Today my Dad and I took a mid-day flight to grab lunch at 57 Alpha, the cafe at Rutherford Co airport, KFQD.
We made a detour on the way there to overfly KCEU, Clemson, SC. We both went to school there so it was nice to take a quick peek.
After landing at KFQD we found the place fairly deserted, no doubt due to some cloudiness in the area. We enjoyed a nice lunch at the cafe: I had a chicken burrito with banana pudding (their specialty - very good) and my dad had a hamburger. After that we just walked around the airport a bit to enjoy the scenery. It's in the foothills of the mountains, so the skyline was nice to look at.
For the crank up to leave FQD, I was a little worried the engine might be tough to start. It had been turned off for about 45 minutes, and I wasn't sure if priming the engine a bit would be bad or good. Normally if I've shut down for just 15-30 minutes I don't prime, so that's what I did this time. It actually started quite quickly with no priming at all, so that worked nicely!
During the flight I tested a new electronic CO detector I bought, the CO Experts Model 2010. It was quite back-ordered, so took a while to get to me. It's very sensitive and worked well for the flight. Only went off once, for just a moment, right before we did the take off from FQD. I think it must have just detected a minute about of CO from the engine. Other than that time, it was reading zero ppm for the flight.
I've been told to never use one of these as they have been shown to give false readings (not change color in the presence of CO) and expire quickly, so I decided that the CO Experts one was the way to go, especially since I take my young boys on trips in the airplane.
Today I grabbed a ride from my co-worker to get back down to KFLD for the trip home.
When we arrived my airplane was tied up right in front of the FBO. Most of the hundreds of other planes were already gone. A pair of guys cranked up a DA-20 while I preflighted, and what I think was a C-210 took off just before I did.
I filed IFR from KFLD to the Chicago VOR (ORD) to KUZA. When I called up approach they told me I couldn't pick up IFR within 100nm of OSH. That surprised me a bit because I had read that Sunday was the last day of unusual rules, but I guess I missed that one.
After thinking a second I realized that going VFR for a while would actually be really great. So I pointed my nose at Chicago and climbed out to 11,500' to get over their airspace.
I used the autopilot to follow the shoreline of Lake Michigan and worked my way south. Plugging in the iPhone to the intercom gave me a good soundtrack for the trip.
Once I cleared Chicago's airspace I was plenty far away from OSH to get a clearance. I called up Chicago and they worked me in quickly with a clearance to head direct home (yet more music to my ears).
The remainder of the trip was quite uneventful. I enjoyed a few knots of tailwind for the flight so I was able to avoid a fuel stop. I made a rule for myself that if the flight computer told me I'd only have 20 gallons upon landing (or if the gas needles showed values that didn't make sense with the computer) then I'd make a stop.
With the tailwind I was able to just keep the music cranked and simply monitor the aircraft systems (and other traffic) while taking in the sights.
Charlotte gave me the typical vectors around their airspace and set me up for a ILS approach into my home base (the clouds had built up a bit during the flight). Not many folks were flying since the clouds were a little low, so the radio was fairly quiet.
I ended with a landing to be proud of for the finale of my longest aircraft trip to date!
My week actually in Oshkosh was pretty amazing. I saw very little of the airshow, but spent the majority of my time manning the ForeFlight booth in Hangar D.
We setup Sunday afternoon after I arrived at KFLD. ForeFlight rented a house and borrowed a car from the home owner. We used that and another rental car to drive to the airport/show and park by Hangar D.
A colleague went ahead to grab up our credentials so, with that all set, we brought our literature, posters, and other materials into Hangar D. The booth was there waiting on us (I had shipped it UPS to the show) so within an hour or so my Dad, co-worker, and I had the booth setup and ready to go. It really went about as well as it could have.
The next day, Monday, was the first day of the show. We were swamped from the beginning of the day until the end, 9-5.
It was really great getting to talk to everyone - existing customers, well wishers, people that had never seen an iPad before, the whole gamut. My co-worker and I manned the booth all day without a single break. Needless to say, we were exhausted, thirsty, and hungry at quitting time.
My dad and I went to our car and made a run for pizza and supplies from Wal-Mart (snacks, drinks, etc.).
The rest of the week went just like Monday, completely swamped. However we were able to enlist help in manning the booth from some our our advisors and beta testers that were attending the show. They sacrificed their valuable Oshkosh-time to help meet and greet folks at our booth. We were so happy they helped out - even with their help we had a very hard time taking a break.
The last day, Sunday, was a bit slower as most of the pilots were either leaving or had left Saturday. My co-worker was able to man the booth solo (he's a machine) so I took the chance to go back to the house and stay off my feet (they were killing me - I'm just a desk jockey after all).
That night I used ForeFlight Mobile (what else?!) to brief my flight home on Monday.
I got the chance to attend AirVenture (Oshkosh) this year as an exhibitor - we ForeFlight-ers had our first booth ever at the biggest general aviation airshow there is!
My dad joined me for the flight up to Osh. We flew on an IFR flight plan from KUZA up to KCEV first, for a cheap fuel and bathroom stop. A CFI was manning the small FBO there and gave me great instructions on parking by the self-serve pumps - he went so far as to pump the gas for us before he started a lesson with a student. He wouldn't accept the tip I tried to give him, instead he set me up in his office so I could check the weather. They're giving southern hospitality a run for its money up there!
The airport was gorgeous, surrounding by lush farmland, but we didn't have time to soak it in - soon we were blasting off for KFLD (Fond du lac) and talking to Dayton approach to pick up our clearance.
As we neared Chicago they routed us well west of the airport, adding 10-15 minutes of flight time to the trip and throwing a quick "figure out this new route" problem my way. ForeFlight Mobile made it easy to sort out what waypoints to add to the 430 GPS, and after a few traffic vectors we eventually were cut loose to go direct to KFLD. When I say "cut loose" I mean it - I was told that if I didn't cancel by the time I was near Madison they'd cancel IFR for me - I didn't have a IFR reservation slot.
However, when I did cancel the nice controller offered to keep giving me traffic advisories so I stayed with him another 10 minutes or so before getting ready to land at KFLD.
Once we canceled services with ATC we dialed in the ATIS at KFLD. Since traffic was heavy there (soggy grass had lots of people going to KFLD instead of KOSH) they had standard patterns to enter for landing on runway 36. In our case we went east over the city and entered a downwind leg. You don't talk back to the tower controller when it's that busy - instead you rock your wings. So as we entered the pattern he called out "white cirrus, number 4 for landing, if you hear this rock your wings" and so we rocked.
We followed the line of aircraft in the pattern until we were just over the numbers. We were much closer to the airplane in front of us than I would normally allow - but when it's that busy you just have to be up on your "game". I was starting to flare when the tower asked me to land long, so I put a decent bit of power in and we kept flying for another 1500' feet or so. After that I decided I wanted to get my wheels on the ground (the end of the runway was fast approaching) so I landed and got on the brakes just enough to make the taxiway.
Ground had us taxi over to the east-west runway to park off the taxiway with the others. We slowly taxied by all the aircraft, nervous that a wing tip might tap another planes prop, and then shutdown. The folks working the parking pushed us back into the grass but it was quickly obvious that the SR22 was too heavy for wet grass parking. We were stuck with the nose still out in the taxiway a bit. Time to call the tug.
It took the better part of an hour for the tug to arrive so we just had to wait it out in the sun. I hovered over the prop to guard it from other aircraft taxiing by. One guy in particular taxied by so fast I actually yelled at him - he was doing 15-20MPH in an area with inches of clearance and people walking all around. Luckily he didn't hit anything. It sure did make me think that some folks don't have enough sense to fly an aircraft though.
In that same vein the guys parked next to us decided it would be a good idea to crawl into the back of their small RV aircraft - an aircraft that was parked on an incline. When the the guy plopped himself in the backseat to get his luggage - BAMMM - the tail smacked into the grass. They just picked up the tail and shrugged it off - I stood there wondering if they had managed to break something structurally important.
Eventually the tug arrived and took us to hard surface parking. Again I tried to tip the tug operator but he'd have none of it - instead he promised to find a tie down spot for me as soon as he could.
The gentleman whose house ForeFlight rented came down from OSH to pick up us in his car. He even helped us unload the airplane and put the cover on.
We had finally arrived - happy but tired and ready for a late lunch!
Just like his older brother, Grady's first flight was in a Cirrus SR22 - in style! I flew the family over to Anderson to drop them off for a visit with the grandparents.
I got a bit of IFR practice in, which I enjoyed, and the kids got to see their grandparents a few days earlier than if they waited to drive! I posted a couple of pictures on Facebook.
When shooting the approach into KAND I had to get some radio relay help to talk to Greer Approach - I guess they don't have a repeater near Lake Hartwell. That added a bit of spice to the approach as I worked with a guy in a Piper to relay my IFR cancelation request. Glad that Piper flying gentleman came to my rescue. ;)
The return trip home was good practice as well - the clouds had built even more then and I was right in the thick of them. When I hopped off of KAND and called up Greer they immediately knew I was looking for a clearance and just started rattling it off to me - that made it nice and easy as I was climbing toward the clouds quickly.
I just recently returned from Dayton, having attended the annual Cirrus Migration get-together. This was my first time at Migration, and Migration's first time not being held in Duluth. I attended partly to see if ForeFlight should exhibit there next year, partly to make new acquaintances, and partly to learn more about Cirrus. I managed to tackle all three goals quite nicely.
I flew up to OH on Thursday with great weather. I had a 10-15 kt headwind for the trip so it took a bit over 2 hours to get there. Charlotte approach gave me a few vector headings around their airspace but shortly cleared me to point directly to my destination - very cool. As I crossed the mountains they sent me up to 10,000' (I was at 8,000' before, just below ATC's minimal altitudes for that area).
I used ForeFlight Mobile HD on my iPad to follow my progress along the IFR low altitude charts. It was also handy for frequency lookups - I like to guess at the next frequency ATC will give me so I can pre-load it.
I landed at KDAY after a bit of time in the clouds near Dayton. The FBO parked me along taxiway H, along with a few dozen other Cirrus aircraft (my bird is the close one on the left, with the cover).
I spent the next few days attending the various events at Migration. I had the privilege to meet a large number of current and soon-to-be ForeFlight customers as well, which was the highlight of the trip. We went to the Air Force museum at Wright-Patterson, which easily rivals or beats the Air and Space museum at the Smithsonian. I plan to take my sons there in a few years, when they are a bit older and able to appreciate it all.
During the first night we had a dinner, all 500 or so of us, at a park in town. Just before we went into the tent to eat, I was walking around taking in a few of the sites (and giving the occasional demo of the iPad). After a bit I saw a older gentleman sitting by himself on a circular bench around a tree, off to the side. Sitting down sounded like a good idea, so I went his way and sat opposite him. After a bit I heard him talking on a radio, and using the words "air boss". That perked my ears so I started to pay attention.
I soon realized he was coordinating the fly-bys for a few different aircraft. First he cleared in a P51 (red tail!) and we watch him pass. He was a bit off to the side, not directly overhead, so the Air Boss said "do that again, but more East this time". Again the Mustang flew overhead, this time giving a better view - gorgeous airplane!
Next was the Wright flyer, I believe it was the 3rd model
the Wrights created. It was a bit slower, but was very impressive to see. I couldn't help but marvel how far we've come: I flew in that morning at 200 MPH with massive amounts of situational awareness the entire time - the pilot of the Wright flyer was working his rear end off the just keep the airplane flying properly. Only 1 century between the Cirrus and the Wright flyer, yet their capabilities, safety, comfort, and design are worlds apart.
After the flyer came a pair of Cirrus SR22s: one was like mine, the other was Cirrus' new turbo engine model.
And last but not least was the Cirrus Jet. It came overhead once, after getting lots of directional help from the Air Boss, but was so quiet few people even looked up to see it. The Boss said to me "That was kind of quiet wasn't it"? I said "yeah, I don't think anyone knew it was there, maybe they have the power way back". Then the Boss got on the radio again and said "Jet, nice pass, cleared for another, this time can you make some more noise"? Almost immediately we heard the pilot respond and the jet engine build up volume in the distance. When he passed over the next time everyone took notice - it was a really great pass in a steep turn.
For my return trip on Sunday I ended up with near-perfect conditions for the flight: clear skies and a great tailwind. I averaged around 200 kts of groundspeed for the trip and was back home in well less than 2 hours.
The fog in the valleys looked like glaciers in Alaska - I could almost swear I could see them flowing down from the peaks:
Today I took my brother in law, Zack, up for a flight in a bit of weather. We had clouds from around 1,000' - 2,500' in the area so it was great IFR practice.
We shot an approach at Rutherford CO, KFQD, then pointed south to Spartanburg for an ILS approach. After Spartanburg we were directed straight back to Rock Hill, with a few vectors to get around traffic and the heaviest of the precip. XM WX was quite handy to have on hand.
I also made great use of ForeFlight Mobile HD, mainly to view approach plates, but also to keep track of our progress on the sectional display. Some of the recent changes I made (based on what I learned during my last flight with FFM) definitely helped me out. The big one was not letting the iPad sleep while FFM is running. That keeps me from worrying about the screen blanking out and having to wake it up again. As always, I picked up a few new ideas to add as well.
We ended the flight with an ILS into Rock Hill. We hit some heavy precip on the last bit of the flight but at around 1500' AGL we broke out from the clouds and the rain calmed down. We descended a little more and did a circle-to-land for runway 20. A very soft touchdown was the icing on the cake!
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