cleve_thompson
Well Known Member
On Saturday Jan 25th, I had planned to fly down to Sebring, FL to the Light Sport Expo from Waycross, GA. Ground fog over much of south Georgia and all of Florida delayed my take off until 10AM when the ceiling was up to 900 ft. at Waycross, KAYS and seemed to be lifting in southern Florida. I had calculated it would take 1:45 to get to Sebring so I didn't worry about the late take off. What I didn't count on was what effect the air show would have in IFR flights!
I took off and broke out at about 3,000 ft. and all seemed well until just below Lakeland, LAL. Center asked that I enter a hold over Wacula Airport and it took 30+ min before I was cleared to Sebring. My flight on Flightaware.com shows the multiple times over Wacula.
The integration of the Garmin 430 displaying the radial on the OBS, the GRT PFD and HSI set on heading bug, and the Trutrak A/P with GPSS made consistent holds almost easy and certainly better than I could have flown by hand.
The 1hr 45 min flight turned into 2h 40 min because of the delays filing a IFR flight plan but would not have been possible otherwise.
The Expo was a great place to show case light sport aircraft and Vans had a booth there.
I had expected to see the RV12 but I only saw a RV9A. To be honest, however, I think mine is prettier
On the flight back I had to climb to 10,000 to get on top and the ceiling was 1400 ft back at KAYS. The flight back only took 1hr 30 min. and the A/P flew a perfect LPV approach there.
Air shows can be fun, but in IMC weather the flight to them can be challenging and one must be ready for amended flight plans, multiple holds, and increased traffic!
I took off and broke out at about 3,000 ft. and all seemed well until just below Lakeland, LAL. Center asked that I enter a hold over Wacula Airport and it took 30+ min before I was cleared to Sebring. My flight on Flightaware.com shows the multiple times over Wacula.
The integration of the Garmin 430 displaying the radial on the OBS, the GRT PFD and HSI set on heading bug, and the Trutrak A/P with GPSS made consistent holds almost easy and certainly better than I could have flown by hand.
The 1hr 45 min flight turned into 2h 40 min because of the delays filing a IFR flight plan but would not have been possible otherwise.
The Expo was a great place to show case light sport aircraft and Vans had a booth there.
I had expected to see the RV12 but I only saw a RV9A. To be honest, however, I think mine is prettier
On the flight back I had to climb to 10,000 to get on top and the ceiling was 1400 ft back at KAYS. The flight back only took 1hr 30 min. and the A/P flew a perfect LPV approach there.
Air shows can be fun, but in IMC weather the flight to them can be challenging and one must be ready for amended flight plans, multiple holds, and increased traffic!
