NY Approach

Call ahead--DOH!

Sometimes life is just a little too frustrating and you need a break.  So I decided on Tuesday afternoon to do some flying on Wednesday morning, which I always find relaxing and therapeutic.  I figured I would take Michiko out to Cherry Ridge, PA (N30), one of my favorite breakfast spots when flying with Dan.   

On Wednesday the weather was okay VFR, though nothing great--overcast at about 6,500 for most of CT, NY, NJ and PA.  But visibility was good and the air was smooth.  While pre-flighting the airplane, one of the avionics techs warned me that the #1 radio was still on the squawk (complaint) sheet because it wasn't always behaving well.  But he reassured me that Comm #2 was loud and clear. 

Contacting Bridgeport Ground on Comm #1, we got permission to taxi out to runway 29.  After doing the run-up checks, I switched over to Tower, who cleared us to take off and asked our direction of flight again.  As I taxied onto the runway, it was clear the tower was suddenly only hearing broken transmissions.  I almost decided to just cross 29 and get on the taxiway on the far side.  Instead, I quickly switched over to Comm #2 and got things straightened out as we departed.

After leveling off at 3,000' I tried to contact NY Approach on Comm #2--I could hear them perfectly, but they couldn't hear me well.  That made me nervous--if Comm #2 was going to be an issue, I was heading back to BDR asap.  Approach seemed to be getting bits and pieces and suggested a different frequency which, for whatever reason, came in loud and clear.  Reassured that my radio was working well, I got flight following services to N30 (the air traffic controllers, workload permitting, provide VFR flights with radar advisories of other traffic--they "follow your flight" and provide an extra set of eyes).

We headed northwest up to the Carmel VOR and then turned west toward the Huguenot VOR.  That line kept me south of the restricted zone just southwest of West Point  which was hot (active)(which, ironically, my Flight Service briefer failed to mention even though we were passing only a few miles south of it!).  Luckily we were also backing things up with my portable Garmin 496.

Humming slowly along (107kts), the scenery was pretty--the leaves are starting to change, but not quite there yet--Michiko estimated at about 60%.  Every once in a while, we were treated to beams of sunlight escaping the clouds and highlighting some of the pretty colors. 

As we approached vHUO, I started to feel like my right heel was really sore.  I reached down to rub it a little and found that the cockpit floor was frying my foot!  The exhaust runs right under there along a vent and it was seriously toasty--almost to the point of uncomfortable.  I did a quick re-scan of the oil temps to make sure the engine wasn't overheating, but it was firmly in the green.  Meanwhile, Michiko was telling me how chilly her feet were! 

Fairly quickly we were flying over the various winding bends of the Delaware River as we approached Cherry Ridge from the east.  It was pretty quiet on the radio--we had one Cessna depart to the north, but otherwise it was quiet--but to be expected on a Wednesday morning.  As I crossed over the field to enter the left downwind to runway 36, there were virtually no airplanes nor cars, but I was too busy doing my pre-landing checklists to register that fact.  We made a nice landing and as I rolled out, that's when it hit me--it was too quiet an airport. 

Sure enough, I could tell as we taxiied in that the restaurant was dark (DOH!).  "This is NOT going to be good," I thought to myself.  Shutting down, I confirmed the worst--Michiko saw that the restaurant wasn't open.  A hungry wife, particularly one who had been promised breakfast, was reasonably and rightfully upset.  The VERY old granola bar in my flight bag was not going to cut it.  After profuse apologies, I figured the best bet was to get us home asap.  (For whatever reason, I failed to think of Sky Acres, another favorite breakfast spot I had previously taken Michiko to--it would have been sort of on the way back! DOH DOH!)

Booking home (okay, only at 108kts), I kept apologizing--and Michiko really was a good sport about it, even though this was the second time I had flown her someplace with the promise of food and not delivered.  I even wrote "So Sorry" on my notepad (she was listening to her Ipod).  She eventually even gave me a smile and we laughed about it--with the warning that I had better always call ahead next time!

ATC gave us a couple of warnings about traffic on the way home and Michiko did a great job spotting.  As we started descending for Bridgeport, I pointed out some landmarks near our house to Michiko--the strip malls along Black Rock Turnpike, Fairfield University, the Fairfield high school, etc.  Uneventfully, we did a nice landing to runway 29--Michiko commented that both my landings had been very smooth that day.

After buttoning up the plane, we ran into Andrew, so I quickly set up some flying time on Sunday afternoon to checkout in the club's Archers and Cherokee C.  We're going to use the Cherokee C so that I can also get some time on the Garmin GNS 430 in that plane. 

Then it was off to an overly late breakfast!

Turning a New Page

Fall has always struck me as the actual new year--summer's over, people head back to a new school year, heading back to work refreshed; plus September is my birthday--so the fall always feels like a renewal for me.

A couple of weeks ago, I got the issues surrounding my medical certificate worked out and the kind folks at Oklahoma City sent me a new certificate.  It took about 6 working weeks from submission, but the system worked.  My only bits of advice on this front: a) document everything and inundate the FAA with as complete information as you possibly can (with the help of my awesome wife, we prepared a small binder of data); b) pay the extra bucks for a Senior Aviation Medical Examiner who knows what they're doing--their connections and close working relationship with the leadership at the FAA's Aeromedical Center in Oklahoma City is invaluable; and c) don't hesitate--it's better to take the chance and pursue your dream than to stay on the ground...

So with the new medical in hand, it was time to get re-checked out at Three Wing in Bridgeport.  On Tuesday morning, I did a 1.2 hour flight with Andrew, one of the instructors at the club, in a Piper Warrior II.  Before we took off, we did all the old stuff I'm supposed to remember how to do (weight and balance calculations; aircraft performance data (takeoff and landing distances, etc.), preflighting, cross-country flight planning, etc.).  (Amazingly, I did seem to remember how to do these things!)

Up in the air, he had me head over to Meridan Markham (MMK) for some landings.  Along the way, he gently quizzed to see that I knew what I was doing.  And he reminded me to relax and have some fun. I did my radio calls as we came into the Meriden area and entered the downwind for runway 36 (going over Lisa and Pat's house, by the way).  I set up a little high, but got us down to the right glideslope with a forward slip.  The landing wasn't great, but acceptable.  We taxied back to the runway and did another circuit of the pattern--this time the landing was a little bit better, though I ballooned a bit as I came into ground effect--too much speed.  An experimental biplane (blue and white--very pretty) joined behind us on the second trip around the pattern.

Taking off again, Andrew had me head west southwest so that we could do some maneuvering flight.  I slowed the airplane up and got the flaps down to practice approach stalls.  True to form, I still enjoy slow flight, hanging on the edge of a stall.  Then I let the plane finish the stall and recovered--Andrew was very happy to see me establish positive control of the aircraft and a positive climb before taking out the first notch of flaps.  (Taking out too much flaps too quickly after a stall can quickly cause the airplane to stall again--typically NOT a good thing when you're already slow!)  We then did a simulated engine out emergency landing, setting up for some farm fields that were just below and behind me.  I originally picked out one of the fields, but ended up with a glide that was so efficient I would have overshot, so I aimed instead for the farther field, which I would have made with ease.

Back at Bridgeport, we shot a couple of touch and go landings--neither was spectacular, but both worked--on one of them Andrew commented that I had done a good job recovering from too high a flare by adding just enough power at the appropriate moment to make a smooth landing.  On the other, the tower asked if I could do a short approach, which I executed well, dropping the flaps and cutting the throttle, setting us up in a good forward slip to lose the altitude to an okay landing. Taxiing in, Andrew said he was happy to sign me off for the club's Warriors.

Yesterday, I took one of the Warriors up for a couple of hours.  It was the first time since July 12, 2007 that I had flown solo--and it felt absolutely GREAT!  Being alone in the airplane filled me with a sense of excitement and relief and calm, all at the same time.  While I have VERY much enjoyed all of the time spent in the last couple of years flying with friends, there is still something about flying on your own.

It sounds crazy, but for the first hour or so, I just did touch and go landings on runway 29, 10 in total.  But it was actually a very productive and instructive time as the pattern got busier and the winds were shifting  from the northwest to the southwest. I also got some practice in light crosswind landings (about 10-14 knots 30-40 degrees off the runway headings).  The controllers were great, threading in the aircraft (at one point, there were 5 of us in the pattern with a couple of others inbound), and it was good exercise staying on top of traffic, radio calls, changing patterns and following my landing checklists.  A number of times I was instructed to change from a left hand to a right hand pattern as other traffic joined the flow.

After all the landings, I decided to wander out to the west and north for a little bit, just to relax and stretch my wings a bit.  I came right over the house as I left the Bridgeport class D airspace and then wandered north, following Route 58 up past the reservoirs to Redding and just south of Danbury's class D.  I meandered over the hills there, taking a look at the Aspetuck apple stand where we occasionally stop for pies, the huge mansion just across the street from a beautiful church in Redding, watching people playing golf and crawling around in their tiny carts.  In short, it was wonderful just drinking in the view below, the clear air and skies around me, and the thrill of being up flying on my own ticket once again.

Coming back to Bridgeport, I did a couple more landings on runway 24 before calling it a day.  After buttoning up the airplane and completing the paperwork, I pulled out my logbook to update it.  It was then that I realized that my first solo flight in over 2 years was the last line of the 10th page of my logbook.  So I'm quite literally turning a new page in my logbook.

Medical back in hand, I'm looking forward to rebuilding my proficiency, stretching my wings on a couple of trips, adding a couple new airplanes to my repertoire (the club has a Cessna 182 with retractable gear and a Piper Cherokee 6 (think Comanche but with fixed landing gear) and then re-tackling my instrument rating in a few months.

And I have to take a second to give very appreciative thanks to my wife and a terrific group of friends for all their support the last couple of years as I worked through the issues around my medical.  Because of them, I've been able to keep the rust from accumulating too much and to jump back in now with both feet!