Kind of dragged myself out to the airport after Men's Group this morning, but after I got going, started having more positive thoughts. Then I hit a rainshower, definitely low IFR, but was out the other side by the time I got to the airport.
Absolutely no traffic at all, at least until I started the engine. Three airline departures and a comparable number of arrivals popped up out of nowhere. Took off on Rwy 19, tower said downwind for 19, then changed me to downwind for Rwy 10. I asked for the LPV approach to 19 to get some actual IFR time and to let them handle the arrivals and departures. It got a bit busy feeding the avionics the heading, altitude, squawk code, changing frequencies, etc.
Got all that done and was set for vectors to final. Was told to cross the IAF at 2,000 -- chart said 2,500, but radio was busy and I knew there was nothing out there -- and on final, approach requested maximum speed to the airport. I was at 120 knots, told him I could give him 140, didn't want to do 160 in case there were bumps on final. Once handed over to tower, they asked me to reduce speed by 20 knots.
Turns out there was a Cessna Columbia 400 on right base for the other runway, he was at 1500 feet and the clouds were occasionally down to around his altitude, but the ceiling was very inconsistent. From his radio transmissions, he seemed to be doing okay but I think he missed his instructions to square the turn to final. Tower gave me a go around when I was at 700 feet, so any conflicts resolved well in advance. In a nearly identical situation a few months ago, there was a good old boy in a Bonanza who landed gear up...
Next time around, tower asked for a short approach, and I was happy to oblige. The G3X said 14 knot tailwind on base, and the turn to final in a 30° bank -- steeper than I usually do but still with fat safety margins -- got me exactly on centerline with the correct crab angle. I want to say it was skill but I think I know better.
Next time around was a full stop. 0.7 hours of good practice.