The prop is back on. This makes the plane much more useful. On Saturday I had planned to fly South with dad to KGIF to fly a Stearman they have for rent down there but we had sub tropical storm Alberto churning in the gulf. Forecast was for low ceilings and strong storms so we played it safe and cancelled the flight south and stayed local for some practice.
Looking at the weather we had intermittent low clouds in the area. I figured this would be a great way to get some actual instrument time and rack up some approaches. I filed instruments and off we went. Initially things were going well and we were in and out of the clouds but turning onto the firsdt approach the clouds parted and it was bueatiful and sunny.
Not to be discouraged, after the first approach done in VFR, so it did not count, I asked the controller for another airport which was reporting lower clouds. You can guess how this turns out, we fly through the clouds for 15 minutes to again arrive at great weather. It's like a curse when you want clouds you can't get them.
The controller was nice enough to climb us back into the clouds and vector us about for a while for the practice. After which we got gas and enjoyed the good weather.
Sunday was a washout and Monday was looking pretty poor as well. Not good visual weather but not low enough for approaches. Then later in the afternoon it cleared. I headed out for a quick flight but by the time I was ready to go, storms had started to form.
Looking at the weather we had intermittent low clouds in the area. I figured this would be a great way to get some actual instrument time and rack up some approaches. I filed instruments and off we went. Initially things were going well and we were in and out of the clouds but turning onto the firsdt approach the clouds parted and it was bueatiful and sunny.
Not to be discouraged, after the first approach done in VFR, so it did not count, I asked the controller for another airport which was reporting lower clouds. You can guess how this turns out, we fly through the clouds for 15 minutes to again arrive at great weather. It's like a curse when you want clouds you can't get them.
The controller was nice enough to climb us back into the clouds and vector us about for a while for the practice. After which we got gas and enjoyed the good weather.
Sunday was a washout and Monday was looking pretty poor as well. Not good visual weather but not low enough for approaches. Then later in the afternoon it cleared. I headed out for a quick flight but by the time I was ready to go, storms had started to form.
It was till clear by home base so off I went. You can see the activity on the radar display above. On the GPS display, green and yellow are generally fine to fly through. Red is to be avoided.
I flew parallel to the line a respectful distance away to have a look. The radar is a composite of Nexrad Doppler radars and it is assembled and transmitted every 5 minutes. The storms were moving 35 mph NNE and I could clearly see that the picture was behind the storms progress.
For example it showed the rain all the way down to Palatka but the Southern edge was several miles North. A good reminder that data-link weather is for large scale planning only not tactical weather avoidance.
I then headed over Saint Augustine. I was watching traffic on the on board traffic system and acquired it visually about 2 miles out. We had 500 feet vertical separation but otherwise passed reasonably close. Can you see the small dot that is my traffic.
This is the traffic enlarged. Another reminder, keep your head on a swivel and everything looks small until it is really close.
After passing over Saint Augustine I notice that the showers were starting to turn into thunderstorms so I hightailed it back to the hangar.
I put the plane away and watched the sky darken and when I started to hear rumbles of thunder decided it was time to close the hangar doors and head home. Didn't get to fly the Stearman but did have a fun weekend.
