WannFly
Final Approach
So after not flying much this month at all, yesterday was the day for doing some flying (gotto get the fix rt?) and by some miracle the CFII was there too. so I dreamed up a trip to St. Cloud and back but wasn't sure if we would do it with all the thunderstorms around here every single day.
we reviewed the wx together and found KSTC MVFR with 2-3 sm vis, scattered at 2100, 5000 and 7000. there was a storm cell moving from south around Fargo but the projected path didn't seem to cross fargo. so we decided to take off and see whats out there....
filed direct 9000 KFAR - KSTC, got accepted and flew it. here is the FlightAware log: https://flightaware.com/live/flight/N8121K/history/20180530/2000Z/KFAR/KSTC
flew through some precips and clouds for about an hr, some of auto pilot, some by hand with near zero forward visibility and man its an eye opener. about 3 or 4 times I had a feeling of rolling either to the left or right, which wasn't true. its hard to tune out what your body is telling you and just trust the instruments....
we were cleared for visual on Rny 31 ILS but we asked to fly the full ILS approach. it was scattered with fairly large clouds.... I am pretty used to being vectored around for big irons to get in at Fargo, but this time around it was fairly overwhelming. the vectors weren't so bad but getting in and out of clouds got me pretty distracted (and mesmerized at the same time). after a few of those, I asked the CFII to fly and I followed along. Flying through those clouds is absolutely majestic, I have no idea how you folks tune that beauty out and focus on instruments.
after landing we quickly realized that the weather at Fargo has changed course and heading rt over KFAR. we evaluated our options and decided to head back and fly as close to Fargo we can get, land and wait it out. a heart shaped convective segment awaits us...
coming back, it felt awesome to be on the other side of the fence.. a student was doing pattern and was asked to extend downwind because "I have a IFR to release before you - Tower" .. ha ha ha
we filed at 8k but decided to level at 6k, same tailwind and we were in VMC with a overcast close to 8k, but it was very dark cloud and the CFII said that's the kind of cloud I will shoot through in a TBM, not in an archer. coming back was all VMC, but we crossed 2 squally lines of TS, well didn't really cross them, asked for deviation to avoid heavy precip, more like found holes between and went through them - glass smooth.
we were keeping an eye on the ADSB weather around Fargo and hoping the hole would still stay there when we arrived (else land and wait it out) the cells were moving fairly slow but the tops were at FL320 or more, some of the big irons were asking for deviations at FL320.
our flight path: https://flightaware.com/live/flight/N8121K/history/20180530/2151Z/KSTC/KFAR
Approaching fargo we were cleared for ILS 36, which would have taken us directly through the nastiest stuff, we asked for deviation and took the long way between 2 very dark areas, under moderate precip (free plane wash
)
I chose not to wear a hood. the experience I gained by looking outside, knowing which clouds to avoid and which one to go through and mapping the ADSB WX with what I am seeing outside was invaluable. This is exactly the kind of training I am looking for while doing the IFR with exactly this kind of instructor. He flies a TBM for work and does CFI work on the side with a crap load of hours in actual and you know... have left a pattern a few times in actual IMC. I cant imagine doing a trip like this even with IR rating and not flying in actual IMC. With my schedule and this dude's schedule it might take me 6-8 months before I am actually ready for the ride, which is fine, I am in no hurry, I would rather be proficient in flying in actuals.
3.5 hrs total, 1 hr actual, 1 actual approach.
cant wait for the next adventure.
few more pics from the trip. there are couple of cell phone videos I took too.. need to get a action camera I guess
we reviewed the wx together and found KSTC MVFR with 2-3 sm vis, scattered at 2100, 5000 and 7000. there was a storm cell moving from south around Fargo but the projected path didn't seem to cross fargo. so we decided to take off and see whats out there....
filed direct 9000 KFAR - KSTC, got accepted and flew it. here is the FlightAware log: https://flightaware.com/live/flight/N8121K/history/20180530/2000Z/KFAR/KSTC
flew through some precips and clouds for about an hr, some of auto pilot, some by hand with near zero forward visibility and man its an eye opener. about 3 or 4 times I had a feeling of rolling either to the left or right, which wasn't true. its hard to tune out what your body is telling you and just trust the instruments....
we were cleared for visual on Rny 31 ILS but we asked to fly the full ILS approach. it was scattered with fairly large clouds.... I am pretty used to being vectored around for big irons to get in at Fargo, but this time around it was fairly overwhelming. the vectors weren't so bad but getting in and out of clouds got me pretty distracted (and mesmerized at the same time). after a few of those, I asked the CFII to fly and I followed along. Flying through those clouds is absolutely majestic, I have no idea how you folks tune that beauty out and focus on instruments.
after landing we quickly realized that the weather at Fargo has changed course and heading rt over KFAR. we evaluated our options and decided to head back and fly as close to Fargo we can get, land and wait it out. a heart shaped convective segment awaits us...
coming back, it felt awesome to be on the other side of the fence.. a student was doing pattern and was asked to extend downwind because "I have a IFR to release before you - Tower" .. ha ha ha
we filed at 8k but decided to level at 6k, same tailwind and we were in VMC with a overcast close to 8k, but it was very dark cloud and the CFII said that's the kind of cloud I will shoot through in a TBM, not in an archer. coming back was all VMC, but we crossed 2 squally lines of TS, well didn't really cross them, asked for deviation to avoid heavy precip, more like found holes between and went through them - glass smooth.
we were keeping an eye on the ADSB weather around Fargo and hoping the hole would still stay there when we arrived (else land and wait it out) the cells were moving fairly slow but the tops were at FL320 or more, some of the big irons were asking for deviations at FL320.
our flight path: https://flightaware.com/live/flight/N8121K/history/20180530/2151Z/KSTC/KFAR
Approaching fargo we were cleared for ILS 36, which would have taken us directly through the nastiest stuff, we asked for deviation and took the long way between 2 very dark areas, under moderate precip (free plane wash
)I chose not to wear a hood. the experience I gained by looking outside, knowing which clouds to avoid and which one to go through and mapping the ADSB WX with what I am seeing outside was invaluable. This is exactly the kind of training I am looking for while doing the IFR with exactly this kind of instructor. He flies a TBM for work and does CFI work on the side with a crap load of hours in actual and you know... have left a pattern a few times in actual IMC. I cant imagine doing a trip like this even with IR rating and not flying in actual IMC. With my schedule and this dude's schedule it might take me 6-8 months before I am actually ready for the ride, which is fine, I am in no hurry, I would rather be proficient in flying in actuals.
3.5 hrs total, 1 hr actual, 1 actual approach.
cant wait for the next adventure.
few more pics from the trip. there are couple of cell phone videos I took too.. need to get a action camera I guess
