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#1
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single pilot ifr trip tonight
Just got back from a good proficiency practice flight. This was the first
time I'd flown single pilot IFR at night with conditions that could potentially deteriorate to actual instrument. (cloudy, rain developing as the flight progressed, visibility dropping somewhat) The basic rundown... got the plane, preflighted in the dark, and realized that it was the first time I had actually done a full preflight at night. All the other night flights I did the preflight at dusk or earlier. Definitely took me a few extra minutes to get oriented to the darkness and using my flashlight. I got through that ok, ready to do, and poof! My flashlight _light_ (not the batteries) goes out! Just like the bright, microsend flash of illumination you see from a normal light bulb then total darkness. Crap! Fortunately, I had a spare light, smaller, but did the job. I was a bit disappointed in the bulb that burnt out though... it was a Maglight, and barely over a year old with hardly any use. I'm tempted to send it back to them for a replacement. Takeoff out of CDW was uneventful, although the controller was a bit pushy when I wanted to clarify the squawk before departing... she said "You need to get rolling" after confirming the code was correct... somebody on downwind was undoubtedly going to plow into me I guess if I didn't hurry along. Needless to say, I didn't hurry. (I was still holding short, so if need be could've just continued to hold short, but she (the controller) was obviously in need of some excitement on a dreary night with barely any traffic to manage). So up up and away we go, didn't even have time to make the initial turn to 180 before departure vectored me to SAX. Then enroute to SWF for a practice ILS. I noticed before departing that one of the two radio / nav units in the plane was not functioning... it's one of those that has a primary and secondary freq, but the display was completely dead, so I decided to just leave it off. So even before starting the flight, I knew I had only one working com and one working nav / vor unit operational. No problem, if things got too heavy, I could just cancel IFR and continue VFR... clouds were definitely high enough on the way up (around 6000 OVC). As I got closer to SWF, I tried tuning in the NDB so I could identify an intersection along the LOC. No dice. I didn't hear the magic morse in the background, and the needle spun and spun til I got dizzy. Strike two on operational components in the plane! Still, I managed to get to SWF safely, and taxied off to the side to get myself setup for the trip back to CDW. Departure out of SWF was a bit more interesting, as I had to read the SWF.4 departure procedure. Easy to do, and so off I went. Unfortunately, the routing back home wasn't optimal... was supposed to go out to HUG then turn south to head to CDW, so I asked for a shortcut to SAX instead. After getting handed off to NY Approach on 127.6, I had a helluva time hearing a transmission from the controller. I asked to hear it again, and again, even with the volume all the way up, it was barely audible. I got the instruction ok tho... left turn to 170. And fortunately the gremlin in the radio cleared itself up on the next transmission. But this turns out to have been strike 3 for equipment in the plane... I encountered this problem a couple other times, fortunately when other pilots were transmitting, and not ATC. Getting back in to CDW was a bit dicey, as the rain had started to come down, and the mist was making it difficult to pick out CDW (which is difficult enough these days anyway with 4/22 being closed for repairs). I told the controller at one point that I had the beacon in sight, but that wasn't good enough for him. 2 miles later, I could make out 9/27, so I was handed off for a visual approach, which wasn't my best approach, but was a squeaker of a landing. So to sum up: I had 1 VOR, 1 COM, and no backups in the plane for this trip. And the COM was flaky toward the end. Methinks this plane is about to be decommissioned from the flight line, because the owner refuses to put any more money into it. It also just came out of 100 hour, so should (in theory) be at its best operating capacity. I know I won't be trying any more trips at night or IFR in it anytime soon, but I'm glad I had the chance to push the boundaries a bit with the bare minimums for night IFR flight. -- Guy Elden Jr. |
#2
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In article ,
Guy Elden Jr. wrote: bulb that burnt out though... it was a Maglight, and barely over a year old with hardly any use. I'm tempted to send it back to them for a replacement. Maglights used to come with a spare bulb wrapped in a swatch of foam inside the battery spring. -- Ben Jackson http://www.ben.com/ |
#3
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#4
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.... and for flying I have
a green LED on my mike boom that I can activate with my lip or keep on with a switch. Where did you get that and what is it called? That sounds great! Also someone used to make a light on a lanyard that could be worn around your neck...anyone know where you can still buy these? |
#5
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#6
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In article , Greg
wrote: Where did you get that and what is it called? That sounds great! Also someone used to make a light on a lanyard that could be worn around your neck...anyone know where you can still buy these? www.campmor.com CMG Infinity Light $12.95 |
#7
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I carry 6 flashlights, and 4 of them have LED's instead of bulbs. LED's
last forever, and are shockproof. One of my flashlights doesn't even use batteries. You shake it for about 30 seconds to get about 5 minutes of light. Guy Elden Jr. wrote: Just got back from a good proficiency practice flight. This was the first time I'd flown single pilot IFR at night with conditions that could potentially deteriorate to actual instrument. (cloudy, rain developing as the flight progressed, visibility dropping somewhat) The basic rundown... got the plane, preflighted in the dark, and realized that it was the first time I had actually done a full preflight at night. All the other night flights I did the preflight at dusk or earlier. Definitely took me a few extra minutes to get oriented to the darkness and using my flashlight. I got through that ok, ready to do, and poof! My flashlight _light_ (not the batteries) goes out! Just like the bright, microsend flash of illumination you see from a normal light bulb then total darkness. Crap! Fortunately, I had a spare light, smaller, but did the job. I was a bit disappointed in the bulb that burnt out though... it was a Maglight, and barely over a year old with hardly any use. I'm tempted to send it back to them for a replacement. Takeoff out of CDW was uneventful, although the controller was a bit pushy when I wanted to clarify the squawk before departing... she said "You need to get rolling" after confirming the code was correct... somebody on downwind was undoubtedly going to plow into me I guess if I didn't hurry along. Needless to say, I didn't hurry. (I was still holding short, so if need be could've just continued to hold short, but she (the controller) was obviously in need of some excitement on a dreary night with barely any traffic to manage). So up up and away we go, didn't even have time to make the initial turn to 180 before departure vectored me to SAX. Then enroute to SWF for a practice ILS. I noticed before departing that one of the two radio / nav units in the plane was not functioning... it's one of those that has a primary and secondary freq, but the display was completely dead, so I decided to just leave it off. So even before starting the flight, I knew I had only one working com and one working nav / vor unit operational. No problem, if things got too heavy, I could just cancel IFR and continue VFR... clouds were definitely high enough on the way up (around 6000 OVC). As I got closer to SWF, I tried tuning in the NDB so I could identify an intersection along the LOC. No dice. I didn't hear the magic morse in the background, and the needle spun and spun til I got dizzy. Strike two on operational components in the plane! Still, I managed to get to SWF safely, and taxied off to the side to get myself setup for the trip back to CDW. Departure out of SWF was a bit more interesting, as I had to read the SWF.4 departure procedure. Easy to do, and so off I went. Unfortunately, the routing back home wasn't optimal... was supposed to go out to HUG then turn south to head to CDW, so I asked for a shortcut to SAX instead. After getting handed off to NY Approach on 127.6, I had a helluva time hearing a transmission from the controller. I asked to hear it again, and again, even with the volume all the way up, it was barely audible. I got the instruction ok tho... left turn to 170. And fortunately the gremlin in the radio cleared itself up on the next transmission. But this turns out to have been strike 3 for equipment in the plane... I encountered this problem a couple other times, fortunately when other pilots were transmitting, and not ATC. Getting back in to CDW was a bit dicey, as the rain had started to come down, and the mist was making it difficult to pick out CDW (which is difficult enough these days anyway with 4/22 being closed for repairs). I told the controller at one point that I had the beacon in sight, but that wasn't good enough for him. 2 miles later, I could make out 9/27, so I was handed off for a visual approach, which wasn't my best approach, but was a squeaker of a landing. So to sum up: I had 1 VOR, 1 COM, and no backups in the plane for this trip. And the COM was flaky toward the end. Methinks this plane is about to be decommissioned from the flight line, because the owner refuses to put any more money into it. It also just came out of 100 hour, so should (in theory) be at its best operating capacity. I know I won't be trying any more trips at night or IFR in it anytime soon, but I'm glad I had the chance to push the boundaries a bit with the bare minimums for night IFR flight. -- Guy Elden Jr. |
#8
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I bought one of those shake it lights, but found the magnet inside it is strong
enough to swing the compass if the light was anywhere forward of the backs of the front seats. No good for the airplane, and frankly not bright enough for general use around the house. rip wrote: I carry 6 flashlights, and 4 of them have LED's instead of bulbs. LED's last forever, and are shockproof. One of my flashlights doesn't even use batteries. You shake it for about 30 seconds to get about 5 minutes of light. -- --Ray Andraka, P.E. President, the Andraka Consulting Group, Inc. 401/884-7930 Fax 401/884-7950 http://www.andraka.com "They that give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." -Benjamin Franklin, 1759 |
#9
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If it was the female controller I think it is at CDW - she is wound
WAAAY too tight to be a controller for very long . . . she'd cleared people to land who were ON a short final and then she clears me to depart - what if they guy goes around? They do it all the time at big airports, but whats the big deal if I hold for another 20 seconds - this guy was inside a 1/2 mile. [ Then there was the mid air @ CDW a while ago. your radio and nav problems could have been caused by storng solar and magnetic storm . . . Or just an old tired airplane that the FBO does not wantto spend alot of money on = now you know why safety dictates 2 VOR's and 2 COM's in addition to anything else! Joe On Tue, 28 Oct 2003 23:28:04 -0500, "Guy Elden Jr." wrote: Takeoff out of CDW was uneventful, although the controller was a bit pushy when I wanted to clarify the squawk before departing... she said "You need to get rolling" after confirming the code was correct... somebody on downwind was undoubtedly going to plow into me I guess if I didn't hurry along. Needless to say, I didn't hurry. (I was still holding short, so if need be could've just continued to hold short, but she (the controller) was obviously in need of some excitement on a dreary night with barely any traffic to manage). So up up and away we go, didn't even have time to make the initial turn to 180 before departure vectored me to SAX. Then enroute to SWF for a practice ILS. I noticed before departing that one of the two radio / nav units in the plane was not functioning... it's one of those that has a primary and secondary freq, but the display was completely dead, so I decided to just leave it off. So even before starting the flight, I knew I had only one working com and one working nav / vor unit operational. No problem, if things got too heavy, I could just cancel IFR and continue VFR... clouds were definitely high enough on the way up (around 6000 OVC). As I got closer to SWF, I tried tuning in the NDB so I could identify an intersection along the LOC. No dice. I didn't hear the magic morse in the background, and the needle spun and spun til I got dizzy. Strike two on operational components in the plane! Still, I managed to get to SWF safely, and taxied off to the side to get myself setup for the trip back to CDW. Departure out of SWF was a bit more interesting, as I had to read the SWF.4 departure procedure. Easy to do, and so off I went. Unfortunately, the routing back home wasn't optimal... was supposed to go out to HUG then turn south to head to CDW, so I asked for a shortcut to SAX instead. After getting handed off to NY Approach on 127.6, I had a helluva time hearing a transmission from the controller. I asked to hear it again, and again, even with the volume all the way up, it was barely audible. I got the instruction ok tho... left turn to 170. And fortunately the gremlin in the radio cleared itself up on the next transmission. But this turns out to have been strike 3 for equipment in the plane... I encountered this problem a couple other times, fortunately when other pilots were transmitting, and not ATC. Getting back in to CDW was a bit dicey, as the rain had started to come down, and the mist was making it difficult to pick out CDW (which is difficult enough these days anyway with 4/22 being closed for repairs). I told the controller at one point that I had the beacon in sight, but that wasn't good enough for him. 2 miles later, I could make out 9/27, so I was handed off for a visual approach, which wasn't my best approach, but was a squeaker of a landing. So to sum up: I had 1 VOR, 1 COM, and no backups in the plane for this trip. And the COM was flaky toward the end. Methinks this plane is about to be decommissioned from the flight line, because the owner refuses to put any more money into it. It also just came out of 100 hour, so should (in theory) be at its best operating capacity. I know I won't be trying any more trips at night or IFR in it anytime soon, but I'm glad I had the chance to push the boundaries a bit with the bare minimums for night IFR flight. |
#10
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"Guy Elden Jr." wrote:
Takeoff out of CDW was uneventful, although the controller was a bit pushy when I wanted to clarify the squawk before departing... she said "You need to get rolling" after confirming the code was correct... somebody on downwind was undoubtedly going to plow into me I guess if I didn't hurry along. More likely, the tower was given a small window by NY Approach to release you. At a place like CDW (i.e. any towered airport that doesn't have their own approach control), when you tell the tower you're ready to go, the tower calls the remote approach facility and requests permission to launch you. This is why the tower says "hold for release". When approach tells tower to release you, tower clears you for takeoff. The window of time in which the tower is allowed to release you may be very small. At someplace like CDW, they've got to find a gap in the TEB, MMU, and maybe even EWR traffic to fit you in. Until they get you radar identified, they're tying up a big chunk of airspace for you. That's why the tower guy was trying to hurry you along. All that being said, NEVER let anybody rush you. Nothing bad can happen as long as your wheels are still on the taxiway. You did exactly the right thing asking for clarification of something you weren't sure about before moving onto the runway. The worst that could have happened if you missed the window is the tower controller would have been annoyed that he had to call approach back and ask for another release window, and you might have been delayed a few minutes. So to sum up: I had 1 VOR, 1 COM, and no backups in the plane for this trip. And the COM was flaky toward the end. Methinks this plane is about to be decommissioned from the flight line, because the owner refuses to put any more money into it. It also just came out of 100 hour, so should (in theory) be at its best operating capacity. I know I won't be trying any more trips at night or IFR in it anytime soon, but I'm glad I had the chance to push the boundaries a bit with the bare minimums for night IFR flight. Pardon my pessimism, but I read the story as a disaster unfolding with a lucky ending despite bad decision making. You were single pilot IFR, at night, in deteriorating weather. You had no previous experience in this environment. You had three equipment failures (flashlight, nav/com, and adf), two of which you knew about before you left the ground yet decided to depart anyway. Actually, you had another equipment failure you knew about before you took off: runway 4/22 was closed. You not only didn't have the LOC approach available, but you were also down to one runway, substantially shorter than the main one, with inferior lighting and terrain obstructing one end. Finally, your last remaining radio started to act up on you. What would you have done if the problem was something in the electrical system and the slowly decaying avionics were just the early symptoms? What if instead of getting better, the last radio died too? The most obvious immediate problem would have been that you would have no way to talk to ATC (unless you carry a handheld radio). You would have also had no way to navigate. Do you have a handheld GPS? It's night and the weather is going down. Was visibility still good enough to find your way home visually? You would also have no way to turn the runway lights on at an uncontrolled airport. What were you flying? A 172 with electric flaps? If so, you might not have had enough power left to put the flaps down. 27 has 2900 feet after the displaced threshold. Under normal conditions, that's not a big deal. But can you handle that with no flaps, no landing light, at night, no VASI, and wet pavement? Maybe your last remaining flashlight went out too, so you can't even see the ASI? The point is, no single one of the problems you encountered was bad enough to be critical, but accidents are not usually caused by single problems, they're caused by chains of events. Each one eats into the number of options you've got left until you don't have any left at all and you die. The key to avoiding this is to recognize the chain early and do something to break it. Your flashlight died. Do they sell flashlights in the pilot shop? Could you have delayed your flight 10 minutes to run back into the FBO and buy a new one? Why not just carry several? I've got about 3 or 4 in my flight bag. Your radio died. At night, during the week, with marginal weather, the FBO probably has a flightline full of airplanes sitting idle. Could you have gone back in and told them to give you a different plane? Your ADF died on the way into Stewart. Could you have found a mechanic while you were on the ground to come take a look at it and make sure nothing systemic was going on with the electrical system? Your second radio started flaking out. Could you have turned around at that point, gotten back on the ground at SWF, and sorted things out? Maybe called the FBO and told them to send another plane up to get you? |
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