Another flight down South

K and I took a long weekend and flew the C172 down to Rock Hill, SC for a little R&R. By R&R I mean:
  • a Clemson football game
  • some Wal-Mart shopping
  • a bit of fireside cooking
  • some tree felling
  • ATV riding
  • A few minutes of cheapo R/C airplane flying
It was a good weekend, though I did spend some time worrying about the weather for the flight back. I don't guess it’s irony, but it kind of stinks that after getting my IFR rating I buy a plane that I don't really want to take in instrument weather. Right now it is not legal to do so (since the VOR indicator is out I'd have no way to shoot an approach and I'm not sure all the inspections are current).

However, even when it is legal I won't be too inclined to do so. I think this is for 2 reasons - 1) no IFR GPS so my trips would be VOR-to-VOR and 2) no autopilot so slogging through the clouds would be a bit taxing. Maybe I shouldn't have gotten my rating in a "technically advanced aircraft" like 5199A. It spoiled me.

Anyway, back to the flight. Going down south we were fighting a 20-25 kt headwind at 4500' and dodging clouds (at least for the first part of the flight). Quickly getting sick of that we went down to 3000' and bounced along in the turbulence with only a 10 kt headwind.

What would be a 2.5 hour trip without the winds was a bumpy, 3 hour one with.

K did 99% of the flying (she made her own weblog entry about the flight) and I handled the crosswind landing at Rock Hill. I was happy to find that my skills were plenty up to snuff for the steady 9 kt crosswind component. The dog handled the flight quite well leaving his "mutt muffs" hearing protectors in place (except when his popping ears caused him annoyance).

The weather for the flight back was picture perfect – clear skies and light ground winds with a 10 kt tailwind and 40 degrees Fahrenheit at 5500'.

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