The 2012 Flights
Wow....another
year.
As always, each entry shows the duration for the flight and my total
accumulated hours in the air.
Flight 537/January 1, 2012-The first flight of 2012. Since I'm recovering from knee surgery, I'm in the right seat as my plane partner, Roger pilots the Rocket to Ephrata. We land and join the traditional New Years Day Pacific Northwest Flying Dot Com luncheon. On our return, I let Roger handle the takeoff, then I take the controls from the right for the flight. It's a nice smooth flight on a winter Saturday. I give him back the controls as we set up for final approach. I don't quite trust the knee and rudder pedals yet. (1.0/496.2)
Flight 538/January 22, 2012-I gotta get back in the air and get current. To do so, I select ace instructor Tommy to sit in the right seat and pass judgment on my (and my new knee's) ability to land an aircraft. We're off to Deer Park where I make two perfect landings. Back to Felts for another greaser. My instructor gives me two "A's" and one "A-minus." I got just a little slower on that final approach than he would like. (0.9/497.1)
Flight 539/February 4, 2012 - Plane partner Marc and I take the Rocket on a new adventure. We're off to Joseph, Oregon. Marc has the first leg and we zip through the skies, over Pullman, Lewiston, and the Grande Ronde River then cross into Oregon. I am busy playing with Foreflight on the Ipad, testing it's features. Hint: don't wear a sweatshirt with a bright logo. Too much reflection on the screen. We're up in the high country on a plateau and find Joseph nestled near an alpine lake against some mountains. Marc plops us on the runway and we park by the fuel tanks. No gas in the winter, but we don't need any for the return trip. We wander around the airport and discover it's the home of the Alaskan Bushwheel Company, makers of those huge tundra tires for backcountry flying. We see a plane coming in for a landing and pause to watch. Wait a minute. He's cutting in too close! Oh. He lands his bush plane on the grass between the runway and the taxiway. Another tundra-tired plane follows him in a couple minutes later. We saddle up for the return trip and I take the controls. I zip down the runway, take off, then go around the pattern for a touch and go so I can add this airport to my list. Up into the skies to about 7.500 feet to clear the hills. I head north then look to the east and decide I want to check out the Snake River canyon. As I get closer, the terrain below looks a little forbidding. Nothing but sharp peaks, steep hillsides, and very narrow ravine floors. I change my mind and turn back north. Wimpy pilot at work. It's a fairly uneventful run back to Spokane. Good landing. (1.6/498.7)
Flight 540/March 2. 2012 - What a nice day, even if the ceilings are a little low. I work a couple of hours on my day off then take one of my Friday morning solo flights. A run up to the practice area for almost an hour. (0.9/499.6)
Flight 541/March 8, 2012 - It's a perfect day for flying and a perfect day to pass a major milestone. My buddy, and frequent passenger, Mikey is up for a ride. We zoom down runway 21 left and wobble into the skies. OK, maybe I do need a diet. What the heck, it's a nice day. We climb up to 4,500 feet and head east to Coeur d'Alene. I cross over the city, Mikey takes a few snaps, then I turn south along the lake. Cruise over Harrison, look at the low water and the sand bars of the river delta. Across the lake and do a couple of turns over the lake house. We then turn back toward home, over the casino, I call approach and am told to standby. I'm feeling ignored after about 5 minutes and try it again as I cross over the Mica Peak foothills. Felts is reporting runway 21 with a 3 knot tailwind. I do a reasonable approach...high as always...go to 40 degrees flaps, and set the Rocket down just after the touchdown stripes. I still make the first turn off. A great experience and after 12 1/2 years of flying, I cross the 500 hour threshold! (1.0/500.6)
Flight 542/March 18, 2012- Byron Henry joins me for a "Day After St. Paddies Day" flight. We rumble down to St. Marie's and back. (1.3/501.9)
Flight 543/March 25, 2012- A solo short Sunday flight to the south practice area for some wandering. (0.7/502.6)
Flight 544/April 28, 2012- Today I take potential plane partner, Morgan Hollingsworth, out for a familiarization flight. He seems to like the plane. After the flight, we change the oil in the Rocket. We find a few cowling screws that are incorrect. The next day, partner Roger finds a loose inspection plate under the co-pilot carpet and a loose tool. Hmmmmm. (0.7/503.3)
Flight 545/May 7, 2012- Biennial Flight Review. Instructor Tommy puts me through my paces. Yes....I still hate stalls. I do steep turns, turns around the point, and emergency procedures. Yep. Rusty. Need more practice. (1.0/504.3)
Flight 546/May 18, 2012- Taking the airplane across town for the annual inspection at a new fixit place. (0.3/504.6)
Flight 547/June 1, 2012- Bring the airplane back from Spokane International after it's inspection and repair. (0.4/505.0)
Flight 548/June 7, 2012- A flight to the north practice area to exercise the plane after generator repairs. One of the new brushes did not seat properly. (0.6/505.6)
Flight 549/June 16, 2012- Great Northwest Air Race! OK, this is something different. I signed up to "compete" in a 177 mile race against the clock with about 25 other pilots with nothing better to do on a Saturday. Co-Pilot Jim and I depart at about 7:45 a.m. to get to the Ephrata starting line. After a pilot briefing and fuel fill up, we line up by estimated speed. I'm in the Cessna 172 group, of course. It's kind of cool to be in a long line of aircraft on the taxiway waiting to take off. Up we go, then turn 180 degrees to cross the starting line at 2,100 feet. We climb to about 4,000 and follow the plane in front of us for awhile until he disappears. Then, Dave from Grand Coulee sneaks up on us to the right, and he disappears. We follow the course and GPS with Jim correcting my wandering. We fly over Odessa, Davenport, Grand Coulee, and Mansfield. Another plane passes us right at Mansfield. Over to Quincy then back to Ephrata and the finish. The final tally comes in: We averaged 126.67 mph over the course. Not the fastest, but not the slowest. After the awards BBQ we're headed back to Spokane on a slightly bumpy ride. (4.6/510.2)
Flight 550/July 18, 2012- I wander out for a lunch run to see if I can still fly. The answer is yes. It's hot and bumpy. (0.5/510.7)
Flight 551/July 27, 2012- I zip out on a Friday morning to test my landing skills at Deer Park airport. I'm so glad no one is with me. I'm able to perform two crappy touch and go landings. Note to self: Check for loose parts. (0.8/511.5)
Flight 552/July 28, 2012- Jim Leighty and I are on our way to Bonners Ferry, Idaho for breakfast. A great day with no wind or bumps. Zip past Sandpoint and listen to the radio. The locals keep talking about McArthur Lake. Where the heck is that? We plop down, park, and wander over to the hangar for some great huckleberry pancakes, eggs, and sausage. I see an old friend, Steve and yell, "Hi." He turns out to be Jim's junior high music teacher. We blab for awhile, see some other friends from our internet group and decide to wander on. I quick lift off, then some radio problems. The #1 radio is not transmitting. Crap. Oh, well. The plane won't fall out of the sky. I keep climbing and we squeeze over the mountains and Schweitzer Ski Resort. It's pretty rugged and Jim notes my pucker factor (He can read me like a book!), but we are on the downhill slide to Priest Lake. I do a circle over the south end of the lake. There's a little too much wind for me to touch down at Cavanaugh Bay so we turn back to Spokane. Great flight! (2.3/513.8)
Flight 553/August 1, 2012- From Felts Field to Spokane International for a radio check up. (0.4/514.2)
Flight 554/August 12, 2012- I take brother-in-law, Bob with sister-in-law Joy, and their son Hunter up for a Sunday morning jaunt. We head up toward Priest Lake. It's hazy with the smoke coming into town. Because of time constraints, we don't make it all the way to the lake. Smooth flight. Smooth landing back at Felts. (1.1/515.3)
Flight 555/August 24, 2012-There’s an aerobatic contest in Pendleton. No…..I’m not going to compete. But, I’m taking a sandwich so I can have lunch with my friends Tony and Robbin who are judging, plus another friend John, who organized the contest. It’s in Pendleton, Oregon. I plop into the Rocket early on this Friday morning for the 1 ½ hour flight. The sky is clear, no wind and it’s a great day. Of course, I use radar flight following as I cross the Columbia Basin. Over the Oregon border, I’m talking to Chinook Approach on my descent into PDT. The wind is calm. They hand me over to the Pendleton tower and they advise me to make for a left base into runway 7. Why? I’m to the northwest and runway 29 would be logical. I’m confused. After some conversations and some clarification as to where I am, they OK a right base to runway 25. I drop onto the runway and taxi to a stop. It looks like I’m about to enter the other runway, so I ask for a progressive taxi to parking. I meet up with the group, eat my sandwich, watch some aerobatics, and decide to call it a day after a few hours. I fire up the Rocket and make my return flight under clear skies. I slide to the east to see if I can spot the jet boat races near St. John, but can’t spot the slough near the town. Onto the ground at Felts Field and home. (3.3/518.6)
Flight 556/September 11, 2012-Eleven years after the attacks, I do a quick zip around the practice area north of the airport. It’s bumpy. (0.5/519.1)
Flight 557/September 18, 2012-A quick run over to Spokane International to drop the plane off for some audio panel diagnostics. (0.4/519.5)
Flight 558/September 21, 2012-Fly from Spokane International from the shop back home. The wind is favoring a runway 21 take-off. I see the crowd of airliners in the queue and decide to take to high road and do a crosswind takeoff from runway 25. I turn out before the runway intersection and get out of the way quick. I’m a hero to ATC. (0.4/519.9)
Flight 559/October 5, 2012-I need to practice for extended solo flight. Son Shawn moved to Seattle. I own a plane. I should be able to drop by for lunch on a nice day. I want to get more familiar with my iPad GPS Foreflight software. I mount the iPad on the passenger yoke and angle it way over so I can see it and tap it easily. Seems to work OK. I fly over to St. Maries on this Friday morning. Drop in and wander around for a few minutes. I take a couple of snapshots of the F-100 fighter jet/wind indicator. Back to Felts. (1.0/520.9)
Flight 560/November 2, 2012-A quick north practice area flight. I do a few turns in the fairly low ceiling skies. (0.6/521.5)
Flight 561/November 24, 2012-Saturday on Turkey Day weekend. I wander up and around the north practice area. Nice landing but I step on the brakes to soon and shimmy the nose wheel. (0.6/522.1)
Flight 562/November 25, 2012- Ticked off after my sloppy brake work yesterday, I head to Deer Park for some touch and go landings. It’s get toward winter and I need some landings to stay current. Sloppy pattern turns but good landings. Then, back to Felts. Good landing but, too early on the brakes and shimmy the nose wheel.(0.7/522.8)
Flight 563/December 23, 2012- I woke up at the lake house, looked outside, and the day had promise. Since the world didn’t end on Friday (Mayan calendar scare), time to go flying. Instructor Tom is a volunteer passenger. I splash in a quick 10 gallons of go juice and off we go. The climb is sluggish with two “heavy weights” in the plane at 40 degrees F. I get up to 3,800 and that’s enough. Tom is afraid of heights. We cruise through the smooth skies to the south then turn east to Coeur d’Alene Lake. I turn over the lake house then down over Plummer and Tekoa. I call Spokane Approach, get a squawk and head for home. At Mica Gap ATC calls traffic at my 12 o’clock opposite direction. Then they call them at 12:30. Then they say they lost them. Then they lose me on radar. Neither Tom or I can see anything. I flip on the landing light and we keep looking. I line up for a base approach to runway 3 right. I do my usual 45 degree turn into final and get praise for my line. Crap! I still have to touch a little power on final to make the threshold. Good smooth landing. Crap number 2! Tower says my number on radio is only putting out a carrier. No voice. I test it in the hangar and it works. Grrrrrrr. (0.9/523.7)
Flight 564/December 25, 2012- Christmas Day. All the presents are opened. Just watching TV. It's a nice day. Shawn and I hit the air and fly to St. Maries. Uh, oh. The runway is to snowy to land. (1.1/524.8)
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