Theoretically we were already closer to home than our first destination in Colorado. We had come 1290 miles and only had 1182 to get home. Coming out our detour had added some extra miles and I was hoping that we could avoid that heading back. I planned the straight route with stops in Missouri, Tennessee and Alabama for fuel.
I woke up early to look at how the weather was developing and tossed plan A and went to plan B. Storms were in our direct path and we would need to head South at least through Texas before turning the corner. The weather in the Southeast was good in the early morning hours but predicted to deteriorate and it did not disappoint.
Our first stop was GBD, Great Bend where we had fueled before. This was an easy leg, good tailwinds and clear weather. It was not a far hop but let me begin the more intensive portion with full tanks and more fuel means more options. We flew 282 miles and only got 198 miles closer to home, 84 wasted miles.
Leaving GBD, We still had a line of storms to pass. We turned the corner over Oklahoma city and headed for Mount Pleasant Texas (OSA) to refuel and regroup for the push home. Once we passed the front we picked up a undercast but the cloud bases were about 2500 so our arrival in Texas was easy. I had requested the instrument approach but was descended beneath the clouds before commencing the procedure and was able to aquire the field for an easy visual approach.We flew 377 miles and got 277 miles closer to home. 100 wasted miles, 707 remaining.
We had left Valentine with 50 degree temperatures and arrived in Texas to mid 80s. We shed our jackets and warm pants for shorts. When you fly you always want to wear clothe that you can survive in in the event of an off airport landing. When your cutting across the country this often means extra clothe and we had planned for the heat by placing a change in a bag on top of the luggage.
Suitably attired, we headed for Meridian Mississippi 318 miles down the road. The rain and bad weather was just past Meridian so the plan was to land, snack and figure out if we could go all the way home. As we climbed to 9000 to get a better view, cooler air and avoid some of the bumps, we watch more storms start to build in Mississippi. The controllers were very accommodating and allowed us to deviate left and right of course to avoid the many showers popping up. Passing Jackson, we dropped down to 3000 as the clouds had become too dense and I was concerned we might wander into some weather.
At 3000 we were below the clouds and could clearly see the increasingly dense rain shafts. The radar was saying that Meridian had a severe storm with several more heading that way. Time for plan C. Always have a C, D, E, etc. We turned North where it was sunny and landed in Philadelphia, Mississippi 34 miles Northwest of Meridian. It was a decent stop, full serve fuel but a $1 a gallon more than Meridian. When I have clear weather and lots of gas left, I opt for the better priced gas but when you are dealing with weather, you take the safest option.
When we were approaching Meridian and I saw the storms building I had taken a path North of course as it looked like the best chance of getting in and it had a great escape path North which we ended up using. This was all great but to continue on we needed to get South and I had just put us on the wrong side of the weather.
As the plane was getting fueled and I was checking things over and I reminded myself that it is much better to be on the ground wishing I was in the air than to be in the air wishing I was on the ground. Once the plane was fueled, I did all my checks so we could load up and go without delay.
I then went inside to enjoy the air conditioning, free WiFi, and picked up some ice cold water. The initial look at the weather made me think we would be there a few hours and maybe need to come up with an overnight plan but as I watched the weather unfold I saw that the coast was cleaning up, if I could get 150 miles south, we should have an easy ride home.
The trick was the first 80 miles had a pretty good concentration of rain. I started by studying the route and looking at all the possible airports where I could divert if the weather intensified. I then called flight service and painfully went through my list of 20 airports to check for any notices to airmen. By this time a window had opened, we could fly Southwest (yes this was a bit away from home and get behind a small line of storms and then it looked like we could head Southeast to the coast.
Previously we had been IFR which let us zip through the clouds but on an IFR flight it is easy to get into the clouds and then not be able to avoid the weather. There are two types of radar widely used. On-board radar like the airliners use is real time but requires some big heavy equipment. While some small planes have this technology, we don't.
We rely on data link radar which is sent to the plane via transmitters. It shows us the Nexrad weather radar but there is delay of minutes from when the image is created, transmitted and displayed. With storms moving up to 60 miles and hour, changing rapidly and us zipping along at 200 mph it is not safe to use it for close in tactical decisions. It is great for watching the trend and helping you see farther out than your eyes but not much more.
We launched VFR and picked up flight following. My initial plan was to stay at 3000 and get around the rain. It was working well and we were soon around the rain by Meridian. The downside of 3000 is that our fuel burn is higher down low, our speed is about 15 knots slower and we had no tailwind. We were running the Air conditioner to stay cool which further slows us and we were in consistent light turbulence. South of Meridian I saw a pretty wide gap and decided it was time to go up.
Heading up has it's pros and cons. If we could stay on top of everything it would solve a host of problems but since we were VFR we need to maintain mandated clearance from all clouds so we might expend a lot of time and gas and soon find that we needed to circle back down but it was worth a try. To give us the best chance of a clear path home, I took us up to 11,500.
This turned out to be a great decision. Up high we could clearly see the storms and there was clear air between them. Our tailwind returned and we were soon seeing ground speeds in the 185-195 range. No need for air conditioning, the ride was smooth and we were running 2 gallons an hour less through the engine. Life was good.
Up high we easily navigated around the large showers and were well above some minor rain below. Things were looking good as we worked our way North of Mobile, AL and then past Pensacola. Just when you think you are home free nature throws another curve ball. A line of storms appeared over Tallahassee and then a second over Jacksonville. Now the entire way the ATC controllers were very helpful and you could tell they were also watching out for us as they can also display some weather on their scopes.
The Controller was making sure we had a good plan for Tallahassee and suggested a number of fixes to slide through. Looking ahead it seemed possible but South of Tallahassee was looking clear so we headed that way and had a smooth ride. I was thinking we might end up landing at Lake City because it was currently pouring at our airport. The weather cleared at Cecil field so we kept on heading in figuring we could make Jacksonville even if it was at a different airport. About 20 minutes out the storms broke in two with half the rain heading for Brunswick and half to Saint Augustine.
We were able to make a straight in approach to runway 14 and avoid the rain. The runway was nice and wet which usually makes the landing a bit smoother but also throws up a bunch of dirt under the wing which I got to scrub off the next day. We taxied in and pushed the plane back into the hangar. It is not over until the plane is secured.
In the end the trip home was closer to 1450 miles or an extra 270 miles to get home. The last leg being the most challenging one. Though we pushed a bit to get around the weather we never put ourselves in a situation without several escape routes.
We had a total engine run time of 25 hours for the trip and covered 3600 miles for an average speed of 144 knots (166 mph). Not bad as this includes all the time warming up and taxiing. Oh and we also ticked off Texas #41 and Mississippi #40.
I woke up early to look at how the weather was developing and tossed plan A and went to plan B. Storms were in our direct path and we would need to head South at least through Texas before turning the corner. The weather in the Southeast was good in the early morning hours but predicted to deteriorate and it did not disappoint.
Our first stop was GBD, Great Bend where we had fueled before. This was an easy leg, good tailwinds and clear weather. It was not a far hop but let me begin the more intensive portion with full tanks and more fuel means more options. We flew 282 miles and only got 198 miles closer to home, 84 wasted miles.
Leaving GBD, We still had a line of storms to pass. We turned the corner over Oklahoma city and headed for Mount Pleasant Texas (OSA) to refuel and regroup for the push home. Once we passed the front we picked up a undercast but the cloud bases were about 2500 so our arrival in Texas was easy. I had requested the instrument approach but was descended beneath the clouds before commencing the procedure and was able to aquire the field for an easy visual approach.We flew 377 miles and got 277 miles closer to home. 100 wasted miles, 707 remaining.
We had left Valentine with 50 degree temperatures and arrived in Texas to mid 80s. We shed our jackets and warm pants for shorts. When you fly you always want to wear clothe that you can survive in in the event of an off airport landing. When your cutting across the country this often means extra clothe and we had planned for the heat by placing a change in a bag on top of the luggage.
Suitably attired, we headed for Meridian Mississippi 318 miles down the road. The rain and bad weather was just past Meridian so the plan was to land, snack and figure out if we could go all the way home. As we climbed to 9000 to get a better view, cooler air and avoid some of the bumps, we watch more storms start to build in Mississippi. The controllers were very accommodating and allowed us to deviate left and right of course to avoid the many showers popping up. Passing Jackson, we dropped down to 3000 as the clouds had become too dense and I was concerned we might wander into some weather.
At 3000 we were below the clouds and could clearly see the increasingly dense rain shafts. The radar was saying that Meridian had a severe storm with several more heading that way. Time for plan C. Always have a C, D, E, etc. We turned North where it was sunny and landed in Philadelphia, Mississippi 34 miles Northwest of Meridian. It was a decent stop, full serve fuel but a $1 a gallon more than Meridian. When I have clear weather and lots of gas left, I opt for the better priced gas but when you are dealing with weather, you take the safest option.
When we were approaching Meridian and I saw the storms building I had taken a path North of course as it looked like the best chance of getting in and it had a great escape path North which we ended up using. This was all great but to continue on we needed to get South and I had just put us on the wrong side of the weather.
As the plane was getting fueled and I was checking things over and I reminded myself that it is much better to be on the ground wishing I was in the air than to be in the air wishing I was on the ground. Once the plane was fueled, I did all my checks so we could load up and go without delay.
I then went inside to enjoy the air conditioning, free WiFi, and picked up some ice cold water. The initial look at the weather made me think we would be there a few hours and maybe need to come up with an overnight plan but as I watched the weather unfold I saw that the coast was cleaning up, if I could get 150 miles south, we should have an easy ride home.
The trick was the first 80 miles had a pretty good concentration of rain. I started by studying the route and looking at all the possible airports where I could divert if the weather intensified. I then called flight service and painfully went through my list of 20 airports to check for any notices to airmen. By this time a window had opened, we could fly Southwest (yes this was a bit away from home and get behind a small line of storms and then it looked like we could head Southeast to the coast.
Previously we had been IFR which let us zip through the clouds but on an IFR flight it is easy to get into the clouds and then not be able to avoid the weather. There are two types of radar widely used. On-board radar like the airliners use is real time but requires some big heavy equipment. While some small planes have this technology, we don't.
We rely on data link radar which is sent to the plane via transmitters. It shows us the Nexrad weather radar but there is delay of minutes from when the image is created, transmitted and displayed. With storms moving up to 60 miles and hour, changing rapidly and us zipping along at 200 mph it is not safe to use it for close in tactical decisions. It is great for watching the trend and helping you see farther out than your eyes but not much more.
We launched VFR and picked up flight following. My initial plan was to stay at 3000 and get around the rain. It was working well and we were soon around the rain by Meridian. The downside of 3000 is that our fuel burn is higher down low, our speed is about 15 knots slower and we had no tailwind. We were running the Air conditioner to stay cool which further slows us and we were in consistent light turbulence. South of Meridian I saw a pretty wide gap and decided it was time to go up.
Heading up has it's pros and cons. If we could stay on top of everything it would solve a host of problems but since we were VFR we need to maintain mandated clearance from all clouds so we might expend a lot of time and gas and soon find that we needed to circle back down but it was worth a try. To give us the best chance of a clear path home, I took us up to 11,500.
This turned out to be a great decision. Up high we could clearly see the storms and there was clear air between them. Our tailwind returned and we were soon seeing ground speeds in the 185-195 range. No need for air conditioning, the ride was smooth and we were running 2 gallons an hour less through the engine. Life was good.
Up high we easily navigated around the large showers and were well above some minor rain below. Things were looking good as we worked our way North of Mobile, AL and then past Pensacola. Just when you think you are home free nature throws another curve ball. A line of storms appeared over Tallahassee and then a second over Jacksonville. Now the entire way the ATC controllers were very helpful and you could tell they were also watching out for us as they can also display some weather on their scopes.
The Controller was making sure we had a good plan for Tallahassee and suggested a number of fixes to slide through. Looking ahead it seemed possible but South of Tallahassee was looking clear so we headed that way and had a smooth ride. I was thinking we might end up landing at Lake City because it was currently pouring at our airport. The weather cleared at Cecil field so we kept on heading in figuring we could make Jacksonville even if it was at a different airport. About 20 minutes out the storms broke in two with half the rain heading for Brunswick and half to Saint Augustine.
We were able to make a straight in approach to runway 14 and avoid the rain. The runway was nice and wet which usually makes the landing a bit smoother but also throws up a bunch of dirt under the wing which I got to scrub off the next day. We taxied in and pushed the plane back into the hangar. It is not over until the plane is secured.
In the end the trip home was closer to 1450 miles or an extra 270 miles to get home. The last leg being the most challenging one. Though we pushed a bit to get around the weather we never put ourselves in a situation without several escape routes.
We had a total engine run time of 25 hours for the trip and covered 3600 miles for an average speed of 144 knots (166 mph). Not bad as this includes all the time warming up and taxiing. Oh and we also ticked off Texas #41 and Mississippi #40.
No comments:
Post a Comment