Tag Archives: CT

Flying in CT

Landing in a Snowstorm

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This week I had a really unusual flight.  It started out as a simple VFR takeoff in clear blue skies.  I was bringing the plane home to Poughkeepsie from maintenance in Danbury.  Simple, short flight… Or so I thought…  This was me in the hanger just before takeoff:

But the weather forecast looked a little sketchy.  There was a squall line filled with snow and high winds west of Poughkeepsie.  My weather briefing led me to think I could easily land in advance of that squall line reaching the airport.

Wow… Was I ever wrong.  When I was ~ 15 miles out from Poughkeepsie, the tower controller told me conditions were deteriorating fast and the airport was going IFR.  From there, things continued to get harder and harder.

First, while on ~8 miles out on the RNAV GPS 24 approach to runway 24, I had to get a “popup IFR clearance” from NY approach.  Then, I had to declare a missed approach.  This was my first REAL missed approach because I could not see the runway when I reached minimums on the RNAV 24.

But the squall line was moving fast, and I thought I could just hold at the missed approach point and then try it again.  The second time worked … But it was quite possibly the toughest landing I have ever done!   In fact, after I landed, I just stopped on the runway for a few minutes because I couldn’t see the taxiways.  During the whole experience, I had cameras rolling … So you can see and hear for yourself in the video below:

After reviewing the footage, I realized how important it is to always be ready to go missed and the practicing proper IFR procedures.  I didn’t do this one perfectly… (You might see a couple of my mistakes in the video… including flying the missed by hand instead of autopilot).  But I sure learned on this flight!!

Cheers,
== T.J.==

Simple, Short Flight Turns into More

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Today, I wanted to pick up the Cirrus from my mechanic after some routine maintenance.  The plan was a VERY simple 24nm flight from Danbury, CT to Poughkeepsie, NY.  You can see the planned route below:
But the weather wasn’t very good … Not terrible, not dangerous, just light rain and low ceilings in both DXR and POU.

Shortly after takeoff, I climbed to ~ 1200 FT and entered the clouds.  From that point on, I found the skies and the NY Approach ATC frequency busier than ever.  Due to other commercial traffic, I got a couple of vectors and reroutes… But eventually, I made it to Poughkeepsie.  where the weather was a little worse than Danbury:
Luckily, POU is a fantastic airport with lots of instrument approaches.  I came in on the RNAV GPS 06, which had an LPV minimums of 503 FT.  Luckily I broke out of the clouds @ ~ 560 FT and was greeted by a runway that was lit up like a Xmas tree!  This turned out to be the perfect real world use case for the amazing Perspective Plus avionics in the new Cirrus!!

You can see what I saw from the cockpit in this short video:

So in the end, the simple, straight 24nm trip, turned into this:
After this flight, I am really starting to feel comfortable with the new avionics!

Stay tuned as I have many more flights/videos coming on My New Youtube Channel !

Cheers,
== T.J.==

 

Tough Start To A Very EZ Journey

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This week’s mission was to go from Tampa,FL to Danbury, CT, which is a perfect mission for an SR22 with one fuel stop.  
 
Surprisingly, the weather forecast was beautiful everywhere along the route except Florida.  Usually, it is the other way around.  So I was expecting a takeoff in moderate / heavy rain, which is OK.  (I don’t mind rainy takeoffs.)  But I was dreading the preflight in the rain.  
 
I left the plane in the hanger while I did all the usual checks.  At this point, one of the Tampa Exec line guys (Nathan), really went out of his way to help me and made the preflight as good as it could have gotten under the circumstances. 

After fuel and oil, Nathan towed me out of the hanger with me sitting nice and dry in the cockpit! Just when I thought the service couldn’t get any better,  Nathan parked my car in the hanger, closed the hanger door and brought me my keys!!!

As I sat in the cockpit getting ready to startup, I was feeling really spoiled. 

Then a dose of reality struck…

While trying to start up, I must have used a bit too much primer and flooded the engine.  Ugh!!

As I have mentioned before, starting an SR22 is a bit of an art.  Even after a 1000 Cirrus hours, I still feel my starts are less than elegant.  Usually, it is only tricky with hot starts….But for the first time, I screwed up a perfectly normal, cold start.

After waiting ~ 20 mins, I tried again with much better results.  The plane growled and came to life right away!

The takeoff was exactly as advertised on the ATIS, which meant heavy rain, low ceilings and a generally bumpy climb out. 

Since I already posted a very similar YouTube video of a rainy takeoff, I didn’t even bother setting up the video equipment this time.

During the climb-out, the weather onscreen looked awful:

But by the time I leveled off @ 17000 FT, I was above all the rain and clouds.  The rest of the trip to NC was totally smooth with not a single cloud or bump!  In fact, ATC was so quiet, I did a few radio checks just to make sure the radios were working.  I could have really used a flight attendant serving drinks and an in flight movie 😉

As I approached Duplin County, the Wilmington Approach ATC controller also went out of his way to help me.  He asked ” Where was I going after getting fuel @ KDPL? And did I want an onward clearance?”
 
This shocked me! He gave me a full clearance, including a squawk code and a frequency for my second leg.  I thanked him, cancelled my flight plan, and made a very easy landing in NC in calm winds and 10 miles visibility.
 
After fuel and a quick turn, my next leg was even smoother and in clear, blue skies.
Washington center laughed at my direct routing and gave me  a typical Northeast clearance with 3 victor airways and 6 fixes.  Luckily it was close to a direct routing and the weather was so nice, I didn’t notice the time go by.
As I was getting close to Danbury, I got some great views of the Hudson River and even the IBM office in Somers, NY, which you can see below:

IBM Somers Office

So what started out as a tough journey ended up being extremely easy!
The weather forecast does not look as promising for the trip home … 

Hmmm… Might need to take a creative detour home!
 
Cheers,
== T.J.==