Lock Haven

Lock Haven ~ KLHV

Richard was working with Paul to get his new SportCruiser a condition inspection. It was a chilly but sunny day in Barto so I decided to take the one hour flight to go and visit them for lunch.

The drive to the airport gave me some concern. While the cold front had passed through last evening, the colder air had merged the morning temperature and dew point. Mist and fog lingered over the lakes and streams and changed the clear blue morning sky into IFR conditions. I worried that I might be forced to cancel.

I pulled up to hangar, opened the doors and got my preflight started. Sally is getting close to her own 100 hour condition inspection. While everything looks normal, I worried about the minor oil leak and how that will be handled during the inspection.

I rechecked my navigation. A direct course would take me too close to the Allentown Airspace. So I decided to travel a little west before turning north to go direct to my destination. While there were no TFRs in effect today, a major VIP visit over the weekend is going to effectively close Quakertown traffic routes to the south. I always worry about TFRs just "popping up" while I'm out flying.

Soap Box ~The Fear of Flying:

Acrophobia (from the Greek: ἄκρον, ákron , meaning "peak, summit, edge" and φόβος,phóbos, "fear") is an extreme or irrational fear of heights, especially when one is not particularly high up.

I have a bit of Acrophobia. That third step on the ladder is as far as I go. But flying a small airplane is the definition of freedom. To be able to pick up and go (almost) anywhere at (almost) anytime is fantastic. But each freedom comes with a responsibility. A trust between the pilot, the airplane and our society. The real fear of flying is breaking this trust:

1. The fear of doing something stupid. One of the famous last lines is, "Watch this!"
2. The fear of an inflight emergency. Know your airplane. What is normal and what is abnormal. Listen to her.
3. The constant fear of the 3rd class medical. Know yourself. Establish personal guidelines and adhere to them. (IMSAFE)
4. The fear of breaking the rules. FARs, AIM, PHAK have them all written down. But do you understand them?
5. The fear of getting caught in bad weather. Meteorology: She is a bitch, don't get her mad. Know your own limitations.
6. The fear of getting lost. Try flying without the purple line. Pilotage is a skill requiring practice.
7. The fear of bending the airplane. Airmanship: Take a few laps in the pattern...on a windy day.

You are going to screw up. I can count on one hand (and have some fingers left over) how many "perfect flights" I've had. Usually minor stuff, but yes I've done some really dumb things as well. That doesn't mean you stop flying. Like the quarterback throwing an interception you get back in the game and don't make that mistake again.

You see, I think the worries and fears keep a lot of us from going out to the airport. That's a shame because exercising freedom is really a lot of fun.

OK, I'm done.

Video Notes:

Lock Haven

Allentown

Allentown, PA

I ordered a 'tempe' wireless temperature sensor to track cockpit temperature. It links to the Garmin Virb Elite and other devices. I often get asked if it gets hot (or cold) due to the bubble canopy and I usually respond that the temperature can be controlled. It never hurts to have data to back your argument. The read out appears in the lower right in the attached cockpit video.

I got up early on Saturday morning and beat the gusty winds that were moving through the area. It was smooth at 3000' but got pretty bumpy down low. Gusts were up to 16kts by the time I got back to Quakertown. It was still gusting on Sunday, enough for me to cancel all flights for the day. I suspect it won't be too long before the winds are driving snow.

Video Notes:

Allentown


PPL Center is a sports arena in Allentown, Pennsylvania that opened on September 10, 2014. Its naming rights are owned by the PPL Corporation, which is headquartered in Allentown. PPL paid an undisclosed sum over ten years. The arena is part of a larger redevelopment project of the central business district of Allentown. The project encompasses a 5-acre square square block area, in which several new structures are planned to be erected. Part of the arena site was previously developed in the 1990s as an office building called Corporate Plaza; shortly after opening, on February 23, 1994, it collapsed into a sinkhole, due to limestone in the ground and the decision not place the building on a concrete pad, but rather on spread footings; the plaza was imploded on March 19 of that year.

Queen City

An older gentleman came to the FBO door just as I was locking up on a Sunday. He asked what planes we have to rent, so I pointed to the C172 on the line and handed him one of the postcards I use to provide information about Sally. He mentioned that he was from out of town, here on a business trip but would like to get a flight in if he could find the time. He was familiar with light airplanes and has flown an Aeronca "Champ" at his home airport. I said "my number is on the card, call me if you want to arrange something".

That evening my cell phone rang after 9:00PM. At my age phone calls at this time of the night are usually not good news. Caller id was California. He apologized for the late call but asked if we could fly on Monday at noon.  If the weather was good I said we would go.

He arrived a little late, stuck in traffic on Rt309. We sat at the picnic table as I explained what I planned to cover on our Discovery Flight. He had other ideas and asked if we could go over to Vansant (9N1) and Queen City (KXLL). Well, with the recent rains I didn't want to land on the (possibly soggy) turf at 9N1 but said we could do a low pass. KXLL would be fine.

The winds were starting to kick up a bit. After some taxi practice on the runway so he could see how to control a castering nose wheel, I made the take off  and gave him control once leaving the traffic pattern. He did well with basic maneuvers as we wandered over to the Delaware River. We used that as our base leg and I talked him through the low approach. We departed and headed over to Queen City. "This is much more complicated than I had thought. I had no idea what a modern LSA was like." Although I discussed the avionics and demonstrated the GPS, this flight was more about the scenery so I made sure to point out the various landmarks. I could see him loosen his grip on the stick as he became more comfortable with the controls. He was starting to "feel" the airplane.

Sally warned us about the high cell towers on the ridge at South Mountain. We entered on a 45° to RWY25 following a DA40. That traffic forced us to get a little deep but he handled the situation well. Winds were gusty but the touchdown was good. I asked when was the last time he had made a landing. "Oh about 6 months ago." I said "No, about 5 seconds ago, you did this one all on your own!" He grinned.

It turns out he had made his first solo flight out of Queen City 50 years ago. I'm so glad I could participate in this home coming.

Pennsylvania Autumn

Cold front after cold front, like waves pounding against the shore. Each one bringing stormy gray skies, each with buckets of rain so far. The temperatures are in decline as each wave drops it a few more degrees. I woke to 41°F. The oil cooler baffle was screwed on earlier this week.

Between the storms we sometimes have calm. That's how it was on Sunday. I got up just before sunrise to find the morning stars shining and the ground dimly lit by the full moon. Flying weather. The weather maps reported patchy fog or mist at a few airports but soon the daytime temperatures would burn that off. Quakertown was already VFR by the time I pulled Sally out of the hangar.

I decided to head northwest toward Williamsport, but since I had previously landed there chose a little airport just south; Danville (8N8). The route should provide some interesting terrain and a good look at the fall foliage.

It was calm and cool. No need for an autopilot. Minor trim adjustments kept Sally on altitude. The only time we felt a burble was passing over the ridges on the way home. By that time convection had started and generated some light winds. I opted for a straight in approach at home field. I misjudged it, got high and fast so had to use a slip to get down. Floated halfway down to runway to a lousy landing. (I edited all that from the video....) Obviously I need more practice.

Video Notes:

Pennsylvania Autumn

When I was in school one question on a final exam was to compute the lift components for the third airplane flying in a "V" formation. (The Professor didn't appreciate my creative mathematical analysis.)  I liked this video. Why Do Birds Fly In V Formations?

Audio Check

The woman at the Verizon store opened my phone and removed the battery. Laying the battery flat on the counter she spun it like a top. "That's the problem. You have a dead battery." Not sure that I completely agreed with her technical analysis technique but unwilling to invest in a new phone, I gave her solution a try. A new battery delivered the next day from Amazon was less than $10. It worked.

Cold weather has returned to Pennsylvania. A rain filled cold front moved through the area all day Saturday, we woke to freezing temperatures Sunday morning. My old bones ache with cold weather so it was hard to get myself moving. I was comfortable sitting at the computer with a hot cup of coffee, my own inertia holding me in place. I got out to the hangar later than planned.

In addition to preflighting the airplane I needed to check the Virb camera systems. I had reported a problem with the external microphone setting. Upon reboot all previous setting were forgotten and it would default to microphone on. This meant that the headset would be deactivated. My checks appeared to indicate that the latest firmware (3.90) had fixed this problem, but I needed to test it in actual conditions.

The autumn weather has started changing the leaves to brighter colors. A trip along I80 last weekend saw some fabulous reds, oranges and yellows. I thought the change in seasonal colors would show up great in a video and the trip over to Lockhaven would be a perfect exercise. (We are not at peak yet, another flight is required.)

The Sentimental Journey fly-in breakfast at Lockhaven was high on my event list. In addition to all of the normal festivities, Richard was going to there with his airplane. I was anxious to see them both and talk to Paul about the flight instruction business. Even with my late start my ETA would still allow me time to get a few pancakes. But as I traveled west the ceilings dropped down and the winds picked up. I flew through the gap at Cabelas (Hamburg) , and checked the METAR at Selinsgrove and found it overcast at 2500 feet. Williamsport wasn't any better. I remembered that some of the mountains out that way reached up nearly that high. The clouds were gray and getting darker, I turned around to look for some sunshine.

A few sunbeams poked through along the ridge just west of Quakertown. I investigated, then flew to Gortt intersection just to see where that is located. (Not a bad idea to understand IFR fixes even though I only fly VFR.) Then I entered on the 45 for runway 29er. I got a surprise on short final with a strong gust of crosswind and later found that some were up to 16 kts. Don't get complacent!

Video Notes:

Audio Check