More Performance

N8454Y - PA32 - 1.2 hours

As I'm working my way through my training, I've been trying to figure out ways to use the flight hours to their fullest. Back in November, for example, I logged more simulated instrument time in a complex aircraft. That got me closer to the commercial requirement of the 10 hours in a complex aircraft, but also got me more simulated instrument time toward the instrument requirement.

Today, in order to try to knock out yet another requirement for the type of flying that I want to do, I figured I'd start getting into a high performance aircraft to get that endorsement, while also logging some simulated instrument time. The aircraft today was a Piper Saratoga, and is slightly larger than what I have been typically flying, with a much larger engine.

In order to get used to the aircraft, we took it just over the ridge to Winchester (OKV) to fly the VOR-A approach, land, and then back to Leesburg (JYO) for the ILS, and another landing. It was a simple flight, with nothing too spectacular. One thing I did learn, however, is that a smooth application of power goes a long way. I added power pretty quickly on the first takeoff, which contributed to some torque steer. It wasn't unmanageable, and I corrected for it, but it was a surprise nonetheless.

Since I'm getting to within 10 hours of the 40 required for the instrument rating, it's time to get more serious about getting that over with.

Hours:
Pilot in Command Cross Country (PIC XC): 0.0 - 128.8 (of 50)
Actual/Simulated Instrument (Act/Sim): 0.7 - 32.6 (of 40)
Dual Complex: 0.0 - 7.7 (of 10)
Total Time in Aircraft: 1.2 - 198.7 (of 250)

The Long Instrument Cross Country

N944DB - P28R - 5.0 hours

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

Aforementioned Simulated Aircraft

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Who Knew ILSs Needed Power?

N49134 - C152 - 2.6 hours

Since I've been trying to get the long IR XC out of the way, I've been bugging my friend Mike to get current again so that he could ride right seat for the flight so I didn't have to pay an instructor (certified flight instructor - CFI) to sit there.  Of course, it wasn't until later that I re-read the regs and found out that the flight requires a CFI, and not just an instrument rated safety pilot.  In any case, a friend needed a safety pilot to get instrument current again, and I was definitely up for that.

Sherriff SUV powering a light on 29

Mike lives down in Richmond, so we decided to meet up in Culpeper (CJR).  That plan meant I didn't have to drive too far, and he didn't have to use extra time on the plane to get all the way to Leesburg (JYO).  The drive down to CJR required a trip down Route 29, which is by far my least favorite drive in the world because of the quantity and poor timing of the traffic lights.  On a stroke of unfortunate luck, the power was out for a good amount of Virginia, so most of those lights were out and very few people were on the road.  I made it down in record time, but Mike got hung up because the airport he was flying out of didn't have power to pump fuel.  Luckily, a nearby field did, so he stopped there on the way up.

I killed some time with a run into the town of Culpeper, and then sat in the CJR terminal for a while listening to the local pilots tell their stories of how bad the storm affected them last night.  After sitting around for a while and developing a plan of attack where one approach dumped onto, or close to where another picked up, Mike arrived and we set off towards Stafford (RMN).

The Plan

The initial plan was to run the VOR RWY 33 approach into RMN, which has a missed approach that sets up for a convenient transition to the ILS RWY 33 approach.  From there, we'd transition to the ILS RWY 3 at Charlottesville (CHO), which has a missed approach that sets us up for the VOR/DME-A at Orange (OMH).  Lastly, instead of flying the missed after OMH, we would proceed direct to Casanova (CSN) to fly the LOC/DME RWY 15 at Warrenton-Fauquier (HWY), and then take the missed back to CSN to pick up the VOR-A to CJR.  That all looks good on paper, or perhaps on your screen, but life thought it looked a little too good.

RMN VOR RWY 33

After departing CJR, we headed towards BRV to pick up the VOR RWY 33 approach at RMN.  I called Potomac TRACON to let them know where we were and what we were doing, just so they knew.  Mike flew the approach pretty well while I made sure to keep us out of the SFRA and away from traffic.  Everything looked good with the first approach, so we went missed to continue with the ILS RWY 33 approach, which has a really cool arc to it.  Unfortunately, while attempting to transition from the VOR radial outbound, onto the Localizer beam (LOC) inbound, we figured out that the instrument landing system (ILS) was out of service.  Since we were in the middle of an approach, neither of us really had the free brain power to make the connection between the ILS being out and the storm last night.  Mike tracked back to BRV to shoot another VOR approach so that we didn't waste the time.

RMN ILS RWY 33

After the second VOR approach into RMN, we went direct to CHO.  I called Potomac back to update them on our next plans, where I was then told he thought CHO's ILS was also out of service.  We thought to try Shenandoah (SHD), but started to wonder if that would be out because of the power outages, too.  We tossed around a few more ideas, but we were also getting hungry, slightly irritated at the hand we were dealt (no notices to airmen - NOTAMs - were issued for the outages), and we figured it was a good time to get some fuel, too.  In the end, we decided to set down at CHO.

On the way in, Potomac told us a few times that the automatic terminal information service (ATIS - broadcasts the weather information and continuously) was out, though it seemed to be just fine when I tuned it in a few minutes prior to calling them.  In any case, the controller passed the weather to us and sent us over to tower.

As we got closer, a MedFlight helicopter called tower up to report they were proceeding to a crash on Route 29.  Tower called our flight out as traffic to the chopper, but also threw in a quick remark that someone was already on scene.  I'll let you draw your own conclusions as to what the controller was trying to say, as the accident was right under where we were at that point.  I couldn't spot it and Mike was still under the hood to log more instrument time, so the controller advised us to turn south to avoid a conflict.  When we were out of the way, he cleared us to land so Mike took the hood off and set us down.

The Landmark crew set us up with the car and we set off toward Timberwood in hopes they had power, AC (did I mention it was really hot today?), and food.  While they had power, they unfortunately couldn't hold up the full menu, so we had some bar food.  I have to give them credit, as the bar food was pretty good, but I was disappointed I couldn't have a burger.  Back at CHO, Mike paid the fuel tab and we set back off for some more approaches.

OMH VOR-A

Back up in the air, we went over the ridge to Gordonsville (GVE) to shoot the VOR-A into OMH.  I called Potomac to let them know what we were doing.  The controller advised me that there were jumpers (skydivers) that were about to be released, and that I should call on the airport's frequency to coordinate with the pilot of their plane.  We coordinated, Mike held mid-approach for a lap, and then we continued inbound.  After overflying the field, we went towards CSN to fly more VOR approaches into HWY and a final approach into CJR.

HWY VOR RWY 15

The last controller we spoke to seemed to be in no mood to handle VFR traffic at all, so we ended up just flying the last three approaches on our own.  Between the first and second approaches to HWY, an aircraft had departed to remain in the traffic pattern.  I had to coordinate with him because what we were doing was very non-standard when compared to the very standard traffic pattern (if you look at the approach plate, we were approaching the field from an odd angle).  Since it was out of the ordinary and I wanted to make sure the guy knew exactly what we were doing, I got pretty explicit with my radio calls, which someone listening in on the frequency made a quick joke about.  After breaking off on the approach, Mike shot the last VOR approach into CJR, landed, taxied off, and shut down.


After I packed my stuff back up, I jumped back in the car and headed home while Mike took the plane back down to Richmond.  He's current again, I got some PIC time for being a safety pilot, and in the process we had a pretty good adventure of it.

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