t0r0nad0
Pattern Altitude
Hey Everyone,
It took me a few days to post this, I was waiting for the better half to return my camera so I'd have some pictures to show you.
Last Saturday, 3/21, I got to fly in my friend's Stearman from DWH to HOU for the Wings & Wheels event at The 1940 Air Terminal Museum.
Early morning fog had pretty much lifted to where there was about 6 miles of visibility by the time we took off. We left Hooks Airport, on the northwest side of Houston, and took the pre-arranged handoff from the tower to Houston Approach, who gave us our Class B clearance. They vectored us pretty far out to the west on the way in, as they said that "Hobby is very busy right now". I didn't mind - that was more time for me to ride along and enjoy the open cockpit!
We followed vectors out west, then a turn south, then a turn east and flew that course until we were over downtown, then we were cleared direct to the airport. We landing on 12L at Hobby while 737's were landing on 12R (I'll never grow tired of doing that), and taxied to the museum.
The Wings & Wheels event was very interesting that day... it was Aviation History Day, featuring a variety of guest speakers, including REG Davies from the Smithsonian. After the event, we loaded back up into the Stearman for the trip back to DWH. We taxied out and told ATC that we didn't want flight following beyond the Class B airspace. So, they cleared us for takeoff on runway 17 and we turned on course out to the west. We climbed to 1000 ft and when we were clear of the Class B, I got to take the controls!
We flew low, slow, and NORDO around the west side of the Houston Class B. Due to the wind noise, the intercom in our headsets was pretty much useless, so we used a mirror between us to signal and communicate. I didn't have a chart or GPS in the front cockpit with me, but I was familiar enough with the area to know where to avoid the tall towers and controlled airspace. We went around the Class D airspace at SGR to the east and north and flew out to Katy, where I did a couple of circles around my house. We then flew around the western side of IWS to pass between it and EYQ on the way back to DWH. We kept our head on a swivel the entire time, and avoided the traffic that was heading through the I-10 corridor.
When we got into the pattern at DWH, my friend took over the controls again to get a feel for the crosswinds, and performed a nice 3-point landing on 17R at DWH, then taxied back to his hangar. My friend is a current and active CFI, so I was able to log the entire thing as dual received and PIC time! The attached pictures are me ready to go with the goggles, the panel in the front cockpit, the mirror that we used to see each other, me in front of the plane back at DWH after the flight, us after we arrived at HOU, us getting ready to leave HOU, and another one of me with the plane back at DWH.
It was a great time and I can't wait to fly with him again!
It took me a few days to post this, I was waiting for the better half to return my camera so I'd have some pictures to show you.
Last Saturday, 3/21, I got to fly in my friend's Stearman from DWH to HOU for the Wings & Wheels event at The 1940 Air Terminal Museum.
Early morning fog had pretty much lifted to where there was about 6 miles of visibility by the time we took off. We left Hooks Airport, on the northwest side of Houston, and took the pre-arranged handoff from the tower to Houston Approach, who gave us our Class B clearance. They vectored us pretty far out to the west on the way in, as they said that "Hobby is very busy right now". I didn't mind - that was more time for me to ride along and enjoy the open cockpit!
We followed vectors out west, then a turn south, then a turn east and flew that course until we were over downtown, then we were cleared direct to the airport. We landing on 12L at Hobby while 737's were landing on 12R (I'll never grow tired of doing that), and taxied to the museum.
The Wings & Wheels event was very interesting that day... it was Aviation History Day, featuring a variety of guest speakers, including REG Davies from the Smithsonian. After the event, we loaded back up into the Stearman for the trip back to DWH. We taxied out and told ATC that we didn't want flight following beyond the Class B airspace. So, they cleared us for takeoff on runway 17 and we turned on course out to the west. We climbed to 1000 ft and when we were clear of the Class B, I got to take the controls!
We flew low, slow, and NORDO around the west side of the Houston Class B. Due to the wind noise, the intercom in our headsets was pretty much useless, so we used a mirror between us to signal and communicate. I didn't have a chart or GPS in the front cockpit with me, but I was familiar enough with the area to know where to avoid the tall towers and controlled airspace. We went around the Class D airspace at SGR to the east and north and flew out to Katy, where I did a couple of circles around my house. We then flew around the western side of IWS to pass between it and EYQ on the way back to DWH. We kept our head on a swivel the entire time, and avoided the traffic that was heading through the I-10 corridor.
When we got into the pattern at DWH, my friend took over the controls again to get a feel for the crosswinds, and performed a nice 3-point landing on 17R at DWH, then taxied back to his hangar. My friend is a current and active CFI, so I was able to log the entire thing as dual received and PIC time! The attached pictures are me ready to go with the goggles, the panel in the front cockpit, the mirror that we used to see each other, me in front of the plane back at DWH after the flight, us after we arrived at HOU, us getting ready to leave HOU, and another one of me with the plane back at DWH.
It was a great time and I can't wait to fly with him again!
