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.
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