Butte, Montana - Seattle / Beechcraft Bonanza A36 (N3758W) / IFR

This was another marathon flight of over three hours (that's a marathon for me). I hesitated about it because aviation weather reports mentioned some moderate icing in the areas through which my route would pass, but I finally decided to try it, and just be prepared to find a place to land if icing became a problem (I've only had problems with icing a handful of times, but it wasn't pleasant).

I flew airways from VOR to VOR, with routing of CPN MSO MLP GEG EPH EAT SEA—a distance of 432 nautical miles. I had the whole route saved in my GPS, but I semi-hand-flew the route, with autopilot holding altitude and heading and me just adjusting the heading. I used the track info from the GPS to adjust for wind, since the predicted and actual winds aloft were pretty stiff at times (up to 50 knots). I tried to take care to follow all IFR procedures, although I still made mistakes.

During the time I was preparing my flight, the wind shifted, and it started coming from the north instead of the west. That suited me fine, as the obstacle clearance requirements for departures to the west were more stringent than those for departures to the north. After obtaining my clearance, I was off, as there was not much traffic at Bert Mooney airport. Per the obstacle departure, I maintained 800 fpm to 6700 while turning to fly direct to my first VOR, Coppertown. It was pretty cloudy and I was soon in the clouds.

I was supposed to be at 10,500 feet (MEA for the first airway leg of the route) before crossing CPN, and while I was prepared to hold, I didn't need to, as I just managed to squeak by. However, my first mistake was in climbing to 10,500 feet, which isn't an appropriate IFR altitude. I realized this soon enough and climbed to 12,000 feet. I was going to have to use oxygen in any case, so it didn't matter much. Then, after CPN, I had to climb to 14,000 for the MEA of 13,000—definitely oxygen country.

I had to remain at 14,000 for 76 miles, in a very stiff headwind that made my speed over the ground barely 120 knots. Thereafter, crossing Missoula, I was able to descend to 10,000 feet. When I got to Spokane (GEG) some time later, I was able to descend to 6000. But that didn't last long, because I had to be back at 12,000 after Wenatchee. At TAGOR I was able to descend again.

As I approached Seattle, the weather seemed fairly clear, and the scenery at sunset was very pretty, but the weather deteriorated quickly, and my plans for a visual approach went away. I was vectored into the ILS runway 34R approach, and for a long time I saw nothing outside the window, although I was fully established and not worried. The weather looked worse than it was, and I spotted the runway while still six miles out or so.

Landing was extremely smooth. I taxied over to the cargo ramp north of the tower, which I prefer to the transient ramp on the west side. I had started out with full tanks and had used about 60% of my fuel during the trip—still a very generous reserve.

San Diego - Sacramento / Boeing 737-800 (SWA1976) / IFR

A quick flight to Sacramento mirroring Southwest Airlines Flight 1976. I departed somewhat late compared to the real flight, but the duration of the flight was roughly the same.

This flight was mostly uneventful, but it keeps me current on this aircraft. I noted once again that the FMC seems reluctant to descend the aircraft at times; disengaging and reengaging VNAV can cause it to “wake up” and resume the descent at a rate that will meet altitude restrictions. I'm not sure if this is the idiosyncrasy of the sim or an accurate simulation of a real-life characteristic of the FMC.

I flew the approach by hand. I'm doing better at this, although the winds were a bit gusty on the ground, which made things more difficult.

Las Vegas - Nephi - Bert Mooney / Beechcraft Bonanza A36 (N3758W) / VFR

This was an unusually long flight for me, flown in two legs, covering over 500 miles.

Inspired by a recent event near Butte, Montana, I decided to visit Bert Mooney airport. I happened to have one of my Bonanzas parked at Signature in Las Vegas, and I originally planned just to fly over to Perkins, on Lake Mead, but once I had come close to the airport, I just decided to keep on going.

I started out over Black Canyon and overflew Hoover Dam, because I like Hoover Dam. Then it was back out over the lake and up towards Perkins. As I got there, though, I thought to myself, “Why not just keep on going?” and so I did. I followed Interstate 15, which, by a happy coincidence, runs directly from Las Vegas up to Butte. I ended up going through St. George, then Cedar City, then up further north until I reached Nephi, a tiny airport not too far south of Salt Lake City, where I took a stopover for rest and refueling.

Later on, I continued up from Nephi. The weather got down to minimums as I approached and flew through Salt Lake City, and at times I could barely see the Great Salt Lake, even though I was practically over the eastern shore. The bad weather continued with snow flurries up through the mountains, and only gradually cleared. I flew on and on, doggedly following Interstate 15 for most of the way, and occasionally losing it, although the GPS and my charts helped me pick it back up. I got lost once and had some trouble dealing with some rather substantial mountains not too far south from my final destination. I finally got to Mooney, though.

Total time in the air was about 3.5 hours, which is a very long time for me. But it was interesting. Now I have to figure out where to go from Mooney. I think I'm closer to Seattle now than I am to Las Vegas, but I already have another Bonanza parked in Astoria, Oregon.

Las Vegas - Desert Rock / Beechcraft Bonanza A36 (N3785W) / VFR

A bit after sunset, I made a short flight on my own to Desert Rock, a DOE airport perilously close to the forbidden “Box” (R-4808N) that is home to Area 51. It's not a difficult flight and I know the way.

I was sent back along Hotel to 19R, and from there I made a right downwind departure over the Strip and up to KVGT, where I joined the El Cortez transition westbound and caught up with the infamous Highway 95 that leads to Dreamland (almost). By staying west of that highway and following it, I could stay safely out of restricted airspace and still be led directly to Desert Rock. I tuned the Mercury NDB (which is at KDRA) just to be extra sure. I made my way at 6500, since 4500 is a bit tight at night.

Landing at KDRA was uneventful and very smooth. I had a bit of trouble getting in on frequency to cancel flight following, but other than that, all went well. Thank goodness I took care to get permission to land in advance, so no big guys with guns were there to meet me.

Phoenix - Thunder Ridge - Carefree - Stellar - Estrella - Hangar Haciendas - Phoenix - Las Vegas / Beechcraft Baron A36 (N3785W) / VFR

Over the course of a day or so, I flew around various “airplane communities” picking up and dropping off a number of virtual friends. I started out from Sky Harbor in Phoenix, and followed Grand Avenue (which becomes Highway 60) all the way up to Circle City, a tiny town right across the highway from Thunder Ridge airport, my first destination. Amazingly, the airport is not in the sim database (even though just about every dirt strip in the world is in the database), so I had to add it myself. It's just a strip with a few homes. It was hard to spot from more than a mile or two away, but I found it and landed safely.

From there, it was off to Sky Ranch at Carefree, another aviation-oriented community north of Phoenix and just south of the Desert Forest golf course. This field, too, is hard to spot from a distance, even though the name of the airport is painted in big letters on the runway. There's rising terrain off either end of the single runway, so you have to be careful. I landed with no problem, however.

After a break, it was time for my next destination, Stellar Airpark. Since this was south of Phoenix and I was north, I had to sneak through the Class B. I asked for and got the west transition route over Sky Harbor. At Ahwatukee, I turned east towards the airpark, which, unlike many other aviation housing developments, is open to the public. I stayed on the public taxiway and paused for a while to switch passengers.

Then it was off to Estrella Sailport, an airport near the mountains of the same name, further south, that caters to gliders. I took great care to watch for traffic at this airport, as there are many tow planes and NORDO gliders moving about. Per the directory notes on the airport, I landed on the one paved runway (the others are reserved for gliders). It was still early and there wasn't too much traffic.

From there, still on the same tank o’gas, I took off again and made my way to Hangar Haciendas, under the Bravo airspace. Another excellent landing—I'm getting quite good at landing the Bonanza.

After switching passengers again, I was off … back to Sky Harbor to pick up some additional virtual friends and some fuel. I made a right base to 7R, allowing me to quickly zip over to Cutter Aviation. Another pause while the tanks were topped off, plus three passengers, and I was ready to go out on the final leg of this long trip, to Sin City.

By this time, the wind had changed, so I took off from runway 26. I wanted 26 so that I could turn immediately originally, although I ultimately decided to make straight out to BXK. I was cleared to 4500 initially, then brought up to 6500 before I left the Class B. Just before reaching the Buckeye VOR, I turned to follow Interstate 10. After following that northwest for a time, I turned towards Parker and Lake Havasu, and starting following the Colorado River north after I reached it. After quite some time, I ended up over Hoover Dam, trying to contact Las Vegas Approach.

I finally got through to ATC as I turned west over FLYES (over Lake Mead). I was restricted to 4500 and told to maintain VFR, and then ATC sort of forgot about me. I ended up flying right over the airport, right above 25R, and then rejoining right traffic. After wandering like this for a time, I finally gave up and turned south towards Jean, an airport at which I'd be able to land without waiting for ATC. But Approach called me up just as I turned over Interstate 15 to go south, and told me to contact Las Vegas Tower, which I did. It was a bit strange, not the usual procedure.

The tower cleared me to make a left downwind to 25R. I descended rapidly to below 1000 feet AGL, then made a sharp turn to base and another to final. There was a Citation behind me six miles out, so I was given approval to land long (given that I was parking at Signature). To my own surprise, I actually managed to do this correctly. Not only was I properly aligned with 25R when I rolled out of my turn, but I was at a good altitude, and I was able to float along the runway for a large part of its length. I finally touched down at the far end and was cleared to cross 1L and 1R to Hotel; I veered out onto Alpha to clear the runway and then made my way over to Signature, which is just off Hotel on the west side of the field. The Citation was just seconds behind, so it was pretty interesting, although the ATC during the approach earlier had been confusing.

After parking, I shut things down for a couple of hours to rest. My passengers were off to the Strip, so I didn't see them again.

Seattle - Astoria / Beechcraft Bonanza A36 (N6835W) / IFR

I decided to try the flight out to Astoria again. The Seattle area has pretty reliable IMC much of the time, and when I started out, conditions were just above VFR minimums. I flew the same route as on the previous trip, out to CARRO and then down to OLM, and from there along V187 to AST at 6000.

As I approached AST, I turned to a heading of 077 towards the PEN NDB. I started my descent to 4300 feet as I began a procedure turn just beyond PEN. It was quite easy to get down to 4300 feet and stay within the recommended 10-nm radius for the turn. Establishment on the ILS was very smooth. Winds were a bit gusty, but visibility improved as I descended, and I had the field in sight a few miles out. About a mile out, I disengaged the AP and hand-flew the landing, which went very smoothly.

So it went well this time. I shall look for other IFR procedure challenges in the future.

North Bend - Rogue Valley / Beechcraft Bonanza A36 (N7365F) / IFR

A short flight from North Bend on the coast of Oregon to Rogue Valley, about 90 nm inland. There was a lone controller online at KMFR, but by the time I actually got into the air, he was gone.

The flight went very smoothly, strictly by the book, all lateral and vertical navigation respected. I hand-flew laterally up to about OTH, then switched to AP until I reached MOPIO and started my descent from 9000 to 5000 by SAMIE. I then engaged the AP again for the ILS runway 14 approach, and disengaged it about a mile from the airport and hand-flew the landing, which was glassy smooth, I'm happy to say.

Weather was reported VFR at the destination airport, and it was, but I was worried for a bit because I had quite a bit of clouds on the way in at 9000.