A day on the town

Those who read the last post will remember we just arrived in Greenville, SC for a quick get away. After finding that our old house was standing, we ventured off to meet some friends.  Ironically they were not old Greenville friends but some recent transplants.  We went by and saw their very cool new house and then headed off to downtown for some lunch and reminiscing.

When we lived in Greenville there were falls at the end of main street but no park.  Somewhere in the last few decades they built a park with a really cool curved suspension bridge.  As luck would have it, the bridge was under renovation.

We had to trek down the old fashion way to see the falls and take selfies.  They look sort of small until you see the people in the corner and get the full scale.

We spent a bit more time walking down the river looking at the ruins of the old mill.

Now how do you tell these are ruins from a mill?  CC told me and I am sure she is right.  I did enjoy some of the nature, like this tree growing out the side of a hill.  I could have done with a little less heat.  I figured going to the foothills would cool things off, instead it was hotter.

Now one cool thing was staying at the Marriott by the airport.  First they had a double shower head.  Never underestimate a great shower.  Second, for the second time I could technically see my plane from the hotel room.  Yes, it is just a blur in the picture but if I had a longer lens it would have been sharp.

In the evening we went downtown and acted trendy.  We saw an improv group at the Coffee Underground.

Yes it is underground and the theatre is even less fancy.

After the show we strolled Main Street and stopped by the hotel where we stayed the night of our wedding.  After that we grabbed some food and called it a night.

Greenville, SC

Long weekend and empty nest means Roadtrip!!!!  Actually air trip.  We once lived in Greenville, SC so we decided to go back and visit.  September is usually a lousy travel month due to the frequent tropical weather but we made it work this time.

We woke up and headed out Saturday morning.  This should have avoided the storms but there were a few just North of town.  We initially thought we would need to fly up the coast to Savannah before turning towards Greenville.  As we passed the first big shower we could see a clear path pretty much on course.

We skirted one small shower, enjoying a plethora of rainbows as we maneuvered.  Though the weather looked ominous at times off to one side, we always kept an escape route available.

Once clearing Brunswick GA, we were able to settle back for a straight shot to Laurens, SC.  Laurens? You said we were going to Greenville.  We were but they have priced their gas as if they are adding gold dust so we opted to land 10 minutes short and gorge on cheap gas, before hopping over to GSP or Greenville Spartanburg International.

The FBO at GSP is very friendly and actually charges only $22.50 for the first night parking and fees and then $7.50 a night thereafter.  They waive the $22.5 if you buy gas but due to the price difference, cheap gas was the better plan.

I don't begrudge them the fees.  They parked us upon arrival, are open 24 hours in case you need anything, provide clean facilities, free waters, sodas, cookies and even ice cream.  I just got a cookie, water and my rental car, which they thoughtfully pulled up front to the main door.

We were soon on the road, even with the fuel stop, door to rolling out of the airport was 2:40, much better than driving.  Our first stop was our first house.  Back in the early 90s, I took some paper and a ruler and drew house plans.  Over 2 decades later it is still standing, pretty amazing.  No one was out and about so I just took a look from the street.  We both agreed it might have been creepy to knock on their door and ask for a tour.

Strange sights

I have not had a lot of activity on the Blog lately.  I have been flying and the plane has been performing well with the exception of the Air Conditioner which is working at reduced performance.  That was not an issue until the heat wave but I think I have a handle on the issue now.  Will require a trip to the shop but hopefully will report good news soon.

I went out for a flight this morning and overnight this appeared at the airport.

It is either a rebuilt Sikorsky Sky Crane or an Ericson Air Crane.  Ericson bought the design from Sikorsky in the 90s and has made upgrades.

This chopper can lift 25,000 pounds and is really useful when you need a sky hook.  Crane operator sits here and notice the bubble windows so the pilot can see down and back.

There are some jobs where you need a really tall crane to move something but have no way to bring a crane in in a practical manner.

They also can be outfitted for fire fighting and a host of other logistical missions.  Unlike most aircraft this one is built with everything hanging out to facilitate maintenance.  It can go about 100 knots so speed is not its thing.

I will be looking up in the next few days, it will likely be doing some lift work over Jacksonville.

Oh the things you might see!

Samantha returns to the West Coast tomorrow.  She is off to start her new job.  She had a request today, could we fly one more time.  I looked at the weather mid day and it looked like it might work.

After work we headed out to the plane and we had storms to the South, storms to the North and storms to the West.  Around us we had blue skies so off we went.  Sam wanted to get some pictures.  We first went to Saint Simons and then we needed to look at the Bridge.  Must be a Civil Engineering thing.

On the way South we flew past the King Bay inlet and saw one of the Nuclear subs returning to port. 

From there we headed downtown to enjoy the view and the blue skies.

After that it was a quick fuel stop and back to the hangar.

(Photo Credits - All Sam)

Shuttle Tour

CC and I had some time today so I decided to take her on a tour.  Florida is home to KTTS, also known as the the NASA shuttle Landing Facility.  It is 15,001 feet of pavement on Cape Canaveral.  Back in the day space shuttles landed here but now it is just a runway. 

The airspace over the runway is part of a restricted area but it has not been active much lately.  Even when it was, with permission you could usually swing by for a tour.

We  headed South IFR and passing Daytona we let the controller know we wanted the shuttle tour.  On the hand off to Orlanda approach he asked our intentions.  I requested a visual to KTTS and told him we would go missed and would like to continue IFR back North to 28J.

The controller cleared us as requested, we were told to stay our of R-2932, the restricted airspace East of the runway and to not touch the surface.  Tower was closed  so we switched to advisory frequency and commenced our tour.

I stayed high so we could have a steep descent to get a feel for what the shuttle pilots see.  The standard descent rate for jets and stabilized approaches is 3 degrees.  We flew 7 degrees nose down from 2000 feet to get a better feel and the shuttle came in at a 20 degree angle, 7 times a standard approach.

We leveled off over the runway going close to 180 mph, it takes about a minute to fly the entire runway.  This is a lot more than we need.  We can easily land in 1000 feet and departed in 600 today.  You get the view of the VAB (Vehicle Assembly Building) on the way by and they have a shuttle or a mockup on  the ramp too.

On the way back we were routed right over Daytona Beach airport which is home to the Daytona speedway.  Clouds got in the way of the picture but you can see how it is tucked next to the runways.  Good land use putting noisy things together.

It's a sign!

Last year the girls got me a sign for the hangar.  It was useful because it told me that it was my  hangar.  This year for Fathers Day they decided to be a bit more specific.

The new sign clearly reserves the space for my plane only.

They did a very nice job matching the paint scheme.

This came at a useful time as I needed to take the plane South for some maintenance.  Now I know my spot will be saved.  My AC compressor has been functioning less efficiently lately so off it comes and a new one will be installed.

The trip South this morning went very smoothly.  We departed and had an almost direct flight.  Approaching New Smyrna we were given the runway that would let us roll out and right up to the shops ramp.

The controllers were also very chipper and I received many Fathers Day well wishes.  I made the plane drop even more efficient by stopping on the way back to see family and to get some tasty BBQ at the Daytona Pig Stand.

Alberto comes and goes

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.

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.

Missing Something

So I have been having lots of fun lately flying the plane.  Everything has been working well but I detected a tiny amount of grease coming from the prop.  Investigating a bit we saw traces of grease coming from the blade roots by the hub so it is back to the prop shop for repairs.

The mechanic came by this morning and removed the prop.  By lunch the prop was on its way to the prop shop and the plane looked like this.

 And this.

Looks a bit funny.  Yes that is a rag stuffed in the front.  The pitch of the prop is controlled by engine oil.  When the prop is off, this is the high tech plug to keep dirt out and oil in.  Prop will be back next week so I am grounded for a bit.

A fly In of One

This weekend was the second annual Staggerwing and Radial Reunion.  This event is held at our home airport so it is really convenient.  What is a Staggerwing, this is a Staggerwing.

These classic planes were born in the 1940s mostly.  They have large cabins and cruise in style. They do burn a bit more gas.  While we will run 13 Gallons per hour to get 170 knots, they run 25 to get 145.  But they have lots of style.  So Staggerwings are radials.  What's a Radial?

That's a radial or round engine.  My engine is 6 cylinders horizontally opposed.  That means there are 3 cylinders on each side and they sit to the left and right in two rows of three.  Radials have their cylinders arranged around a the central crankshaft.

Last year's event was a blast so we signed up for this year.  It kicked off Friday evening with arrivals.  It wasn't only Staggerwings though.  One of my favorites was a 1942 Howard.  It had begun life as a Navy transport in WW2.  This is the advanced cockpit.

So Friday was arrivals, there were supposed to be 33 planes but the weather was iffy with a strong front across the country.  Less came but there seemed to be at least 15 or so planes.  Here are a few.

Today was supposed to be nice until late afternoon but we woke up to a front that had not listened to the forecast.  The plan was a fly out to Saint Simons Island to feast on Southern Soul BBQ.  I have posted about their food before.  The classic planes were all safely tucked in hangars around the airport.  That is where they stayed.

Lunch was scheduled for 11-3:00 and the weather was scheduled to roll in by 3:00.  The classic plane pilots decided to drive the 49 miles.  I looked at the front and the forecast and decided to fly.  In the end we were the only plane to fly to the fly in.  The guy below is another Staggerwing arriving Friday.

We were told to look for the DC-3, food would be at the Hangar behind the plane.  On arrival, it was quite obvious where to taxi, the DC-3 is big and has a distinctive look.  We taxied to the DC-3 and tied down.  Blue skies had started turning grey so we kept an eye on the weather.  Since we were first there we had the freshest and best BBQ.  Usually we need to walk half a mile and stand in line.  Today there were huge platters of pork, ribs and brisket. 

The host had set a hangar with tables and it had a plane hanging in the center and another classic in the corner.  After a few helpings of BBQ, the drivers showed up.  We socialized a bit and looked the DC-3 over as that was the only other plane there.  It did not count as a fly in as it is based there.

We watched the weather closely and around 12:30 figured that we better get going.  We easily cruised home though you can see from the zoomed out picture on the GPS, the storms were coming.  I stayed around the airport to change my oil and right around 2:30 the first showers came.  This slowed me a bit as I had to close up the hangar to keep things dry and then wait to do my leak check run-up.

We met back up with everyone tonight for a banquet.  The storms really showed up with full force around 5:00 but were done by 6:30.  The people who drove did complain that they had some bad weather on the highway as they rode back late in the afternoon.  In the end we had a great day, had a smooth safe flight both directions and I set a new personal record of being my own fly in.