Kate's Aviation Journal

It was colder than normal today with temperatures in the 20s. The pressure was very high (30.53"Hg this morning). In the dense air I got great climb rates out of the 172 (1,000-1,300 feet per minute). Ahh, winter flying. Today was the first time the engine has seen a blanket or an extension cord in months.

Thursday we flew from Oshkosh to Madison to pick up a patient and dropped him off in New Bern, NC. The trip started in the afternoon and went into the night. I flew the quick hop to Madison. Then I was copilot to North Carolina, and most of that was at night. Starting around West Virginia or so, the ground was completely shrouded in fog, so badly that airports in Virginia were having trouble letting people in. There was a full moon, so for a while we could see mountains sticking up out of the fog as if it were daytime. That was very cool and I wish a camera could have captured it. I'd never seen anything like that. When we landed in North Carolina it was 65 degrees and very humid, unlike home which was in the 40s. We were supposed to come home that night but due to a snafu with arranging refueling as well as the bad weather, we stayed the night.

Friday was a very long day flying back to the Midwest to pick up a patient in Rochester, MN and take her to Springfield, MO. I flew the chunk between NC and MN, and was copilot for the rest.

Leaving New Bern we had to divert quite a bit off course to stay out of thunderstorms. Virginia and West Virginia were still clouded over, and this time we got to see the tops of the mountains in the daylight. (And my camera was in the back of the plane.) We stopped at Dayton Wright Brothers Airport for fuel and flew through a lot of rain west of that. Then we flew through a cold front, battled some ice, and finally came out on top of a seemingly endless cloud deck. Near Rochester we were in the icy clouds once again. During descent, I heard something that sounded like stones hitting the plane, and it dawned on me that was the ice shedding from the propellers. I've always noticed the protective plates on planes like this, and now I know why they're usually missing paint.

The leg from Rochester to Springfield was fine at first when we were above the clouds. The sunset was pretty. We dealt with more ice and some turbulence on this leg, which was mostly spent flying in clouds. Finally we broke out below them and could see the ground for the last bit of the leg. It was very windy on the ground in Springfield just like the last time we were there.

Homeward bound, on the final leg we had to experiment with different altitudes to try and stay out of the ice. Eventually we wound up at 11,000 feet looking down on the moonlit clouds for a while. And then we were back in them again. Hey I like flying, but c'mon, how about some scenery, huh? Oh well. I was dead tired and had surrendered all the flying duties. Somewhere along the way I started feeling symptoms of hypoxia. To steal a quote from the left-seater, it was "time to take a trip to the oxygen bar." I had never used supplemental oxygen before, and after a few hits from the mask I decided it's the best thing since sliced bread. I have a new respect for altitude.

Just as in my last two trips, I learned a lot on this one, especially more about ice and weather in general. I have a pretty good feel for the plane now and even managed to grease a couple landings. All the instrument flight time is good practice. These trips are becoming addicting.

I flew the red legs:

Wednesday through early Saturday morning (Nov. 5-8) I flew my second trip in the Piper Navajo Chieftain. We flew all over the eastern half of the country and logged lots of flight time. Wednesday night we flew to Springfield, Missouri for an overnight. Thursday we flew to Houston TX, Tupelo MS, and to Morristown TN for another overnight. Friday, we flew to the Pittsburgh PA area and then to New York City (JFK!) which was really neat. Finally late that night we flew back to Oshkosh with a stop in Elmira, NY. The picture above shows our airplane at Elmira with the big hill in the background.

I flew the legs in red on the map below.

Halloween was a beautiful day to fly with much warmer than normal temperatures in the upper 60s, a clear sky, and light winds. I wasn't the only one who thought today was a great day for the Friday lunch in Iola. I went with a student and saw lots of people I know. Over 50 aircraft showed up, which is more than usual! The menu this week was a picnic lunch of grilled hamburgers and brats, which fit well with the weather. A lot of us sat outside to eat, trying to enjoy this weather while it lasts. Winter isn't far away!

Even Rudder the dog was enjoying the sun.