Some Old Photos of N96178

I found a box of old photographs this weekend and went through all of them last night to see what all was in there.  When I started my training, I would take a picture of the plane I flew after each lesson for some reason, so I have a bunch of glossies of the aircraft I've flown over the years.  Since the last post was about N96178, I figured I'd share some of those pictures first.  I'm sure some of the others will show up in future posts.



Just in case you didn't see this on the Twitter feed, there's this gem, too:

Being the first plane I soloed in, you can see there was a little bit of an attachment to it.  I'm pretty sure my instructor took another picture where I was actually smiling, but I'm pretty sure I either still had braces then, or hadn't yet learned how to smile at that point.  Gotta love old pictures of yourself, especially when they're from high school.

Goodbye to an Old Friend

First, I have to say that everyone is okay - "Old Friend" is referring to a plane I've flown for years.

Second, I have to say that I was not involved with this in any way.

Third, I have to say that the NTSB looks into all accidents and none of the information has even made it into their database (at least publicly).  Since they haven't released any statements of probable cause, you're not going to find any commentary on what happened other than what I know for a fact: a plane I've been flying for just short of a decade was involved in a non-fatal crash at the Windwood Fly-In Resort (WV62) on 26 April 2013.  Oddly enough, I was actually flying that day, and to a field less than 14 miles away no less.  Even crazier is that I'd flown the plane less than a week before.

N96178 certainly wasn't the prettiest plane in the fleet.  In fact, I'm pretty sure it was the oldest in the Leesburg (JYO) fleet by the time it was taken out, but it was a trusty workhorse over the years.  I soloed in it back in 2003 and have flown it off and on for 14 flight hours since.  Since I started this blog after finishing my private pilot license some of those adventures are missing, but I caught some of them.

Here's the aftermath of the crash the other week:

For me, I'll just remember this picture of the plane from my flight out to Garrett County (2G4) last year:

I'll miss that plane.

Chipping Away at the Instrument Requirement

N96178 - C172P - 2.3 hours

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)

Going Solo for Currency

N96178 - C172P - 0.9 hours

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)

Another Flight Out West

N96178 - C172P - 2.0 hours

I was supposed to go flying on the 4th, but for various reasons that didn't end up happening.  Since then, it's been a little rough between my personal life and work, so I figured I'd take myself flying to clear my head.  Before I go any further, I just want to point out that I did consciously wait until a point in the week that my head was clear enough to actually fly safely.  I just wanted to put that out there before someone decided to call me out on the S in the IMSAFE checklist.

Ground life aside, I figured I'd head out west to try a new destination on my own.  The flight back would be at night, too, which would count towards hours I'll need in my next rating (commercial rating: 61.129(a)(4)(ii) Solo VFR Night).  I debated a few destinations, to include Altoona (AOO), Somerset County (2G9) and Garrett County (2G4).  I ended up settling on 2G4 primarily because one of my ideas for my long IR XC includes approaches at AOO and 2G9, so I figured I might as well go somewhere I won't go on that flight.  My friend Phil flew out there a while ago and he seemed to enjoy the flight, which factored into the decision.  Finally, of all of the airports I've flown in and out of, it would be the highest in terms of altitude above sea level, at 2933'.  Before tonight, that spot was held by Blacksburg (BCB) at 2132'.

CBE In the distance

The flight out was slightly hazy looking west, but as the daylight waned, the haze became less of a problem.  I passed just north of Winchester (OKV) and south of Cumberland Regional (CBE), where I flew back in December.  The original track would've had me a lot further south of CBE, but I changed my track to go direct to the Grantsville (GRV) VOR so I could fly the VOR RWY 27 approach into 2G4.  I was able to spot GRV in the middle of a field as I flew overhead, which made timing my turn for the approach pretty easy.  Obviously, the practice approach was simply to get used to working the radios and flying approaches on my own.  Not having a safety pilot to look out for me, I couldn't wear the blinders and log the approach, but I still think it was worth it to get used to the idea of flying approaches.  If nothing else, I was able to see what the approach looks like out the window.

I reported my position inbound to land on Runway 9 as soon as I passed over GRV, and made the standard calls from then on.  Luckily, the approach off of GRV puts you on the downwind for Runway 9 if you fly it long enough.  The wind was pretty light, but 2G4 is around a lot of changes in terrain.  It's perched near the top of the hill, so there are all kinds of weird wind issues as the wind carries up and downhill.  Adding to that, the crest of the hill is slightly north of the field and is 20-40 feet higher, which changes that dynamic as well.  All of that together makes even light wind somewhat of a battle all the way down final and into ground effect.  I pulled off the runway after landing and taxied back to kill some time to let it get darker.  When I got back to the end of the runway, I noticed a ski resort south of the field.  Google Maps says that it's Wisp (it's just out of the frame to the left in the picture), so if anyone needs a flight this winter, let me know.

On the way home, I listened to Cleveland and Washington Center sequence traffic into Dulles, National and BWI to pass the time on an otherwise quiet flight home.  As I got closer to OKV, I circled around the city in order to log a little more time at night.  In the end, I came out with 1.1 hours more hours of solo VFR night.  Unfortunately, my long time buddy N96178 has a fully front lit panel, and not the nice back lit panel of the newer R models I've been flying.  For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, turn down the dash lights in your car, shine a red flashlight on the speedometer, and try to drive like that.  It made for an interesting approach, since I couldn't see the airspeed indicator as well as I would've liked, but the landing wasn't half bad.  You know the rest.

Proof that sunsets from the air are thousands of times better than on the ground

Hours:
Pilot in Command Cross Country (PIC XC): 2.0 - 63.4 (of 50)
Actual/Simulated Instrument (Act/Sim): 0.0 - 6.6 (of 40)

Visiting an Old Friend

N96178 - C172P - 3.2 hours

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

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

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

EMB-120 that arrived during the delay

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



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

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


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

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