Commercial Long Solo Cross Country

N571DS - DA40 - 5.1 hours

One of the requirements of the commercial certificate is to fly a 350 nautical mile flight to three points, with one of the points being 250nm or greater from the original point of departure. I work in DC, but since the pope is visiting DC from Vatican City, we were advised to avoid the area since roads and public transit would be packed. What better reason to get as far away as possible, and knock out a requirement in the process?

Back in June, I joined one of the DC-3 crew members on a flight in his Baron down to Elizabethton, TN (0A9). The airport is nestled in between a few ridge lines, with one right under the base turn to 24, making it slightly more challenging to get in and out of. The flight down in the Baron left enough of an impression on me that I figured it would be fun to visit again. Its distance from Leesburg (JYO) being 273nm made it perfect for the long cross country. As if any more reasons were needed, I also remembered that the airport had a pilot shop, and I was in dire need of a replacement mic muff, since the one on my now 12 year old Clarks had all but fallen apart.

I had the tanks topped off as I got myself situated, briefed, and so on. While I'd initially given them a hard time for being slow, ProJet has definitely improved on its timeliness of getting out to fuel planes. In any case, I knew I'd be spending a lot of time in the plane alone today, so I spent a while getting everything situated so that I could reach it - iPad, charts, pen, paper, and various things to take pictures with. Once everything was set, I brought the plane to the runway and headed toward 0A9.

The flight down was a long one, which I helped pass by calling Potomac for flight following around the time I passed by Shenandoah (SHD). Despite being above clusters of scattered clouds, I was still able to pick out several landmarks on the way down: JMU, Virginia Tech, Mountain Lake, and the scenic mountains in general. As I got closer to Britol (TRI), I dropped flight following and brought the plane into 0A9.

After refueling, getting a new mic muff, and expressing shock over the low fuel price they had down there, I set back off toward Pulaski (PSK) and Blacksburg (BCB). To be honest, the stop through PSK was simply to "connect the dots" if you will. Back in college, I'd flown with Phil from PSK to Pineville, WV (I16), so my flight map had a random flight that had been seemingly orphaned from the rest. After an admittedly firm and ugly landing at PSK, I hopped over to BCB to visit Virginia Tech and grab food.

The walk around campus took up a decent amount of time, but it was worth it. Owens dining hall hasn't changed much, and the food was still as good as I remembered it being (not even kidding - it's nationally recognized).

The final leg was relaxing, but also interesting. In order to take advantage of the wind I saw in the forecast, I brought the plane up to 11,500. While I'd been about that high in a Cessna 207 before, I'd never taken the DA40 that high. After a little while, though, I brought it back down to 9500 as the wind was actually stronger there. Closer to JYO, Potomac asked me to drop it a little lower to get under the arrivals for Dulles (IAD), which also set me up to stay below the Class B airspace.

With the plane back in its spot, I had 5.1 hours more time under my belt, along with the long solo cross country requirement of the commercial certificate.

Hours:
Pilot in Command Cross Country (PIC XC): 5.1 - 122.3 (of 50)
Actual/Simulated Instrument (Act/Sim): 0.0 - 28.8 (of 40)
Dual Complex: 0.0 - 5.0 (of 10)
Total Time in Aircraft: 5.1 - 191.0 (of 250)

Practice Approaches

N571DS - DA40 - 2.4 hours

I've been wanting to get some time under the blinders, along with some approaches in recently. With that in mind, I sent a message to Phil to see if he'd be up for sitting right seat while I attempted to follow imaginary lines in the sky by reference to the instruments inside the airplane alone. The route I came up with was Charlottesville (CHO), a hop over the Blue Ridge Mountains and an approach into Shenandoah (SHD), and then a trek back to Leesburg (JYO). Through all of this, the plan was to just string it all together without getting out of the plane. Luckily, that all went as planned.

Departing JYO, we flew to the Casanova VOR (CSN) and followed the V140 airway to just prior to WITTO, where we were cleared to the HOODE intersection and onto the RNAV Z Runway 21 approach at CHO. After briefly setting the wheels down so that I could log the flight as cross country time, we were vectored to OLAJO and onto the RNAV Runway 23 approach. We flew the missed approach toward GABEL, but Potomac vectored us back toward JYO before we got there to avoid wasting time. Closer to JYO, the controller vectored us in for the ILS Runway 17 approach to round out the flight. Luckily, Phil took a few pictures of the flight as having the blinders on makes for boring imagery and flight narratives.

Here is one crossing the ridge between CHO and SHD:

Hours:
Pilot in Command Cross Country (PIC XC): 2.4 - 95.6 (of 50)
Actual/Simulated Instrument (Act/Sim): 1.9 - 16.6 (of 40)

Charter Day

N677JA - C172S - 3.2 hours

"Any chance you are flying to Philly today [laughing emoji]"

As a pilot, a text like that is a great way to start a morning. Of course, after figuring the details out, we planned to meet up at my place to drive to Leesburg (JYO) and fly up to Philadelpha (PHL) so that my two friends could attend a fashion show and avoid having to drive on 95 with an impending snow storm the following day. The end plan was for me to fly them into PHL, drop them off in town in the crew car, head back to the airport to eat and sleep some, and then drive back out and pick them up whenever they were ready.

To keep things easy, we all met at my place and drove together to the airport, stopping by Starbucks for some caffeine. This proved to be somewhat of a critical error, as the coffee made the last part of the trip up to PHL rather painful as we were getting vectored around instead of finding a restroom. It seemed like a good idea at the time. We'd originally been scheduled to fly the DA40, as it is slightly faster than the C172, but the cold weather can take a toll on the battery, making it a tough plane to start. Since neither I nor one of the other instructors could get it started, we swapped the DA40 out for one of the newer 172s and we were on our way. Our route of flight brought us up toward Frederick, over Baltimore, towards Havre de Grace, and then over southern New Jersey before being turned in towards PHL and landing on Runway 35. The ground controller was really helpful in directing us toward Atlantic Aviation. While I knew where I was going, I'd never seen the airport from the ground, so the extra attention from the ground controller was a reassuring as taxiways at larger airports can be slightly tougher to navigate as there are more of them, and more aircraft on them.

It was pretty cold out, so I sent the ladies inside to warm up, and change for the show while I closed up the plane and prepared everything for the late night departure. Despite needing to run inside myself, I stayed out to take in that odd sense of familiarity juxtaposed with the strong foreign feeling that you get when flying small planes into larger airports. Even so, the plane seemed to fit in nicely as I appreciated the cold bite in the air, the moon hanging low, the warm glow of the sunset, and the APUs howling away in the distance.

After they had changed and were ready, I snagged the crew van and we set off into the city. The van being a typical soccer mom minivan, we joked about dropping them off around the corner so that nobody would see them, but the part of town wasn't the best so it ended up being door-to-door service. On my way back, I stopped off at the apparently famous Tony Luke's to grab the necessary Philly cheesesteak, and when I finally got back to Atlantic, I devoured it. The place definitely lived up to all of the hype from the locals. With the hunger satisfied, I grabbed my laptop and took care of work for both the day job and for PMDG before taking some time to lay back, relax, and rest for the trip home. My experience with Atlantic the whole night, I might add, was rather good. I'd definitely go back if I ever have a need to go back to PHL.

I started getting texts around 0230 to coordinate being picked up, and ended up making it into town around 0320. We departed a little after 0400 and made it back to JYO just before 0600 as the sun was just breaking over the horizon. Needless to say, the flight back was rather quiet, both on frequency and in the plane. Despite being incredibly tired and in need of warmth and a bed, I'd say that it was an enjoyable day for all of us.

I have a feeling that if you ask me several years from now how I feel about airport appreciation time - the time spent at an airport while being on call, or waiting for your next flight - I probably won't be as enthusiastic, but this time I actually enjoyed it. I had a 'mission' and I was able to help some friends get to where they needed to go. I don't think I could ask for more than that.

Hours:
Pilot in Command Cross Country (PIC XC): 3.2 - 93.2 (of 50)
Actual/Simulated Instrument (Act/Sim): 0.0 - 14.7 (of 40)

A Day of Flying

N571DS - DA40 - 0.6 hours || N677JA - C172S - 1.8 hours

After the wind foiled a couple of attempts to get back up in the air - a typical late winter issue in the DC Area - I finally met up with an instructor to get my insurance ride out of the way. For those unfamiliar with aviation, the main entities to keep satisfied are the FAA and the insurance company. The FAA only requires me to fly with an instructor every two years, while the insurance company requires that I fly with an instructor if I go two months without flying. I've been enjoying the DA40 since initially getting checked out in it, so I decided to use it for my ride with said instructor. The original plan was to use it again in the evening to fly some friends around. Unfortunately, someone beat me to the later reservation, but I at least took the DA40 around the pattern for a few laps to get reacquainted. The later flight would have to be in one of the 172s.

After taking the plane around the pattern five times, I brought it back to its spot, tied it down, and ran off to get lunch. With food in hand I began to plan the next flight, which I'd be flying some friends. The original plan was OXB, but we ended up heading down to CHO to watch a UVA basketball game in Historic Downtown with another group of friends.

While I've been to CHO more times than I can count, I hadn't flown with my friends Saba and Kristin before, so I was excited to be able to share the experience. We departed into one of the best sunsets I've ever seen - on the ground or in the air. Pictures, as always, don't do it justice, but Kristin and Saba both took a bunch of great shots. I often brag about how much better flying is than just about anything else, and this was certainly something to be added to the list of experiences in support of that.

The flight was short, made slightly shorter by the straight in landing on Runway 21. The landing was one of my better ones, and I'm pretty sure I caught it on one of the cameras. I'll have to take a look and add it later (I have a lot of catching up to do with the video, as Contour's temporary disappearance ended up deleting all of the videos I had uploaded there). After letting Landmark know our fuel order, we went inside to catch a cab to Historic Downtown to meet up with some friends at Citizen Burger. The food was great. The company was even greater. To cap it all off, the Cavaliers managed to win as well. While I'm no avid UVA fan (go Hokies), it was nice to see an in-state school win against a basketball powerhouse like Louisville.

After the game, we got a ride back to the airport, paid for fuel, and set off back to JYO. The flight back was a little more bumpy, but not terribly so. The highlight of the flight back was when Potomac Approach pointed our airplane out to a Dash 8 who was on approach to CHO. While I wasn't in contact with Potomac, I was listening in, I chimed in after the controller and the pilot of the Dash had finished their exchange to let them know that it was likely me that was being referenced. The controller checked and verified that it was my aircraft that he'd seen on the scope, and then gave both of us pilots an update on what each plane would be doing. While neither of us were at all close to each other, it's an anecdote supporting the use of flight following, or at least paying attention to the air traffic frequency for the area, if it's known.

The rest of the flight was very normal, and actually pretty quiet. I set the plane down on Runway 35. It definitely wasn't one of my best landings. As usual, I caught the nosewheel before settling down on the mains. Typical. It wasn't too bad, though. After putting the plane back in its spot, we braved the cold back to our cars and set off to warmer beds. We were all pretty worn out.

Hours:
Pilot in Command Cross Country (PIC XC): 1.8 - 90.0 (of 50)
Actual/Simulated Instrument (Act/Sim): 0.0 - 14.7 (of 40)

Freezing and Flying

N172HF - C172S - 1.1 hours

When I went up for my BFR, my intention was to fly down to Raleigh (RDU) for another ice hockey game, but the weather didn’t end up looking too great. In order to make sure a plane was available, I had booked the flight well in advance. I felt bad having reserved the newest plane in the fleet for a flight I wouldn't be taking so I ended up just editing the reservation to push it back by about a week. Luckily, my pilot friend Katelyn wanted to join, so I could continue to get more simulated instrument time. We flew together nearly two years ago, on a quick flight down to Luray (LUA).  Even though she had flown more recently than that flight, it had still been a while so she wanted to go back up and get the feel for it again. That said, we worked it out where I would get simulated instrument time and approaches in between Leesburg (JYO) and Winchester (OKV), and she would get some landings in to get the feel for it again.

I was able to escape work a little early to make the long trek out to JYO (it takes forever now that my office is in DC), but Katelyn ended up getting stuck in traffic. Jokingly, I told her that I would sit there and pass the time taking pictures of myself with the plane. Once I finally got to the plane, however, that joke actually sounded like a good idea since I’m pretty sure this blog now has over 200 photos in it (the videos take that number even higher), and I’m pretty sure I’m in maybe 10 of them. In an effort to make said author less faceless, here’s a picture of me and an ironic statement all in one.

If you're not getting the ironic statement, look at the tail versus my apparel

I was able to get the plane all set up prior to her getting there, which ended up working out, as we departed as night time officially started (for logging it, anyway). As soon as we departed, we went directly to CLADD to fly the ILS Runway 32 approach into OKV. On the way, I pointed out some of the features of the G1000 as we both joked continuously about how it really felt like cheating based on the equipment we learned to fly with. Since she’d flown with Garmin equipment, though, she picked it up pretty quickly.

I flew the approach down near the minimums, but with the flight path vector (FPV) and runway showing up on the Synthetic Vision display, it really felt like I was just flying in a low detail version of Flight Simulator (side note, I was recently part of a Washington Post article on that very topic). I made the first landing since I flew the approach down so low.  After the landing, I took back off, and passed the controls over to Katelyn for a few laps of her own.  Three landings later, I took the controls back to fly the LOC Runway 17 approach into JYO (the glideslope has been out for a while, so it’s LOC only for now).

Compared to the approach I flew at the end of my BFR, this one looked really good. Then again, the approach I flew during my BFR wasn’t aided by Synthetic Vision displays, or a cue that factors in wind drift for you. I seriously feel like I’m cheating using something like that. Don’t get me wrong – I think it’s an awesome tool for the practical environment, but I think I’m going to stick to doing it the hard way for my training. It’ll help me appreciate the G1000 with SVT more, and it’ll keep my skills sharp for all of the fleet.

In the end, it was 1.1 total and 0.7 of that with the blinders on. Not bad since the only major obstacle between me and the instrument rating is all of the simulated instrument time.

Hours:
Pilot in Command Cross Country (PIC XC): 0.0 - 88.2 (of 50)
Actual/Simulated Instrument (Act/Sim): 0.7 - 14.7 (of 40)

Quick CHO Trip

N677JA - C172S - 1.7 hours

Flying time: the ever-present Christmas list item for me.

This year was no exception, and it was with that in mind that I was sitting with a friend discussing plans Christmas night.  Originally, we were all going to try to do something after everyone was done visiting family (or working).  In the end, we decided on doing something on the weekend instead.  My suggestion, of course, was flying.

Since her sister was visiting from out of town and she wanted to get back to see her after the flight, I wanted to keep the flight short.  Charlottesville (CHO) is both a short flight and a good destination to get out and have dinner, so that's what we went with.

After we got to the plane, I started going through the preflight, explaining some of what I was doing in the process.  Also during said process, I went back into the plane to get something and ended up smacking my head on the extended flap.  That, of course, drew a few laughs as we waited for the fuel truck to show up.  Once the fuel truck had departed, we were on our way to CHO.

The weather was really clear, and the wind mostly calm.  I pointed out a few landmarks, and explained how to find airports at night.  Nearing CHO, I checked the weather, called into Landmark to check on the crew car, and then called the tower. The dinner spot was the usual: Timberwood Grill, where good food was enjoyed before we trekked back to the airport and headed home.

The flight back was the standard trip back from CHO, and after stashing the plane in its spot we headed home for warmth.

Hours:
Pilot in Command Cross Country (PIC XC): 1.7 - 88.2 (of 50)
Actual/Simulated Instrument (Act/Sim): 0.0 - 14.0 (of 40)

A Last Flight Before the Hiatus

N571DS - DA40 - 1.3 hours

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)

Habits Versus Instructions

N571DS - DA40 - 1.1 hours

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)

South: For Warmth and Hockey

N571DS - DA40 - 3.5 hours

This flight has been in the works for a while.  I posted something up on Facebook back in December about wanting to go on a flight, which my friend Melissa responded to with "when???"  For various reasons, we never got around to it for the next few months, until I asked one day if she was serious about going.  Once she found out that Raleigh (RDU) was a possibility, we started to plan a trip to see a Carolina Hurricanes game.

Just like most of my other flights, there were a couple different ideas of what would happen, but in the end we settled on April 6th.  Luckily, by the time she was looking into buying tickets, the extended forecasts were shaping up to give me an idea that the weather would be okay.  At about that time I was also nudged into giving myself an upgrade with a DA40.  Closer to the flight the forecast just kept getting better, and you could definitely tell we were both getting pretty excited about it.  In order to pass the time, I ended up creating an electronic weight and balance form, and studying the DA40 POH and G1000 reference guide.  The result of the latter, and not being used to flying low-wing aircraft, was a quick reference sheet I wrote up the night before the flight.  Note the several semi-threatening reminders to switch the tanks.

The day finally came and I showed up at the airport, typically early and ready to go.  I checked the weather, took a look at the wind at various altitudes, and otherwise killed time until the plane got back.  Melissa showed up with some time to spare, and I'm pretty sure I all but pounced on the person who was bringing the plane back.  Out at the plane, I got everything set and began preflighting.  While everything was in order, the oil was low and I wanted the tanks topped off, which took a lot longer than it normally does for some reason.  As I was waiting for that, I set up two of my cameras.  I brought all three, but I couldn't find a good spot for the third camera without it being right in one of our faces.

Despite the delay, we were off soon enough and on our way south for warmer weather and hockey.  The engine started right up and looked good in the pre-departure checks, so we were off in no time.  After departing, I turned west and then south as soon as I cleared the SFRA.  Staying under the Class B airspace kept us down in some light turbulence, but as soon as I was able to step up it started to lighten up.

After passing the Casanova VOR (CSN), I called Potomac to get flight following all the way down.  I pointed out the few landmarks that we passed, along with most of the airports we flew over.  Melissa got some time at the controls as well, though I think my assistance in keeping the controls where they should be put a damper on the experience (the plane was pulling to the left because I was heavier, and was burning fuel off of the right wing).  Her not being able to see over the glareshield made the whole event pretty difficult, though I was able to point out what the artificial horizon is meant for.

Closer to RDU, I was given a descent and a vector west of the field for a downwind to Runway 5R.  I'm not sure where the controller was from, but if you could imagine Boston combined with North Carolina that's what I would liken it to.  After swinging around the airport, I set it down on Runway 5R.  It wasn't one of my best landings, but I was told that it was better than some commercial landings.  Tower had me roll to A6, which is close to Landmark, and contact ground for instructions to get to the ramp.

[Video got lost when Contour closed down for a while.]

After being marshalled in and shutting down, we were immediately confronted with two questions:
1 - Who was going to win the game.
2 - Whether or not we thought there would be more NY Ranger Jerseys than Carolina jerseys.

Naturally, we both answered in favor of Carolina in both cases while I made sure all of the equipment was okay to sit for the next few hours.


I had called for a cab over the frequency when I was about 15 minutes out, so our ride to the stadium was sitting outside when we walked in.  I'm glad I thought to do that as our fuel and oil delay up at Leesburg (JYO) pushed us pretty close to game time.  When we finally got to the stadium they were in the middle of the National Anthem, so we were a little behind, but not by much.  The seats, though, were pretty awesome.  We were low enough that it felt like we were on the ice, but high enough to see over the players' heads.  The only unfortunate side to the whole deal is that Melissa's favorite player, Alexander Semin, was out for the night, and the team was having an off night in general.  They ended up losing 4 to 1.

After catching a cab back to the airport we were met by the Landmark crew and a fuel receipt with "LET'S GO RANGERS" stapled to it on a sticky note.  Looks like I owe that guy a dollar.  Oh well.

The departure runway was still Runway 5R, so after a relatively long taxi back to the end of the runway, we set back off towards JYO.  Once the departure controller found out where we were headed, he asked us about whether or not the cherry blossoms were in bloom.  He had apparently just visited DC while visiting family and missed the peak bloom.  Just before passing us on to Washington Center, he instructed me to take a few pictures for him.  I think I'll have to surprise him by sending some pictures now.

I pointed out the various airports as we passed over them, to include Lake Anna (7W4) and the story of almost getting hit there last September, which she remembered as I mentioned it to her after that flight when we met up that night.  The route back had more of a tailwind, so our groundspeed was much better, putting us back in the DC area relatively quickly.  Potomac luckily gave me clearance into the Bravo to take more advantage of it.  The crazy thing was that the wind was still showing 30 knots at pattern altitude back at JYO.  It made the approach somewhat awkward, but not too bad in the end.  After landing, I brought the plane back to the spot, shut down, and started packing up.  Once everything was finally back in the flight bag, I had a little difficulty putting the plane back in its spot, but luckily had someone else there to help me out.

It was a long day of flying, and while the game itself was somewhat disappointing, the entire event was worth it.

Hours:
Pilot in Command Cross Country (PIC XC): 3.5 - 79.7 (of 50)
Actual/Simulated Instrument (Act/Sim): 0.0 - 10.5 (of 40)

Betraying My Past

N571DS - DA40 - 1.2 hours

If one were to take a look at my logbook, or even the posts here, one would not find very many manufacturers listed.  With one exception - a Piper Cherokee - you won't find anything other than Cessna.  For the longest time I stuck with what I was used to, but recent plans and a nudge from Phil made me reconsider.

I was told that I should look into a Diamond, and more specifically, the DA40.  Since some of my flying has been more destination-based for time building, a faster aircraft would be desirable to make the trips cheaper.  While the DA40 rents for just about $20 more per hour than the C172R I normally fly, it also flies at least 20 knots faster.  For longer flights, that actually saves me a little money.  Since I have a few major cross country flights coming up, the math worked out such that getting checked out in the DA40 made sense, so I went for it.

I had intended to book the flight for today, but somehow ended up booking it for Sunday.  When I showed up at the airport, I was met with "hey - what are you doing here today?"  As it turned out, I made a mistake when booking the flight, and booked it for tomorrow.  Luckily, the plane was available and Tim was able to fit in one more flight before calling it quits for the day.

Since I'd done the written exam portion of the checkout beforehand, I was able to save that time and jump right onto the preflight.  Even though I'd read the checklists several times over, even some of the simpler tasks seemed more difficult as I hadn't worked with the plane directly.  I could run through all of the things that were different, but I'll just say that even finding the pitot tube was somewhat of a challenge at first.  Differences aside, I was able to finish the preflight just as Tim was walking out.

Starting the plane is very similar to C172R models in terms of priming the engine, but taxiing was rather different, as steering is accomplished via differential braking.  The runup was only slightly different as that's where flap operation and the constant speed prop are tested.  Taking off, however, was very different.  Without nosewheel steering, keeping the nose on the centerline was a challenge.  The rudder pedals that power the giant rudder have a much longer throw than the Cessnas I'm used to, and I wasn't adding as much rudder as I could have.

Image from DiamondAircraft.com

The engine rocketed us up to altitude quickly, where I turned out west to maneuver in the practice area.  In the practice area, I put the aircraft through slow flight, power on and power off stalls.  After getting a feel for the aircraft, I took the plane over to Winchester (OKV) to practice landings.  The first landing ended up just being a landing attempt, as I flared too early, heard the stall warning horn go off a little higher than I would've liked, and punched the throttle in to go around and try again.  The second attempt actually ended in a landing, but I would say that it was more of a controlled impact.  Oddly enough, the feedback that I received was that I was flaring a little too early and getting the nose up too high.  Yeah, I got the nose up too high.  That's something I never thought I'd hear someone say.  For the third landing, I flared later and didn't bring the nose up as much, yielding a very smooth landing.

Since we were getting closer to the time we needed to have the aircraft back, I brought the plane back to Leesburg (JYO) for a final landing.  That landing was similarly smooth, ending the flight on a nice high note.

After shutting down and walking inside, Tim and I recounted the flight just to make sure I had the numbers right.  Apparently the way in which I recounted my landings - "first was missed, second sucked, third was nice, and fourth was nice" - drew a laugh out of a lady who was working at a nearby table in the terminal.  The people using the plane next walked up right as we were about to leave, which helped us avoid walking back out to the box to drop it in there.

While I didn't unleash my array of electronics on this flight, I'll have them next time.

That plane is awesome.

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)

Comfort Food in Charlottesville

N1090V - C172S - 1.9 hours

My friend Christina helped kick this blog off with Let the Cross Country Begin, but she hasn't flown since for a number of reasons.  Earlier in the week, though, she asked if she could bring a friend along for a trip down to Charlottesville (CHO).  Part of it would be something to do while their respective guys were out for their own entertainment that night, and the rest of it was to introduce her friend Brittany to flying.  This flight would make two introductions to small planes this week for me, and it was really a first time in a plane of any size for her.

As life is always interesting for me, we showed up to the airport with my request of two headsets sitting in the lock box, but no keys or book for N172DR.  Luckily, there were a few planes that would be back slightly after we'd intended to leave, so I we waited until one got back and just took that one.  The one that came back first, however, was of course one of the G1000 172s that I love so much.  As you may remember, I've come to terms with them because of the cool technology (and it could've saved my life), but for my average flying I still find it unnecessary.  In any case that's what we had, and I would, of course, live it up.  I had one of the nicest planes in the fleet.  Why not?

Just to ease any nervousness that might be building closer to departure, I made sure to explain what I was doing as I walked around, taxied out, checked the engine, and put the plane up in the air.  After departing, Christina asked if we'd be able to see Upperville (2VG2) as we flew out, so I adjusted course to overfly it.  Naturally, comments were made about RESTRICTED being written all over the runway.

The sky was remarkably clear, so I pointed out a few planes on the western arrivals into Dulles, aided by the G1000 traffic display.  They were all RJs of some sort, but Christina and Brittany were both able to spot one of them as it passed over.  The delay earlier had also put us closer to sunset, so we got to watch that on the way down.  Sunsets are so much better up in the air, as you can see evidenced to the right.

On the way down, I called Potomac Approach to get flight following, which makes the whole flight into CHO a little easier.  As usual, I talked to ASPER, MANNE and CHOWE before getting passed on to tower.  The wind at CHO was from the south, so I was instructed to make a straight in approach to Runway 21.  The straight in approach really makes the flight all too easy, but I'm not complaining.  The landing is below.  As usual, I'm pretty proud of myself for landing with enough nose up attitude to get the stall warning to go off (that's what that annoying sound is right before I touch down, if you didn't know already), since that's not a norm for me.  The large plane on the ramp is a C130.  I have no idea why it was there.


[Video was here until Contour closed down for a bit, and the video was lost.]

For the first time ever, I walked in and Keya wasn't there, but the rest of the ramp crew was.  By now, you know the story.  We stole the car, drove to Timberwood, and a Clint Eastwood was eaten.  I also asked the waitress if the picture my friend Melissa and I had drawn last time we were there was up somewhere, and it apparently made an appearance for a while at the server station.  I'll admit to being a little proud of that one, too.

After dinner, we headed back to the airport, paid for fuel, and set back off towards Leesburg (JYO).  By that time, it was dark, but we were off in no time, after a quick wait at the end of the runway for a landing ERJ for American Eagle.  On the way back, Christina made a comment about how it would be cool to land at Dulles (IAD), which I took and ran with.  I had checked the ATIS a few minutes earlier and they were in north ops, so it wouldn't have been out of anyone's way, necessarily.  I don't have the LiveATC recordings, but it went something like this:

N1090V: "Hey Potomac, Cessna 1090V, how busy are you guys right now?"
CHOWE: "You're only in my airspace for another few miles.  What do you want?"
N1090V: "I'm just checking to see if I could get a touch and go at Dulles."
CHOWE: "Cessna 1090V, contact Potomac on 126.65.  I've passed your request on to him."
N1090V: "Awesome.  Thanks.  Potomac on 126.65, Cessna 1090V."
N1090V: "Potomac, Cessna 1090V, 5500."
TILLY: "Cessna 1090V, Potomac, roger.  Confirm your request for a...touch and go at Dulles?"
N1090V: "Affirm, Cessna 1090V.  We can take 1L to stay out of the way."
TILLY: "1L is closed, but you might be able to do 1C.  I've passed it on to a Sup.  Can we even do that?  We'll let you know."
TILLY: "Cessna 1090V, Dulles tower said they'd take you on 1C.  Expect visual 1C, fly heading 060, descend and maintain 5000."
N1090V: "Expect visual 1C, heading 060, descend and maintain 5000, Cessna 1090V.
TILLY: "Cessna 1090V, fly heading 090, descend and maintain 3000.  I'm sequencing you number 3 behind a 757 and an ERJ."
N0190V: "Heading 090 and down to 3000, Cessna 1090V."

After unkeying the mic, I laughed about being behind one of the most dangerous aircraft to possibly be behind, in terms of wake turbulence.  At least I had a buffer with the ERJ between me and it.

TILLY: "Cessna 1090V, traffic 9 oclock, 3 miles, eastbound turning to final, ERJ, 3000.  Report traffic in sight.
N0190V: "Traffic in sight, Cessna 1090V."
TILLY: "Cessna 1090V, follow that traffic, cleared visual approach Runway 1C."

As I got closer, I heard the controller ask a Southwest 737 if he wanted Runway 1R or 1C.  The pilot took 1C so I kept my speed up on the way in, which you can hear in the video.  You can also hear a few remarks by me, along with Christina and Brittany.  One of them is me explaining why the G1000 kept yelling TRAFFIC, TRAFFIC (plane in the Runway 30 hold block left had its transponder on - comment at 01:45), and the other one is me confirming that, yes, we are, in fact, a big deal (comment at 2:10).  For those familiar with the area, the video starts over Westfield High School.


[Video was here until Contour closed down for a bit, and the video was lost.]

The rest of the flight was remarkably short.  The tower controller had me fly heading 330 until I had JYO in sight, and even so, he kept me on the frequency until pretty close to turning final.  At that point, I was turned over to JYO's frequency.  You know the story from there.  The FlightAware track is below.  For the record, I'm not a fan of the new high contrast lettering, and it's clearly the end of the world.  The circles around JYO are from the previous flight, which was all pattern work.

Hours:
Pilot in Command Cross Country (PIC XC): 1.9 - 58.2 (of 50)
Actual/Simulated Instrument (Act/Sim): 0.0 - 6.6 (of 40)

Richmond for a Stamp

N6017N - C172S - 2.3 hours

This flight came partially out a need to celebrate the great medical news of a friend, and partially out of my need to go play with my new toy.  In the end, it was a lesson in flexibility, and situational awareness.

From the very start, things were slightly hectic.  Roscoe wasn't going to be able to get back to me about the flight until after I left work, and I didn't want to reserve an aircraft until I was sure I'd be using it.  As I came up out of the Metro after work, I checked in with Roscoe to see what the story was, called the flight school to put the keys to one of the aircraft out in the lock box, and headed home to change and get my flight gear.  When we got out to the airport, the aircraft I had intended to take was down for maintenance, so I took one of the newer 172S models with a G1000, which was a decision that could have saved my life, along with the life of my passenger.

Not much to see.  Night is dark.

After a few minutes of readjusting to the the G1000, we were off.  The departure was normal, and the sky was really clear, with the moon lighting things up.  I didn't set the Contour up until after departure, which you can see in the GPS data on the right side of the image.  The cool thing about it is that you can very clearly see the profile ascent from under the Bravo.  In the future, I'll post a link to the video, but the flight was at night, and the camera didn't pick much up.  Looking at the map, you can see the recording picks up just west of Leesburg and continues all the way down to just north of Richmond.  The profile's first step is 2300, with the next step up 4300, and the final cruise of 5500.  In the end, the recording cut out at just under 42 minutes because of the limited 2GB SD card.  I ordered a 32GB card, so given 21 minutes per GB, the new card should give me about 11 hours, which will far outlast the battery.  If I bump the settings up, the battery and file size will suffer, of course.  I'll work on ways to get audio eventually.  I got flight following from Potomac TRACON on the way down, talking to the MANNE, MULRR and FLTRK (FLaTRocK) sectors.

As we got closer to Richmond (RIC), approach offered both Runways 16 and 20.  I took 20 because the taxi back from 16 would take forever.  The controller pointed the airport's direction out a few times, but I couldn't see a beacon or the airport in general, so I didn't call it in sight.  At about 12nm out, I was able to spot the beacon buried in a mass of airport lighting, and told the controller we had the field.  From there, he has us contact the tower, who cleared pretty far out to land on Runway 20.  Since I hadn't been to RIC before and it was dark, I had the tower controller turn up the runway lights for the runway so I could see exactly where it was (you can hear my request at about 14:08 in this LiveATC archive - you won't be able to hear tower, but you'll hear me).  Once I had a better idea of what I was aiming for, I brought it in on one of my better landings, despite a little choppy air on final.  The tower controller had me roll all the way down to the end of the runway for an easier taxi to Million Air, which was the FBO where we'd be parking.

My friend Mike, who lives around Richmond, met us there to give us a ride into town.  At first we thought we'd grab barbecue, but since we got in so late our options were pretty limited.  We ended up settling on Steak 'n Shake mostly because it was new in Richmond, and because I hadn't been to one since I was 13.  Despite being a chain (and the first chain mentioned in this blog), it was pretty good.  Even if it wasn't stellar, write-home-about-it, best-burger-ever, it hit the spot.  After the quick dinner, we trekked back to the airport to head back home.

Back at Million Air, Roscoe got his Richmond stamp for his Aviation Ambassador passport, I paid for fuel, and we set off for Leesburg.  I haven't flown into a Class C airport since the end of 2005, so I was a little rusty on the radio calls for a departure clearance, but after that I was set.  Holding short of the runway, I had to wait for an Air Wisconsin CRJ to land before I was cleared out.  The departure was pretty standard with a turn to a heading of 270 on climbout and departure with FLTRK (you can hear the departure at about 7:30 in this LiveATC archive).

Signal Mountain - In the way of anything south 

The way back to Leesburg was just a nice as the trip down, but it got interesting closer to Leesburg.  As I was nearing CSN (CaSaNova, a navigation radio down near Warrenton, VA), the controller asked if I was going all the way to CSN or if I wanted to go direct to Leesburg prior to getting there.  Because it was shorter, I advised him I'd be heading towards Leesburg just prior to CSN.  You've probably heard me mention Upperville (2VG2) a lot in my flights, and the reason is that it's a landmark I can use to help me avoid terrain, while still remaining under the Dulles Class B airspace.  Cutting in prior to CSN meant not using that landmark, and changing my game plan.  Because it was non-standard, and I knew there was terrain out there I would be flying close to, I enabled the terrain feature on the nav display of the G1000.  That, and keeping my head up and out probably saved my life.

As I descended to 1300 to get under the final shelf of the airspace, Roscoe and I spotted the radio towers on top of Signal Mountain, along with the silhouette of the mountain itself against the moonlit terrain on the far side.  The heading I was on would've kept me west of the range, but I dodged further west to remain on the safe side (you can see it in the FlightAware image at the top of the post just north of the thick grey line that represents I-66).  After we passed the range, I went direct to Leesburg, and set down on Runway 17.

With the plane back in its spot, we threw the book and keys in the lock box and headed home.  I learned a few things tonight that I won't soon forget.

No longer lacking Southeast destinations 

Hours:
Pilot in Command Cross Country (PIC XC): 2.3 - 48.7 (of 50)
Actual/Simulated Instrument (Act/Sim): 0 - 4.9 (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)