4 Up. 4 Down.

Today the weather was VFR with a TFR coming in to shut down the airspace at noon.

So I got up early and headed to the airport.

 

 

Misty and scattered/broken above 2,000, but still VFR for pattern work.

So I did the preflight checks, including making sure I could access the runway from the taxiway as they have had the main drag torn up all summer.  

Thankfully the construction is now up-runway of our hangar row so it was easy to get to the run-up area and runway, and no need to taxi the plane on the service drive.

All checks were good, as was the run up, and soon I was up in the air again.

I did touch and goes, as if you landed long for a full stop, you got a very long taxi around to avoid the construction.

With two other aircraft wrapping up as I took off, I soon had 27R all to myself as business jets and King Airs took off and landed from 27L. A very light wind of 6 knots from 240 degrees made for a beautiful day to fly.

For the first one, I did a great takeoff, a solid pattern and then a good landing.  Having not flown since May, I was a little rusty.

Landing two was better, as was landing three.  Touch and goes were fun as always. Landing 4, a full stop was perfect and landed with plenty of room to get off the runway at my hangar row without having to take the construction detour route. The number of landings matched the number of takeoffs, so all was well.

Got the plane parked, washed the bugs off, played with the new Garmin GTN650 navigation system that was just installed on the aircraft for a bit, and done. Beat the TFR closure by plenty of hours and already at work.

That's 0.5 and 4 good to great landings.

Flying: Knocking Off The Winter Rust

This morning was a perfect day to get up and fly.  Winds calm, sun bright and sky totally clear below 7,000 with only a few clouds above that.

I did the preflight and all was good.  First time flying the Archer since it got a new engine.

The Archer started up immediately and it climbed into the sky like a homesick angel.

For the first pattern I had to do a go around as the prior aircraft to me did a bomber pattern and then decided to take their sweet time departing the runway.

So I got a nice go round in to stay sharp.

 I then did 5 landings with three full stop and two touch-and -goes as most aircraft in the pattern were doing full stops, so Tower couldn't fit in my touch-and-goes in the traffic flow.

Lots of aircraft were flying this morning.

Landings were good and got better as I got more landings in. 

So, I'm now current for carrying passengers, now on to throwing a safety pilot in the right seat and getting my IFR rating back in currency.

That's 0.8 and 5 landings. 

The Archer Engine Replacement Continues

The new engine is now installed on the Archer.

 

Almost ready for testing.

The plane has also gone on a diet, and is feeling rather svelte.

Thirty pounds - yes 30 pounds! - of unused wiring has been removed from the aircraft after years of installers putting in new equipment and just leaving the old wiring for the removed items in place. 

 

The plane is going to get a new weight and balance done once the engine is fully installed and all the parts are reassembled. 

It's also going to be a lot easier to work on now that the excess wire is no longer getting in the way, especially under the panel.

Looking forward to flying it soon.

Went To The Airport Today

On arriving at the hangar, there was a small issue with the Archer that I quickly picked up on during the preflight:

 

Yep, the initial preflight showed that it was clear the Archer was not going to be flying today.

Of course, I knew this before going to the airport, and the aircraft has already been scheduled as out of service.  

As Flying Club Secretary, the first of the month is when I need to go to the hangars and collect and record the flying times for the prior month and do some other duties to keep the club flying along.

We're doing the overhaul/replacement of the engine, as the replacement engine finally arrived from Lycoming after a wait time of over two years from date of initial order.

Yep, Covid delays have continued and really set back engine delivery dates, and painfully doubled the prices of engines as well.

So, the old engine has been removed from the air frame,and is currently still attached to the hoist.

It has done yeoman service, being rock solid and reliable, but it is over TBO. It is time for the overhaul to get the Archer equipped with a zero-time engine. This awesome engine's most excellent engine core will go back to Lycoming to be rebuilt and will likely make its next owner extremely happy.

But, the new engine sure looks all nice and shiny:

The install will take awhile, and we also need to replace the intake manifold as we've found a crack in it when the engine was removed, so that's a nice extra unexpected expense that needs to be done. 

Putting it all back together by the book will also take some time, and no shortcuts will be taken. Then the plane will get fully checked out and after that go back into service with the club after everything is back in tip-top shape.

Looking forward to getting this easy-handling and reliable bird back in the air. 

Saturday Flyday

 It was a beautiful day Friday when I headed to the airport after filing my flight plan and other required electronic paperwork, placed the required and recommended calls, and got ready to go.

I would be flying the Archer for this trip as the Dakota was down for maintenance. 

Soon, I was holding short of Runway 27R awaiting takeoff clearance.

 

I soon took off IFR, flying runway heading and climbing to 3,000, then Detroit Approach directed me to climb to 4,000, then turn due north and climb to 5,000.

Then I was turned on course and instructed to climb to my filed altitude of 7,000.  A fair bit of haze but it was a smooth flight and a beautiful day.

Handed off to Selfridge Air National Guard's friendly controllers, I soon crossed the border by Port Huron, flying by the Blue Water Bridge, which had a fair amount of traffic, and began talking with Toronto Control.

 

 

I then flew by Sarnia's airport.

 Then over the city of London.

Toronto Center, as I got closer to my destination then amended my flight plan by having me go past it to an initial waypoint for the localizer approach for Runway 26, way over the lake rather then direct to Toronto Island Airport.  I was then told to expect the visual approach from there and they started descending me down to 3,000 feet.

They gradually moved me closer to the shoreline, which I appreciated.

Soon I had the airport in sight and was heading for the downwind to Runway 26, maintaining 3,000 feet as instructed until I was passed over to Toronto Island Tower and had to start descending rapidly to pattern altitude.

 

It was a great view.

Then onto the downwind and an even better view of the skyline 

Turned a tight base  and made a great final approach - with speed and altitude just right, I came in for a great smooth landing. I let it roll a bit and was then off on Foxtrot taxiway and went to Stolport FBO.  I then got to play dodgeplane as  planes were coming out of the ramp as I was coming in on the same line on the ramp.

The Airport was hopping with an event where they were doing airplane rides etc, wiht lots of people wandering around, which accounted for why they had routed me a bit far over the lake towards the localizer and then had me come down quick and tightly enter for the landing.   All good.  I then made my Canada Customs arrival call and got my entry number. Then I got the plane all checked in at Stolport and then headed to the city.

That's 2.0 and one fantastic and scenic landing. 

Labor Day Flight To Jackson

Got up this morning and headed out to the airport.

First of the month, so as the Flying Club Secretary, I did the first of the month tasks at the hangars such as retrieving all the fuel receipts, getting the log pages from August form each aircraft and transferring the Hobbs time, Tach time, and the Time before Next Oil Change to the September pages so all was in order for the month.

The I had to wait for fuel as one of our more special members hadn't refueled the plane last night after flying it and had been late this morning to call for fuel.

Then I had to reprogram the radios as the same special member had decided to use COM 2 instead of COM 1 and of course flip flopped all the frequencies.

 Then with the preflight complete, I got my taxi clearance, did the run up, and was on my way to the southwest.

 Beautiful day to fly.

Not a cloud in the sky, and the tiniest of crosswinds.

Keeping the power in I was soon cruise climbing at 114 knots and 121 knots ground speed.

 

Leveled off at 6,500 feet, and was heading to Jackson at 130 knots ground speed which isn't bad for an Archer at all.

Arrived at Jackson rather quickly, and entered the downwind for Runway 7.

I had a nice pattern going and then the tower wanted me to make a tighter base turn for traffic and keep it going into a final, which I did. But this meant I was a tad high on final and had a lot of speed to burn up as a result.  A very nice if both a high descent angle and high speed long landing. 

There in .7 from engine start at Pontiac to shut down on the ramp by the restaurant in Jackson. Not too shabby.

I then met Mr. B., who had arrived before me and saw my high angle of approach and my long landing. There's always an audience when it is less than perfect.

We had a good breakfast and even better conversation.  

The restaurant at Jackson is under new ownership and instead of The Apron is now known at Taildraggers - but the same favorites such as the Pilot's Omelette are still on the menu, the staff is much the same and it is still a great place to go.

After breakfast, we walked around a bit and then headed back to our respective aircraft to get them ready to depart. 

We started up and headed out at the same time and I followed Mr. B. on the  taxi to the runway and we both did our run-ups and took off in sequence.  He departed to the West, and I flew to the East.  

Again I made good time back to Pontiac.  A few clouds and some minor bumps but nothing serious and just another lovely flying day. 

The GM Proving Ground in Milford makes for both a great landmark and a great potential emergency landing location.

I soon had Pontiac Airport in sight and they had me cross over the departure end to the north and then enter the downwind for Runway 27R.

 

 I then entered the right downwind and got landing clearance and did a good landing with 0.8 from startup at Jackson to shutdown at the hangar.

It was a great time to get out and meet up with Mr. B.

That's 1.5 and 2 very nice landings.

Flying Friday: Independence Day Flight To KAZO

For Independence Day I flew to a suitably patriotic site:  The Kalamazoo Air Zoo.

Flew VFR with flight following. Pontiac airport was rather quiet at even at 9:00 am they still were using the ASOS rather than the ATIS. Called up ground and got flight following. I decided to fly to KAZO via the HAAKK waypoint so it kept me away from Battle Creek where there was a TFR for an airshow there and would otherwise be directly in the route.

 

So I flew there and it was quire a nice day. Very smooth conditions.

 

Some haze and a layer at around 5,500  that stopped me from climbing to 6,500 as I had planned.

Flew by Battle Creek, safely outside the TFR.

Got clearance to land on Runway 17, and was told to enter a left base and did so and then did a nice landing. Stopped lined up right for the taxiway to go right to the Air Zoo, which was fortuitous and rather perfect for arrival. Did the very short taxi and parked the plane and got let in through the back of the museum and signed in. We were in the second building, the Flight Discovery Center, where they do the restorations and had the place to ourselves in the morning.

Grumman F-11 Tiger in Blue Angels Livery

F-104 Starfighter

 

F-117 Nighthawk - the only one on display outside of a government museum.

There is also an F-86 Sabre and a MiG-15 on display:

 Lots of cool things to see in the building, including their work restoring a SBD-1 Dauntless recovered from Lake Michigan. The plane went down in 1942, killing the trainee pilot and was recovered in 1994, 52 years later.

The restoration is coming along, per the status board:

 Very cool and it is not far from being restored to display condition, even as it doesn't look it.  Unfortunately, it will not be restored to flying condition, only display. When complete, will be shipped off to the Pearl Harbor National Memorial Museum.

We then went to the main building, the Flight Innovation Center, which had more people there.

And lots more aircraft to see.

 

SR-71

V-1 Missile

XP-55 The Only One Left In The World.

P-47

Buchon, the Spanish copy of the ME BF-109

A Pink P-40

F-14 Tomcat of Top Gun fame

 We also got in line and tried the full motion  simulators.

Yes, you can do a full 360 degree roll in them.

 

 Much fun.

Then we walked back to the  Flight Discovery Center and saw more aircraft on display outside.

F-4 Phantom II

MiG-21

S-3 Viking

 

A decent cloud layer was in place.  Time to fly back VFR and play dodge cloud.

Did a weather brief, and pre-flight, and called Kalamazoo Ground for flight following back to Pontiac via HAAKK, and to taxi.

Got all that done and did a nice takeoff.

On connection to Great Lakes Approach, they asked me if I had put the HAAKK waypoint in myself.  I said I had. The controller then said nice job putting it in to avoid the Battle Creek TFR.

Quite a few clouds about.  I was at 3,500 and couldn't get above for awhile. 

 

 

Then I got a break in the clouds and climbed to 7,500.

But I soon had to descend as the clouds further ahead were going up higher than I could climb. So I descended to 5,500 to make a clear way through and maintain VFR.

I got handed overt to Detroit Approach and they noted a large area of heavy (and unforecast precipitation) between me and Pontiac. I could actually see the area of heavy rain. Heavy enough that it blocked out all visibility, and the rain shadow was visible for a good distance.

So, I diverted south to avoid it, and then once past it and with sufficient distance away, I resumed heading back to Pontiac.  I got the weather at Pontiac, and got handed off to Tower, and entered the downwind for Runway 27L, but was then switched to 27R and made a nice landing.

That's 1.4 there and 1.2 back and two very nice landings, and a great time in Kalamazoo.

Flying: 3 Up And 3 Down

3 up and 3 down is either the end of an inning, or enough takeoffs and landings to be current to carry passengers.

So I did 6.

It was a beautiful day to fly today, with a negligible crosswind of 10 knots from 060-080 using Runway 9L. A nice cool and sunny day with great performance from the Archer. 

I did touch-n-goes rather than full stop landings.

I was the only one in the pattern so I had no delays. and could get the touch-n-goes in quickly. 

 Tower on occasion had me extend my upwind for spacing for other arriving aircraft which was fine.  Kinda neat to know why he would extend based on the other radio traffic.

The first pattern wasn't perfect, but I got it dialed in more and more with each pattern.  I soon had it right where I wanted it performance-wise and soon was right on the numbers.

It was great to shake the rust off and get back in the air.

That's 6 landings and 0.7 to start off the flying season.

Flight Review Done, Complete With Some Extra Excitement

Had my Flight Review yesterday.

Required every two years, you need to go out with an instructor and show you can fly.  It's basically an abbreviated reenactment of your Private Pilot Test.  It has opportunities to both correct issues that may have cropped up in your flying, and to learn more stuff, so it is worth doing.

I had Brian, our flying club maintenance officer who is also a CFI do the review with me yesterday.

We were taking out the Archer and the prior pilots, who had flown to Oshkosh on Friday reported the Ammeter gauge was showing zero and not being responsive both on the way there an back. Prior to our flight review Brian had tested it out and couldn't duplicate it. More on this later.

So we started with the ground portion and he quizzed me on basic airspace, the items required for a pilot and aircraft to be legal and other useful stuff such as personal limits, issues in flight etc, and the current bugbear around Pontiac - making sure you don;t have a runway incursion as too many students have recently been doing their best to land on the wrong runway here.  He was quite satisfied that I knew my stuff and noted a lot of pilots forget a lot of it right after the test.  So the ground portion was no problem and I apparently know my stuff.  I also learned some new things, so it was worth it.

For the flight part, he stated we'd be doing dead-reckoning without using the GPS, just like on the private pilot exam.  We'd be heading to Linden. This was shades of my private pilot exam as that was the same route for it. He was happy that I knew Linden was under Flint's Class Charlie airspace so we'd need to be under 2,000 feet when we got near there.

So I did the run up and again, the ammeter gauge worked just fine, no issues at all. You might guess where this is going to go.....

I did a decent job using dead reckoning and the sectional chart and we made it to Linden, and I did an ok and decent pattern entry and a nice if somewhat long-ish landing due to some fun crosswinds that had whipped up. All good, but it did show I've been focusing on doing IFR stuff and approaches and neglecting VFR pattern flying so that's something I should be working on.  We then did a bit more pattern work at Linden and headed back to Pontiac, on the way doing steep turns and stalls.

Since the Archer now has the GFC500 installed, the plane automatically activated the autopilot during the stall and forced a recovery, which was kinda neat. It also was not a fan of very step turns again sounding an alarm. Neat to see the protective mode of the autopilot system works. We turned the protective mode off and did the stalls to spec, and then put it back on so the next pilot wouldn't be surprised by a lack of the protective mode being on. It works and it doesn't like you putting the plane into a bad spot.

Just for fun, we played with the autopilot a bit and Brian showed me a few neat techniques that answered some questions I had about the autopilot and its quirks with altitude settings.  I now know how to handle those quirks better and that makes it even easier to use.

Then, as we were heading back, not only did the ammeter got to zero but the alternator warning light lit up.

So we shed all unnecessary power consumption, shutting down radio 2, the landing light, fuel pump, autopilot. Basically we were trying to avoid losing the radio and power before we made it in.

We then booked it back to Pontiac at full throttle and got in the pattern rather fast we got a landing clearance and zipped in to make it happen but had to stay high as we had to do a long downwind for spacing. Brian then took the controls to show a really full-tilt, high-speed, side-slip to drop altitude real fast to get us down quick and line up on the runway at the same time, which was fun. A rather long landing as we had a fair bit of speed to spare but we got it down very nicely.

So, we got down fine, and never lost electrical power, and after taxiing to the hangar we checked and the battery still had 12 volts and hadn't been fried. So, he's going to see what the issue may be and so far the suspect is a loose connection somewhere on the alternator circuit.

One guess is that when the autopilot got installed something got knocked loose.

So, the Archer is now grounded until we get that sorted out, but my Flight Review is complete and I'm good to go.  

Apparently I'm still the World's Okay-est Pilot.

That's 1.1 and a couple fun landings for me, and one very fun one for Brian.

Saturday Flyday - Operation Archer Retrieval

Unfortunately we're going to be waiting even longer for the Archer's autopilot to be done, as the avionics shop can't get to it right now for reasons, namely they are swamped and don;t have the techs available to get it done right now. Argh.

So, the plan was to pick it up this morning at 9am at KADG and bring it back for now.

So I got up early to meet with James and make it happen by flying the Dakota there and he would fly the Archer back. We got to the airport at 7:30, and James had brought his son along, nice kid.

Plan was to get over there and get back quick as the winds were going to really pickup today.

We then ran into a key problem:

Namely, our keys didn't work in the Dakota.

The Dakota has just come out of annual, and as part of that, the lock cylinder was changed as it had deteriorated to the point where you could remove your key in an other than the off setting, which could be potentially bad.  Bad because you could leave the magnetos hot that way and someone turning the propeller could find the engine starting up on them.  Not good so it got changed,

Problem was, they didn't leave the new key behind.

So we had to wait a bit and finally we managed to get in contact with who had the new key as their phone was apparently on Do Not Disturb, and James drove off to get it. We lost a bit over an hour of time with that issue.

I had already done the preflight so we got in and got going.

Called Ground, got flight following, did our run up and I took us off for Adrian and after clearing Pontiac's airspace was directed to contact Detroit Approach.

Used the autopilot and it both connected and disconnected just fine.

Wind had already picked up a bit and we would be having a 22 knot headwind on the way there.

It was a smooth flight there, and since I had another pilot with me I put the foggles on and did the RNAV 23 approach. Detroit Approach was very cool and had us fly direct to a middle fix on the approach, and cleared us into the Bravo to do so, which saved us time.

I then did a great approach and a nice landing as the wind, while gusting was straight down the runway at 230.

We then met with the avionics shop and got the Archer.

We then flew back to Pontiac, James and his kid in the Archer, and I was in the Dakota, and things started getting a tad interesting.

After passing the Ann Arbor  airport, we both hit some decent wind shear and turbulence to bounce us around a fair bit. The turbulence continued towards Pontiac.

Even with the turbulence, I managed to snag a nice shot of The Big House from 3,500 feet.

I had to slow down to remain in safe maneuvering speed, but I was still moving pretty good. A ground speed of 151 knots or 174 mph is rather nice.

Got to Pontiac, and first they had me do a left downwind for Runway 27L.

They then had me turn a tight base and moved me over to 27R which got a bit challenging in what was a gusty crosswind of 10-18 knots from 220 degrees.

I almost had to go around as the wind was pushing me past the run way rather nicely,  but I managed to salvage the approach in good order. I was then lined up on short final, started to land, and then one heckuva gust made it not super pretty.

The wind, just as my wheel started to touch decided to kick up to 25 knots.

Not my best landing, but the aircraft was and is fully usable, so it still counts as an excellent landing, doesn't it?  Had we been back as planned the winds would have been far better.

James arrived awhile after, and also had a fun crosswind landing too in the rather gusty conditions, but they sent him right to 27R and didn't do a last minute switch.

We then put the planes away and that was a rather challenging 19 knot crosswind factor, but I did it, so I'm rather happy about that.

Winds are currently16-30 knots and really whipping around, so glad we got back when we did.

That's 1.7 with 2 excellent landings and one approach in the books.

Speaking of books, I've now filled up my first logbook completely, and these two entries were the first ones in my new logbook.

Archer Ferry Flight Accomplished!

So this morning we decided to try and get the Archer to Adrian.

Conditions were better than yesterday with Marginal VFR conditions and ceilings around 3,000 or so.

So we preflighted the planes and decided to launch.  This would be a flight of both the Archer and the Dakota.

We arranged for flight following, as our course would take us through Ann Arbor airspace and rather close to Detroit's Bravo airspace. So, it's always good to be talking with Detroit Approach where you're that close to their Bravo.

E. flying the Dakota, as it is a faster airplane, took off first and would scout the route.

Takeoff was good with gusty winds from 250.

The overcast layer got a tad lower as we headed southwest, and I was soon at 2,500 feet.

E.  reported light to moderate turbulence as he approached Ann Arbor, and indeed I soon hit the turbulence which made it a bit of a bouncy flight.

Detroit Approach cleared us through Ann Arbor's Delta airspace and I got some nice shots of The Big House as I flew on by.

 

 

  Yes, the Big House is Big!

The turbulence subsided as we got south of Ann Arbor and Detroit Approach  noted no other aircraft in the area, ended flight following, and had us squawk VFR.

At Adrian, winds were gusting 10-21 out of 250, so not bad for a landing on Runway 23.

Eric checked out the field at Adrian and radioed to me that it was nice and clean and no one else in the pattern.  So I did a practice RNAV approach to Runway 23 and did a very nice and smooth landing.  I then taxi'd off the runway and headed to the avionics shop to meet up with him.

1.1 on the way there with some strong headwinds, turbulence, and a great landing.

We dropped off the Archer, and then took off in the Dakota and I flew us back. We picked up flight following again, and again were cleared through Ann Arbor's class D.

I got to play with the autopilot and let it do most of the flying back. Again there was quite a bit of turbulence and we got bounced around quite a bit and had to stay around 2,500 to remain out of the clouds.

We then got back to Pontiac and landed in gusting 10-22 knots from 240, which again was not too bad.  First we were cleared for a left downwind to 27L, but this was soon amended to a left downwind for 27R.

0.6 on the way back, and another nice landing.

Best part of all, since these were ferry flights to get the avionics installed, the Flying Club covered the cost of the flights.  No flying is better than free flying.

Flying: 6 Up, 6 Down, And 6 All The Way Around

Finally got out flying today.

Weather was excellent, and I and the aircraft were available so all things fell into place.

Since I was way out of practice, I decided to regain some currency by doing pattern work.

Another club member had grabbed the Dakota and we met at the airport as he was also going to do some pattern work. 

So I got the Archer pre-flighted and got ready to go.

Finally, Runway 27R is open again, as are the taxiways, even if they have been renamed.  Taxiway Kilo is no more, it's now Delta 2.  

The Archer started right up and I got the ATIS and then did a taxi to the run up area, did the run up, everything checked out so I headed to the runway hold short line.

 Got permission to take off and then I was off as if I hadn't been away from it for way too long. Haze and crappy viz from the smoke was mainly above pattern altitude but it was still hazy-ish at and below pattern altitude making it harder to see other aircraft.

Landing 1 was kinda hot and long with a fair bit of float.

For takeoff two, they had me takeoff from 27R and then do a Left pattern for 27R.

A left pattern for 27R?

I repeated it back with an emphasis on left, as going left would put me across 27L's departure end and I'd then be heading down 27L's downwind, so I wanted to make sure what they said was what they meant.

Tower confirmed, so off I went.

I did the left pattern, was cleared to land on 27R.  Right after I had turned base, the tower then amended the instruction to have me land on 27L.

This meant I had to do a pretty tight left turn to line up on 27L, and a slip to drop altitude to land on it rather than 27R.  Which I did, but I was still all sorts of fast and landed quite long.

Then took off from 27L, and then they had me cross over to 27R where I then stayed for the next 4 landings.   Each pattern was a bit different with tower adjusting things to fit aircraft in - extended climb-outs, extended downwinds etc, just to keep things interesting and to make sure everyone was paying attention.

All landings continued to improve and I finally got it all on speed, on picture and right in, which was nice.

Quite a few aircraft where in and entering and leaving the pattern but it never got terribly busy.

It was good to shake the rust off. Now I need to shanghai a safety pilot and get my instrument rating current ASAP.

That's 1.1 and 6 landings, ranging from good to excellent.

Clean-The-Planes Day

This morning was the twice-yearly aircraft Wash-n-Wax.

The weather was absolutely perfect for it.

Scrubbed the planes down, took them to the wash stand and covered them in soap.

Then we brought them back to the hangar, dried them off and waxed them, and  buffed them to a shine.
 

Probably picked up a few knots in speed and dropped a few pounds worth of grime each.

Given the nice weather, both planes were reserved and took off shortly after being cleaned.

Great turnout of club members, so we were done by 11 a.m.