Sunny and Rainy

We are travelling again.   It has been a while, we did a trip out West in May but since then, other than a short trip to Chesapeake, most things have been close to home.  We typically take a trip to the Upstate of South Carolina this time of year and I almost planned another but I was in the mood for something new.  Looking around I settled on Blacksburg Virginia.

Weather is always important and I had been watching the forecasts.  Initially it was supposed to be sunny but as we got closer, the forecasts started to turn.  There was a strong front sliding across the country.  The good news was that the morning would be nice and we would be well ahead of the front.  We departed just after 8:00 AM and headed up the Coast.  We had a strong crosswind but as we crossed Savannah it swung around and started providing a nice tailwind.

It's only 423 miles but for a variety of reasons we chose to make a fuel/comfort stop.  We dropped into Wadesboro, NC just West of Charlotte.  It's unattended on the weekends but the gate code and the FBO lobby code is the Unicom frequency.   The ramp gate code makes you guess but the FBO had the clue printed on the door.  I had called ahead the week before and gotten the codes so we were good.

It was a good stop and they even had a Welcome to North Carolina sign.  The one downside was their fueling hose was a bit short.  The previous person had left the hose in the taxi area so I stayed a bit farther from the pump to keep the right engine clear.  

It was going to be tight as to whether I could reach the left filler port but I used an old trick and ran the hose under the nose which gave me the slack I needed.  

Departing, we checked in with Charlotte and they soon handed us to Greensboro Approach.  After checking in it was really quiet, for a long time.  I called approach to make sure we were still connected and the controller said we were the only one there so we had our own controller for a bit.  It was Sunday morning but I expected a bit more traffic.

The weather at Blacksburg was advertised as clear but coming over the mountains we had an overcast layer below.  Roanoke wanted to know our approach request.  They could only get us down to 5,200' so to be safe we set up for the GPS 13 approach but coordinated that we would take the visual if it worked out.  About 15 miles out, we hit a clear area and picked up the field.  With a clear path in, I cancelled IFR, descended a bit to stay clear of the clouds and entered the pattern.  

You get a  nice view of the Virginia Tech campus and stadium on downwind.  When we called in the FBO had given us the winds and when we cleared the runway there was a follow me golf cart which we followed to a parking.  

I was concerned that there were no tie downs but once shut down the lineman pulled out straps and got us hooked up.  We had the front coming in so I reconfirmed they would not need to tow me, put up DO NOT TOW signs in the windows and  put in the control lock, including the rudder pin.  It is a pain to get in and when the winds are light, I often l leave it out.  

The winds had been calm at Blacksburg when we were about 30 minutes out but now they were starting to blow.  The blue and clear skies were looking cloudy and I was glad we got going and took advantage of the the calm before the storm.

Heading home we had great weather.  It was cold overnight, down to 39 so we decided to head back around 9:30 AM when it was closer to 50.  Starting the plane, the engines were at 45 degress, not great but well within limits.  Once running we sat for several minutes to get the oil into the mid 80s.  We were parked on a slight uphill and the plane was not gonna roll without some power.

We used the wait to set everything up and to call clearance.  Roanoke has a remote frequency so we picked up our clearance and waited.  I had filed and was given a route to T201 which goes around the East of Charlotte.  I was not sure the computer would give it to us but it did and I was hopefull that would be our route.  Once warm, I powered up to about 1200 RPM and got rolling.  By the time we taxied out the oil was above 100 degrees and after the run up we picked up our IFR release and headed out.

The winds were screaming from the Northwest and I assumed we would have a rough ride, it was surprisingly smooth though.  With the cool air we were soon at 8,000 feet with about 30 knots of tailwind scooting along.  After we were handed off to Greensboro I got the bad news.  We had to reroute.  Either a lot more East or a lot more West.  West looked better as it was shorter so we turned towards BZM VOR and then we were told it would be direct home.  

Our 30 knot tailwind became a 25 knot headwind but it was only for 55 miles, then we could turn and start zooming South again.  Well, Greensboro handed us off to Atlanta and he had another reroute all the way to GENOD.  We had fought our way 40 miles West and now he wanted us to go another 55 miles?  Also as we headed West it got a lot bumbier.  I made a decison.  We were in severe clear with 100 mile visibility.  I cancelled IFR and started a climb to 8,500 and turned direct home.  

I asked Atlanta if Charlotte would let us through the Class B.  He checked and they would not.  This was not an issue, I figured this would be the case so we kept climbing to 10,500.  In smaller lower powered planes, climb rates are anemic up that high but the Baron has plenty of power and I just set up 500 feet per minute and left the power alone.

10,500 solved our class B problem but the winds were more from the West so we had just a bit of tailwind and sometimes a bit of headwind.  I also started thinking ahead and our route would just clip the restricted areas by Savannah.  I add SAV VOR to our route and the slight change fixed everything.  Charlotte had no issue with us at 10,500 and it was a bit easier not being IFR.  As we cleared the class B I told them I was going back to 8,500.  Normally 10,500 can be a bit faster when the winds are favorable but today lower the winds were more from the North so we dropped back into a 15 knot tailwind.  

Leaving Charlotte we slid over Columbia, I forget how close they are, only 77 miles and today with the visibility I watched Charlotte international slide under the nose and there was Columbia.  Columbia came and there was Savannah and pretty soon we were descending for home.  I could see the river and where the airport was when we were 50 miles out.  Being VFR came in handy agian as we could descend as we chose and with the smooth air I was able to optimize our profile.  The trip home clocked in at 2:18, 2 minutes longer than predicted and used 1 gallon more than planned which was not bad with the rerouting.  The drive is close to 9 hours.

The approaching storm and the one that just left

One of the hardest go no decisions is when the weather isn't really that bad but it's not that good.  We have been looking forward to a trip up North for quite some time.  Initially it looked like the weather was going to cooperate but as it got closer that changed.  Departure day the entire Eastern Seaboard was low IFR including our first fuel stop and second.  This was not a deal breaker as it was supposed to clear and I was pretty confident it would open up by mid day. 

Our destination was the issue, forecasts were for the afternoon ranged from marginal VFR to low IFR.  Four things concerned me.  The first stop might not clear requiring a divert and delay us.  Our destinantion weather might hold but the later it got, the worse it would be and it would stay bad for at least 36 hours.  There were no close easy alternates.  The final issue was the uncertainty.  At 7 AM I needed to make a call about what was happenning at 3 PM, 7 hours away.  

Yes the plane is very capable, I have flown 10 approaches in the last 60 days, 7 in actual so it was less about what we could do and more about what was prudent.  I made the call to delay.  So what happenned, our first stop cleared just in time, our second had storms during our arrival, not sure how that would have changed things and the destination stayed high enough to get in.  That said it then got hammered.  This left us planning to leave Friday with excellent weather across our entire route.

Then the hurricanes showed up.  While we build flexibility into our schedule we anted to be able to be back by Tuesday and the predicted influence of what will be Imelda made our chances look bleak.  So today we scrubbed the trip until a later date when we had time and good weather.

I had a plane ready to go so we deciced to take a quick flight and train on the radar some more.  Big storms were out West so we filed IFR to Lake City and back.  Everything worked as planned and we got some nice cloud time, the controllers were friendly and let us deviate around the bad as in bumpy stuff.

We also saw some but heavy rain coming from short clouds.  I've said it before, just because the tops are less than 15,000, it still doesn't mean you want to take the ride.   On the way out we had some litttle yellow cells on the XM display but as we approached they were much more serious according to the omboard radar.  We circumnavigated the area and on our return path they were even more intense but still showing OK on the XM.

As I was writing this, the potential storm Imelda just got names potential cyclone 9.  The official cone has it moving slower but still looks like a Tuesday return was still not in the cards.  It's always hard to scrap a trip you have been planning and looking forward to especially when you have a seriously capble airplane and you practice a lot.  That said, we have done it before and we are still here to do it again.  

Be careful out there

I know I have posted a good bit on not using ADS-B/XM tactically but I am not sure the message has really sunk in.  Typically green and yellow on XM are safe to fly through if that's what they really are.  Today I was out shooting some approaches and the rain was building.  I had the XM on the 750xi and the live radar on the 500txi.  While being vectored for the GPS 13 SGJ we first were pointed at some weather that was mostly green with a few yellow spots on XM but it was painting a solid red core.   I was about to ask for a turn when the controller headed me North West towards ORSOF.  

You can see in the picture above just North and West of ORSOF there is a small but strong cell.  I was tilted up 6 degrees so none of this is ground clutter.  Also my radar does not display within 5 nm on the 40 nm scale so what you are seeing is clipped at the white ring.  We turned to avoid this and though we were mostly IMC, got a look at it.  It was raining but it would be hard to tell that the core was that intense.  Given its size I doubt it would have been really bad but I am thinking it was not a ride I wanted to take.

The XM picture is above.  It looks mostly benign and many would have no issue going through based upon the colors.  The rain was not moving much so this lag was less positional and more intensity but position is not the same.  These are cut from the same picture just after my radar swept so really the same instant.  On radar (and our eyes) the storm is more to the top right of ORSOF, not to the right as shown in the lower picture.  So if you tried to deviate based upon XM you actually might run right through the core.  As Sergeant Phil Esterhaus used to say, Let's all be careful out there.

Not as soft as it looks

Was heading back today after a localish flight.  The weather down South was mostly nice with a few isolated showers.  Up by home was a different story.  Rain was building on the coast and things were strating to look ugly.  Coming North I decided to cut inland North of Saint Augustine.

There was rain North and we could see clear air to the West but their was one cloud that looked tall and ominous.  This is where the radar really shines.  I was at 1,000' running 20 mile range and 6.25 tilt up.  This much tilt is not useful for much further ranges as the beam will likely go over the section you want to see and farther out, just over the top of anything of interest.

So back to our cloud.  No visible rain, no characteristich thunder head and it was small, maybe a mile around.  Well this little mass of wet air was painting bright red with a steep gradient.  Even with nothing showing below we avoided it and had a smooth dry ride.  It was a good reminder that just because something isn't really tall, or big, you still need to respect what you are seeing.

Sort of Planned IFR

I woke up early this morning to beat the heat and the weather.  Have not been flying as much due to a mechanical issue that had the plane waiting at the mechanics for a while.  Knock on wood, we have it all sorted. It was a hard problem to diagnose but since the fix everything has worked well.

My morning briefing and look out the window promised a nice VFR morning.  After preflighting, I pulled the plane out and took one last look at the weather and NOTAMS.  It was sunny right above me but the airport was calling 800 Broken, so I filed 2 flight plans.  One to get out and a backup to get home.  At the time it looked like it would all clear shortly so the second plan seemed a bit gratuitous but filing is free and always easier to have one in my back pocket.

Departure was easy with 800 broken starting at the end of the runway.  I was cleared to 3000' heading 280 and I soon popped out the top.  After checking in and climing 1000' above the tops, I cancelled and headed South to enjoy the morning and continue to knock the rust off my flying skills.

This was my 4th flight after getting the plane back.  I had used my third to shoot approaches with a buddy and I was well within the currency requirements.  I was both current and felt proficient.  While flying around I watched the airport go VFR on the ADSB display so when I checked back in with approach, I was surprised when she told me that was old news and the field had just gone IFR.

I had been down South and had not gotten the ATIS yet as I was beyond range.  I activated my IFR plan, was cleared to JEVAG and then was able to get ATIS which was calling it 800 Overcast.  So that was a change.  Ahead of me was a C-172 that grabbed a pop up IFR, I think the weather was unexpected for them too.

I briefed the approach, double checked minimums as there was a NOTAM on the LPV.  It was not a big change so not really an issue.  I was cleared straight in for the GPS 32 and made a smooth turn at JEVAG.  The winds were light but the clouds were definitely there.  I went in at 2500' and popped out at 900'.  The C-172 called it 700'.  It was nice and clear below and even managed to make a nice smooth landing.  It was not my intention to fly IFR today but always happy for the practice.  Just a reminder to think through the contingencies.  

An easy ride home

Coming home from Santa Fe was much easier than the trip out.  Santa Fe still had weather but the morning forecast was for good VFR.  We fired up early and were airborne around 8:00 AM.  The airport was VFR and all the mountains clearly visible.  There was a line of storms from Las Vegas, NM to South of Amarillo, Texas.  It looked pretty soft from a distance.

I had filed IFR but starting just past the mountains so that we could pick it up enroute.  We checked in with departure, let them know our plan regarding the rain and then told them we could take the IFR when available.  He said it would be a few minutes and we started skirting North of the rain.  It was in 2 bunches an my plan was to slide through the middle if it stayed light.

After a while the controller said he had forgotten to give me our IFR but we could have it now.  He cleared us, we descended to 9000 and continued.  As we thought, we could cross the rain in the middle and though we did get wet, we never went IFR.  Our first stop was North Texas Regional just North East of Dallas.  Good self serve, clean facilities and they pushed candy, cookies and water on us.  An A+ in my book.

We had enjoyed 10+ knots tailwind and heading out it picked up a bit and we were easily making better than 200 knots all the way to Meridian Mississippi.  Again an easy stop.  I asked for a quick turn and they had the plane fueled almost too fast.  Meridian is famous for their snacks.  I barely had time to have some ice cream and grab a banana.  

Our final hop home we kept the tailwind but a few showers had popped up.  They were easy to navigate around and between our eyes and the radar we just had a few quick trips through some clouds before arriving home.  The total time airborne was 6:36 which was 1:36 less than the way out.   Yes we had to cut our trip short but that's another story.

Santa Fe, Taco Monday and Tuesday

The flight to Santa Fe was long and difficult.  When we arrived it rained on us.  I can't complain too much, it had hailed really hard earlier in the day so a bit of rain was much better.  After a long day flying, I was hungry.  We bring snacks and water bottles for these long flights but 5:30 in Santa Fe was 7:30 back home so it was dinner time.

We found that Santa Fe has way more food trucks than restaurants.  They seem to be everywhere.  Google had great reviews for a taco truck a few minutes away which of course was closed.  Across the street we saw some open ones.  We grabbed some tacos and nachos and headed back to the hotel to feast as the rain kept coming down.

Tuesday it was still raining.  We had planned to go to Taos but the weather said otherwise.  We headed down to Albuquerque instead as the weather was better as in warmer and drier.  We spent some time hiking the Petroglyph National Monument.  The trails were not too hard but we were at 5,000 plus feet so it felt like we had less pep.

After some climbing and petroglyph viewing, we headed over to see the famous red arrow.  I am not quite sure how it got there or why it is there.  We saw it though.  We also grabbed some sodas and hydrated.  Even though it was rainy, the humidity is much lower.

Our next stop was the art museum at the University of New Mexico.  Google had recommended it and we needed some culture.  It was also indoors as the skies were getting rainy again.  The museum is small with a mix of permanent and travelling collections.  It was a nice stop and the campus had some nice sculptures as well.

We finished by driving around looking at the city. The city itself does not have a great deal of character but the mountain backdrops are stunning.  We ended the day heading back to Santa Fe and hit another taco truck, or maybe a taco apple is more spot on.  We got tacos and some other dishes like these mini quesadillas.  The food was once again really good.

Wednesday the weather had finally cleared, mostly and we headed up to Taos.  Our main stop was the Taos Crossing Bridge.  It crosses the Rio Grande river and I came for the views and the hike.  I did not know that it is a hotbed of jumping activity.  They are doing their best to help people but at least 50 people have jumped since 1991 making it one of the highest bridge suicide locations in the country.  (Remember you can always dial 988 in a crisis).  They have people watching the bridge and call boxes at several locations.  There is also a bus that was quite strange but they seem to be doing good work.

We came for the views and they did not disappoint.  We also saw bighorn sheep along the side of the bridge.  After walking the bridge we took the rim trail for more bridge views.  It is really stunning and the mountain views in the background really enhance the experience.  There was still a lot of snow at the higher elevations.  It had just snowed the day before.

Leaving the bridge we headed down to the Rio Grande.  Our path terminated at a gravel road, usually this means really dirty rental but this one was in good condition and we made the 1.5 mile drive down to the river.  We were headed to some natural hot springs on the river but the rains had made everything rather muddy so we hiked a bit on the dryer areas and then headed into town.  A friend had recommended a coffee shop so we stopped for a snack and coffee.

We then walked the downtown square.  It is off season and seemed a bit quite.  Mostly a lot of shops which did not excite me.  The town is not much to look at but the scenery is incredible.  We ended the day driving back to Santa Fe and getting food truck Thai food.  It was quite good. 

That plan didn't work

Last Monday we headed to Santa Fe for some sightseeing.  I had been watching the weather and planning and then planning some more.  Initially it looked like just a bit of weather in the middle of the country but it ended up being so much more.  The weather was going to be clear until Texas but then it was going to get interesting.  Santa Fe was supposed to be rainy early but nice in the afternoon, supposed to be were the operative words.

My initail plan was to make 3 flights.  We would stop in Mississipi, then West Texas and finally Santa Fe.  The route had us passing North of Dallas as the weather was not supposed to move North until late in the day.  In the end based on lousy winds I opted for 4 hops.

Waking up, my first planned fuel stop had no gas so I replanned.  Santa Fe was also much worse than expected and the storms seemed bigger and more Northerly than forecast.  I picked a new first stop from my bag of pre planned alternates and departed around 8:15.  The headwinds were a bit worse than forcast and we stayed at 6000 because 8000 was much worse.  We had clear skies though which was nice.

On the way to Mississippi, we watched the storms build and knew the plan had to change.  I started working on my backup backup plan and looked at the routes South of Dallas.  It looked like a clear shot South of all the weather.  We had a nice fuel stop and were soon in the air again heading to Athens Texas.  It was a nice stop but by the time we arrived, the Southern route was getting stormy too.  I had no regrets as the originally planned third stop was about to get consumed by widespread strong storms.  F05 was our originally planned stop.  And that rain did not move off it just kept pounding the area most of the day.

Leaving Athens we headed off to Lamesa Texas but as soon as we departed it went from VFR to IFR.  Just a few miles away, Andrews Texas was nice VFR so I updated my destination and with the help of the controllers deviated a bit further South to work through the building weather.  The controllers were great and between the radar and their assistance we had a good bit of IFR but just a few sprinkles.

The ride was not great, with constant light turbulence.  I tried 6000 and 8000 and they were equally bad.  Landing in Andrews we had a stiff crosswind, which had been down the runway until shortly before we arrived.  It was 25 knots and was one of my windiest refuelings.  I liked the fact that the self serve had a warning to beware of snakes.

In theory the last segment was supposed to be easy.  1:20 to Santa Fe, a straight shot in VFR conditions.  Yeah, right!!!  Coming into Andrews we saw some activity building and by the time we were airborne again it was significant.  The straight route has you skirting to the South and West of some restricted areas.  A massive storm had parked itself there so I was given a re-route way out of the wayto miss the rain and airspace.  

The new route would fix the immediatte problem but it would take us right through some nasty stuff inbound to Santa Fe.  Swicthing to the next controller I requested a reroute to shorten my route and provide a better path.  He was quite helpful and chatty and actually gave me something better than I asked.

Coming into Santa Fe it was supposed to be VFR with bases at 13,000 so easy.  That was over the airport though.  On the way in between the mountains we were solid.  Initially we had to climb to 10,000 and then 11,000 as I got vectored for the GPS 15.  There was a storm sort of in the way but I was able to slide to the East of it but because of the terrain, we had to keep climbing.  As we were about 10 miles out we finally broke out and there was Santa Fe.  

I decided to cancel and was handed off to the tower.  I was on a really high wide downwind but the Baron is really good at descending.  Again a windy bumpy arrival but we made a nice touchdown.  After we taxied in, they parked us far out, they shuttled us in, we signed in and they found our car, then rain started.  We waited a bit and once it slowed down, we grabbed our stuff, got a bit wet and headed off to our hotel.

Santa Fe is pretty dry country and May is a dry month, not a desert but classified as Semi Arid.  Not this year.  It was a real mess.  This trip took way too much planning and adjusting. We made it out in 8.7 hours.  The headwinds and deviations added about 1.5 hours.  The lesson; plan, plan, plan but be ready to adjust.  I had spent a good bit of time planning different scenerios and had a list of backup stops ready so in the end it went to plan, just not any of the early ones.

Pre Preflight

The importance of preflight inspection is covered ealy in our training.  I can say for sure mine are not perfect it's an area I am striving to improve.  On the Baron, there is a lot to look at and you might not see everything you need to see.  There is a big difference between looking and seeing.

Before trips I like to do a pre, preflight.  The morning we are leaving you are in the go mode so maybe it's a bit harder to catch everything.  Last Saturday before departing on our trip I came out to have a good look at everything.  I had topped the oil Friday so I was looking to make sure it all stayed in the engines.  It had.  I also took the time to do a bit of cleaning and get on the creeper under the plane to get a long look at everything.

It all checked out and as I sat down for a moment to enjoy a cold soda, I gazed upon the nose wheel.  It looked a bit low which was odd becasue I had filled it less than a month ago.  Sometimes it's an illusion and the tire looks low because but isn't.  I grabbed the tire guage and it was no illusion.  It was low, too low for my taste for just casual seapage.  Luckily we have a great mechanic on the field and I went by to see if he had a tube.

He did, but sent me back to check the valve stem for seepage.  It was not seeping.  I also examined the tire carefully for a puncture and even rolled the plane forward a full rotation to check the bottom.  It looked intact so I called Tim and left it in his capable hands.  Tim came by and changed the tube so when I went back Sunday morning, the tire was full and all was good.