Future Pilots?

As part of my service to the community, one of my many organizations has received flights for fund raising.  Recently I was able to fulfill one of those gifts by taking up a young father and his two children.  The flight began at South Jersey Airport, (KVAY).  Cameras flashed as the parents took multiple photos of the family and kids and you could feel the excitement in the air.  It was a little windier than I had hoped it would be, but it didn't seem to bother the kids.  After walking around the plane and trying to explain several details about the trip it was time to load up.  More pictures and an opportunity for baby brother to sit in the cockpit kept us busy until time for take off.  Other family lived a little north of the airport and gave us a local place to fly.  We settled into the plane with one of the kids in the front with me and the other in the back with dad!  Once every one was settled in, it was time to start up and do radio checks.  Before long we were heading down the runway and waving to mom and brother on the ground.

Mom got some pretty good pictures!  As we settled into a nice 1400' trip and started searching for the family homes.  I had already given Jeff some suggestions on how to use dead reckoning, so it wasn't long before he began spotting locations that were easily recognized.  We were able to zero in on the development and Jeff discovered he could still text his family to verify that they saw us circling over head.

After making several passes around the neighborhood, we took a ride north east and soon found Great Adventure and made a circle around the park.  Then we headed back towards the airport and diverted west a little to fly over the family home.  After an hour flight the kids were ready for more.  Realizing were I was, I decided to make a nice easy 3 mile final for runway 8 at South Jersey.  A nice easy landing brought the kids clapping and we taxied back to the tie down with a family with memories to last a life time.  It was worth the time and the trip and even the expense!

Staying IFR Current

As most pilots know, once you are IFR Certified, the real challenge is to stay current. This means that within the past six month, the pilot must have flown at least six approaches, holds and intercept a radial. This can be done in actual IFR conditions, on a flight simulator or with a Safety Pilot under the hood. Saturday was shaping up to be the perfect day to fly and all I needed was a Safety Pilot. Up pops Kate McKeown on Facebook. Kate and I talk once in a while, and I know she is a college student, desperately seeking the chance to fly when she can. Turns out she is available on Saturday morning as long as we finish in time for her to get to work. No problem, we can go up at 8:30 am and do three approaches and finish in plenty of time. So we plan to meet at KVAY, South Jersey, and do the triangle. Kate is so excited she is there by 8:00 am! I call for gas on my way over and by the time I'm there, so is the gas and we do a little preflight! The day is just beautiful with clear skies and very little wind. Cool and crisp and a fantastic day for flying!
After a thorough preflight we started up and headed to Runway 8. N926GZ was so anxious to get going, she jumped right off the runway and up we went. Up to 2500' we contacted Maguire and planned our first approach into the ILS 6 at Robert Miller. Stable at 2500', I settled in with the auto pilot and the GPSS steering. We defended to 1900' and turned into the hold. One time around and we were ready to begin the approach. Nicely established at 500' per minute decent, we headed down to 282'. Strayed a little to the east, but recovered nicely and over the airport we went missed. Next up, VOR 29 at Robbinsville, N87. Back to MaGuire for flight following and headed East North East towards the Robbinsville VOR. Kate noticed we flew right over Great Adventure and began taking pictures.
The approach at Robbinsville went off without a hitch. A nice turn in the hold and the down to 620'. The air was so calm and smooth, over the airport I called going missed and began to ascend and turn back towards Robbinsville VOR. MaGuire gave us a quick traffic alert and were Kate got a visual on the traffic. Now for something I've never done before, the RNAV 8 into South Jersey from the North. A quick couple of touches on the 530 and we were set to go!

This approach was going to bring us really close to Philadelphia, which would give Kate some great opportunities for some pictures. Down to 2000' we were all set. Traffic started to get heavier as MaGuire kept pointing them out for us. As we turned to the south it seemed like we were right on the Delaware River. After a few minutes, we began our turn to the east towards South Jersey. Things were going great. We began a nice descent but I never did see the glide slope come a live. It wasn't long before we were down to 660' ready to settle down to the runway! I have to say, I did a really nice job of floating nicely down onto the runway and even got a "nice" out of Kate. 1.4 hours of flying, three approaches, two holds, and even intercepted the radial. Not a bad days flying. Thanks to Kate for being available and sharing the experience.

Shack, Rattle and Roll

     There are days that bring me back to my flight training times with my CFI Durand Branch.  Sometimes I miss those days, yesterday was not one of them.  It was time to depart Lynchburg and head home.  I had some business responsibilities and the weather didn't look to bad at all.  It would be VFR all the way home, even though I filed an IFR plan just in case, but the wind kept haning in there from a cold front that had come down from Canada the day before.  A constant look at the weather charts kept calling for the winds to settle down as the day would progress.  Unfortunately that was just wishful thinking.
     After a nice lunch with our youngest daughter, Dawn, we headed to the airport to prepare for our departure.  926GZ was sitting out on the hard top and looked ready to go.  A Standard briefing revealed clear skies but a report of moderate turbulence below 10,000 for our home area.  With all our luggage nestled and ma and I in our caps, we started her up for a long cross country hop.  Lynchburg cleared us for runway 22 and off we went with a slight crosswind as we climbed.  I planned to go to 5,500 for the ride home hopeing that would be better since the winds were really blowing above that.  Lynchburg switched me to Roanoke Approach and as we reached 5,500' we realized we were in for a ride.  Although the flight was rocky and rolly, we were never out of our seats but just never could get comfortable either.  Our GPS started acting up below Washington, giving us reports of GPS Signal lost and to use dead recogining and then would go right back to working without a problem.  It's possible we have an antenna wire loss.  Something else we have to watch.  The turn from Pautuxent slowed us down a little, but not really a whole lot.  We were now into a quartering head wind, but our ground speed kept up at 133 knots.  Over the Delaware, New Jersey was looking nice as we were switched to Philadelphia approach for the home stretch.

     I began a nice easy descent into South Jersey and as we approached we turned crosswind, to downwind to base for 26.  Final gave us a little bit of a crab as winds were 290 at 12 with gusts to 19.  OH Durand, it felt like you were sitting right there with me once again.  With only two notches of flaps, I waited for the trees to block the wind and we settled right down to the runway.  HOME at last, Home again.  I told Lynn, "You have to take the good with the bad".  Her comment to me was, "I was fine, I just would have preferred the good!"  Until next time, fly safe and keep practicing, you never know when you'll need it.

Easter in Virginia

As Easter 2013 comes upon us, plans started coming together for our week.  Danelle, our oldest daughter, was heading out with another teacher from The King's Christian School to take a dozen kids on a missions trip to Northern Ireland.  An exciting opportunity for her and for the kids she is taking.  Lynn was off for the week for Easter Break, although we call it Spring Break now.  So, we watched the weather and as the Friday came closer the chance to fly was looking better and better.  Thursday morning I stopped over to check on N926GZ.  With a new starter and a new battery, I was exciting about taking her on a cross country trip.  Our plans were to fly Friday morning from South Jersey Airport, KVAY, down to Farmville Regional Airport, KFVX, in Farmville, VA.  My dad and step-mom would be able to meet us there and visit with us over lunch.  After that, we would take a short hop over to Lynchburg Regional Airport, KLYH, in Lynchburg, VA.  A trip that we have made many times before.
     Friday morning came looking bright and brilliant.  On our way to the airport I called for a standard briefing and everything looked great.  With full tanks from the day before, we had 84 gallons of fuel which would be more than enough to get us down to VA and back.  A thorough pre-flight and a short time to load up the luggage and all the gifts for the youngest daughter and we were ready to go.  After a quick call to my dad to let him know we were coming, we started up and taxied out to runway 8.  926GZ jumped right off the runway with just Lynn and I, some luggage and full fuel and away we went.  I quickly called to McGuire for flight following who proceeded to switch me to Philadelphia approach.  The sky looked clear as we headed south with the city of Philadelphia off our right.

     As we moved south, I could see some clouds starting to appear below us.  A quick check on Easton weather showed there was a solid layer around 6000' and things still looked good down in Farmville and Lynchburg.  The flight was uneventful and full of sights.  Lynn enjoyed her reading, while I monitored all the instruments and kept a careful watch. 

     Airspeed began to increase as we flew further south.  The clouds began to break a little and more and more parts of the ground came into view.  By the time we got down to Pautuxent, we could actually see the airport and prepared to turn towards the south west.  Now I knew that the wind would be less favorable and the clouds seemed to be rising a little.  It wouldn't be long before we began to climb to try to stay on top.  By the time I reached 7,400' we were still watching clouds go by.  Further west, the clouds began to break up a little and I made the decision to drop down below the clouds.  A quick call to ATC and we began our descent.  Once below the clouds the air was clear but oh so bumpy.  Lynn was really good in holding on to her book, while I slowly descended into Farmville.

    Winds seemed to be changing a little as I made the decision to swing in for base for Runway 21.  As we made our approach to 21 I saw the windsock out of my eye and realized that we were drifting in with a slight quartering tailwind.  Well, with 4500' of runway, we had plenty of room to just ride the drift until 926GZ settled down and we sweetly rolled off onto the taxiway.  Dad and Susan were waiting at the terminal and in no time we were sitting down at Charlie's for lunch.  Lunch was wonderful and then we prepped to take the short trip over to Lynchburg.  As we launched off runway 3, we turned west and I realized we were in for a bumpy ride over to KLYH.  Staying at 2,500' we bumped along until Lynchburg Tower gave us a left base to runway 22.  Crossing over the Liberty Mountain and turning left base over the campus of Liberty University was just a spectacular view.  With 7,100' of runway we had plenty of room to settle down and roll off the taxiway and over to Freedom Aviation.  Arrived in Lynchburg with a stop in Farmville in just 2.5 hours of flying time.  Another great trip and looking forward to a great weekend with my daughter and my mom.

1. 

The Calm Before the Storm!

Well, as I sit here and write this blog, the weather channel is reporting the Winter Storm that is making it's way into the North East.  Yesterday was just a beautiful day and I had the opportunity to take some time and take 926GZ for a little ride.  It had been almost two months since my last flight in her and the butterflies were floating as I uncovered by baby.  Recently fitted with a new Sky Tech starter and Concord battery and the CHT gauge fixed there was a lot of new to experience.  Sitting in the Left Seat I was ready for some time.  The new starter makes just an amazing difference in the start of 926GZ.  She fired right up and within a few minutes were were ready to take the active.  Not a lot going on at South Jersey (KVAY) so it was easy to complete 4 nice take offs and landings.  The air was smooth and she just jumped right off the runway.  A little trip to the north allowed me to check the VOR's and make a nice turn back to come in on the 45 for one final landing.  It was amazing how much she just wanted to stay up in the air.  As I floated down the 3000' runway and taxied off I could see how much I enjoyed that ability and privilege of being a Private Pilot.  This year I've begun my studies to go for my Commercial Pilot's license.  Not that I want to fly commercially, but it forces me to learn some more.  This all works to just make me a better Pilot and that's what it is all about.  Well, that's all for now.  Have fun and fly safe everyone.

Do You Think Automobile Driver's Should Be Current?

So, it's been a month since last I flew.  That's right, our trip to Lynchburg, VA for Thanks Giving.  Weather, work and more weather just kept interfering with my flying opportunities.  Well, today that all changed.  Church at 9:00 am offered us an early start, but the light snow on the ground was a total surprise.  By the time church was over, the snow was gone for the most part, so home for a nice breakfast with the wife and daughter and then over to the airport.  I had to reintroduce myself to N926GZ since she felt like I had abandoned her.  Wasn't long before we had everything checked out and ready to go.  Couldn't find anyone to go with me today, so it was a solo kind of day.  The plan was to do a couple in the pattern, just to brush off the rust, and then take a quick trip down to Woodbine, KOBI, to check out the campground and trailer and another landing and takeoff.  Then back to South Jersey, KVAY, for a home sweet home landing. 
     Unlike auto drivers, there is something to be said for keeping current when it comes to Pilots.  Touch and Perception as well as a good knowledge of our planes is always important.  So, after the start and run up we were ready for a couple take offs and landings.  The wind was blowing just a little but right down the runway and 926GZ jumped off the runway with wonderful energy on a nice winter day.  As I set up for final, we crossed the numbers and gently floated to the runway.  A second take off was just like the first and I turned towards the south east for Woodbine.  2,500' was a little bumpy and the layer of haze was present which was a little disappointing.  It didn't take long to locate Woodbine and the sky was empty as I dropped down to 1,200'.  Just a little south east of the airport is Pine Haven Camping Resort, the summer retreat for the Stow family.  At 1000' I had a great view of all below and could clearly see our trailer covered up for the winter months.  Everything looked so peaceful but lonely as I circled above our trailer.  After one slow pass, I set up for a direct final to Runway 31 at Woodbine.  A group of guys hanging at the airport all watched as a floated long down the runway and spared the breaks by using the full distance offered.  A couple quick buttons pushed on the Garmin 530 and I was all set for the track back home.
     There was a little bit of a head wind on the way home, but up at 3000' the air was smooth.  I drifted back down 10 miles from South Jersey and crossed over the airport at 2,000' and set up for the 45 for Runway 26.  Downwind to base and then to final and before you knew it, I was floating down onto the runway.  Another day of flying and more memories in the book.  Every chance I have to lift up to the clouds I thank God for the chance to live a dream that only a few in this world know.  Well, until the next time,  "Smooth Travels and Be Safe" my friends.