The Flight Back From KMCD

Once at the Airport, I called for a weather brief.

The briefer was very enthusiastic and helpful and suggest flying at 5,000 on the way back to  avoid a lot of the clouds and such on the way.  He also noted there might be some light precip but no issues affecting the flight.  He then filed the IFR flight plan for me, which was rather nice, and it was quickly approved.

We then headed out to the plane and I did the pre-flight, started it up, went to the run up area for Runway 8 and did the run up and then called Minneapolis Center on my cell phone for a clearance. 

I got the clearance and then did a good take-off and started flying back to Pontiac.

Once in the air and at sufficient altitude I gave Minneapolis Center a call and  got cleared to climb to 5,000 feet.

We headed over Bois Blanc Island in the haze.

 We were pretty much under the clouds in the haze most of the way home and we did fly in a fair bit of clouds and picked up some light rain that washed the plane as we flew in them.

 Other than the clouds there was haze.  Lots and lots of haze. I probably could have counted a fair bit of the time ion the haze as IFR as visibility was impressively limited, but just counted the time in the clouds themselves. Leah napped as usual.

We did have ground contact through the haze most of the way, and were only in clouds for about a half hour of the trip  so it was pretty uneventful. We got passed off to Great Lakes Approach and continued on our way.

We then flew over Saginaw Bay.

 

If you embiggen and then look hard, by the second bridge in the river you can just make out the USS Edson in the picture.

The haze continued all the way back to Pontiac, where I did a visual approach to Runway 9R and did what Leah described as a fantastic landing. Completely greased it in nice and smoothly.

That was 1.9, .5 instrument time, a fantastic landing and a great day trip to the island.

Mackinac Island

Walking into town is a nice 20-mimute walk, mainly downhill.

You pass by some nice houses along the trail.

 And walk past a rather menacing sign.

 

 

But instead of being a dangerous hill, it didn't menace us in the least nor try to trip us even once.

We did pass by quite a few horse-drawn carriages.

 We then reached town and had lunch at Millie's on Main, which has the best Fish'n'Chips.

 We then went to sample and buy the Island's most famous export product - fudge!

 We sampled and shopped and brought some home as well.

We then wandered the main street and browsed a bit and then called for a taxi back to the airport.

 The taxi:

More of a ride share than a taxi, it was pretty loaded with a bunch of golfers headed to a course for their tee time, very pleasant people, so we clambered on. 

We went past the Grand Hotel.

 

And then to the airport, with some stops along the way to rest and water the horses.  The golfers wished us a safe flight. 

Saturday Flyday - To KMCD

Saturday morning I got a weather brief, and then picked Leah up and headed to the airport.

Things were,  however, delayed due to some git hitting and destroying the gate mechanism and motor to enter into the hangar area.  So we could not enter through the normal gate.  There was a sign that says to use the Astropark entrance but not saying where the Astropark was located.  Very helpful, that.

So, I had to call Airport Maintenance and find out the alternative entry point and also the access code for same.

Made it to the plane, did the preflight, and filed for an IFR departure and a flight at 8,000.

Got the plane started, got my clearance, which was approved as filed, and after a run-up we got to take off. 

We were soon up on runway heading climbing to 3,000 feet in the haze and on our way.

Detroit Approach had me then go direct and immediately start the climb to 8,000.

We then got handed off to Great Lakes Approach, and were flying over Saginaw Bay in heavy haze.

Right after Saginaw Bay, we entered into IFR conditions.

 Not much to see outside, so I was right on the instruments.

Leah had fallen asleep before we hit the Bay and she woke up inside the clouds which was a tad disorienting for her.  Her first time in instrument conditions in a small plane.  

Thankfully the clouds were happy ones - not much turbulence at all and very stable air for a nice, smooth ride. 

At times we were in between layers which was rather serene and pretty. 

 

We stayed IFR practically all the way to Mackinaw Island.  Minneapolis Center had me descend to 3,000 and we broke out over Beaver Island.

 

Still all sorts of hazy, but I saw enough so I could do a visual approach to the airport and Center had advised that two prior planes had done the visual with no issues.

I then did a nice visual landing on Runway 8 at Mackinaw Island and closed my IFR flight plan.

I parked the plane and we went in and paid the landing fee.  Another plane landed as we did so. 

 

Then we walked into town.

 1.8 on the way up, and 1.2 of that in IFR conditions, and a very nice landing.

Flying - Homeward From Mackinac

The taxi was a two horse-power vehicle.

Quite a fun ride. We got picked up and then he picked up 4 more to go to the Grand Hotel so we got to see it on the way to the airport.

Then we did not go direct to the airport as the taxi required an engine overhaul.

With fresh horses, we headed to the airport.

At the airport I checked the weather again and saw a nice PT-17 had come in after we had arrived.

 

Checking the weather and updating my weather brief, the winds were gusting up to 30 knots from 210-270 which was kinda concerning.  Still within crosswind limits, but sporty.

Did the preflight and all was in order and still with plenty of gas, and kept watching the windsock which was almost always fully extended but kept pointing right down Runway 26, more or less, and not deviating. This made it do-able.

 

I announced on the CTAF that I was taking off, then lined up on the runway and then held the brakes and brought the aircraft to full power. I then took off and the wind stayed pretty much right down the runway so it was a pretty easy takeoff and a 30-knot headwind made for good performance. Windsock stayed right down the runway the whole time.

We headed towards Pontiac and saw the Mackinac Bridge.

 Climbing up we ran into a lot of light turbulence, lots and lots of bumps and directional control was then rather difficult.   Any motion to head to the left was met with massive bumps so we were getting off course due to the turbulence. I was working hard just to keep the wings level.  Bit of a heavily scattered / broken layer above made it hard to get above it, too.

I checked in with Minneapolis Center and got flight following given to me immediately without even asking for it, and I reported the light turbulence.   Other pilots in the area were also reporting wind shear and light to moderate turbulence as far south as Traverse City, and Harbor Springs had some severe wind shear.  

I finally got to a point basically following Highway 75 south to where the clouds opened to a scattered layer, put the throttle all the way forward and climbed up to 7,500 through the hole and got back on course.  Was still able to see the ground the whole time even with it being a bit hazy up there. The air was nice and smooth and Minneapolis Center was ok with my being at that height to avoid the messy air below.

Co-pilot then did some homework in the calm air and I was back on course.

The kid was doing Physics homework in an airplane.  Kinda cool.

Got handed off to Great Lakes Approach Saginaw frequency and continued on.

I checked with Fight Service to get an updated weather report for Pontiac and see if any turbulence had been reported there.  No turbulence, but winds at 210 from 10-20 knots. Very sporty.

Then handed off to Great Lakes Approach Flint and then to Detroit Approach. 

For practice I requested the RNAV 27L approach and got it and I kinda wanted the guidance that comes with an RNAV for the approach.  I was told to head to LEHRA intersection and I started descending as I headed towards LEHRA.  At LEHRA I was then cleared for the approach and contacted Pontiac Tower.  The winds were then 210-230 at about 11-15 which was nicer.  Still, it made it hard to stay on course. I was constantly getting pushed to the right by gusts and was crabbing like crazy to stay on the needles and keep it from deflecting too much.   I was VFR so I could see the runway which also helped stay as lined up as possible even as I kept getting pushed and the needle was a dot left of center most of the time.

A decent descent following the glide-slope and with tons of crabbing and power adjustments due to the gusting wind.  Got lined up and made the landing rather firmly and we were down.  Landed at 6:12 pm.

Then I got to have some fun. I had told Tower that for parking I needed to go to Royal Air East for fuel, so instead of a long taxi around the south-side to get to the north-side, Tower had me do a 180 and back-taxi on the runway to the Hotel intersection and then cross to Delta and taxi to Royal Air East. Very nice of them and I think I'm the first person to get to back-taxi on the new 27L Runway. First time I've ever done a back-taxi at Pontiac.

Got to Royal Air East and still had well over an hour's fuel in the tanks, so my fuel planning was on which was good. Then taxi back to the hangar, wiped all the bugs off the plane, and then headed home with our day's shopping.

2.4 in sporty conditions and a rather sporty landing as well.  Challenging, but I handled it all just fine and I'm quite sure al the IFR training has helped me be both more precise and capable.  Leah had a great time on Mackinaw Island and in the air, except for the turbulence part.  The rest of the family enjoyed the fudge we had brought home.

This is definitely why I learned how to fly, to be able to take the family on neat trips, especially day trips that can't be done by car in a timely manner.

On Mackinac Island

We decided to walk into town from the airport.

Absolutely beautiful day for it.

We waked past the Protestant and Catholic cemeteries that are beside each other that we had seen on that rainy foggy day during the horse carriage tour.

Speaking of carriage tours:

Quite a few passed us as we walked into town.

We headed straight to Millies on Main, as the flight and walk had built up an appetite.

We ordered the fish and chips, as they are the best fish 'n' chips in Michigan.

Impossible to go hungry after eating that.

Then we started wandering around Main Street.

The place was hopping.

 

People were relaxing in the park below the fort.

We checked out various stores, and decided some fudge shopping was required.  After all it's the island's #1 export, so we needed to buy some to export.

We bought some fudge from both Murdick's and Killwin's to bring home.  Both were excellent.  Leah got a caramel apple at Killwin's to eat while she was on the island that was one of the best caramel apples ever.  I typically hate caramel apples but this one was truly great, with real soft and delicious caramel.

We bought a few other things, some clothes that were on sale and some of the local beer.

 An excellent summer beer and it was indeed, after we got home and I had put it in the refrigerator and tried it out, first time trying a Gose-style beer, and as the store promised it was "Shell'a Good!".

Then it was about 3:30 and it was time to head back to the airport, so we called a taxi instead of walking back uphill to the airport.

Flying - To Mackinac Island

I was finally able to take Leah on a trip I've been trying to do for over a year now.  Every time in the past that I've planned a flight to Mackinac Island, I get weather-cancelled.

It looked like yesterday would join that list of cancellations, but the weather turned out better than forecast but still with some fun to keep me on my toes.

We got up, had breakfast and headed to the airport.

I first taxi'd to Royal Air to fill the tanks as the Archer is normally stored at tabs rather than full, and I wanted all the fuel for the trip.

Then I requested flight following to Mackinac Island  and we were wheels up at 10:09 am and on our way.  Heckuva crosswind at Pontiac on takeoff.

The air was nice and smooth as I climbed to 4,500 feet and talked to Detroit and then got handed off to Great Lakes Approach.

 

So smooth my co-pilot decided to take a beauty nap.

 

Getting close to Saginaw I got handed off to another Great Lakes Approach frequency and crossed over Saginaw and then we flew over a part of Saginaw Bay.

 

We then got handed off to Minneapolis Center and they were so busy they did not acknowledge my check-in call.  After a few more minutes tried again and got a "N8428S standby" so that was good enough I suppose.  They certainly had their hands full.

Then we had Mackinac island in sight.

That's Bois Blanc Island in the foreground, and Mackinac island is the farthest one.

Got to 5 miles was listening to the ASOS and the CTAF and no one was on.  I did a radio call to Mineapolis that I had the Island in sight and they then said radar services termianted and squawk VFR. So I did.

Coming out of 4,500 and entering the pattern over the water there was a lot of light chop as we descended and the wind was out of 230 gusting 10-21 knots.

I did the calls for landing on Runway 26 and did the downwind over the water as their noise abatement instructs, which makes for a very wide downwind and a long final.  Called the long final, brought the plane in with a whole lot of crosswind correction as the gusts were indeed gusting, and did a nice landing.

Taxi'd to the ramp and they had me park at the day parking in the front which was nice.

 

Quite a few planes were already there.

We paid the landing fee of $12.50 (It's 12.50 per engine) and signed in and chatted with the attendant.  

We had arrived at Mackinac Island.

An over four and a half hour drive and we made it in under two hours, landing at 11:54 am.

A great day on the island awaited.

2.2 Hours and one nice if challenging landing.

Mackinac Island - Some Of The Sights

By the end of our perambulations around the fort, the rain was picking up and we were getting rather soaked to the skin.

So we went to lunch at Millies on Main - after a bit of a wait as just about everyone else had the same idea, we had the absolute best Fish and Chips I've had anywhere!

So fortified we headed out along main street and then as the rain picked up even more, decided it was time for a Mackinac Horse Carriage tour.

We saw the Governor's summer residence.

 

The sign reads:

Good to be the Governor, neh?

We then wheeled by the Grand Hotel, which is very posh, and super-expensive and with which Tash,  Murph, and I have history:

We then went outside the town proper on the narrated carriage tour to see the historic cemeteries - one Protestant, one Roman Catholic,  divided by a road, and then to historic skull cave, and then to the scenic Arch Rock.

It is indeed scenic:

Described in Indian legend as a portal to another world.  

If you leap through it,  you will indeed go to another world, but there's no return ticket.  Formed by erosion of the softer limestone rock below the arch, it is quite an impressive natural sight to see.

The carriage tour was well worth taking, and the guides were knowledgeable and rather funny, with lots of great stories about the island, which made for a nice trip even in the rain.

After that, completely soaked, we headed back to the ferry and made the journey back to Mackinaw City in the fog and then drove back to Harbor Springs for the night.