Second Flight to the Wright Brother's National Memorial
Today we decided to do a little cross country flight back down to First Flight airport, near Kitty Hawk, NC. We had planned to travel west to Roanoke, VA to see the leaves change colors in the mountains, but a storm front over the Blue Ridge range made us decide to go south instead.
It was a nice flight, with some winds making the landings interesting. Coming back into Williamsburg at 2pm was particularly interesting – the AWOS weather report was saying that there were near 90 degree crosswinds at 11 kts, gusting to 17. Seeing as how 17 knots is just above the limit for a crosswind in the Arrow we were flying I was on my toes for that approach.
I almost had to go around when high winds at 500 AGL were blowing us way off centerline. The wind let up enough for me to correct mere seconds before I was going to put the throttle in and try again. My touchdown was OK but I could use some improvement on getting rid of the side-loads as the wheels meet the ground. That is tough to practice because you only get one shot at doing it right for every landing/approach you make and you need a crosswind fighting you to make it worth your while.
We had been to First Flight airport before, but had not had a chance to visit the museum part (only the monument on the hill). It was nothing special, but right beside the museum is the actual sight of the first few flights the Wright brothers made. Seeing that was worth the trip all by itself.
We used the GPSmap 296 for the trip, and it was agreeing with the airplane’s altimeter to within 5-10 feet every time I checked it – impressive.
We also had a little difficulty getting the Arrow to start up when leaving KFFA. I managed to flood it just as it was about to start, and after trying the “flooded engine start” checklist to no avail I could hear that the battery was getting low on charge. Worrying that we’d run the battery down, I let it rest for a bit to clear out the gas on its own and then did the flooded start checklist again.
Just as I was about to give up on that and try to prime it again, it started up. The flooded start checklist has you start it with full throttle, so that big fan up front REALLY started spinning once it started. I chopped the throttle to 1000 RPM and breathed a big sigh of relief that we had a ride home. I was not looking forward to calling someone out to that airport (that has no FBO or anything on site) to give me a boost.
I also learned that an autopilot that only manages heading is much better than none at all. We had very smooth air while cruising at 4500 and 5500 so once the airplane was trimmed for pitch, the heading autopilot took us right along by itself - leaving me more time to watch for traffic. Speaking of which, we got to watch a US Airways jet descend into KORF below us on the way back...that was pretty slick.
It was a nice flight, with some winds making the landings interesting. Coming back into Williamsburg at 2pm was particularly interesting – the AWOS weather report was saying that there were near 90 degree crosswinds at 11 kts, gusting to 17. Seeing as how 17 knots is just above the limit for a crosswind in the Arrow we were flying I was on my toes for that approach.
I almost had to go around when high winds at 500 AGL were blowing us way off centerline. The wind let up enough for me to correct mere seconds before I was going to put the throttle in and try again. My touchdown was OK but I could use some improvement on getting rid of the side-loads as the wheels meet the ground. That is tough to practice because you only get one shot at doing it right for every landing/approach you make and you need a crosswind fighting you to make it worth your while.
We had been to First Flight airport before, but had not had a chance to visit the museum part (only the monument on the hill). It was nothing special, but right beside the museum is the actual sight of the first few flights the Wright brothers made. Seeing that was worth the trip all by itself.
We used the GPSmap 296 for the trip, and it was agreeing with the airplane’s altimeter to within 5-10 feet every time I checked it – impressive.
We also had a little difficulty getting the Arrow to start up when leaving KFFA. I managed to flood it just as it was about to start, and after trying the “flooded engine start” checklist to no avail I could hear that the battery was getting low on charge. Worrying that we’d run the battery down, I let it rest for a bit to clear out the gas on its own and then did the flooded start checklist again.
Just as I was about to give up on that and try to prime it again, it started up. The flooded start checklist has you start it with full throttle, so that big fan up front REALLY started spinning once it started. I chopped the throttle to 1000 RPM and breathed a big sigh of relief that we had a ride home. I was not looking forward to calling someone out to that airport (that has no FBO or anything on site) to give me a boost.
I also learned that an autopilot that only manages heading is much better than none at all. We had very smooth air while cruising at 4500 and 5500 so once the airplane was trimmed for pitch, the heading autopilot took us right along by itself - leaving me more time to watch for traffic. Speaking of which, we got to watch a US Airways jet descend into KORF below us on the way back...that was pretty slick.
Comments