KHEF -> KEMV

This trip started off like most. On the drive to the airport I listened to LiveATC.net to get an idea of how many training flights were doing pattern work. Manassas has a few flight schools and is typically very busy on the weekdays with student flights. As a former student at one of the busiest schools on the field, I know the preferred schedules and try to plan my departures to avoid the congestion.

This day was a little busier than normal. The previous few days had seen poor WX conditions and now everyone was trying to make up for lost time. After arriving, doing a quick once over of the plane in the hanger, I checked the weather. I knew there would be some gusty conditions at my home base, however, nothing outside my minimums and, to be honest, I needed some practice with gusty crosswind conditions. So, expecting 8G16KTS at 40° to the right on my return, I would get some practice.

After filing my SFRA flight plan, I pulled the plane from the hanger into the morning light and called for a top off. While waiting for the fuel truck, I completed my pre-flight and closed up the hanger. Things couldn’t have gone any more “by the book”. I was feeling good about this day’s flight plan, I was planning on practicing some VOR navigation. The remaining ground operations went smoothly and I was ready for departure.

It had been about a month since I last stretched my wings, so I was focused on my checklists. Ensuring no steps were missed and watching my instruments. Like many other long cross country flights, I asked departure for flight following and was kindly given a new frequency. A benefit of flying out of the DC SFRA, you are already in their system, so, a flight following call is pretty easy for the controllers. Once clear of the bravo shelf, I started my climb to 7,500′ and steered toward my first VOR, Casanova.

After a 5 minutes, ATC asked if I was planning on turning on-course soon. I had planned on doing some VOR practice (seems silly, with VOR’s being shutdown and the “magenta line” being so easy), but it hadn’t crossed my mind until that moment, that I should be going direct. It would also shave off a few minutes. Hard left at Culpepper (KCJR) and on-course I am, direct Emporia-Greensville.

Some chop through 3-4,000′ but at 7,500′ cruise, it was nice and smooth. 35T is easy to fly and on this day, even getting it trimmed out was a breeze. Once trimmed, I was 2-finger flying for the next hour. It was clear, severe clear even. Clouds were way up there and it was clear and sunny below 12,000′. Even the traffic was light. Most of the flight was over forest lands but small towns and fields popped up here and there. Most of the ATC calls in this area were to regional jets and the like, flying into Richmond or Roanoke/Lynchburg.

As I drew closer to my destination, I was passed off to Washington Center. This was a new experience for me. Not that it was any different than talking with the approach controllers I usually am on with, but different none the less. There were some military flights being coordinated and some commercial traffic… and little ole me, cruising along at a breakneck 115KTS!

Emporia-Greensville Airport (KEMV) – SkyShots Photography

I finally picked Emporia out of the surrounding landscape and let Center know I had the field in sight. Switching to CTAF and squawking 1200, I was fully engaged in executing a smooth landing. The AWOS at Emporia was reporting 8KTS direct cross. Not that bad and nothing outside my skill level. As I was descending to pattern altitude, I had my first indication of trouble. Descending through 1,500′ for an 1,100′ pattern, the air became very choppy and I was having a hard time keeping level altitude. I began to wonder what the conditions near the surface would be like. I soldiered on and joined the downwind for RWY15.

The air started to smooth out a little while I was on downwind. After passing the numbers, I started thinking about the approach and reduced engine power to maintain 90KTS. No traffic in sight, or on ADS-B, I think I have the field to myself. Turning base, I could feel the wind pushing against me and I added some power back to maintain 80KTS while trying to move the airplane through the wind. Still, no traffic on opposite base or final.

After turning final for RWY15, I found myself off center to the left. And it was inconsistently getting worse. I continued to correct and get back to center. This is when I started to wonder if these were gusts I was fighting against. The inconsistent rudder pressure to keep the nose pointing down the runway sure seemed like it might be. I hadn’t planned on gusty conditions so this caught me a little off-guard. I kept working the rudder and yoke to maintain center but every time I would get on center, then another heavy gust pushed me off.

Now, my dear reader, this is where a lesson is re-learned once again.

You can always go-around

I was in a low energy state nearly 15′ off the runway and the wind is pushing me to the left. I’m working hard to get back to the centerline, but the wind is winning. My left main touches pavement first 10′ from the edge of the runway. Yep, that’s right, or left, not the right wheel to kiss the earth. Now, at this point, I knew 35T was going around and we were going to do that again. Full power, and away we go.

Once again airborne, I retracted the flaps one notch at a time, climbed to pattern altitude and began again. This effort would be different. Now I knew there were gusty crosswinds and they were strong. I extended base on this attempt and used less flaps and more power to give more authority to the rudder and ailerons to help maintain center. This approach went much better and I planted the plane on the 1,000′ markers. I came in hot, almost 80KTS, but I had much better control of the aircraft against the gusty conditions.

Exiting the runway and taxing to the terminal I could feel the gusts. I checked the AWOS as I was rolling along and found it to be reporting 9G15KTS still direct cross. After shutting down, I jumped out and tied off the plane to eat lunch before returning home. While chatting with the airport staff, I came to learn there is always a crosswind and most of the time it’s gusty. Many flight schools will use Emporia to teach for this reason.

On the return flight, having flight following was quite helpful as I stayed in Emporia a little longer than I planned, the traffic from student flights was quite heavy. Having that extra set of eyes was a big help! As expected, the winds at Manassas were gusty and 40° off the runway. I was prepared for that, and was revisiting my experience in Emporia the entire flight back. No go-around needed here, planted the aircraft with a more than gentle kiss a few hundred feet past the 1,000′ paint. I had to take the short and narrow runway, which also meant I had a 15 minute taxi as I had to wait for to cross both runways. I didn’t mind, after that much better landing I was again feeling good about the flight.

As pilots, whether 100 or 2,000-hours in the seat, we are always learning. Sometimes it’s learning something for the 10th time, like “you can always go-around”. When we think about Hazardous Attitudes, I think we all have a little of that in us even though we put our best effort into avoiding poor decisions. Whether the desire to stick every landing regardless of the conditions, or the belief that going around is only something a bad pilot does, I think these are Hazardous Attitudes and something I am working to avoid myself.

YOU CAN ALWAYS GO-AROUND!

Until next time. Keep the shiny side up!

A flight from KHEF -> KOKV -> KLUA on a cool October morning (then afternoon) exemplified why flying GA is soo fun! This day started as a question mark with some gusty winds (15-19kts), but at home-base it was right down the runway. Most of the airports within 45-90 minutes were also reporting gusty conditions, so, the idea was to at least find the windsocks pointing down the runway.

The first destination Winchester Regional Airport (KOKV) had a runway with favorable winds. Just so happened, I also needed the Aviation Ambassadors stamp as well. So that was the destination. To keep clear of the D.C. SFRA I used Casanova (CSN) and Linden (LDN) VORTACS as way points in my GPS. Also approaching from LDN provided a great entry for a left downwind for runway 32.

This wasn’t a particularly long flight, but at 70nm it met the requirements for a cross country flight and allowed for a nice cruise at 5,500′. On approach to Winchester everything was looking great, winds were 20° off center from the right hand side. Before leaving Manassas, winds were reporting gusty, but only just over 10kts. During the initial decent into Winchester, ForeFlight was indicating steady winds at 8kts. Should be an routine landing.

Well, I suspect there is never anything routine in aviation and occasionally, for the sake or proficiency, the aviation Gods demand you demonstrate a go-around. At around 50′ AGL, I caught a gust from the right which I was not prepared for. My left wing dipped and I was pushed far enough to the left that I was almost no longer over asphalt. I then stabilized the aircraft, pushed the throttle to full power and pitched the nose up slightly to begin a climb. As power came in and airspeed increased I retracted the flaps by one position (with the wind down the runway I had only used 25°) to 10° then as speed continued to increase 0°.

During my initial training, I bounced the C172 I was in and decided to try again rather than continue the landing attempt. This was my first go-around, and almost my last… After applying full throttle, I immediately went for flaps, but instead of one notch at a time, I went from full flaps to 0°! Luckily, as I was taught, I was calling out what I was doing and when I said “Flaps 0” my instructor looked down and quickly rectified the precarious situation I had put us in.

The next approach was smooth and without incident. I was soon tying down the aircraft to walk the ramp to the temporary FBO (the terminal is being rebuilt) to get my stamp.

Now, you may be thinking: “Free sandwiches at a temporary FBO should be avoided!”, and you would be a wise pilot. But this was not the sandwich stop. While on the ramp, I was recalling my apprehension earlier in the morning. I’ve had my share of gusty “mishaps” but today’s gusts were not as bad as the TAFs were predicting. And, as the day wore on, the gusts were to subside. So, like any pilot would do, I decided to fly to another new place!

Onward to Luray Caverns Airport (KLUA) (and the free sandwich)! Of course, I didn’t know there would be a sandwich, I was interested in the views and with Luray in-between two mountain ranges (what west coast aviators would call “hills”), I knew I would have a scenic flight. I decided 3,500′ would be a good cruising altitude and kept me clear of any trees. Before I left Winchester, I did a quick brief on Luray and found that the traffic pattern was right for 22 and left for 4. I would be landing on 4 today, I decided to enter left traffic on the crosswind to avoid overflying the shopping center and residential neighborhood. As I approached the field, I found no traffic in the pattern and there was no activity on comm. So, crosswind entry and left traffic led me to a very smooth touchdown 200′ past the numbers.

After initially taxing to the shack that was the previous “terminal”, a gentleman on UNICOM asked if I needed services. I stated that I was there for the Aviation Ambassador stamp and he directed me to continue to taxi to a very nice brand new terminal building off the 22 end of the runway.

As the wind was almost non-existent here, I didn’t bother with the ropes and just used the parking brake to keep the aircraft from rolling away. Walked into the brand new terminal (which still had the new terminal smell) and got my stamp.

This my dear reader, is where I was offered that free sandwich. Apparently, the day prior was a fly-in and free pork sandwiches were provided to the pilots. Well, there were leftovers and the airport manager (I’m assuming) asked if I was hungry and to take a walk to the hanger 100 yards away.

This is the coolest part of GA flying. The people at these small airports are the nicest and most genuine people out there. Their hospitality and willingness to give you a sandwich or lend you the crew car is what makes GA special. I am privileged to be a pilot and appreciate all the people out there that make each trip a trip to remember…

Oh, right…

We weren’t quite done yet. If you were wondering, the sandwich was good, but this isn’t a food blog. Back at Manassas, the ATIS was reporting gusty conditions still. Typically, due to the hangers and large FBO building at the south end of the east ramp, there can be some challenging conditions when the wind is blowing. However, today, it was down the runway, well mostly. Even though the wind was 10° off center, gusty conditions can make your landing a little more difficult than it should.

All was going well, typical approach (Manassas is a towered class delta airport) left base to final for 34R. Recently, my landings into Manassas have been high and I’ve either gone long or have slipped to lose altitude. This time, I was actively attempting to correct and carefully managing my altitude.

If I were in the pattern, I would be about 800′ AGL when turning final, but when coming in on base, I’m usually at pattern of 1,200′. What I’ve come to realize, I was not descending while coming in on base and end up turning final at pattern altitude (funny story for another post, on my PPL ride, I had to slip from pattern altitude to land 1 mile final).

But this landing wasn’t without some mild heroics needed. As I was on final, maybe 100′ AGL, a gust hit me. It was straight on, but 15kts. Now I was still descending, but not moving forward as fast. Added some power and avoided hitting the large array of lights at the end of the runway. Straightening out from the tiny crab angle and I plopped onto the 150′ wide runway with a little tap just past the numbers.

And that, my friends, is how you combine an airplane with a sandwich to have a fine afternoon!

My most recent flight (now several weeks ago due to an annual on the club airplane) took me back to Pennsylvania to visit a friend. It has been many years since we’ve seen each other, so it was nice to catch up an grab a $300? hamburger (it was a good burger https://www.whiterosebarandgrill.com/). But you’re not interested in that…

The Plan

First and foremost, this was a great opportunity to log some cross-country time and get to enjoy soaring through the Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania countryside. Not much in the way of terrain, the highest peak was approximately 1,800′, but the rolling hills and clear (below 10 thousand) skies made for a spectacular flight.

Of course, the first step is deciding if an attempt to traverse the Dulles class bravo was on the table for the day. I had decided to take the hours instead of the shortcut as it had been a month prior since my last flight. This meant exiting the D.C. SFRA via. the Fluky gate. Then remain under the bravo shelf as I turned north.

For this flight, I decided to practice some VOR navigation (of course, primary was GPS via the installed 430 and ForeFlight w/Sentry), but it had been a while and wanted to freshen up in the unlikely event of full GPS loss. So the route would be CSN -> MRB -> FDR -> EMI. Once clear of the Dulles bravo, I would cruise at 5,500 on the outbound leg then 6,500 on the reverse.

Nostalgia

There was a secondary objective. It was 29 years prior that I had started my pilot journey. Flying from Capital City Airport (KCXY) near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, my first few hours of training I made several full stops at Thomasville (KTHV), now York Airport. While no notable memories were triggered during the approach, returning to this airport 29 years later after finally completing my PPL was exciting!

Cruising

It was mostly an uneventful trip. Not the smoothest ride, but also not the worst. Once clear of the Dulles bravo, I was able to find some smoother air around 5,500′ which was nice. Also, it was good to have altitude in case of an emergency.

The route I chose was purposeful beyond needing a refresher on tuning VORs and seeing if I could remember Morse code (I could not, I relied on the dots and dashes on ForeFlight to confirm I tuned in to the correct station). Flying single engine over large areas of forest and in-hospitable terrain was not appealing. So, choosing to be within gliding distance (mostly) of an airport was my goal.

One day, I hope to have the opportunity to fly over Dulles, but for now, I’ll stick with overflying delta airports, like Frederick Municipal (KFDK). With a 2,800′ ceiling, I was well above while crossing at 5,500′. Frederick has two runways, 5/23 and 12/30, and I had tuned into tower long before passing to hear plenty of GA and student traffic using the field. I stayed north to have a clear view of both runways and traffic.

After passing Frederick, Carroll County (KDMW) was off my left wing after turning north at EMI (Westminster VOR). A fair amount of chatter on CTAF there, however, now I was on the homestretch for York (KTHV). York has a single runway 17/35 and this will be a 35 landing.

Approach / Landing

When I last visited York (then Thomasville), I believe we used runway 17 coming south from Capital City. However, that was 29 years ago, any knowledge of this airport from way back when was useless. Runway 35 has a displaced threshold to accommodate a hill with trees 404′ from the end of the runway. There is also a quarry to the east of the threshold which gives an interesting sight picture as you’re approaching the runway (non of which I remember being there in 1995). Fortunately, there is an operational 4-light PAPI to ensure you are on glide and not trimming the trees.

At 5,188′, if you miss the numbers, you still have plenty of room to comfortably stop. I purposely went long as I was planning to exit and park at the FBO which was at the opposite end of the runway. As a result of this decision, I ended up floating past my intended point of touchdown and had a rather solid landing 250′ or so after. Rolling out to the end of the runway (which was smooth and in good condition) and making a left had me cruise past a dormant Medevac chopper on the pad outside the FBO.

The Return

After spending a couple hours visiting, I returned the borrowed crew car and prepared to head back to Manassas. The trip was smooth at 6,500′ and with a slight tailwind, I pushed back into the hanger 15 minutes earlier than expected.

It was a hot day. Even at 6,500′ OAT was only 68F, which made for a sweaty trip. Performance was surprisingly good, although climb out from York (and earlier at Manassas) was slower than usual. With the tailwind coming back, I was between 115-120KTS TAS.

A Log Entry

With 3.2 total, it was a nice trip. This trip was cross-country time the old fashioned way, using VOR navigation. I think my instructors would be pleased to see their time wasn’t wasted in today’s GPS world. Will I do more VOR navigation, probably not often. Using GPS makes planning long cross-country trips easy and provides more opportunities to take a “shortcut”.

Until next time…