EdFred
Taxi to Parking
Friday
OK, so my goal is to have landed in all 48 states by the end of the summer. I'll knock out the New England states this weekend, and early next week, and knocking out the southeas states after Gaston's, leaving me only North Dakota to deal with in July. Maryland is one of those states that didn't really fit into any other trips I was taking so, I decided to incorporate it on my way to Wings. Only cost me about 45 minutes to an hour versus going direct, so I said what the hey, lets do it. I launch out of 9D9 fifteen minutes ahead of schedule and get above the layer at 4 or 5 thousand. Smooth sailing until eastern Ohio. I'm 9000 and everything was looking good. WAS. There's this big milky cloud just off to my north and I end up getting absorbed by it. Outside air temperature - 30º Check the wing root. Hmmm, looks like a little bit of ice. Not too bad, however. I had been on the instruments, so I hadn't looked out front in a few minutes. Hey, what's that glaze?
"2212R request lower for icing."
"Stand by."
...
...
...
...
...
"12R Descend maintain 5000."
"5000 12R."
So I start down from 5000 and my airspeed starts to drop. (Oh yeah did I mention I don't have pitot heat on my plane? That's changeing real soon.) So I'm in a descent with my airspeed starting to drop, and suddenly it starts to go up up up - almost to Vne. Well, my RPMs are the same (around 2400), and my pitch hasn't changed, the static port must have froze over. I contemplated breaking open the VSI for my alternate static, but the OAT is above 32F now, and the ice is starting to peel off the wind screen. I know my altimeter is not accurate right now, but I know my rate of descent was only about 300fpm when I started, so I just start running the calculations in my head. I should be at about 5500 feet now, even though the altimeter shows higher and the ASI has now gone to 0. The GPS altimeter shows about 5500, so I start to arrest my descent, and then the altimeter snaps from 6500 to 5500 and the ASI goes to where is should be. All is well.
I pull up the ASOS/AWOS at 2G4 to get an idea of what was going on there. I was expecting 4000BKN but that's not the case because I'm at 5000 and still in the goo. Gusting winds 9 to 20 out of the SW, 100 overcast 1-1/2 mie vis with mist. Well, lets shoot the approach anyway and see what happens. I might get a miracle hole. No joy. I am getting slammed around below 1500 AGL. I hit my MDA (400 agl) on the approach and feel like a cork in a hurricane. I didn't bother to fly to the MAP because I'm only 400 above the ground and all over the place. I go missed and continue on my way to Wings. But as I turn my head to activate the flight plan (which I smartly programmed on the ground at 9D9) I suddenly look back at my instruments. I'm in a descending right turn, and still in the gunk. But it doesn't feel like it. ("Trust your feelings Luke."
) It took me a good two minutes to recover from the spatial disorientation. Not 2 minutes to recover the plane, but 2 minutes to get my body to stop arguing with me. Fun stuff. Never had to go missed before, and never got more than a crystal or two of ice before. Never had the S.D. like that before. Made for a long flight. 1.8 actual.
Saturday
Spent the day at Wings with everyone who flew/drove/walked in, and then helped Adam clean up and spent some time with Gary, Bob, Nick, and Michael as well. After we kicked those guys out of the way (j/k) I took Adam up for a little spin in the 180. We got an aerial tour of Philadelphia, and apparantly I got service from the Bravo controllers that is NEVER offered to anyone else.
After that we headed downtown and met up with a ConEx pilot and friend, ate the best nachos I ever had, drank a couple margaritas, which I wasn't even allowed to pay for because Adam took the check out of my hand.
Sunday
Got up in the morning to clear skies, and some nice weather. There was a pretty nasty cold front moving in, and I wanted to get to Katama before the front did. So I pushed off a bit earlier than I had anticipated and headed towards Goodspeed airport in Haddam, CT right on the Connecticut River. I climbed up to 7500 scooted over the top of JFK and got a great view of Manhattan, Long Island, the Hudson and watched the 3B's shuffle jet traffic underneath me while I cruised along in smooth and mostly clear air. I landed at Goodspeed which is a nice little field, and has the potential to be a lot more. It is a 2100 paved strip right on the river, and also has a water runway as well. I chatted with a guy there for a bit, and then headed over to Westerly, RI to lay claim to landing there, put in some (relatively) cheaper fuel, and then push on to Katama on Martha's Vineyard. I got in ahead of the weather at Katama and once off the shuttle it was like stepping back in time. Everything in Edgartown seems to be dated from the 1600's, and it's a nice little place. I'd definitely go back someday.
Monday
Launched out of Katama with the idea that it was going to be marginal weather heading into Pease/Portsmouth, NH, so I filed IFR to PSM via BOS. Cape Approach gave me FREDO -> BOS -> PSM, and after getting handed off to Boston Approach they gave me direct PSM. I guess class B controllers outside of ORD actually are nice. I didn't get to fly the "Looney Tunes" approach into PSM, but did get a nice 25kt wind out of the NW to land into. That almost direct headwind did make it a bit difficult to land on the 11,000' plus runway without overrunning, but I managed somehow to keep it on the paved stuff. I had a factory tour in Stratham for one of the companies I rep, and then continued on to Wiscasset, ME for the night.
And as I am landing, there's someone with a camera just off the runway. Well, I know who that has to be - our very own Lawreston/Harley Reich. I pull around to the fuel pumps, and am met by my gracious host. And since his plane is in the shop, I even got to hangar my plane for the night. How cool is that? I got a mini tour of the Wiscasset/Bath/Portland area of Maine, and was treated to a very good dinner at DiMillos. Along with the tour came some very interesting stories, which I think I will let him tell to you if you ever get the chance to meet him. Let's just say he is Maine's pipeline to Hollywood and New England's elite. He then puts me up for the night at his place, and we talk some more about whatever subject seems to come up. Not only that, he gives up HIS bedroom for me for the night.
Tuesday
Harley drops me off at the airport, and then says "Happy Birthday" and hands me a custom made hat before I climb into my plane and depart. Well, the run of tailwinds had to come to and end, and I got to fight 35kt headwinds all the way from Maine to Seneca Falls, NY. My plan was to fly from Wiscasset to Rutland, VT but the ceilings were low, and I decided to slide south because after talking to FSS weather was supposed to be better that way instead of to the north. So, I decide to land at DDH, Morse State instead of Rutland. I didn't talk to FSS about my "alternate" because I thought I could still get into Rutland, but decided not to once in the air. I get to Morse State - the last airport I could land at in Vermont - and listen to the AWOS. I get to my 45 to downwind and see trucks on the runway. Then I see a big yellow X on 13, and a big yellow X on 31. Ok, pet peeve of mine right now. If the airport is closed - announce it on the damn AWOS so I can make a decision a little bit earlier! ATIS does it, and I've heard other AWOS stations do it - why can't you? Damn Vermontian bastards!
So, I turn around and head back to the east a little bit to the nearest airport - Mount Snow. Landing here is NOT for the faint of heart. It's a shorter strip, about 2000 MSL and downwind of Mount Snow. The wind swirls, gusts, bounces you around, and for the first time in 2 years, and only the third time ever, I had to go around. Circled again, landed down on some marginal asphalt surface, and made my claim to landing in Vermont. I went inside the empty terminal building which is reminiscient of a ski lodge complete with a pool table in the building. Don't use the candy machine though. (70's style pull knob type) It ate my 65 cents, and I was left hungry. I used the facilities, put $5 in the jar for a "landing fee" and headed on towards Buffalo, NY. Well, those headwinds didn't allow me to get to Buffalo with a safe margin of fuel, or so I thought, so I put down in Seneca Falls and put in 10 gallons of fuel at $4.39 so I could get to Buffalo-Lancaster for cheaper fuel. The whole way from IWI to 0G7 I was getting slammed around by turbulence because I was under the 2200-3000 OVC. Once past Seneca Falls it smoothed out, and I put in 32 gallons of fuel at BQR. From there it was smooth but slow going over Lake Erie (I decided against giving Canada any of my money). Headwinds and slow flight due to turbulance had me log 8.0 hours of time yesterday. Runway 30 at Hastings never looked so welcoming, which I of course landed straight in on.
OK, so my goal is to have landed in all 48 states by the end of the summer. I'll knock out the New England states this weekend, and early next week, and knocking out the southeas states after Gaston's, leaving me only North Dakota to deal with in July. Maryland is one of those states that didn't really fit into any other trips I was taking so, I decided to incorporate it on my way to Wings. Only cost me about 45 minutes to an hour versus going direct, so I said what the hey, lets do it. I launch out of 9D9 fifteen minutes ahead of schedule and get above the layer at 4 or 5 thousand. Smooth sailing until eastern Ohio. I'm 9000 and everything was looking good. WAS. There's this big milky cloud just off to my north and I end up getting absorbed by it. Outside air temperature - 30º Check the wing root. Hmmm, looks like a little bit of ice. Not too bad, however. I had been on the instruments, so I hadn't looked out front in a few minutes. Hey, what's that glaze?
"2212R request lower for icing."
"Stand by."
...
...
...
...
...
"12R Descend maintain 5000."
"5000 12R."
So I start down from 5000 and my airspeed starts to drop. (Oh yeah did I mention I don't have pitot heat on my plane? That's changeing real soon.) So I'm in a descent with my airspeed starting to drop, and suddenly it starts to go up up up - almost to Vne. Well, my RPMs are the same (around 2400), and my pitch hasn't changed, the static port must have froze over. I contemplated breaking open the VSI for my alternate static, but the OAT is above 32F now, and the ice is starting to peel off the wind screen. I know my altimeter is not accurate right now, but I know my rate of descent was only about 300fpm when I started, so I just start running the calculations in my head. I should be at about 5500 feet now, even though the altimeter shows higher and the ASI has now gone to 0. The GPS altimeter shows about 5500, so I start to arrest my descent, and then the altimeter snaps from 6500 to 5500 and the ASI goes to where is should be. All is well.
I pull up the ASOS/AWOS at 2G4 to get an idea of what was going on there. I was expecting 4000BKN but that's not the case because I'm at 5000 and still in the goo. Gusting winds 9 to 20 out of the SW, 100 overcast 1-1/2 mie vis with mist. Well, lets shoot the approach anyway and see what happens. I might get a miracle hole. No joy. I am getting slammed around below 1500 AGL. I hit my MDA (400 agl) on the approach and feel like a cork in a hurricane. I didn't bother to fly to the MAP because I'm only 400 above the ground and all over the place. I go missed and continue on my way to Wings. But as I turn my head to activate the flight plan (which I smartly programmed on the ground at 9D9) I suddenly look back at my instruments. I'm in a descending right turn, and still in the gunk. But it doesn't feel like it. ("Trust your feelings Luke."
) It took me a good two minutes to recover from the spatial disorientation. Not 2 minutes to recover the plane, but 2 minutes to get my body to stop arguing with me. Fun stuff. Never had to go missed before, and never got more than a crystal or two of ice before. Never had the S.D. like that before. Made for a long flight. 1.8 actual.Saturday
Spent the day at Wings with everyone who flew/drove/walked in, and then helped Adam clean up and spent some time with Gary, Bob, Nick, and Michael as well. After we kicked those guys out of the way (j/k) I took Adam up for a little spin in the 180. We got an aerial tour of Philadelphia, and apparantly I got service from the Bravo controllers that is NEVER offered to anyone else.
After that we headed downtown and met up with a ConEx pilot and friend, ate the best nachos I ever had, drank a couple margaritas, which I wasn't even allowed to pay for because Adam took the check out of my hand. Sunday
Got up in the morning to clear skies, and some nice weather. There was a pretty nasty cold front moving in, and I wanted to get to Katama before the front did. So I pushed off a bit earlier than I had anticipated and headed towards Goodspeed airport in Haddam, CT right on the Connecticut River. I climbed up to 7500 scooted over the top of JFK and got a great view of Manhattan, Long Island, the Hudson and watched the 3B's shuffle jet traffic underneath me while I cruised along in smooth and mostly clear air. I landed at Goodspeed which is a nice little field, and has the potential to be a lot more. It is a 2100 paved strip right on the river, and also has a water runway as well. I chatted with a guy there for a bit, and then headed over to Westerly, RI to lay claim to landing there, put in some (relatively) cheaper fuel, and then push on to Katama on Martha's Vineyard. I got in ahead of the weather at Katama and once off the shuttle it was like stepping back in time. Everything in Edgartown seems to be dated from the 1600's, and it's a nice little place. I'd definitely go back someday.
Monday
Launched out of Katama with the idea that it was going to be marginal weather heading into Pease/Portsmouth, NH, so I filed IFR to PSM via BOS. Cape Approach gave me FREDO -> BOS -> PSM, and after getting handed off to Boston Approach they gave me direct PSM. I guess class B controllers outside of ORD actually are nice. I didn't get to fly the "Looney Tunes" approach into PSM, but did get a nice 25kt wind out of the NW to land into. That almost direct headwind did make it a bit difficult to land on the 11,000' plus runway without overrunning, but I managed somehow to keep it on the paved stuff. I had a factory tour in Stratham for one of the companies I rep, and then continued on to Wiscasset, ME for the night.
And as I am landing, there's someone with a camera just off the runway. Well, I know who that has to be - our very own Lawreston/Harley Reich. I pull around to the fuel pumps, and am met by my gracious host. And since his plane is in the shop, I even got to hangar my plane for the night. How cool is that? I got a mini tour of the Wiscasset/Bath/Portland area of Maine, and was treated to a very good dinner at DiMillos. Along with the tour came some very interesting stories, which I think I will let him tell to you if you ever get the chance to meet him. Let's just say he is Maine's pipeline to Hollywood and New England's elite. He then puts me up for the night at his place, and we talk some more about whatever subject seems to come up. Not only that, he gives up HIS bedroom for me for the night.
Tuesday
Harley drops me off at the airport, and then says "Happy Birthday" and hands me a custom made hat before I climb into my plane and depart. Well, the run of tailwinds had to come to and end, and I got to fight 35kt headwinds all the way from Maine to Seneca Falls, NY. My plan was to fly from Wiscasset to Rutland, VT but the ceilings were low, and I decided to slide south because after talking to FSS weather was supposed to be better that way instead of to the north. So, I decide to land at DDH, Morse State instead of Rutland. I didn't talk to FSS about my "alternate" because I thought I could still get into Rutland, but decided not to once in the air. I get to Morse State - the last airport I could land at in Vermont - and listen to the AWOS. I get to my 45 to downwind and see trucks on the runway. Then I see a big yellow X on 13, and a big yellow X on 31. Ok, pet peeve of mine right now. If the airport is closed - announce it on the damn AWOS so I can make a decision a little bit earlier! ATIS does it, and I've heard other AWOS stations do it - why can't you? Damn Vermontian bastards!
So, I turn around and head back to the east a little bit to the nearest airport - Mount Snow. Landing here is NOT for the faint of heart. It's a shorter strip, about 2000 MSL and downwind of Mount Snow. The wind swirls, gusts, bounces you around, and for the first time in 2 years, and only the third time ever, I had to go around. Circled again, landed down on some marginal asphalt surface, and made my claim to landing in Vermont. I went inside the empty terminal building which is reminiscient of a ski lodge complete with a pool table in the building. Don't use the candy machine though. (70's style pull knob type) It ate my 65 cents, and I was left hungry. I used the facilities, put $5 in the jar for a "landing fee" and headed on towards Buffalo, NY. Well, those headwinds didn't allow me to get to Buffalo with a safe margin of fuel, or so I thought, so I put down in Seneca Falls and put in 10 gallons of fuel at $4.39 so I could get to Buffalo-Lancaster for cheaper fuel. The whole way from IWI to 0G7 I was getting slammed around by turbulence because I was under the 2200-3000 OVC. Once past Seneca Falls it smoothed out, and I put in 32 gallons of fuel at BQR. From there it was smooth but slow going over Lake Erie (I decided against giving Canada any of my money). Headwinds and slow flight due to turbulance had me log 8.0 hours of time yesterday. Runway 30 at Hastings never looked so welcoming, which I of course landed straight in on.
Last edited:
