Niner Alpha - Matthew & Sandi’s RV-9A Blog

Friday evening we went out to see “Ring of Fire” at Circa 21.  A tribute to Johnny Cash.  What I got to see of it was pretty good but unfortunately I got a work related call that kept me from the 2nd half.  While in town, I also checked on our “Indian Bluff” geocache and dropped off a coin.

The return home was uneventfull.  The 40kt tailwind we had coming up turned into a 20kt headwind going back.  Our groundspeed gradually improved the closer we got home.  1.6 hrs going up and 2.1 coming back.  Still a million times better than 6.5hrs in the car!

It’s time for an oil change and I’m starting to make a list of things to work on during the Annual Condition Inspection that is coming up.

I filed this PIREP with EFAS on the way back, which by the way, was painfull to do.  It took nearly 5 mins to file this simple report.  

IRK UA /OV IRK /TM 2227 /FL065 /TP RV9 /SK SKC /TA 09 /WV 29030KT /TB NEG

There is nothing like a 40kt tailwind to turn a 6-7hr drive from KS to IL into a 1.5hr fligh!!  Sandi and I took the day off today to make the trip up to Moline to visit family and will be heading back tomorrow afternoon.  The winds in KS were 18kts and gusting.  Sandi had a really quesy stomach, so I flew over to Miami County to get fuel and check the ride.  It was turbulent down low but above 3,000 it was smooth.  Trip was uneventful, the autopilot flew us the whole way.  On our way we flew right over the Sprint Campus… where I work.  (The black arrow is building 6550 where I work.)

I successfully completed my instrument checkride this afternoon.  Since the oral and paperwork portion had been completed on Saturday, we briefly went over the plan and headed out to the airplane.  The plan was to depart OJC, get radar vectors to the ILS 33 approach into LWC.  On the missed approach we would head to GOLEY intersection to hold and then do the GPS 33 approach back into LWC.   We would then cancel IFR, do some airwork and do the VOR-A into IXD with a circle to land and then back to OJC VFR.

We settled into the plane and called for our clearance, which they couldn’t find but said they would put it in for us.  They cleared us to taxi to 36 and halfway there they started rattling off the clearance while I was still taxing!  It wasn’t a hard clearance (cleared as filed, direct LWC, c&m 3000, exp 4000 10 mins after dep, squawk 1234) but copying a clearance while taxing is a dumb idea and even dumber when you are on a checkride.   Told them to wait until I got to the runup area then I’d copy it, which we did.   We departed without fanfare, got handed off to departure and requested radar vectors and we were on our way.    The ILS approach went fairly well.  It was starting to get rough out.  I was trying to setup my 89B GPS to show the inbound course line, which is real nice when they are radar vectoring you, gives you a picture of where you are.  I was struggling with it though… it’s usually pretty simple but I couldn’t get it to let me dial in the inbound heading.  I figured it out later when I realized my GPS/NAV switch was in GPS mode, so it was reading the heading off of the CDI.  I kept the needles within a dot each direction most of the time within the donut.  

We went missed approach with a climb to 2000 then right turnout.  Once I got headed in the right direction I needed to get the GPS 33 approach loaded up.  I got the approach loaded up but somehow didn’t get GOLEY intersection set as my initial, so I got goofed up for a bit… oh.. and BTW, I was partial panel at this point!  He covered up the AH/DG as I as making the turn out on the missed.  I finally got the GPS 33 approach loaded with GOLEY as my initial.  I hit GOLEY, turned outboud for the PT and started inbound.  I didn’t think about it until I was on the way home, but I don’t remember if I was supposed to HOLD at GOLEY or not… I didn’t, I continued on inbound.  Then.. we got a RAIM warning, which I correctly told him would be an automatic missed approach.  We did continue on for a bit to see if it would clear.  When it didn’t, we cancelled IFR.

At this point, he uncovered my AH and we did two unusual attitudes, which I had no trouble with.  He asked the we head direct to the OJC VOR to start the VOR-A approach and proceeded to cover up my AH/DG again!  I hit the VOR, did my tear-drop entry, started my descent over the VOR.  I kept the needle within two-balls (partial panel remember..) descended to 1600.  Pulled the hood about 1.5 out from the airport and did a circle to land on 36.  We taxi’d back for departure.  Since we had the RAIM warning on the GPS 33 approach in LWC he wanted to try the GPS 36 into OJC, which I completed successfully.  

My 2nd worse landing in the RV though!  I lost my wind about 3 ft off the runway and plopped it in pretty hard.  It was not a good demonstration of my crosswind skills at all!  As we taxi’d back he said I did a good job and had passwed.  Whew!  I don’t think I was really worried about not passing at that point but felt I could have done a lot better job.

So color me instrument rated!

Rant - So why is it that ATC has so much trouble with my call sign.  I speak clearly and slowly… and I bet 60-70% of the time, people get it wrong.  It is quite annoying, especially when I take the time to speak and annunciate given all the problems I’ve had in the past!  Do any RV’rs have this issue?

I took the written exam earlier in the week and passed with an 83.  Not quite as well as I’d hoped but acceptable. :-)  

My checkride was scheduled for today at 1pm at KOJC with Ron Albertson.  Ron is “the” local examiner… he does most of the checkrides in the KC Metro area.  I’m sure there are others but I haven’t heard of any.  I have to say that I was pretty nervous.  I left KOWI around 11:30 and stopped for some fuel at K81.  I then headed up to OJC and did a GPS 36 approach for practice.   I arrived about 45 minutes early, I needed to get new charts/plates/AFD, then I hung out in the break room just fidgeting with stuff, marking my approaches and stuff.  Andy showed up about 20 mins till.  Whether it was intentional or not, he did a good job of distracting me.  Ron arrived on time and we convened to the conference room.

The winds were very gusty today and so we started talking about what approaches we would shoot, as the ones we had planned on were in the wrong direction.  Andy left to go file a new flight plan for us while Ron and I got started on paperwork.  When Andy came back, we asked him about the winds… they were 330 @ 38kts at 4k and 18 Gusting 22+ on the ground.  Ron basically said that he was here to pass me and if I wanted we could reschedule the flying part but it was up to me.  He pretty much said, let’s reschedule without actually saying it.  Things probably would have been OK but hey, I’m game for picking a day with a little less wind.

We got the FAA paperwork out of the way in short order and then started in on the ‘mock’ flight plan I made from KOJC to KAPA (Centennial Airport in Colorado).  I outlined the route, talked about alternates, showed him the weather information I gathered.  He asked some questions about certain items on the enroute chart and we finished up that portion.  Next he went into more of an oral exam, asking questions about instruments and such.  The FAA is big on safety, so there was a lot of talk about that.  Ron is a great examiner in that he treats it as a learning experience, sharing stories and information.  He’s out to make sure your aren’t going to kill yourself.

We finished up the oral.  He had to fill out a form of some sort for the FAA since we rescheduled the flying portion.  He also wanted to see the RV, so we went out and gave him a quick tour of the plane.   The flying part of my checkride is now scheduled for 1:00pm on Monday when hopefully the winds will have calmed down some and we can finish this up!

TIPS for those who are planning on their Instrument ticket:

• Show the examiner you are prepared.  Have all of your paperwork ready.  I had my examiners fee, faa license, medical, drivers license all clipped together to hand to him.  My logbook had sticky notes in it for the endorsement and such.  I had sticky notes in my aircraft log book marking the location of the pitot/static check, VOR check, transponder check and the last annual condition.  This makes it very easy for him to find quickly what he needs.
• Show the examiner you are prepared.  Andy suggested that I pick a day with marginal weather when I planned the cross-country to KAPA.  This gives you a chance to explain your decisions.  I had it all put together.  I had highlighted the route on the chart, I had the flight plan printed out along with the DUATS weather briefing.  I highlighted anything that was pertinent in the weather briefing.  The more information you volunteer, the less questions the examiner will have to ask!
• Be prepared.  I’m somewhat fortunate to live near Kansas City, where we have a plethora of airports with every darn approach imaginable.  It’s hard to hit them all as we tended to focus on a few airports.   Of the three approaches we picked (ILS 33, GPS 33, VOR-A), one I had only done a single time (VOR-A at KIXD) and the other (GPS 33 at KLWC) I had never done.  This really wouldn’t have been a problem but when you get yourself planned for a certain set of approaches and then they change, it can fluster you just a bit.

I crossed the 300 hour mark on the Hobbs yesterday.   That is averaging just over 100hrs/year of flight.  Just a few weeks away from the 3rd Anniversary of the 1st flight.

I logged 4.5 hrs simulated today… and it was probably my worst day of IFR training.  To put it bluntly, I sucked.  The upside is that I have now completed the required hours to take the checkride.  I’ve been fighting illness for just over 2 weeks now.  I’m currently in the “hack up a lung stage”… I’m constantly coughing.

We started off our morning flight (2.4hrs) with a LOC 36 into KOJC, then the ILS 33 into KLWC where we stopped to pee.  Then we headed over to KTOP to do the VOR-22 and finished up with some holding and the GPS 17 (partial panel) back into Ottawa.   My final descents to land were pitiful.  I couldn’t hold speed, couldn’t get a stabilized approach going.  My partial panel back into OWI was not up to par either.   We took a break of a couple of hours and then planned to meet back up and fly a simulated checkride.

After making a quick run over to K81 for gas, I picked Andy up and we headed to KOJC.  We had filed a flight plan from KOJC to KTOP.  We did the localizer 18 in KOJC and then taxi’d to the ramp.  Picked up our IFR clearance and departed.  The controller must have been swamped as he was taking a long time to get back with us.  We did the VOR-22 approach with the 7-mile DME utilizing the autopilot.  (It isn’t coupled, I just twist the knobs.)  That approach went fairly well.  We did the published missed approach back to the VOR and attempted a hold…. attempted being the key word here.  This particular hold is over the VOR and has left turns.  I hit the VOR, turned outboud, did my time thing… after my minute or so outbound I turned back inbound… but completely forgot that I was doing a parrallel entry to get turned around going the other way.  I was merrily trucking along intending to hold doing right turns.  Andy chimes in and asks if I’m setup the way I want to… sure I am… of course that’s always a sign the I’m not doing something right.  Usually means I I don’t have the CDI right or something.  He had to point out I was going the wrong way.  Crapola!  That’ll get me a fail on the checkride.    Then we get vectors for the ILS 13.  Approach must have thought we were a 737 or something cause at 8miles from the marker they still hadn’t turned us inbound, so I had to ask.  The approach was pretty good.  We cancelled and then headed towards home, doing some unusual attitude and another partial panel approach.

I was just not on my game at all… other than doing the hold the wrong way, it was just a bunch of little stuff… of course I’m harder on myself than Andy was.   This illness better be gone by next week…..

Sandi and I attended the New Years Day Chili lunch at Gardner Municipal (K34).  This is an annual event the Micki puts on.  More chili than you can eat and lots of aviation talk!  Low and behold, in walks Joe!  (Our original flight instructor, now A10 pilot for the AF in Tuscon)  We had tried to go visit Joe while he was down in Alabama for some officer training but the weather didn’t cooperate and likewise over Thanksgiving weekend to Tennessee to see him didn’t work either.  We chatted a bit and agreed to try and go fly while he was in town.

Friday was a great weather day, so I hooked up with Joe late Friday morning at the airport and we went simulated instrument flying for 1.2 hours.  It was really great to fly with Joe.  I just fly better with him for some reason.  We did three approaches and he have me some great feedback.  The most interesting and probably the best was to slow my approaches down.  I’ve been shooting my approaches at 90kts.  This is outside my flap range and is pretty fast for me.  Without a constant speed prop, it is hard for me to slow down fast.  His recommendation was to be configured for landing at the FAF so all you have to do is pull a little power to begin the descent.  We also slowed my approach speeds down to 70 knots (80mph).  In the 3 approaches we made, this made a big improvement in a stabilized approach for me.  I usually use 70mph on final for VFR days, so 80mph gives me enough margin for error and the airplane flies very well at this speed.  So now I’m getting slowed down to 80 and put in half flaps just before the FAF.  I can still fly other parts of the approach at 90-120knots if need.

In exchange for a little free flight instruction, Joe wanted to take a few family members for a ride.  His sister-in-law, her husband and Lucas, their child.  He also took his father in-law for a ride.  It’s been awhile since I’ve watched my own plane take off without me in it.  Joe is the only person to do so.  

Here is Joe with Lucas and his mom & dad just after getting back.  Lucas had a great time!

Joe did a couple of low approaches with the guys.  I captured one of them with my new little Canon Powershot A470.  Pretty good for a digital camera.  It’s big at 30meg but here it is.

RV-9A Low Pass

KOWI to Loc 36 at KOJC to GPS 18 at KLXT to VOR at KBUM to VOR at M17.  We stopped at M17 for lunch.  Quite a good lunch actually.  We were sort of out in the middle of nowhere with airports that only have GPS approaches.   We diverted south to Joplin, MO to do a LOC BS 31 (Localizer Back Course).  I hadn’t done one of those yet.  There are not many around and probably aren’t used that often.  Then we headed back to Ottawa.  3.5 more hours.

I am really enjoying all of the flying I’m getting to do.  It does get a tiny bit tedious every now and then flying under the hood all the time.  I have 34.3 hrs of simulated/actual instrument time, so only 5.7 to go.  Things are starting to gel.  My one big weakness right now is remembering to use my timer.  

My checkride is scheduled for January 17th!

Sandi bought me a REIFF engine hot-strip engine heater with the oil cooler option.  I think I’ll try and get that installed this coming Sunday.  It needs a day or two to cure.  This will be a huge help for these cold Kansas winters.

I bought Sandi a 12v heated electric blanket for the airplane. :-)  Going to cut a couple of holes to fit the sticks through.  Should keep us nice and toasty on cold winter days.  It draws about 5 amps.

Mom got me the new Microsoft Flight Simulator X Deluxe.  I have that installed and have been playing with Airport Design Editor (ADE) to get my home airport looking right.

I logged another 3.2 hours with Doug today.  It was a gorgeous day out.  Clear skies, light winds and in the 50’s.  I need to get some hours in the log book, so I planned a circle of airports.  KOWI - KFOE - KMHK - KHRU - KEMP - KUKL - K81 - KOWI.  This got me an ILS, VOR, VOR w/ DME Arc, and a couple of GPS approaches.  Stopped at MHK for a VOR check.  Stopped at Coffey County (KUKL) for fueland a potty break, then headed to K81 for dinner but they were closed, so back home.  Things went pretty smoothly overall.  I didn’t get lost and didn’t mess anything up too bad.  I need to practice my circling approaches.

I’ll be doing a lot of flying this week I hope.  Checkride is scheduled for Janurary 17th.  Also need to get some studying in for my written, which I’ll take next week.