Fort Loudon Dam from the air.
I checked the weather just before leaving the office for the flight school. I was hoping that today would be the day for my cross country. Instead, since the weather over Upper Cumberland Regional was terrible, I would be doing something else. It was really odd because it was nice outside and had been all day. I was pretty sure I would fly, but I was unsure what I would be doing. I went to the flight center and checked in with Josh. He said that I definitely wouldn’t be flying to the plateau. Instead he sent me to do some solo flying. I was perfectly satisfied with this outcome because any flying is good and fun. Just as an aside, I learned that staying in the valley means easier weather. How did I learn this? Another flight instructor and his student were finishing up the planning for a cross country to Lovell Field in Chattanooga.
I followed them out he door on my way to the plane. They were in the Warrior, which needed fuel. I started my preflight and just sort of watched off and on as they moved through various stages of waiting for the lineman to top them off. Other peoples’ piloting habits interest me. Needless to say, they weren’t doing a ton of stuff aside from waiting, which intrigued me because I knew the weather that was moving toward their destination and I would have been doing everything I could so that as soon as the fueling was complete I could leave. I finished my preflight as the lineman showed up. It only took them about 20 minutes. I just laughed because, on the occasions that I required topping off, I was beaten to the plane by the fuel truck.
Runways 5 left and right were active and I elected to go out to the Fort Loudon Dam practice area. I decided that I wanted to do some ground reference maneuvers and also get a little more acquainted with the aircraft systems. I called for clearance and received my instructions.
I was already in a good position for a run-up so I proceeded with the checklist. Everything checked out and I called for taxi. I was cleared for taxi to 5R and I set out for A2 and take off. It was a long taxi, but I try to keep the speed up so that I get in front of the jets and so that it takes less time. I immediately called tower and let them know I was ready for takeoff. They cleared me for takeoff and I rolled out onto the runway and firewalled the throttle. The plane shot down the runway and I was off with instructions to turn to heading 280 and contact departure. This was much earlier than I had performed the switch before, but I got it done and didn’t crash.
After contacting departure they cleared me to resume my own navigation and proceed direct to the Fort Loudon practice area. Since 280 is roughly on course for the area I just stayed on that heading while I finished my climb out. The Fort Loudon practice area is a bit of a different beast from the Walland Gap practice area. It is mostly water and big lake houses. It’s kind of interesting in that you can really see some big houses.
Needless to say that this might be a problem for ground reference maneuvers didn’t occur to me until I got out there. It may just be me, but I don’t like maneuvering over structures that are exceptionally costly or might be filled with people. That became a problem when the only good points for turns were houses. After a lengthy search, I settled for a big house alone on an island. At least it’s by itself. I made several rotations around it each way and immediately gave up. My turns around a point all turned in to ovals. I lost altitude, gained altitude, lost and gained airspeed. I just couldn’t feel it today. I tried unsuccessfully to correct some aspect of the turns, but wound up just doing some steep turns and then flying around looking at houses.
I recently decided that I should make an effort to learn how to use the various systems installed in the aircraft. While I am the first to tout the importance of learning the basics (flight with basic instruments and GPS free navigation), there is no reason not to use tools that are at your disposal. So I decided that I would practice with the GPS. I programmed in Madisonville (KMNV), radioed my intentions, and I started tracking the course. It was easier than I expected, but I know that I’m not even scratching the surface. At least I can program in a direct course, check the messages (such as airspace warnings), and change the range on the display.
The lesson culminated with me putting on a show for my mother and wife. There was a bit of a crosswind so I came in in a crab. I rode it down almost to the runway and (for the first time ever) kicked out the crab so that I was lined up perfectly with the runway. I touched down on centerline slightly fast, but otherwise a really good landing. It was quite the sales pitch for my training. I secured the plane and checked it back in and I was on my way to dinner.
Hopefully, next time we’ll get in my first cross country flight. The destination will likely be down toward Chattanooga or up toward Greeneville. We’ll see what happens.