Birthday Flight And Activities

So, having turned 53, I decided to go for a flight to somewhere I had not been before.

So I went with a friend and picked up Leah and the three of us headed to the airport. Abby was unavailable as she was heading back from an academic conference out of town as she was presenting there after she had just published a scientific paper as a co-author- as a junior no less - not too shabby at all.

So the three of us went to the airport, and I did the preflight, got a weather brief which looked good and METARS and TAFs all were in favorable territory, and then we headed out.

Overall everything looked favorable for a flight to Traverse City, a decent crosswind ws expected but well within my personal limits.

Departed VFR with flight following to the northwest on a sunny day with a bit of wind.

 Very smooth in the air though.  Detroit Approach had me hold my climb at 4,000 and then divert 20 degrees left to avoid traffic that apparently was coming right for us, which is one of the reasons I like flight following - its a great extra safety measure. Soon got cleared to head back on course and to my desired altitude of 6,500 feet.

Got switched to Great Lakes Approach and mosied through their airspace at 154 knots ground speed, which was nice. Both passengers were nice and relaxed and both fell asleep on the way.

Getting closer to Traverse City, I got switched to Minneapolis Center and got the weather at  Traverse City.

ATIS was now reporting a direct crosswind gusting between 18-28 knots; a low level wind shear warning; and of pilot reports from landing aircraft of moderate turbulence on final on top of that.

Those conditions are outside my comfort zone, especially when carrying passengers who depend on me to make good decisions. 

I let the passengers know that going to Traverse City would have to wait, and suggested we go to Mt. Pleasant instead as it was close by and we could hit the Casino for lunch and activities.

I let Minneapolis Center know that we were going to divert to KMOP due to the current conditions at TVC and they updated my fight following and I was soon talking to Great Lakes Approach and heading to KMOP.

Arrived there in almost no time and the wind conditions there were also gusty with a crosswind of up to 17 knots.

On the first approach, I did a go around due to a late gust, and then on the second attempt I did a darn nice landing that both passengers liked.  They didn't quite get how much I was working to do it with the gusts on final on that one. 

But, I got it down landing long having added a bit more power to deal with the gusts, but on center-line, and apparently made it look easy to the non-pilot set.

We got the shuttle to the Casino and had lunch. We had chicken from the Chicken Guy for lunch and it was quite good.

We then hit the casino floor and tried our luck.  I hadn't brought my gambling fund with me as I hadn't planned on the casino, but had an emergency hundred tucked in my wallet and played with that.

Played craps for awhile and I had a good roll, but was then up and down with other players, and after an hour plus of playing I walked away having broken even, which was not bad for the entertainment value.

Leah, having not been at the casino before decided to try slots for the first time.

I gave her $10 to play with for her first try with the machine.

She then made $13.50 on the penny slot machine.

 

Not bad.  My friend also made $43 playing slots as well on the neighboring machine so it was a great time.

We then headed back to the airport.  I got a weather brief and all looked good, as did the preflight.

Took off and contacted Great Lakes Approach in the air and got flight following.

It was a fair bit bumpier on the return trip but not a big deal, and both passengers soon fell asleep again.

Soon we passed by Flint airport on the way back.

 Pontiac was soon seen in the distance and I got in touch with Pontiac Tower and was cleared into the downwind for Runway 27R.  I did have an oncoming aircraft as I was heading for the downwind, but Pontiac Tower maintained a good separation keeping me higher and he passed off my wing and below me.

I then descended to pattern altitude and flew a good pattern.  Winds had calmed down to a pretty steady 9 knots from 200, and I made a nice crosswind landing that I was very happy with and my passengers complimented me on yet again. That one was so much easier than the landing at KMOP.

After that, we refueled, cleaned, and put the plane away, dropped Leah off, and my friend took me out for sushi for dinner which was excellent.

Then we went for a swim and had a good time and headed home after that.

Thar was a great birthday day. 

That's 2.3 and 2 great landings.

Sunday Flyday

Sunday was yet another great day for flying, no one had checked 914P out so I decided it needed some exercise.  I decided to take a friend to Mt. Pleasant.

Got to the airport and the pre-flight went as expected.

Our neighbor beside our hangar had just taken his Cessna 170 out:

 Very pretty aircraft.

I pulled the plane out as he left and the start up was nice and normal as was the run-up.

I had decided to go VFR and got flight following arranged and took off from Runway 27R heading to the northwest. 

I initially got to climb to 5,550, poking through the blue in between a very scattered layer of clouds.

 I overflew Flint airport, talking with Great Lakes Approach.

  

As I got closer to Mt. Pleasant, a more solid overcast layer started appearing, so I called Great Lakes Approach and let them know I needed to descend to avoid clouds.  Since I was VFR, going into clouds was a no-no.  They stated altitude was at my discretion and they appreciated my calling them before I started descending.

Soon, I arrived about 10 miles out at Mt. Pleasant with the runway in sight.  Two other planes were in the pattern to land with a third stating they were maneuvering above the airport at 3,500 feet. Since I was  at 3,500, I descended for separation and let everyone know I would overfly the airfield and do a midfield downwind entry for Runway 27.  I would have used 9 as the winds were calm and it would have been convenient, but the two other aircraft had stated they were going to 27 so I joined in accordingly.

I did a nice overflight and then dropped into a midfield downwind entry, by which time one plane had landed, and the other plane was already on base and separation was good. 

I did a really nice landing, parked, and headed into the terminal and called for a shuttle to the casino.

Had a nice lunch at Johnny Rockets,  hit the craps table and got slaughtered.

That's why it's called gambling and not a sure thing. Still, it was an enjoyable experience, nice dealers and nice folks around the table and I learned some things. Didn't bet the rent, so no serious loss other than play money, and  that I'll win back the next time, maybe.

Got the shuttle back to the airport, did the preflight and then took off from Runway 9 as winds were again calm and no traffic was about, and headed to the southeast back to Pontiac.

 It was a pleasant flight back, with a few bumps from the heat of the day.

 I got yet another nice view of Flint.

 

Nice to get a higher aerial view.  I'm typically under the hood when flying at Flint and tend to just see the runway on final.

Great Lakes Approach at the end of their airspace decided not to hand me off to Detroit and instead had me squawk VFR and contact Pontiac Tower, which was fine.

I already had the ATIS for Pontiac and after contacting them was told to enter the right downwind for 27R and was #2 to land, behind another aircraft.

Said aircraft decided to fly a bomber-sized  pattern, so Tower finally told them to turn base, I then extended my downwind for spacing and turned base outside of them, and then landed with a decent landing. I had too much speed so had to bleed some off - which I seem to do often with N914P, and I need to work on that.  So I had a lot more float than I wanted.  But, I still landed on 27R to complete the trip.

It was a very nice, if quite hot, day to fly.

That's 1.9 and 2 landings. 

Tuesday Fly Day - Now With More Instrument Currency!

I got up early this morning and met up with Joel at the airport.

It was time to take the Dakota up as the Archer has some maintenance being done.

Did the pre-flight and then headed to Flint to get some approaches in.

It was quite hazy at 3,000 feet and above, likely due to the Canadian wildfires. Haze got impressively worse but we still had six miles of visibility but good luck seeing anything farther away than that.

I first did the ILS 27 at Flint, then did the RNAV 18 there for a change as the wind was favoring that, even as it was getting a bit gusty.

Both approaches went well, then I headed back to Pontiac and did the RNAV 27L in even more haze and a very gusty crosswind of 15 knots. I rode the glidepath like it was on rails and it was a great approach and landing.

Joel complimented me on my landing, and didn't scream even once during all three approaches, so I must have done something right.  Tower had me roll to the end, cross 27R, and then head back to the hangar.

The approaches went very well and I'm now current for another six months. It was worth getting up early to get a nice and useful flight in.

That's 1.2, 1.0 simulated instrument time, 3 approaches, and one very nice landing. 

Flying: A Day Trip To TO

Friday I flew to Toronto for the day with fellow flying club member Scott.

He had never done an international flight and wanted someone along to show him the ropes and the red tape.

I showed Scott how to properly file a departure notice in EAPIS, and did the CANPASS call with him.

We then filed IFR along the T781 route to Toronto Island Airport. Scott was flying and I was doing the radios to cut down on workload.

We got our IFR clearance and headed onto Runway 27R for takeoff.

Scott did very much get my attention on takeoff.

As were in the takeoff climb 500 feet above the ground, he started leaning the mixture to the point the engine started sputtering.

I expressed very directly in some very choice language my unhappiness with this turn of events. You should not be leaning during takeoff. Once you hit 3,000-4,000 feet leaning makes sense, but not while you're at 500 feet, angled up climbing 1,000 feet per minute with the engine going flat-out and a lack of decent options if you go engine-out at that altitude.

Once that impending doom was prevented, we continued on our way.

Beautiful day to fly at 5,000 feet.

We crossed the border around Port Huron / Sarnia with a hand-off from Selfridge ANGB Control to Toronto Center with no issues.

Soon we were over London, Ontario:

Again a fair bit of haze but we soon had Toronto in sight:

We did the RNAV 8 approach but instead of the closest initial fix, they sent us to the fix that was farther out south over the lake and then had us come in presumably for spacing from other aircraft.

We then did a good approach and Scott did a good landing.

 Damn nice view on final.

We then parked the plane, walked across the tunnel to the mainland from the island and me up with my Dad and Carol.

Since both Carol and Scott had never been up the CN tower that's where we went first. The CN Tower is still the tallest free standing building in the Western hemisphere.

A fast elevator ride up and we were on the observation deck, 1,122 ft up.

We got a nice shot of the airport from the observation deck of the CN Tower:

You also get some great views of the city.

We then headed onto the glass floor and walked on that looking straight down to the ground 1,000 feet below.

 If you have a fear of heights, that's probably not for you unless you want some exposure therapy.

We then headed on down and went to Jack Astor's on Front Street for lunch which was very good.  I pulle dout my computer and field the EAPIS arrival notice, then called CBPO at Pontiac airport to inform them of our arrival.  I then filed the flight plan, requesting the Perl04 departure to Derlo, then T781 to Pontiac, which was happily approved without the massive changes I had incurred during my first visit to the island. 

The problem then was Toronto Island Tower had one person running both Tower and Ground frequencies at the same time and it was a super busy mess and it took forever for us to get a taxi clearance, the a  clearance to get out of the run-up area and then get to the runway where we held for awhile. 

Finally we got airborne and were on our way. It was then that I found out that Scott, sitting in the right hand seat, had not properly latched the top of the aircraft door.  Lower latch was properly done, but we got some extra air and noise for the flight. I was beginning to think Scott was a jinx.

We again got pushed over the water for a bit for traffic and then routed on our way. Scott was handling he radios but not quite keeping up with the controllers so I had to step in a bit.  He wasn't quite used to the faster environment and it seemed like he wasn't fully hearing them and I asked him and he said he was hearing it ok.  In reality, not so much.

We flew out into more haze but missed the rain clouds.

Soon we made it to the Border and saw a large lineup at the bridge there as we overflew it.

Then Selfridge gave us a direct to GUVZY, the initial approach for Pontiac's RNAV 27L, basically cutting the corner of our route and saving us some time which was appreciated. Scott muffed that radio call and i had to jump in as he thought they said cleared to Adrie, as he was expecting that as that was the end waypoint of our route before Pontiac.  When flying you can't let what you expect substitute for what you actually get.

So we then came in and i did a very fine landing on 27L riding the RNAV down quite nicely.

We then went to customs where Scott, being next to the door was asked by the Customs fellow if we had been in Toronto for business or pleasure and Scott said "yes".    I was again not happy and quickly said we were then for pleasure and to visit my dad there.  Satisfied, the CBP agent checked our passports and saw they matched exactly what I had filed as the airplane manifest, and sent us on our way.

It turns out that Scott was, unbeknownst to me, wearing a hearing aid that was malfunctioning without him knowing, which explained why he wasn't fully getting the radio calls, nor the CBP agent's questions.  I expect he will be more in tune when he can actually hear again. 

He's also promised to never lean out an engine on climb-out again. That's one bad habit he's now hopefully done with that can lead to some very bad outcomes. 

He was rushing a lot and after I told him to slow down and stop over-anticipating he did settle and the flight became a fair bit smoother.

Well, that's 2.2 for me flying from CYTZ to KPTK, a great landing, and another international flight under my belt, as well as a great day in Toronto.

Sunday Flyday - Getting Some Approaches In

This morning I met up with James at the airport.  He would fly us to Jackson, then I would do the flight back and get in some approaches at Jackson and Pontiac to keep up my instrument currency.

We headed out with flight following and I handled the radios as he flew. We took the Dakota as the Archer is getting its annual done.

It was a gorgeous day for flying.

Ceiling and visibility unlimited.  A few bumps as we flew over bodies of water but that is to be expected.

James made a great landing at Jackson and we headed in and had breakfast. We both had the Pilot's omelette, as one does.

Then we headed back to the plane and we got ready for the departure.

I called Jackson Ground and got flight following and setup to do approaches first at Jackson and then Pontiac.

I took off and first did the ILS Runway 25 approach and then the RNAV 25 approach at Jackson and both went quite well.

I  then flew us back to Pontiac.

161 knots ground speed was rather respectable.

I then did the RNAV 27L approach into Pontiac.

The approach starts east of the airport so we actually flew past it.

There it is across the lake.

I then flew the approach and did an excellent landing.

 Just a perfect morning to get in the air.

That's 1.5 for me, 1 landing, 3 approaches, and .9 simulated instrument time.

Saturday Flyday - IFR Flying With Mr. B.

This morning I got up and headed to the airport.

I was going to fly the Archer, but I don't have my key back from when i dropped the plane off at the avionics shop.

Luckily, as the conditions were pretty marginal, the non-IFR rated club member had cancelled his flight in the Dakota, so I switched  to the Dakota, did the preflight and then drove to the south side of the airport to meet Mr. B.

I filed an IFR flight plan to fly to Troy and back to Pontiac for a round robin IFR hop as the clouds kept getting lower. We then drove back to the north side. I got the plane out, picked up my clearance, and after a run-up took off flying runway heading.

We then headed up into the clouds climbing to 3,000 and headed to Troy.

Kinda soupy, but pretty smooth.

Flew to Troy and did the full procedure RNAV 10 with a circle approach and it went pretty well.  Id did a missed approach and flew the published miss and got back in connection with Detroit Approach

Then back to Pontiac and did the RNAV 27L again in the soup.

Did a very nice approach and then went to do it again.

By the third approach the clouds had lifted a bit but not much.

 Flew the approach very well and did a very nice landing.

We then put the plane away after cleaning and refueling it, and headed back to the south side so Mr. B. could get some approaches in.

It was still quite soupy at 3,000 feet. 

 

We then flew up to Flint and Mr. B. Flew the approaches like they were on rails.

Great Lakes Approach handled the approaches a little weirdly.  Instead of putting us on an initial approach fix, they kept vectoring us to the final approach fix.

Mr. B. broke us out perfectly lined up on Runway 27.

Mr. B. did a missed and did it again.

Then we headed back to Pontiac and Detroit Approach put us on the initial approach fix on the RNAV 27L and Mr. B. did another great approach breaking out nicely.

 And he brought it in for a great landing in a touch of a crosswind.

 After getting our approaches in, we headed to lunch at a Mexican restaurant Mexico Lindo near the airport that turned out to be really good.

It was a great morning and we're both on track with our approaches and have maintained our currency on our instrument ratings.

A great time flying with Mr. B.

That's 1.3 and three approaches and a hold for me, and a darn good landing.

Back From CYTZ

On Sunday we had a big family gathering and it was a lot of fun, Good to see quite a few relatives I haven't seen since pre-Covid,

So Monday, I said goodbye to everyone and got things in order to depart back to the USA.

I did the weather brief and while the wind was whipping at CYTZ it was nice and calm at Pontiac.  

I filed the electronic advanced notice, and then called CBP at Pontiac to notify them and have them approve the arrival.

I then filed gthe flight plan basically as a reverse of my journey there along a T-route:  Olamo-T781-Adrie-KPTK (Pontiac Airport). Nice and simple and it was approved.

I then got on the subway and headed to Union Station where I caught the shutle bus to Toronto Island Airport.

I then took the tunnel under the lake to the airport.

Then I went to the FBO, Stolport and paid my fuel and parking bill, and got prepared to depart. Very nice FBO and they were quite helpful.

After the preflight I started up the plane and contacted Ground.

Ground stated my flight plan had been changed.

And it was, a lot.

I then copied the clearance:  PERL.4 Departure, DERLO Transition, PICUP, OKLND ONE  Arrival.

Fun.  Thankfully, I had read the PERL.4 departure already just in case that morning and had an idea what it was.

I had to take some time programming the GPS and reviewing the route and then was ready to go.

I taxi'd to the run up area.  There were vehicles in it, which was kinda weird. Ground confirmed I was where I should be, so I did my run up, made sure all was well, and then taxi'd to Runway 26 and got a takeoff clearance.

I took off in a 15-20 gusting wind from 310, but that was fine.

As I began the PERL.4 Departure procedure, which calls for a left turning climb to 3,000 feet to EMDOS over the lake, they amended it and had me fly 210 for a bit for traffic which took me further over the Lake.

Since I'm single engine I'd rather be in easy gliding distance of land at all times if I must be over water.

They soon had me climb to 4,000, then 5,000, then 6,000, and turned me on course to continue the procedure to the transition and be on my way.  

At 6,000 there were some clouds so I got some actual IMC time.

I was in and out of IMC  but most of the time was in visual conditions. Toronto Island passed me to Toronto Terminal, and then to Toronto Control.  All very friendly folks.

The ride was very smooth, even when I was in IMC, so I even had beverage service on the flight:

Don't worry people, it's flavored water.

Crossing the border was a non-issue.

Got handed off to Selfridge just beforehand, then to Detroit Approach shortly thereafter, and I asked for the RNAV 27L and got told to go direct to LEHRA.

I then did a great approach, but it doesn't count as it was VMC conditions, and a really nice landing, probably my best one in awhile.  Likely because nobody noticed. 

I then went to the CBP inspection area at the south side of the airport by the terminal, and it was a non-issue.  I shut down, gave the officer my passport, answered a few questions, and was sent on my way.

I then got to taxi across Runways 27L and 27R and back to the hangar I went.

Total time from start to shut down was 2.0 exactly.

That was a very fun trip, my first international flight I've now flown,  and traveling by air to Toronto is now my preferred method. A definite time saver, and a lot of fun, even if the landing fee and parking fees add up.

That's 2.0 and 1 great landing.

Flying: To CYTZ In Actual IMC

Did my first international flight today.

Last night I did an outlook brief and then did the US CBP electronic paperwork for the flight.

This morning I got up, did the weather brief, filed my IFR flight plan and then called Canada Border Services to let them know I was coming.

At the airport I did a full preflight and got N914P ready to go. A good run-up and I got my clearance and departed form Runway 27L and off I went.

First I talked to Detroit Approach, who directed to climb to 5,000 feet, and then Great Lakes Approach, and finally Selfridge ANGB on the US side. 

Beautiful day for flying.

I was making good time with a nice tail wind for 162 knots over the ground.

I then crossed the border, unlike other times I've crossed at Port Huron/Sarnia, here there was no lineups, no delays and no issues.

I then got handed off to Toronto Center.

Toronto Center had me report a few waypoints and then got me on radar. I was flying the T781 T-route towards Toronto Island Airport and it made for easy routing and reporting.

Weather started getting more interesting, I started being in and out of IMC conditions at 5,000 feet flying through clouds and haze.

The clouds and haze continued and I got transferred over to Toronto Terminal and was cleared for the RNAV 8 Z   approach into Billy Bishop Airport.

The Airport with haze was going IFR and it made things interesitng. This would be my first actual IFR conditions approach done completely on my own.

The approach was neat, they had me descend to 3,000, and then I was soon down to 1,700, then 1,500, all in a haze where I could not see anything to the front of me but had ground (and lake) contact to the sides of the aircraft. I finally broke out of the haze just above minimums, and did not do the best approach I've ever done. Indeed, I got a bit behind the aircraft, but I got it handled.  No pictures as I was busy, with both finding the runway, and interestingly,  dodging sailboat masts on short final (yes, that is a real issue on this approach). Approaching Toronto Island runway 08 looked like I was landing on an aircraft carrier.

I landed without my usual grace and aplomb, but got it down in one piece, and I can reuse the aircraft, so that's something.

 

I then taxi'd to the FBO, Stolport, and then shut down, called Canada Border Services to report my arrival, and ended up taking to the same officer I had spoken with before I departed.  Super nice guy,  really friendly, and he got me handled and issued me an arrival number and had me on my way no problem.

That's 1.8, .8 actual, and 1 real IFR approach, an ok landing, and my first ever international flight.

Took The Piper Dakota Flying T'Other Day

Yesterday morning I got up, did the weather brief and headed off to the airport.

After the preflight, I started up the Piper Dakota and arranged for flight following and headed to Jackson.

Flying at 4,500 feet, I had a bit of a headwind but it was very calm and beautiful out with only a light wind of about 7 knots from 260 or so.

A gorgeous day for flying. 

I flew with the autopilot, really working on gaining competency with it.  

In NAV mode it seamlessly followed the track to Jackson. And with the Alt mode enabled it captured 4,500 feet perfectly.

I then had to switch to HDG (heading) mode, as Detroit Approach routed me around an aircraft that was not communicating and seemed determined to merge with my aircraft on their radar. That worked, and after a few heading shifts I was able to get back on NAV mode to Jackson.

I then did a practice approach to Jackson's Runway 25.  Not for IFR currency, as it doesn't count, as it was clear conditions and I was the only one in the plane. But, I used it to remain sharp with the approach procedure and also to use the autopilot on the approach to gain further competency with that in a safe environment.

Autopilot worked well, and I easily adjusted the descent using the vertical speed mode to follow the approach path down and stay on the RNAV glideslope. Then I disconnected the autopilot and hand flew the last portion of the approach and did a good landing. Jackson Tower is a really friendly and hospitable controller and I passed along greetings from a Pontiac controller to the Jackson controller.

I then taxi'd to the ramp, parked the plane and headed in to the terminal building.

I then met up with Mr. B., who had also flown in for breakfast, and we had a very enjoyable time.

We each had the Pilot's Omelette and it certainly fit the bill.  It was a lot of food and real good.  Service was great, the food delightful. So, if you're ever in the Jackson area, eating at The Apron is highly recommended. 

We then preflighted our aircraft and got ready to depart.

Again the weather was nice and clear, but a tad bumpier as the ground had been heating up, and I climbed to 5,500 feet for the return trip.

I then got routed around some glider traffic, and got a practice approach for the RNAV 27L and I soon had Pontiac airport in sight (top center of the photo below).

I then got a landing clearance to be number three after a few other aircraft.  I kept on coming in, and then they cancelled my landing clearance but also told me that the aircraft would continue to hold short and I was to keep on coming in.

That was a bit confusing, as I was very much on final by that point.  So, I kept on approaching and was ready to do a go-around if I didn't get a landing clearance.

Coming up on the airport fence I then got my landing clearance and I continued the final approach to land and did a good landing.

I then put the plane away and got it refueled and washed all the bugs off, and it was the end of a very enjoyable morning. Always great to get in the air and meeting up with Mr. B. is always a good time.

That's 1.8  (1.1 there and .7 back) and 2 good landings.