Solo in the newish C172

The weather was calling me to the airport today, so after learning how to use the online scheduling system I reserved the newer Cessna 172 at the local airport and decided to pay a visit to nearby Spartanburg airport.

I did the preflight and had to take a little extra time to remember where all of the 13 fuel test points are on the airplane. I found the 5 under each wing with no trouble, but 2 of the 3 under the cowling took some time to locate. I also double-checked the tires since I didn't want to blow one out like last time. :)

The airplane was in great condition so I taxied out and took off to the north in front of a turboprop that was practicing the ILS. I was turning crosswind before he was within a mile of the airport so I stayed out of his way easily.

A straight shot to the west started my course as I started re-learning the autopilot. It all came back to me pretty quick from my IFR training days in a similar plane so before long old "Otto" was in charge of the yoke.

It was a little bumpy (as it always seems to be around this area) but I enjoyed the sites. I tried to pick out landmarks to test my pilotage skills and did fairly well until I was out of the Rock Hill area. Then I was overflying unknown territory and didn't bother to continue the pilotage practice by referencing the sectional.

I stayed under 3000' the entire time so that I could avoid the CLT class B airspace.

I reached SPA in about 30 minutes and landed in front of another trainer aircraft that was waiting to depart. The landing was OK but I think I flared 6-8 inches too high. A taxi down the taxiway to the departure end had my running a quick before takeoff checklist before returning to the air.

Pointing due East got me setup to return to Rock Hill and Otto did his thing again as I setup for a practice ILS. As I neared the airport I decided the ILS was too boring and that a practice engine out in the pattern would be a better use of my time. I pulled the power just past mid field on the downwind leg and made a fairly good choice of when to start a 180 turn to line up on the runway. I landed a little long but that was certainly preferred to coming up short in this situation.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Updating data on the Garmin Perspective system

Image
After changing from the Avidyne system to the Cirrus Perspective (G1000) system, I had to relearn an important part of owning an airplane: how to update all the data the systems use. There's even more data in the Perspective, including AOPA directory data and more charts. In this walkthrough, I make use of the Jeppesen app for Apple OS X: JDM .  It has worked well for me, though I did need to call Jeppesen when I first set this up to get my subscriptions fixed up.  They gave great customer support when I did. The process starts (optionally) by hooking up a ground power unit (GPU).  In the case of the Cirrus, you can certainly do this without it, but I tend to hook it up just to be sure.  The systems draw about 8-10amps while updating, but you won't generally have the power on for long.  One tip I've read: power up the GPU before plugging it into the plane, at least for the one I bought.  That saves the plane from seeing any power spikes that might have occurred when t
Read more

G1000 transistion training - emergencies - final flight

Image
For the final flight in my G1000 transition course we focused on failure scenarios. Not the "engine goes POOF" kind but the avionics kind. Normal situation This picture shows what the 2 Garmin screens show in a normal (non failure) situation. You can see we have 2 screens - the left PFD focusing on flight performance (airspeed, heading, attitude, altitude) and the right screen (MFD) focusing on engine data, mapping, checklists, and everything else. Failed PFD screen In this scenario the screen that is right in front of you (the PFD) has failed. This basically means the screen has gone dark. We simulate that by dimming the screen down to 0% brightness. After darkening the PFD we shot a GPS approach into Rock Hill. When this failure has occured you shift the G1000 into Reversionary mode. That means the info that is normally split across 2 screens is now merged into 1. It actually duplicates the same data on both screens, but since the PFD screen is no longer functioning
Read more

Hiking to Rocky Peak in Steamboat Springs

Image
Did a great hike today that is not in the commonly used hiking apps.  The trail is generally easy to see, though there were times that we lost it.  There are plenty of bushes and undergrowth draping over the trail, so bring long pants. Leg gaiters might be nice too, just to protect your legs a bit. Many parts of the trail are actually drainage ditches.   Here's a KML file from our trip down - we followed the trail much better after learning what to avoid on the way up. We went right after a thunderstorm had come through the previous night, so got pretty soaked due to the plants being wet.   Found the path to the top and saw 2 moose along the way - gorgeous views for the entire trek.  2 miles to get to the top from the parking near the hot springs with about 1800' of elevation gain.  Certainly not a beginner's hiking trail, but not a problem for those with some experience (and lungs that are used to the altitude).
Read more