akpilot907
Pre-takeoff checklist
I'm sure most of us IFR pilots have thought... "When will I actually get to use my official cloud buster license..."
Well, I can say I was thinking the same thing up until this past weekend. I was ferrying a 182 from Fairbanks to Anchorage and knew that weather in the Anchorage bowl area was deteriorating and forecasting to be at marginal conditions at my ETA with freezing levels above 6,000... Hoping I could pick up a special from Anchorage Approach and scoot into Lake Hood, avoiding the other 20 different class-"D" airspaces that fill Anchorage (Merrill, Elmendorf, Lake Hood, list goes on...)
So as I cleared Willow and approached Wasilla... Weather behind me turned IFR and so wasn't Anchorage... "Great!" So I put her down at Wasilla, took a leak after the 2.5 hour flight thus far and thought over my options... "Do I head into Anderson Lake for the night and crash at a friend's house and try in the morning... or do I shoot an approach...
Shoot the approach it was! Got airborne, prepped the plane for the approach, called ANC approach and requested a Pop-Up IFR... Gave me vectors, threw me in behind a dozen 747's and 777's... and just as I entered the clouds at 3500ft MSL... MY ATTITUDE INDICATOR ****S THE BED... starts tumbling on me... Great! Now I'm partial panel in IMC. No worries... Covered it up with a sticky note I had at my side, continued the approach, notified ATC and requested a no-gyro approach... Followed the glideslope and popped out 200ft above minimums... Good fun!!!
Here are some pics!
Well, I can say I was thinking the same thing up until this past weekend. I was ferrying a 182 from Fairbanks to Anchorage and knew that weather in the Anchorage bowl area was deteriorating and forecasting to be at marginal conditions at my ETA with freezing levels above 6,000... Hoping I could pick up a special from Anchorage Approach and scoot into Lake Hood, avoiding the other 20 different class-"D" airspaces that fill Anchorage (Merrill, Elmendorf, Lake Hood, list goes on...)
So as I cleared Willow and approached Wasilla... Weather behind me turned IFR and so wasn't Anchorage... "Great!" So I put her down at Wasilla, took a leak after the 2.5 hour flight thus far and thought over my options... "Do I head into Anderson Lake for the night and crash at a friend's house and try in the morning... or do I shoot an approach...
Shoot the approach it was! Got airborne, prepped the plane for the approach, called ANC approach and requested a Pop-Up IFR... Gave me vectors, threw me in behind a dozen 747's and 777's... and just as I entered the clouds at 3500ft MSL... MY ATTITUDE INDICATOR ****S THE BED... starts tumbling on me... Great! Now I'm partial panel in IMC. No worries... Covered it up with a sticky note I had at my side, continued the approach, notified ATC and requested a no-gyro approach... Followed the glideslope and popped out 200ft above minimums... Good fun!!!
Here are some pics!
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