Last night, Hubby and I were returning from a day of flying.
Hubby had been flying with his instructor, working toward getting his own CFI by "teaching" steep turns and other maneuvers. I had been picked up in the morning by a "jet jock" who was flying one of the King Airs up for its annual to Harriman and West (AQW) in Massachusets. He offered me a ride in the right seat since there would not be any passengers. Following his lesson, Hubby flew up to give us both a ride home while "teaching" our friend how to fly.
Ceilings were very low and it was certainly an adventure picking our way through and beneath low clouds that were touching occasional mountain peaks. Jonathan phoned Hubby to say we had arrived and that he had picked up some ice coming through the clouds, so between them they decided that Hubby would make the trip from Poughkeepsie (POU) to AQW by flying under the clouds and between the peaks.
Turbulence that had blown the King Air about and bounced me in my seat had an even stronger effect on our C-172. Strong gusty winds were swirling around and over mountains and valleys. Hubby was bounced around mercilessly and despite my cinched seatbelt, after we all took off, my head tested the strength of the ceiling covering by bouncing up into it with quite a bit of force. It was kind of scary even with two of the best pilots I know in the front two seats.
After dropping off our friend at White Plains (HPN), Hubby and I proceeded to take the 172 home to Bridgeport (BDR).
We were on downwind when suddenly, there was a loud rushing sound in my headset and I heard Hubby's voice come through the air (not through the headset) asking, "Can you hear me?"
"No," I said since I knew he wanted to know if I was hearing him from the headset. "Can you hear me?" I didn't hear if he responded. He pointed to the red light on the intercom that said we were transmitting. He turned off the intercom and then turned it back on, but there was no improvement. He clicked his mike button a few times. I clicked mine, too. No change. By this time, he had completed downwind and base and turned final. "Were you cleared to land?" I wondered out loud.
"Yes, I was cleared on downwind," he replied. He could hear me just fine. Then tower offered, Stuck mike on tower. Had tower heard me?
Without keying the mike, I replied, "We're trying to fix it." At that moment, the red light went out and the loud rushing sound stopped and I could once again hear Hubby from my headset. We were able to taxi to parking without any radio problems.
Now, I'm wondering, what happened?
Hubby had been flying with his instructor, working toward getting his own CFI by "teaching" steep turns and other maneuvers. I had been picked up in the morning by a "jet jock" who was flying one of the King Airs up for its annual to Harriman and West (AQW) in Massachusets. He offered me a ride in the right seat since there would not be any passengers. Following his lesson, Hubby flew up to give us both a ride home while "teaching" our friend how to fly.
Ceilings were very low and it was certainly an adventure picking our way through and beneath low clouds that were touching occasional mountain peaks. Jonathan phoned Hubby to say we had arrived and that he had picked up some ice coming through the clouds, so between them they decided that Hubby would make the trip from Poughkeepsie (POU) to AQW by flying under the clouds and between the peaks.
Turbulence that had blown the King Air about and bounced me in my seat had an even stronger effect on our C-172. Strong gusty winds were swirling around and over mountains and valleys. Hubby was bounced around mercilessly and despite my cinched seatbelt, after we all took off, my head tested the strength of the ceiling covering by bouncing up into it with quite a bit of force. It was kind of scary even with two of the best pilots I know in the front two seats.
After dropping off our friend at White Plains (HPN), Hubby and I proceeded to take the 172 home to Bridgeport (BDR).
We were on downwind when suddenly, there was a loud rushing sound in my headset and I heard Hubby's voice come through the air (not through the headset) asking, "Can you hear me?"
"No," I said since I knew he wanted to know if I was hearing him from the headset. "Can you hear me?" I didn't hear if he responded. He pointed to the red light on the intercom that said we were transmitting. He turned off the intercom and then turned it back on, but there was no improvement. He clicked his mike button a few times. I clicked mine, too. No change. By this time, he had completed downwind and base and turned final. "Were you cleared to land?" I wondered out loud.
"Yes, I was cleared on downwind," he replied. He could hear me just fine. Then tower offered, Stuck mike on tower. Had tower heard me?
Without keying the mike, I replied, "We're trying to fix it." At that moment, the red light went out and the loud rushing sound stopped and I could once again hear Hubby from my headset. We were able to taxi to parking without any radio problems.
Now, I'm wondering, what happened?
