Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Stanford - Great Falls - Conrad / Cessna 182RG Skylane (N7199V) / VFR
Just for a change of pace, I teleported one of my Cessnas to Montana, and flew from the tiny airport of Stanford to Great Falls, and then to the tiny airport of Conrad. It took about an hour, and brought a change of scenery. Weather was clear but too hot, as usual (it seems to be impossible to escape the heat even in simulation).
Monday, June 29, 2009
Castle Well - Gila Bend / Cessna 182RG Skylane (N7109V) / VFR
The sun had set only moments before I started out on this short little trip from the tiny private airstrip of Castle Well, one of those little airpark communities where everyone has his own taxiway to the runway. It's hard to find the airport even when flying, and it doesn't even appear on the sectional (although it's on the TAC).
The runway is only 1400 feet long, so I throttled up with the brakes on before rolling. I had to climb briskly after rotating to avoid a pole that was just beyond the runway (in real life, there is a highway with some poles not too far away from the field, but much further away than in the sim).
After take-off, as darkness fell (which happens quickly in the desert), I just aimed straight for the Buckeye VOR, which easy enough because runway 17 very nearly points at it. I went up to 4500 feet in good VMC. After crossing BXK, I turned to GBN and eased my way down to 3500 feet. A few miles out of the airport I veered east, in part for lining up with runway 22 at Gila Bend (essentially a right base), and in part to put more space between me and terrain, because there are some hills just west of the radial I was on, and I couldn't see anything on the ground, just some lights from cars and the lights at the airport.
Landing was extremely smooth and uneventful. It was a nice, short flight. I held altitude and course pretty well.
The runway is only 1400 feet long, so I throttled up with the brakes on before rolling. I had to climb briskly after rotating to avoid a pole that was just beyond the runway (in real life, there is a highway with some poles not too far away from the field, but much further away than in the sim).
After take-off, as darkness fell (which happens quickly in the desert), I just aimed straight for the Buckeye VOR, which easy enough because runway 17 very nearly points at it. I went up to 4500 feet in good VMC. After crossing BXK, I turned to GBN and eased my way down to 3500 feet. A few miles out of the airport I veered east, in part for lining up with runway 22 at Gila Bend (essentially a right base), and in part to put more space between me and terrain, because there are some hills just west of the radial I was on, and I couldn't see anything on the ground, just some lights from cars and the lights at the airport.
Landing was extremely smooth and uneventful. It was a nice, short flight. I held altitude and course pretty well.
Friday, June 26, 2009
Phoenix - Los Angeles / Beechcraft Baron 58 (N3862S) / IFR
This two-hour flight went fine most of the way, but I messed up badly once in SoCal.
The route was V16 almost the whole way. Up to 6000 to start, then later on, up to 8000. I had filed V16 all the way to PDZ in SoCal, but the last legs between PSP and PDZ would have taken me to at least 14,000 feet, and I didn't want to gulp oxygen for half an hour (nor did my virtual passengers). So I asked ATC to amend the flight plan to take V388 between PSP and PDZ, which crosses DEWAY and has a MEA of 9500 instead. That was approved, so I was able to limit my altitude to 10,000 at most during the trip. I was brought back down to 5000 after ACINS, in part due to my request.
Things got messy when it came time to do the approach. I was told way in advance that I'd get 25L, so no problem there. But somehow, when it finally game time to capture that localizer, I just didn't manage. I got the AP modes screwed up or something, and I actually managed to blow through the localizer twice. I could sense ATC's patience wearing thin, and I was at first cleared for a visual approach (translation: the controller was worried that I'd never get my act together for the ILS), but the weather had just deteriorated, so I was sent back onto the ILS. This time, I managed to line up partially by hand, and then I got all thes modes right on the AP and got fully established. The rest of the approach was fine. A couple miles out I turned off the automation and landed by hand, a tad low but still very smooth.
I taxied over to Mercury Aviation and parked, fuming over the poor approach I had made. I guess I need to stay more current.
The route was V16 almost the whole way. Up to 6000 to start, then later on, up to 8000. I had filed V16 all the way to PDZ in SoCal, but the last legs between PSP and PDZ would have taken me to at least 14,000 feet, and I didn't want to gulp oxygen for half an hour (nor did my virtual passengers). So I asked ATC to amend the flight plan to take V388 between PSP and PDZ, which crosses DEWAY and has a MEA of 9500 instead. That was approved, so I was able to limit my altitude to 10,000 at most during the trip. I was brought back down to 5000 after ACINS, in part due to my request.
Things got messy when it came time to do the approach. I was told way in advance that I'd get 25L, so no problem there. But somehow, when it finally game time to capture that localizer, I just didn't manage. I got the AP modes screwed up or something, and I actually managed to blow through the localizer twice. I could sense ATC's patience wearing thin, and I was at first cleared for a visual approach (translation: the controller was worried that I'd never get my act together for the ILS), but the weather had just deteriorated, so I was sent back onto the ILS. This time, I managed to line up partially by hand, and then I got all thes modes right on the AP and got fully established. The rest of the approach was fine. A couple miles out I turned off the automation and landed by hand, a tad low but still very smooth.
I taxied over to Mercury Aviation and parked, fuming over the poor approach I had made. I guess I need to stay more current.
Gila Bend - Buckeye - Castle Well / Cessna 182RG Skylane (N7109V) / VFR
Inspired by a video I saw on YouTube, I decided to fly from Buckeye, a tiny, dusty, hot little airport in the desert, to Castle Rock, an even tinier, equally dusty, and equally hot private airport east of Wickenburg. However, I had the aircraft parked in blazingly hot, dusty, and tiny Gila Bend, so I had to start there.
Both legs were uneventful. For the first, I just check which radial to ride on for Buckeye and pretty much followed that, watching for Highway 85 below me. Landing at Buckeye was uneventful, apart from the heat (but it was hot everywhere).
After staying overnight in Buckeye, I flew the target leg the next day, and it was only about a 20-minute flight. Castle Well is really tiny, with a short little runway, but I did just fine. In the sim, the scenery looks very bland and desolate, but as the video proved, in real life, the scenery is … very bland and desolate.
Both legs were uneventful. For the first, I just check which radial to ride on for Buckeye and pretty much followed that, watching for Highway 85 below me. Landing at Buckeye was uneventful, apart from the heat (but it was hot everywhere).
After staying overnight in Buckeye, I flew the target leg the next day, and it was only about a 20-minute flight. Castle Well is really tiny, with a short little runway, but I did just fine. In the sim, the scenery looks very bland and desolate, but as the video proved, in real life, the scenery is … very bland and desolate.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Tucson - San Diego / Boeing 737-800 (SWA450) / IFR
This was a pretty smooth flight, mirroring the real thing, except that I started out about half an hour late. The same clouds and IMC that was so worrisome in my Bonanza just looked pretty from the flight deck of a 737. I didn't manage the descent as well as I might have liked, and I established late on the localizer, but other than that things went okay. I landed by hand and it was quite smooth. I was very irritated to see flickering in the KSAN scenery again, though. Nobody anywhere on the Web seems to know what causes this or how to fix it.
Phoenix - San Diego / Beechcraft Bonanza A36 (N7365F) / VFR
This flight went just fine most of the way, but things got messy towards the end.
The weather was hot but otherwise favorable out of Phoenix. I made straight out off runway 26, swinging slightly north to follow I-10 and then down Highway 85, as usual. I couldn't decide whether to use pilotage or navaids, and eventually drifted between both. Following I-8 out of Gila Bend is easy enough, but you have to take care to stay north of the Interstate, otherwise, at some points, you'll end up in Mexican airspace (especially after Dateland). I stayed at 4500 during this time and used the AP intermittently to make it easier to keep a course against a substantial headwind that seemed to come and go.
After crossing the Imperial VOR, I could see heavy clouds lurking on the opposite side of the mountains. The weather for KSAN and surrounding airports had been marginal VFR when I left, so I kinda expected that some IMC might get in my way. Unfortunately, I hesitated a long time before doing anything, and by the time I actually requested a pop-up IFR clearance, I was already in IMC (in real life, I never would have procrastinated like that, but sims occasionally make you lazy). I had a route from KTUS to KSAN in the GPS and I activated that. I noticed, though, that it was a VFR route, missing the IAF of the LOC 27 approach at KSAN, which was at RYAHH. ATC was not online so I was on my own. I rerouted myself from CANNO to RYAHH, but by then I was acutally crossing CANNO. Then, somehow I managed to hit the avionics switch on the panel and turned off all the avionics (EHSI, GPS, radio panel, autopilot, VORs, etc.). I had to turn that on and wait for it all to boot up and keep the aircraft level and straight at the same time, in fog. I was soon badly messed up. Fortunately I knew the terrain a little and knew how high I had to be. I eventually aimed for RYAHH at 5000, and from there clumsily made my approach. The AP was such a pain to set up again that I just turned it off and flew by hand.
Fortunately, as I descended, I got below the clouds, and I was able to cancel IFR and proceed visually, making straight in to 27. I had the ILS tuned, but by this late time, it was easier to just fly by hand and aim for the field, which I had in sight. I know the approach so it wasn't too troublesome.
I finally laned, very smoothly, without hitting anything. Nevertheless, I kicked myself over all the mistakes I had made, letting the situation get away from me. I made it because I knew the area a bit even without being able to see it, but it was still very careless of me. I was not a happy pilot as I parked outside Jimsair.
The weather was hot but otherwise favorable out of Phoenix. I made straight out off runway 26, swinging slightly north to follow I-10 and then down Highway 85, as usual. I couldn't decide whether to use pilotage or navaids, and eventually drifted between both. Following I-8 out of Gila Bend is easy enough, but you have to take care to stay north of the Interstate, otherwise, at some points, you'll end up in Mexican airspace (especially after Dateland). I stayed at 4500 during this time and used the AP intermittently to make it easier to keep a course against a substantial headwind that seemed to come and go.
After crossing the Imperial VOR, I could see heavy clouds lurking on the opposite side of the mountains. The weather for KSAN and surrounding airports had been marginal VFR when I left, so I kinda expected that some IMC might get in my way. Unfortunately, I hesitated a long time before doing anything, and by the time I actually requested a pop-up IFR clearance, I was already in IMC (in real life, I never would have procrastinated like that, but sims occasionally make you lazy). I had a route from KTUS to KSAN in the GPS and I activated that. I noticed, though, that it was a VFR route, missing the IAF of the LOC 27 approach at KSAN, which was at RYAHH. ATC was not online so I was on my own. I rerouted myself from CANNO to RYAHH, but by then I was acutally crossing CANNO. Then, somehow I managed to hit the avionics switch on the panel and turned off all the avionics (EHSI, GPS, radio panel, autopilot, VORs, etc.). I had to turn that on and wait for it all to boot up and keep the aircraft level and straight at the same time, in fog. I was soon badly messed up. Fortunately I knew the terrain a little and knew how high I had to be. I eventually aimed for RYAHH at 5000, and from there clumsily made my approach. The AP was such a pain to set up again that I just turned it off and flew by hand.
Fortunately, as I descended, I got below the clouds, and I was able to cancel IFR and proceed visually, making straight in to 27. I had the ILS tuned, but by this late time, it was easier to just fly by hand and aim for the field, which I had in sight. I know the approach so it wasn't too troublesome.
I finally laned, very smoothly, without hitting anything. Nevertheless, I kicked myself over all the mistakes I had made, letting the situation get away from me. I made it because I knew the area a bit even without being able to see it, but it was still very careless of me. I was not a happy pilot as I parked outside Jimsair.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Gila Bend - Phoenix / Beechcraft Bonanza A36 (N7365F) / VFR
A routine flight from the blistering heat of Gila Bend to the blistering heat of Phoenix. It was cooler in the air but still a furnace on the ground. Only 11 AM and already 91° F on the ramp. I'm so glad it's just a simulation!
Anyway, the weather was pretty clear, and I had no trouble finding my way to Phoenix by pilotage, along my usual route of Highway 85 and then Interstate 10. Landing was very smooth and without any problems, on runway 8, straight in from 3500 feet.
Anyway, the weather was pretty clear, and I had no trouble finding my way to Phoenix by pilotage, along my usual route of Highway 85 and then Interstate 10. Landing was very smooth and without any problems, on runway 8, straight in from 3500 feet.