The
2014 Flights
What a great hobby!!
Flight 593/January 15, 2014- I start off the year with another lunchtime quickee. This time I run over to Spokane International for two touch and go landings, then back to Felts Field. I get lucky on my way back and talk SFF tower into giving me a straight-in landing on runway 4. I save 5 minutes and can get back to work faster (0.5/554.1)
Flight 594/February 11, 2014-I got a long lunch hour so headed to the south practice area for some maneuvers than scurried over to GEG for a couple of touch and go landings A Horizon Air Q-0400 waited for me on the first one, the a Southwest B737 cooled their jets while I made my second landing. Timing is everything. (1.0/555.1)
Flight 595/February 26, 2014- This lunchtime flight is getting to be a habit. South practice area then a couple of touch and go landings at Spokane International (0.9/556.0)
Flight 596/March 8, 2014- It looks like a cross-country weather window might open for a Saturday flight. I’ve either been busy on the weekends or the weather has sucked. But…who should I take along? My usual suspects are busy so I cast out an open invitation to the “Flights Above The Pacific Northwest” Facebook group. It doesn’t take long to snag a passenger. Brett Seright, a fairly new pilot from Post falls, ID answers the call. We meet at 9 a.m. at the SFF terminal and he follows me to the hangar. I’ve already pre-flighted the Rocket, so we load up and taxi to the ramp. After babbling through my read back, I launch off runway 22 left toward Ephrata, Washington. Brett’s never been there, so this is a good place to hit. It’s a rather uneventful, but slow, flight with a 15 knot headwind keeping our ground speed down to around 100 knots. I have the Lowrance GPS and the iPad mounted and operating. The iPad’s Garmin Glo GPS receiver craps out about 20 minutes into the flight. The power button must have gotten switched on in the bag and run down the internal battery. Drat. OK, switch it back to the internal GPS, and it’s back. We get one call for traffic from Grant County Approach and spot a FedEx Cessna Caravan cruising east about 700 feet above us. AS we approach Ephrata, we hear two helicopters in the pattern. We chat and they are operating off of runway 3. No problem. As we get closer, we keep looking for them. Can’t find ‘em. I finally ask bluntly, “where are you?” They finally say they are operating in left traffic on a runway that is posted for right traffic to avoid the city. OK…Hey..they’re student pilots from Big Bend. They get a pass. I touch down smoothly on runway 3 and we taxi over to the terminal for a short break. WE watch one of the helicopter guys for a couple of minutes, then hop back into the plane. I zip into the skies, turn right, and head for home. I connect with flight following and roll the plane up to 5,500 feet, then turn the controls over to Brett for the ridge home so I can play with the iPad, look for airplanes, and watch the scenery. Now we have a tailwind and get a ground speed of 130 knots. Brett guides us to within 5 miles of Felts Field when I take over. We get lucky with the calm winds and get a straight-in approach to runway 4 right. Of course, a brief senior moment as I call cleared for 22 right, but we all figure it out and correct ourselves. Another smooth landing. Brett buys lunch at the Skyway. (2.3/558.3)
Flight 597/March 18, 2014- I needed a flying lunch break. I floated around for 30 minutes just north of town. I managed to grab a few snaps of a friends house. (0.5/558.8)
Flight 598/March 21, 2014- A took a couple from work on a sightseeing flight. Brent and Belinda Johnson are the lucky couple. It's my favorite Coeur d'Alene Lake loop route. They spot some friends lake property from the air along the east shore. As always, I do a little time in the south practice area and let Brett take the wheel. We also try to cruise along Brownes Moutnain for a view of his boyhood home. Unfortunately, those TV towers are a little to close. (1.4/560.2)
Flight 599/March 23, 2014- A quick Sunday morning run to drop the Rocket off at the fixit shop for her annual inspection. (0.2/560.4)
Flight 600/April 21, 2014- I need a Seattle familiarization tour. I'd like to fly in to Seattle since my youngest son moved over here. I get together with instructor Ed Bryce at Boeing Field and we hop into a Cessna 172 from Alternate Air flying club. First up a touch and go then a departure to the west. Ed gives me the landmarks and what the maximum altitude I can have to stay under the Sea-Tac approach path. I need to do a right downwind then turn west under 1,000 feet until I cross over west Seattle. Once I reach the shoreline, I can climb a little more. Out over the water, turn around and back to BFI for a touch and go. Now to the south. We skirt the SEA airspace to the west and drop into the Auburn airport for a couple of landings. More landmarks to watch for. Now, southwest to Tacoma. We skim under the SEA airspace, cross over the Port of Tacoma, Point Defiance Park, then into the pattern at Tacoma Narrows Airport. After a touch and go, I fly over the Tacoma Narrows bridge then turn to the north. We fly between the western shore of Puget Sound and Vashon Island. At the north tip of Vashon I turn to the east and get approval to cross over the top of Sea-Tac airport. It's cool to see the airliners all lined up below. After crossing, we turn to the south then back to the north for another touch and go at BFI. Now, to the north over the stadiums, along the downtown shoreline, over Magnolia, and over Shilshole Bay marina when my son lives for a couple of snapshots. Turning easat, I cross over Ballard, the UW campus, and Lake Washington. I fly just north of the SR 520 floating bridge and into the Bellevue/Kirkland area. Now entering downtown Bellevue, I pause to grab a couple of snapshots of my son's office building, then back to BFI for another landing. This time Ed shows my the landmarks to look for in an approach from the east. The VA hospital is the big one. Oh, it's big, but hard to spot. I gotta find it, because the airport is hidden behind the hill and not visible until you're in the pattern. Aha! There's the VA! Another touch and go at BFI then back south. Let's go to Renton, it's only a couple miles away! I hand a left and drop into RNT for a couple of touch and go landings. Then up Lake Washington in the east channel along Mercer Island to Bellevue. Up to downtown Bellevue, then southwest to BFI. This time I find the hospital. I land, turn off the runway, and back to parking. Two hours, four airports, and 10 landings. Oh, about those landings...I was constantly high on approach and slipped the plane to lose altitude quickly. I hadn't done that for a long time. I get spoiled to the 40 degree flaps on the Rocket. Great fun and I learned a lot. (2.0/562.4)
Flight 601/May 8, 2014- Argh! Time for my biennial flight review and the airplane is still in the fixit shop. Drat. So...I meet Tommy and we take his airplane to the south practice area. To make a long story short, I am not on my "A" game. It's more like my "F" game. I am all over the sky. Oh, sure. I can do the manuevers, but I am especially sloppy today and my instructor is not impressed. I am able to pull off some flawless landings, including the famous, "your engine just died, what do you do" emergency power-off landing. (1.6/564.0)
Flight 602/May 16, 2014- After 8 weeks in captivity, I am able to retrieve the airplane from the fixit shop. I do a lonnnnggg preflight, find some loose screws, a missing screw, a sloppy wash job, etc. I contemplate for a few minutes about the quality of work, but I must get this airplane home. The problem? I must fly it a solid hour to begin seating the rings and valves properly. GEG is using runway 3 today, so I ask for an intersection departure off runway 7. I don't want to spend a lot of time taxiing around. I cruise to the south of GEG and spent an hour flying lazily within gliding distance of Paradise Airport, a small private strip, just in case someting siezed up. It seemed OK, so I carefully made my way across the Spokane south hill and plopped back home at Felts Field. It sure was nice to have the Rocket back home! (1.0/565.0)
Flight 603/May 30, 2014- After my review, my instructor said I needed to practice, so I did. I took off on this sunny Friday morning and spent an hour trying to hold altitude in the wind and bumps. Not! Crap! (0.9/565.9)
Flight 604/June 1, 2014- Practice! He said practice. So, today, my mission is to hold altitude. I cruise into the south practice area at 4,000 feet. I will hold 4,000 feet through a series of 360 degree turns for the next hour. OK...I blew it a few times. I took a few sips of water....50 foot altitude loss. I took a picture with my iPhone....100 foot loss!!!! Dammit! No more pictures! A so, so, landing. I had to drag it in a bit. But then a nice squeaker. (1.1/567.0)
Flight 605/June 10, 2014- Crap! The little plane engine is sucking a quart of oil every 5 hours. The overhauled cylinder walls glazed. Back to the shop at Spokane International. (0.4/567.4)
Flight 606/June23, 2014- The plane is back. My partner flew the first break-in hour. This is number 2. I settle into the south practice area and fly a giant square, varying the rpm as noted in the break-in manual. I fly about 5 of these patterns. Rockford to Tekoa to Rosalia to Spangle to Rockford. Even the Spokane Approach controller is getting bored watching me. (1.4.568.8)
Flight 607/June 30, 2014- I need to get out. I call Tommy and he's bored. We cruise north and Tom handles the controls while I take some pictures. Then over the Latah Valley where I take more pictures. Then...let's just wander. I fly us down south and we end up over Lower Granite Airport and Dam. (1.8/570.6)
Flight 608/August 16, 2014- Last weekend I changed the engine oil in the Rocket. It had been almost 25 hours with the break-in mineral oil. Nobody had flown the plane all week, so I take the plane for a run around the south end of Coeur d'Alene Lake (0.9/571.5)
Flight 609/August 18, 2014- I need to stay current, so I do 2 touch and go landings at Spokane International Airport. (0.6/572.1)
Flight 610/August 26, 2014- It's a nice day so I take the afternoon off for a little flying. I cruise up north to the Newport and Priest River area, then back. It's a bumpy ride. Oh...and I mess up my landing and get yelled at by the tower guy. Not my best work. (1.0/573.1)
Flight 611/September 7, 2014- I had spent the week out at the lake....so, when I got home from the lake, I got in the airplane and flew back over where I had spent the last week. It seemed very logical. (0.9/574.0)
Flight 612/September 13, 2014- When I got home from work on Friday, Nancy said she might want to go flying this weekend. She hadn't been in the plane since 2007. I guess we better do it. Saturday weather seemed to be OK. There was a chance of some early gusty surface winds, but I think we can do this. Nancy packed a picnic lunch and we're off. We spend a few minutes at the hardware store, then cruise over to Felts Field. I do a long pre-flight and we chatted with the hangar neighbor. Then one of my partners dropped by so we chatted with him. We fianlly launch about 11:15 a.m....our destination: Grand Coulee Dam Airport (3W7), about 45 minutes to the west. Nancy wanted to fly over the family farm in Reardan, (we had tried for this on her last flight, but it was just too bumpy). Today, there is a little light chop, but it's much smoother than Coeur d'Alene Lake and she seems OK. I cruise over the farm and she snaps a lot of photos. I turn northeast toward the Columbia River. There's still some bumps from the thermals, but she still says she's OK. Our friends Tom and Marcia have a home at the Seven Bays Airport, so we do a circle around it, then over to Grand Coulee Dam. It's only a few minutes from Seven Bays, so I start to descend. Nancy is surprised as we approach the area and I point out the back side of the dam. I cross over the airport and Banks Lake to check the wind and determine that a runway 3 landing is best. I do a teardrop entry to a left downwind to the runway, skimming the edges of the canyon. A nice pattern and a perfect squeaker landing. I back taxi to the ramp, park, and unload. We have a nice picnic lunch on the pilot lounge deck overlooking the runway and the lake. We pile back into the plane and I fire it up. I wait a couple of minutes as another aircraft is coming in for a landing. It's Bob Babler, the airport manager. We say hi over the radio as he taxis in. I take the runway and back taxi to the run up area, do my checks, and head up into the sky. It's a scenic takeoff on runway 3 as we climb out of the coulee, cross over the town and dam, then follow the river as we try to gain altitude. I finally get up to 5,500 feet. I call Seattle Center to get flight-following. Oops, I'm on Grant County Approach frequency. No worries, they get me set up then I contact Seattle Center. Back over Seven Bays and Reardan. Nancy takes more snapshots, and I make another perfect squeaker landing at Felts Field! A good day! (2.2/576.2)
Flight
613/October 7,
2014-Just another lunchtime cruise around the north practice area.
(0.7/576.9)
Flight
614/October 12, 2014-
A pleasant Sunday morning. I wanted to play with the
Foreflight program
for the iPad and the new flight recording feature. Plus, I have new
non-polarized sunglasses. I mounted the iPad on the yoke and
immediately
learned one thing on takeoff....don't waer a shirt with a big logo on
it.
It reflects on the iPad screen. Doh! I
knew this! I
flew through the Mica Gap then turned toward Coeur d'Alene Lake.
The iPad
GPS receiver tracked the entire flight. It got a little
bumpy. I
flew until almost St. Maries and turned back. A bad omen:
The
frequency indicator on the Narco radio flickers. That's an
possibly
expensive problem. Nice flight, though. (1.0/577.9)
Flight
615/October 31, 2014-
A bittersweet lunch flight. Under drizzely skies I take my
very last
flight in N3082U. We have sold all our shares to one of the
members, so
he will own the entire aircraft. I never fly in the rain, but it seems
appropriate today. I just putz around the north practice area
in the
smooth wet skies for just over a half hour. Super smooth
landing. I
have logged 471.8 hours in the pilot seat of this aircraft.
She always
performed well and never let me down...pun intended. On to
new adventures
in renting airplanes. <sigh>
(0.7/578.6)
Flight 616/November 18, 2014-The new adventure begins. I show up at Northwest Flight School (formerly Aircraft Solutions, where I had the Rocket annual inspection the last 3 years) for a rental check-out. I pair up with instructor Joshua Link for a check out flight. This aircraft is a 1964 Cessna 172F. It's the same basic frame as the Rocket except for the electric flaps (ugh), Garmin 480 Nav/Com/GPS/Transponder, and 180 hp Lycoming engine. I'm out at Spokane International and the requires a few extra steps with ATC Clearance Delivery. I taxi to Runway 3 at the Charlie taxiway intersection for takoff. Off I go into overcast skies. I need to get this done today because the weather for the next week is rain, rain, and more rain, with possible snow. Josh takes me south and I need to do some stalls. I do a couple. I hate stalls. Yes, I learned how to recognize and recover from stalls 15 years ago. I feel my job is to keep the plane fl;ying. Why does every instructor want me to demonstrate that I can make it stop flying? Oh, well. Then I do some turns. Back to the airport for a couple of landings. Yep...I can do those. Signed off and ready to rent. (0.9/579.5)
Flight
617/November 30, 2014-
It's the Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend. It's clear, calm,
and very cold.
Perfect flying weather. We're on the way home from
the lake and I'm
thinking I should rent a plane this afternoon. I check the schedules
and yes,
there is a plane available. But wait...the phone rings.
It's Tommy!
He wants to warm up the SuperPlane and needs a co-pilot.
That
works. Tom heads to Pullman. I fly us back.
(0.4/579.9)
Flight
618/December 15, 2014-
It’s time to start the rental adventure.
I pop over to NW Flight School where I have reserved
N8410U. It’s
sitting on the ramp. After
a couple minutes of chit-chat, I head
outside with the book and keys. The
first thing I notice is the previous pilot decided the Hobbs meter
hadn’t quite
made it all the way to the next 10th hour mark
so they used the
previous number. That’s
gonna cost me. Then
I look for the fuel dipstick. None
to be
found. I go in and
ask if they have
one. Nope. But they assure me the
plane was “just topped
off.” That doesn’t
work for me. Well,
he says, “just
look in the tank.” Um…it’s
just got a
short ladder. I
can’t see into the
tank. I suppose I
could stick my finger
in there to see if it gets wet. They
come out with a taller ladder. I
don’t
care if they think I’m nutty. I
want to
see how much fuel is in the tanks. Oil
is at 6 quarts. That’s
right on the line
for me. The kid
puts in a half
quart. I get done
outside and finally
crawl in. It takes
me several minutes to
get organized with the Garmin 480/nav/com/gps/transponder unit.
Of course the engine is running and the money machine is
on. I finally taxi
to runway 3 at intersection Charlie.
I have to wait for a Horizon Q-400 and
finally get into the air. I
head south
to the south for a few minutes to get reacquainted with the bird then
call
approach to return to the airport for a couple touch and go landings. I’m behind a Southwest 737
so I land long to
avoid his wake, then throttle up and go for another one. This airplane has 180
horsepower. By the
time I get around to the downwind, I’m
already a couple hundred feet above the pattern.
Whoa….slow down and descend.
It’s getting late so 2 landings will have to
do. (0.9/580.8)
Flight
619/December 23, 2014-
I wanted to fly on Monday. It
was
sunny. Everything
is booked. So I
look at Tuesday. Everything’s
booked. Well
Tuesday around 10 a.m., I look at the
schedule and someone cancelled. Off
I go
for another lunch flight. This
time I’m
a little more organized and, yes, there’s a fuel dipstick. One tank is a few gallons
lighter. Oil is at
6 quarts. I guess
that where it settles. I
get the radio set up, call for clearance
codes, and ready to taxi. Off
I go to
runway 21 at Charlie. I
get there, do a
run up and watch a Q-400 take off.
I get
cleared for takeoff on 21, turn on to the runway, but, out of habit,
turn to
the right. Tower
notes that I am lined
up on runway 3. Oops. I do a 360 and take off in
the right
direction. I spend
45 minutes just getting
used to the plane with some 2 minute turns, getting trimmed out to
hands-off
flight. Back to the
airport for a nice
landing on runway 21. (0.9/581.7)
On to 2015!
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