Turn hard right, mind the trees (and the hill)

Time to leave Gaston's. 

Where I normally fly from, McKinney airport in Texas, we have a 7,000 foot concrete runway with no building or trees within 1/2 a mile of either end of the runway.  I have room to take off and land 3 times on the runway without turning, and I'm at 500 feet or more before crossing over an obstacle.  So the departure from Gaston's was a new experience.

We loaded up the airplane with all four of us, plus luggage and the fish.  With 30 gallons of fuel in the wings, the Sundowner was just under it's maximum gross take off weight, and within the center of gravity limits ( I know because I had previously run the numbers).  I did a careful check of the airplane and engine, and taxied to the end of the runway as far back as I could get.  3,000 feet on dry, short grass is plenty, but nothing is less valuable than runway behind you.

Running up to full power, with 15 degrees of flaps and brakes hard on, I checked I was getting full RPMs and let her roll.  It seemed to take a long time to get the airspeed needle alive, but finally we had 60 kts and I eased Charlie into the air.  I stayed low in ground effect to let the speed build up until I had 75kts (best climb speed), and reached for the sky.

Best climb with full gross weight was not going to clear that trees covered hill, so I started a long curve to the right, intending to get into a downwind position where I could land back on the field if anything went wrong as soon as possible.  Did I say that I'm not used to trees?  Or hills?  It was a perfectly normal take off if you are used to such things, but I felt crowded.  Simulating a short field, max climb take off and doing one for real are not the same experience at all.  But they are the same to actually execute the movements and configuration, so all was well.

Continuing the climb on the downwind, I immediately felt better - I knew I could S-turn onto the grass if I had to glide in; I was visualizing the maneuver in my head.  Non-pilots would probably be surprised at how much we think about emergencies and "what I would do now if the engine quit", but this is actually normal.  Both guys in the front of your airliner are doing the same thing - only they have more procedures.  They calculate how much runway they need to accelerate to takeoff speed and then emergency stop - and based on that they call out V1 and V2 airspeeds on the take off run - V1 means you have to go - there isn't room to stop.  I do the same, only for me I make the decision to fly just before using 50% of the runway.  And yes, I have abandoned takeoffs if something wasn't right at that point.  But not this day.

Thing 2 wanted to fly over the dam, so having more than 1,000 feet at this point, I left the field and flew over the dam, then turned on course.  Fuel was too pricey at Gaston's, and I was already near max weight, so I had checked fuel prices on www.100LL.com, and selected Mt. Ida as my fueling stop.

Mt. Ida was just over an hours flying time away.  Fuel there was $3.85 a gallon, instead of over $5 at Gaston's, and nearer to $6 at my home airport.  It also has a 4,000 foot concrete runway, and was right where I was planning to turn to avoid the Hog MOA (Military Operation Area).  It was a Sunday, so I was sure the MOA was not active, but I don't like the high ground and lack of airports under it, so I determined to go around, expending the extra 10 minutes of so for additional safety margin (there we go again....).

After partially replenishing the fuel ( I couldn't just fill up like in a car - that would have made the airplane too heavy with all of us and our luggage), I took off from Mt. Ida heading west.  Once again it became clear that I couldn't get over the ridges with our heavy load on a straight climb out, so I made a right turn and did a spiraling climb over the airport.  Thing 1 thought we were like a big hawk looking for a large mouse!



Once above the ridges, I turned on course.  The air was becoming bumpy in the hot afternoon air, so I climbed (slowly) above the clouds to 8,500 feet where it was smooth, and slaved the autopilot to the GPS, pointing straight home.

4 Arrived, 10 Left

The water at Gaston's Resort is COLD!  It used to be a warm water river, typical for Arkansas, until they built the dam and hydo-electric plant.  Now the water comes from deep in the lake, and it's 45 to 50 degrees year round (7 degrees C).

While bad for the native river flora and fauna, this was good for tourism, and the State of Arkansas, smelling gold, stocked the river with Brown and Rainbow trout, and the occasional Cutthroat.  Outfits like Gaston's sprang up on the shore, and the rest is history.

The cabin we rented came with a free boat - but we had to rent the motor, chain, and chairs!  We didn't hire a fishing guide, and so for the first 2 hours, we caught nothing.  After breaking for breakfast, we talked with the dock guys, and followed their advice on how to load up the hooks, and where to cast.  Perhaps it was also that the river started to run, as they opened more generators at the dam, but soon we were catching fish!  Since we declined to pay for fishing licenses, only the 2 Things could fish, but I manned the motor and Sally de-hooked our catch and put them in the wet well.  The fishing limit was 10, and we caught 11, putting the littlest one back to gain some weight.

The dock guys killed and gutted the 10 keepers, for a small tip. 4 we ate for dinner, the other 6 went into the freezer and came home with us.

First time on grass

The field is 3000 feet long, but all it has going for it. One end had tall trees and wires strung across it, the other, a 500 foot hill. We wouldn't have bothered, but for the fishing.

Two hours and 45 minutes after leaving McKinney, I caught my first sight of Gaston's in North Arkansas. Sally sat in the right seat, while Things 1 and 2 occupied the back. Gaston's is a trout fishing mecca, with a hotel and restaurant attached. Oh, and an airport. (www.gastons.com)

The strip is nominally one way, although I did see a Bonanza land the wrong way. I'd practiced the landing a few times on Microsoft Flight Simulator X, so while a bit nervous, I knew how to approach it. I flew a left downwind leg on the other side of the river, and turned onto the base leg in a normal descent. The abnormal part is that means flying straight towards a large tree covered hill.

The trick is not to fly a square pattern, but to make a curved biplane-style approach. As I continued the turn, Sally asked "where's the airport?" in a concerned tone. Well, I couldn't see it..... but I knew it was there. At least in a Sundowner, you have great visibility - normally, due to the low wing. In this case the runway was hidden by tress, until the last few seconds.

Heading for a gap in the trees, we finally saw the runway threshold, and I realized I was lower than I expected. Pulling up the nose, I let the main wheels settle onto the runway - and there was my first surprise. Grass runways are BUMPY!!! And this one has a large bump about a third of the way along where it used to end before being extended. Airborne once again, we landed the second time with a "thump!"

Slowed to walking speed, I found the tied downs, and a man in a Gaston's van drove out to meet us as I shut off the engine and prepared to tie the airplane down.

Circle and Climb

So my original plan was to do the CFI next, and then multi-engine and so on. But I have almost decided to change that, and do the multi rating next. The reason is the great deals that can be had for multi training right now.

So the new (tentative) plan is to do the multi-engine commercial rating add on this summer/fall, and finish the CFI-Airplane rating next winter/spring. I could also do the multi-engine and Instrument CFI ratings at the same time.

When airborne and lost, the proper thing is to climb and circle, to widen your perspective and find more landmarks. Or to get on the radio, admit to your mistake, and get help.

I'm doing both.....

Certified Flight Instructor

I'm getting started (finally) on training for a "Certified Flight Instructor" rating. I passed both written tests last year, and with the Commercial license under my belt, the way is clear to get the CFI-airplane rating.

I have been flying, while under visual (VFR) conditions, from the right seat, which is a bit weird. When flying under instrument rules (IFR), I still fly from the left seat, because I don't want to be fumbling around with the wrong hand under such stringent conditions. I suppose I could get used to it.

The other thing that is new is having to create a lesson plan, and to talk through what I am doing as I do it. The second bit isn't too bad, as I developed the habit of telling what I was doing in preparation for the commercial test - so that the examiner would know that I knew what I was doing.

So to practice the development of lesson plans, I am going to teach my daughter the basics of flying - to practice giving a lesson, and also to have a second person in the plane who could take over in an emergency, or help on a cross country. My wife may also learn how to find an airport and land, but she doesn't seem all that interested.

CFI by Christmas - that's my watchword for this year.......

Going Fast, ................Slowly

Earlier this month I flew my Sundowner from Texas to Pennsylvania and back, approx 2,000 miles. It was Mother's Day, and I was hankering for a flying challenge, so off I went.

Spring in the Central Plains and Ozarks can be rough. We have tremendous thunderstorms and even tornadoes on a regular basis. In the summer, typically Texas broils under a semi-permanent tropical "high" that keeps weather fronts off the the North, in Oklahoma or Kansas, but in May the high has not yet formed, and we get fronts coming and going, and highly variable, sometimes entertaining, sometimes dangerous, weather.

On my flight up, a cold front was sweeping down the plains, from Oklahoma to Detroit. Winds in front of a cold front tend to be strong and from the Southwest. After the front passes, they swing around to the north, then northwest. Ahead of the front, the air is warm, but usually clear. And that is what I had all the way to PA - a 40 to 50 kts tailwind, and apart from a thin layer over my departure airport, no clouds, and visibility about 10 to 15 miles. My Sundowner has NEVER covered the ground so fast - I saw ground speeds as high as 165 kts (190 mph).

I made it to PA a full hour ahead of schedule. The front caught up over the weekend, causing rain and thunderstorms.

I was planning to depart on Tuesday, but a look at the weather map convinced me to start a day earlier. A warm front was coming up the Ohio River valley, pushed by a strong cold front behind it, bringing the usual turbulent and dangerous weather. So I launched at 11:30, and by 3:20 I was on the ground in Bowling Green, Kentucky.

I can fly in warm fronts without much problem. Warm fronts tend to generate hazy, calm, muggy and rainy conditions, but without much vertical development - i.e. storms. I landed in Bowling Green in light rains and lowering ceilings. My plan was to let the thunderstorms ahead of the cold front pass by overnight, and take off in the crisp cool air behind.

Well, the front passed - to the north. Louisville, Cincinnati - they all got storms. But in Oklahoma, Missouri and Kentucky, the front just kind of stopped, spawned tornadoes that killed several people, and shuffled to the East. That meant layered clouds and the potential for thunderstorms all along my route.

It also meant I would be flying against headwinds, almost as strong as those that helped me going the other way.

I left Bowling Green at 9am. I entered the cloud at 2700 ft, and climbed to my planned cruising altitude of 6,000, still in the clouds, with moderate turbulence. I asked for, and received clearance to climb to 8,000. After almost an hour, I started to be able to see the cloud tops above me, and to break out occasionally into small patches of clear sky. I heard another aircraft say that the tops were between 10,000 and 11,000 feet. So I climbed to 10,000, where I was in the clear about 50% of the time. Somewhere over West Tennessee, battling headwinds near 40kts (so my ground speed was about 75 kts), the clouds lowered below my altitude. Passing North of Memphis I could see the FedEx planes on approach in a long string.

With the slow ground speed, I decided to change my planned fuel stop from Hot Springs, to Conway, Arkansas. The field was covered by a thick overcast clound layer from 2,500 to 6,000 feet, so I made an VOR/DME instrument approach, and landed visually once I was out of the clouds.

After refueling, I took off and climbed to 6,000 feet - just above the cloud tops. At 6,000 the head winds were a little less, and I had a ground speed of 85 kts, which slowly climbed above 90 as I passed over Oklahoma and into Texas. Just past Paris, Texas, I saw the ground for the first time, and descended into the Dallas area through patchy, hazy cloud, landing at 4:20pm.

In flying, there is usually a head wind. It's straight mathematics - imagine you are flying 1,000 miles at 100 mph. With no wind, it would take you 10 hours. Now, imagine that you have a 20 mph tailwind going one way, and the same wind going back. Now, your ground speed is 120 mph up, and 80 mph back. So the 10 hrs on the way up now drops to 8.3 hrs, but your return trip now takes 12.5, for a total of 20.83 hours, of which 40% of the time you had a headwind, and 60% of the time a headwind.

The winds are (nearly) always against you.

It's So Unfair!!

Yes, I have a teenager in the house. My Oldest Daughter (a.k.a. Thing 1) entered full teenagerhood sometime during this last school year. Complete with zits, boyfriend and meltdowns.

OMG. As they seem to say with great regularity. The moods come and go with regularity, no doubt hormone influenced. But where did the cuddly little thing that I used to have go? The new T1 is never seen, except in the morning at breakfast. The rest of the time, she is 1) listening to her iPod, 2) emailing her friends, 3) texting her friends (but rarely talking to them), 4) watching TV shows on her laptop, (and sometimes on the TV). Sometimes all at the same time.

When she is seen, she is often growling at the world, and being mean to her younger sister, Thing 2. T2 is 11, but showing signs of early readiness for teenager hood, no doubt influenced by T1. At least T2 will do her homework without complaint. I don't think I can handle 2 teenager attitudes at the same time.... but it's coming anyway.

It's Not Fair!