Generally we try to limit the excitement while flying. You want a flight to go as planned. Yes there is the excitement of flying and seeing new sights but beyond that we discourage it. Today we had a bit and I am happy to say it ended well. I had heard about a fly in happening in Georgia. That will be the subject of a different post but is how it all started.
I mentioned it to two other local pilots so we all decided to head over their in our planes. I was the first one off with a Cirrus that lives a few hangars over a few minutes behind. The entire flight we could here him checking in as we both progressed to lunch. We were descending from 8000 into Cook County airport (15J) when I heard a plane call in with engine trouble. I missed the call sign but was suddenly alert.
Not much you can do for another plane but sometimes you can be of assistance. The next call confirmed what I had feared, it was our friends and their engine was running rough. Rough is not good but much better than not running. He has a similar engine which is a 6 cylinder Continental. Airplane engine technology is way behind cars which means they are not as efficient and have other quirks. The good thing is that they are much more redundant.
You can have issues with one cylinder and the other 5 can keep chugging along. He had decided to divert to Valdosta, GA (VLD) which was closer. Once he committed we asked ATC to ask him if he wanted us to come get him, he did and ATC gave us an immediate turn towards Valdosta.
Our problem at that point is that we were too close, high and fast. I pulled the power back, increased my descent, reprogrammed the radios and briefed for arrival. We broke out of a scattered layer just in time to see the airport and get the visual approach.
Coming in we could see the crash trucks rolling in preparation of our friends arrival. I was a bit concerned I would make a mistake of some sort as I was rushed and rushing in a plane is not good. Turning final, we triple checked the gear was down and locked, plane configured and cleared to land. We touched down and then taxied in. I kept a radio tuned to the tower as well as ground so I could hear what was happening.
We heard him call in as we were parking and then got out to watch. Thankfully he came in normally and was able to taxi in. The plane sounded normal on the ground. The fire crew came over got some information and said goodbye.
To make this all much more fun I had CC along and he had his wife along. Once the excitement died down, we headed inside for him to work on getting the plane repaired. He arranged for a mechanic to check it out Monday. Luckily we happened to have 2 empty seats and they were going our way. We packed up their stuff and off we went for some nice BBQ but that's another story.
I mentioned it to two other local pilots so we all decided to head over their in our planes. I was the first one off with a Cirrus that lives a few hangars over a few minutes behind. The entire flight we could here him checking in as we both progressed to lunch. We were descending from 8000 into Cook County airport (15J) when I heard a plane call in with engine trouble. I missed the call sign but was suddenly alert.
Not much you can do for another plane but sometimes you can be of assistance. The next call confirmed what I had feared, it was our friends and their engine was running rough. Rough is not good but much better than not running. He has a similar engine which is a 6 cylinder Continental. Airplane engine technology is way behind cars which means they are not as efficient and have other quirks. The good thing is that they are much more redundant.
You can have issues with one cylinder and the other 5 can keep chugging along. He had decided to divert to Valdosta, GA (VLD) which was closer. Once he committed we asked ATC to ask him if he wanted us to come get him, he did and ATC gave us an immediate turn towards Valdosta.
Our problem at that point is that we were too close, high and fast. I pulled the power back, increased my descent, reprogrammed the radios and briefed for arrival. We broke out of a scattered layer just in time to see the airport and get the visual approach.
Coming in we could see the crash trucks rolling in preparation of our friends arrival. I was a bit concerned I would make a mistake of some sort as I was rushed and rushing in a plane is not good. Turning final, we triple checked the gear was down and locked, plane configured and cleared to land. We touched down and then taxied in. I kept a radio tuned to the tower as well as ground so I could hear what was happening.
We heard him call in as we were parking and then got out to watch. Thankfully he came in normally and was able to taxi in. The plane sounded normal on the ground. The fire crew came over got some information and said goodbye.
To make this all much more fun I had CC along and he had his wife along. Once the excitement died down, we headed inside for him to work on getting the plane repaired. He arranged for a mechanic to check it out Monday. Luckily we happened to have 2 empty seats and they were going our way. We packed up their stuff and off we went for some nice BBQ but that's another story.
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