4/1/07 188 Knots and That's No April Fool - Today's weather was again too poor for glider flying. The clouds were low and it was very windy (25-30 knots). Eight of us stuck around and grilled brats for lunch and told stories all afternoon. Later, Kent got a ride to Des Moines in an RV-6 and then brought the Arrow to Ames. Everyone went their separate ways and we planned our flight back to Madison. We wanted to stop for dinner along the way, so I of course suggested Dubuque, Iowa, home of my Alma Mater. We planned an IFR flight to Dubuque and kept Madison as an alternate in case we couldn't land in Dubuque (the wind was strong). We left Ames around 6:45 as the wind there was finally dying down (go figure). The clouds had since cleared out, leaving us a hazy blue sky. We also had a very strong tailwind. As we headed toward Cedar Rapids at 5,000 feet with an airspeed of about 135 knots, our groundspeed hit 188 knots at one point. Our ground speed was around 175 knots for most of the flight! We were on the back side of a cold front. Between Cedar Rapids and Dubuque, we reached the edge of the clouds just as the sun was setting. I had a full moon out my window and Kent had a beautiful sunset out his. The clouds were below us until we had to descend for the localizer 31 approach into Dubuque. Then we had a bumpy and dimly-lit ride while being vectored to the final approach course. On final, with the wind against us, we flew around 55 knots groundspeed! The clouds were high enough that we had plenty of time to adjust to flying visually, and Kent made a safe landing in a blustery wind. My former coworker Matt took us to dinner.

A couple hours later, we departed Dubuque for a night IFR flight to Morey (C29). We climbed to 5,000 at first but were just barely in the tops of the clouds where it was bumpy. So we asked for a climb to 7,000, which we did, and flew most of the trip above a sheet of clouds that was lit up by the full moon. It was sad to leave that view behind. We descended through the clouds again and found Madison's sea of lights below. We did a visual approach into Morey, where it was also windy. I logged 2.2 hours of flight tonight and 0.6 actual instrument. Kent did most of the flying, doing a very good job, I might add. ;-)

Hills in northeast Iowa and the full moon rising over clouds

Sunset (photo by Kent Shook)

4/2/07 Back to Green Bay in the Arrow - I logged 1.2 of solo time flying the Arrow back to Green Bay from Morey Field this morning. My flight took quite a zig-zaggy path. I chose to go VFR below the clouds. I could have gone higher IFR, but I would have had an annoyingly strong headwind. I curved around Madison's airspace so as not to bug the busy controllers. I flew straight toward Oshkosh intending to transition through the Class D airspace. For the first time in my gozillion hours flying near there, I was denied a transition unless I could maintain 3,000 feet or higher. Uh, negative. The clouds were too low. I told tower I would go around the airspace to the east. Tower said I should get flight following from Chicago then, because there were so many inbound IFR flights. Okay, so I tried that, and Chicago rejected me. Hmm, darn it. So I went even further east, cutting across the southern tip of Lake Winnebago, then flew up the shoreline, well away from OSH. After that I beelined back toward Green Bay. Then Green Bay Approach vectored me way out to the east to get behind an airliner. I conquered a 30-knot wind on landing. Not the most direct flight path today, but a fun flight.

4/15/07 University of Dubuque Flight Team Fly-In - The University of Dubuque Flight Team held its annual fly-in/drive-in breakfast this morning. I flew in with two students, who each flew one leg of the trip. I saw a few people from college and met Scott from the Pilots of America message board.

4/21/07 One Last Visit to Green Bay Flight Service - As part of Lockheed Martin's consolidation of flight service stations, Green Bay AFSS is permanently closing tomorrow. Tonight Kent and I flew in to visit and get some video. Rather than having telephone and in-flight access to specialists located in Green Bay, pilots in Wisconsin and upper Michigan will now be talking to the Washington, D.C. hub and other stations. Green Bay AFSS had existed for many years starting long before I learned to fly. It all seems strange and bittersweet. A big thank-you goes out to the Green Bay specialists for always being friendly and helpful!

4/24/07 Final Night of Ground School - Tonight was the last session of the Private Pilot Ground School continuing education course I was teaching at the University of Wisconsin - Fox Valley. The students did well on their practice FAA private pilot knowledge tests and most have already started flying. The course was a success and I'm looking into teaching additional courses.

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