The saga continues......and you all thought I'd made it home!
Well, I did, but I'm at it again. I cut the last trip short, so I'm making up for it by doing another one, this time to southern California. I was having so much fun blogging my last trip that I thought, what the heck? I might as well continue it. At least I'm not wasting any trees, and no one has to read it.
So, I took off from PUW yesterday morning at 0630, headed to PSP (Palm Springs). What a contrast to the start of the last trip! Smooth as glass to Ely, NV. Saw a new forest fire in southern Idaho, and reported it to FSS. They said they'd gotten a report about an hour before and had notified the fire people, and there was no TFR. I got right over it (it was under the airway), and saw two aircraft, a helicopter painted in emergency colors and what looked like a spotter plane. Called FSS back and told them about the aircraft, and they said they'd call Center, which issues the TFRs.
Landed in Ely after a tanker helicopter (Skycrane outfitted with a huge tank and a giant hose) and I both started turning final from opposite directions and he said "ladies first". I told him that I knew helicopter pilots were gentlemen because I married one. It was an impressive machine. Nice folks.
Took off from Ely and called to open my flight plan and get an update on weather and fire TFRs in the St. George area. A chance remark from the briefer led to a new and useful bit of knowledge--when you file through DUATS, it doesn't give them your proposed routing, so they think it's direct. If you file for search and rescue (which I do), that's pretty important to know! So I said, no, I'm not going direct, that would be through a bunch of hot MOAs. He said, "which ones?" I told him. He said, "why don't you call Nellis approach?" I mumbled something about not wanting to share airspace with fighters and filed for the original routing.
By that time, however, I could see weather over my proposed route, whereas there was a big hole where I'd go if I went direct. Called Nellis Approach. They couldn't have been nicer. Gave me a squawk code and promised to keep the jet jockeys away from me.
Cruisin' along and the thunderheads are growing, as per usual. Called FlightWatch at a propitious moment, and they wanted me to break off and go west, young woman. Well, west was into some restricted airspace that I also knew was active, but it looked like I could cut west after I got past that space and over Las Vegas. They weren't real happy with that idea; weather NW of Las Vegas, though it didn't look all that bad to me, and there was a big hole in the direction I was going, so I thanked them and signed off.
By the time I got into the LV basin, I saw what they meant. Huge, dark, ugly--I mean UGLY--thunderstorm over the Spring Mountains. But it wasn't moving, and was likely to stay over the mountains 'cause that's what these desert Tstorms often do, and there was still a big hole to the SW on my planned route (this was plan C, though...plan A was to avoid the MOAs, plan B was to head to a VOR south of LV and then west, so plan C was to head SW from Vegas). Airliners asking for deviations all over the place.
Handed off to LV approach, and they said "the airlines seem to be taking V394" and I said "that was my intention, too". OK. So I'm skirting the western edge of the LV Class B (actually above it, though), heading toward an intersection with V394. Cell starting to develop off my right wing, but no biggie (BTW--don't forget I learned to fly and to this day have still done most of my flying in southern Arizona, so I'm REAL familiar with how these things look and behave and when to worry and when not to worry, so I wasn't doing anything dangerous). LV asks me about the cell, and I tell them that it looks like it's starting to precipitate, and they say OK. Hand me off to LA Center.
Cruisin' along. Big cell just south of me, with intense rain and lightning, but I'm just under the edge in the clear, and it's CAVU to the north (in the restricted areas) and ahead. Incidentally, the air is smooth throughout this phase--it is an oddity of desert flying that it is often smoothest in between and near thunderstorm cells, but bumpy as heck from thermals when it's clear, and that's what I experienced.
Almost nicked the extreme NW corner of a restricted area (oops!), but LA kindly waved me off. Air a bit bumpy, but not too bad, and surprisingly cool.
Then the descent into h..., er, PSP. About 6500' I get knocked about pretty good by thermals, then below that it's actually smoother but hotter than the hubs of Hades. Like I needed reminding of why I moved to Idaho.
PSP approach, which presumably shares the tower cab with the tower controller, has vectored me for 13R, and hands me off to tower. Me: "Palm Springs Tower, Cessna 4822D, 5000', descending". Tower: "State your intentions!!!" Huh? Me: "I was being vectored for 13R, landing Palm Springs, parking at Signature." Tower: "Cleared to land 13R." I continue for landing, rather mystified about how, among all the controllers I'd just been working with, he uniquely did not know my destination was PSP, or if he knew it, what the heck he thought my intentions could possibly once I arrived at PSP other than to land. Right before landing, I hear him snap, unjustifiably, at another plane. Hm. Musta gotten out of the wrong side of bed.
Signature was great. Treated me like a Citation. Very nice folks. I'm dyin' from the heat.
My colleague shows up with air conditioned car, and with a few hours before our dinner, I try out the pool. Aaaah!
Take off from PSP this morning, hoping to impress my colleague (who'd flown down on the airlines because he has to leave this gig earlier than I do, and will fly out from LAX tomorrow) with the busyness of the LA airspace and the cool professionalism of this ace pilot in handling the workload.
Tower (not the same guy) clears me for TO, and they know I'm going to Fullerton. So I'm expecting a handoff to departure. Nothing. Skywest ready to takeoff. Nothing. Ground vehicle 214 needs permission to do something. Nothing. I call again. Skywest calls again. Ground vehicle calls again. I'm getting closer to the mountains, no handoff to departure, no turning instructions, what the heck is going on? Finally, Tower comes on. "My headset wasn't working". Yeah, right. Probably unplugged himself reaching for his coffee.
I get the handoff, and shortly thereafter, departure dumps me into nothingness--I'd asked for flight following. OK, I can handle this. Start calling the closest frequency (March approach) on the TAC. No answer. Hm. Maybe March is closed for the day--it happens, your tax dollars at work. Call SoCal approach frequency on the chart. No answer. Call the SoCal approach frequency published for PSP. No answer. Check plugs and cables and switches. Everything fine. Call PSP departure back. "Yeah, you're in no-man's land, that's why we dump you. Try 119.65." OK. Is 119.65 published on any of the relevant charts and publications? Nooooooo. Oh well, no problem. They answer, everything's copacetic.
Copacetic.......and dead. Where is everyone? SoCal frequencies are dead as doorknobs. No chance to show off my ace pilot skills in handling fast and furious communication. Who'da thunk it?
This reminds me of one time when I was flying United to Chicago and was listening to the cockpit communications. I'd just started working on my instrument rating, and was very interested in hearing how the approaches were all being integrated into ORD. This was back when they still collected the headsets toward the end of the flight, and I asked the flight attendant if I could keep mine and why. She asked the captain, and he said OK, so I got to listen. There was NOTHING happening. We could have been the only airplane approaching ORD for all the communication I heard. I commented on it to the captain when I deplaned, and he said, "Yeah we were laughing about that. We've never heard it that quiet." So much for an IFR learning experience. But I digress.
Landed at FUL, got to our meeting, nice lunch and tour of the plant, found hotel. Flirted briefly with the idea of going to Disneyland (it's about 4 miles away), but hey, I'm on duty and it's not enough time anyway.
Tonight we couldn't line up a dinner with any of our alumni, so I'm having dinner with Jeff Oslick of this very board (and the CPA web forum) and his wife. Indian food! Yum!
Judy
