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View Full Version : a very interesting week



bigjohnnie
10-10-2011, 06:45 AM
Forgive me for being wordy in this post, but *Wow*. What a week. I lucked out on picking an absolutely perfect week to take off work, what with a massive High Pressure system milling about in the east central part of the country giving me CAVU, light winds and perfect temps every day -- and coincidentally a VERY short list of "Honey-do's". That particular recipe adds up to a LOT -- twelve hours to be exact -- of flying, and ( for me ) a LOT of learning. This past week I became reacquainted with slips, -- FUN !! --- flap and no flap t/o's and landings, turns about a point, slow flight and whatever else I could think of. I had become rather stale and forgot how much *fun* maneuvers really were. I also got asked to do something by someone I could never turn down. Mom.
My Mom was invited to a wedding in London Ky. In my desire to help her avoid a boring 3 hr + car ride, I "offered" to fly her down so she could "arrive in style". (Just like most of you, I am always looking for a REASON to fly -- plus she deserves all the "royalty" treatment I could ever give her.) Since she is 82 and her mobility is questionable, and since our shortwingers have a very convenient back door, I decided to do a test flight with her in the back seat. I put her 140 lb frame in the back and, pleasantly, that was accomplished without much of a problem. With my 218 lbs in the front and no items in the baggage compartment, I calculated the cg to be within acceptable limits. We took off, no issue. We flew around for a while, and noticed the predicted increase of crusie speed. NICE. However, the landing flare took me by surprise. The elevator was a LOT more sensitive resulting in a major "baloon" and a little PIO. I made a mental "note to self" and chalked it up to a learning experience.
Confident that my trusty Tripe would fly quite acceptably loaded like I needed it to be, it was on to the next issue. This time, embarassingly pilot-related. Since my flying is usually in trips of 50 miles or less, I hardly ever talk to any ATC. I'm not used to it. I never liked it. Like getting flight following. Don't ask my why, but I get nnnnnervous when ttttalking to "the fffffeds". I always have. Can't explain it, but I do. But, my life experiences have shown me the best way to deal with a fear of a task is to confront it and PRACTICE the task, don't avoid it. Like crosswinds. If one is afraid of them, find a good instructor and take them for a ride on a windy day. So....., time for practice. Time for some dual. I happen to have a very *favorite* CFI who is also a CFII, DE and has about a thousand hours in shortwings. My dad knew her and her (now former) husband when he was flying, so she's probably been flying for 50 years or so and, as a bonus, I like her teaching style.
So, trip from KHAO to LOZ all planned and plotted and programmed. We discussed the trip without issue before boarding. We took off and headed to my first checkpoint. My first thoughts were how lucky I was to be doing this. What glorius weather. Perfect. Smoothe. OK, back to basics. First checkpoint reached. Time to call Cincinnati approach. I hesitated. I hesitated some more. Through the headsets I heard a calming voice " Just tell them who and what you are, where you are and what you want. Keep it simple." I took a breath, keyed the mic and said " November 2312 papa is type piper tripacer pa22-150, over Blue Ash at three thousand, enroute to Lima Oscar Zulu, would like six thousand five hundred requesting flight following". I got my squawk code, radar contact confirmed and cleared to only 5500 feet. My route I had planned took me around CVG's class B, and around KLUK's ( Lunken field ) class "C", -- to COMPLETELY avoid the airspace. So, my direction of flight wasn't what the controller had expected. "One two papa, is there a problem? Say heading" said the controller, I was then quickly asked if I was going direct. I said no problems, and that I was via Clermont County (I69) and Falmouth Ky. -- way east of CVG and the direct route. I was then shortly cleared to 6500 feet.
So, 60 miles later I got handed off to Lexington approach. I changed freq to Lex. The controller was VERY, and I do mean really really busy. Remember the principle of "Keep it simple?" I wanted to give more information about myself, but per my mentor's explicit instruction I said only "One-two papa with you". I was greeted shortly with Piper November 2312 papa altimeter three zero one four". I didn't know that throughout the chain of handoffs my specific information was passed on. Duh.
Thirty-five miles from my destination, I noticed a horizontal line that came across my gps. I was in "split needle CDI" screen mode. I found out that was my "vertical nav profile indicator" and was advised by my CFI to keep it in the center. I called ATC and requested, and was granted clearance to start my descent. I followed the profile, and it took me right to pattern altitude at LOZ. Kinda cool. I didn't know my gps had that. Duh, again. You know, my GPS may not be in color, or the latest version (Garmin 195) but for a hundred bucks I think it was money well spent.
We landed, my landing absolutely sucked. Or at least *I* thought it did. Tricky winds. The surrounding hills seemed to do funny things to the breezes around this field. Time for another mental note.
I refueled and we took off for the return home. THIS time when I called ATC for flight following, I expected direct to home. I pushed the "go to" button on the gps and entered my home field. I requested and was cleared to 5500 feet. I did all the new things I learned on the way down. Piece of cake. Forty-five miles from home I was dropped to 3500 feet, and cleared direct to home. We flew (nearly) right over downtown Cincinnati, and directly over KLUK. If the previous was a piece of cake, that was the ice cream to go with it. I never did that before. And THAT was fun.
So, my three an a half hours of dual was time and money well spent, for the following morning I confidently loaded Mom up bright and early. (BTW her other siblings were driving.) Before we left, mom said " I gotta call your aunt. I gotta rub it in !!" . And, with a GREAT BIG wink and smile to me, she said to my aunt "My private plane will be landing in about an hour and a half or so. I'll see you there !!" She was beaming and I was as happy as a hog in slop. So, we took off. It was on the same trip I had taken the day before. But this time I was looking *forward* to talking with ATC. The only issue was that the Cincinnati controller could not pick up my transponder. I recycled/reset it and she finally acknowledged it. She was also in a really FOUL and terse mood. I guess you run into that sometimes. The remaining controllers were very polite and without transponder complaints. Go figure. The rest of the trip was uneventful, except when descending to pattern altitude at LOZ. Again, just like 24 hours before it was rough. This time REALLY rough air. In the pattern we were getting rocked, rolled and bounced all over the place. The AWOS reported L&V at 6. When I flared, it was more like a direct to occasionally right quartering x-wind at 6 to15. Well, I STUCK the landing. ABSO-FRIGGIN-LUTELY **stuck** it. Perfect. From the back seat I heard in my headset "Johnnie, THAT was impressive. Your dad was a good pilot, but I really think you are better. ". BTW Mom told me she really enjoyed flying again. Note to self. Mom's going to be a "frequent flyer" again. This time on my "airline".
The trip back home by myself was uneventful, except for the fact that ATC dropped me to 3500 feet 55 miles from home and routed me WAY east -- about 15-20 miles out of my way. And at 3500, the ride was no fun, at all. Really windy. But, I STUCK the landing at home, again. It felt good,
Looking back, this whole week has been one I hope to remember. Literally. Slips are fun, again. Talking with ATC is no biggie ( kind of reassuring, actually). I was polite and concise to them, and they were the same to me. And, I CAN fly direct **IF** ATC will clear me. Either they will clear me or they will tell me where to go. I discovered a thing called VNAV on my GPS. And, most importantly, because the old Tripe flies quite well, thank you, with Mom in the back seat, she can take a ride whenever she wants. I'm gonna try and get her up in the front, though. She wants to fly it. We'll see what happens.

PeterL
10-10-2011, 08:23 AM
That's a great story BigJohnnie, training is always fun and a chance to learn new things, plus brush up on old flying techniques. I have found that ATC loves to talk to pilots and would rather be in contact you and know where you are and what your intentions are. Don't worry about what to say, they have heard it all, you are right, short and simple. Hey, maybe I was on the same CVG freq last week as you since I did a couple of trips to KCVG. Great place, love landing on 18L, over the river. Last friday night when we were on final I looked to the east and saw that the Trojan's were playing.

Here's an invite, why don't you and anyone else fly up here to Ontario, Canada. We would love to host any SW owners. Flying across the border is not that big of a deal, in fact its easier than driving.....

Another good thing about flying and being in contact with ATC is that you don't have to worry about all the Airspaces and clearances to get through.

PeterL

Curly
10-10-2011, 04:20 PM
Johnnie - give your Mum the biggest hug for me - any Mum who will ride in the back seat of a Shortwing has to be a real sweetheart! :smile:

tim kerns
10-10-2011, 09:34 PM
Great story

Throttle Pusher
10-11-2011, 12:30 AM
Great storie, Great flying!
You know talking to ATC is a funny sort of thing for me as well. I fly 121 for a living and talk to ATC all the time, really with out thinking about it. But Get me in my Tripacer and I don't like talking to ATC at all. Its always been that way, outside of pattern call outs and talking with other planes that I'm flying with, I just don't like talking to ATC in my plane.Don't get me wrong I have no troubles going into controlled Strips but prefer not to. Funny huh?
As for your experience, don't be afraid of talking to ATC their there for you, and want to help even if they get alittle busy from time to time.
Just remember what your instructor told you, Keep it short simple and to the point.

Ken

JoeB
10-11-2011, 01:44 PM
That is a great story, thank you for sharing your experience with us all! I can certainly relate flying around Atlanta class B airspace, while I certainly could enter I prefer to add 5-10 minutes to my trip and go around (or under) it.
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Peter - I think we should start planning a Canada Shortwing fly-in for 2012! I just received an email from my cousin in Ontario about how much fun they all had flying in and out of my Uncle's airstrip during the (Canadian) Thanksgiving festivities. It is on my list of things to do for 2012 (and I understand he has a shortwing or two in his hangar as well)!