to have the sound on so that you can hear a sound an airplane shouldn't make. As I cross the threshold, some wind kicked the plane around a little. I didn't think much of it after that because it hadn't been gusty, but as I was in my flare and settled on the runway, another gust pushed me to the right some, sideloading the right tire. It wasn't a pleasant noise.
[Video was here until Contour closed down for a bit, and they went missing.]
The flight back home was amazingly quick, mostly due to the wind that was now at my back. I hooked in from the northwest to land on Runway 35 and call it a night. This one was much better than the second landing. I touched down on the aiming points, and vacated at the first available exit. I'm not sure why I chose to jump off so quickly, but I did.
[Video was here until Contour closed down for a bit, and they went missing.]
Luckily the planes on the row behind the spot for N96178 weren't there, so I was able to just pull the plane through. In the end, the flight was only 0.9 hours, which surprised me. The Hobbs meter's last hours digits were 64 when I left, and when I landed it was still 64. I thought the Hobbs didn't even record the hours until I realized that I'd gotten back within an hour, having left at 64.0 and gotten back at 64.9.
So, now I have my my night currency, flight school currency, and sanity back. We'll see what 2013 brings.
Hours: Pilot in Command Cross Country (PIC XC): 0.0 - 74.2 (of 50) Actual/Simulated Instrument (Act/Sim): 0.0 - 9.6 (of 40)
Right after graduating from Virginia Tech, I took a job at Dulles Airport (IAD) working the ramp for the summer. While I was there, I met a few other pilots working the ramp along with me. One of them was a guy named Woody, and through the wonderful invention called Facebook, we've managed to stay in touch over the years. Since we're both trying to build time, we've mentioned flying a few times, but never actually followed through. This time, though, it worked out.
The plan was to sit right seat and log PIC time while Woody got some simulated instrument time on a cross country flight around central Virginia. The original plan was to fly from Potomac Airfield (VKX) to Louisa County (LKU), Lake Anna (7W4), Chesterfield (FCI), Williamsburg (JGG), and then back to VKX. The last renters left the plane at Maryland Airport (2W5) the night before, though, so the departure point had to change. Luckily, that airport is outside the Flight Restricted Zone (FRZ), so we didn't have to deal with that nonsense. Once we got to the airport, Woody changed the plan to 2W5, Gordonsville (GVE), LKU, 7W4, Newport News (PHF), and then back to 2W5. I had no objections, so I jumped in, set the ContourGPS in the mount, the Garmin GLO up on the glareshield, and the iPad in my lap.
I tried something slightly new this time since I had both cameras. Yes, both. You haven't been formally introduced to the new one, but if you were paying attention to my post about my new pilot bag, I briefly mentioned it. I used the ContourGPS for the time lapse portions, and the new ContourROAM for videos of takeoff and landing. Thinking back on it, I should've reversed that, but you know what they say about hindsight...
First Leg: 2W5-GVE - 0.8 hours
Say what you want about the random music. I figured something needed to be done for the completely silent cruise portion.
As I was mainly along for the ride as a safety pilot, Woody was at the controls for the departure. I only briefly took the controls so that he could put the blinders on. For not having flown under the hood in what he said was a while, he did a good job, especially with a directional gyro that precessed terribly. For the non-pilots, the directional gyro is like a compass, but without some of the errors present in magnetic compasses. The problem of the gyro is that over time it precesses, which essentially means it drifts away from the real heading, so you have to update it by comparing it to the magnetic compass. It's really not as complicated as it sounds, but it's something we have to pay attention to. As we got closer to GVE, I "vectored" Woody towards the runway. After he took off the blinders, he set the plane down on GVE's short, less-than-level runway. Arriving at the ramp, he shut the plane down and we jumped out to get our Virginia Aviation Passports stamped (the same type of passport used as an excuse for a flight down to Richmond in February). The stamps for smaller fields like GVE are normally kept in a mailbox, but in searching for said mailbox we ran across an airport building halfway through a renovation, and a giant garden spider (the black and yellow ones that make webs with zig-zags in them...you know...those).
After getting the stamp, we jumped back in the plane to head to LKU, which is close to Lake Anna.
Second Leg: GVE-LKU - 0.3 hours
The flight over to LKU was slightly more eventful. As anyone who reads the blog regularly knows, I end up doing at least one short-field takeoff on most flights. Half of it is because I find them to be fun, and the other half is that you never know when you'll need to do one. Well, today we needed one. GVE's runway is only 2300 feet long, it dips in the middle with trees close to the ends, and we were in a P model with two heavier guys in it. I've taken off from shorter, but not with that combination of issues. It wasn't my best short field takeoff, but I'll blame it on having to fly from the right seat, which I've done before, but I don't do it often.
The fun didn't end there, though. After takeoff Woody put the blinders on, took the controls, and put us on course to LKU. As we were climbing, I noticed a Piper opposite direction, about 500 feet above us (01:45 in the video - the wide angle lens on the camera makes it seem farther away than it was). It caught me a little by surprise, so I reached forward and put pressure on the yoke to halt the climb temporarily. As soon as they passed, Woody continued the climb. Closer to LKU, Woody brought us around the pattern and set down. We parked by the main airport building, which had an attached hangar with a Civil Air Patrol glider in it. After walking inside, I spotted the passport stamp sitting on a counter, so I grabbed my stamp, walked back out to the plane, and grabbed a picture.
Next up was 7W4.
Third Leg: LKU-7W4 - 0.3 hours
The departure from LKU was relatively simple compared to GVE. The runway is nearly twice as long and two and a half times as wide, so it was nice and easy. Just like the last leg, though, it was pretty short, time-wise. Still, Woody was able to pick up some time with the blinders. Things got interesting as we got closer to 7W4, however. Because the ramp is at the east end of the runway, pilots like to save time by departing to the west, and arriving to the east. As I switched the radio to the airport frequency, I heard a pilot call and say he was departing Runway 26. So, just like the approach to LKU, we would make our way around the pattern to land west. What I didn't hear, however, was a second plane make a call to indicate he was taking off behind the first plane. It wasn't an issue, but it surprised me when I saw two bright yellow crop dusters rise off the runway and turn north. The landing was uneventful, but it wouldn't be the last time we saw those crop dusters, or the last time they would surprise us. Woody rolled out to the end of the runway, where we turned around and taxied back to the east end to shut down and search for the stamp. While he made a call ahead to Atlantic Aviation at PHF to reserve a crew car, I found the mailbox and stamped both of our passports.
Fourth Leg: 7W4-PHF - 0.9 hours
As I mentioned earlier, that wouldn't be the last time we'd see, or be surprised by those crop dusters. This time, the surprise made the Piper incident earlier pale in comparison. As Woody was running preflight checks, I monitored the airport frequency. When we were ready, I called to announce the westbound departure, which was what the flow of traffic was: the two crop dusters departed to the west, and we landed to the west. After the call, however, one of the dusters called and said they'd remain clear and circle away from the airport, because they wanted to land to the east (to save time, as mentioned earlier). I took his word for it, though I did check the pattern legs quickly to be sure. While we were rolling down the runway, I spotted one of them crossing our departure path, north to south, rolling to make a knife-edge pass and turn westbound. I called the traffic out to Woody, who turned north to avoid turning towards him. Since I remembered the duster had a buddy who wasn't making radio calls, I searched ahead of our turn and spotted him at the same altitude (both of them had been down on the treeline) to the east of the field. You can just barely make them out in the video. As I mentioned with the Piper, the wide-angle lens makes them appear farther away. If you can't see them, use full screen and 1080p. The annotations help to mark where they appear a few seconds ahead of time.
Once we were clear of that mess, I switched to Potomac Approach to coordinate getting over to PHF. In order to take the most direct route, we would fly through Richmond's Class C airspace, so we were required to be in contact with them. We passed the cruise time by discussing the ATC hiring process, and the overall poor quality of the pilots that Potomac had to deal with. A couple pilots either weren't paying attention or just had a poor grasp of English, which we found entertaining. The controller, not so much.
Closer to PHF, we passed over Busch Gardens on the way to land on Runway 20. Since we couldn't spot the Lear landing on the crossing runway, tower had to ask us to do just about everything possible to delay our arrival, to include entering on a 6 mile final, s-turns, and a tight 360 turn on short final. You'll see all of it in the video. What you can't see, however, are the training aircraft that were on the ramp for ATAC, which is a firm that provides training for military pilots by flying aggressor or foreign aircraft to show the pilots the capability of their potential enemies.
We parked at Atlantic as an AirTran 737-700 prepared to depart. Woody grabbed the car, and we sped off to get burgers at Red Robin. As we were sitting at lunch waiting for our food, we pulled up the weather to see if anything had changed. Of course, more storms were going to be passing through as part of another frontal system, similar to the ones last night. The mutual debate continued when we got back to Atlantic. After a call to a flight briefer, we decided it would be best to at least move in the direction of home, and if necessary, land to avoid an approaching storm. This being the strategy, we identified both West Point (FYJ) and Tappahannock (XSA) as bailout points. If you look at the image to the right, you'll see that the band of storms to the south would have arrived much later, while the storms to the north would pass through much sooner. Had we waited for the northern storms to pass, we would have had to try to beat the southern storms out. By departing earlier and stopping in XSA, we cut the wait time for the northern storms and avoided having to try to beat the southern storms out. I point that out mostly to clarify that there was a definite plan to the idea, and not simply "let's see how far we can get before the storms get here."
Getting ready to head home
Fifth Leg: PHF-XSA - 0.8 hours
Tower sent us out right behind another aircraft that would remain in the pattern. By this point, Woody was getting slightly tired of flying, so he passed the controls over to me after turning crosswind. In an effort to continue to let us both log time, I put the blinders on. Woody called Potomac for route guidance, and limited weather info since the storms were clearly visible to the north. As we flew over FYJ, we heard "Cessna 64181, do you have weather radar on board?" The controller's tone conveyed both concern and surprise that a small plane would be out braving the weather. We took the hint and turned northwest bound to skirt the back end of a storm and land at XSA. I didn't mess with the camera as I was flying, which is why you have a time lapse approach and landing. There are a few cool shots of the weather as we passed by it, though.
It took us a minute to find XSA, as there weren't many identifiable landmarks around it, which you can see in the video, but we made it in the end. The red-roofed terminal building made it easy to spot once we got closer. After landing, I brought the plane back to the ramp, parked it, and we both tied it down in preparation for the storms. Inside, one of the airport attendants and a local Virginia State Trooper kept us company while we reviewed the weather and developed a new plan of attack. Luckily, some of the storms had dissipated, and the storm that was supposed to pass over XSA passed well north. Because of that, we were able to leave slightly earlier than we had thought.
I grabbed a drink, and we set off for 2W5 after Woody filed an SFRA flight plan.
Sixth Leg: XSA-2W5 - 0.6 hours
I ended up flying the whole leg to 2W5 from XSA, getting more time under the blinders. Unfortunately, the camera died on the way there, despite my efforts to charge it at PHF and XSA. What you see for the landing video was shot from the ContourROAM up in the mount. I cut the base turn a little early so I ended up high and fast down final. I salvaged it by I bleeding speed over the runway. The landing was flat, but it wasn't too bad in my book. After the taxi back, I parked the plane at the grass tie downs and helped prepare the plane for its overnight stay.
In the end, we both logged about 3.7 hours, each getting a good amount of time under the blinders. I got 0.8 hours of simulated instrument time, which definitely helps towards the instrument rating. This trip also gave new meanings to the term safety pilot, as this was the first time I ever flew safety for someone and actually had to call traffic to avoid a collision. Later on, we both learned the importance of a safety pilot for weather avoidance as well. Despite the traffic issues and the added stress of the weather, I really enjoyed the challenge of the whole trip.
When you're required to have a safety pilot, always make sure you have one, and a helpful one at that. A safety pilot isn't there to be a conversationalist to help pass the time, either. He or she is there to keep you out of trouble. I'm not saying the flight should occur in complete silence unless there's a conflict, but don't bring along your pilot buddy who can't keep their eyes out, or one who shows poor decision making skills.
Beyond that, always remember your tolerances. In ground school, you always hear people say "personal minimums," but I like the term tolerance. How much risk are you willing or capable of tolerating? To some people, the radar image shown above would have kept them on the ground, and I wouldn't blame them. Given the information I had, and the additional safe spots for landing, my risk tolerance was slightly higher because I knew I had options in case the risk became too great.
Every time you put the aircraft in the air, you're accepting risk. How much risk you tolerate is up to you. If you are willing to fly with a higher tolerance, just make sure you cover as many bases as possible to remain safe when that tolerance is reached. Flying VFR doesn't mean you shouldn't have alternates, both in the form of airports, and in the general form of other options.
Hours: Pilot in Command Cross Country (PIC XC): 3.7 - 70.5 (of 50) Actual/Simulated Instrument (Act/Sim): 0.8 - 8.3 (of 40)
