KIPT

October has been a real "roller coaster", not the least of which has been the dramatic change in seasons. I went out to Butter Valley the morning following our "Apocotoberlypse" (thanks Kevin) to find I had a taildragger. What a sickening sight. Fortunately no damage but merely a starck reminder that winter weather is upon us.

Harry got the lighting package installed. 4PapaSierra is now allowed to wander out after dark. I'm very pleased with the quality of the kit and its installation.

We completed our first annual inspection. No major discrepancies were found, although Harry does have a few recommendations for design changes. Shouldn't inspection plates be screwed on rather then riveted? He also found some water in the fuel line leading down to the fuel pressure sender. I had been having some problems with intermittent low fuel pressure indications and was recommended (by a Facebook friend) to clean or replace the unit. When Harry put in the new sender (from Dynon) he found the water. We suspect it comes from using Mogas with ethanol and have decided to check this line whenever we do an oil change. Hobbs read 104.8.

Yesterday the alarm went off just before 0600 on a dark, frigid morning. I was scheduled to fly Sally (my pet name for 4PS) to Piper Memorial Field for my 'bi-annual' Flight Review. So, after I got the coffee pot brewing I sat down to do my flight planning. The route was simple, no TFRs or other anomalies, but the weather was ugly. Temperature and dew point were equal at M2 and Runwayfinder showed a lot of red. My call to Lockheed only confirmed what I already new.  The good news was conditions were expected to improve once the sun came up. I have been VERY fortunate to have excellent instructors, but since I've been flying Light Sport I haven't really started a relationship with a local guy. I wanted to fly with someone who could 'mentor' me with an LSA, not just do the maneuvers. Through the Sport Pilot Talk Blog I found Paul at AvSport in Lockhaven, about an hour's flight from 7N8.

When I got to the airport I found her encased in frost, the first of the season. Fortunately a blogger friend (thanks Gary) had told me about some de-icing fluid I could pump spray on to melt and remove the frost. It works great, but after polishing the frost off and burping the engine I was ready for another coffee in the warm car. I called Paul at 7:30 and found conditions were still 1/2 mile in mist. Wait...

I could see two hot air balloons rising about 5 miles south of Butter Valley. We had perfect blue skies and still air. The geese on the pond were making a racket, and when they took off flying directly over me I could hear the air swooshing past their wings as they slowly climbed south in the cold air. Wait...

3miles. At 9:00 the digi-weather site reported 3 miles of visibility and Williamsport was calling +6 and clear. We agreed to give it a try, so I finished the final items on the preflight and strapped in. There was still about an inch of snow on the turf taxiway, which was now crusted over with ice. A cautious "full power taxi" with very careful braking got me to the runway threshold. With checks complete a few minutes later I was airborne. ETA for KLHV was 10:30.

I used Flight Following and enjoyed the conversation for the otherwise uneventful trip. 5000 RPM yielded about 100 Kts over the ground at just over 5gals/hr. As the GPS wound down toward my destination I saw a problem. Dense clouds were lining each of the valleys I was passing over and it looked like Lockhaven was in one of those valleys up ahead. When I crossed the last ridge I could see the runway, directly beneath me but KLHV was definitely IFR with the mountain ranges on each side rising above the cloud tops. (IF..., but we aren't.) I diverted to KIPT. Safe arrival just few minutes later. Nice place, great hospitality, free coffee and I got a package of Krimpets from the vending machine. Wait...

At 12:00 Lockhaven went VFR. I entered a left downwind for RWY 9 and felt good about bringing my PiperSport back to Piper Memorial field.  I pulled up to the hangar and Paul and I met in person for the first time.

I won't go into all of the details for the flight review, but will say that it met and surpassed my expectations. It focused on Light Sport documentation, fundamentals and the implications of WEIGHT. It was my first ever flight from the left seat and although not to my standards, I know that I can be safe on that side now. (My landing was a stinker...safe but well left and 'floated'.) I will really enjoy getting more experience in that seat.

AND, what a great guy Paul is! He rearranged his whole day just to take care of me on this last day of the last month. I am delighted to say I have found another instructor/mentor.

...4PS got a lot of nice complements while sitting on the ramp. I think Paul enjoyed the chance to fly a different LSA. The trip home was uneventful except that it was one of 'those moments', when you stop and realize how great it is be a pilot. "Remember this", I said to Sally, "this is good stuff".

So, a nice landing back at 7N8 and as I started my back taxi I sawa large black dog running around free on my left. This dog is just having a great time plowing through the snow, rolling around, darting back and forth, and then sees me. I stopped and immediately put my hand on the ignition switch. Two kids in panic mode come over the hill frantically trying to coral this animal. I decide that if it gets within a wingtips distance I'll shut her down. Fortunately they caught it and took control of the situation. I finished my taxi, parked, tied down and covered her. It was 1800, and I was beat.  Quite a Halloween.

KMUI

The weather in Pennsylvania has been horrible. Seldom have we seen even a patch of blue peeking through a solid overcast. Grounded.

Suddenly it changed. A series of cold fronts pushed through leaving crisp morning air, cloudless blue skies and unlimited visibility (CAVU). So Thursday afternoon I escaped from all of my earthly responsibilities and headed out to the airport. The PiperSport was filthy. The birds and the weather had left me with quite a chore, but even in this state she looked beautiful to me. I did a leisurely preflight making doubly sure that everything was as it should be.Coolant level was good, engine oil in the middle of the flat and she burped after about sixty pulls. I still get a thrill when I turn the ignition. All is well.

As the oil warmed N123GT came home after a morning flight making a nice three point landing before rolling up the hill. I taxied out as he was putting on his sun shade. A very nice Cessna 180H.

I departed to the west over the power lines and the rise of mountains that parallels Rt100 and stayed north of the Reading airspace. Once I spotted I78 I flew further north and used that as my ground reference. GPS showed a parachute drop zone around Grimes but nothing was in the air. I felt that I could see forever the visibility was so good.

Indiantown Gap (a significant gap through the Pennsylvania mountain) is home to a small Army Airbase, and their restricted area (R-5802) was active. I stayed to the east and monitored tower frequency as I toured the area. The tress are just starting to turn although no bright fall colors yet. The farmers have been busy and most of the corn has been harvested.

Dad died on October 5th. He had been suffering with Lewy Body Dementia, but the cause of death was congestive heart failure. A World War Two Veteran, he was a gunner/ordnance man on PBYs out of Jacksonville. He will be buried with Military Honors at Fort Indiantown Gap National Cemetary next week. It looks like a nice place.

KOQN

First Hurricane Irene, then tropical storm Lee left the Northeast drenched and weather conditions ugly. VFR pilots were getting a lot of time to read aviation magazines. The weather broke on Saturday but family commitments kept me busy at home. Sunday the sun came out again and I went out to the airport.

Ralph was preflighting his beautiful Tripacer and came over to ask if I was going to the Limerick Fly-in. I had missed the one in Trenton on Saturday and didn't even know that Heritage Field (KPTW) had one planned. I decided to overfly Pottstown and head to Brandywine, a field I had never been to before. 4PS performed well, I think we were both glad to be airborne on such a beautiful day. Cool temperatures thicken the air and the wings and engine like that. Visibility was fantastic and I was really surprised NOT to see any fall colors yet. (Good, I'm not ready for the damnsnow.) The Dynon HS34 worked well and I had no low fuel pressure indications. Nice

A few were in the pattern and one was on a simulated VOR approach to 090. I overflew the field to get a position on everyone and decided to make a non-standard right hand pattern to follow the the Piper on the approach. It all worked well and ended with a sweet landing and easy exit at the first turn off. As I held short to reconfigure for take off a helicopter called 3 miles out for landing. I asked and was granted permission to get out in front of him. He watched my departure to the west although I never saw him.

A slight chop started to bounce us at 2500' so I climbed up another thousand and eased around the northern edge of KLNS airspace. I monitored the tower frequency and found Lancaster was busy for a Sunday morning. Smooth air on a beautiful day, especially after a long wait is such a wonderful feeling. As I started my descent I saw a large radio tower directly on my flight path on the crest of a mountain. I thought my terrain avoidance should be calling that for me, and as I was about to take a note in my "gripe" log Sally came on to tell me about it and created a hazard window on the GPS to point it out for me. Cool Stuff.


I had been to 58N before. I a nice little strip with some flight school operations close to Hersey. Another "4PS" resides there, also in the classic silver and blue. The airport owner has had some engine problems with that airplane and is not at all happy with the support received from her salesman in Lancaster. While I've had a few bugs, these folks have had enough of the PiperSport. I explained that I was still in love, and we agreed that a lot of that has to do with the excellent support I have received with my issues. 10 gallons of gas from the pump and I was on my way. While I waited the last few minutes for the oil to warm up, a Piper Cub did a low pass right in front of me.  Fantastic.

The trip home was nice. I decided to hand fly and followed RT322 south of the Reading airspace. I called "Approaching Home Plate" at 10 miles alerting my wife that I was inbound. She came out to help with cover and tie downs .A sour note to the whole day was a lousy landing at Butter Valley. Moderate gusty variable winds, meant I should have added a few knots to my final approach speed, but I didn't. Dropped it in....rats.

Brandywine is about 30 miles from Butter Valley, Reigle is about 50 miles away. Lunch at the Airport restaurant was a BLT and a cup of coffee.

KHZL

It is a difficult time in my life right now. Getting out to go flying is a much needed escape and I'm so grateful to have a beautiful set of wings at my disposal.

I set the alarm for 0darkthirty so I could get out and back before work. After the mandatory cup of coffee and a quick email check I looked at the weather. Runwayfinder was all reds and yellows due to fog and mist. Time enough for another cup of coffee.

By 7:30 some blue was starting to poke through, although Pittsburgh looked like it was getting some showers. I gathered my gear and jumped in the car for the short 10 minute trip to Butter Valley.   A hot air balloon lifted off from a nearby lot climbing straight up in the still air. When I got to the airport a small flock of geese were feeding on the taxi way. After preflight and start, while waiting for the oil to warm to 122 a helicopter called in for traffic. I alerted her to the geese and her rotors chased them off. What a magnificent machine. I think she and her passengers came in for breakfast but unfortunately the grill was still closed because of power outages from Hurricane Irene. They took the courtesy truck into Bally. 

Visibility wasn't great. (I love my)696 showed the storms in western Pennsylvania hadn't moved much and the air was still and smooth. Banks of mist still laid in the valleys and it was beautiful to see the fog pushing its way through the gap at Slatington. The windmills on the ridge to west were motionless. No one in the traffic pattern at KHZL, I chose an extended left base for runway 28 and landed well short of the first turn off. Nothing was moving.

I taxied back to the approach end and prepared to depart. A dozen wild turkeys were busy in the field to the left. These are LARGE birds. Fortunately they stayed there and my departure was uneventful. I used the VOR coupled to the autopilot for the return trip. The analog input constantly rolled the airplane from one side to the other as it tried to find a course to stabilize the CDI. I liked it for sightseeing but don't think most would care for the constant rocking motion.

As I began my descent a flight of four Blackhawks traversed beneath me from left to right. My wife heard my radio calls on the handheld and came out to the airport to help with  cover and tie down. That deserved a fresh breakfast over at the Strawberry. A lot of aviation for one short flight. Pretty cool.

7N8-KPTW-KLOM-7N8

The weather is spectacular! Temperatures in the mid 70s, clear blue skies and visibility forever. I got out to Butter Valley for my lunch break, added 5 gallons of premium, and pushed 60 blades to get the burp. I just couldn't force myself to get into my PiperSport without taking a closer look at my neighbors. Two classic Cubs were tied down next to me, and across the turf was a gorgeous polished aluminum Globe Swift. I have loved the look of a Swift, well, forever. This one was simply pristine. If I can ever get down to my target weight I would definitely want to try one of these on. This one is based in York and I was fortunate to meet the owner as he came out to the line as I finished my preflight.  I think we were both a bit jealous of each other and at the same time proud of our planes.

A very pleasant round-robin to Pottstown Heritage (Limerick), Wings, and back to Butter Valley with a full stop landing at each. Just a very few cumulus building at 6K, which brought a mild chop along with them, but at 2500' it was still a smooth ride. As I left KPTW I could see a flight of two Cubs making their way south. I hope they had a good lunch at 7N8.

Wings is getting some maintenance done on its taxi ways. I turned off on the first ramp, but folks coming down through the throat must back taxi a bit to get to the approach end on RWY 24. I waited at the hold-short line as a Piper Arrow came out to play. The trip back home was nice and I made a 5 mile final into home field. I learned about the earthquake when I called home to check-in.

KCXY

Rwy 26 at KCXY

N674PS at KCXY

The weather stinks. I had made plans for a few 1+ hour trips this week, but the only good weather day was Wednesday, and an emergency at work took the whole day. So when it improved to marginal on Friday I jumped at the chance for a local tour. An easy flight up to Blairstown and then along the ridge line and through the gap over to Slatington and an easy ride south back home gave me the 'fix' I needed. ahhhhh. That night a hail storm blew through with wind gust over 33 kts. Fortunately no damage to our PiperSport.

A beautiful line of planes

We planned a flight over to Harrisburg to visit a friend we hadn't seen in 5 years. Capital City is a controlled field, next to the town's international airport along the Susquehanna River. We woke to dense fog...the kind where you can't see across the street. So I went back to bed for a few more hours to wait for the sun to burn some of mist away. At 11:00 we were finished with the run-up and ready for take off. (So much for the breakfast meeting we had planned.) Still hazy, but at least 7 miles and nice still, smooth air all the way. My radio skills were a bit rusty, and it showed especially during the departure from Capital City, but good enough to get us away without too much embarrassment. I really enjoyed the challenge and had fun with the whole exercise.

S37

Smoketown is a nice airport just outside of Lancaster airspace. I had noticed on the NE Flyers Meet-up page that their fly-in was listed and the agenda included a talk about Light Sport Aviation. Preflight planning showed some local airports shrouded in mist, but generally good weather until T-Storms rolled in later in the afternoon. No TFRs were shown to be active.The preflight was done and the oil was warming up by 8:30. Garmin said the trip should take about 30 mins, and weather was visible far out to the west of us. Everything was "GO" for the trip as we lined up on Rwy 34 to complete the checklists.

The trip over was uneventful, except for the incredible beauty of the Pennsylvania countryside. Carved farmlands separated by hills of forests spotted with barns and silos and an  occasional town until we got close to Lancaster. We listened on CTAF and were surprised at the volume of aircraft calling their positions in the pattern. High wing, low wind, biplane, experimental and soon to join in, a PiperSport. We entered on the 45 to Rwy 28, and watched closely as other airplane sorted themselves out in the pattern. We called downwind behind a Cessna, and obviously a Stearman was either not listening or felt his crosswind gave him priority, but in any case I decided not to argue and broke it off for another entry. That went well and now I'm anxiously waiting for the arrival photos to be posted on the website.

The linesmen did a great job getting us to our parking spot. As we got out of the plane, two friends (whom I had never met) came by to greet us. From Pottstown Heritage, we had exchanged email and blog post and invited each other for coffee at our respective airports, but never met. It was nice chat, reacquaint and talk about airplanes. Then we wandered the line of beautiful planes and made our way to the hangar for breakfast, the standard pancakes and eggs and donuts.  After eating we strolled over to Hangar "F" for the Light Sport Lecture. An instructor from Lancaster came in with his StingSport and did a great job explaining the LSA limitations for both pilots and aircraft to a diverse crowd of about 25.

Back out to walk the flight line, and I nearly fell in love with the Calidus GyroCopter. I've always been intrigued with the self powered rotating wing, like the flight characteristics and would love to fly one. This one was a real beauty.

But the weather was starting to turn. We decided it was time to get our VFR airplane back home before the gray skies forced an unexpected overnight stay. The flight home was uneventful. As we buttoned her down a guy drove up in his car to talk about Light Sport Flying, and kept talking for about 30 mins. We enjoyed it.