A beautiful morning to fly up north

Plane: Cessna 182 RG 
Route: OZW-BFA 
Weather - OZW: Clear, 63 degrees, wind 070 degrees at 11 knots gusting to 14
Weather - BFA: Clear, 60 degrees, wind 110 degrees at 10 knots gusting to 17

After getting out of Dayton ahead of some weather last night, I awoke to a beautiful morning in Michigan. I had breakfast and talked with my dad for a bit, took a shower, and then he drove me down the road to the airport. Once the plane was loaded and I completed my pre-flight, we said goodbye and I taxied over to the fuel pumps.

First learning of the day. It's seemingly obvious, but I didn't actually think about how much longer it takes to fill up the Skylane! For the most part, I've flown the 172 and have never had to pump more than about 30 gallons. Well the 182 holds 88 gallons and I took off half-full last night; she took 61 gallons this morning.

It was a little windy and gusty on the field as I taxied to the end of Runway 13. I did my runup and the final pre-takeoff checks, then taxied onto the runway. Full throttle applied and I was quickly accelerating down the concrete at 10:23.

Second learning of the day. I raised the nose into the sky and was gaining altitude when all of a sudden I noticed the airspeed indicator was precipitously slow and going lower. But I was still gaining altitude quickly and the engine gauges looked normal. Fly the airplane. I did lower the nose a bit (out of instinct, I'd say) as I tried to figure out what was going on. Within about 15 seconds I realized the alternate static source knob didn't lock in position when I checked it before takeoff; I closed and secured it and the airspeed indicator immediately jumped back up over 100 knots, about 15-20 knots faster than my normal climb speed. With everything back to normal, I raised the gear and flaps and turned on course.

Comfortably cruising up north at 155 knots

A big wind farm just west of Midland

I leveled at 4,500 feet as the winds were less favorable any higher. On course for Boyne, I contacted Detroit Approach for flight following. They almost immediately handed me off to Flint, who later handed me off to Saginaw. Instead of passing me along to Minneapolis Center, the controller just cut me loose somewhere north of Midland / Bay City.

Houghton Lake - Roscommon County Airport (HTL) is on the east side

Higgins Lake had incredible color today

It didn't take long to cover the ~160 nautical miles to Boyne. The winds were even gustier up north but thankfully they weren't a direct crosswind. As I descended and approached the airport, the only other traffic in the pattern was a Chinook, presumably from the nearby Camp Grayling.

In the pattern at Boyne - you can see the whole resort behind the runway

As I turned final, the plane was getting tossed around a bit. That increased more on short final due to, I assume, the wind blowing over the mountain next to the airport. I wrestled the plane down just fine, however, and touched down smoothly on Runway 17 around 11:30.

It only took a minute to taxi to the corner of the tarmac, shut the plane down, and secure it for the next couple nights. Scott's friend Paul, who organized the bachelor party, picked me up right at the airplane, we loaded my clubs into his car, and we were on the golf course by noon.

Once again, GA turned an otherwise long trip into a quick, enjoyable flight. Slightly over an hour in the air compared to 3 1/2 by road. Sure, I left a day early and stayed overnight on the way, but I still maintain it's a great way to travel!

Flight Track: Google Earth KMZ File 
Today's Flight: 1.2 hours
Total Time: 392.3 hours

Bugging out of Dayton to beat the weather

Plane: Cessna 182 RG 
Route: MGY-OZW
Weather - MGY: Broken clouds, 80 degrees, wind 070 degrees at 8 knots
Weather - OZW: Clear, 70 degrees, wind 040 degrees at 9 knots gusting to 16

I'm heading up to Boyne Mountain, MI this weekend for my future brother-in-law's bachelor party. The plan had been to fly up tomorrow in one simple straight shot. But I made the very last-minute call to bug out this afternoon, and I'm glad I did.

All week I've been watching the weather remain strange and somewhat uncooperative - a weak front has hung in the region for days, with regular scattered storms and hot, humid air. This weekend more moisture is pushing in and, over the past day, the forecast visibilities and ceilings have seriously deteriorated for tomorrow. Then I saw storms forming late this afternoon and decided at about 15:30 that I needed to leave right away if I wanted to fly at all.

So I finished packing, headed to the airport, loaded the plane, gave it a thorough pre-flight, pulled it out of the hangar, parked my car in the hangar, closed up the hanger, and started the engine. I was in the air off Runway 2 by 16:45. A thunderstorm was over the airport by 17:15.

Flying over Dayton Int'l - note the storms I was avoiding to the southeast

I called Columbus Approach for flight following right away so I could enter Dayton's airspace. I initially leveled at 4,500 feet to stay below the clouds (and that's the altitude the controller gave me) and the air was reasonably smooth considering thunderstorms were in the area. I hit a few good bumps, but all in all had no issues. Originally I flew a bit west of course to stay behind a cell that was moving west and remain far in front of the larger cell moving in from the east. By the time I was over DAY all the significant weather was behind me; I climbed up to my cruise altitude of 5,500 feet and turned back on course to OZW.

Nothing but clear, storm-free skies ahead!

Looking back towards the nasty weather I beat out of town

The line of storms I successfully beat out of town

Still learning the new plane, I decided to experiment with a few different power settings that are in the POH. I settled on 2100 RPM and 23" of manifold pressure this evening as a pretty good balance between speed, noise, and fuel burn. Despite a 20+ knot headwind for much of the trip, I was still seeing 140-145 knots over the ground.

Making 141 knots at 2100 RPM and 23" MP

Passing about 10 miles east of Grand Lake St. Marys

The sky was totally clear after about Lima, just a little haze in the distance but that was well beyond 25 miles in any direction. Columbus handed me off to Toledo Approach. He didn't sound too busy so I have him a PIREP at one point, mostly because I thought it would be nice to confirm the winds aloft as calculated by the Garmin 430 were pretty close to the forecast I was seeing in ForeFlight via ADS-B. And, well, I know that meteorologists like to receive every data point they can!

My first winds aloft calculation, west of Findlay

 These were about the strongest I calculated, southwest of Toledo

The winds began to subside (just as forecast) after I crossed into MI

Toledo Approach handed me off to Detroit Approach, which was a little busier but still relatively quiet on this Thursday evening. I passed over the Chrysler Proving Grounds near Chelsea and began my descent down to 2,000 feet. About 10 miles away from Livingston County I let Detroit know I had the airport in sight and they cut me loose.

There was one other plane, a Diamond, in the pattern when I approached, and he was using Runway 13. Had he not been there, I probably would have picked Runway 31 as I was already positioned to enter the left downwind; instead I crossed midfield to follow the Diamond. The winds were directly across the runway and gusty, certainly the strongest crosswind I've landed the Skylane in to date.

I'm happy to report all the training has paid off - controlling the plane through a few good bumps and burbles on short final, I touched down softly just past 18:00 on the left main, then the right, and then the nose wheel. It was honestly one of my better landings in the plane so far, period. After a quick taxi I pulled into a tiedown and shut down the engine. It was only 1.5 clock hours after I pulled the plane out of the hangar and started the engine at Wright Brothers.

Safely parked and tied down at Livingston County Airport in Howell, MI

My dad picked me up and we grabbed a sandwich for dinner. He lives nearby - you may recall my last couple flights to OZW were to see him. It's certainly handy to have a free place to stay near an airport that doubles as a good mid-trip stopover!

Flight Track: Google Earth KMZ File 
Today's Flight: 1.5 hours
Total Time: 391.1 hours

We're a flying family, part (one eighty) deux

Plane: Cessna 182 RG 
Route: MGY, Local 
Weather: Broken clouds, 82 degrees, wind 270 degrees at 6 knots

After spending much of the day enjoying the warm, almost-summer weather (and weeding and mowing the lawn) it appeared the forecast scattered storms were scattering away from the area. So I decided it would be the perfect opportunity to take the whole family up in the new plane for the first time! It was the first time we all flew together since Mariella's first flight last August.

She was happy before we even left the ground

One additional perk of the new club airplane is its proximity to home; we were at the airport about five minutes after leaving our house. Nobody had flown the plane since I flew her yesterday but I still did a thorough pre-flight before pulling 7YG out of the hangar. There was some rain to the west but I checked the radar on my phone again before we all climbed on board - it was no factor and we'd be back on the ground long before it arrived.

She's clearly my child given her affinity for the window seat 

I took off on Runway 20 then turned east, flying up towards Bellbrook. With no plans to fly far, I leveled at 2,500 and reduced the power to 2200 RPM and about 22" MP for a quieter, slower flight. Mariella is quite the squirmer and Gina had her hands full with her. That aside, she was quite happy and was really enjoying looking out the window.

The only thing she didn't approve of were her earmuffs. Since it was only a short flight, I wasn't too concerned. But we'll have to try using some foam earplugs (and keeping her in her carseat so it's harder for her to pull them out) on our next trip for ear protection from the engine noise.

Totally engrossed in the view from above

I'd say she was enjoying the flight

Being a complete ham as she so often is

Requisite family photo, now taken sitting above retractable gear

The sky was quite calm but I did still know some rain was off to the west. We'd only been up maybe 15 minutes as I turned south and made a quick turn over top of Stewart. Then it was direct back to Wright Brothers, which only takes a few minutes at 140 knots. I commented to Gina, and she agreed, that it's nice how much more stable the 182 is - it'll be great on trips.

Passing over my familiar turf aerodrome

We were soon on the ground after a very soft landing; the stall horn sounded just as the mains touched. I think I'm getting the hang of flying this Skylane! Within a couple minutes, we had shut down, Mariella was in her car seat in the car, and Gina helped me push the plane back into the hangar. It was really nice to take a quick family flight tonight. With this milestone out of the way, we're ready to take some trips that really take advantage of the 182's speed and range.

Today's Flight: 0.5 hours
Total Time: 389.6 hours

The Sky(lane) is all mine to explore!

Plane: Cessna 182 RG 
Route: MGY-USW-HTW-LUK-MGY 
Instructor: Matt
Weather - MGY: Clear, 68-79 degrees, wind variable at 5-8 knots
Weather - HTW: Clear, 78 degrees, wind light and variable
Weather - LUK: Partly cloudy, 82 degrees, wind 250 degrees at 5 knots

Today started with one goal - fly enough hours to complete my checkout in the club Skylane RG. At this point, it's all about making the insurance company happy, as Matt has said he's confident I can fly the airplane. I'm happy to report we did just that today; I'm now signed off to fly the plane whenever and wherever I please!

We passed over Ohio, West Virginia, and Kentucky this morning

We didn't have a specific plan and the weather to the north was not particularly conducive to small airplane flight; there were a ton of storms in the northern part of Ohio and Michigan. I've been watching the weather for the past day and it seemed the best option would be to fly south or east. It seems Matt had the same idea - he suggested we fly to Spencer, WV.

After loading the flight plan (with an intermediate fix to avoid the hot Buckeye MOA southeast of Dayton) I departed on Runway 2 and turned east. After leveling off, we chatted about avionics and ADS-B for a while. The air was calm and cool at 5,500 feet and it was a beautiful morning to fly. We loaded the RNAV Runway 10 approach and let the autopilot fly the heading while I managed our altitude. Matt talked me through some of the nuances of instrument approaches and staying ahead of this fast airplane.

I didn't slow down early enough - this is definitely something I'm still getting a feel for - so I didn't maintain the most stabilized approach into Boggs Field Airport (USW). There was another plane operating NORDO in the pattern so I braked moderately after a carrier landing to turn off midfield (there's no taxiway) and get out of his way. We shut the plane down and wandered around the empty airport for a few minutes.

We had Boggs Field Airport all to ourselves this morning

A hangar was open but the airport was otherwise deserted

The winds were still light and variable so, with the engine turning again, I taxied for departure on Runway 28. Matt made the very good point that there aren't many places to go if your engine quits in hilly West Virginia. Accordingly, I circled the field while climbing and we turned on course towards Huntingtion after we'd reached about 3,000 feet.

Boggs Field Airport, just north of Spencer, WV, after our departure

The flight down to Huntington wasn't long and the skies were still clear, if a bit hazy. We planned to land at Lawrence County Airpark, which is located just across the Ohio River from Huntington. It has a relatively short (3,000 feet) runway in fair condition (which may be a generous assessment) so it would be a good opportunity to use short field techniques.

There was a bit of haze from the hot, humid air

Landing options in an emergency became a point of discussion again as we approached Huntington. With rising hills on both sides of the river and development in between, you're in a bit of a pickle as you approach to land at HTW. At some point, you obviously have to descend, but that leaves you with very few options besides the river should something go awry. There really is no one correct answer and it was a good discussion to have.

Huntington, WV on the left bank of the Ohio River

I crossed midfield to enter a left downwind for Runway 28. With the previous discussion in mind, I remained a bit higher than usual, lowering all my flaps and managing my descent and speed by reducing power on final. I touched down not too far past the threshold and was easily able to stop in about 1,500 feet with moderate braking.

We back-taxied and departed again on Runway 28. I used a typical short field technique - full power holding the brakes, then release, keep the nose on the ground, and then rotate and climb at about 60 knots until clear of the trees on the opposite end of the runway. Clear of the obstacles, I raised the gear and flaps and Matt took the controls.

It's not every day you find an asphalt runway that needs to be mowed

Matt had me put on my hood just after takeoff. He flew the plane for a few minutes while I got that adjusted and took a look at some approach charts. We planned to fly direct FGX (Fleming-Mason Airport in Kentucky) and then to Lunken Airport in Cincinnati for a practice approach. But it became so incredibly bumpy (a bunch of clouds were suddenly forming in the hot, humid air rising over the low hills) that he instead just decided we should proceed directly to LUK.

I used the autopilot at first but started hand-flying as we were handed off to Cincinnati Approach and the controller was about to begin providing vectors for the ILS Runway 21L approach at Lunken. He turned us north, then west, and then we intercepted the ILS and began our track towards the airport. Clearly I have a long way to go before I'm a remotely competent instrument pilot, but our preparation did seem to help me on this approach.

For the most part, I didn't excessively overcorrect at any point. We crossed the initial approach fix (an ADF) and I already had the plane slow and stable enough that I could basically just start to follow the ILS down towards the runway. Near the very end I overcorrected and turned slightly off course but seconds later Matt told me to remove my hood; I lost our excess airspeed and landed smoothly on Runway 21L.

We taxied off the runway and Lunken Tower soon cleared us for takeoff in the opposite direction from Runway 3L back to Wright Brothers. It only took about 15 minutes to get back - certainly beats the hour drive. This final landing was by far my best of the day, very smooth and right on the centerline. A fitting way to end the whole long checkout process.

At the same time, I still have much to learn. While I'm far more comfortable in 7YG than I was a month ago, I know it will take some time for things to become second nature. Take for example the cowl flaps - I've never flown a plane with them before and, for the life of me, I still struggle to remember when to open and close them.

I don't think it's a shock to report I'm thrilled to be done with the checkout. Now I can take the family, friends, and coworkers flying. With a plane closer to home, in a hangar, at an airport with a paved runway and lights, the utility factor just increased a great deal. Toss in the fact it's 50% faster than anything I've flown before, she's quite the bird.

Here's to many great trips in the sky in the Skylane RG.

Flight Track: Google Earth KMZ File 
Today's Flight: 4.0 hours
Total Time: 389.1 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