Ed_Wischmeyer
Well Known Member
So the mission was to get from Savannah GA to Charlottesville VA for my nephew's wedding. There was an airmet for moderate turbulence and the surface winds forecast to be ugly gusty at the mid point -- after all, who wants to fill up on destination avgas at $6+?
So I decided to brave the weather and fly the -9A rather than drive (8+ hours), and aimed the loaded car at the airport instead of Virginia. Tower forgot to hand me off to departure control, and departure didn't know that I was on a vector. Training in progress, no doubt.
So after bumping along under the clouds for a bit, I went up to 5,500 and had cool, smooth air (forecast moderate turbulence did not appear) and a smoking 20+ knot tailwind. Yeh, it wasn't 200 knot club stuff but so what. Time came for descent to the gas stop, 90 minutes out and my back was sore and ready for a break. I asked for an IFR descent through the clouds, and they wanted to know what approach I wanted. I chose one real quick, knowing full well that I'd cancel IFR as soon as I was 500' below the cloud bases. Worked like a charm. And the surface winds were not nearly as bad as forecast.
On the second leg, the local radar guy apparently thought that I was going to Charlotte, even though I said Charlottesville and gave the identifier. That got straightened out, and I went up to 7,500 to stay above the clouds, still with that smoking tailwind. Got to destination, and wound up flying a long downwind to follow somebody who was on a five mile final. Why?
The FBO was pricey, but they gave me some price breaks, and the hotel came and picked me up. There are a number of events going on this weekend -- lotsa jets at the airport -- traffic is horrible, and parking nonexistent. Uber to the rescue, I hope.
Hope the flight home is half as nice...
So I decided to brave the weather and fly the -9A rather than drive (8+ hours), and aimed the loaded car at the airport instead of Virginia. Tower forgot to hand me off to departure control, and departure didn't know that I was on a vector. Training in progress, no doubt.
So after bumping along under the clouds for a bit, I went up to 5,500 and had cool, smooth air (forecast moderate turbulence did not appear) and a smoking 20+ knot tailwind. Yeh, it wasn't 200 knot club stuff but so what. Time came for descent to the gas stop, 90 minutes out and my back was sore and ready for a break. I asked for an IFR descent through the clouds, and they wanted to know what approach I wanted. I chose one real quick, knowing full well that I'd cancel IFR as soon as I was 500' below the cloud bases. Worked like a charm. And the surface winds were not nearly as bad as forecast.
On the second leg, the local radar guy apparently thought that I was going to Charlotte, even though I said Charlottesville and gave the identifier. That got straightened out, and I went up to 7,500 to stay above the clouds, still with that smoking tailwind. Got to destination, and wound up flying a long downwind to follow somebody who was on a five mile final. Why?
The FBO was pricey, but they gave me some price breaks, and the hotel came and picked me up. There are a number of events going on this weekend -- lotsa jets at the airport -- traffic is horrible, and parking nonexistent. Uber to the rescue, I hope.
Hope the flight home is half as nice...