Sightseeing

Krista and I went up for 1 hour this morning in 5199A.

We did some sightseeing and photographing, and then went down to Wakefield (AKQ) to do a quick touch and go. I made some use of the autopilot for practice sake. It is quite a nice tool to have on board.

When we got back to JGG it was pushing lunchtime so I knew the place would be swamped (Charlie's is a great lunch destination there). I started making position reports from a good ways out hoping to entice others to do the same. I thought it had worked, and that I was well aware of all the nearby traffic, until we were a half mile from entering the downwind leg of the 31 pattern and I heard a call that someone was just entering downwind themselves. My head on a swivel, I started looking for them hoping that when I found them they wouldn't be filling the windscreen with white.

After a few tense seconds I spotted them on a very tight downwind, almost over the runway (at least from my perspective). I called on the radio that I was number 2 to land with the traffic in sight and throttled back to go a little slower. Keeping my eye on the traffic in front, I noticed that he was getting very very low and still had no turned to the base leg. For a bit I thought he was setting up to land in the woods, which would be a bad idea, but just then he turned for his base leg. It was probably just my perspective, but he seemed WAY too low. Anyway, I extended my downwind leg a bit to let him get past/behind my left wing before I turned base.

Turning onto final I saw that he was just touching down. I watched to see how quickly he'd get off the runway, hoping that I had not cut my pattern too close such that I'd have to go-around because he was still on the runway. I announced I was on final and he pulled off on the first taxiway leaving me plenty of time to set it down. We had a few little crosswind gusts making the landing interesting, but I set it down OK. I still didn't touchdown very smoothly - I have been struggling with that at JGG recently. :)

Anyway, we had a great time!

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

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

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