Len Lanetti
Cleared for Takeoff
I'm sure that most pilots are not aware that no matter how many winters an unopened stick of Juicy Fruit gum sits on the back seat of an aircraft all it takes is for the aircraft to spend one sunny summer afternoon on the ramp to make it chewable again.
As proof I submit my experiences from yesterday:
A biz meeting scheduled in Providence RI for 8:30am...no airline flight known to man will get you to Providence from Philadelphia for a morning meeting same day...if going by airline you must travel the day prior. Duties as a Cub Scout leader prevent me from traveling to the meeting the night before. My choices are drive (5.5 hours per Map Quest) or fly in the Mooney (about 1.5 hours flight time). Darn, I may just have to fly my plane and let the company pay me to do that.
Several checks of the weather the day prior present outlook forecasts of marginal VFR due to viz - 3 miles in mist (note mist is fog but they don't use the word fog unless the viz gets to 1/2 miles or less). Funny, mist is such a nice word as in "oh, we have a little mist". Where as fog is such a bad, bad word...not as bad a word as ice mind you but pretty bad none the less.
I check the weather after the 8pm local forecast the night before. The visibility only mention occasional 3 in mist. So, technically and theoretically, VFR will exist. I cross the Rubicon, setting my alarm for 4:30am, electing to skip the 2am local weather guess and committing to flight by general aviation aircraft or being late for the meeting (I'm not scheduled to present at the meeting 'till 11am so I probably won't get fired if I'm late).
Well, at 4:30am everything takes longer and I'm a little behind schedule getting out of the house. Standard briefing by phone takes awhile but the weather is VFR with visibility of 6 or greater along the route. Note the sun is barely up at this point so the fog, er, mist isn't cooking yet.
I'm about 30 minutes behind schedule from where I want to be but still plenty of time to make the meeting. An update briefing reveals that there is mist in the air which was confirmed during my drive through wooded areas to the airport. Turning onto the highway that takes me to the airport I can see the nuke plant towers that are near the airport from about 5 or 6 miles. So, the local visibility is fine, the small hills near the airport are all visible.
Pulling into the airport shows that the work on the super-doopper anit-terroist fence and electronic gate is progressing at typical DOT speeds. I sure will feel much safer knowing a six foot fence with signs saying Keep Out will prevent those dangerous little airplanes with their ability to carry small parcels from getting into the hands of terrorists.
All goes well on preflight and I launch just before 6:30am local from Pottstown PA. Visibility on my north easterly course is pretty good. The sun isn't bright enough for sunglasses but just right for the tinted visors that a previous owner kindly installed via STC into my mighty M20C.
My route today is around the north west side of the NY Class B, across the Hudson past White Plains, Danburry and on into Providence (PVD). I pick up flight following with PHL Approach and get hand offs to Allentown and NY. I'm keeping an eye on the ground fog. There are lots of open spaces without fog but the lower lying areas between hills are foggy. After crossing the Hudson there is less ground fog. On the approach frequency I hear aircraft launching at White Plains VFR and a check of the weather ahead with FSS reveals that Providence has 10 miles of visibility at the surface.
I'm running the Mooney at 24 squared and the magic GPS box confirms that my flight will take a take just under the 1.5 hours that I figure it would. I'm doing about 148 knots over the ground, the FSS folks previously told me the winds would be pretty light at my altitude (3,500) and I should land just prior to 8am. An 8am touchdown should give me plenty of time to do the ground stuff at the FBO and catch a cab to the meeting in time for the start.
Pretty soon I'm talking to Providence approach. They feel it necessary to tell me at least a dozen times to expect a right downwind to 23 and they ask me to confirm that I know to expect a right downwind for 23 another half a dozen times. Of course, just as a get the airport in sight I get a vector away for departing traffic.
After the heavy goes on by I'm told I can turn back to the airport for a right base, at least they only say it once, and switch to the Tower. I've managed the speed and altitude pretty well and I put the big white 23 on the right spot on the windshield as I turn final. There is a Southwest jet pulling up the hold short line and another one behind me somewhere, not a time to pull a bonehead landing.
Prior to the roundout and flare I forget to remind myself that the runway is a lot wider and out of my peripheral vision I see nothing but runway but I get the altitude just right and find myself rolling along on the mains, nose high, with a little power in and not even a squeak out of the tires. I find myself wondering if I've landed. I pull the power out, the nose comes down and I get off the runway pretty quickly, tower directs me to call ground. After landing tasks complete, call ground, taxi to the GA ramp no issues. It pays to have a good airport diagram at these large airports.
The FBO, Northstar Aviation, sends out the gas truck and is busy calling for a cab when I walk in. This is much better service than the last time I came here.
Karen, my wife, had the great idea that I fly in a golf shirt and take along my dress shirt, tie and sport coat. This was a wonderful idea as the work clothes are fresh for the meting as compared to the golf shirt.
Quick cab ride to the Providence office. Business meeting goes well. An associate taking an airliner back to Philadelphia gives me a ride back to the airport. Take care of business at the FBO walk out to the Mooney. I note that it has been moved and I double check the nose gear trunnion - which is fine.
I pack up the Mooney with my biz stuff and this is when I find a lone stick of Juicy Fruit left by one of my boys some time long ago. Feeling the need for a stick of gum I pop it in my mouth - it is just about as fresh as it came from the factory. :<)
Weather for the ride home has clouds at 3,500 nearby but 5,000'ish along my route home. I want to go as high as I can to beat the heat and the bumps associated with the rising hot air.
As I start the engine I notice they are using 5 for departures. This is a long taxi from the GA ramp but by the time I get ATIS, call clearance delivery and start talking to ground they have switched to 23. 23 is a real easy taxi and I'm in line to depart behind a Cessna 4 series mini airliner twin.
Bumpy on departure from the heat and a bit of wind but by about 3,000 feet it is not too bad. As I climb to 4,500 I can see that I'm gonna be close to the clouds reportedly at 5,000. By the time I get to NY approach I have to descend. I go down to 2,900 as slowly as I think NY approach will tolerate. I pick that altitude as it is below the 3,000 for hemispherical cruise altitude rules. Yea, yea, I know its 3,000 AGL but this is fine point is not something you can really debate with NY approach on a busy frequency.
At 2,900 the ride is pretty bumpy and I have to go to 21 inches of manifold pressure and 2,300 RPMs to bring the airspeed indicator out of the yellow arc.
After about 10 miles the clouds are gone, I can go back to 4,500 for the rest of the flight home. I push the go faster knobs forward and pitch for climb. At this altitude the ride is still a little bumpy but better. I decide to run at 23 squared which is just inside the yellow arc. NY approach warns me that they've vectored a heavy over top of me at 5,000. The pilot of the heavy feels it required to warn me not to climb any higher and the ATCer says something in response that goes along the lines of "Duh, he's not gonna go any higher.". The heavy passes behind and above, obviously without incident.
Soon enough I'm talking to Allentown and then Philadelphia approach. The twin nuke tower are visible in the haze. Uneventful landing and after putting the plane in the hanger I talk to one of my neighbors who is building an RV for a bit.
So, in conclusion....door (my house) to door (meeting room) it took me under 3.5 hours to make it to the presentation. My associate from Philadelphia had to leave the day before and stay overnight to make the meeting via airliner. All told her expenses will be significantly greater than what I turn in on an expense report. My airplane was pushed back into my hanger at about the same time has her flight coming home was pushing back from the gate. Oh and I got to carry my 1.5 inch pen knife along for the ride.
Len
As proof I submit my experiences from yesterday:
A biz meeting scheduled in Providence RI for 8:30am...no airline flight known to man will get you to Providence from Philadelphia for a morning meeting same day...if going by airline you must travel the day prior. Duties as a Cub Scout leader prevent me from traveling to the meeting the night before. My choices are drive (5.5 hours per Map Quest) or fly in the Mooney (about 1.5 hours flight time). Darn, I may just have to fly my plane and let the company pay me to do that.
Several checks of the weather the day prior present outlook forecasts of marginal VFR due to viz - 3 miles in mist (note mist is fog but they don't use the word fog unless the viz gets to 1/2 miles or less). Funny, mist is such a nice word as in "oh, we have a little mist". Where as fog is such a bad, bad word...not as bad a word as ice mind you but pretty bad none the less.
I check the weather after the 8pm local forecast the night before. The visibility only mention occasional 3 in mist. So, technically and theoretically, VFR will exist. I cross the Rubicon, setting my alarm for 4:30am, electing to skip the 2am local weather guess and committing to flight by general aviation aircraft or being late for the meeting (I'm not scheduled to present at the meeting 'till 11am so I probably won't get fired if I'm late).
Well, at 4:30am everything takes longer and I'm a little behind schedule getting out of the house. Standard briefing by phone takes awhile but the weather is VFR with visibility of 6 or greater along the route. Note the sun is barely up at this point so the fog, er, mist isn't cooking yet.
I'm about 30 minutes behind schedule from where I want to be but still plenty of time to make the meeting. An update briefing reveals that there is mist in the air which was confirmed during my drive through wooded areas to the airport. Turning onto the highway that takes me to the airport I can see the nuke plant towers that are near the airport from about 5 or 6 miles. So, the local visibility is fine, the small hills near the airport are all visible.
Pulling into the airport shows that the work on the super-doopper anit-terroist fence and electronic gate is progressing at typical DOT speeds. I sure will feel much safer knowing a six foot fence with signs saying Keep Out will prevent those dangerous little airplanes with their ability to carry small parcels from getting into the hands of terrorists.
All goes well on preflight and I launch just before 6:30am local from Pottstown PA. Visibility on my north easterly course is pretty good. The sun isn't bright enough for sunglasses but just right for the tinted visors that a previous owner kindly installed via STC into my mighty M20C.
My route today is around the north west side of the NY Class B, across the Hudson past White Plains, Danburry and on into Providence (PVD). I pick up flight following with PHL Approach and get hand offs to Allentown and NY. I'm keeping an eye on the ground fog. There are lots of open spaces without fog but the lower lying areas between hills are foggy. After crossing the Hudson there is less ground fog. On the approach frequency I hear aircraft launching at White Plains VFR and a check of the weather ahead with FSS reveals that Providence has 10 miles of visibility at the surface.
I'm running the Mooney at 24 squared and the magic GPS box confirms that my flight will take a take just under the 1.5 hours that I figure it would. I'm doing about 148 knots over the ground, the FSS folks previously told me the winds would be pretty light at my altitude (3,500) and I should land just prior to 8am. An 8am touchdown should give me plenty of time to do the ground stuff at the FBO and catch a cab to the meeting in time for the start.
Pretty soon I'm talking to Providence approach. They feel it necessary to tell me at least a dozen times to expect a right downwind to 23 and they ask me to confirm that I know to expect a right downwind for 23 another half a dozen times. Of course, just as a get the airport in sight I get a vector away for departing traffic.
After the heavy goes on by I'm told I can turn back to the airport for a right base, at least they only say it once, and switch to the Tower. I've managed the speed and altitude pretty well and I put the big white 23 on the right spot on the windshield as I turn final. There is a Southwest jet pulling up the hold short line and another one behind me somewhere, not a time to pull a bonehead landing.
Prior to the roundout and flare I forget to remind myself that the runway is a lot wider and out of my peripheral vision I see nothing but runway but I get the altitude just right and find myself rolling along on the mains, nose high, with a little power in and not even a squeak out of the tires. I find myself wondering if I've landed. I pull the power out, the nose comes down and I get off the runway pretty quickly, tower directs me to call ground. After landing tasks complete, call ground, taxi to the GA ramp no issues. It pays to have a good airport diagram at these large airports.
The FBO, Northstar Aviation, sends out the gas truck and is busy calling for a cab when I walk in. This is much better service than the last time I came here.
Karen, my wife, had the great idea that I fly in a golf shirt and take along my dress shirt, tie and sport coat. This was a wonderful idea as the work clothes are fresh for the meting as compared to the golf shirt.
Quick cab ride to the Providence office. Business meeting goes well. An associate taking an airliner back to Philadelphia gives me a ride back to the airport. Take care of business at the FBO walk out to the Mooney. I note that it has been moved and I double check the nose gear trunnion - which is fine.
I pack up the Mooney with my biz stuff and this is when I find a lone stick of Juicy Fruit left by one of my boys some time long ago. Feeling the need for a stick of gum I pop it in my mouth - it is just about as fresh as it came from the factory. :<)
Weather for the ride home has clouds at 3,500 nearby but 5,000'ish along my route home. I want to go as high as I can to beat the heat and the bumps associated with the rising hot air.
As I start the engine I notice they are using 5 for departures. This is a long taxi from the GA ramp but by the time I get ATIS, call clearance delivery and start talking to ground they have switched to 23. 23 is a real easy taxi and I'm in line to depart behind a Cessna 4 series mini airliner twin.
Bumpy on departure from the heat and a bit of wind but by about 3,000 feet it is not too bad. As I climb to 4,500 I can see that I'm gonna be close to the clouds reportedly at 5,000. By the time I get to NY approach I have to descend. I go down to 2,900 as slowly as I think NY approach will tolerate. I pick that altitude as it is below the 3,000 for hemispherical cruise altitude rules. Yea, yea, I know its 3,000 AGL but this is fine point is not something you can really debate with NY approach on a busy frequency.
At 2,900 the ride is pretty bumpy and I have to go to 21 inches of manifold pressure and 2,300 RPMs to bring the airspeed indicator out of the yellow arc.
After about 10 miles the clouds are gone, I can go back to 4,500 for the rest of the flight home. I push the go faster knobs forward and pitch for climb. At this altitude the ride is still a little bumpy but better. I decide to run at 23 squared which is just inside the yellow arc. NY approach warns me that they've vectored a heavy over top of me at 5,000. The pilot of the heavy feels it required to warn me not to climb any higher and the ATCer says something in response that goes along the lines of "Duh, he's not gonna go any higher.". The heavy passes behind and above, obviously without incident.
Soon enough I'm talking to Allentown and then Philadelphia approach. The twin nuke tower are visible in the haze. Uneventful landing and after putting the plane in the hanger I talk to one of my neighbors who is building an RV for a bit.
So, in conclusion....door (my house) to door (meeting room) it took me under 3.5 hours to make it to the presentation. My associate from Philadelphia had to leave the day before and stay overnight to make the meeting via airliner. All told her expenses will be significantly greater than what I turn in on an expense report. My airplane was pushed back into my hanger at about the same time has her flight coming home was pushing back from the gate. Oh and I got to carry my 1.5 inch pen knife along for the ride.
Len
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