damonb
Pre-Flight
A rather long post about ferrying my new(to me) plane 01L from Chicago Midway back to Shawnee, Oklahoma.
Part I. Finding a plane.
A few months ago I decided it was time to get my own airplane. I was renting my instructors 152, which I had trained in, but I did not feel like I as getting enough flying in due to finding combinations of good weather and flying schedules.
I saw a listing for a 1980 152 that was for sale at Midway Airport with an asking price of 18900. I called the seller to express my interest and arranged for an A&P in Chicago to do a prepurchase inspection of the aircraft.
A few days later I get a call back from A&P saying that he did not think the plane would be a good choice me. While the airframe was in good shape, the engine had low compressions and the exhaust system was in bad shape.I thanked him for his time, made arrangements to pay him and decided that would be the end of it.
I got a call from the seller a few days later saying he would repair all the squawks the A&P found and leave the price at 18900. I said okay, but I would not agree to purchase the plane until I had a chance to fly it and I was happy with it. The seller agreed. The A&P that did the prepurchase inspection would also be doing the repairs. A top overhaul(really a full
replacement) was done, the exhaust system replaced amongst other things. I was a little surprised and maybe even skeptical that so much work was being done for a plane with an asking price of 18900.
About a week later I get a call from the seller saying that because of all the work being done on the plane, he could not accept 18900. He admitted the plane had been purchased for about 15k and about 6k worth of work was being done. He said he would accept 20,400. I agreed to this arrangement and waited for the repairs to be completed.
After about a month, the repairs were complete.
Part II. 14 August 2009 - Chicago Midway.
On 14 August 2009, I took a commercial flight from Oklahoma City,OK to MDW. My initial plan was I would get there, test fly the airplane and if I was satisfied with it, complete the purchase. Arrangements were also made for a CFI to go up with me. Not only to verify that I could handle the plane, but also get some help on how to get out of Chicago airspace without getting into trouble. I thought I would start my trip back that afternoon. It did not work out that way.
I am a low time pilot(~100 hours) that has flown mainly out of uncontrolled airspace. In fact, other than the minimums required for my flight training, I had not been in controlled airspace since. When I got to Midway, I was completely intimidated and overwhelmed with taxing around with big jets all around and the complexity of it all. The CFI had to handle getting us out of MDW so I could test fly the plane.
The test flight went well. We went to Lancing, a small airport outside of Chicago's Class B airspace and did some touch and go's. I was satisfied with the handling of the plane. Also the CFI, provided some pointers on my landing technique.
Another thing that was pointed out to me by the CFI in this flight, that I had not considered, was that because of the top overhaul I was going to have to fly the plane differently than I normally would. I would have to run full rich and full throttle on the trip home because of engine breakin. Otherwise I would have develop high oil consumption. Instead of being able
to go 200nm between stops, I was now limited to about 100nm before refueling.
After getting back to MDW and seeing the complex airspace, I decided there was no way I could fly out on my own. Again, I was totally intimidated. Almost a panic. I asked if there was a way to have the CFI get me back to where we had done touch and go's and I could continue on
from there. It was discussed for a bit, but finally decided against. By then it was 3pm, I was starting to feel rather fatigued from all the activity for the day. The CFI said he would get me a cheat sheet to use to talk with ATC and we would go up again in a few hours. That would give me time to rest up some and also complete the sale. I now owned 4901L. Or at least me and the bank! However I would not be leaving Chicago today.
A few hours later, I went up with the CFI again. I had the cheat sheet in hand, but I still had difficulty talking with ATC and the CFI handled a lot of the communications getting out. We went back out the Lansing airfield for a few more touch and go's as well as talking about air traffic control. I finally understood that as long as ATC knew I was going south and stayed under 2000 feet, I would not be in class B airspace. Once I was out from under that shelf, then I could climb up to a higher altitude. The CFI also pointed out landmarks I could use to know when I would be out of class B airspace and when Midway would terminate my radar service. Again the cheat sheet, had it laid out nicely step by step. While I still felt quite intimidated, I at least had the feeling that I would be able to leave MDW solo. However the CFI and I agreed that one more hour Saturday morning would be a good idea to improve my proficiency and confidence.
After doing a few more touch and go's at Lancing, the CFI suggested we do a little tour of Chicago. One of the reasons I wanted to fly is to see interesting sites. This would fall in that category. We flew a few miles off the east shore of lake Michigan and got a good view of the Chicago skyline. It was too bad it was so hazy that day. Little did I know that that haze would be a constant companion on the flight home.
I let the CFI handle landing the plane at MDW. It was just too busy and I felt rather intimidated looking off to the left and seeing 737's and Airbuses landing on the left runway while we were were coming in on the right.
The seller had a little efficiency that I could stay at for the night. After the CFI went home for the day, I got out my sectionals and started planning for the flight back. I checked the weather forecast and it showed thunderstorms to the west of my path, but it looked like they would not be a problem. It would be something to be alert to, but I planned assuming a straight line back to OKC. I also spent time reviewing the cheat sheet and mentally rehearsing for talking to ATC tomorrow morning.
At the end of the day, I was feeling pretty down and quite tired. I was still wondering if I was going to be able to leave MDW on my own.
15 August 2009-Leaving Chicago.
The CFI and I met up at 8am to get some breakfast. I was feeling a bit better after a good nights sleep and not quite so doubtful about being able to leave MDW. I still wanted to go up with the CFI one more time for practice. After getting to MDW, I went out and preflighted the plane.
I had my cheatsheet ready and did much better. I had problems once and the CFI had to take over, but at least did not feel as lost as I did yesterday.
We flew out to Lansing again and I was able to point out all the landmarks that the CFI had mentioned the previous day so I would know when I was leaving Chicago airspace. We did one more touch and go at Lansing and then headed back to MDW. After getting back. I paid the CFI for his time and thanked him for his help and patience. He left and it was all up to me now.
It took about and hour for me to gather all my things, pay my bill with the FBO and get down to the plane. After doing another quick preflight. I got in the plane and setup the GPS. The CFI gave me the phone number to the tower and suggested I call them before leaving to thank them for their help and patience with me. Unfortunately, nobody answered. I started up 4901L, got my information for ATIS and contacted ground control to let them know I was ready to depart on a VFR flight to the south below 2000. I was assigned a squawk and told to contact the tower. I contacted the tower, told them I was ready to taxi and that I would need progressive
taxi instructions.
I had a little trouble at first. I did not quite get up to the first taxiway and the tower had tell me to come a little further along. I was patiently guided to runway 22. After getting to the hold line of 22, I did my runup checks. Just as I finished, tower came on and said expedite takeoff. I looked to the right and saw a plane much bigger than me on final. I acknowledged with
taking off on 22, 01L, got on the runway and left. At about 1000MSL, I recieved a call from the tower to verify altitude. I read back my altitude and told frequency change approved to control. After getting up to about 1200 feet and I made my turn to the south and started watching for
landmarks and making sure I did not cross the 2000 foot shelf of revoked pilot licenses. After about 15 minutes, I received the call radar service terminated, squak VFR. I acknowledged and switched my transponder to 1200. I was out of Chicago airspace.
15 August 2009- Pontiac, Jacksonville and Haze!
While I was out of Chicago airspace, I suddenly realized I did not know where the heck I was. The haze was so thick I could not find my first landmark. I had a VOR in my path, so I tuned to that but I realized I had already gone south of it. While I was hoping I could just use landmarks and sectionals to get home, I found myself making immediate use of the GPS.
Unfortunately I realized I had not programmed the GPS to my first stop. After setting my compass, I pointed myself in the direction I had calculated, I started putting in the the identifier for KPNT, Pointiac, Illinois. I had already practiced some with my GPS at home, but it still took me
a bit to get it set up. When I got the GPS setup, I found I was not too far from my planned course, but it made me feel a lot better. If I had not bought that GPS, I would have turned around, gone back to Lansing and had the plane ferried home by someone else.
It was about 60nm to Pontiac. The leg to Pontiac was my shortest planned leg, but I wanted to top off the tanks, do another check of the plane and see what the storms were doing. My first solo landing with 01L was of the carrier landing category. Not my worst landing, but not great either.
While Pontiac had a paved runway and was in good condition, it was definitely oriented towards agricultural flying. There were 5 Ag-Wagons sitting on the ramp and sort of dwarfing my little 152 as I pulled up. While the plane was refueled, I went in to check the weather, get a briefing
for my next leg to Jacksonville(KIJX) and recover from my escape from Chicago airspace.
After an hour, it was time to get back in the air and head to KIJX. The haze had not gotten any better, so I was still primarily relying on my GPS. I dodged a few clouds that looked a little scary. I never saw any thunderstorms or flew through any rain, but the situation looked volatile.
Despite my concerns, the air was actually very smooth.
After about 1.2 hours, I arrived at Jacksonville around 1:30pm. Jacksonville was interesting because it was surrounded by cornfields. I think this is the first time I have really been in the breadbasket of America. My next intended stop was Jefferson City,Mo, but a quick check of the weather showed this was out of the question. A talk with the briefer confirmed this. The briefer suggested going to Rolla-Viche which was further to the east. I was not sure. I had not really expected to diverted like that.
After talking with the briefer I was feeling a bit tired and hungry, so I borrowed the courtesy car and went into town to get something to eat. Naturally I had to take a wrong turn and find myself on a road with nothing but cornfields around. I decided to turn around at a stop sign and saw another car stopped there. I asked for directions and got pointed in the right direction.
After a nice sit down lunch, I went back to IJX. I looked at the weather again and saw a line of thunderstorms continueing to move over Jefferson City. I was defintely feeling the effects of mental fatigue and needed time to think. Even though it was only 3:30pm at this point, it was a long stressful day. I decided it was time get a hotel room where I could rest and plan my next move.
I borrowed the courtesy car again and checked into a hotel. Coincidentally, while I was flipping through the television channels, I noticed the movie, The Perfect Storm, was on. Some how that seemed fitting! And I had never gotten a chance to see either.
After a few hours of just zoning out on the television, I started looking over the sectionals again and checking the forecasts for tomorrow. I finally decided that, as the briefer suggested, Rolla-Vichy(KVIH) would be my best bet for tomorrow. I decided not to plan for the destination after that because the weather situation was just changing too much. I also noticed that the head winds were predicted to be quite strong.
I still felt a little down for not making it as far as I thought I would, but at least I had gotten a little closer to my destination.
16 August 2009- Rolla-Vichy, West Plains and head winds
After a good nights sleep and breakfast, I went back to KIJX. I got my briefing and headed towards Rolla-Vichy. This was the longest leg of the trip at 120nm. I was a little concerned because of the headwinds and increased fuel consumption due to the break-in of the engine.
After I stopped climbing, I check my GPS to see what my ground speed was. I was moving ahead at a whole 56 knots!.I looked down at a road I was going along and the cars were going faster than me. So as the wind chart and the briefer said, I was fighting a 40 knot headwind.
Since I knew there was a possibility of strong head winds and the time to KVIH being long, I had made Washington Regional(KM06) my alternate airport in case the head winds did not cut me a break. Fortunately the headwinds had lessened at about the Mississippi river and I was now
moving ahead at about 75 knots. I made my decision point in time and pushed on to KVIH, rather than diverting to my alternate. The haze was a little better than the previous day and I could actually make out KVIH about 15nm out. It still took about 2 hours to reach KVIH. With a
distance on 120nm, I averaged about 60knots. The plane used about 16 gallons. So I figured my endurance is about 3 hours, while I am having to fly for engine break-in.
Rolla-Vichy was interesting because there were 4 old DC-3s sitting out. Three of them on an unused runway and another near the FBO. I also met another pilot flying a Cardinal that was getting pushed around by the thunderstorms. He had come from Indiana and was trying to get to South
Dakota. He was trying to do an end run around the storms. There was also an airplane that was dropping parachutist's off nearby.
I checked the weather and got another briefing on the storm situation. I had decided not to try to plan ahead, because I figured whatever destination I picked, it would probably have storms. So I had sit down and plot out my next destination. I decided it would be West Plains. Missouri.
West Plains was a relatively short hop of about 80nm. There were still headwinds to contend with and the skies were overcast, but it was still VFR and the line of thunderstorms were well to my west.
I left KVIH and about an hour later I arrived at West Plains,Mo. I ran into a little rain on the way, which totally obscured my vision out the windshield. I was about to go into IMC turn around mode, but the rain stopped after about 30 seconds later.
By now it was around 2pm and the thunderstorms were really starting to blow up. I decided to get a bite to eat. After I came back, the thunderstorms were too close for comfort to press on to my next destination. I was also starting to feel the effects of fatigue again and I decided it was time to call it a day. Again around 3:30pm. I borrowed the courtesy car and checked into a hotel for the day.
As I poured through over my sectionals, I thought, tomorrow I will get home. Wrong.
17-18 August 2009- Boone County, is my plane going to blow away and the long drive home.
I left West Plains Monday morning hoping I would get a break from the thunderstorms and I could make it home. Boone County Airport was my next destination about 80nm away. From there I thought I could go to Tahlequa,Ok and then finally home to Shawnee.
I got my briefing and verified I would be okay to Boone County. Just after I started the plane and started to taxi I saw low clouds rolling in from the west. Not storm clouds, but clouds low enough that I did not think I would be in VFR conditions. I stopped the plane and went inside to check the metars of the surrounding area to get an idea of what was going on. I went back outside to take a look at the clouds to see if the base would get any higher. After about 30 minutes, the low clouds moved on and everything was looking good on my way to Boone County. It was around 10:30am.
I arrived at Boone County about 1 hour later. While the plane was being refueled, I checked the weather again. Tahlequah was definitely out of the question. The briefer suggested going to Fort Smith, Arkansas. That looked doable to me and I planned my flight. This would take me over the highest part of the Ozarks. The clouds looked like they could be a little low to make it across, but I decided to give it a try and see how far I could get.
After taking off and heading towards Fort Smith, I decided to turn back after about 10 minutes into the flight. The clouds were too low for the terrian. I did not feel like scud running. I thought to myself, "Is this what Steve Fosset was looking at before he went down?". After getting into the pattern, I hit another small patch of rain or virga. That was short lived and I got back down uneventfully. One of the FBO employees met me at the door saying, "I have had to do that myself".
After four days of trying to get the plane home, I was finally used up mentally and morale wise. I checked with a briefer one last time to see if there was going to be any break in the weather and he said no. Unless I wanted to go east (the wrong way), I was checkmated by thunderstorms to the west and low clouds to the south and southwest.
I started making arrangements to leave the plane for the week. I suddenly noticed to the north that the sky was getting very dark. I asked if we could get the plane in the hangar right away. At first the FBO employee did not think the storm was coming this way. "They always pass north of us". Suddenly the winds starting picking up and watched my little plane start rocking up and down. It was tail first into the wind because of the storm. The FBO employee got the tractor and towbar out and pulled the plane into their enclosed maintenance hangar. It was not a moment too soon. Just as they were closing the hangar door, the winds really picked up and it started raining hard. It was a short lived storm. I am not sure if my plane would have gotten flipped if they had not pulled it in, but I was glad to see it inside and protected. I was pretty much at the end of rope and did not need any more stress. I think the FBO personnel realized this as well and I am glad they were able to accomodate me.
I made arrangements to hangar the plane for the week and I got a rental car. By that time it was 5pm. I thought I would drive back home that evening, but staring at the roadmap, I realized I was so drained by the last four days that I could not figure out how to even get out of town. So again, I checked into a motel and decided to wait until morning.
It was about a 5 hour drive back. Just to add insult to injury, it was clear from Boone County to Shawnee Tuesday afternoon.
22 August 2009-The plane is home!
After getting back work, I started remembering what it was like to have normal life and analyze the events of the previous 4 days. I am glad I decided to leave the plane in Harrison. After four days, I was definitely too tired and frustrated. I was definitely at risk of doing something stupid and becoming a statistic.
I have coworker who is also a pilot and volunteered to fly me back to Harrison on Saturday. Since the plane was going to be in Harrison for a few days, I had noticed a few things about the plane that I thought I should have a mechanic look at. The mechanic could find nothing wrong and it just seemed to be a quirk about the plane or the pilot.
It was about a two hour flight from SNL to HRO. The plane was pulled out and ready to go. I started the engine and noticed that my headset was not working and all the audio was coming out of the overhead speaker. After a few minutes of fiddling around I shut the engine down and chocked the plane on the nose.. It took both me and my friend a few minutes to figure out that a switch had been flipped. The mechanic had done a few high speed taxi tests to try to figure out one of the issues I had noticed. So I started up the engine again. My friend waves to me and points to the nose of the plane. I forgot to pull the chock. Shut the engine down again so my friend can pull the chock. Start the engine again, do a radio check and start taxiing.
About halfway to the end of the runway, I start getting a horrible squeal from the brakes. I had not heard that before. So I taxi back to the ramp and shutdown the engine. I am saying lots of nasty words at this point. After I calm down, my friend and I checked the brakes and made
sure the plane rolled freely. No oil or grease coming out of anywhere. The plane was tracking straight and it did not act like anything was binding. I decide to give it another try, but I mentally prepare myself for the possibility of aborting the takeoff if necessary.
After doing my runup checks, I get into the air no problem. It takes about an hour to get to Tahlequah which is about 100nm away. Ground speed was around 100 knots the whole time. I was beginning to wonder if the plane would ever manage anything over 80 knots!
When I get to Tahlequah, there is some kind of a third Saturday flyin. I was too late for lunch, but I had a nice chat with some fellow pilots while I waited for the fuel pump to become available. After about an hour delay, I was finally on the final leg to Shawnee.
Again it was about 100nm and I averaged 100knots. I wish I could say my first landing with my plane at SNL was great, but I managed another carrier landing. I need to go up with my CFI to get that figured out. Just the same, I had finally managed to bring my plane home.
Final Comments.
My longest cross country flight before this, was my long cross country when I was getting my pilots license.I had planned longer cross countries, but trying to find a combination of weather and schedule just never worked out. That was part of the motivation for buying my own plane.
It goes without saying, this was a very challenging flight for me. I sort of feel like I jumped into the deep end. In spite of the difficulties, I have learned alot about myself as a pilot and it has given me a lot to think about in trying to become a better pilot. Some things you just can't learn about from a book or from your CFI. You just have to get out there and struggle with it, cuss at it and ultimately learn from it.
Part I. Finding a plane.
A few months ago I decided it was time to get my own airplane. I was renting my instructors 152, which I had trained in, but I did not feel like I as getting enough flying in due to finding combinations of good weather and flying schedules.
I saw a listing for a 1980 152 that was for sale at Midway Airport with an asking price of 18900. I called the seller to express my interest and arranged for an A&P in Chicago to do a prepurchase inspection of the aircraft.
A few days later I get a call back from A&P saying that he did not think the plane would be a good choice me. While the airframe was in good shape, the engine had low compressions and the exhaust system was in bad shape.I thanked him for his time, made arrangements to pay him and decided that would be the end of it.
I got a call from the seller a few days later saying he would repair all the squawks the A&P found and leave the price at 18900. I said okay, but I would not agree to purchase the plane until I had a chance to fly it and I was happy with it. The seller agreed. The A&P that did the prepurchase inspection would also be doing the repairs. A top overhaul(really a full
replacement) was done, the exhaust system replaced amongst other things. I was a little surprised and maybe even skeptical that so much work was being done for a plane with an asking price of 18900.
About a week later I get a call from the seller saying that because of all the work being done on the plane, he could not accept 18900. He admitted the plane had been purchased for about 15k and about 6k worth of work was being done. He said he would accept 20,400. I agreed to this arrangement and waited for the repairs to be completed.
After about a month, the repairs were complete.
Part II. 14 August 2009 - Chicago Midway.
On 14 August 2009, I took a commercial flight from Oklahoma City,OK to MDW. My initial plan was I would get there, test fly the airplane and if I was satisfied with it, complete the purchase. Arrangements were also made for a CFI to go up with me. Not only to verify that I could handle the plane, but also get some help on how to get out of Chicago airspace without getting into trouble. I thought I would start my trip back that afternoon. It did not work out that way.
I am a low time pilot(~100 hours) that has flown mainly out of uncontrolled airspace. In fact, other than the minimums required for my flight training, I had not been in controlled airspace since. When I got to Midway, I was completely intimidated and overwhelmed with taxing around with big jets all around and the complexity of it all. The CFI had to handle getting us out of MDW so I could test fly the plane.
The test flight went well. We went to Lancing, a small airport outside of Chicago's Class B airspace and did some touch and go's. I was satisfied with the handling of the plane. Also the CFI, provided some pointers on my landing technique.
Another thing that was pointed out to me by the CFI in this flight, that I had not considered, was that because of the top overhaul I was going to have to fly the plane differently than I normally would. I would have to run full rich and full throttle on the trip home because of engine breakin. Otherwise I would have develop high oil consumption. Instead of being able
to go 200nm between stops, I was now limited to about 100nm before refueling.
After getting back to MDW and seeing the complex airspace, I decided there was no way I could fly out on my own. Again, I was totally intimidated. Almost a panic. I asked if there was a way to have the CFI get me back to where we had done touch and go's and I could continue on
from there. It was discussed for a bit, but finally decided against. By then it was 3pm, I was starting to feel rather fatigued from all the activity for the day. The CFI said he would get me a cheat sheet to use to talk with ATC and we would go up again in a few hours. That would give me time to rest up some and also complete the sale. I now owned 4901L. Or at least me and the bank! However I would not be leaving Chicago today.
A few hours later, I went up with the CFI again. I had the cheat sheet in hand, but I still had difficulty talking with ATC and the CFI handled a lot of the communications getting out. We went back out the Lansing airfield for a few more touch and go's as well as talking about air traffic control. I finally understood that as long as ATC knew I was going south and stayed under 2000 feet, I would not be in class B airspace. Once I was out from under that shelf, then I could climb up to a higher altitude. The CFI also pointed out landmarks I could use to know when I would be out of class B airspace and when Midway would terminate my radar service. Again the cheat sheet, had it laid out nicely step by step. While I still felt quite intimidated, I at least had the feeling that I would be able to leave MDW solo. However the CFI and I agreed that one more hour Saturday morning would be a good idea to improve my proficiency and confidence.
After doing a few more touch and go's at Lancing, the CFI suggested we do a little tour of Chicago. One of the reasons I wanted to fly is to see interesting sites. This would fall in that category. We flew a few miles off the east shore of lake Michigan and got a good view of the Chicago skyline. It was too bad it was so hazy that day. Little did I know that that haze would be a constant companion on the flight home.
I let the CFI handle landing the plane at MDW. It was just too busy and I felt rather intimidated looking off to the left and seeing 737's and Airbuses landing on the left runway while we were were coming in on the right.
The seller had a little efficiency that I could stay at for the night. After the CFI went home for the day, I got out my sectionals and started planning for the flight back. I checked the weather forecast and it showed thunderstorms to the west of my path, but it looked like they would not be a problem. It would be something to be alert to, but I planned assuming a straight line back to OKC. I also spent time reviewing the cheat sheet and mentally rehearsing for talking to ATC tomorrow morning.
At the end of the day, I was feeling pretty down and quite tired. I was still wondering if I was going to be able to leave MDW on my own.
15 August 2009-Leaving Chicago.
The CFI and I met up at 8am to get some breakfast. I was feeling a bit better after a good nights sleep and not quite so doubtful about being able to leave MDW. I still wanted to go up with the CFI one more time for practice. After getting to MDW, I went out and preflighted the plane.
I had my cheatsheet ready and did much better. I had problems once and the CFI had to take over, but at least did not feel as lost as I did yesterday.
We flew out to Lansing again and I was able to point out all the landmarks that the CFI had mentioned the previous day so I would know when I was leaving Chicago airspace. We did one more touch and go at Lansing and then headed back to MDW. After getting back. I paid the CFI for his time and thanked him for his help and patience. He left and it was all up to me now.
It took about and hour for me to gather all my things, pay my bill with the FBO and get down to the plane. After doing another quick preflight. I got in the plane and setup the GPS. The CFI gave me the phone number to the tower and suggested I call them before leaving to thank them for their help and patience with me. Unfortunately, nobody answered. I started up 4901L, got my information for ATIS and contacted ground control to let them know I was ready to depart on a VFR flight to the south below 2000. I was assigned a squawk and told to contact the tower. I contacted the tower, told them I was ready to taxi and that I would need progressive
taxi instructions.
I had a little trouble at first. I did not quite get up to the first taxiway and the tower had tell me to come a little further along. I was patiently guided to runway 22. After getting to the hold line of 22, I did my runup checks. Just as I finished, tower came on and said expedite takeoff. I looked to the right and saw a plane much bigger than me on final. I acknowledged with
taking off on 22, 01L, got on the runway and left. At about 1000MSL, I recieved a call from the tower to verify altitude. I read back my altitude and told frequency change approved to control. After getting up to about 1200 feet and I made my turn to the south and started watching for
landmarks and making sure I did not cross the 2000 foot shelf of revoked pilot licenses. After about 15 minutes, I received the call radar service terminated, squak VFR. I acknowledged and switched my transponder to 1200. I was out of Chicago airspace.
15 August 2009- Pontiac, Jacksonville and Haze!
While I was out of Chicago airspace, I suddenly realized I did not know where the heck I was. The haze was so thick I could not find my first landmark. I had a VOR in my path, so I tuned to that but I realized I had already gone south of it. While I was hoping I could just use landmarks and sectionals to get home, I found myself making immediate use of the GPS.
Unfortunately I realized I had not programmed the GPS to my first stop. After setting my compass, I pointed myself in the direction I had calculated, I started putting in the the identifier for KPNT, Pointiac, Illinois. I had already practiced some with my GPS at home, but it still took me
a bit to get it set up. When I got the GPS setup, I found I was not too far from my planned course, but it made me feel a lot better. If I had not bought that GPS, I would have turned around, gone back to Lansing and had the plane ferried home by someone else.
It was about 60nm to Pontiac. The leg to Pontiac was my shortest planned leg, but I wanted to top off the tanks, do another check of the plane and see what the storms were doing. My first solo landing with 01L was of the carrier landing category. Not my worst landing, but not great either.
While Pontiac had a paved runway and was in good condition, it was definitely oriented towards agricultural flying. There were 5 Ag-Wagons sitting on the ramp and sort of dwarfing my little 152 as I pulled up. While the plane was refueled, I went in to check the weather, get a briefing
for my next leg to Jacksonville(KIJX) and recover from my escape from Chicago airspace.
After an hour, it was time to get back in the air and head to KIJX. The haze had not gotten any better, so I was still primarily relying on my GPS. I dodged a few clouds that looked a little scary. I never saw any thunderstorms or flew through any rain, but the situation looked volatile.
Despite my concerns, the air was actually very smooth.
After about 1.2 hours, I arrived at Jacksonville around 1:30pm. Jacksonville was interesting because it was surrounded by cornfields. I think this is the first time I have really been in the breadbasket of America. My next intended stop was Jefferson City,Mo, but a quick check of the weather showed this was out of the question. A talk with the briefer confirmed this. The briefer suggested going to Rolla-Viche which was further to the east. I was not sure. I had not really expected to diverted like that.
After talking with the briefer I was feeling a bit tired and hungry, so I borrowed the courtesy car and went into town to get something to eat. Naturally I had to take a wrong turn and find myself on a road with nothing but cornfields around. I decided to turn around at a stop sign and saw another car stopped there. I asked for directions and got pointed in the right direction.
After a nice sit down lunch, I went back to IJX. I looked at the weather again and saw a line of thunderstorms continueing to move over Jefferson City. I was defintely feeling the effects of mental fatigue and needed time to think. Even though it was only 3:30pm at this point, it was a long stressful day. I decided it was time get a hotel room where I could rest and plan my next move.
I borrowed the courtesy car again and checked into a hotel. Coincidentally, while I was flipping through the television channels, I noticed the movie, The Perfect Storm, was on. Some how that seemed fitting! And I had never gotten a chance to see either.
After a few hours of just zoning out on the television, I started looking over the sectionals again and checking the forecasts for tomorrow. I finally decided that, as the briefer suggested, Rolla-Vichy(KVIH) would be my best bet for tomorrow. I decided not to plan for the destination after that because the weather situation was just changing too much. I also noticed that the head winds were predicted to be quite strong.
I still felt a little down for not making it as far as I thought I would, but at least I had gotten a little closer to my destination.
16 August 2009- Rolla-Vichy, West Plains and head winds
After a good nights sleep and breakfast, I went back to KIJX. I got my briefing and headed towards Rolla-Vichy. This was the longest leg of the trip at 120nm. I was a little concerned because of the headwinds and increased fuel consumption due to the break-in of the engine.
After I stopped climbing, I check my GPS to see what my ground speed was. I was moving ahead at a whole 56 knots!.I looked down at a road I was going along and the cars were going faster than me. So as the wind chart and the briefer said, I was fighting a 40 knot headwind.
Since I knew there was a possibility of strong head winds and the time to KVIH being long, I had made Washington Regional(KM06) my alternate airport in case the head winds did not cut me a break. Fortunately the headwinds had lessened at about the Mississippi river and I was now
moving ahead at about 75 knots. I made my decision point in time and pushed on to KVIH, rather than diverting to my alternate. The haze was a little better than the previous day and I could actually make out KVIH about 15nm out. It still took about 2 hours to reach KVIH. With a
distance on 120nm, I averaged about 60knots. The plane used about 16 gallons. So I figured my endurance is about 3 hours, while I am having to fly for engine break-in.
Rolla-Vichy was interesting because there were 4 old DC-3s sitting out. Three of them on an unused runway and another near the FBO. I also met another pilot flying a Cardinal that was getting pushed around by the thunderstorms. He had come from Indiana and was trying to get to South
Dakota. He was trying to do an end run around the storms. There was also an airplane that was dropping parachutist's off nearby.
I checked the weather and got another briefing on the storm situation. I had decided not to try to plan ahead, because I figured whatever destination I picked, it would probably have storms. So I had sit down and plot out my next destination. I decided it would be West Plains. Missouri.
West Plains was a relatively short hop of about 80nm. There were still headwinds to contend with and the skies were overcast, but it was still VFR and the line of thunderstorms were well to my west.
I left KVIH and about an hour later I arrived at West Plains,Mo. I ran into a little rain on the way, which totally obscured my vision out the windshield. I was about to go into IMC turn around mode, but the rain stopped after about 30 seconds later.
By now it was around 2pm and the thunderstorms were really starting to blow up. I decided to get a bite to eat. After I came back, the thunderstorms were too close for comfort to press on to my next destination. I was also starting to feel the effects of fatigue again and I decided it was time to call it a day. Again around 3:30pm. I borrowed the courtesy car and checked into a hotel for the day.
As I poured through over my sectionals, I thought, tomorrow I will get home. Wrong.
17-18 August 2009- Boone County, is my plane going to blow away and the long drive home.
I left West Plains Monday morning hoping I would get a break from the thunderstorms and I could make it home. Boone County Airport was my next destination about 80nm away. From there I thought I could go to Tahlequa,Ok and then finally home to Shawnee.
I got my briefing and verified I would be okay to Boone County. Just after I started the plane and started to taxi I saw low clouds rolling in from the west. Not storm clouds, but clouds low enough that I did not think I would be in VFR conditions. I stopped the plane and went inside to check the metars of the surrounding area to get an idea of what was going on. I went back outside to take a look at the clouds to see if the base would get any higher. After about 30 minutes, the low clouds moved on and everything was looking good on my way to Boone County. It was around 10:30am.
I arrived at Boone County about 1 hour later. While the plane was being refueled, I checked the weather again. Tahlequah was definitely out of the question. The briefer suggested going to Fort Smith, Arkansas. That looked doable to me and I planned my flight. This would take me over the highest part of the Ozarks. The clouds looked like they could be a little low to make it across, but I decided to give it a try and see how far I could get.
After taking off and heading towards Fort Smith, I decided to turn back after about 10 minutes into the flight. The clouds were too low for the terrian. I did not feel like scud running. I thought to myself, "Is this what Steve Fosset was looking at before he went down?". After getting into the pattern, I hit another small patch of rain or virga. That was short lived and I got back down uneventfully. One of the FBO employees met me at the door saying, "I have had to do that myself".
After four days of trying to get the plane home, I was finally used up mentally and morale wise. I checked with a briefer one last time to see if there was going to be any break in the weather and he said no. Unless I wanted to go east (the wrong way), I was checkmated by thunderstorms to the west and low clouds to the south and southwest.
I started making arrangements to leave the plane for the week. I suddenly noticed to the north that the sky was getting very dark. I asked if we could get the plane in the hangar right away. At first the FBO employee did not think the storm was coming this way. "They always pass north of us". Suddenly the winds starting picking up and watched my little plane start rocking up and down. It was tail first into the wind because of the storm. The FBO employee got the tractor and towbar out and pulled the plane into their enclosed maintenance hangar. It was not a moment too soon. Just as they were closing the hangar door, the winds really picked up and it started raining hard. It was a short lived storm. I am not sure if my plane would have gotten flipped if they had not pulled it in, but I was glad to see it inside and protected. I was pretty much at the end of rope and did not need any more stress. I think the FBO personnel realized this as well and I am glad they were able to accomodate me.
I made arrangements to hangar the plane for the week and I got a rental car. By that time it was 5pm. I thought I would drive back home that evening, but staring at the roadmap, I realized I was so drained by the last four days that I could not figure out how to even get out of town. So again, I checked into a motel and decided to wait until morning.
It was about a 5 hour drive back. Just to add insult to injury, it was clear from Boone County to Shawnee Tuesday afternoon.
22 August 2009-The plane is home!
After getting back work, I started remembering what it was like to have normal life and analyze the events of the previous 4 days. I am glad I decided to leave the plane in Harrison. After four days, I was definitely too tired and frustrated. I was definitely at risk of doing something stupid and becoming a statistic.
I have coworker who is also a pilot and volunteered to fly me back to Harrison on Saturday. Since the plane was going to be in Harrison for a few days, I had noticed a few things about the plane that I thought I should have a mechanic look at. The mechanic could find nothing wrong and it just seemed to be a quirk about the plane or the pilot.
It was about a two hour flight from SNL to HRO. The plane was pulled out and ready to go. I started the engine and noticed that my headset was not working and all the audio was coming out of the overhead speaker. After a few minutes of fiddling around I shut the engine down and chocked the plane on the nose.. It took both me and my friend a few minutes to figure out that a switch had been flipped. The mechanic had done a few high speed taxi tests to try to figure out one of the issues I had noticed. So I started up the engine again. My friend waves to me and points to the nose of the plane. I forgot to pull the chock. Shut the engine down again so my friend can pull the chock. Start the engine again, do a radio check and start taxiing.
About halfway to the end of the runway, I start getting a horrible squeal from the brakes. I had not heard that before. So I taxi back to the ramp and shutdown the engine. I am saying lots of nasty words at this point. After I calm down, my friend and I checked the brakes and made
sure the plane rolled freely. No oil or grease coming out of anywhere. The plane was tracking straight and it did not act like anything was binding. I decide to give it another try, but I mentally prepare myself for the possibility of aborting the takeoff if necessary.
After doing my runup checks, I get into the air no problem. It takes about an hour to get to Tahlequah which is about 100nm away. Ground speed was around 100 knots the whole time. I was beginning to wonder if the plane would ever manage anything over 80 knots!
When I get to Tahlequah, there is some kind of a third Saturday flyin. I was too late for lunch, but I had a nice chat with some fellow pilots while I waited for the fuel pump to become available. After about an hour delay, I was finally on the final leg to Shawnee.
Again it was about 100nm and I averaged 100knots. I wish I could say my first landing with my plane at SNL was great, but I managed another carrier landing. I need to go up with my CFI to get that figured out. Just the same, I had finally managed to bring my plane home.
Final Comments.
My longest cross country flight before this, was my long cross country when I was getting my pilots license.I had planned longer cross countries, but trying to find a combination of weather and schedule just never worked out. That was part of the motivation for buying my own plane.
It goes without saying, this was a very challenging flight for me. I sort of feel like I jumped into the deep end. In spite of the difficulties, I have learned alot about myself as a pilot and it has given me a lot to think about in trying to become a better pilot. Some things you just can't learn about from a book or from your CFI. You just have to get out there and struggle with it, cuss at it and ultimately learn from it.
