700 miles of blue skies and 200 miles of rain

 

It all started so easy.  We were flying to Traverse City, Michigan.  It is 885 miles and with the forecast tail winds would only be 4.6 hours in the air.  In theory the flight can be done easily with one stop but for a variety of reasons which will soon become obvious, I planned two.

According to the forecast the weather was good and as long as we arrived before 3 PM we should have VFR weather the entire trip.  We fired up right on plan at 08:30 and were quickly airborne. Our first stop was Pickens, SC.   This first stop was mostly about comfort as the ideal middle point did not have any value fuel stops and this let us take the majority of our gas at stop 2 where they had a great deal on gas.

As planned the arrival was good VFR.  Entering downwind, there was a plane landing ahead of us.  I asked if he was heading to self-serve and he was as well.  I asked if he could pull up enough so we both could fuel and he did a great job for us.  While he fueled, we freshened up and by the time we returned he was done and had moved the hose to my plane.  We thanked him and he headed out while we fueled.

My second stop was strategic.  Yes there was really cheap fuel in Northern Indiana, but I also had a sense that the Traverse city arrival might not be great VFR.  Stopping an hour short meant we would have hours of reserve and would be fresher having just taken a break. 

The weather still looked good as we departed Pickens and headed towards the mountains.  With the strong wings from the Southeast, I was concerned with turbulence but we climbed to 8,000’ in smooth air.  We had a bit of light turbulence over the mountains but overall a smooth ride and no waves.

I had one other concern, Cincinnati. We would be just outside the class B as we passed to the East.  Our experience around Charlotte is that they like to re-route you.  As we approached, I kept waiting to get re-routed but somehow they let us go on our merry way.  As we sailed by, I noticed that our route was overflying a lot of states for such a simple trip.  We crossed ten, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana and Michigan.

Clear of airspace my focus was back on the weather.  The forecast said we should be able to slide into Traverse City ahead of the bad weather.  As we departed Georgia there were severe storms over Missouri and Iowa.  There was light rain over Illinois.  It looked like we could easily stay ahead of the storms.  On the way to fuel at Angola, Indiana we watched a line of severe storms organize and begin to sweep East towards our stop.  We were well ahead of this weather and we landed in clear skies.

While our fuel stop was good, by the time we approached Angola, the light rain had organized over lake Michigan, intensified and began heading toward Traverse city.   After a quick refuel, we had full tanks and took a look at the radar.  It looked iffy.  The storms that had looked like they would slide North were sliding towards Traverse City.  I thought about staying in Angola but I had severe storms bearing down on us from the East and I figured it would be better to head further North and see what happened.

Watching the datalink radar during our departure showed that the storms had arrived and we were not going direct into Traverse City. I had a plan B though,  Cadillac, Mi.  It was VFR, just 30 miles South of our goal and the first line of storms had slid North.  We updated our destination with ATC and with a solid out, we studied the storms some more.  The ADS B/XM feed was pretty useless other than to show the line of severe precipitation.

Everything else was a blob of green, yellow and red with no apparent safe route.  We started down for Cadillac and were cleared to 4,000'.  This was the MVA for Cadillac to Traverse City. I wanted to be lower but this is the best they could do. The onboard radar works best inside of 60 milesso once we were 30 miles from Cadillac I could paint the entire route to Traverse City. There were some strong cells running North to South that started East of the field and they had a tail that headed West for a few miles.

I updated ATC that we wanted to attempt Traverse and gave them our plan. ATC confirmed their radar matched ours and cleared us back to our original destination.   About 10 miles South of Cadillac we made a hard turn West  to get around the storms at the South end of the line.  We were in and out of the bases and the ride was surprisingly good with only light turbulence though CC swears it was bumpy.  The XM was still mostly useless as the storms were moving fast and the data was too old to be of value but the onboard radar was doing a great job. 

Once on the back side of the line the radar showed mostly green with a bit of yellow and spots of red.  The controllers were very accommodating and we made minor deviations to avoid the precipitation.  Though we spent a good amount of time in the clouds, we had almost no precipitation and the rain we did encounter was just a bit of water streaming along the windshield.

After getting behind the line and avoiding the areas of heavier precipitation, the final for runway 10 looked clear.  We were behind an airliner on his second attempt.  He had tried to land through the severe precip and had gone around.  

We were turned direct  BEAAR and were cleared for the 10 approach straight in.  I had studied the approaches before departure and briefed the plate before we worked our way around the weather so it was pretty easy.   We joined at BEAAR and and broke out just past the FAF.  The runway was wet and we had a really smooth touchdown.  We rolled a bit as I wanted to be careful on the slick surface.

While it had been dry all the way in, once we landed the rain started as we pulled into parking.  The FBO brought the car to the plane and we loaded up.  We had bouts of light rain for the next two hours and then the rain stopped for a bit, it was time to sightsee. We drove into the city and I use that term loosely to see Clinch Park.  The park sits on the North edge of downtown on the lake.  It had stopped raining but it was pretty foggy.  We went for a nice walk and watched the fog start to lift.  There were some midge flies out but not too bad.  We did find some areas with swarms that we avoided.

We ended up at Don’s Drive in, a classic local place for classic burgers, dogs and fried food.  While less than healthy it was a tasty treat.

Overall it was an interesting flight.  When we started, I pretty much thought we would be diverting.  I did in fact divert to Cadillac but as the weather unfolded we diverted again to Traverse City.  Onboard radar made the difference.  I had considered getting below the clouds, cancelling and working my way in VFR.   

The controller had told me the MVA was 4,000’ for much of the area.  The VFR chart shows an MEF of 2,700’. This only gives you 100’ of clearance over the obstacles.  There are a bunch of tall towers out there and even with our excellent terrain awareness, I did not want to be scud running and caught between a storm and a tower.

Since VFR was not an option and datalink is not fast enough to use for avoidance, without being able to visually avoid the bad stuff, I would not have ventured through the area without the radar.

We Got Really Lucky

I generally say we make our own luck when it come to the weather.  We often adjust our flights to pick the best weather.  This trip our days were pretty set so it was really a go or no go decision.  I had expected to deal with some weather but in the end we got really lucky.  

Our original plan was to head up to Greenville on Wednesday.  While the afternoon turned out nicely, we would have had to work a bit to make it home.  Also our return Sunday we would have returned a bit earlier so would have had lower ceilings.

Our ride from Greenville to DC on Friday also nicely slid between two systems, if we had gone earlier or later, we would have had to work for it.  Finally if we had come back Saturuday, we would have had to contend with Significant weather that stretched from Savannah to Tallahassee.  

Sunday morning our Uber, I mean Sam came and picked us up to take us back to Manassas.  She was a bit late but she did get CC flowers and candy for Mothers day so we let it slide.  Sunday traffic was light and we were soon at the airport.  The fees and gas at HEF are higher than I like but they have great service and the plane was literally at the front door.

Preflight went well and we loaded up and then fired up.  Having been before I knew to file the ARSENAL FIVE DEPARTURE with the GVE transition and that’s what we got with a restriction to stop climbing at 2,000’.  I have heard you can wait a while to get released at HEF but we have had good luck and it just took a minute.  

On departure we climbed to 800, started our turn and checked in with departure.  We got 3.000’ and direct destination, so much for the departure.  We were not heading home, I planned a fuel stop in Georgia so we could top off as the weather at home was IFR.  We also had some headwinds which made the trip longer.  When I planned it the forecast was for 25 knots on the nose and we had around 10 most of the way so I was pretty happy with that.

We chugged along around 175 ground speed and enjoyed mostly clear skies with with only occasional light turbulence.  Our fuel stop was Wright Army Airfield, KLHW or also called MidCoast Regional Airport.  It is a dual use field that has nice facilities and typically cheaper gas.  It is nestled amongst the 3005 restricted areas and has a tower which is closed on weekends and holidays.

When I checked in with Jacksonville center I asked about the 3005 areas and Charlie was hot while Delta was cold.  Since we could not go direct I asked for and got direct SAV direct destination.  Checking in with Savannah we refined that with SAV FLATN direct.  This route hooked us around the little Southern protrusion from 3005C.  Because of the restricted airspace there are no approaches to 24R which we were using but the weather was VFR.

There were a few clouds with bases around 3,000’ so we stayed IFR until we got below them.  Then I cancelled IFR which gave us a bit more flexibility.  The airport was visible and Savannah said goodby, squawk VRF.  Had a nice arrival and taxied over to self serve.  My only complaint is that the pump is not fast, it’s not slow but faster would be better.

We filled the tanks, drained ours and were soon back in the air.  It’s a quick flight back home and we settled in at 6,000’.  The clouds started to fill in and I briefed the GPS 32 arrival.  There was a notam so I used the adjusted minimums of 291’ and requested direct JEVAG, the initial for the approach.

The field was 800’ and everything was clicking along.  We had a much slower plane ahead that the controller vectored us around.  I was a bit concerned for the guy, the weather South of the field was bad with storms from the coast to Palatka.  They were moving East cutting off his flight plan.  He was VFR only and the weather ahead was a mix of VFR and IFR.

The controller did a good job helping him and we threw in a few suggestions based upon our weather displays.  As we were getting vectors for the approach I told the controller I would like to stay in close.  He did a good job vectoring me in tight and with everything set up, he announced the field had just gone VFR with ceiling 1,400’.  I could have just gone in VFR but we were only a mile from joining the approach so we stayed IFR.

We were solid crossing the FAF but broke out at 1,500’ with good visibility below.  Made another nice landing and soon had the plane in the hangar where I began the oil change process.  I remembered to take my oil samples, taping them to the drain hoses and buckets worked and even I couldn’t mess that up.  With the oil drained and samples collected we headed home.  I completed the oil change Monday, the filters looked clean when cut open and the process went smoothly. 

Going International

 We had a short time in DC but we were gonna get some exercise in.  Sam picked us up for dinner.  When I say picked us up, I mean she walked by the hotel.  We met Tyler, her fiancée down the street, he had just finished the day at a tax conference and then we headed over a few more blocks for dinner.

After eating too much we hiked back to the hotel for a short break and then it was off to the Rocky Horror Picture Show with live cast.  Sam and Tyler participate and they had headed out early to get ready.  CC and I decided to take the metro to the theatre as it was faster and cheaper than an Uber.  I have not used the metro since I was a kid and they have made it much easier.  They now accept any tap and pay so no account, no card needed.

We headed out around 9:45 pm and walked 3 blocks to the station.   The train runs every 9 minutes at night and we got lucky with just a 3 minute wait.   It’s only a 20 minute ride to Bethesda and the theatre was a short walk from the station.

I first saw Rocky in the late 70s, and I’m a bit surprised that 45+ years later “the kids” are still hooked.  As always, Rocky was an experience and even though it started at 10:30 instead of midnight, it was still a blast.  And yes we stayed out well past our bedtime.

Saturday we started by walking down to the Air and Space museum.  They have more of it open now but it still has a bit to go.  We wandered and enjoyed the planes for a while.  After we had seen everything we headed out. CC had gotten a very exclusive invite on Facebook to the EU open embassy day and the girls decided it was a good idea.

We Ubered to the France Embassy but the line was crazy long so we hiked  over to Italy.  It was a long line too but we committed.  After about an hour wait where we got samples of Danish cookies and European chocolates, we were allowed in.  

They were selling pizza so we got some and some more candy.   We wandered a bit and saw info on Italy.  It was nice but nothing exciting.  Our next stop was down the block at Romania.  The line was short and moved fast.  We were in in just a few minutes. 

Upon entering Romania, they gave us some fancy cookies.  They had a room set up that explained the country and culture and outside they had some nice gardens and vendors selling Romanian crafts.  Romania was much better than Italy.  After our embassy visit it was time to head home so and we decided to take the metro again.  

It was a one mile walk so we headed that way.  Along the way we passed Estonia and watched them teach the guests some traditional dances.  Then it was off to the station.  In all we put in over 7 miles and were ready for a break.

We finished the day off with a sushi dinner with Sam and Tyler.  I checked the weather one more time, filed my flight plans and then it was time to get some rest. 

Riding the Wave on our way to DC

Friday morning we were off to DC. We planned to meet Sam at the airport around 12:30. It is only 2 hours which meant we could take our time.  We departed Greenville just before 10:00.  Typically we go IFR but since we had to go just North of Charlotte, I was concerned that we would get a significant reroute.  I know this sounds pessamistic but Charlotte seems to like to keep people at least 60 miles away.

As the weather was great VFR, I decided to go VFR.  The direct route got a bit close to the Charlotte class B so I added SHINE intersection to my plan and that gave us a nice buffer. Departing I was given runway heading and 5,000.  As soon as we switched to departure we got an unrestricted climb and on course.  

Joke was on them, runway heading was exactly on course.  The flight is only about 2 hours but the gas at HEF is quite expensive.  I decided to drop into MTV, for a quick top off.  We have been many times as it is a great stop.  Cheap gas, stupid fast pump and clean bathrooms.  They have a restaurant that smells good but we have never had time to try.

Leaving MTV we picked up our clearance on the ground and were cleared to go with no delay.  The route took us parallel to the mountains and even though we had clear weather and a smooth ride, we experienced a pretty strong mountain wave.

We had been chugging along at around 161 KIAS.  We were on autopilot and I noticed the nose pitch up and the speed start to decay.  Eventually we settled on 143 KIAS and 2.5 degrees pitch up.  After a few minutes the nose pitched down and we began to pick up speed.  You think about mountain waves out West but we have them on our side of the country too.

Heading into DC they held us high until we were close in.    Usuualy in bigger metro areas they bring you down early.  The approach ended up being a slam dunk and luckily the air stayed smooth as we had to boogie on down.  The air was cool outside so I had to balance power reductions with keeping the engines warm.  

We picked up HEF at about 12 miles and got a visual to 34R.  As we pulled onto the ramp it was not clear where to park as it was very full. The line guys pointed to a place I was not sure I would fit.  I headed that way and they had me pull sorta half way into a spot.  We shut down and they apologized for the unconventional parking.

As soon as we got out, they hooked up a tug and put the plane on tie down.  Traffic was a bear getting into the city but we had a nice ride chatting with Sam. Once in the city Sam had to work so we headed out to a dumpling place Sam had recommended.  We had a variety of dumplings that were pretty good and then we went for a walk.  Pro tip, at the Capital One Cafe you can get coffee half off if you use a Capital One card.

Wetlands and Waterfalls

Typically we head to Greenville to see friends and enjoy the mountains.  We started off strong with a great dinner catching up with old friends and a hike in the fotthills.  Wednesday we headed to Furman University to see an old friend of CC's. He is a professor there and after catching up and enjoying a nice lunch,we headed off to do some hiking. 

The weather was a bit weird.  The forecast was for sunny weather with a front pushing through overnight. Well the weather did not read the forecast.  It was cloudy as we headed out and then it started to drizzle, then rain hard. While we ate it continued to pour but then it cleared and after a fine meal we headed to the Conestee Nature Preserve. 

Most trails we hike around Greenville lead to waterfalls but this one lead to waterfowl.  The preserve is relatively new as a public park.  It is a series of trails in and around some wetlands.  The place is a bit surreal, I expect a swamp in Florida and even in the South Carolina low country but not the Upstate.

We had changed to hiking boots for the walk and having better footwear never hurts but the trail was mostly paved or boardwalk.  Sneakers would have done.  We saw lots of birds, squirrels and turtles.  I don’t think they have gators though.  After the hike we rewarded ourselves with ice cream, we still had that food credit to spend.   

Wednesday night the front was supposed to push through and leave cloudy but dry skies by around 8 am.  At 5:30 am I rolled over and looked at the radar.  The rain had not gotten the message.  There was still lots of rain to come.  I turned off my alarm and we slept in.  We got going around 10:00 am and headed towards North Carolina.  We were going back to some falls I really like.

On the way we had partly cloudy skies and some light rain.  The clouds were draped across the mountains as we entered North Carolina but eventually the skies started to clear.  The last time we visited these falls it was a weekend and the place was packed.  Today it was much lighter and we could actually find a parking space, a really good one at that.

The cool thing about this location is you get 3 or 5 falls depending on how you count.  From the parking lot you hike across a bridge and under the highway.  The trail takes a turn and then heads up and up.  I mean really up.  They even have a steep slope signs.

After quite a climb you come to the overlook for triple falls.  You can’t get really close to the falls but it is a great view.  It also gives you an excuse to stop and catch your breath without looking like you need to stop and breathe cause you probably do.

After triple falls you continue up some more, then down.  This is never a good sign as it means you are going to have to repeat that to get back to the car.  The trail then follows the river and is pretty flat.  You have a choice, you can head back up for an overlook or continue by the river to the foot of the falls.

We followed the river which was longer but flatter.  Eventually we came upon High Falls.  The falls are quite impressive with both width and a good drop.  The initial view is partially obstructed by some trees but if you carefully follow the very rocky trail along the edge over some sloped and slippery rocks you can get a great straight on view.

After the strenuous hike, it was nice to sit on the rocks and enjoy the view.  Again, the camera was a great excuse to sit for a while instead of admitting that a break would be nice.  Since it is a bit tricky to get to the end of the trail, we had the area to ourselves for a while which was nice.

It was then time to head back to the parking lot.  We had seen either two or four falls depending on how you count and we had one left.  The way back seemed a lot easier.  Overall we had done more up than down so the way back was more down.

The last fall is Hooker falls.  It is an easy hike, not flat easy but way less vertical.  It is also a lot shorter.  We made quick work of the trail and enjoyed the falls.  They are nice and wide but short.  Overall good falls but they would be better if they were taller.  After a quick hike back, we started heading back down to Greenville.  We were off to DC in the morning.