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Final Approach
We finally had some perfect IFR weather today, for at least a few hours, and my CFII was available so we filed and off we went into the clouds. I haven't had so much fun in years, it was a really great experience.
Our first destination was KPTK for fuel (Royal Air is at $5.25 which is close to the cheapest available anywhere in the area). We were cleared via radar vectors, in the clouds by 800 AGL and were told to expect the ILS 9R even though the winds were 250@11. They offered us the RNAV 9R and I accepted, though ILS vs RNAV wasn't really the point, I just didn't want to land with that strong a tailwind. Not impossible given the length of the runway, just not the nicest thing to do to my tires. Dennis suggested two reasons why they might have been landing to the east despite the winds: 1) the ceilings were reported at 600 and the lowest MDA on 27L is 500, cutting it close (though there is a LPV 27L that gets you down to 200) or 2) it was push time at KDTW with lots of big iron crossing east of PTK. Whatever, it was fun shooting the approach and seeing vertical descent rates of 800-1000 fpm due to the high ground speed. We broke out at about 500 AGL with good vis, no trouble spotting the runway, and the landing was a piece of cake.
Immediately after fueling we noticed that they had switched to 27L. Grrr. Anyway I had filed us to KFNT with "multiple approaches" in the remarks. As expected we were quickly IMC. Our clearance was via radar vectors to LAYNE, then direct, up to 4000, however they stopped us at 3000 and gave us vectors to our first approach, the VOR 27. With a reported ceiling of 800, we expected we might HAVE to miss, but we found ourselves between layers at 3000 with a broken undercast, with momentary glimpses of the ground and surreal cloudscapes all around us. Gosh I love IMC!! Dennis snapped a picture of it but I don't have a copy to post, unfortunately. The approach was uneventful, we broke out at about 2000 MSL and flew to the VOR semi-visually. After the miss we flew the ILS 27 to a landing.
From there we picked up our clearance back to home base: cleared to KVLL via radar vectors to PISTN, with no route after PISTN. I read it back without question but was ready to call them back to ask whether I had missed something. Dennis said that direct was implied, so okay. I think if I had been by myself I would have asked for clarification. At this point KVLL was reporting a 600 ceiling -- making it a crapshoot whether we could get in. Both approaches to KVLL are from the west, and the wind was from the same direction. Circling MDAs would not have been low enough, so our only shot was the RNAV 9 straight in despite the tailwind. Okay, give it a try. Worst case, we miss and go back to PTK. Along the way we broke into the clear at 5000 and enjoyed some bright sunshine for a few minutes .
For the approach we were cleared direct TUSVE, only 10 nm away and we had a ground speed of about 140 kts. I asked for lower and got 3000, put in the flaps to slow us down and got us down comfortably. (I hate quick descents from altitude, or rather my ears hate them.) It was a little bumpy on the way down but I managed it, we got down to 1300 and finally spotted the field at about a mile and a half out. Now for another downwind landing (6-7 kts, not as bad as at PTK, but this is a 3500 ft. runway).
Here Dennis and I disagreed about something. He wanted me to cancel IFR with Approach to free up the airspace and I said no, thinking at first that we were still in Class E airspace and not legally VFR. Then I remembered that we were below 700 AGL and therefore in the Golf. Brain fart on my part. Still in hindsight, I believe it was a wise decision. I had doubts about whether I could pull off the landing. In fact I did have to put in a bit of a slip for a moment, and still ended up using the whole runway on the rollout. Unfortunately, there was a Baron waiting for his release as we landed, and it took us nearly 5 minutes to get through to the TRACON by phone (busy signal). The Baron ended up parking in front of my hangar row as we tried PTK tower, then the TRACON number, and finally got through to the TRACON. I felt bad about that since I had definitely inconvenienced another pilot, yet in the end I think my decision was the right one, though I should have pulled into the runup area and shut down immediately instead of taxiing to my hangar first.
Anyway with the exception of that last glitch, it was a great experience, my first time flying IFR in actual in about 3 years. Dennis said I flew the whole time "within specs", and we're now talking about scheduling the checkride. Wheee!!
Our first destination was KPTK for fuel (Royal Air is at $5.25 which is close to the cheapest available anywhere in the area). We were cleared via radar vectors, in the clouds by 800 AGL and were told to expect the ILS 9R even though the winds were 250@11. They offered us the RNAV 9R and I accepted, though ILS vs RNAV wasn't really the point, I just didn't want to land with that strong a tailwind. Not impossible given the length of the runway, just not the nicest thing to do to my tires. Dennis suggested two reasons why they might have been landing to the east despite the winds: 1) the ceilings were reported at 600 and the lowest MDA on 27L is 500, cutting it close (though there is a LPV 27L that gets you down to 200) or 2) it was push time at KDTW with lots of big iron crossing east of PTK. Whatever, it was fun shooting the approach and seeing vertical descent rates of 800-1000 fpm due to the high ground speed. We broke out at about 500 AGL with good vis, no trouble spotting the runway, and the landing was a piece of cake.
Immediately after fueling we noticed that they had switched to 27L. Grrr. Anyway I had filed us to KFNT with "multiple approaches" in the remarks. As expected we were quickly IMC. Our clearance was via radar vectors to LAYNE, then direct, up to 4000, however they stopped us at 3000 and gave us vectors to our first approach, the VOR 27. With a reported ceiling of 800, we expected we might HAVE to miss, but we found ourselves between layers at 3000 with a broken undercast, with momentary glimpses of the ground and surreal cloudscapes all around us. Gosh I love IMC!! Dennis snapped a picture of it but I don't have a copy to post, unfortunately. The approach was uneventful, we broke out at about 2000 MSL and flew to the VOR semi-visually. After the miss we flew the ILS 27 to a landing.
From there we picked up our clearance back to home base: cleared to KVLL via radar vectors to PISTN, with no route after PISTN. I read it back without question but was ready to call them back to ask whether I had missed something. Dennis said that direct was implied, so okay. I think if I had been by myself I would have asked for clarification. At this point KVLL was reporting a 600 ceiling -- making it a crapshoot whether we could get in. Both approaches to KVLL are from the west, and the wind was from the same direction. Circling MDAs would not have been low enough, so our only shot was the RNAV 9 straight in despite the tailwind. Okay, give it a try. Worst case, we miss and go back to PTK. Along the way we broke into the clear at 5000 and enjoyed some bright sunshine for a few minutes .
For the approach we were cleared direct TUSVE, only 10 nm away and we had a ground speed of about 140 kts. I asked for lower and got 3000, put in the flaps to slow us down and got us down comfortably. (I hate quick descents from altitude, or rather my ears hate them.) It was a little bumpy on the way down but I managed it, we got down to 1300 and finally spotted the field at about a mile and a half out. Now for another downwind landing (6-7 kts, not as bad as at PTK, but this is a 3500 ft. runway).Here Dennis and I disagreed about something. He wanted me to cancel IFR with Approach to free up the airspace and I said no, thinking at first that we were still in Class E airspace and not legally VFR. Then I remembered that we were below 700 AGL and therefore in the Golf. Brain fart on my part. Still in hindsight, I believe it was a wise decision. I had doubts about whether I could pull off the landing. In fact I did have to put in a bit of a slip for a moment, and still ended up using the whole runway on the rollout. Unfortunately, there was a Baron waiting for his release as we landed, and it took us nearly 5 minutes to get through to the TRACON by phone (busy signal). The Baron ended up parking in front of my hangar row as we tried PTK tower, then the TRACON number, and finally got through to the TRACON. I felt bad about that since I had definitely inconvenienced another pilot, yet in the end I think my decision was the right one, though I should have pulled into the runup area and shut down immediately instead of taxiing to my hangar first.
Anyway with the exception of that last glitch, it was a great experience, my first time flying IFR in actual in about 3 years. Dennis said I flew the whole time "within specs", and we're now talking about scheduling the checkride. Wheee!!
