Launching for Florida (by RV)!

[Ironflight]

I have been part of the Shuttle operations team here in Houston since STS-1. In reviewing my records, I have been actively assigned to one position or another on more than 80 of the approximately 120 flights that we have flown. What this means is that when you are assigned, you are in Houston ? and the net result for me is that I had never seen a Shuttle launch live and for real at the Kennedy Space Center. (Gene Kranz never saw one until he retired!) With the remaining flights in the Shuttle program rapidly counting down, I felt that it was time I get serious and find my way down to Florida for a launch. Finding myself without an assignment for STS-117 (except as the ?Rescue? Flight Director, and for that, I?d have time to get home?), I decide that there was no time like the present!

Louise had left her -6 in Houston a week and a half ago, her way to D.C. blocked by large weather systems. Knowing that we were planning to go to Florida for the launch, she made a good decision to leave the plane and use the orange and blue birds of SWA to get back to Washington to work, and then return here to pick up the plane. This meant that we?d fly a two-ship out to Cocoa Beach, enjoy the launch together and she would head on to Virginia when I headed back to Houston. I am used to flying this kind of trip alone, and it was an interesting experience to fly with someone on my wing for a change. The fact that we both had 396?s with XM weather gave us a chance to talk about what we were seeing, and I could share my rationale with her as we made minor deviations for building weather. The gulf coast at this time of year always presents scattered areas of thundershowers (and bigger), and flying early is the best way to assure that there will be holes. We pre-briefed the entire route together, including prime and backup fuel stops and weather strategy. Basically, we?d stay on top as long as we knew that we?d have scattered clouds to get into the fuel stops, but if there was doubt then head to the deck and either fly beneath the clouds if we had good visibility, or find a good alternate to set down and re-assess. This follows my theory of staying out of the clouds and VFR when there is convective activity in the area.


Fortunately, the weather stayed typical for us on Thursday for the trip out, and most of the showers we saw on the Nexrad included only one or two pixels of red surrounded by some yellow or green ? small stuff that was easy to divert around. We had planned a fuel stop for Bay Minnette, AL (1R8), based on Intel that it had a brand new self serve pump and the best prices around. That was right about half way, and just to the northwest of the restricted areas over Pensacola and Eglin ? an obvious break point for the trip. We set out ?Direct 1R8? after topping off with fuel at my favorite discount pump at Anahuac, but as we climbed out to 11.5K, we could see that Bay Minnette was right at the eastern edge of the developing weather. Our alternate was just a little beyond, at Defuniak Springs ? not quite as cheap, but recommended as a quiet and quick place to get in and out of along the route. After a few deviations around small cells (all on top in brilliant clear air), I elected to push on to 54J, since it was showing to be beyond all the weather. I didn?t want to get down at Bay Minnette and then get stuck as the storms spread.


I must say that I was really impressed by the performance of the RV-6! Cruising at 11.5K, wide open, I was truing about 167 knots in the -8, burning 7.2 gph and showing about 64% power. I only had to bring the power back about 1 inch and Louise was able to keep up with me ? although for some reason, she was burning more fuel (about 10 gph) than we expected for the slight difference in power settings. This difference held up for all the legs of the trip out, but when she was solo headed to Virginia, her fuel burn returned to more reasonable values at virtually the same speed. We were flying a nice cross-country spread formation so she didn?t have to work too hard for the hours required! The first leg clocked in at a little over 2:40 ? plenty of reserve time. In fact, my EFIS was showing that I could have made the trip non stop (we had between a 15 and 20 knot tailwind most of the way), but I knew I had more fuel than the -6, and I would have only had a 45 minute reserve at landing. Someday, I?ll one-hop it, just to say I did it!


The second leg of the trip out to KSC was over lower scattered cumulus, and cut across the Apalachee Bay. It was great having a geologist on my wing as we looked down and saw these circular ?lakes? in the panhandle of Florida. Seeing as how they were near Eglin, I half expected they were bomb craters from testing the big ?MOAB?s, but Louise set me straight ? they are sink holes and a very active area for cave diving. I?m not going to pretend to be able to explain them?.I?ll let her fill in the details! Suffice to say that it was nice it was a week day, and no one else was on the Air to Air frequency so that she could tell me what we were seeing ? a very cool way to get a geology lesson at 11.5K!


It was a smooth day, not only on top, but surprisingly, down below as well as we descended to duck under and through the VFR corridor across the north edge of Orlando?s airspace. We touched down at Merritt Island a little over two hours after leaving Defuniak Springs, for about a five hour flight from the south side of Houston. The Cape weather was gorgeous ? nice visibility, clearing skies, and a promise for ?GO? launch weather on Friday! We tied down the airplanes, picked up a rental car, and went off to enjoy the beach?.

For more pictures, go HERE

[Ironflight]

I had originally thought about hopping an official ride down to KSC and spending the launch with the Mission Management Team in the Launch Control Center, but in the end, decided that what I really wanted to do was to stand outside at the Banana Creek VIP stands and ?feel? the experience. I knew it would be hard to be disconnected from the usual flood of communication loops that I would normally listen in on (weather, systems, launch and Flight Directors?), and Louise can attest to the fact that several times during the count, I wanted to know what the heck was going on?.but in the end, what you need to do sometimes is to let go all of the technical details and just BE in the moment. I know what makes it fly, I know ever detail of every sequence?.what I had never done was to simply watch, listen, and FEEL the moment ? so that is what we did. While I did snap a few pictures without really looking, that wasn?t my goal ? the pros take much better pictures than I ever will. I spent several years of my youth traveling around taking pictures of every place I went, until I realized that I was experiencing the world through a viewfinder, and made a conscious effort to stop and see it for myself. But still. You have to take a few shots to put yourself in the moment?




What can I say ? there are probably many people here that have seen many launches I know we have RV?ers on the forums here that work at KSC, and they must be old hat by now. But to feel the crackle of the SRB?s on your chest as the vehicle accelerates away ? man, that is something else! To see the boosters fall away, and appear and reappear as two little dots as they begin their tumble to the sea ? wow! The little star of the Orbiter and external tank, the call of ?Negative Return? (meaning that it can no longer abort back to KSC)?.it is an experience that makes the thousands of hours I have spent in the Control Center all REAL. The weather for the launch was better than I could have imagined, with no local threats of any kind, and visibilities so clear that the pad seemed even closer than it really was. I could never have asked for more perfect conditions to experience the spectacle. Even so, it almost seemed to short ? they were urging us back on the bus even before the Main Engines had cut off (at about 8:30 into the flight), but I told Louise I wasn?t going anywhere until I heard ?MECO, MECO Confirmed??.meaning the ascent was over, and Atlantis was truly staying up for awhile.



One of the most bewitching moments of the evening, however, came about 45 minutes later as the sun was sinking below the horizon, and we looked up and to the west. There in the darkening blue was a spectacular array of ?clouds??no, they couldn?t be clouds, they were too bizarre and twisted?.in fact, the looked like a contrail, turning and twisting on itself, with circles and lazy turns.



My theory? (And it is just a theory?.) In the hours before launch, the Chief Astronaut flies one of the Shuttle Training Aircraft (a modified G II) around the area doing weather reconnaissance and making Shuttle dives at the runway to check winds. The jet remains airborne during the launch rather than taking a chance of a bad landing that might block the main runway that might be needed in case of a launch abort (yes, we think of worst-case failures?). So they generally go off and hold to the west. My guess about the strange formation is that it was the contrail evidence of their holding pattern ? nothing formal, just the kind of random turns that we all do while lollygagging around our local areas VFR?..like flying a Cub in the sunset over a grass field, chasing the local dogs with your shadow?..It?s all flying. Of the seven guys on Atlantis right now, four of them have Capcommed for me extensively, and every one of them talks flying just the way we all do. Jets, Cubs, Space Shuttles?.it?s all good!

[Ironflight]

The launch viewing accomplished, it was tempting to spend another day in Florida, but both Louise and I had things to do at our respective home bases, and it would have been foolish to not take advantage of good weather for our respective returns. She was headed to northern Virginia, and I was headed back the way we came, and both routes showed an absence of weather in the morning. I knew that the summer convection would take effect by late morning along my route, so earlier was better, and after a quick breakfast, I was off for my 800 mile trip while Louise did some final re-planning due to her puzzling higher-then-expected fuel burn for her 650 mile day. One again I had smooth air as I climbed to 10.5K once I was clear of Orlando, retracing our route out exactly. Theoretically, I could cut across the gulf and save maybe 80 miles over the loop up to the north?.but being that far over water with one engine is a little out of my comfort range, so the long way works. I left Merritt Island right about 0800 (after breakfast), and touched back down at my home field south of Houston about 1230 ? just in time for a late lunch. Yes, I gained an hour in there, but still ? that is pretty remarkable performance for a ?light plane?.

I managed to stop at Bay Minnette this time, and sure enough, they have a brand new self serve pump, ramp, and ?terminal building? ? that looks like some local representative must have gotten some Washington funding to build. Very nice, and all locked up ? not a soul around (the self serve pump works fine)! Gas was $3.36/gallon, so all you folks in that area might want to fill up! It?s just northeast of Mobile, and there?s nothing around but woods. I had a few knots of tailwind all the way home, making this a tailwind round trip ? rare, but sometimes, you get lucky!

The bugs are getting thick this time of year, but I was surprised to take a couple of big splats on the windshield at 10.5K ? I thought I?d hit a hummingbird! Quite a mess, but cleaning up is a nice way to settle down after a nice day?s flying. Louise made it home as well?.but I?ll leave that story for her to tell! Now maybe I have to go fly a little Acro tomorrow, just so the Val remembers what its like to be upside down. All this straight and level can be a little like hitching a fine horse to a carriage?.you need to let them stretch out every once in awhile!

Paul

[n5lp]

Thank you for the very nice write-up Paul. Beautiful pictures too.

[N908RV]

Just wanted to say thanks for always sharing your trips. Always enjoy your write-ups, and appreciate that extra time you take to do that. Great pix too. Also appreciate you sharing your decision making process with us - always nice to see what others are thinking when confronted with weather, fuel choices, etc.

-Rob

[Louise Hose]

Paul gave a great summary of a very special trip and I am grateful to him for including me. Who could be better to share watching a shuttle launch? And, I can?t think of anyone better to join in a two-ship flight.

The trip over to Florida brought a mixture of disappointment tempered by awesomely beautiful sights. I was looking forward to seeing old haunts along the Mississippi River and Delta, but the clouds blocked our views down. But, the spectacular sights of watching the Valkyrie glide among the giant cues made up for the loss. I was thrilled to see part of the Wakulla Karst Plain south of Tallahassee. It would have been fun to buzz around and look for the various, famous land-based and submarine springs (http://research.gg.uwyo.edu/kincaid/...a/wakhydro.htm), but worries about building convective activity kept us moving eastward.

The launch was my second, and I continue to believe it is an event that all Americans should try to experience. I doubt that many people could fail to be inspired by man?s abilities and capacity for achievement while watching and feeling a launch.

I planned my flight along the Atlantic coastline, north to Virginia, as well as most of my cross-country flights. However, I came to realize that I just don?t know the territory. I never felt like I really knew where I was until reaching Richmond. On the chart, I saw the names of towns and cities with which I had only vague familiarity. Hilton Head. Isn?t that a tennis tournament place? Or, is it golf? As a geologist, I best recognized the island as a site where people with questionable judgment build expensive second (third? sixth?) homes. On to Charleston. Oh yeah, Rhett Butler was from Charleston?.or was he from Charlotte? And, what state am I in, anyway? (I can never keep the Carolinas straight.) I made a mental note to make sure I do greater diligence in my flight planning until I better learn my geography back here. I finally landed at Columbus County, NORTH Carolina airport, where I could NOT understand the FBO attendant on the radio. Lesson two: Learn to understand the local accents back here, as well.

Near Richmond, I decided to drop below the scattered clouds and enter the eastern haze that I had been often warned about. As the 396 warned of Restricted Areas and MOAs, I remembered the often-repeated warnings I had heard at the AOPA Open House the weekend before?.always carry a NASA form with you in the cockpit when flying in this part of the world. Oh, flying in the D.C. area is going to be different from the wide-open airspace of the Southwest! While New Mexico may have extensive Restricted Areas, the airspace isn?t complicated. But, as Paul says, flying back here will really hone my skills in dealing with controlled and complicated airspace?if I can keep from having to use those NASA forms too often!

Well, N164MS has finally reached his new home at Shannon County airport in Virginia and looking forward to exploring this end of the country. I hope to be meeting all the folks in the Mid-Atlantic wing of VAF at upcoming events.

[tonyjohnson]

Paul and Louise,

Thanks for sharing your experiences. I take for granted sometimes that I can watch shuttle launches from my house. Not as close and personal as your recent experience, but I get a good view of the shuttle in flight.

I also observed the "cloud" you mentioned as it drifted over Orlando on the westward wind. It was quite unusual. My thought at the time was that it was the trail of the shuttle, affected by various wind speeds that caused it to drift at different speeds at different altitudes, giving it that weird configuration. That of couse is wild and baseless speculation.

I grew up in your fuel stop of DeFuniak Springs. You may have noticed that in the center of town is one of those perfectly round lakes. That is where I learned to swim. Many years later on a rare return visit there, I had my first RV ride there in a 4. I have been hooked ever since.

In my younger and more foolish years, I dived many of those submarine springs in north Florida mentioned by Louise. In one, Devil's Eye, you can enter a spring in the woods, swim underground, and come out in the Santa Fe River.

I very much enjoyed your post and thank you for sharing it.

Tony

[check 6]

Nice write-up Paul. Seeing a shuttle launch live is fantastic. Prior to my retirement in 1987 I got to watch them from many angles. The first was from the VIP stand (when it was up close) sitting next to me was Buz Aldren, what a thrill. I have watched them airborne, flying restricted area patrol with the FAA and many from the ground and or my office at Patrick AFB. Unfortunately I also watched the Challanger on its last flight and initiated the Air Force response to its mishap .... a story for another time. Night launches were especially great.

Thanks for sharing your story and the pictures of your trip.

[rv7boy]

Thanks, Paul, for the great trip report. Your comment about Gene Kranz reminded me of Joe Lombardo, long time SSME Project Manager, now retired. He was always in the LCC and never got to see a launch until he retired. And I'm sure there are others.
I've seen two launches, well really three if you count the one I saw from Lakeland when we were parking at Sun'n Fun and the parking guide got excited. So we swung the 172 around to the east and saw the bright light from the SRB's all the way across Florida in the afternoon! What a sight! The other two I saw from just outside the VAB at night and then from the causeway with my family. I still remember the acoustic vibrations from the SRB's on my shirt sleeve! It was a defining moment in my life!
I hope now to see at least one other launch and a landing. I've never seen a landing although I was in L.A. once and heard the sonic boom before the Orbiter landed at Edwards.
Thanks again, Paul...and Louise, for sharing your RV experiences with us. BTW, Louise, I like that "Iron 2." It has a nice "ring" to it! (Pun Intended!)

Don

[mannanj]

Iron:

I agree with Tony. I am no expert, but I've watched hundreds of launches from Vandenberg AFB, Ca. and have seen these phenomina numerous times.

My thought is that it is the exhaust from the main engines in the stratosphere and even the mesosphere and that the contrail may even be miles thick even though it appears relatively flat from our vantage point on the ground.

I remember at Vandenberg on a couple of launches, they released barium in this region to study the wind movement there. We had a green spot in the sky for a while!

Along this line, Minuteman launches to the West just after dark produced the "Cross" phenomina when the still burning 3rd stage reached the daylight after climbing out of the shadow of the earth. This was awsome to see and had migrant workers (and many others) on their knees wondering if it was the Second Comming!