Kate's Aviation Journal

Indiana x2

2010-03-17T22:00:00.006-05:00

I made a couple round trips to Columbus, Indiana in the 182 this week and racked up 11.7 hours of cross-country time. XM Radio's Sinatra-themed station goes well with three-hour solo legs!

Click the play button to view the slideshow or click here for the album.
EDIT: Clicking the green button will take you to the PicasaWeb page for the album instead of playing the slideshow like it is supposed to. This is a new bug. Get it together, Google! Hopefully they'll fix it soon.

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Mini Ercoupe

2010-03-07T16:27:00.002-06:00

I stopped in at a model airplane show to see the shrunken version of Todd's Ercoupe! He did a great job duplicating the paint scheme, right down to the Betty Boop nose art. Cool!

Just for comparison, here's the real plane:

This is why Courtesy Cars were Invented

2010-03-05T22:00:00.002-06:00

They're a little less common these days than they used to be, but courtesy cars or "crew cars" can still be found at many airports. They can range from beat-up old cop cars to newer vehicles like you'd drive off a rental lot. Some FBOs have strict time limits and usage policies, and they force you to complete a mound of paperwork before giving you the keys. Other FBOs just sort of say "here you go" and trust that you'll be courteous enough not to hog the car forever or return it running on fumes.

Well Hangar Ten at Kansas City Downtown Airport is an FBO that obviously wants your business. After a long dry spell I got to do a Cessna 340 trip today, and we stopped at MKC. This is the second time I've been there but the first visit to Hangar Ten. They're sort of out in the boondocks on the edge of the airport and their new facility is under construction. But talk about service... not only did they greet us and take care of us, they pulled their excellent courtesy car right up to our plane.

We had time to kill waiting for our next assignment, and we were hungry. Can't go to Kansas City without having barbecue, can you? I asked the employee for a recommendation, and we typed "Jack Stack" into the car's GPS and were off to downtown, still on the Missouri side.

Mmmm, mmm. Holy yum. I only wished I were hungrier. If I ever have the chance again, I need to go back to Jack Stack Barbecue with an emptier stomach. This one was the "Freight House" location. Highly recommended. While enjoying pork products slathered in barbecue sauce, we got the call that our day was nowhere near finished, and we'd be off to Glendale, Arizona (Phoenix area) for the night.

Good to Go for Another Two Years

2010-02-26T22:00:00.001-06:00

February is drawing to a close and I crossed two things off my to-do list: my flight review and my CFI renewal. As an added bonus I got to fly a pretty cool plane.

Pilot certificates never expire but pilot privileges can. In order to act as pilot-in-command, all pilots must accomplish a flight review within the past 24 calendar months. Several things substitute as a flight review, such as passing a pilot checkride. Checkrides have almost always prevented me from needing a flight review. But with no fresh ratings on my certificate lately, I was due this month.

I could have demonstrated my expertise in flying a 172 almost with my eyes closed, but I thought hey, why not do something a little more interesting. So I took advantage of CFI Doug's offer of tailwheel time and did my flight review in a super-fun, crazy-high-performing 180-HP Citabria. (Thanks Doug!) A strong, gusty crosswind was plenty to test my coordination skills. I didn't have to do the normally required ground training of the flight review because I just got done renewing my flight instructor certificate.

Unlike pilot certificates, which have no expiration date, flight instructor certificates expire 24 calendar months after they are issued. We need to renew before the certificate expires or else take a practical test (checkride), either for one of the ratings already listed on the certificate or a new rating. Taking a checkride is about the last thing most of us want to do, so instructors generally renew their certificates an easier way, even if they aren't actively instructing.

Although there are a few lesser-known exceptions such as becoming a NAFI Master Instructor, the FAA regulations give us four main options to renew an unexpired CFI certificate:

Retake and pass the checkride for one of the ratings already listed on the certificate (yikes, not fun), OR, pass a checkride for an additional rating, like I did in 2006 when I took the CFI-instrument checkride.
Endorse at least five people for checkrides in the past 24 calendar months, and have at least 80 percent of them pass. Although I'm reasonably active, the high dropout rate among students means this sadly hasn't been an option for me.
Serve as a check airman, chief flight instructor, airline flight instructor, or some other leadership position regularly evaluating pilots.
For the rest of us, there's the option to take a Flight Instructor Refresher Course (FIRC) in-person or online. It's at least 16 hours of ground training either way.

The online FIRC is best for me, so that's what I did in 2008 and again now. Both times I went with the AOPA Air Safety Foundation course offered through Jeppesen.

So after hours of reading and a whole bunch of quizzes, and getting my paperwork together and notarized and sent in, I'm able to keep doing what I do best for another two years.

A Random Repeat

2010-02-16T23:00:00.010-06:00

Of all the thousands of distant airports I could visit by random chance, what are the odds of ending up at the same western Minnesota airport twice? When I flew an Ercoupe to Montana in the summer of 2006, bad weather forced me to make an unplanned stop in Alexandria, Minnesota. Well it turns out Alexandria is home to some experts on the Bellanca Viking series of aircraft, and my hangar-neighbor Doug just happens to own a Viking that needed to be dropped off there. So for today's mission, Jim and I followed him there and brought him back.

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Jim did the flying and I rode along. We took off from Brennand Airport in 15X, the Cessna 172. Then Doug took off in his Viking. After a few minutes I saw him zooming past us at practically twice our speed. I figured he'd be sitting in the pilot's lounge in Alexandria long before we would even hit the state border! He radioed, "What's your ground speed?" I hadn't yet turned on the handheld GPS, so all I could say was, "Uhhh...." and wish he could tow us.

We flew through some flurries around the Waupaca area, and then it was fine to the west but turbulent the whole time. The wind was somewhat strong on the ground so we got bumped around a bit over the hills on approach to Eau Claire, our fuel and pit stop. I also stopped there in 2006 with the Ercoupe, so this trip was total deja vu except the ground was white.

I knew from NOTAMs that Alexandria's airport was going to be icy and slippery, but as we flew in, I couldn't believe my eyes. I had never seen such thick ice coating an airport! The runway markings were under there..... somewhere! There was no traction anywhere, not even on the taxiways or ramp. I'm well-versed in handling planes on glare ice, so I knew we'd be OK as long as we were careful, and we were. The hardest part was just getting out of the plane and walking around! Can't winter be over already?

After refueling, Doug joined us and we took off with the setting sun behind us. We had a tailwind on the way home and the air smoothed out a little. Two hours of the return trip were night flying. We stopped at Eau Claire again, this time to have a good steak dinner in the terminal restaurant. It was a long day but as always, it was fun to leave our home area and fly a trip.

2006...

2010

Southwest Wisconsin Sunday

2010-01-31T20:00:00.000-06:00

With flight planning help from Mickey the cat, Jim and I and our friend Tony took a trip to Reedsburg and Richland Center today to look at some Ercoupes. In Reedsburg, we needed to wait for a key to a hangar, so we went to lunch across the street and then flew over to Richland Center for a while. We stopped at Reedsburg again on the way back. It was pretty cold outside but toasty warm in the plane. It was nice to fly around for fun.

The highway 12 construction project between Baraboo and Wisconsin Dells

Hilly landscape between Reedsburg and Richland Center

Landing at Richland Airport

Taking off from Richland Airport

Ice Exposed

2010-01-30T20:00:00.000-06:00

Recently, frozen Lake Winnebago was covered in white, but recent rain and wind ended that for now.

Flying by Moonlight

2010-01-29T22:00:00.004-06:00

Today was another one of those picture-perfect winter flying days. It was beautiful for a long trip to northwestern Iowa in the morning. On the way back in the evening, I got to see one of my favorite things in all of flying: a snowy landscape brightly lit by a full moon. I managed to get a picture of the moon rising behind some high clouds as the sun was setting behind us.

Winter Scenery

2010-01-09T20:15:00.001-06:00

Winter weather changes so often that it's great to get calm, clear days like this. It was a good chance for a student to start learning takeoffs and landings this afternoon.

Cold, Clear Iowa

2010-01-05T22:00:00.002-06:00

It was cold, cold, cold on my first trip in the 182. Des Moines welcomed us yesterday with below-zero wind chills. Hey, I'll take the cold if it means there won't be a cloud in the sky. There is supposed to be a snowstorm coming but we had great timing for this trip -- nothing but clear skies. The temperature didn't even get above zero before we left for the return flight this afternoon. Gotta love getting towed out of a heated hangar while sitting in the airplane!

After my checkout in December, I read Max Trescott's G1000 Glass Cockpit Handbook to better understand all the little details of the 182's avionics. I must say that is a good book and I would recommend it to anyone learning the G1000. It is like the regular G1000 manual but written in a different style. In order to review instrument approaches and put some of the book's tips and tricks into practice, I took a local flight with a safety pilot before this trip to Iowa.

Cessna 182 & G1000 Checkout

2009-12-20T22:00:00.001-06:00

Over the weekend I learned to fly a 2005 Cessna T182T with the Garmin G1000 avionics suite. Insurance required at least a three-hour checkout with an instructor, which I accomplished over two flights. The first was in the daytime but low clouds limited our altitude, so I did lots of takeoffs and landings of all different kinds, and lost count after 15 (yowzers!). The second flight was at night and included several types of instrument approaches and practice with the autopilot.

I'll be flying this airplane for a local company and am very excited to have a new job to supplement flight instructing. I always like doing something new and different when it comes to flying. The plane arrived here a few days ago accompanied by a ferry pilot who is a specialist in glass cockpit aircraft training. It's been a while since I've received major instruction in anything, so I was a student all over again! I'm glad to finally be on the glass panel bandwagon. The G1000 system is amazing and the Turbo 182 is a great airplane. I found it to be an easy transition and am looking forward to flying the plane more.

Checking Out the First Snow

2009-12-07T19:25:00.003-06:00

This week's forecast is full of doom and gloom, with a major snowstorm predicted. As of yesterday, this area still had not seen any snow. I had four flight lessons to teach over the weekend. We all took advantage of the nice flying weather knowing we might not get to fly again for at least a week. Last night (Sunday into Monday), we got our first snow, about an inch or two. Then there was calm before the big storm. When I saw clear sky this afternoon, I took the Ercoupe up for a quick flight to check out the snow.

It wasn't until very recently that the lakes started freezing over around here. One day I saw them wide open, and suddenly they were frozen a few days later.

The town of Winneconne is blanketed with snow, but it looks like it will be awhile before the ice is safe.

Taxiing back after the flight, I could see my tracks from landing and also where my takeoff tracks ended. This was my first time flying the Ercoupe off of snow. I was happy with how well it steered. It was also the first time I have seen an oil temperature barely register after a 20-minute flight. Brr! It is supposed to get very cold by the end of this week, but first, we're supposed to get over a foot of snow. That's why I was glad I could get out today.

Short Days

2009-12-01T19:13:00.000-06:00

Sunset is about a quarter after four these days, so I'll be seeing more of this.

Farm Scenes

2009-11-10T21:39:00.000-06:00

It was a perfect day for flying. Jim and I needed an excuse to go somewhere. We dug good old 15X out from the back of the hangar and flew to Clintonville to visit the avionics shop, where we ran into two pilots we knew. It was such an awesome, calm day!

I saw a farm that had both a simple corn maze and a hay bale maze. I saw another farm with a field full of round bales reminiscent of the "needle in a haystack" challenge that was on the latest episode of The Amazing Race, where contestants had to unroll hay bales to look for one of only seven race flags hidden among 186 bales. Perhaps next season they should add a corn maze to the competition.

It Looks Like November

2009-11-05T17:30:00.001-06:00

The leaves are almost gone and the landscape is mostly brown. October was unusually cold and wet with a lot of bad flying weather. The corn harvest is behind schedule, and lately I've been seeing a lot of farm equipment out in the fields. Now we're having warmer than average weather with some hazy skies. I'll take it! After a lesson today, I rode in the Archer with Ted, Dale, and Zach, an aviation mechanic who is new to the area. We flew to Manitowoc for lunch and wished Ted a happy birthday.

Brennand Airport is hiding in the picture below. It definitely looks like November.

Brennand Airport Featured in Blog

2009-10-15T18:32:00.003-05:00

Thanks to someone pointing it out, I found a nice article about Brennand Airport on the JetWhine blog. I didn't realize the person taking photos that day was there gathering info for a story.

The story shows pictures from September 26th, when I fueled the 172 and sent my student off on his first solo cross-country flight.

Fall Sightseeing via Ercoupe

2009-10-13T20:22:00.000-05:00

I took Todd's Ercoupe for a solo joyride at the end of the day today, flying from Brennand Airport to Waupaca, to Clintonville, and back. It was a low-and-slow tour of what little bit of fall color is out there. This year, like last, our colors are a bit muted. (And when I upload photos to my blog, they get muted even more.) Still, I like to sightsee this time of year.

Usually I only goof around in the Ercoupe for 15 minutes at a time and stay near the airport. The weather this afternoon convince me to take a much longer ride. It was bumpy earlier today, but then high clouds moved in from the west. The air became very smooth and calm. I flew for a little over an hour, including my takeoffs and landings. It was warm and cozy in the plane.

I wished the flight didn't have to end, because our weather was supposed to take a turn for the worse the next few days. I could see the system moving in from the west.

I saw a hot air balloon when I was west of Appleton. It was west of Outagamie County Airport by several miles, and higher than me. I stayed well clear and tried to take a picture of it, but by now the daylight was fading, and the picture came out blurry. The light tonight did not get along with my camera.

Whoever was in the balloon could hear and see me, I'm sure, and we were probably thinking the same thing: it was nice to be up in the air watching a peaceful-looking sunset.

Congrats Dave

2009-10-11T21:46:00.000-05:00

Congratulations to Dave for passing his instrument rating checkride today! The next time he flies the Arrow halfway across the country, he won't have to let those pesky clouds get in his way. Well, at least not until winter!

Dave trained for his private pilot certificate with me and was my first instrument student. I'm sure he will continue to have many adventures in aviation.

Hints of Color

2009-10-01T21:22:00.002-05:00

Ted, Dale, and I made a lunch run to Central Wisconsin Airport in Mosinee. We ate at the restaurant in the airline terminal. The fall colors are just starting to show.

Iola:

A little color on the treetops:

A storm system approaches from the southwest:

Looking north toward CWA and Rib Mountain:

Some color on approach, and Rib Mountain off the wingtip:

Quick IFR Practice

2009-09-23T20:00:00.000-05:00

I practiced some instrument approaches today to extend my instrument currency. Thanks to the availability of my rental checkout customer after a lesson, I had a safety pilot handy for my flight.

I wore the Foggles since we weren't always in the clouds. Shawn was my traffic scout and cameraman. Sometimes we were above the clouds, getting views like this:

We spent some time in the cloud layer. Shawn was intrigued by the lack of view:

I flew ILS 6 at Green Bay and ILS 3 at Appleton, where I landed, and then we flew back to Brennand Airport.

A Saturday Long Cross-Country

2009-09-12T20:00:00.003-05:00

The weather was supposed to be crummy this weekend, perfect for instrument flight training. Dave and I scheduled an all-day cross-country lesson, and wouldn't luck have it, the sky was blue and the only instrument conditions we found were when we popped in and out of cumulus clouds. Oh well, Dave would have to resort to wearing Foggles all day!

Our first leg late this morning was from Appleton, WI to Springfield, IL. There were no clouds to be found for a while, but there was a very sharply defined haze layer that we flew above at 8,000 feet. We've actually been stuck with some dirty air around here after days of barely any wind.

Our route took us right over Madison, where I could tell a Badger game was either happening or going to happen soon.

We found some clouds in Illinois, so we were able to log at least a little bit of actual instrument time. We were above most of the clouds and I had a nice view out the window.

I think I have traveled too much. I told Dave about how I've been to Springfield "once" as we tried to figure out which of the three FBOs to taxi to. On that one trip I taxied to an owner's hangar, not an FBO. Today as we pulled up to the Landmark FBO, I thought wait a minute, I have seen this building before. Duh, I have been here twice, the second time was at night on a charter trip. I'm starting to forget where I've even been. Maybe I should read my blog.

The next leg of the flight took us to my old stomping grounds of Dubuque, Iowa. We were above a scattered cloud layer again and caught several tops, choosing to bounce around through them to get some more actual instrument time.

On the final leg home, we flew under the clouds. The hilly farmland landscape of southwest Wisconsin is pretty this time of year.

Our weather has been gorgeous aside from daily haze and fog overnight. It's been rain-free for at least two weeks. Dave and I are itching to find some drizzle, low clouds, and a free schedule all at once so we can do a trip in some yucky weather again. For now, Dave logged 5.9 hours today of good experience navigating, talking to air traffic control, flying different types of instrument approaches, and getting "brain mush" after so many hours staring at a panel. I'm getting closer to sending my first instrument student to a checkride.

Door County Arrow Flight

2009-09-11T15:03:00.000-05:00

This morning I traveled around Door County in our school's Green Bay-based Piper Arrow. I flew with an FAA Air Safety Investigator who works in Washington, D.C. and is here on vacation. As a private pilot working towards his commercial certificate, he wanted to log some complex aircraft time and cross-country time. He and his relative and I flew to Ephraim-Fish Creek Airport, where I haven't been since about 1999. It was a nice break in the routine for me. I got to hear some interesting stories.

On the way back, we spotted a detailed corn maze and flew past Lambeau Field on approach to Green Bay. I only wished the haze would have gone away so we could have seen the sights in Door County better.

Hazy Day Chicago Trip

2009-09-10T21:18:00.001-05:00

Jim and I flew to Chicago Executive Airport today for a maintenance mission. I filed IFR because it was very hazy and knew we'd probably run into clouds to the south.

It turned out to be a good plan. We could hardly see the horizon at times. Since there wasn't much to see, I had Jim work on his instrument flying skills wearing a view-limiting device. Meanwhile I watched as we plowed through a few clouds.

Air traffic control had to get us out of the way of two higher-speed aircraft approaching the airport, so for a few minutes we were diverted to the west off our course. When it was our turn, we flew the ILS 16 approach and the controller thanked us for our patience. We couldn't see the airport until we were practically on top of it. After landing and parking, we found out there was a Porsche display today and the airport was extra busy. Coming here always feels hectic, but in my three visits I've found the controllers to be very nice and the Signature FBO staff helpful.

After we fixed the airplane we came to fix, we made the very short hop over to the Schaumburg airport and had lunch at Pilot Pete's. The wind was from the east today, so for the first time in my three visits to this place, I took off to the east. Schaumburg is very close to O'Hare. I have never noticed until now just how close. When we took off, it was as if we were on final for the runways at O'Hare! I took a picture but it doesn't do it justice.

Visibility improved drastically in the afternoon and the clouds lifted, so we flew VFR on the way back home. It was terribly bumpy over the Chicago suburbs on our way out, where we had to stay low to avoid the Class B airspace. Once we could climb higher, it smoothed out quite a bit and we had a nicer ride.

One of Fond du Lac's runways was listed as closed today, and as we flew over, I noticed why. It looked like some seal coating or resurfacing in progress. The picture shows how an "X" on or near the beginning of a runway tells pilots it's closed.

As we passed Oshkosh, we saw a big group of sailboats on Lake Winnebago. It was pretty scenery to end a nice trip.

A Shiny Visitor

2009-09-09T20:57:00.000-05:00

We had a rare airplane visit Brennand Airport today: a Lockheed 12. Its pilots stopped by to visit friends, and I joined everyone for lunch. What a beautiful airplane! I watched the landing but unfortunately couldn't stick around to watch the takeoff.

The Days are Getting Shorter

2009-08-27T21:47:00.000-05:00

The sky turned pretty after I took a quick flight in the Ercoupe. What a nice evening!