Clear Skies and Overcast?

Saturday I woke up thinking I would practice ground reference maneuvers because the forecast was clear and light winds.  Checking the weather I was a bit surprised, I had already peaked outside and it was blue skies as far as I could see but the computer said different.

Well I obviously could not see as far South as the computer as it was low clouds down that way.  I figured it would clear as the day warmed so I headed for the airport to pre flight.  I am now on the lookout for acceptably bad weather to keep my instrument currency so when the plane was ready I took another look at the weather and the clouds were still there.

Not wanting to miss an opportunity, I filed an instrument plan to 42J.  I figured I could shoot some approaches, gas up and head home.  I still had a sneaking suspicion the clouds would clear.

Heading South along the river at 3000 I was happy to see the weather was still 800 overcast and I could see the cloud deck ahead.  It is sort of strange when you are in perfectly clear weather and you look down at the line where the weather abruptly changes.

My first approach into Keystone went well.  Tops were 1800 and bases about 900.  On the missed approach as I turned West  I broke out and realized the cloud deck was receding.  The controller brought me around a second time and I broke out at 1500.  Time for another plan as my clouds were quickly evaporating (literally).

I asked if the controller could run my next approach into Palatka where the clouds were still thick. They obliged and I was soon tracking inbound on the GPS 9 approach.  Bases were 800 again and on the missed I was assigned 360 and back to 3000.   I informed the controller that I was planning to cancel once near Keystone.  About 10 miles out I cancelled and headed down to the now sunny airport.

After a quick refuel I headed home all in sunny skies.  Things can change very quickly. Today it was improving but you need to watch for the opposite.  I have seen it go from clear to 200 overcast in under an hour as well.

All Wet

Sunday morning, it looked like nice weather for a flight.  There were some scattered showers South but they appeared to be moving South so we headed North.  I was curious as to the progress on the overturned ship at Saint Simons Island.

Departing the clouds were running 1600-1800 Broken so we stayed around 1000 and fought a 20 knot headwind up the beach.  The controllers were helpful calling traffic and reminding us to avoid the prohibited area.  We had not forgotten and planned to stay well clear but always nice to have a second set of eyes watching.  The ship is near an active airport so we had our heads on a swivel making sure we stayed out of the way of the arrivals.  Our radio setup lets us listen and talk on 2 frequencies so we were able to keep up with the local and approach frequencies and observe without causing a conflict.

You can't miss the ship, it is still on its side but now surrounded by a pollution fence as they prepare to slice it up.  From a distance it looks like they have peeled open parts of the side but when you approach nearer, it is just an illusion, they have actually attached large structures to the side.  I am assuming this is all part of the master plan of slicing and hauling away the ship.

After a turn around to check on progress we headed back.  The clouds had thickened considerably and I had arranged with the controller to get an instrument clearance back.  Once headed South I was cleared direct home and given 4000 feet.  Up we went through the clouds.  They were pretty smooth and after a bit we were mostly on top.

The radar picture was not looking great though.  The airport was clear but to the East was a pretty good size storm.  The airport was using the ILS 32 circling to 5.  I was concerned that I would be vectored through the weather to get onto the approach so I talked to the controller and he agreed to take us around the long way to avoid the rain.

The closer we got the worse the rain got and it was getting closer to the final approach course.  We were in and out of clouds mostly and had good visibility down.  At 5 miles out I could see the airport but by now there were 2 other planes sequenced ahead of me for the approach.  This meant that the controller could not give me a visual approach.

As we passed over the field, we popped out into a huge gap miles wide devoid of clouds.  Weather can be strange. We now had the airport in sight and in visual conditions.  I had been watching everything and thinking about where to divert or hold if the weather kept deteriorating but now I had an easier option.  I cancelled IFR.

When I told the controller he seemed happy, it dropped his workload and I was in a good position such that it would not impact his sequence.  I was 3000 feet above the airport and checking in with tower.  I was cleared to land which was a minor problem as I was way too high to get down to the runway.  Tower approved a 360.  Dropping the gear and approach flaps and reducing power gave me a good descent rate and rolling out of our turn we were aligned with the runway on speed and altitude.  

The wind had gotten stronger and gusty but the landing was good and we were cleared right back to the hangar without asking.  I was thinking we had done a good job missing the weather and the rain.  We had seen the showers in the distance while landing but all around us looked clear.

Right as we pulled up to the hangar the first drops started.  CC and I did a quick exit and I went to get the tug to push back.  So in the 30 seconds that took, the skies got their revenge.  Just as I got to the nose, the slight drip became a strong downpour.  I was pretty much committed then so I hooked up and pushed back. 

The wax is good as it beaded nicely which meant there was lots of water to wipe off.  So in the end the plane got a wash and dry and I just got a wash.

A Tight Turn

This weekend turned out to be great weather for training.  Saturday I went up to South Carolina to land at Hilton Head.  I did not shut down and actually never left the active movement area so no chance of spreading or getting germs.

On the way back I was planning to stop at Keystone for some cheap gas.  They have airplane gas for $2.58/gallon which is a really good deal.  As I was coming across the Florida border I noticed showers forming over the airport from what became Tropical Storm Arthur.  Not wanting to fuel in the rain, I diverted and tucked the plane back in the hangar. 

Looking at the weather this morning, it was a perfect opportunity to train and get gas.  I filed to 42J (Keystone) via BUHAR.  BUHAR is an imaginary point in space which we can find with our GPS equipment.  Why BUHAR, well the weather was cloudy so I would need to do an approach to find the field and BUHAR was a legal starting point.

Heading out I had some broken clouds and initially was in and out.  This became solid in and then I was above them cloud surfing at 3000.  I was cleared direct BUHAR and things were looking good.  I planned to let the autopilot do this one.  The approach was loaded and active and with the GPS steering, the plane would get to BUHAR, make the right turn, fly to TOLBY, make another right and once I was heading straight in, I just needed to hit the approach key and the plane would capture both the lateral and vertical guidance and take me down to the runway.

The one complication is that the approach  takes you 2.5 North East of Gainesville and they had departing traffic.  The controller offered a vector around or I could get a vector straight in but tight.  I chose tight.  This added a bit of pressure but I had briefed the plate and was ready.

I disengaged the autopilot and hand flew the initial portion.  I was turned to 300 degrees and descended to 2000.  Since I was now in tight I needed to boogie on down.  I configured for 700 feet per minute and as I was reaching 2000 got my turn to 20 degrees to join final.  On the way down I had reset the GPS and activated Vectors to final. 

Rolling out aligned, I re-engaged the autopilot in approach mode.  It was tracking and I watched the glide slope come alive.  At intercept the gear came down and the plane started descending.  300 feet later I popped out of the clouds with the runway in sight.

By the time I fueled, the clouds had started to break up and I was able to see home from 20 miles out and accept the visual approach.  After putting the plane away, I saw one of the airport residents.  He wanders around but is sort of quiet.  He did pose for me though.

Sunset

I don't usually fly much at night but I do like to keep current.  The rules say that to carry passengers at night you must make 3 landings to a full stop at least 1 hour after sunset.  Why one hour, well it is not really dark at sunset.  In fact, as long as you are on the ground within 30 minutes of sunset, it is not a night flight.

Last Saturday the weather was pretty perfect and I decided to get night current.  Sunset was at 8:04 so I too off around 8:40 and did some sightseeing on the West side.  I then headed into JAX international for 2 stop and goes. 

Craig only has 4000 feet which makes stop and goes less attractive.  At JAX I had 8000 feet to land stop and then go.  After my 2 landings at JAX I headed back for my final landing at home.  I put the plane away and was current again.

I like sunset flights but unless you are night current the clock is ticking as soon as the sun sets.  You need to be on the ground in 30 minutes or less.  With my currency, I was no longer under this constraint.  With such incredible weather, I asked CC if she wanted to go watch the sun set with me.

Sunset had moved to 8:08 but that sunset is for those people on the ground.  At 3500 feet, it was 8:14.  We took off at 7:45 and enjoyed the pre show.  We took a swing down the beach and then over downtown to see the buildings in the last bits of light.

Then we headed South of Navy Jax for the big event.  I turned East as it got close to setting and then made a wide turn to the right to bring the main event into view.  It is pretty amazing, you can actually see the disk sinking below the horizon (Take that Flat Earthers).

Once the sun was gone, I eased back on the controls ans started a gentle climb.  A few hundred feet later the edge of the sun slid over the edge of the earth.  I dropped the nose and started down, making the sun set again, was a double header.  As we descended twilight faded rapidly. 

We took our time heading back and landed just before the end of twilight so technically it was not a night flight.  As we pushed the plane back in the hangar we could see the moon rising over the now dark airport.  Was a great way to enjoy the weather while social distancing.

All dressed up... and no way to help

We are now weeks into the COVID lock down.   It has been a bit frustrating as the plane is generally a very useful tool in a disaster and can be put to good use in other times.  After hurricanes we have hauled supplies and I use it to volunteer with the Coast Guard among other activities.  Our Coast Guard support is shut down now as proper social distancing precludes getting a crew and there has been no need to move supplies by air.

With no need for our services in this Pandemic, I feel all dressed up with nowhere to go.   This is somewhat new as at the beginning I did not have the plane.  The planes annual inspection was due by end of March.  I dropped the plane off in late March and then the waiting started.  It usually takes about 10 days but this time I had to send the prop out for an upgrade.  The machine shop that does the upgrade was really backed up and I ended up waiting a lot longer than planned.  The plane came home April 16.

Yes we did a contact less pickup.  The shop emailed an invoice.  I showed up and placed a check down without approaching anyone and went right to the plane which had been left on the ramp for me.  A thorough preflight ensued including a cockpit wipe down, had a quick chat with the mechanic from a safe distance and then I headed home.

Air traffic is way off but the controllers are really busy.  Jacksonville for example usually has 5 sectors running, each with a controller.  Checking in South of St. Augustine with Jacksonville, it was clear that one person was controlling all 5 sectors.  This was later confirmed by one of the controllers I know through social media.

The plane is back and everything is dialed in.  I spent the weekend training and cleaning.   This included taking advantage of the low clouds and absence of traffic Sunday to work on my instrument skills and extend my currency.  The question is now what?  While the plane is loads of fun, it is also a tool that usually come in handy when things go stinky bad, just not this time.

It is safe to fly locally as I can accomplish this without getting near another person. Going to most locations for a visit would violate social distancing.  For now my focus is on training and currency.  I do need to keep the engine running to keep it healthy so I am going back to basics and will work on skills previously perfected in past advanced training that may have become a bit rusty.  After work today CC and I did a quick flight.  The weather was exceptional and we had some fun with the Go Pro.  If you are sick of Netflix, have a look.

Keeping our distance

We had scheduled a trip for last week and decided to cancel with the spread of the pandemic.  It may have been an abundance of caution but figured we did not want to become a vector.  The plane still needs to run to keep it healthy and so do we.  We try to be efficient so we combined the activities.

We flew up to Jekyll Island again this morning.  The weather was perfect and we parked and headed out to walk from the airport to the foot of the causeway. 

We were able to do this while avoiding close contact with people.  It seemed a bit lighter on the tourists though there were not many spaces left when we arrived at the airport.

The walk down the West shore is quite nice.  We have walked up to the club several times but never further South.  Initially we had lots of gnats but we finally got a gentle breeze and they had enough and landed.

There was a wedding set up at the club so some events are proceeding.

Lots of wildlife out "Squirrel".  I also enjoy the Spanish moss on the trees.

I took a bunch of pictures with the new camera.  I am enjoying the smaller lighter package.

When I looked at the weather I thought it might be a bit cool but it quickly warmed today and our light clothe and sunscreen were a good idea.

The flight back was as smooth as the one up, small plane air traffic does not seem impacted yet.

Annual starts next week so I will be grounded for a few weeks soon.  Will have to drive to my long walks.