Boy we did a lot of flying a couple of weeks ago...
The original plan was for Jeanie and I to fly the squadron airplane down to Daytona (KDAB) on March 25 and drop it off for its 100 hour, then rent a car and drive back home. Our plan had been to explore Daytona Beach a bit, and then swing by St. Augustine on the way back.
The flight down was good. The skies were clear and the ride was smooth - at least until we got close to Daytona. We flew down at 5,500 feet. As we neared Daytona, we encountered a few scattered clouds at around 4,500 feet that ended up not being a factor as just before I was about to request an altitude change to get below them, ATC directed me lower. Once under the cloud layer, things got a bit bumpy. Not horrible, but enough to be sometimes a bit uncomfortable. I also had a few new experiences. I got to play with the Squadron Commander's Garmin 296. In many ways, it is nicer than the KLN 94 installed in the aircraft. This was my first time flying into a Class Charlie airport without a seasoned pilot in the right seat. It was also the first time that I had ATC vector me all the way to final, and the first time that I was asked to do a LAHSO (Land And Hold Short Operations) landing. The LAHSO landing was no problem as I was landing on a 10,000 foot runway and the LAHSO length was 7,000 feet - 2,000 feet longer than the longest runway at 55J, and at least 5,000 feet longer than I needed.
Well, after I called in to close the mission with the flight release officer, he mentioned that there was a loaner aircraft that we could take back to 55J. I didn't really want to, as I was looking forward to the drive with Jeanie, but, being the good squadron members that we are, we decided to yield to the greater good and fly the loaner back.
Before heading back, we walked over to the terminal to cancel the Hertz reservation, and also to get something to eat, as neither of us had eaten all day. We split a Subway prime rib sub that was pretty good.
Once we got back to the maintenance facility, it took a while to actually leave, as I found a couple of issues with the floater during pre-flight that had to be addressed. I also experienced a problem with the audio panel that turned out to be pilot error. The problem was that I could receive and transmit on Com1, but could not switch to Com2, nor would the intercom work. Apparently, as a safety factor, the radios are wired such that if the audio panel fails, the system automatically fails over to a direct connection between the pilot's headset and Com1. In my case, the "failure" was that the audio panel had been turned off, and I didn't realize that I had to push the volume knob in to turn the panel on. Fortunately, one of the mechanics was very nice when I asked him to take a look, and didn't call me a dumb-ass, but simply turned the panel on and wished us a good flight back.
The flight back was nice as well. Although I didn't get to linger, I did get a glimpse of the St. Augustine Light Station and the fort at St. Augustine.
My landings were decent both at KDAB and at 55J.
I did come to gain a much greater appreciation of both the squadron's assigned aircraft and the club plane. While safe, the floater definitely felt like it had been rode hard and put up wet many times in its life. Not only did it tend to drop a wing while in flight, but the controls just felt "sloppy."
I also, not that I needed it, came away with a greater appreciation of just how lucky I am to be married to Jeanie.
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Posted by David at April 04, 2008 05:35 PM