Father's Day four hundred

Plane: Cessna 182 RG 
Route: MGY-LBE-MGY
Weather - MGY: Clear, 81 degrees, wind light and variable
Weather - LBE: Scattered clouds, 80 degrees, wind 260 degrees at 8 knots
Weather - MGY: Scattered clouds, 91 degrees, wind light and variable

Today was Father's Day, which meant I had more sway than usual in deciding what to do. What better way to spend some time with the family than a $100 hamburger run? Even better, the increased speed and range of the new plane meant we had many more options to choose from.

Pilot friend Chris and I were talking last week and me a superb recommendation - DeNunzio's in Latrobe, PA. They have an absolutely great spread for brunch every Sunday and today was no exception. It would have taken ~10 hours round trip had we driven all the way there from home. But by plane it's only about 1.5 hours each way.

We arrived at Wright Brothers about 8:55 and got the plane ready. The propeller was providing much-needed airflow in the humid morning air around 9:10. After completing the pre-takeoff checks, I taxied onto Runway 20 and by 9:20 we were pointed eastward, climbing to 7,500 feet.

On our way to Pennsylvania for brunch

Once we leveled off, we let Mariella enjoy the view a bit

Remnants of yesterday's weather moving away to the south 

She was quite happy as usual this morning

The air was cool and smooth and traffic was light so I decided to not call ATC for flight following this morning. Instead, we just cruised along, enjoying the view and relative peace and quiet. Mariella does ok with the earplugs and headset but she does still rip them off from time to time. Thankfully Gina was in the back to tend to her and put them back on.

We skirted the south edge of Pittsburgh's Class B airspace

Crossing the Ohio River near Wheeling

Mariella appears to be fascinated by the view from above

I'd been checking the weather near Latrobe since before takeoff. It was originally IFR/MVFR but forecast to rapidly improve. As we got closer, there were still broken clouds in the area per both nearby AWOS and METARs from ADS-B. I had Gina put Mariella back in her car seat before we started descending.

By the time we were ~30 miles away I really wasn't sure where the clouds has broken up but there were fewer holes below us. I knew we would have clearance under them (and the skies were slowly clearing - we wouldn't be trapped under them later) so I made two 360 degree turns while descending to get through a large open area near Rostraver Airport (FWQ).

We were also near the edge of Pittsburgh's Class Bravo airspace until we descended below 4,000 feet so I made sure to remain just south as we circled down. I saw a few planes in the pattern at Rostraver but we were well above pattern altitude. Once below the clouds, it got more hazy and humid as expected but the ride was good.

Clouds beginning to form as we crossed into Pennsylvania

Below the scattered clouds about 10-15 miles from Latrobe

I turned back east toward Latrobe and within a minute or two it was clear the clouds were much more scattered in that direction. In hindsight, I could have easily flown another 5-10 miles and descended right through the large gaps between them. So it goes sometimes.

Having already listened to the ATIS, I called Palmer Tower about 12 miles out and was cleared to enter a right downwind for Runway 24. I lowered the flaps to 10 degrees (the approach setting in the 182 RG) and reduced power to slow to about 120 knots. It took a while to spot the airport as it was behind a low hill as we approached from the west.

Passing just south of Greenburg, PA

Arnold Palmer Regional Airport in Latrobe, PA

As the airport came into sight, I slowed a bit more and made sure everything was secure. Turning right downwind, I called the tower and was cleared to land. Midfield, gear down, three green. Abeam the numbers, carb heat on, reduce to 1500 RPM, trim for 80.

Turning base I looked over my shoulder I thought I'd overshot final. Continuing the turn, I quickly realized I'd inadvertently looked back at the now-closed Runway 21 that sits just off of Runway 24. That reminded me of when I initially lined up for the wrong runway in Columbus, IN years ago. I immediately corrected by aligning myself back for Runway 24. Over the numbers, I reduced power to idle and landed on both mains then bounced slightly before settling down for the "real" landing. Not my best, but not terrible.

Tower cleared us to taxi to the ramp, where a golf cart was waiting to lead us to parking. I shut down, we all climbed out, and then the line guy asked where we were going. "Brunch," I said. "Do you have a reservation? They're usually sold out." Hmmm. Uh oh?

We had some good daddy-daughter time at DeNunzio's

Thankfully, despite the tables indeed being completely full and 100% reserved, they have some seating in the bar area. A high top isn't ideal for a toddler but we made it work. And the spread was indeed delicious - bacon, eggs, waffles, french toast, breakfast pizza, biscuits and gravy, shrimp scampi, pork chops, stuffed chicken, polenta with sausage, pierogies, and a whole pile of desserts. Plus numerous other things I didn't even mention!

Mariella absolutely downed the shrimp (she's a big fan these days) and we all stuffed our stomachs. Gina and I took turns getting up with Mariella to walk around the airport terminal since she understandably doesn't like to sit still now that she knows how to walk. In total, we were there about two hours by the time I paid the bill.

There were two Blackhawk helicopters on the ramp; their crews were also in the restaurant enjoying brunch. One of the pilots came over and said hi when they were leaving and asked where we were from. Turns out they were out of the ANG unit in Wilmington, DE. In my opinion, Latrobe has to be one of their more delicious training destinations!

I had the FBO add 5 gallons of 100LL while we were eating. We didn't need fuel (we had only consumed ~20 gallons of the 88 on board) but any fuel purchase waived the $10 landing fee. Well, in that case, go right ahead and add a little Avgas.

The sky had been clearing as we ate and the clouds were scattered by the time we departed. We were cleared for takeoff and rolling down Runway 24 at 1:33. As I turned on course as cleared, I found a nice large gap between the clouds and used it to climb direct to 8,500 feet.

Climbing through the scattered clouds after takeoff

Mariella was asleep within minutes

Gina was also pretty tired - she didn't last much longer ;-)

Level at 8,500 feet I could see a couple storm cells far, far ahead. Checking the animated radar via ADS-B I could see they were moving slowly southeast. There was a large gap between both of them so I debated flying slightly south to get ahead of them, then turning west northwest to go between. But I've never really liked the idea of flying in the direction where the weather is headed. Instead, I decided to fly northwest and come around behind the cells.

Storms east of Columbus from about 75 miles away

Checking the radar about 15 minutes after takeoff

Now about 50 miles away from the storm cells

As we got closer, I noticed some of the scattered clouds were continuing to develop vertically in the warm, humid air. I climbed to 10,500 feet to prevent having to fly between them and to maintain better forward visibility. The storm cells continued to grow in intensity, though they remained distinct cells. I started picking up some lightning strikes on the Stormscope, too.

Watching the radar as we flew north around the storms

One big advantage of having ADS-B onboard presented itself this afternoon - being able to see what's behind what you see out the windows. I certainly didn't need radar on my iPad to tell me there were a couple large storms out there to avoid. They're hard to miss. But what it did show were the additional cells developing behind the ones I could see. That let me plan ahead. I knew in advance we'd continue west after we passed the big cell before turning back on course.

A closer view of both cells we were avoiding

About 15 miles away from the largest cell

Passing north of the thunderstorm

The air was completely clear behind the large storm cell

We remained far enough away from the storm that the air remained calm. It was really cool to see how it had cleared out everything in its path - as soon as we passed behind the storm, all the clouds disappeared below. Looking ahead, I could see that additional, smaller cell that we needed to clear before turning back on course to Wright Brothers. I also spotted more scattered clouds rising up to our altitude.

It was hard to tell how far the clouds extended along our route and the METARs ahead were mixed (some said broken clouds) so I figured, once again, it was probably best to descend below them. That meant the final leg of the flight would be much warmer, but I knew we'd have no issues making it home. I initially descended to 6,500 feet but there were still a few clouds and I ended up descending all the way down to 4,500 feet.

Passing north of the smaller storm cell

Passing Ohio State University Airport northwest of Columbus

Mariella remained asleep almost the entire flight home

Other than dealing with more traffic (it's always a fun exercise to try and spot the traffic you see on ADS-B; it always points out more than you ever seem to notice with your own eyes!) and the increased humidity, the rest of the flight was uneventful. Gina was asleep until about when I made my initial radio call as we approached Wright Brothers. At that point, I was descending to 2,000 feet and we were about 5 miles away.

Greene County Airport - they just extended the runway 

I entered the pattern on a 45 for a left downwind to Runway 20. We had the airport to ourselves as I configured for landing and touched down softly (no bounce this time!) just past 3:20. Gina said Mariella woke up just before landing. I was sort of hoping I'd manage to land softly enough that she was still asleep when shut down in front of the hangar... maybe someday!

She wanted to help pack up after we landed

Even with the diversions around the weather the flight home was only about 1:45. We had a wonderful brunch and really took advantage of the 182's speed and range. As Chris mentioned, I'm thinking DeNunzio's may be the perfect meetup location for him, us, and Gary in his beautiful new bird. We're long-overdue for one.

I also hit yet another milestone today. On the way home, I logged my 400th hour. While I clearly haven't always maintained a steady pace filling up the logbook, I'm very happy to be continuing to fill it. Here's to the next 400 - hopefully I get there in under a decade this time!

Flight Track: Google Earth KMZ File 
Today's Flight: 4.0 hours
Total Time: 401.1 hours

Breakfast, PIREPs, blue skies, and a hood

Plane: Cessna 182 RG 
Route: MGY-PCW-MGY 
Instructor: Matt
Weather - MGY: Clear, 70 degrees, wind 220 degrees at 10 knots
Weather - PCW: Clear, 68 degrees, wind 240 degrees at 13 knots

We've spent a good bit of time tooling around the local area as I've been learning the new plane; today was an opportunity to let the Skylane take us where she really shines - covering lots of ground, quickly. Our plan this morning was to fly up to Port Clinton for breakfast at the Tin Goose Diner. I had never been, despite many recommendations from pilot friends and fellow bloggers. Both Dave and Chris have raved about it for years!

It truly was a spectacular morning to fly

I'd called the airport last night to have them top the plane off, so we had 88 gallons on board - more than enough to get there and back and then do it all over again had we wanted to. Sidenote here: being able to call someone and have the plane fueled and ready whenever I arrive at the hangar may be the best part of this whole club thing. Everything checked out during my preflight and we took off on Runway 20 shortly before 9:00.

The sky was totally clear, visibility unrestricted, and we had a mild tailwind. What more can you ask for? Once I'd leveled off and engaged the autopilot (perhaps the second-best part of the plane) Matt and I chatted about ADS-B for a bit. Then he suggested I file a PIREP. Long story short, the system still works and I remember how to negotiate it! It took a couple different frequencies and a little patience but eventually we had a clear connection with Cleveland Radio and I was able to provide the CAVU conditions along with the temperature and winds aloft.

Hey, my PIREP made it into the system!

This plane, as advertised, does a darn fine job moving one from Point A to Point B. It only took a few minutes over an hour to get from Wright Brothers to Port Clinton; to drive would have taken about three. As I descended from 5,500 feet to pattern altitude, we were scooting across the ground at over 220 mph even with the throttle pulled back.

163 knots = nearly 190 mph across the ground - that'll do!

Entering the downwind for Runway 27, I dropped the landing gear and kept slowing the plane. By the time I turned final I was at about 80 knots and I lowered the flaps to 30 degrees. The wind was blowing well about 30 degrees off the runway heading so I was active on the controls all the way down. I touched down just slightly skewed but overall it was a decent landing.

Breakfast was indeed quite tasty. Matt had eggs and French toast and I opted for the country fried steak, which hit the spot. We talked about instrument flying and filed an IFR flight plan for the trip home so I could get some experience in the system.

This place definitely notched a spot on my $100 hamburger list

Just after takeoff, I put on my hood while Matt called Cleveland Approach for the initial ATC check-in. I hand-flew through our turn on course and climb to 8,000 feet, then leveled off, trimmed the plane out, and leaned the mixture while making a few more radio calls and taking a handoff to Mansfield Approach. As expected, it's easy to get fixated on things and I caught my altitude and heading wandering a few times when I stopped constantly scanning the instruments. Still, within a few minutes, I wasn't doing terrible.

Wearing every pilot's favorite accessory

A bit later, Matt had me engage the autopilot again so we could talk through the approach plates. We discussed them in general, then loaded the anticipated approach into the GPS (this plane has a Garmin 430W) and continued discussing how everything would be used as we approached Dayton. I'm not completely unfamiliar with instrument procedures, having flown as a safety pilot numerous times, but I also haven't ever officially started my instrument training. In other words, it's all valiable learning and I'll soak up every bit of advice I can.

On that last point, I made a pretty boneheaded mistake not long after takeoff. In a very VFR habit, a couple minutes after takeoff I clicked the direct-to button on the GPS and re-selected MGY, then activated the route. Normally, that makes sense, as you want to go straight to your destination. But in IFR land, it's very bad to stray from your assigned route (in our case, direct PCW to MGY - not direct 3 miles SW of PCW to MGY) for obvious ATC-expects-planes-to-be-where-they're-cleared-to-be-especially-when-in-the-clouds reasons.

Approaching Dayton, the controllers gave us stepped descents, first to 6,000 feet then 4,000 and eventually 3,000 to the initial approach fix. I was back hand-flying at this point. Matt did a great job explaining how the CDI's needle sensitivity would increase as we got closer to the airport. We had both horizontal and vertical guidance as we were flying the LPV RNAV Runway 20 approach. I lowered the landing gear and 10 degrees of flaps, slowing the plane to about 90 knots after we passed the initial approach fix. By the final approach fix, I had 20 degrees of flaps in and was aiming for about 80 knots.

I don't yet have any speed/power settings memorized for the plane, which will certainly help during instrument training. That meant I was adjusting the power more than usual until I got everything stabilized. Matt continued to talk me through the approach and, despite starting to veer off course a few times, it worked out reasonably well. When we reached the missed approach point and he told me to look outside the runway was right in front of us. I pulled the power back and bled off my aispeed, landing a little long but otherwise well back on Runway 20.

In today's episode of "yep, that's an early instrument student's approach"

This was another great day of training and I continue to get more comfortable with the plane. Even with a headwind, it was still only about 1:10 on the return flight. This plane is going to be a wonderful tool for quickly getting lots of places with the family!

It was also a nice segway into a bit of instrument training. I still need 4 more hours in the plane to appease the club's insurance company, so I suspect some of that will be under the hood. While I'm not sure when I'll fully dive into the IR training to get the rating, that day is getting closer. To truly realize the utility of this plane on trips, I certainly need the rating.

Flight Track: Google Earth KMZ File 
Today's Flight: 2.8 hours
Total Time: 385.1 hours

Lunch with the in-laws, assisted by ADS-B

Plane: Cessna 172
Route: 40I-S24-MGY-40I
Weather - 40I: Few clouds, 88 degrees, wind 040 degrees at 3 knots
Weather - S24: Few clouds, 88 degrees, wind light and variable
Weather - MGY: Scattered clouds and thunderstorms, 78 degrees, wind 150 degrees at 8 knots

My travel schedule hasn't calmed down one bit (I just spent most of the week in South Dakota) but we actually were home this entire weekend - something of a rarity these days. Accordingly, I couldn't just stay in Dayton; we decided to fly north to meet the in-laws for lunch! The weather forecast wasn't perfect and called for some afternoon pop-up thunderstorms in the humid summer air but it looked totally flyable. It would also be the perfect opportunity to test out my new FlightBox ADS-B before embarking on longer cross-country trips.

It was a straight shot there with a few deviations on the way home

I researched restaurants and airports that were a reasonable distance for both us via 172 and the in-laws driving down from the Detroit area. We narrowed it down to a few spots near Port Clinton (PCW) until I got a briefing and discovered there was a TFR for their annual airshow. Preflight planning, folks - it's important! :) So I did a little more searching and found a little spot in Clyde, OH. It's a small town along US-20 that we used to always drive through on our way to my grandparents' when I was a kid, so I thought it would be neat to return by air.

This dude was chilling on the right wing throughout my preflight

We took off from Stewart around 1:45 for the roughly 1:15 flight north. As I leveled off at 5,500 feet it was rather neat to see all the traffic around us in ForeFlight. I also pulled up the NEXRAD radar and used it to keep close tabs on a line of storms moving slowly towards our destination. It appeared we'd arrive in plenty of time but I planned to divert to an airport along the way (likely Seneca County / 16G in Tiffin) if the window started closing.

Sidenote - I spent the better part of the past month playing around with every EFB application that supports Stratux devices. At this point I've tried FlyQ, WingX, Aerovie, FltPlan Go, iFly GPS, and Garmin Pilot. I intentionally avoided ForeFlight at the beginning since I'm not fond of their lack of official open-source support, nor their pricing model, even though it's clearly favored by many pilots. Aerovie has some of the best weather and planning tools I've come across but it's just not quite as polished as ForeFlight - for now, at least. So, in the end, I'll openly admit that I've found ForeFlight to be the most polished, easiest to use EFB in the cockpit - and they've earned my dollars and support.

Traffic in the area after departing from Stewart

Ok, back to today's trip... we descended towards the airport and I called in on the CTAF between 5 and 10 miles out. Another plane was departing and I spotted him both out the window and on the iPad's screen thanks to the ADS-B traffic display. I entered the pattern and landed quite smoothly on Runway 24. The in-laws were waiting by the door to the FBO; we waved, tied down the plane (the aforementioned storms were approaching), and headed in to say hello.

Lunch was at a TripAdvisor / Yelp recommendation - the Blue Collar Bistro. Unfortunately, their air conditioning wasn't working and it was nearly 90 degrees outside so we got the food to go. We took it back to the airport and all enjoyed catching up and stuffing our faces in their convenient kitchen area while the winds picked up and it briefly rained outside. Everything was delicious - salad, wings, sandwiches, brisket, pizza, and their take on a parfait that's a mishmash of mashed potatoes, chicken, cheese, and homemade BBQ sauce. 

I had been keeping a close eye on the weather and decided it was probably best we get going before more cells flared up along the route home. The cell that passed over Clyde was long gone, the temperature had dropped 10 degrees, and we had CAVU blue skies when I began my preflight sometime after 5:00. We departed on Runway 6 and I waved the wings goodbye as we climbed straight out before turning right on course.

I was quite glad to have in-cockpit radar for the return!

Elliot's Landing (O74) - still need to stop in for some grub at the Plaza Inn

Gina has a habit of taking a nap at cruise altitudes :)

While the radar I posted above may look ominous, visibility was great and the cells were easily visible from at least 20-40 miles away. They weren't moving particularly fast and we were able to fly direct Stewart until well inside Dayton's (well, technically, Columbus Approach's) airspace. I was receiving flight following and the controller and I were talking about the severe cell over Stewart for quite a while. Both he and I thought it would be well east by the time we arrived.

Skirting east of a buildup forming north of Dayton

Another favorite local $100 hamburger destination - Urbana Grimes (I74)

Wright Patterson Air Force Base

US Air Force Museum with WPAFB in the background

However, it just sat there... and sat there... and sat there. From the ForeFlight screenshots alone you can see it was essentially in place for at least 45 minutes based on the timestamps and the fact that it was still there when we landed at Wright Brothers. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

The controller turned me slightly SW to avoid Dayton's departures and keep me away from the storm. Then he suggested I fly east (even though the cell was moving very slowly east) to come around from the south where it was clear. I didn't like that plan and instead told him I'd continue west where it was already clear; we'd head towards Wright Brothers and land there if necessary.

There was still quite a storm SW of Dayton

We flew west of the storm - there was visible lightning coming out of this cloud

The cell refused to move, so we diverted to MGY

Turning to enter the pattern at Dayton - Wright Brothers (MGY)

The same controller came back a few minutes later and noted (not that this wasn't obvious outside our windows!) that the cell was still over Stewart and asked what I would like to do. I told him that Wright Brothers was in the clear and in sight, so he told us to squawk VFR, I thanked him for the help, and we continued our descent towards MGY.

As we descended I spotted some large lightning bolts on the west edge of the cell - and quickly turned right to put a little more space between us and the electricity. We hit a few bumps as we continued down, quite mild really, but that got me mentally formulating Plan C. I decided to fly further west and level at 2,000 feet (pattern altitude) before turning back east to enter the pattern. The AWOS was indicating 9-11 knot winds and the storm was clearly past the airport, but I decided that I would immediately abort landing and fly to Middletown (MWO) if we encountered any strange gusts, bumps, or shear as I came in to land.

Turns out the AWOS wasn't lying; as I entered on the 45 for Runway 2, turned downwind, and descended on short final, I didn't run into any unanticipated winds - not even the anticipated usual burbles over the trees. We taxied over to ASI and the friendly line staff came out to see if we needed anything. I said we were just waiting out the storm and they said no problem. We went inside to relax in their lounge for a few as I continued to watch the weather.

At least it was a scenic wait on the ground

Conveniently, pilot friends Tommy and Sarah were at Stewart this evening and they texted me weather updates. Shortly after they told me it finally cleared up we climbed back into 14L and I taxied out, this time to Runway 20. In those 30 minutes on the ground, the wind had completely shifted - as it often does when a storm passes by.

Back on the ground at Stewart after the storm finally pushed east

In under 10 minutes, we were on the ground again, landing on Runway 8. I didn't fly a normal pattern but instead entered on a long left base, staying well clear of the weather that still wasn't all that far east of the airport. I should note here that those figures in your POH about landing on wet grass are no joke - it was extremely noticeable how much longer it took the 172 to slow down after we touched down immediately after a heavy rainfall.

This was a great day of knocking much mental rust off. I've finally flown enough this year, with enough recently, that I feel pretty much back to normal in the mechanics of flight department. But having to make weather decisions, diversions, and being able to utilize in-cockpit traffic and weather definitely upped my cranial competency.

Flying to meet the in-laws for a nice lunch is always cool, too!

Flight Track: Google Earth KMZ File 
Today's Flight: 3.1 hours
Total Time: 357.6 hours