We made it back to Columbus! We were ahead of schedule, and managed a wheels-up time of about 8:30AM. The folks at Landmark got the plane out of the grass for us so we wouldn't have to risk a prop strike and parked it right in front of the FBO. We made sure our flight plan was on file and correct, and we departed behind an experimental aircraft.
We climbed to 8,000 to clear the mountains, and it was smooth sailing until about 50 miles from Columbus. We were hearing reports that the haze was pretty nasty, and that pilots were actually shooting approaches into Port Columbus. The approach controllers at Port told us to intercept the localizer and follow it in to 28L. They held us at 8,000 until about 25 miles out, at which point we had to descend rather quickly to get down to the approach altitude. We got the glide slope, and flew the ILS into Port.
After a bouncy landing, we taxied to Lane Aviation and parked. I jumped out and got my stuff, and swapped with Jann's husband. They're continuing on to St. Louis for their grandchild's birthday party. Lots of flying for Jann!
Time to unpack, get some food, and do some LAUNDRY!
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Fun in Frederick, MD
Jann and I left for the airport at 10:30AM this morning. The airport was having an "Airport Appreciation Day" from 10:00AM - 2:00PM, so there were a lot planes, helicopters, gliders, booths, and displays. Jann and I both took our intro flights in the Robinson 22 and had a lot of fun. I was just fine with straight and level flight, turning, climbing and descending, but kind of stunk at hovering. Didn't crash, and the instructor wasn't traumatized after we were finished, so life was good!Jann and I poked around the displays while waiting for her friend, and looked at all of the different airplanes. I told Jann that she needs a little Pitts Special to stick under the wing of her C182 in the hangar, after she gets the floats for the C182 of course.
We grabbed some ice cream for lunch and headed into the Landmark Aviation FBO to check weather and to grab a snooze in the sleep room. The weather looks good for a morning departure tomorrow, but we'll have some winds and clouds to deal with when we get into Columbus. Nothing too crazy, since we'll be filing IFR.Jann's friend found us, and we walked her and her family out to the plane to show them around. The kids really got a kick out of "Aunt Perky's Plane." We then all packed into the family minivan and headed out to dinner and back to the hotel.
After arriving at the hotel, we had to track down the airplane keys. We have an extra set, but we had to submit one set for airplane impounding. That turned out to be an ordeal. Thankfully, we got that all squared away and we'll be picking the keys up tomorrow (and submitting our suggestions for future races!) for a 9:00AM departure.
I forgot to mention in a previous post that at the Meltdown Party, I sat with a gentleman who looked very familiar to me. I'm sitting next to him and thinking, "Where have I seen this guy? I'm not THAT tired from flying . . . maybe everyone is starting to look familiar to me? Maybe I'm losing it?" I finally asked him where he works. He told me that he works for AOPA in the magazine division. AHA! It was Tom Horne who writes the "Waypoints" article for the AOPA Pilot magazine each month. I had a fun conversation with him and his family. Very nice people.I found the link to the news clip. The whole thing won't load on my computer, but a friend assures me that there is nothing incriminating in it, and that I don't look like too much of a ding-dong. You can find it here.
Open Day!
There is nothing major scheduled for today, so Jann and I are going to take it easy. By taking it easy, I mean that Jann and I have both signed up for helicopter lessons! We are going to head back out to the airport around 10:30AM with another racer to take some lessons in a Robinson 22. Assuming we (and by we, I mean I) don't crash, we are then going to meet up with some of Jann's friends and head downtown. Frederick has a historic area, so we'll poke around there for a bit and then grab some dinner.
Score sheet signing is today, but the schedule is all bungled up, so if they really want our signatures on a non-competition class score sheet, they can come find me. I'm not missing my chance to zoom around in a helicopter because someone screwed up the schedule!
Score sheet signing is today, but the schedule is all bungled up, so if they really want our signatures on a non-competition class score sheet, they can come find me. I'm not missing my chance to zoom around in a helicopter because someone screwed up the schedule!
Friday, June 25, 2010
Elkhart, IN - Parkersburg, WV - Frederick, MD
We made it! We have arrived in Frederick, MD!
We departed Elkhart around 8:30AM this morning enroute to Parkersburg. It was hazy, but no significant cloud layers or weather activity. We crossed through Ohio State's practice area and said good morning to Alex and everyone else out practicing. We cruised at 5,500 and picked up VFR flight following from Port Columbus. Right around Port Columbus, we started to see a cloud layer building up at 5,500. We had to do a little bit of ducking and weaving until we got to Parkersburg. We decided to not land at Parkersburg and continue straight on to Frederick.
We did the flyby to continue at Parkersburg, and started the climb to 7,500 to clear the mountains. We had to dodge more clouds, but eventually got on top. Right about then, Jann noticed that the SFRA around Washington had turned red, like a TFR. We weren't sure what that meant, and I really wasn't in the mood to be escorted, so we decided to call a Flight Service Station. Well, there is a lack of communication outlets in West Virginia, so I did the fun trick of calling them up over a VOR. You could tell that the lady on the other end was really surprised to hear from us. We inquired about the status of the Camp David prohibited area and the Washington SFRA, and she assured us that they were in their normal statuses.
We still didn't like it, so we picked up VFR flight following into Frederick. I got to talk to Washington Center and Potomac Approach! Exciting! We cleared the mountains and started the descent into Frederick.
About 5 miles out from the flyby, we hit nasty turbulence. I whacked my head on the ceiling and my headset got all messed up. It hurt! I didn't have any time to worry about it, because I was 5 miles from having to do a full-throttle flyby at 300' AGL. We did the flyby beautifully and circled to land.
I didn't have enough time and/or space to slow down, so my first approach had us coming over the threshold at about 130 knots. No good. I went for the go-around, and the next time was much nicer.
On the ground, all of the racers
are parked in a single line about (I kid you not) one mile long. It's insane. The airport is also incredibly busy, with flight training, jets, helicopters, and the racers.
When we parked, the ground crew warned us that the news wanted to talk to us. Ruh-roh. As soon as we popped the door open, a news crew was there. I felt bad for Jann, because I was in the left seat at the moment and the crew was interviewing me like it was my plane! I felt like a yammering idiot because I had just done two legs, a flyby, go-around, landing, and taxiing, and my brains were a little cooked. She told me that they had filmed us flying around the airport (ruh-roh again), so you may be able to find a clip of me on YouTube balking a landing and then stammering my fool head off. Fun!
The flyby wasn't as nearly as scary as the ride over to the hotel. Our driver was from New Jersey. I thought we were going to die. Swerving, weaving, slamming of brakes, yelling . . . yikes. We made it OK, though, and now we are at the hotel and trying to figure out if we have any required events this evening. I think there is some sort of party we need to go to, in addition to a film screening, and maybe something else. I haven't quite gotten that far yet. I would like to go back to the airport and see the AOPA building and find out if there is anything interesting to see in town.
We departed Elkhart around 8:30AM this morning enroute to Parkersburg. It was hazy, but no significant cloud layers or weather activity. We crossed through Ohio State's practice area and said good morning to Alex and everyone else out practicing. We cruised at 5,500 and picked up VFR flight following from Port Columbus. Right around Port Columbus, we started to see a cloud layer building up at 5,500. We had to do a little bit of ducking and weaving until we got to Parkersburg. We decided to not land at Parkersburg and continue straight on to Frederick.
We did the flyby to continue at Parkersburg, and started the climb to 7,500 to clear the mountains. We had to dodge more clouds, but eventually got on top. Right about then, Jann noticed that the SFRA around Washington had turned red, like a TFR. We weren't sure what that meant, and I really wasn't in the mood to be escorted, so we decided to call a Flight Service Station. Well, there is a lack of communication outlets in West Virginia, so I did the fun trick of calling them up over a VOR. You could tell that the lady on the other end was really surprised to hear from us. We inquired about the status of the Camp David prohibited area and the Washington SFRA, and she assured us that they were in their normal statuses.
We still didn't like it, so we picked up VFR flight following into Frederick. I got to talk to Washington Center and Potomac Approach! Exciting! We cleared the mountains and started the descent into Frederick.
About 5 miles out from the flyby, we hit nasty turbulence. I whacked my head on the ceiling and my headset got all messed up. It hurt! I didn't have any time to worry about it, because I was 5 miles from having to do a full-throttle flyby at 300' AGL. We did the flyby beautifully and circled to land.
I didn't have enough time and/or space to slow down, so my first approach had us coming over the threshold at about 130 knots. No good. I went for the go-around, and the next time was much nicer.
On the ground, all of the racers
are parked in a single line about (I kid you not) one mile long. It's insane. The airport is also incredibly busy, with flight training, jets, helicopters, and the racers.When we parked, the ground crew warned us that the news wanted to talk to us. Ruh-roh. As soon as we popped the door open, a news crew was there. I felt bad for Jann, because I was in the left seat at the moment and the crew was interviewing me like it was my plane! I felt like a yammering idiot because I had just done two legs, a flyby, go-around, landing, and taxiing, and my brains were a little cooked. She told me that they had filmed us flying around the airport (ruh-roh again), so you may be able to find a clip of me on YouTube balking a landing and then stammering my fool head off. Fun!
The flyby wasn't as nearly as scary as the ride over to the hotel. Our driver was from New Jersey. I thought we were going to die. Swerving, weaving, slamming of brakes, yelling . . . yikes. We made it OK, though, and now we are at the hotel and trying to figure out if we have any required events this evening. I think there is some sort of party we need to go to, in addition to a film screening, and maybe something else. I haven't quite gotten that far yet. I would like to go back to the airport and see the AOPA building and find out if there is anything interesting to see in town.
Departing for Parkersburg and Frederick
We are all packed and ready to depart for Parkersburg and Frederick. The weather looks good, and we should have no trouble getting in. We may not even have to stop for fuel in Parkersburg!
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Preparing for Departure Tomorrow
We had a good time at the barbecue. The local EAA chapter didn't tell us that we were the evening program, but it was a good time. Most of the chapter members didn't know a whole lot about the race, so Jann and I stood up and gave a talk and answered questions. The local 99's chapter was there also, and everyone was very friendly, nice, and helpful. They had homemade peach cobbler in an iron kettle over coals and homemade ice cream. I am going to sleep well tonight!
The word on the street is that many of the planes that departed this morning had to get IFR clearances in the air, thus disqualifying them from the race. The low ceilings were forcing them to go dangerously low, so they opted to go IFR rather than hit a mountain. Good choice.
Looking on the ARC website, it seems as if the majority of the teams have made it to Frederick, MD already. The rest of the teams are scattered around the other airports. I believe there are six teams here in Elkhart.
If you are wanting to listen to the arrivals into Frederick, you can get them from LiveATC here: http://www.liveatc.net/search/?icao=kfdk. My guess is that most teams will be arriving in the late morning/early afternoon. The deadline to arrive in Frederick is 5:00PM tomorrow. We are planning to be wheels up by 9:00AM at the latest, so we should have a few hours of cushion to get there.
The weather for tomorrow looks fantastic. We may have a slight headwind, but nothing drastic. Skies are forecasted to be generally clear, with maybe a few or scattered layer at or around 4,000. I think that haze or morning mist may be a slight factor for the first leg, but nothing really crazy. It should all be burnt off by the time we get to Parkersburg.
Another benefit of hanging around for a day is that the crazies have gone on ahead! We should have lots and lots of room now to do our flybys, get fuel, and do our flybys to restart. No more airplanes on top off/next to/under us when we get to airports! Other than all of the ugly airspace around Frederick, MD, stress factors should be much lower on these two legs. Add to that a free dinner, a free hangar for two nights, free transportation, and we are sitting pretty!
We are going to fly high tomorrow, probably around 5,500 or 7,500 feet. For Ohio, the altitude is not that critical, but once we pass Parkersburg, we have some mountains to consider. Jann and I were speaking with a pilot that learned to fly in that area of West Virginia, and she said that she never flies over the mountains any lower than 7,500 on account of the mountain rotor activity. We are going to take her advice and climb up to 7,500 before we get near the mountains. That will also keep us on top of all of the class D airspaces between Parkersburg and Frederick. We want to keep it as simple as possible so we don't get into a conflict with Camp David or the Washington SFRA. I do not want to be escorted down.
Fun fact: the Washington SFRA is pronounced "suffer." A pilot from the area told me that. I thought that was pretty funny!
I was giving other racers a heads-up about OSU's practice area and the Columbus class C airspace. I wonder if the Columbus approach controllers' heads were spinning off their shoulders today! I think we will overfly them or ask them if we can transition through for tomorrow.
Time to pack up and go to bed. I don't want to be a zombie like I was this morning!
The word on the street is that many of the planes that departed this morning had to get IFR clearances in the air, thus disqualifying them from the race. The low ceilings were forcing them to go dangerously low, so they opted to go IFR rather than hit a mountain. Good choice.
Looking on the ARC website, it seems as if the majority of the teams have made it to Frederick, MD already. The rest of the teams are scattered around the other airports. I believe there are six teams here in Elkhart.
If you are wanting to listen to the arrivals into Frederick, you can get them from LiveATC here: http://www.liveatc.net/search/?icao=kfdk. My guess is that most teams will be arriving in the late morning/early afternoon. The deadline to arrive in Frederick is 5:00PM tomorrow. We are planning to be wheels up by 9:00AM at the latest, so we should have a few hours of cushion to get there.
The weather for tomorrow looks fantastic. We may have a slight headwind, but nothing drastic. Skies are forecasted to be generally clear, with maybe a few or scattered layer at or around 4,000. I think that haze or morning mist may be a slight factor for the first leg, but nothing really crazy. It should all be burnt off by the time we get to Parkersburg.
Another benefit of hanging around for a day is that the crazies have gone on ahead! We should have lots and lots of room now to do our flybys, get fuel, and do our flybys to restart. No more airplanes on top off/next to/under us when we get to airports! Other than all of the ugly airspace around Frederick, MD, stress factors should be much lower on these two legs. Add to that a free dinner, a free hangar for two nights, free transportation, and we are sitting pretty!
We are going to fly high tomorrow, probably around 5,500 or 7,500 feet. For Ohio, the altitude is not that critical, but once we pass Parkersburg, we have some mountains to consider. Jann and I were speaking with a pilot that learned to fly in that area of West Virginia, and she said that she never flies over the mountains any lower than 7,500 on account of the mountain rotor activity. We are going to take her advice and climb up to 7,500 before we get near the mountains. That will also keep us on top of all of the class D airspaces between Parkersburg and Frederick. We want to keep it as simple as possible so we don't get into a conflict with Camp David or the Washington SFRA. I do not want to be escorted down.
Fun fact: the Washington SFRA is pronounced "suffer." A pilot from the area told me that. I thought that was pretty funny!
I was giving other racers a heads-up about OSU's practice area and the Columbus class C airspace. I wonder if the Columbus approach controllers' heads were spinning off their shoulders today! I think we will overfly them or ask them if we can transition through for tomorrow.
Time to pack up and go to bed. I don't want to be a zombie like I was this morning!
Well, Would You Look at That?
This is the reason we elected to stay. See that line of storms? Sitting right over Parkersburg and working its way to Frederick? How about that?
I pulled a TAF (terminal aerodrome forecast) near Frederick, and they are calling for thunderstorms with heavy rain and wind up to 45 knots. Now that the front has gotten ahead of us, we could probably follow it out, but why bother when tomorrow is supposed to be clear skies?
I had forgotten to mention in my previous post that none of the aircraft were damaged from the storm, even the ones that were left out. Some did get loose from their tie-downs, but all they did was spin around a bit. The control tower had no power this morning, so they were using hand radios and trying to organize the people departing. It has not been a good couple of days for them!
The people here in Elkhart have been awesome. We hooked up with an EAA guy at the airport who let us use his hangar, and he has been shuttling us back and forth from the airport. The local 99's chapter has also been fantastic. They've been shuttling people back and forth and providing snacks and goodies. Everyone we've met here in Elkhart has been super friendly and helpful.
Time to hit the pool and then off to a barbecue party!
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