Today the weather wasn't perfect for the aviator looking for clear blue skies, however it was perfect for us. We were in search of actual IMC and a pocket full of approaches to reinforce our absolute sharpness. We found just that with an added fun factor of plenty of turbulence. Nothing major, just enough to keep you very honest since if you let go of the airplane for a second, it definitely gets tossed. After fueling, we don't leave any fuel behind even on this kind of little hop, we got a local IFR out of our home airport; "Georgetown ground, 4822C would like a local IFR round-robin via Temple for multiple approaches. We are type RV9/G, two souls, 4hrs. fuel with information india ready to taxi from the pumps." ... "4822C is cleared to the Georgetown airport via radar vectors, direct Temple, direct. Climb maintain 3000', expect 5000' in 10 minutes, departure on 119.0, squawk 1234." and off we went.
The ceiling was actually pretty high, above 2000'. The air was thick and soupy with visibility around 4mi. We got handed off to Gray Approach as usual and settled into a relationship with the controller that is responsible for IFR traffic at Temple. Tanya flew the departure and the first ILS approach into Temple. We were in the clouds all day as we came up off of each approach. A dirty little secret when you're flying a bunch of approaches with your best partner: If you can convince them to fly the departure and first arrival approach, the airplane will be all setup and configured with appropriate frequencies and even a nice cozy relationship with the controller as you go around for another lap. Easy cheesy
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So she got things all setup, ILS identified, all nav solutions running, and was copying down the missed approach clearance instructions before our first vector turn outbound, when a big BUMP launched the pencil right out of her hand onto the floor in front of us, just out of reach. I did say it was bumpy right? Without any requirement for "luck", as we do, I was also copying down the clearance, even though I was just crew on a single pilot aircraft. I completed copying the clearance and handed her my pencil without missing a beat. Of course we have backup pencils (and pilots) close at hand usually. This flight was bumpy enough to where the pilots were performing significantly better than the autopilot.
This is about the time that we are both just exuding that feeling of "this is FUN!", really. So we traded back and forth on each pass, two ILS approaches each. By then, we're about done. I got the last one and the trip back home with the GPS approach back into Georgetown. All of the controllers were great, except for the one that flew Tanya right through and beyond the localizer on one lap. Back home I greased it back onto the runway of course. We proceeded to open up one of the seat pans to replace the last of our first generation Ray Allen trim relays that was going TU with a new one.
We debrief these flights the same as any other critical flight. I've yet to see a flight that wasn't critical when my butt was going xx knots at greater than 0' agl. The one good reminder from the debrief is to bark loud and early when the controller is obviously going to fly you through the localizer. There was no reason. He was just a little busy. Very minor deal in this case, but also very evident on the aprs track.
Oh, and just to tie into another thread currently on topic, after some Tex-Mex for lunch on the way home, I was completely zonked out on the couch for 45min. once we got home. This flight pooped me out. Multiple approaches usually do.
The ceiling was actually pretty high, above 2000'. The air was thick and soupy with visibility around 4mi. We got handed off to Gray Approach as usual and settled into a relationship with the controller that is responsible for IFR traffic at Temple. Tanya flew the departure and the first ILS approach into Temple. We were in the clouds all day as we came up off of each approach. A dirty little secret when you're flying a bunch of approaches with your best partner: If you can convince them to fly the departure and first arrival approach, the airplane will be all setup and configured with appropriate frequencies and even a nice cozy relationship with the controller as you go around for another lap. Easy cheesy
.So she got things all setup, ILS identified, all nav solutions running, and was copying down the missed approach clearance instructions before our first vector turn outbound, when a big BUMP launched the pencil right out of her hand onto the floor in front of us, just out of reach. I did say it was bumpy right? Without any requirement for "luck", as we do, I was also copying down the clearance, even though I was just crew on a single pilot aircraft. I completed copying the clearance and handed her my pencil without missing a beat. Of course we have backup pencils (and pilots) close at hand usually. This flight was bumpy enough to where the pilots were performing significantly better than the autopilot.
This is about the time that we are both just exuding that feeling of "this is FUN!", really. So we traded back and forth on each pass, two ILS approaches each. By then, we're about done. I got the last one and the trip back home with the GPS approach back into Georgetown. All of the controllers were great, except for the one that flew Tanya right through and beyond the localizer on one lap. Back home I greased it back onto the runway of course. We proceeded to open up one of the seat pans to replace the last of our first generation Ray Allen trim relays that was going TU with a new one.
We debrief these flights the same as any other critical flight. I've yet to see a flight that wasn't critical when my butt was going xx knots at greater than 0' agl. The one good reminder from the debrief is to bark loud and early when the controller is obviously going to fly you through the localizer. There was no reason. He was just a little busy. Very minor deal in this case, but also very evident on the aprs track.
Oh, and just to tie into another thread currently on topic, after some Tex-Mex for lunch on the way home, I was completely zonked out on the couch for 45min. once we got home. This flight pooped me out. Multiple approaches usually do.
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