A nice little flight in a different Cessna, which has been parked on the Signature ramp at Mc Carran for days. The airport was quiet (not unusual on VATSIM, although it would be very strange in real life), and so I just announced my intentions, taxied out to 7L, and went on my way, after filing VFR for Saint George. And yes, I did check the weather in advance this time.
The flight was uneventful. I went straight out east and then turned slightly north to put me over Lake Mead at 5500 feet. I turned up the northern arm that goes past Echo Bay, the one into which the Virgin River empties, and went up to Mormon Mesa and then back out roughly on the 070 radial. From there I just followed Interstate 15 through the mountains, turned towards St. George, after I was past them, and landed very smoothly indeed.
Along the way, I happened to check my control settings, and discovered that I had large null zones defined for my aileron and elevator controls. That explains why I've had to move them so much lately to get a response from the aircraft. I set the null zones to zero, and now the aircraft is much more nimble and realistic, since any movement at all of the controls also moves the control surfaces.
I think I'm going to add another Cessna or two to my fleet and base them in Seattle and perhaps one on the East Coast. I can just have Scotty beam me from airport to airport when I want to change from one aircraft to another.
Friday, November 7, 2008
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Hawthorne - Compton / Cessna 182RG II (N7167V) / VFR
This was just a quick shuttle flight to return my aircraft to Compton, now that it's daytime again. Hawthorne was nice but it's very close to the Class B of LAX, and I didn't want to risk busting airspace at a bad time. I just took off to the west, turned immediately south, then flew on over to Compton, crossing midfield to join a left downwind for 25L. It only took a few minutes. I didn't file a flight plan for it, and there were no passengers.
Avalon - Compton - Hawthorne / Cessna 182RG II (N7167V) / VFR
Two short flights from Avalon to Compton, then from Compton to Hawthorne. I originally planned to stay at Compton for a while, then I realized that it was getting dark, and I didn't want to be in Compton after dark, even at the airport.
The flight from Avalon was routine, with a right downwind departure to the east from runway 22. The weather was nice and clear, and I left before the 5 PM deadline. I stayed at 3500 and flew a heading of 006 to intercept the 251 radial from Seal Beach, then flew 001 to intercept the 090 radial from LAX. After landing I realized that I could have simply followed the Compton NDB in, which I'll probably do next time.
The runways are tiny at Compton, but more than sufficient for my tiny airplane. I landed and taxied over to the ramp, dropped off my passengers, and topped off the tanks. Soon thereafter, I realized the part of town I was in, and decided to leave before it got truly dark outside. So I taxied back out, took off, and headed for Hawthorne, only about 30 seconds away to the northwest. It's not clear from the charts whether KHHR is in the LAX Class B or not, but there was no ATC online, so I didn't need to care. KHHR has a nice big runway and is a bit more reassuring, so I decided to park there for the night.
The flight from Avalon was routine, with a right downwind departure to the east from runway 22. The weather was nice and clear, and I left before the 5 PM deadline. I stayed at 3500 and flew a heading of 006 to intercept the 251 radial from Seal Beach, then flew 001 to intercept the 090 radial from LAX. After landing I realized that I could have simply followed the Compton NDB in, which I'll probably do next time.
The runways are tiny at Compton, but more than sufficient for my tiny airplane. I landed and taxied over to the ramp, dropped off my passengers, and topped off the tanks. Soon thereafter, I realized the part of town I was in, and decided to leave before it got truly dark outside. So I taxied back out, took off, and headed for Hawthorne, only about 30 seconds away to the northwest. It's not clear from the charts whether KHHR is in the LAX Class B or not, but there was no ATC online, so I didn't need to care. KHHR has a nice big runway and is a bit more reassuring, so I decided to park there for the night.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Rosamond - Avalon / Cessna 182RG II (N7167V) / VFR
I originally planned this flight to follow V186 and then sneak around the Los Angeles Class B airspace, but once in the air I decided to take some shortcuts. I started with a climb to 6500, dropping to 4500 by VNY.
I noticed that the Lake Hughes, Van Nuys, and Santa Monica VORs all lie on a single line, more or less, so I just continued over VNY rather than turning east and went towards Santa Monica. Instead of going all the way around the eastern end of the Class B, I decided to take the SFRA right over the field at LAX. Continuing straight through SMO at 163 wouldn't do, so I turned due west and descended quickly to 3500 while I waited to intercept the SMO 312 radial inbound. This would allow me to depart SMO already aligned for the SFRA, and at the right altitude. This worked out pretty well (the slow speed of the Cessna helped), and I scampered across LAX by the book. Once clear of the SFRA, I turned southwest and went out over the water, descending slowly to 2500 while I waited to intercept the SXC 202 radial. This radial turned me roughly towards Santa Catalina Island and the altitude put me about 900 feet above the runway at Avalon.
I know the island fairly well and I know which way to head to get to the tiny airfield there. The weather was clear, so I could easily see the island even from the shoreline of the mainland. After riding along the 202 radial for a while, I turned to 210 and started in towards the airport. Within a short time I could make out lights above the cliffs at the airfield. From then on it was easy enough to line up my approach, and the landing was excellent. I quickly taxied over to the tiny terminal, let out my passengers, and shut everything down. There's no fuel at the airport that I know of, but I have more than enough to return to the mainland.
I landed about 25 minutes after five o'clock, which technically is not allowed at Avalon at this time of year. Thank goodness I was able to receive special permission to land. The 1600-foot cliffs at either end of the runway always make landing and taking off especially exciting, but there's generally no danger if one takes proper precautions.
There was a lot of turbulence on the way to VNY, but it got a lot smoother after that, making my passengers happy. I was also briefly stuck in IMC along the way. However, with no ATC online, IFR is much the same as VFR, so I didn't bother to switch to IFR during the minute or two that I was below VFR minimums.
I noticed that the Lake Hughes, Van Nuys, and Santa Monica VORs all lie on a single line, more or less, so I just continued over VNY rather than turning east and went towards Santa Monica. Instead of going all the way around the eastern end of the Class B, I decided to take the SFRA right over the field at LAX. Continuing straight through SMO at 163 wouldn't do, so I turned due west and descended quickly to 3500 while I waited to intercept the SMO 312 radial inbound. This would allow me to depart SMO already aligned for the SFRA, and at the right altitude. This worked out pretty well (the slow speed of the Cessna helped), and I scampered across LAX by the book. Once clear of the SFRA, I turned southwest and went out over the water, descending slowly to 2500 while I waited to intercept the SXC 202 radial. This radial turned me roughly towards Santa Catalina Island and the altitude put me about 900 feet above the runway at Avalon.
I know the island fairly well and I know which way to head to get to the tiny airfield there. The weather was clear, so I could easily see the island even from the shoreline of the mainland. After riding along the 202 radial for a while, I turned to 210 and started in towards the airport. Within a short time I could make out lights above the cliffs at the airfield. From then on it was easy enough to line up my approach, and the landing was excellent. I quickly taxied over to the tiny terminal, let out my passengers, and shut everything down. There's no fuel at the airport that I know of, but I have more than enough to return to the mainland.
I landed about 25 minutes after five o'clock, which technically is not allowed at Avalon at this time of year. Thank goodness I was able to receive special permission to land. The 1600-foot cliffs at either end of the runway always make landing and taking off especially exciting, but there's generally no danger if one takes proper precautions.
There was a lot of turbulence on the way to VNY, but it got a lot smoother after that, making my passengers happy. I was also briefly stuck in IMC along the way. However, with no ATC online, IFR is much the same as VFR, so I didn't bother to switch to IFR during the minute or two that I was below VFR minimums.
Monday, November 3, 2008
South County (Santa Clara) - Harris Farms - Rosamond / Cessna 182RG II (N7167V) / VFR
A two-leg flight just to get my airplane down into Los Angeles. I conducted most of it at only about 2000 feet AGL. Stopped at Harris Farms via PXN just for fuel and for practice—no time for a $100 hamburger. From there it was off to Shafter and Gorman, then east to Rosamond. I stayed at 2500 until I was about 12 miles from Shafter, then climbed to 5500 to avoid the KBFL Class D, then climbed later to 7500 to get over the mountains when crossing Gorman.
I touched down just short of the threshold at Harris Farms; fortunately, it was paved. I misjudged the height of the aircraft on that tiny runway, and there were no landing aids. On the other hand, I landed quite well at Rosamond, despite a 19-knot crosswind.
I touched down just short of the threshold at Harris Farms; fortunately, it was paved. I misjudged the height of the aircraft on that tiny runway, and there were no landing aids. On the other hand, I landed quite well at Rosamond, despite a 19-knot crosswind.
San Francisco - South County (Santa Clara) / Cessna 182RG II (N7167V) / VFR
Fired up my Cessna with three phantom passengers on the GA ramp at San Francisco and called for taxi and clearance into the San Francisco Class B, with a destination of the tiny South County airport about 24 miles south of San Jose.
I was offered and accepted an intersection departure from 28R. I had to wait a while for wake turbulence. ATC told me to make a speedy left crosswind departure at or below 3500 and advised me to keep the 101 freeway on my right. Unfortunately, I couldn't find the 101 on the charts—the highways were there, but I couldn't see any indication of which was which. So I asked for direct Woodside, but ATC gave me direct San Jose instead, which was fine with me. I made my way to San Jose at about 2800 feet, then ATC advised me to turn to 120, which would take me to South County. Sure enough, a few minutes later, I was there. I made a nice smooth landing and taxied to the terminal.
I was offered and accepted an intersection departure from 28R. I had to wait a while for wake turbulence. ATC told me to make a speedy left crosswind departure at or below 3500 and advised me to keep the 101 freeway on my right. Unfortunately, I couldn't find the 101 on the charts—the highways were there, but I couldn't see any indication of which was which. So I asked for direct Woodside, but ATC gave me direct San Jose instead, which was fine with me. I made my way to San Jose at about 2800 feet, then ATC advised me to turn to 120, which would take me to South County. Sure enough, a few minutes later, I was there. I made a nice smooth landing and taxied to the terminal.
Oakland - Orange County / Boeing 737-800 (SWA3854) / IFR
I decided to fly something different for a change of pace, so I mirrored Southwest Airlines Flight 3854, from Oakland to John Wayne Airport (Orange County), a one-hour flight.
The flight was pretty routine, through about a 4/8 or 5/8 overcast the whole way. I was cleared for a visual approach to 19R after the TANDY3 arrival. I was in a daring mood, so I switched off the autopilot and autothrottle and flew the approach by hand. It was hard to see the field at first because of low clouds, but once I saw it and was cleared for the approach, I made a nice smooth turn just west of Disneyland and came around quite well aligned with the runway centerline. My descent rate was good, too, and I was at Vref just as I was supposed to be. The only problem is that I drifted right for some reason during the last half mile or so, and big airplanes being what they are, I couldn't coax it back onto the centerline before I flared, so I landed with some of the main wheels on the paved perimeter of the runway. That would be a bumpy and expensive mistake in real life. I can see it's going to take some practice to get it right. At least I can land little planes without any trouble now (I recall when that was a challenge, too).
The flight was pretty routine, through about a 4/8 or 5/8 overcast the whole way. I was cleared for a visual approach to 19R after the TANDY3 arrival. I was in a daring mood, so I switched off the autopilot and autothrottle and flew the approach by hand. It was hard to see the field at first because of low clouds, but once I saw it and was cleared for the approach, I made a nice smooth turn just west of Disneyland and came around quite well aligned with the runway centerline. My descent rate was good, too, and I was at Vref just as I was supposed to be. The only problem is that I drifted right for some reason during the last half mile or so, and big airplanes being what they are, I couldn't coax it back onto the centerline before I flared, so I landed with some of the main wheels on the paved perimeter of the runway. That would be a bumpy and expensive mistake in real life. I can see it's going to take some practice to get it right. At least I can land little planes without any trouble now (I recall when that was a challenge, too).