gprellwitz
Touchdown! Greaser!
- Joined
- Jun 19, 2005
- Messages
- 12,765
- Location
- Romeoville, IL
- Display Name
Display name:
Grant Prellwitz
Well, today was my first Angel Flight. I've flown a couple of LifeLine Pilots flights before, so it wasn't a new concept, and I had FUN!
Yeah, things didn't go perfectly. I hoped to take off at 8:00 and get a bunch of ConUS Challenge airports (www.goflyamerica.org), but we were up late the night before celebrating Leslie's landing at O'Hare, so I didn't get to the airport until after 10:00. I was supposed to pick up the patient in Springfield at 1330, so I still had about 3:30 to get there. I stopped first at Cushing for the Challenge, and had my first problem. Preparing for takeoff, I heard a loud, painful squealing in my headset. Swapping around headsets and jacks, I determined that the problem was the pilot's jack. Pulling out the Leatherman, I tightened the jacks down, and the squealing stopped. Yeah! There was no way I would have been able to fly with that, so I'd have been relegated to the handheld mike and the cabin speaker. Since I was planning to file IFR coming back, I really didn't relish that thought!
By this time I decided to head directly to Springfield to pick up the patient. I didn't want to be late for that. On the way there, I heard another loud squeal, but this time it was the autopilot disconnect. Apparently I had a pitch trim failure. I tried resetting the autopilot, but to no avail. Out came the autopilot circuit breaker. The rest of this trip would be hand flying!
So I wound up landing there at about 1300. and got the message that they hadn't even left the previous airport, which was over an hour away, and weren't expecting to get in until 1500. So I decided to go visit another airport that hadn't been claimed for the challenge and that was under attack from a mining company that wanted to develop it (3K4, Hillsboro, IL). Talked to a member of the airport board there, and realized that the time was 1445! Time to get rolling, because there was no way I'd make Springfield by 1500. (The good news was that the airport had not been sold to the mining company, and there might be a possibility that the company would build a new airport.)
Talking to Springfield Approach, I heard the pilot who was going to be handing off to me, so I knew I'd be waiting for him at the airport. When I got there, I decided that it would be prudent to add 5 gallons of fuel per side. No more, because I'd have W&B issues. Don, the second leg pilot, introduced me to the two passengers I'd have. They had already had quite a day, having been delayed by weather at their starting point. Then Don's copilot left the master on, and the battery died! Don flies a Bonanza. His copilot HAND-PROPPED it! Better him than me!
So we were getting ready to depart, when the FBO said we had a problem. They had topped off the Skylane, adding 264 pounds of extra fuel! While I thought the Skylane would be able to handle it, especially with the long runway available, I wasn't about to push it, so we had to defuel the plane. We used the fuel gauge to determine when enough had been taken out. By this point, the 1330 departure was going to be a 1600 departure. And, to top it off, I only had the plane booked until 1800! No way was I going to make it from Springfield to Waukegan and back down to Bolingbrook in 2 hours! Of course, in the rush to depart, I totally forgot to call the FBO and let them know I'd be late.
The good news is that I changed my flight plan to 9000', and we were on top in smooth, cool air for most of the trip, until C90 took us down to 4000' around ORD. And the ladies were so appreciative, and I was thanking THEM for the chance to help them!
Made it back at 1900, just after the FBO closed. Luckily, the owner understood and left me a voice mail that all was cool.
All-in-all, a great day flying with just above the average number of turbulent events! The weather cooperated, at least for my leg of the flight, and I got to meet a bunch of nice people at a multitude of airports!
This is what flying's about!
(Oh, and thanks to EdFred for the mini-tripod!)
Yeah, things didn't go perfectly. I hoped to take off at 8:00 and get a bunch of ConUS Challenge airports (www.goflyamerica.org), but we were up late the night before celebrating Leslie's landing at O'Hare, so I didn't get to the airport until after 10:00. I was supposed to pick up the patient in Springfield at 1330, so I still had about 3:30 to get there. I stopped first at Cushing for the Challenge, and had my first problem. Preparing for takeoff, I heard a loud, painful squealing in my headset. Swapping around headsets and jacks, I determined that the problem was the pilot's jack. Pulling out the Leatherman, I tightened the jacks down, and the squealing stopped. Yeah! There was no way I would have been able to fly with that, so I'd have been relegated to the handheld mike and the cabin speaker. Since I was planning to file IFR coming back, I really didn't relish that thought!
By this time I decided to head directly to Springfield to pick up the patient. I didn't want to be late for that. On the way there, I heard another loud squeal, but this time it was the autopilot disconnect. Apparently I had a pitch trim failure. I tried resetting the autopilot, but to no avail. Out came the autopilot circuit breaker. The rest of this trip would be hand flying!
So I wound up landing there at about 1300. and got the message that they hadn't even left the previous airport, which was over an hour away, and weren't expecting to get in until 1500. So I decided to go visit another airport that hadn't been claimed for the challenge and that was under attack from a mining company that wanted to develop it (3K4, Hillsboro, IL). Talked to a member of the airport board there, and realized that the time was 1445! Time to get rolling, because there was no way I'd make Springfield by 1500. (The good news was that the airport had not been sold to the mining company, and there might be a possibility that the company would build a new airport.)
Talking to Springfield Approach, I heard the pilot who was going to be handing off to me, so I knew I'd be waiting for him at the airport. When I got there, I decided that it would be prudent to add 5 gallons of fuel per side. No more, because I'd have W&B issues. Don, the second leg pilot, introduced me to the two passengers I'd have. They had already had quite a day, having been delayed by weather at their starting point. Then Don's copilot left the master on, and the battery died! Don flies a Bonanza. His copilot HAND-PROPPED it! Better him than me!
So we were getting ready to depart, when the FBO said we had a problem. They had topped off the Skylane, adding 264 pounds of extra fuel! While I thought the Skylane would be able to handle it, especially with the long runway available, I wasn't about to push it, so we had to defuel the plane. We used the fuel gauge to determine when enough had been taken out. By this point, the 1330 departure was going to be a 1600 departure.
And, to top it off, I only had the plane booked until 1800! No way was I going to make it from Springfield to Waukegan and back down to Bolingbrook in 2 hours! Of course, in the rush to depart, I totally forgot to call the FBO and let them know I'd be late.The good news is that I changed my flight plan to 9000', and we were on top in smooth, cool air for most of the trip, until C90 took us down to 4000' around ORD. And the ladies were so appreciative, and I was thanking THEM for the chance to help them!
Made it back at 1900, just after the FBO closed. Luckily, the owner understood and left me a voice mail that all was cool.
All-in-all, a great day flying with just above the average number of turbulent events! The weather cooperated, at least for my leg of the flight, and I got to meet a bunch of nice people at a multitude of airports!
This is what flying's about!
(Oh, and thanks to EdFred for the mini-tripod!)
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