Let'sgoflying!
Touchdown! Greaser!
Today was perfect!
I arose an hour before sunrise, briefly checked wx, and tfrs for Tx on the internet then gathered my av-accouterments. Un beso for my sleeping wife, a rub of the cat.... and away! I watched the sun burn an orange hole into the mist of the southeast sky as I called for a briefing while headed to the strip. Turbulence up high, also on the surface but none in the sweetspot, where I'd flight planned - a good sign! C&V: benign for the entire route.
The sun was peaking over the hills as I placed cabin heaters and ran extension cords.... no preheat needed for these engines! A quick drive up and down the strip to check for wildlife... just cattle and horses on t'other side of the fence, and a lone red tailed hawk catching the early rays of sun in this 15F morning. Brrr! Back to check the heaters and pull the engine, pitot plugs. Preflight, at a leisurely pace, and not a soul around.... just the way I like it! Load the charts, check for headset batteries, drinks on board, record the hobbs, check batt voltage etc., then wait for passengers while I filed.
Before long everyone has showed up and we are firing up the P&Ws; motor up to 12%Ng, fuel control around the horn, start light off at 42%, disengage starter at 52%, watch ITT, props out of feather - I looove these engines, so easy, so idiot proof, so reliable. Switches on, inverter #2, fuel boost test, governor to 1750rpm test, autofeather test both sides, pretakeoff check. A final look around, make sure everyone is ready and power up to 400lbs torque while on the brakes. SLOW release and then bring power slowly up to max. Airspeed alive! 60kts; xcheck! Vr --- and up into the gorgeous misty morning!
The props are churning away at the thick, cold air at 150kts- pulling us into the loneliness of a severely blue west Texas sky. Post take-off checks, contact Albuquerque center - those reliable, helpful, hardworking souls - soon we are leveling at cruise for a smooth trip to central Tx. Before long, we come upon a solid deck of clouds below us, extending at least 100miles in 3 directions, obscuring any indication of the rough and unfriendly terrain below with all its human defilements. We are above it all, cradled in a cocoon of a pure white sheet below and gorgeous blue walls and ceiling. Electrons zip around the craft unnoticed - reading, interpreting, feeding back, controlling, calculating, displaying, keeping us in our desired three-dimensional space in comfort and safety, functioning in oblivion to (most of) the humans they protect. Soon we begin our descent; adjustments of inanimate black plastic knobs, pulling of insensitive metal levers, pushing of emotionless buttons, all in a carefully orchestrated sequence and quantity result in the desired airport appearing in the windscreen, in an everyday repetition of pure magic! Autofeather armed, lights as required, synch off, cabin pressure OK, prelanding check complete.
Wind up the screws, push the legs out, extend the wings, and point to the assigned runway! The master's voice is in your head all the time and especially now, "Now try not to jockey the throttles from here to touchdown. You'll find if you leave them at 3 or 4 hundred lbs torque it will be perfect." He is right again, and I benefit once more from his years of having been through it all - we wallow slightly in the cold northerly breeze, inches over the runway....then kiss the blacktop without harm. Nosewheel down, and then Flight Idle, over the detents into Ground Idle, slide them lower yet and Reverse puts us gently forward into our belts with a pleasing reduction in forward speed down the centerline of 12R as the props growl noisily at the notion of doing something they fight most of their lives.
The best part of today? Getting to do it again tomorrow!
I arose an hour before sunrise, briefly checked wx, and tfrs for Tx on the internet then gathered my av-accouterments. Un beso for my sleeping wife, a rub of the cat.... and away! I watched the sun burn an orange hole into the mist of the southeast sky as I called for a briefing while headed to the strip. Turbulence up high, also on the surface but none in the sweetspot, where I'd flight planned - a good sign! C&V: benign for the entire route.
The sun was peaking over the hills as I placed cabin heaters and ran extension cords.... no preheat needed for these engines! A quick drive up and down the strip to check for wildlife... just cattle and horses on t'other side of the fence, and a lone red tailed hawk catching the early rays of sun in this 15F morning. Brrr! Back to check the heaters and pull the engine, pitot plugs. Preflight, at a leisurely pace, and not a soul around.... just the way I like it! Load the charts, check for headset batteries, drinks on board, record the hobbs, check batt voltage etc., then wait for passengers while I filed.
Before long everyone has showed up and we are firing up the P&Ws; motor up to 12%Ng, fuel control around the horn, start light off at 42%, disengage starter at 52%, watch ITT, props out of feather - I looove these engines, so easy, so idiot proof, so reliable. Switches on, inverter #2, fuel boost test, governor to 1750rpm test, autofeather test both sides, pretakeoff check. A final look around, make sure everyone is ready and power up to 400lbs torque while on the brakes. SLOW release and then bring power slowly up to max. Airspeed alive! 60kts; xcheck! Vr --- and up into the gorgeous misty morning!
The props are churning away at the thick, cold air at 150kts- pulling us into the loneliness of a severely blue west Texas sky. Post take-off checks, contact Albuquerque center - those reliable, helpful, hardworking souls - soon we are leveling at cruise for a smooth trip to central Tx. Before long, we come upon a solid deck of clouds below us, extending at least 100miles in 3 directions, obscuring any indication of the rough and unfriendly terrain below with all its human defilements. We are above it all, cradled in a cocoon of a pure white sheet below and gorgeous blue walls and ceiling. Electrons zip around the craft unnoticed - reading, interpreting, feeding back, controlling, calculating, displaying, keeping us in our desired three-dimensional space in comfort and safety, functioning in oblivion to (most of) the humans they protect. Soon we begin our descent; adjustments of inanimate black plastic knobs, pulling of insensitive metal levers, pushing of emotionless buttons, all in a carefully orchestrated sequence and quantity result in the desired airport appearing in the windscreen, in an everyday repetition of pure magic! Autofeather armed, lights as required, synch off, cabin pressure OK, prelanding check complete.
Wind up the screws, push the legs out, extend the wings, and point to the assigned runway! The master's voice is in your head all the time and especially now, "Now try not to jockey the throttles from here to touchdown. You'll find if you leave them at 3 or 4 hundred lbs torque it will be perfect." He is right again, and I benefit once more from his years of having been through it all - we wallow slightly in the cold northerly breeze, inches over the runway....then kiss the blacktop without harm. Nosewheel down, and then Flight Idle, over the detents into Ground Idle, slide them lower yet and Reverse puts us gently forward into our belts with a pleasing reduction in forward speed down the centerline of 12R as the props growl noisily at the notion of doing something they fight most of their lives.
The best part of today? Getting to do it again tomorrow!
