Just a beautiful winter day...

eMKay

eMKay

Pre-takeoff checklist
Joined
Feb 2, 2011
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403
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Buffalo, NY
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Display name:
eMKay
The forecast today was for clouds and snow, but the snow had settled in the southtowns and there was a clear blue sky between Lake Erie and Ontario, so I went for a quick flight. The taxiways and runways at KBQR were snow covered ice, trying to do the runup was an adventure, had to do it at 1700 RPM, anything higher and I was sliding. This was my first time on ice so I decided to fly out to Batavia (KGVQ) to practice some landings on ice...But upon arrival, the runway was clear there, damn. So I did a touch and go and did some sightseeing. When I returned to KBQR the pucker factor was very high but unecessary, I had the softest and smoothest landing I ever had in the 140. I love flying this plane so much.

This is a snow squall, one of these days I'm gonna get a picture of a GOOD one, this is a weak one. This is a band of snow about 5 miles wide, 50 miles long coming off lake Erie. going from west to east. Flying INTO it obviously not a good idea. You can see the low cloud layer, with an abruptly ending line of snow underneath it.

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And this is really amazing, the eastern end of lake Erie, in late January, with NO ice on it. Not even in the inner harbor, not even in the small boat harbor! I do not think this has ever happened. Usually inside the small boat harbor you would see ice fisherman, and the flying club would be plowing out a runway on the lake for a fun get-together.

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Small boat harbor is off the wingtip

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My little town...

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And of course, no flight around here is complete without...

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This has been a weird winter indeed. I was up in Cleveland last month and there was no snow. I was there over the weekend and there was snow, but not much. I think as much fell as I was leaving as was there.

Nice shots. Thanks.
 
Wow did you take those alone? I never bring a camera (I let my pax do that) but now you're making me think that I should.
 
kimberlyanne546 said:
Wow did you take those alone? I never bring a camera (I let my pax do that) but now you're making me think that I should.
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Yeah, I was alone. I have a DSLR so I just aim it out the window and hold down the shutter for a second or so, it will rip off 10 shots or so in a second.
 
Wow-- gorgeous pictures, absolutely beautiful. Thanks for posting those.
 
eMKay said:
Yeah, I was alone. I have a DSLR so I just aim it out the window and hold down the shutter for a second or so, it will rip off 10 shots or so in a second.
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That's how I took my pictures of Boston too - I was solo. Obviously I reject the crappy shots :)
 
Really, really nice pictures, thanks! They reminded me of 3 weekends ago when I flew a rescue dog to Elmira, NY and went right over your city. I wish I'd had a camera then. I looked and looked for the Falls but wasn't able to see them from where I was, about 7-8 miles south.

One question: do you need to talk to Canadian ATC to get permission to get close to the Falls? It looks like you would have been in the middle of the big restricted area there, and I was just wondering how you worked that. I didn't try to get any closer because someone was waiting for me at ELM, but next time I'm in the area I'm definitely going to make the effort. :)
 
Nice shots! I just got back from a lifeguard flight to BUF. Are you at BUF, IAG or somewhere else? I was there a few weeks ago as well. We broke out of the clouds and saw the runway then just as we touched the ground everything went white. It was the first time I felt like I could log the taxi as IMC.
 
azure said:
Really, really nice pictures, thanks! They reminded me of 3 weekends ago when I flew a rescue dog to Elmira, NY and went right over your city. I wish I'd had a camera then. I looked and looked for the Falls but wasn't able to see them from where I was, about 7-8 miles south.

One question: do you need to talk to Canadian ATC to get permission to get close to the Falls? It looks like you would have been in the middle of the big restricted area there, and I was just wondering how you worked that. I didn't try to get any closer because someone was waiting for me at ELM, but next time I'm in the area I'm definitely going to make the effort. :)
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You don't have to talk to Canada, just tell Buffalo Approach you want to do the scenic tour, they will tell you to switch to 122.05 which is the falls frequency. If you are not in the system you call Niagara Falls (IAG) and get the altimeter setting, and then switch to 122.05 before entering the falls pattern, 3500 MSL minimum, 130kts maximum, clockwise pattern. It's all in the AFD.
 
Danos said:
Nice shots! I just got back from a lifeguard flight to BUF. Are you at BUF, IAG or somewhere else? I was there a few weeks ago as well. We broke out of the clouds and saw the runway then just as we touched the ground everything went white. It was the first time I felt like I could log the taxi as IMC.
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I fly out of BQR (Buffalo Lancaster), it's 5 miles east of BUF
 
Doing a runup on slick stuff, or water, is a balancing act... Do one at the most rpm you can manage just to see if there is an obvious failure - dead mag, no prop control,, etc. Actually, a mag check at idle is good because the major problem, dead mag, is instantly noticeable and a fouled plug will make the plane just vibrate..

Then on the take off go full throttle, look for a second to see that you are getting the rated RPM and immediately do a mag check for a weak mag as you roll... Now this is not the time to be analyzing - hmmm that is 24 rpm or 30 rpm difference between the two? - it is more a glance at the tach as you make the switch and does it sound OK?

denny-o
 
Dr. O said:
Doing a runup on slick stuff, or water, is a balancing act... Do one at the most rpm you can manage just to see if there is an obvious failure - dead mag, no prop control,, etc. Actually, a mag check at idle is good because the major problem, dead mag, is instantly noticeable and a fouled plug will make the plane just vibrate..

Then on the take off go full throttle, look for a second to see that you are getting the rated RPM and immediately do a mag check for a weak mag as you roll... Now this is not the time to be analyzing - hmmm that is 24 rpm or 30 rpm difference between the two? - it is more a glance at the tach as you make the switch and does it sound OK?

denny-o
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At one point I had one tire on a patch with grip and the other on ice and I started spinning in a circle, So I found a spot where I didn't spin in a circle and revved up until I started sliding, Then backed off and revved up to just before that, which happened to be 1700 rpm, which is the same RPM I do the mag check in the 172 (same engine, why does Cessna want 1700, and piper want 2000?). Ok, now that's done I have a new problem, now I can't turn in a right circle, plane goes straight ahead and SLIGHTLY to the right. Toward the fuel depot and other planes. Ok, lets try left, just landing lights over there, lets see how far I can go before I have to get out, and turn the plane around manually. Now I go forward and slightly to the left. Dangit, NOW what do I do? (besides get out) Let's try the same thing I do in my car (AWD Subaru) more powa!! Get the rudder to turn. That worked.

Most of the taxiways and the runway weren't THAT bad, just packed snow but I went for an area where I saw pavement, problem was that pavement was covered in a sheet of ice. When I landed later I landed on the white stuff instead of the dark stuff. I have a video of all this, I'll post it later
 
eMKay said:
At one point I had one tire on a patch with grip and the other on ice and I started spinning in a circle, So I found a spot where I didn't spin in a circle and revved up until I started sliding, Then backed off and revved up to just before that, which happened to be 1700 rpm, which is the same RPM I do the mag check in the 172 (same engine, why does Cessna want 1700, and piper want 2000?). Ok, now that's done I have a new problem, now I can't turn in a right circle, plane goes straight ahead and SLIGHTLY to the right. Toward the fuel depot and other planes. Ok, lets try left, just landing lights over there, lets see how far I can go before I have to get out, and turn the plane around manually. Now I go forward and slightly to the left. Dangit, NOW what do I do? (besides get out) Let's try the same thing I do in my car (AWD Subaru) more powa!! Get the rudder to turn. That worked.

Most of the taxiways and the runway weren't THAT bad, just packed snow but I went for an area where I saw pavement, problem was that pavement was covered in a sheet of ice. When I landed later I landed on the white stuff instead of the dark stuff. I have a video of all this, I'll post it later
Click to expand...

Not sure if / when I'll get to experience ice here, please do post the video!
 
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