stratobee
Cleared for Takeoff
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- Dec 18, 2011
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stratobee
Two days ago I flew my GF up to a conference in San Francisco. Perfect example of when a twin is the only choice for piece of mind for me.
Late start. Night flight. Clear skies. Climb up to 12000ft and clear the mountains around LA on my way north. After the mountains: the whole Central Valley all the way up to SF are covered in low convection fog. It's a beautiful sight with the cities we pass glowing like soft halos under this giant white duvet of fog. It goes on for as far as one can see. I tune in some of the ATIS's on the way: visibility 0,5miles. ceilings at 100-200ft, mist etc. In fact, I get nervous about our destination airport and have the controller check for me - so far so good. I land uneventfully after 1hr 45 min, drop her off and then head back in the pitch black night.
On the way back I play the game - what would I do if one quit in the twin? Well, my single engine ceiling would not clear the mountains to get back into LA where the WX is clear, so that option was out. The other option was to go back to SF where the WX was clear still, although worsening by the second. The third option would be to try a landing at any of the airports below me with 100-200ft ceiling and mist. Would you want to do an ILS into 100-200ft ceilings with one engine out? The answer is obviously no.
But an even more unfathomable faith would be to try to do it in a single with an engine out. The mere thought of it gives me the shivers. That extra money I pay for the second engine is worth every penny as peace of mind in my book.
Late start. Night flight. Clear skies. Climb up to 12000ft and clear the mountains around LA on my way north. After the mountains: the whole Central Valley all the way up to SF are covered in low convection fog. It's a beautiful sight with the cities we pass glowing like soft halos under this giant white duvet of fog. It goes on for as far as one can see. I tune in some of the ATIS's on the way: visibility 0,5miles. ceilings at 100-200ft, mist etc. In fact, I get nervous about our destination airport and have the controller check for me - so far so good. I land uneventfully after 1hr 45 min, drop her off and then head back in the pitch black night.
On the way back I play the game - what would I do if one quit in the twin? Well, my single engine ceiling would not clear the mountains to get back into LA where the WX is clear, so that option was out. The other option was to go back to SF where the WX was clear still, although worsening by the second. The third option would be to try a landing at any of the airports below me with 100-200ft ceiling and mist. Would you want to do an ILS into 100-200ft ceilings with one engine out? The answer is obviously no.
But an even more unfathomable faith would be to try to do it in a single with an engine out. The mere thought of it gives me the shivers. That extra money I pay for the second engine is worth every penny as peace of mind in my book.
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