Cross Country to Baudette (KBDE) and Thief River Falls (KTVF)

As I wake up at 6 this morning for work, I am thinking to myself whether or not I will fly tonight. I have lesson three of the CPL (221) flight course this evening at 1730 local. The weather is gloomy, a high overcast with isolated showers far and few between. Although, the TAF of two airports 7 miles apart is quite different. One is calling for light rain showers by 1500 local, the other calling for a high overcast layer with otherwise clear skies and good visibility. Well, I guess the only way to know for sure is to wait and find out!

Later on in the day, the weather is looking more promising. With the exception of gusty winds, there is not much to complain about. Sure enough, two hours later I am printing off my weather briefing and going to meet my instructor. I discuss my thoughts on the weather with him, and we agree that it is safe to go ahead with the flight. After our pre-flight briefing, we are soon dispatched an aircraft. I decided to do the exterior pre-flight today, and my instructor gets to work on the interior pre-flight. The airplane is in one piece with full tanks and we are good to go.

The engine, after repeated attempts to start, is now flooded. We wait about 2 minutes, apply full throttle with mixture to idle, and she finally gets going. Mixture rich, throttle about a 1/4 inch, and we are in good condition. After our takeoff briefing, we are now taxiing to a very busy runway 17L.

Before takeoff checklist complete - time to get going! Full power and we are now approaching 54 knots to rotate and begin climbing into the skies over Grand Forks. Normally, our departure procedure here requires us to maintain runway heading up to 2,500ft and then turn 30º on course, once we reach 3,500ft we then turn on course. Luckily, tower lets us turn on course right away. With the early start, our groundspeed at the first checkpoint is relatively accurate.

Cockpit at 5,500ft enroute BDE

Left wing while enroute to BDE

Another cockpit photo while enroute at 5,500ft to BDE

After a relatively uneventful one hour flight, we are now beginning to descend into Baudette, MN. We descend quickly, and enter a 45º left downwind for runway 12. 200ft AGL and we are established on a stable approach. I begin to flare over the runway and we touchdown. Nothing too smooth or too firm. We stop on the runway, clean up the airplane (retract flaps to 10º for takeoff) and configure our flight plan to TVF. Full power now, 54 knots, and airborne. We quickly turn on course and soon enough we have reached our cruising altitude of 4,500ft. There is continuous light turbulence, with the occasional moderate chop. We run into some light rain showers along the way - still maintaining VFR. Of course, with the airmet zulu in effect, we turn on the pitot heat while in the precipitation and ensure the OAT is above freezing.

As we get closer to TVF, we begin the descent checklist and do the approach briefing. We are planning on doing 2 stop and go's, one short field, and one power off 180º landing - then back to Grand Forks. The short field landing and takeoff goes perfect, with great accuracy even with the wind gusting up to 20 knots. On the second approach, we are now abeam the numbers and I pull power to idle and begin the power off 180. I immediately start a turn to the runway at 68 knots (best glide) and go through the emergency checklist from memory. I'm now heading directly at the numbers, I start adding flaps and touchdown firmly with 20º of flaps on the second centerline stripe. Not bad. Bring her to a stop, configure the flight plan back to Grand Forks, and off we go.

We get back to Grand Forks a bit earlier than expected. As we approach the field, approach assigns us to enter via "East Ponds," a VFR reporting point used by ATC to manage traffic flow into Grand Forks. We report East Ponds, and get handed off to Tower where we report "Lagoon" at 1600ft. Soon after, we are on short final into runway 17L with full flaps. 200ft and the approach is stable so we continue. I begin to flare and the plane is really lagging, so we touchdown very firmly. In hindsight, I realize I didn't have the trim set correctly which made it harder to flare the aircraft, but it makes you realize how complacent you can become on the last leg of a long cross country.

We taxi in and shutdown uneventfully. The flight is good and we are onwards into lesson 4.

I'm back!

Well, it has been a while since I have written a blog post on here. A lot of this has to do with the fact that I've been busy throughout the spring semester - mostly just settling into the new environment and school that I'm currently in. In January of this year, I transferred to the University of North Dakota. So far, no regrets. It has been going great so far - my grades for the spring semester far exceeded my expectations at the beginning of the semester.

I completed the flying course at UND known as "112." This course serves two purposes: to ensure that the applicant indeed meets the requirements in the Practical Test Standards for being a Private Pilot, and also to introduce the new student to UND policies and procedures. It's a relatively short course, it only has 7 lessons - 4 local flights conducted within one of UND's practice areas, 1 cross country, and a "stage check" (UND terminology for checkride) consisting of an oral exam and a practical exam. I definitely never thought I would be taking the Private Pilot checkride over again. To put it in perspective, the course I took had 7 lessons. A student who came to UND without a private pilot's license would have to take a total of 28 lessons.

Anyway, I will be blogging as many flights as I can on here. Also, below this post, I put up pictures of a lot of the flights I've done so far here at UND. All pictures were taken during a non-critical stage of flight above 3,000ft AGL. Enjoy!

Observing a flight from the backseat - looking out to the west while on downwind for runway 35L at Grand Forks.

G1000 Avionics

Someone took a picture of my takeoff!

Flying over a scattered layer of low clouds north of the airport towards Manvel.

UND Flight line on a slow day.

Found an airplane in the maintenance hangar with a bit of damage. I'm happy to say I didn't cause it!

"Do you need assistance?"

Over the past few weeks I have become increasingly more confident in windy conditions. I have been gradually working my way up through moderate crosswinds and even went up around the pattern with winds gusting up to 15.

Today, however, the METAR is holding steady with winds 200@15. No gusts yet, but the TAF is showing plenty of text. To give you an idea of the situation, the OAT was about 60º F with a cold front approaching from the West. Over the next 12 hours the temperature is forecasted to drop about 30º F. That's a pretty significant change!

Anyway, after a few hours, I check back with the METAR. As expected, I am looking at about 190@17G20 with peak gusts at 22 kts about 10 minutes ago. I feel confident. I remember very well the day of my scheduled first solo flight the winds were gusting to 25 kts, although I couldn't fly alone, I went up with my instructor and actually had some pretty smooth landings in the conditions.

Pre-Flight Complete...

The plane is in one piece and we're ready to fly. I load myself and my one passenger up and soon enough 160 horses are stretching themselves out. As we start the long taxi over to runway 15, I am holding the flight controls according to wind direction to ensure the aircraft doesn't flip over.

Cleared for takeoff

Run-up is complete with solid mag checks and engine indications. I line up and come to a complete stop before applying full power, almost as if it were a short field takeoff without flaps. Shortly after the breaks are released I can feel the wind pushing us back yet still speeding up the flow of air over the wings. There's only about a 9kt crosswind component.

After takeoff I turn towards Oswego to do some sightseeing with the passenger. We climb up to about 3,500ft with no relief from the wind. Soon enough the controller asks me what my intentions are in Oswego, it almost feels like it is getting more windy as we progress towards Oswego. I ask him to standby so I can get AWOS from Oswego. Sure enough, the winds are gusting over 25kts there, so it is a definite no go. I inform him I am turning back to the field for a full-stop.

On approach to 15, we are really getting tossed around. Although the ATIS says there is no more wind gusting, it is apparent that that is not true, the airspeed indicator gains about 5 kts everytime there is a wind gust. Soon enough we are over the runway, I am holding steady with full flaps, right wing dipped into the wind, and no side sweeping of the airplane. The mains touch and at that exact moment a giant gust puts us back into the air. I quickly apply full throttle and call go around. The controller asked me, "Do you need assistance?" I quickly responded no, we just ballooned a bit. I still wonder if it's standard procedure to ask, or if I sounded frantic over the radio. Either way, the second landing was a kiss and my passenger and I walked away.

Practice makes perfect.

Pilots n' Paws - pilotsnpaws.org

Yesterday evening I had the pleasure of attending my flying club's monthly meeting. It was very informative and I am glad that I went! Anyway, the reason I mention it is because one of my newest friends, BrianR, also a reader/commenter of this blog, informed me of the possibility of going flying tomorrow for Pilots n' Paws. I have been dying to do a flight for this organization. I have had 3 potential flight plans, but each was cancelled due to problems with previous legs of the transport. BrianR kindly asked me if I'd be willing to go, and, why wouldn't I!?

I woke up this morning to another infamous Upstate, NY day; clouds, rain, and gusty winds dominated the current METAR and TAF. With this information in mind, I figured this trip would be a no go. Not long after however, my phone is buzzing and before I know it I am walking into the FBO to meet Brian R for today's flight. The weather has cleared up to a scattered layer of clouds at about 070 with isolated, ever so very isolated showers. However, the winds were still gusting to just under 20 knots, certainly a flyable condition.

This is the first time I will fly in a high performance aircraft. This aircraft, in fact, is a Cessna 182 skylane. It is truly a beautiful airplane. As Brian does the pre-flight, I am walking around it admiring its beauty. It feels nice to be back in a high-wing airplane - I haven't flown in one since, 2 years? 3 years? I can't remember.

Pre-flight is complete and we are taxiing to, that's right, runway 33! Winds are favoring this often disregarded runway today at the home airport. As Brian completes the runup, I think about what 210 horses at full power will feel like on takeoff. As Brian applies full throttle, I can feel myself being pushed back into the seat - this feels nice. What felt like a half of a second later we are climbing through 2,000 feet, this baby climbs fast! I think we were doing over 1,000fpm if I can recall, with full tanks of the most expensive liquid on the planet.

As we approach the cloud layer, we find a nice hole and begin ascending towards it. This will be my first time VFR over-the-top, and so far it's looking great. There's something about climbing over the clouds, truly an amazing feeling. As we reach 9,500 ft, our initial planned cruising altitude, we are still looking like we are going to skim the tops of some clouds. I stupidly recommend climbing to 10,500, an incorrect VFR cruising altitude for our heading. Oops! Soon enough however, we are at 11,500 enjoying the view.

Climbing above the clouds for VFR over the top

Cruising at 11,500 feet

A strong tailwind can do wonders for you. Let me put it this way: our trip TO Nashua, NH was about 1 hour and 30 minutes. Our trip FROM Nashua, NH was about 2 hours and 3 minutes. So, as expected, with about a 180 knot groundspeed, we reached Nashua in no time.

The dog we are picking up today is named "Missy," a very cute and small 6 pound Yorkie. As we secure here safely in her back seat crate, we begin taxiing to the runway to begin our second leg of the trip: Nashua, NH to Watertown, NY. It is about, if I can recall, 5pm for a departure time. Winds are gusty and are beginning to calm in time for sunset. The clouds are quickly burning off however they are still around. We will have a stiff headwind, but it should be another great VFR over the top flight. Full power and another 10 seconds later the airport is disappearing to our 6. 210 horses feels great!

As we climb through about 5,000 feet, Brian offers me the controls! With no hesitation, of course, I accept the offer and I begin logging time in a high performance aircraft. I need to get my high performance endorsement; this airplane is awesome!

We reach our cruising altitude of 8,500ft, and again are in danger of skimming the tops of clouds. We begin climbing to 10,500 feet and are satisfied. The sun is beginning to set under the clouds. We should be in Watertown by 7:30.

"Missy" enjoying the flight at 10,500 feet

Cruising at 10,500 enroute Watertown as the sun begins to set

As we cruise of the central part of the Adirondacks, ATC informs of an approaching C-130, at our 12 o'clock. This is gonna be good.... I can already see the smoke trail of the C-130 far ahead, he is coming right at us at about 11,000 feet! As he continues to approach, I try to snap a picture but the camera on my iPhone only wants to focus on the bugs stuck to the windshield. Oh well, I guess I'll just get the next C-130 that happens to fly 500 feet above.

Cruising at 10,500 enroute Watertown.

As we approach Watertown, it is hard to distinguish between the airport beacons of Fort Drum AFB and Watertown airport. We finally find the airport and Brian establishes a downwind leg for runway 10. 10 feet over the runway he puts the throttle to idle and rotates for a smooth touchdown. Now the hard part: taxiing to the ramp. After one or two 180s mixture is to idle and we are shaking hands with Missy's new caretakers.

30 minutes later, we are back at the home airport safe and sound. What an awesome day.

Midterm Week

The semester is well underway and we are on final approach to midterms week. A new post about my first trip with Pilots n' Paws will be up by the weekend!

By the way congratulations to Felix Baumgartner and the entire Red Bull Stratos team for accomplishing more in 5 years than NASA without any government funding. Well done!! I highly recommend watching the video of his free fall from 129,000 feet on YouTube.

"Welcome to Canada!"

As I roll out of bed in the morning I hear my phone buzzing like a bee hive. I forgot about our 9am flight this morning! Not to worry though, it was only 8am and I just went along with it like I remembered everything and that I had already been up. Whatever it takes to keep the girlfriend happy! In reality though, I forgot because all of yesterday I had some kind of food poisoning. Some people refer to throwing up as "losing your lunch." Well, in that case, I lost breakfast, lunch, and dinner; with plenty of snacks in between. Anyway, it's now 8:15 and I'm feeling great and ready to fly.

As I drive to the airport via I-90 (New York State Thruway), one of the most isolated rain showers I have ever seen popped up. You could, from a distance, see the small column of rain hitting the road, and then see through the column of rain to the other side where it was perfectly dry. Hmm... I should probably do a good job looking up weather. And I did, in fact, it was much clearer to the North of the airport, which is where I planned on going. The three passengers I will take flying today, my girlfriend, her mother, and her mother's boyfriend, would all like to see the changing colors that Upstate, NY is famous for. So, I decided why not take them North up the lake shore? That would give a beautiful view of the forests that cover the Adirondack region just East of the lake.

With weather fully cooperating, the airplane is pulled out of its T-hangar and I am doing the inspection. Everything is looking good, and the pre-flight is complete.

Today, we will be using runway 10, all 9,000ft. As they say, "the runway behind you is useless." Anyway, I am now finishing up the before takeoff checklist and finally, I have completed it. "Cleared for takeoff, left heading 360!" With those words I am now lifting an almost 3,000 pound airplane with 4 souls into the air. The OAT was 41ºF at the time of departure. The airplane is loving it, and we are climbing at 79 kts (Vy) at well over 650fpm. Not bad for this fully loaded airplane.

As we reach our cruising altitude of 3,500ft, Everybody on board is taking pictures. Even I am tempted to at this point. I usually don't like to take pictures while flying, especially because I don't see the reason to when 3 other people could do it for you! Anyway, I have my girlfriend who is in the right seat snap a few pictures for me while I navigate our bird to the Watertown area to do some sightseeing out over that area.

   

Enroute to Watertown (KART) 3,500ft

As we approach Watertown, everybody on board decides to do some sightseeing of the area. The lake is beautiful today.

Headed towards two islands West of Watertown (KART) 3,500ft

As we drift over towards (notice I said towards, not into) Canadian airspace (close to Wolfe Island Northwest of Watertown (KART)), my girlfriend's mother receives a text from her cellular company that says "Welcome to Canada!" I imagine this text serves as a friendly reminder to roaming fees. As she looks at it in confusion, I start getting funny looks from my girlfriend. To break the awkward silence, I embrace it and say "well... welcome to Canada!" Shortly after the failed attempt at a joke, I begin explaining that we were so close to Canada, her phone probably picked up a cell tower in the area. Oh well. 

Anyway, we are now approaching Watertown (KART) so that I can do a touch and go. I do touch and goes at airports outside a 50nm radius from the home airport so that I can log "cross country" hours. These hours are very valuable in my particular career choice. Approaching the airport, there is traffic in every direction. One taking off, one landing, and a helicopter is hovering in a random spot East of the airport. As we descend through 3,000ft I call into advisory to state my intentions. Traffic is flowing smoothly for now. Below 2,500ft now, and turbulence is starting to get pretty wild. I imagine warm air from the lake is now beginning to mix with the much cooler land air. 1,500ft now, in the traffic pattern I call a right base for 25. That leaves us only a 2kt crosswind component, virtually nothing. In my 60 hours of flying, I have never seen so many birds. There are flocks left and right, and now it is starting to really get bumpy. Still though, we are on the glideslope and at 65kts. Nothing to fret about at this point. As we approach, the crosswind becomes much more pronounced. I counter it with slight crab, and find myself ten feet over the runway. Suddenly, a mild gust keeps us floating for a few moments before I add a touch of power and bring us down. This won't suffice for a touch and go however, we'll have to exit the runway and taxi back.

Taxi back... takeoff... and in no time I've said goodbye to Watertown advisory and announced that we have departed to the South. After an extremely bumpy climb, the turbulence went from extreme to nothing at approximately 3,200ft. I've never had that happen before but I'm not complaining, everybody is happy with the smooth ride now. We will take a cruising altitude of 4,500ft, and I've promised my girlfriend and her mother that we will overfly their house. That will involve overflying the airport to get to the city, which is south of the field. I get clearance to overfly the field at 4,500ft. This should get me cool picture!

This is what the home airport looks like from 4,500ft. You can see runway 33/15 pointing at us, and the intersecting main runway 28/10. Also notice the closed runway (the brown strip towards the bottom right of the photo).

Minutes later, we overfly the field and begin a descent to get a view of the house. Thanks to my perfect vision, I spot it out of the crowded neighborhood and with everyone happy we return to Syracuse. We will make a right base to runway 10. Unfortunately, I am being jammed in infront of two approaching jets. I need to get in fast, but I am at 3,000ft and this will take a heck of a slip. I end up taking the right base and after I complete the turn to final, I slip the airplane almost the entire way down, kick out the slip about 100 feet above the ground, I touchdown, and still make Gulf taxiway! That's one heck of a landing! 

Taxi back... shutdown checklist... and call it a day. 

An Urgent Request

Dear Senator Valesky:

On October 1, 2012 a severely neglected pit bull was picked up by the City of Syracuse Animal Control. At half of her normal body weight, she was extremely malnourished, unable to walk or hold up her head, making it almost impossible for her to eat or drink. After being examined by local veterinarians, it was deemed that her organs were shutting down; treatment may not work and if it did would only prolong her life by a couple weeks. Unfortunately she had to be humanely euthanized on Saturday, October 6, 2012. The animal control officer who picked her up lovingly named her Grace and an entire community came together to love and support her during her last days. 

Cuse Pit Crew, a local pit bull advocacy group operating under Animal Alliance of Greater Syracuse, along with other animal welfare advocates and concerned citizens rallied together to provide emotional and monetary support for Grace as well as expressed outrage over such a case of neglect. 

An arrest has been made in connection with the neglect of Grace. Unfortunately in New York State, companion animals, like cats and dogs, still remain under the NYS Agriculture & Markets Law – Article 353 which concludes that an individual charged with neglect, including failure to provide medical care, will only face a misdemeanor charge. We are requesting that the legislators of NYS move companion animals out of the NYS Agriculture & Markets area and into NYS Penal Law. By doing so, those who are charged with committing abuse or neglect towards a companion animal would be charged with a felony.  

What happened to Grace should never have to happen to another companion animal. Those charged with neglecting a companion animal should face harsher penalties. Please lead us in making this change. As a member of the Agriculture Committee and a NYS Senator representing the Central New York area, we believe you have the ability to ensure that this much needed change happens in memory of Grace and all of the other animals who suffered from owner abuse or neglect.

This is the letter for the petition that the organization "'Cuse Pit Crew" is trying to raise signatures for. The letter will be sent to NYS Senator David Valesky in hopes that he will propose legislation which, as the letter says, will change the current animal abuse laws to incorporate a more severe felony charge.

I am a volunteer who does flights with Pilots 'n Paws from time to time, which is why stuff like this really hits home. If you have a moment, please sign the petition (the link is below), it only takes a few moments and it could really make a difference in the community.

In the mean time, with two clear weather days rapidly approaching, expect a cross country trip report to be blogged about in the near future!

Link to Petition