Thin Soup

Coming out of annual I always feel rusty as it's the longest time I go each year without flying.  This year was no exception so I have been training in anticipation of next year's travel.  I started by regaining night currency.  Then to celebrate I took CC for a nice night flight.  We started the engines 30 minutes after sunset which is official night.  It had been a clear afternoon but the forecast was for low clouds.  Departing we had clear skies but as we headed North, there was a definite undercast.

Even though we departed at official nighttime, when you climb you still get the faint glow of twilight.  The phone takes a slow picture and makes it look a lot brighter than it appears to our eyes.  You can see the clouds in the picture above.  Fernandina was still reporting VFR but looking down if was overcast.  We headed South and took a look at the Saint Augustine lights before heading home.  Descending through 800' we could see a noticeable haze as the layer was starting to develop.

Today I headed back to the plane and was not sure what I would do, the weather had been fickle from blue skies to overcast.  I checked the latest METARs or Meteorological Terminal Air Reports, a fancy way of saying the latest weather observation and Saint Augustine still had clouds even though it was sunny in Jacksonville.  I decided to head out for some instrument practice.  The best practice is in actual conditions so I filed to Saint Augustine and headed down.  In this case my worry was that the weather was improving and that by the time I got there I would not have actual Instrument Meteorological conditions.

As it turned out, it stayed just cloudy enough and I shot the GPS 31.  The controller turned me on final with plenty of room but high.  I was actually above the glideslope.  I was doing this approach with the autopilot.  Some systems can't handle a capture from above but the KFC-200 does not care.  Rolling onto final I dropped the gear, reduced power and commanded pitch down.  The the glideslope centered, the AP locked and I reset approach power.  It's important to know how your AP will handle captures from above as you will eventually be put in this situation.

After chatting a bit with local pilots, I headed home.  The METARs once again indicated good weather but METARs are history.  I had a feeling things were deteriorating so even though I had sunny skies down South, I filed a flight plan that I could pick up in the air if needed.  Departing Saint Augustine, I headed over the coast and climbed in blue skies to 4500.  What I saw to my West was not the promised broken to scattered clouds but rather a solid layer stretching as far as I could see.  So much for METARs, they were history.

I enjoyed floating over the fluffy clouds for a bit but then it was time to head home.  Jacksonville approach had my clearance and I was soon tracking direct to JEVAG to shoot the the ILS 32 circle to 5.  The controller gave me a tight turn which kept me ahead of two slower aircraft and I was soon on final with needles centered.  Since the last approach was on AP, I hand flew this one.  The wind was only 7 knots so I asked for a straight in and tower worked it out.  This reduced my taxi time and added to the training experience.

The FAA requires pilots to study the current weather and forecasts but that can lull you into a false sense of security.  The current observations are not current by the time you read them and the forecasts while generally good can be off by quite a bit.  Study the weather but always assume it can be worse than forecast and have a backup plan.  Today the worse than expected weather meant I got some good training opportunities which I had not expected.

Out of annual

 Annual took a lot longer than I had hoped.  The plane was in good shape but right after I went in a hurricane came which lost us a week and then the shop lost some of their employees which really slowed them down.  The inspection stretched out  some extra weeks but I  got here back November 3rd.

I did need some work done on my heater which took some time and my strobes were broken so I opted to upgrade to LED ones.  The new ones are by the same company but installation takes some time as new mounting brackets have to be fabricated and many other details attended to so they start blinking when I flip the switch.

Of course after getting the plane back we had another hurricane but I have gotten a few flights in.  Tonight after having marginal weather most of the day, the skies cleared and I headed out to regain my night currency.

I started up 30 minutes after sunset and then headed out to watch the last glow on the horizon.  I planned my first landing for a few minutes more than an hour after sunset.  They don't count before then.  My first landing was a bit flat but smooth and my next was good but I floated a bit.  I was using Cecil field as the runway is >12,000 feet so plenty of room for full stop and go landings.

I left Cecil and took the long way home to enjoy the night.  My final landing was right on,  I coasted down to the turnoff by my hangar and put the plane away.  Good to have her back and to be night current again.  I'm instrument current but my next goal it some refresher training in this area to stay sharp.

Hot Dogs

I flew the plane to the mechanic for it's annual inspection on September 26.  I was a bit nervous with Ian coming but being on the other side of the state, it looked like we would fare well.  That's all history now and though the storm did slow down progress a bit as the shop closed for 3 days, we are back on track and I am looking forward to having a plane again.

I have a tradition of holding an event at the hangar when the plane is gone.  I had planned for last Saturday but with the forecast uncertain, I had moved it to this Saturday.  The weather last week was good but it would have meant shopping in the rain so this was a better plan.  I also needed some time to make sure the hangar was clean.

Planning a cook out is a lot like flight planning except it involves food.  We decide to make this an easy event and went with Hot Dogs and Chips.  We did go a bit fancy with cooked onions, Sauerkraut, Chili, cheese, raw onions and condiments.  The meal was rounded out with sweets, Cokes and waters.

Setup was pretty easy, I have a mini fridge so that let me keep everything cool.  We went with an electric griddle for ease and safety.  I started about an hour before people arrived and got things set, then sat around chatting for a bit and then began cooking the onions.  They take little actual work but you need about 25 minutes for them to fully cook.

After that people started arriving so we started the dog cooking.  We had great weather and it was nice to kick back, eat and chat with fellow aviation enthusiasts.

These boots were made for shining

I had a difficult decision yesterday.  I wanted to fly but my boots needed some TLC.  Not the boots I wear, actually I don't wear boot, the boots in question are the De-Ice boots.  This is my first plane with boots and when I got the plane they were nice and shiny.  The problem is they don't stay that way.

I had last serviced them too long ago, you are supposed to do it every 6 months but I was a bit behind.  The problem was summer, it's darn hot in Florida.  So I kept pushing it back, and then I flew through rain a bunch and frankly they were looking pretty dull.  Between the heat and rain I had ample excuses to keep putting it off but Friday was a bit cooler and not rainy in the morning.

I headed out to do the dirty deed, It's a lot of work.  The previous owner was nice enough to gift me the PBS boot products needed.  The two bottles of Prep and Sealant run about $120 but they do last 5+ cleaning cycles.  Step one is to mask the boots with painters tape.  This is way more time consuming than you think.  Doing the underside solo is tough and to do it right you want only the front of the tape to stick.  You want to then fold the tape back so that any drips run down the tape and not back onto the paint.  The prep is bad for paint.

With everything prepped, you start by applying the Prep chemical with a sponge and then let it sit for 3-5 minutes.  Wear gloves for this step, it's not skin friendly.  You then need to work off all the old sealant.   You do this with a yellow/green Scotch Brite sponge.  Use the green side.  Once you think it's clean wash the surface with clean water and remove the black residue with the yellow side.  You will see white areas of residual sealant and you then repeat the process until you have a smooth dull black surface.

A final rinse and dry making sure that when wiped there is no residual dust on the surface.  The last part is oddly fun.  You need a lint free cloth and you dampen it with the sealant.  You only need a few drops at a time.  You then wipe it on, going only one direction.  Basically you are painting the boots.  Each coat creates a bit more shine and coats can go on as soon as the last is dry which should be a minute or so if you apply very thinly.

It takes 3-5 coats, I usually do an extra on the leading edge, the bottom seems happy with 3 while the top gets 4.  After that, remove the tape and you have shiny boots.  Now do that for the 7 boot segments and you are done (vertical tail, 2 horizontal tail, 2 inner wing root, 2 outer wing).

The scrubbing stage is dirty so you need to clean up as you go but in the end you have some sharp boots.  After all that work I was hesitant to fly until I gave the chemicals more time to cure so even though the weather was good, I headed home.

Today I got to take out my shiny boots and they looked good.  Just enjoyed flying about an hour around town.  At home it was clear but North and West overcast.  It is sort of fun to fly over an undercast, the forecast was saying there might be lower clouds forming so I placed an IFR plan on file just in case but in the end did not need it, likely because I prepared. 

The weather was so good after so many days of rain that the airport was crazy busy.  Checking in with tower I was number 6 for the runway,   I had to slow from 160 to a bit over a 100 but the sequenced worked well.  Greg our tower manager was busier than a one-legged man in a butt-kicking’ contest but amazingly he kept everyone moving.

The Military Conspires With The Weather Against Me

As I write this, the storms are rumbling through.  The forecast had them coming a bit later but this was the same forecast that said there would be no storms on the way home from Dothan Alabama, yeah right.  I had to run over to Dothan this morning and other than some early fog it looked to be a pretty easy flight.  I launched just before 000 and made a quick stop at Suwannee for the cheap gas, then on to Dothan.

Departing Dothan I was given a climb to 9000 and cleared direct home.  The trip over had been mostly clear skies with the rain well South by the Gulf.  I was not expecting anything on the way back as I had looked at the radar and was not on the ground long but climbing out, there was a line forming just South of my route.  It did not look like an issue until about 10 minutes later when the controller informed me the MOA (Military Operations Area) was now in use.

The MOA is the Purple blob blocking my route.  The controller wanted to send me the long way around the North but I was not keen to burn the extra gas.  Also it was not clear whether it might fill in and trap me North of my destination.  I asked about the Southern route and was given direct Greenville VOR (GEF) then direct.  Oh and btw, let us know when you want to start deviating.  As you can see the clearance was going to take me through the storms.

I was actually in great weather and above most of the low stuff so I fired up the radar and started planning.  The turn at GEF would keep me clear of the rain by the Gulf, then I just needed to work past that long line on the Georgia Florida border.

Making my turn at GEF I could see the buildups, they were actually pretty scattered.  The big cloud chimneys looked imposing but between the radar and my eyes I was able to chart a path down the valleys between the cloud cliffs.

Things were changing quickly and I could actually see the clouds boiling up.  While today I mostly relied on my eyes, the onboard radar confirmed my path while the satellite radar was quite misleading.  For example, I ended up sliding between two strong rain shafts near Lake City.  The tops were only in the low teens and at 9000 I was above all but the cores.  Notice that the XM weather is not really showing the quickly forming intense rain nor that pillar of rain at 18 miles that will be just off to my right.

When I say things were changing fast, look at the radar below.  In the scan above I am about 25 miles from Lake city.  Below I am 9  miles so this is about 4-5 minutes difference.  The XM is still hopelessly behind and following it I would have likely strayed very close to the new storm ahead to the right.  In reality, I turned left and split the difference while staying in clear air.

If the rain had been more developed and more vertical, I would have given it much more room.  I did expect a bit more turbulence but by staying out of the buildups, I had a very smooth ride.  

After Lake city I just had one small area of storms to avoid but by this time I was descending and could no longer pick my way visually.  Again the live radar showed a lot more than the XM.

I skirted South of the last rain showers and broke out around 3000.  There was a slow Cessna on the ILS to 32, they were using 23 though but because of the opposite direction traffic, I was going to be vectored around quite a bit.  I don't like cancelling but sometimes it makes everything easy.  I cancelled, the controller handed me to tower and in I went.

They were using 23 but the winds were calm and I was set up for 14 so I asked and was given 14 with a land and hold short of 23.  This worked well and I joined the right base and soon was rolling to a stop on 14.  The controller had given me full length on final but I easily made the 2000' turn off and the plane was soon away in the hangar.

I was on a roll

The year started slow flying wise.  Last year I flew 154 multi hours in the 10 months I had the Baron.  This year started very slow as the plane was down 7 weeks for an upgrade.  Then I had some other maintenance that took out a few more weeks.

I had recovered though and was on a hot streak, in 3.5 months flew 84 hours.  That pace is around 300 hours a year.  My goal is 160-180 hours per year to stay sharp so I was on a roll and then last week, I did go by the plane for various reasons but did not fly.  Early in the week I had just flown and then later in the week the weather was not cooperating when I had the time.  Yesterday we tried to fly but the morning weather was not  quite what I wanted.  I was pessimistic about today's forecast but surprise, other than some offshore rain, it was a nice morning.

CC and I headed out for some sightseeing.  In reality I just hate to have the engines sit without running.  They stay healthiest when the oil gets hot and drives of the moisture.  There was plenty of rain off the coast to watch.  This is a good example, the picture above was to our right and the below shot was too our left.  You pick the weather you want.

We cruised around a bit looking at the showers the landmarks like the Saint Augustine lighthouse.

It was another good day to work the radar and practice separating the ground from the rain.  Down low you need to be aggressive on the tilt up but that means only the closest storms paint accurately.

Over the water we don't have the clutter issue as water doesn't reflect well unless the waves are really big.  We had rain South of St. Augustine and it was interesting to compare our view, the live radar and the ground based signal.  As usual the ground based showed the big picture but was out of date.  

We didn't penetrate any weather today and soon it was time to return home as rain was popping up close to home.  CC flew us back to the initial approach and I took us in from there.  We had a small shower over Mayport but it floated away so we stayed dry.  We also heard someone call a water spout out at the beach which a friend of ours saw.  Overall a nice day to get back on a roll.

Time to Divert

We woke early Saturday to get ahead of the weather.  It was going to be clear almost all the way home but strong storms were forecast the last few miles from 1 PM on.  The trip back to the airport is 50 minutes which is longer than normal and adds to the door to door time but it is the SFRA area, what are you going to do?  We had parked at the APP jet center and they had the plane fueled and ready to go,  they also had cold waters and nice snacks.  This will likely be our go to FBO up there.

We were heading out IFR which made the SFRA process seamless and just like departing any other towered airport.  I had been tipped off that we would fly the ARSNL5 departure so I knew to file ARSNL5.GVE and that's exactly what I got.  I had heard that sometimes you can get a delay for release but this morning we called in ready and were released a few seconds later.

Departing you climb to 800 then left turn to SHRLI where you track the 056 radial inbound to CSN and then on to GVE.  We were told to climb via the SID but maintain 2000, so we did.  The sky was much clearer than the trip up and we could see the Blue Ridge Mountains about 70 miles out.  On the way up we had enjoyed a modest tailwind.  Going home we had a tailwind, not sure how that happened but it did.  I actually know, On the we up we had a high offshore and today we had a Low, reversing the flow.  It was also going to bring storms to our destination.

We were soon cruising along at 8000 feet at close to 200 knots.  We had planned to stop in Claxton, GA for gas but the weather was IFR there and not improving as fast as I liked.  About an hour into the flight we discussed options.  We could pick another fuel stop or we could go direct to home and still have over 3 hours reserve.  The decision was made and I called approach and requested the change.

We were cleared direct home and given our initial track had kept us further West, this took us just East of Savannah and kept us right on the coast the rest of the way.  We had gotten an early start because they were predicting storms at home.  Without a stop, our early departure and the tailwind meant that we would arrive before it all went stinky bad.

After passing Savannah, we had a nice run down the coast as we descended for home and just as we were about to break out, the controller gave us a vector to sequence us behind a slow Cessna on a long straight in.  As we turned towards the coast and continued our descent we broke out and were in VFR conditions.  The airport was just off to our right and I could see the weather building to the West.  I decided to cancel IFR.  Free from the IFR separation standards, the controller gave me direct to the airport and handed me to tower.

Tower had been watching this unfold and was ready for me.  I was sequenced number 3 and was told to keep it tight on the twin ahead.  I could see the 2 planes ahead and was watching the plane on the long final on the traffic display.  We would slide in about 3 miles ahead of them which was plenty of room given that we were 30 knots faster.  I just had to make sure to give the plane ahead enough room.

As I was judging my spacing, they decided to go around as the plane before had delayed on the runway.  This made the spacing easy for me and I was cleared land.  After a smooth touchdown we taxied in and put the plane away, another successful trip in the books.  On the way home the skies turned darker and within the hour the rains came.  Our early start and divert meant that I didn't have to use any of the fancy equipment or skill to get home.  Always better to take the easy route with good weather if it's available.