GaryO
Pre-takeoff checklist
- Joined
- Feb 24, 2005
- Messages
- 295
- Display Name
Display name:
Gary Ostrander
I've had my ppl for nearly four years but, until 10 days ago, I had never flown farther than about 200 nm before retuning to base. When Carol announced that her family was having a reunion in Pittsburgh, and that I was going to attend, I bagan considering flying our AA1B instead of going commercial. When my brother told me that my neice's confirmation was 6 days before Carol's reunion I decided it was time to realize my dream of making a long trip as pic of a GA aircraft.
The plan was to fly from Venice,FL, to Ames, IA. Spend some time with my family. Fly from Ames to Allegheny County, PA, for Carol's family reunion. Then return to Venice.
I spent four months carefully planning the route and all of the fuel stops and alternates. Then, the day before we departed, I had to plan a new route to account for some bad weather moving across the country.
The first stop was Tallahassee (TLH) where we spent one night to wait out some weather. Then we went on to Tuscaloosa (TCL) where we spent another night waiting for a front to pass. It seemed like we would never get out of Tuscaloosa but the front finally passed. The rest of the trip to Ames went smoothly with stops in Kennett (TKX) and Mexico (MYJ), MO.
Because we waited so long for the weather to clear, we missed my neice's confirmation by several hours. But I still got to spend some time with family so it was all good.
The the next part of the trip, to Allegheny County, was also smooth with stops at Peru, IL (VYS) and Wapakoneta, OH (AXV).
Carol's reunion went well but the weather was much colder than I like.
Finally it was time to return home. Again, we had to delay to allow the weather to clear. So, after a fuel stop in Lynchburg, VA (LYH) we spent the night in Columbia, SC ( CUB ). Columbia was really a nice town to visit and we had a good time that night.
Continuing the theme for the trip, we had to delay our departure until some fog along our route burned off. But again it was a smooth trip home with one last fuel stop at Lake City, FL (LCQ).
It was a great experience and I'm very glad I finally made a long trip. But I'm not sure I want to do it again in such a small aircraft.
The hardest part was losing the 30+ pounds I had to trim off in order to make the trip practical. But I needed to do that anyway and this just gave me the extra incentive I needed to stick to a diet.
I also gained a better understanding about how one can inadvertantly fly into IMC. On the final leg I was flying at 6500 ft. It seemed like a typical hazy FL day. At first I was in the clear above the haze but the haze gradually rose up and swallowed me. I could still clearly see the ground for 15 - 20 miles in every direction. But there was no visable horizon and I couldn't really determine how far I could see directly ahead. Everything just sort of faded into a uniform white.
Suddenly, there was a cloud beside me. I never saw it as I approached. If it had been in my path I really do not know if I would have seen it before I flew into it. It blended perfectly into the white background. Fortunatly there were few clouds in the area. And I dropped down to make sure I was below any others.
A lot of people I know were sceptical about the ability of the little AA1B for such a trip. But it performed flawlessly and I'm glad I finally made such a long trip.
The plan was to fly from Venice,FL, to Ames, IA. Spend some time with my family. Fly from Ames to Allegheny County, PA, for Carol's family reunion. Then return to Venice.
I spent four months carefully planning the route and all of the fuel stops and alternates. Then, the day before we departed, I had to plan a new route to account for some bad weather moving across the country.
The first stop was Tallahassee (TLH) where we spent one night to wait out some weather. Then we went on to Tuscaloosa (TCL) where we spent another night waiting for a front to pass. It seemed like we would never get out of Tuscaloosa but the front finally passed. The rest of the trip to Ames went smoothly with stops in Kennett (TKX) and Mexico (MYJ), MO.
Because we waited so long for the weather to clear, we missed my neice's confirmation by several hours. But I still got to spend some time with family so it was all good.
The the next part of the trip, to Allegheny County, was also smooth with stops at Peru, IL (VYS) and Wapakoneta, OH (AXV).
Carol's reunion went well but the weather was much colder than I like.
Finally it was time to return home. Again, we had to delay to allow the weather to clear. So, after a fuel stop in Lynchburg, VA (LYH) we spent the night in Columbia, SC ( CUB ). Columbia was really a nice town to visit and we had a good time that night.
Continuing the theme for the trip, we had to delay our departure until some fog along our route burned off. But again it was a smooth trip home with one last fuel stop at Lake City, FL (LCQ).
It was a great experience and I'm very glad I finally made a long trip. But I'm not sure I want to do it again in such a small aircraft.
The hardest part was losing the 30+ pounds I had to trim off in order to make the trip practical. But I needed to do that anyway and this just gave me the extra incentive I needed to stick to a diet.
I also gained a better understanding about how one can inadvertantly fly into IMC. On the final leg I was flying at 6500 ft. It seemed like a typical hazy FL day. At first I was in the clear above the haze but the haze gradually rose up and swallowed me. I could still clearly see the ground for 15 - 20 miles in every direction. But there was no visable horizon and I couldn't really determine how far I could see directly ahead. Everything just sort of faded into a uniform white.
Suddenly, there was a cloud beside me. I never saw it as I approached. If it had been in my path I really do not know if I would have seen it before I flew into it. It blended perfectly into the white background. Fortunatly there were few clouds in the area. And I dropped down to make sure I was below any others.
A lot of people I know were sceptical about the ability of the little AA1B for such a trip. But it performed flawlessly and I'm glad I finally made such a long trip.
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