Beav
January 7th 05, 12:51 AM
"The OTHER Kevin in San Diego" <skiddz "AT" adelphia "DOT" net> wrote in
message ...
> 1st flight of '05 this past Tuesday night. Weather had been crappy
> for days with lots of rain and wind but DUATS was telling me it would
> be cleared in time to launch at 6pm for my night X-country. I called
> Q about noon to see what he thought and he said it was looking pretty
> crappy, but he hadn't checked the weather and to call back in a few
> hours.
>
> 2 hours later, the radar graphics showed some clearing and a peek
> outside at work revealed a few blue spots. FA outlook said VFR for my
> area by 6pm so at 4 I called Q, told him it was looking good and I was
> coming down. I hit the road about 4:10 and hit virtually no traffic
> on the way down and was in the hangar before 5. Not bad for a 43 mile
> drive during rush hour. My ship was sitting on the ramp so I ran out
> and gave it a preflight before it got dark then went back to the
> hangar to push my pencil.
>
> I did my flight plan at work earlier so just had to work up my W&B and
> dispatch paperwork. I grabbed my cell phone to call FSS to file my
> flight plan and couldn't find it. I figured I'd left it in my truck
> so ran out to grab it. Nope, it wasn't there either.. After one
> minor temper-tantrum and a few choice words, I found it stuffed in the
> pocket of my book bag. (40+ lbs of ground school materials)
>
> I filed my flight plan with the nice folks at the FSS and then filled
> out the dispatch board. Q came in to the hangar and informed me I'd
> dispatched us in the wrong ship. I told him I didn't think so and the
> ship I had all set to go was what was indicated on the schedule when
> I'd checked it earlier that afternoon. A quick run to the office to
> see WTF was up and I was ready to go.
>
> Conditions were pretty nice, but it was friggin' cold at 6 degrees.
> (Yeah, that's cold for us thin blooded So Cal guys) so it was
> definitely a doors on flight. While the ship was warming up I opened
> my flight plan with the ground controller and was told they'd open it
> as soon as I launched.
>
> The windscreen was really fogged up so I got some "IFR" practice as I
> held a hover for a min or two and let the windscreen clear up. :) I
> taxied to the hold short line and called for a straight out departure
> to the North. I was cleared to take off almost immediately and I
> taxied into position, did my final instrument checks and off I went.
>
> I was soon climbing through 1,000' and looking for my 1st checkpoint.
> Q asked me what some of the things were I needed to be aware of during
> night flight. Spatial disorientation, increased situational
> awareness, being aware of bright lights affecting your night vision
> etc... The terrain we were headed to was one big patch of utter
> blackness and about 10 miles ahead was a 1,600' hill. I climbed to
> 1,500 and headed to the East of the top of the hill where I knew the
> terrain descended pretty quickly (I flew this same route for my solo
> X-country) but my pulse definitely quickened as I go nearer. I got a
> touch of vertigo as I hit the dark area, but it passed in a few
> seconds and a quick look at the gauges told me I was still level, not
> turning and still doing 80 knots.
>
> 15 miles out was CRQ and I'd planned to go right over the top and
> proceed to OKB so I started looking for the beacon. Q found it
> within' a couple minutes and even though I live about 3 miles from CRQ
> and knew what area I was over and where the filed was, I couldn't see
> the beacon for the life of me. I found it by initiating a climb and
> finally saw it as I hit 2,200 feet. Called up CRQ and was cleared to
> transition their airspace to the North.
>
> I began monitoring OKB's CTAF and about 3 miles out I began
> broadcasting my intentions. Q told me OKB was hard to locate in the
> dark, but I picked up the threshold lights pretty quick. I was headed
> towards the West end of runway 24 and turned East so I could make a
> left base turn to the runway. Just as I began to turn base, Q asked
> me where the hell I was going. I said "I'm going to land on that
> nifty runway over there" as I pointed to his left with my left hand.
> The threshold lights were directly at my 9 o'clock and I guess he
> mistook something to the Northeast for the airport. Dunno for sure..
>
> In any case, I got turned to final and shot a decent approach to the
> numbers but man was my depth perception jacked up. I ended up a
> little slow and high towards the very end. The ground was hard to
> pick up, even with the landing lights on.. Q had me fly one pattern
> and then he took the controls. Q lives pretty close to OKB so he
> circled his place trying to get his wife to come out. After a couple
> circles with no wife appearance, he gave the controls back to me and I
> headed back to CRQ.
>
> I live on the approach end of CRQ so called the tower and asked if I
> could loiter over the area for a few minutes - maybe I could get my
> wife & kids to come out. My request was approved so I thanked the
> controller and told her if they had inbound traffic I'd depart to the
> South. I found my house in good time and noticed the wife's car
> wasn't in the driveway. Did a couple circles and then headed South
> out of CRQ's airspace with another thanks to the controller. Once
> clear of their airspace, I headed to the coast and descended to 500'.
>
> The phosphorescence of the foam as the waves broke on the beach was
> cool to see from the air but the cold was defeating the heater. My
> hands were getting numb and my nose was running pretty good so every
> few seconds the intercom would crackle to life as I tried to stem the
> flow of snot into my moustache.. heheh
>
> A few minutes after turning southbound at the coast, it began to rain.
> Nothing very hard, but it wasn't helping with the raindrops reflecting
> instrument lights and the lights on the shore. After about 5 minutes
> it stopped and I began to head East to get back to home base. The
> rest of the flight was pretty uneventful so Q and I chatted about the
> holidays and the few things I need to wrap up before he schedules my
> check ride.
>
> 7 miles from home base I dial up ATIS, get the info and make my radio
> call. I'm cleared all the way in to landing as the only other traffic
> is departing to the West and I was pretty much South of the field -
> not a factor. The approach to land was weird because all the visual
> cues I use during the day weren't visible except for seemingly random
> points of light. The taxiway lights looked like a jumbled mess until
> I turned base and then I was able to pick my landing spot and make my
> approach.
>
> Once down I taxied to the ramp and set the ship down and began the
> cool down. I really liked flying at night, but I can see I'm going to
> need a LOT of practice before I feel very comfortable navigating over
> any significant distances. I've lived in San Diego for over 30 years
> so its not hard to figure out where I am during the day. Nighttime is
> a whole 'nuther ball game. I'm definitely going to do some more dual
> night stuff after my check ride..
>
> I'm also going to bring something heavier than a sweatshirt next time.
> Maybe a parka and some heated gloves.. hehehe
You southern softies are all the bloody same:-))
As usual Kev, excellent write-up. Not long to go now eh? Good luck on your
check ride when it happens.
Beav
message ...
> 1st flight of '05 this past Tuesday night. Weather had been crappy
> for days with lots of rain and wind but DUATS was telling me it would
> be cleared in time to launch at 6pm for my night X-country. I called
> Q about noon to see what he thought and he said it was looking pretty
> crappy, but he hadn't checked the weather and to call back in a few
> hours.
>
> 2 hours later, the radar graphics showed some clearing and a peek
> outside at work revealed a few blue spots. FA outlook said VFR for my
> area by 6pm so at 4 I called Q, told him it was looking good and I was
> coming down. I hit the road about 4:10 and hit virtually no traffic
> on the way down and was in the hangar before 5. Not bad for a 43 mile
> drive during rush hour. My ship was sitting on the ramp so I ran out
> and gave it a preflight before it got dark then went back to the
> hangar to push my pencil.
>
> I did my flight plan at work earlier so just had to work up my W&B and
> dispatch paperwork. I grabbed my cell phone to call FSS to file my
> flight plan and couldn't find it. I figured I'd left it in my truck
> so ran out to grab it. Nope, it wasn't there either.. After one
> minor temper-tantrum and a few choice words, I found it stuffed in the
> pocket of my book bag. (40+ lbs of ground school materials)
>
> I filed my flight plan with the nice folks at the FSS and then filled
> out the dispatch board. Q came in to the hangar and informed me I'd
> dispatched us in the wrong ship. I told him I didn't think so and the
> ship I had all set to go was what was indicated on the schedule when
> I'd checked it earlier that afternoon. A quick run to the office to
> see WTF was up and I was ready to go.
>
> Conditions were pretty nice, but it was friggin' cold at 6 degrees.
> (Yeah, that's cold for us thin blooded So Cal guys) so it was
> definitely a doors on flight. While the ship was warming up I opened
> my flight plan with the ground controller and was told they'd open it
> as soon as I launched.
>
> The windscreen was really fogged up so I got some "IFR" practice as I
> held a hover for a min or two and let the windscreen clear up. :) I
> taxied to the hold short line and called for a straight out departure
> to the North. I was cleared to take off almost immediately and I
> taxied into position, did my final instrument checks and off I went.
>
> I was soon climbing through 1,000' and looking for my 1st checkpoint.
> Q asked me what some of the things were I needed to be aware of during
> night flight. Spatial disorientation, increased situational
> awareness, being aware of bright lights affecting your night vision
> etc... The terrain we were headed to was one big patch of utter
> blackness and about 10 miles ahead was a 1,600' hill. I climbed to
> 1,500 and headed to the East of the top of the hill where I knew the
> terrain descended pretty quickly (I flew this same route for my solo
> X-country) but my pulse definitely quickened as I go nearer. I got a
> touch of vertigo as I hit the dark area, but it passed in a few
> seconds and a quick look at the gauges told me I was still level, not
> turning and still doing 80 knots.
>
> 15 miles out was CRQ and I'd planned to go right over the top and
> proceed to OKB so I started looking for the beacon. Q found it
> within' a couple minutes and even though I live about 3 miles from CRQ
> and knew what area I was over and where the filed was, I couldn't see
> the beacon for the life of me. I found it by initiating a climb and
> finally saw it as I hit 2,200 feet. Called up CRQ and was cleared to
> transition their airspace to the North.
>
> I began monitoring OKB's CTAF and about 3 miles out I began
> broadcasting my intentions. Q told me OKB was hard to locate in the
> dark, but I picked up the threshold lights pretty quick. I was headed
> towards the West end of runway 24 and turned East so I could make a
> left base turn to the runway. Just as I began to turn base, Q asked
> me where the hell I was going. I said "I'm going to land on that
> nifty runway over there" as I pointed to his left with my left hand.
> The threshold lights were directly at my 9 o'clock and I guess he
> mistook something to the Northeast for the airport. Dunno for sure..
>
> In any case, I got turned to final and shot a decent approach to the
> numbers but man was my depth perception jacked up. I ended up a
> little slow and high towards the very end. The ground was hard to
> pick up, even with the landing lights on.. Q had me fly one pattern
> and then he took the controls. Q lives pretty close to OKB so he
> circled his place trying to get his wife to come out. After a couple
> circles with no wife appearance, he gave the controls back to me and I
> headed back to CRQ.
>
> I live on the approach end of CRQ so called the tower and asked if I
> could loiter over the area for a few minutes - maybe I could get my
> wife & kids to come out. My request was approved so I thanked the
> controller and told her if they had inbound traffic I'd depart to the
> South. I found my house in good time and noticed the wife's car
> wasn't in the driveway. Did a couple circles and then headed South
> out of CRQ's airspace with another thanks to the controller. Once
> clear of their airspace, I headed to the coast and descended to 500'.
>
> The phosphorescence of the foam as the waves broke on the beach was
> cool to see from the air but the cold was defeating the heater. My
> hands were getting numb and my nose was running pretty good so every
> few seconds the intercom would crackle to life as I tried to stem the
> flow of snot into my moustache.. heheh
>
> A few minutes after turning southbound at the coast, it began to rain.
> Nothing very hard, but it wasn't helping with the raindrops reflecting
> instrument lights and the lights on the shore. After about 5 minutes
> it stopped and I began to head East to get back to home base. The
> rest of the flight was pretty uneventful so Q and I chatted about the
> holidays and the few things I need to wrap up before he schedules my
> check ride.
>
> 7 miles from home base I dial up ATIS, get the info and make my radio
> call. I'm cleared all the way in to landing as the only other traffic
> is departing to the West and I was pretty much South of the field -
> not a factor. The approach to land was weird because all the visual
> cues I use during the day weren't visible except for seemingly random
> points of light. The taxiway lights looked like a jumbled mess until
> I turned base and then I was able to pick my landing spot and make my
> approach.
>
> Once down I taxied to the ramp and set the ship down and began the
> cool down. I really liked flying at night, but I can see I'm going to
> need a LOT of practice before I feel very comfortable navigating over
> any significant distances. I've lived in San Diego for over 30 years
> so its not hard to figure out where I am during the day. Nighttime is
> a whole 'nuther ball game. I'm definitely going to do some more dual
> night stuff after my check ride..
>
> I'm also going to bring something heavier than a sweatshirt next time.
> Maybe a parka and some heated gloves.. hehehe
You southern softies are all the bloody same:-))
As usual Kev, excellent write-up. Not long to go now eh? Good luck on your
check ride when it happens.
Beav