It has been a rough few days for my commute.
On New Year's Eve, I decided to go into the office to get some planning work done. At departure from CRQ, SMO was reporting low overcast and low visibility, but off the west end of the airport. I knew there was a chance that I'd miss, but I thought I'd try it.
Even tho I was in good VFR on the whole flight from CRQ, I picked up an IFR just south of LAX so that I could get really close to SMO without worry. Flying over LAX, there was a low but scattered cloud cover so I figured that I *might* be able to get in. Unfortunately, on the approach vector to the east, I could see that the fog bank seemed to stop just at the 405/10 interchange; making a successful approach unlikely.
As Socal turned me to final and handed me off to SMO tower I asked them what the wx was like. Their response:
"Cirrus 4CD, SMO Tower - I can only just see the runway edge lights from the tower. We are reporting less than 1/4 mile visibility now"
Of course I missed :( I decided to hang out for a while and asked for vectors to hold to the east. Approach gave me a VFR hold over the Rose Bowl (VPLRB) and I did 7 turns, holding for about 30 minutes. While the approach guy was super helpful and kept me updated on the wx, it never did get any better and I ended up flying back to CRQ.
Today (Jan 2nd), I haven't even taken off yet because exactly the same conditions exist. As I type this (9:16am) SMO is reporting wind 040 @ 3kts, 3/4 miles visibility and overcast with indefinite ceilings at 100' and temp/dp at 09/08. I guess it is a good day to work at Starbucks in Carlsbad :)
At least I got great holding practice on Wednesday!
Friday, January 2, 2009
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Hurry up and wait
Whoever said that it doesn't rain in Southern California didn't try to fly to Santa Monica the other day.
At departure time, weather at CRQ was light rain and overcast but had 4 miles visibility and
1500' ceilings. Weather at SMO was reporting IFR with 1400' overcast and 2 miles visibility - easy peasy! After departure, I was immediately in the soup and with the freezing level expected at about 7500', I settled in for an easy ride at 6000' with a 15 kt tailwind and a few patches of level 3 precip.
(aside) My Cirrus SR20 has XM Radio and I generally listen to CNN on my ride up in the morning. Just wanted to say that Tony Harris has the most irritating voice/style of any news anchor I've ever heard.
About 10 minutes out, I picked up the new ATIS at SMO and they had published a special with a 700' ceiling and 1/2 mile visibility. Uh oh... Approach minimums are 680' and 1 mile visibility and the approach is a VOR-a offset about 20 degrees.
I decided to continue with the approach - planning for the missed - and when I popped out, I was right at the runway and couldn't possibly have made it down safely (or otherwise). After going missed, I decided to shoot another approach hoping that the 15 mins it takes to make the circuit would give me better weather. I had departed with full tanks and had plenty for another try + any number of alternates.
The second time around, the weather was worse if anything and I didn't even see the airport. Rather than fly back home to CRQ and miss work for the whole day, I decided to fly to Van Nuys (VNY) which is about 10-15 nm northeast of SMO and has an ILS. Before starting the second approach to SMO, I had also checked the weather at VNY and they were reporting 600' ceilings. That wouldn't have been enough for a filed alternate, but was a fine next attempt because I still had 4 hours of fuel onboard and there were a number of airports further afield showing good weather (including CRQ).
The approach to VNY was uneventful and I taxied to Signature for a $25 (ramp fee) wait in the FBO lounge. After several phone calls with work, two bags of their excellent popcorn, and a couple minute chat with Cindy Crawford (who was waiting on her G5 to Aspen) I decided that the Wx at SMO was in good shape for the trip. I wish my excellent METAR program on my iPhone reported runway in use :)
After getting my clearance and holding short for departure, VNY tower came on to tell me that there was a flow program into SMO and I should expect a 30 min delay. SHEESH! Rather than taxi back, I decided to just move over to the runup area, set the parking brake, lean up the engine and make a few more phone calls. I also popped open my laptop, fired up my Verizon card and did a little work! The delay notice came across at 10:20am and I finally got my takeoff clearance at 11:12am. It turns out that the delay was due to SMO landing on RWY 3 (which is a circle-to-land on the VOR-a) resulting in the flow control.
After a 14 minute flight to SMO (where the ceilings were now 1500' and 5 miles visibility) I *finally* landed and ended my oddessy. What normally takes me 1:05 door-to-door took 4.5 hours that day. A friend of mine once said, "experience is what you get when you don't get what you want." I wanted to get to work and instead ended up getting some great approach practice in actual conditions.
All-in-all, another excellent, fun commute to work!
At departure time, weather at CRQ was light rain and overcast but had 4 miles visibility and1500' ceilings. Weather at SMO was reporting IFR with 1400' overcast and 2 miles visibility - easy peasy! After departure, I was immediately in the soup and with the freezing level expected at about 7500', I settled in for an easy ride at 6000' with a 15 kt tailwind and a few patches of level 3 precip.
(aside) My Cirrus SR20 has XM Radio and I generally listen to CNN on my ride up in the morning. Just wanted to say that Tony Harris has the most irritating voice/style of any news anchor I've ever heard.
About 10 minutes out, I picked up the new ATIS at SMO and they had published a special with a 700' ceiling and 1/2 mile visibility. Uh oh... Approach minimums are 680' and 1 mile visibility and the approach is a VOR-a offset about 20 degrees.
I decided to continue with the approach - planning for the missed - and when I popped out, I was right at the runway and couldn't possibly have made it down safely (or otherwise). After going missed, I decided to shoot another approach hoping that the 15 mins it takes to make the circuit would give me better weather. I had departed with full tanks and had plenty for another try + any number of alternates.
The second time around, the weather was worse if anything and I didn't even see the airport. Rather than fly back home to CRQ and miss work for the whole day, I decided to fly to Van Nuys (VNY) which is about 10-15 nm northeast of SMO and has an ILS. Before starting the second approach to SMO, I had also checked the weather at VNY and they were reporting 600' ceilings. That wouldn't have been enough for a filed alternate, but was a fine next attempt because I still had 4 hours of fuel onboard and there were a number of airports further afield showing good weather (including CRQ).
The approach to VNY was uneventful and I taxied to Signature for a $25 (ramp fee) wait in the FBO lounge. After several phone calls with work, two bags of their excellent popcorn, and a couple minute chat with Cindy Crawford (who was waiting on her G5 to Aspen) I decided that the Wx at SMO was in good shape for the trip. I wish my excellent METAR program on my iPhone reported runway in use :)
After getting my clearance and holding short for departure, VNY tower came on to tell me that there was a flow program into SMO and I should expect a 30 min delay. SHEESH! Rather than taxi back, I decided to just move over to the runup area, set the parking brake, lean up the engine and make a few more phone calls. I also popped open my laptop, fired up my Verizon card and did a little work! The delay notice came across at 10:20am and I finally got my takeoff clearance at 11:12am. It turns out that the delay was due to SMO landing on RWY 3 (which is a circle-to-land on the VOR-a) resulting in the flow control.After a 14 minute flight to SMO (where the ceilings were now 1500' and 5 miles visibility) I *finally* landed and ended my oddessy. What normally takes me 1:05 door-to-door took 4.5 hours that day. A friend of mine once said, "experience is what you get when you don't get what you want." I wanted to get to work and instead ended up getting some great approach practice in actual conditions.
All-in-all, another excellent, fun commute to work!
Lesson Learned: Better to want to be "up there" than wishing you were on the ground...
Last night (in retrospect) would have been a good night to stay in LA.
I called to get a weather report and of everything, the salient point was a forecast freezing level at 6,500'. It was raining along the entire route from SMO to CRQ at about medium intensity and the cloud bases were at about 3,400'. I figured, well... I'll cruise at 5'000' on the way home and can always get lower (the route is coastal and flat and Socal's MVA is 1500'). I have plenty of experience flying my Cirrus SR20 in hard IFR with medium to strong intensity rain and clouds so I figured the flight home was more of the same.
The difference was a pitch black night :)
My first clue should have been (and was) at takeoff, SMO ATIS was reporting OAT at 7C. There is a reason you learn about adiabatic lapse rates (of 2C per thousand ') - because it is a great way to estimate that the freezing level was in fact about 3,500' above SMO elevation or about 3,600' - NOT 5,500 as forecast.
Not to be dissuaded by logic and reason, I took off and started my climb. I was cleared from 3,000' (where the temp was 1C) to 4,000' where the temp was hovering between -2C and -3C. I was in the soup, medium intensity rain, at -3C - in a plane with no anti-icing equip except for pitot heat and windscreen defrost. Um...
"Socal, Cirrus 64CD requests amended altitude to 3,000' for the freezing level".
"Cirrus 4CD, what is your current OAT and flight conditions?"
"-3C. IMC in (now) heavy rain. Negative icing at this time."
"Cirrus 64CD, Socal approach. Expect lower in 6 miles. Advise if you begin to pick up ice as I am holding you at 4 to clear Long Beach departures."
"4CD"
Um, now I am in the clouds, moderate turbulence with SNOW and rain. Pitot heat on, windshield defrost OFF (to let icing build on the windscreen in case I couldn't see it on the wings at night). I also took my flashlight out of my console and start inspecting the leading and trailing edges to make sure the water was still liquid.
"Cirrus 4CD, decend/maintain 3,000"
"3,000 4CD"
Now I am skimming the bases hovering between 0C and +2C. Still pitch black with only my strobes to comfort me. That's when I pick up the new CRQ Atis. They have swapped runways and are landing on runway 6. The approach to 6 is not a nice, soothing ILS after a stressful flight, but a VOR-a approach with 860' MDA. The good news was that visibility was reporting 2.5 miles, 2,900 overcast and few at 1,800' so I had plenty of cloud clearance. The not as good news was that weather was "heavy rain, winds 100 at 16 gusting 21". *sigh*
Long story short, I popped out at about 2,500' on the approach with a few puffers between me and the airport. On final, I was crabbed 30 degrees into the wind on final carrying an extra 10 kts into heavy rain and moderate turbulence because of a concern of wind shear. At the threshold, I kicked the rudder to flare over the lights at about 80 kts and ride a 15 degree right bank to hold the flare on the center line. When I finally touched down, I was on CRQ's downslope runway at about 65 kts in heavy rain with reduced braking ability. I slowed down and rolled off happy to taxi back and shut the f'ing plane off.
What did I learn?
This was clearly among most stressful flights of my pilot career - but I was confident enough in my proficiency and familiarity that I never felt scared (which I now believe is probably what kills people - when the stress gets beyond productive). I now have even more experience and know that I'd be better off sipping a Coke in my hotel room than risking heavy icing at night. Heh - duh.
I called to get a weather report and of everything, the salient point was a forecast freezing level at 6,500'. It was raining along the entire route from SMO to CRQ at about medium intensity and the cloud bases were at about 3,400'. I figured, well... I'll cruise at 5'000' on the way home and can always get lower (the route is coastal and flat and Socal's MVA is 1500'). I have plenty of experience flying my Cirrus SR20 in hard IFR with medium to strong intensity rain and clouds so I figured the flight home was more of the same.
The difference was a pitch black night :)
My first clue should have been (and was) at takeoff, SMO ATIS was reporting OAT at 7C. There is a reason you learn about adiabatic lapse rates (of 2C per thousand ') - because it is a great way to estimate that the freezing level was in fact about 3,500' above SMO elevation or about 3,600' - NOT 5,500 as forecast.
Not to be dissuaded by logic and reason, I took off and started my climb. I was cleared from 3,000' (where the temp was 1C) to 4,000' where the temp was hovering between -2C and -3C. I was in the soup, medium intensity rain, at -3C - in a plane with no anti-icing equip except for pitot heat and windscreen defrost. Um...
"Socal, Cirrus 64CD requests amended altitude to 3,000' for the freezing level".
"Cirrus 4CD, what is your current OAT and flight conditions?"
"-3C. IMC in (now) heavy rain. Negative icing at this time."
"Cirrus 64CD, Socal approach. Expect lower in 6 miles. Advise if you begin to pick up ice as I am holding you at 4 to clear Long Beach departures."
"4CD"
Um, now I am in the clouds, moderate turbulence with SNOW and rain. Pitot heat on, windshield defrost OFF (to let icing build on the windscreen in case I couldn't see it on the wings at night). I also took my flashlight out of my console and start inspecting the leading and trailing edges to make sure the water was still liquid.
"Cirrus 4CD, decend/maintain 3,000"
"3,000 4CD"
Now I am skimming the bases hovering between 0C and +2C. Still pitch black with only my strobes to comfort me. That's when I pick up the new CRQ Atis. They have swapped runways and are landing on runway 6. The approach to 6 is not a nice, soothing ILS after a stressful flight, but a VOR-a approach with 860' MDA. The good news was that visibility was reporting 2.5 miles, 2,900 overcast and few at 1,800' so I had plenty of cloud clearance. The not as good news was that weather was "heavy rain, winds 100 at 16 gusting 21". *sigh*
Long story short, I popped out at about 2,500' on the approach with a few puffers between me and the airport. On final, I was crabbed 30 degrees into the wind on final carrying an extra 10 kts into heavy rain and moderate turbulence because of a concern of wind shear. At the threshold, I kicked the rudder to flare over the lights at about 80 kts and ride a 15 degree right bank to hold the flare on the center line. When I finally touched down, I was on CRQ's downslope runway at about 65 kts in heavy rain with reduced braking ability. I slowed down and rolled off happy to taxi back and shut the f'ing plane off.
What did I learn?
- All that weather stuff is actually pretty important :). Specifically, the lapse rate provides a very useful tool for estimating freezing level at your present position.
- I've learned over the past few weeks that hard IFR isn't that big a deal if you are proficient and well prepared
- HOWEVER, I had one too many factors at play to take that flight again. Rain, clouds with a reasonably low icing level and turbulence is doable - and with proper vigilance, safe. Throw in a pitch-black night and it was one too many things. The biggest issue with night wasn't the dark - it was my stress level as I wondered if I was building ice and just couldn't see it. There never was a safety issue per se, and I was always near and aware of the surrounding airports. But the "what if I am icing on the outboard portions of the wing and can't see it?" added a lot of stress workload. Of course, actual icing at night would have been a whole other kettle of fish.
- The non-precision "alpha" approach to CRQ wasn't a deal, but just one more thing to think about as I had never done that approach to CRQ before. It took the familiarity of my home airport out of play and made me have to think about the approach rather than just follow the proceedures I've flown 10's of times before.
- Interestingly, absent *clear* visual indicators of icing, I paid a lot of attention to my airspeed, power settings and attitude (as well as turning off windscreen heat) to get any possible early indication of a change in lift or drag.
This was clearly among most stressful flights of my pilot career - but I was confident enough in my proficiency and familiarity that I never felt scared (which I now believe is probably what kills people - when the stress gets beyond productive). I now have even more experience and know that I'd be better off sipping a Coke in my hotel room than risking heavy icing at night. Heh - duh.
Keep up that approach speed!
This whole blog started because of this question: "What is your best 'I learned something from that' story?"
The best one I'd have to think about. However, last Thursday (November 20th)...
I was flying my Cirrus SR20 home from SMO with two passengers. At takeoff CRQ weather reported VFR, but 15 minutes out, the field reported 100' overcast with 1/8 mile visibility. As I setup for the ILS and called for clearance, I realized I was almost certainly going missed.
By now, I've probably flown 40 ILS' into CRQ in actual, but the lowest ceiling so far has been about 300'. Per usual in the Carlsbad sector, I was vectored onto final close and high so I had to dive for the GS. Because I was inside of ~3 miles when I intercepted the GS again, I pulled power to slow down and started adding power again to hold about 80kts - which is final approach speed, but not instrument approach speed (100kts). I had never really thought about the difference in the speeds and why they would be relevant.
Anyway, 250' off the ground at DH I could see the approach lights but not the runway and per the rules, I descended another 100'. I still couldn't see the threshold lighting or the runway so I went missed...
... Which is where that missing 20kts airspeed made a difference. It isn't that I couldn't climb at full power, it's just that when I pitched the nose up, I didn't start climbing immediately. Engine had to spool up and I was nose up, 50% flaps and leveling for probably 4-5 seconds before I started climbing. Turns out, that the initial pitch up simply arrested the descent and there wasn't enough energy left for an immediate climb until the engine got to full power. Interesting...
Lessons learned:
Then again, I probably wouldn't have even attempted that approach knowing that I was almost certainly going to have to go missed and I certainly wouldn't have continued down that last 100' "allowed" by the rules. So I've also realized that the whole point of personal minimums is to avoid (to the extent possible) making value judgments at critical times. This flight (at this time) was within my personal minimums given my proficiency levels and experience.
BTW, after missed, we flew the ILS to MYF and landed without any further excitement :) My passengers thought the flight (and alternate airport) was cool and fun. Me too ;-)
The best one I'd have to think about. However, last Thursday (November 20th)...
I was flying my Cirrus SR20 home from SMO with two passengers. At takeoff CRQ weather reported VFR, but 15 minutes out, the field reported 100' overcast with 1/8 mile visibility. As I setup for the ILS and called for clearance, I realized I was almost certainly going missed.
By now, I've probably flown 40 ILS' into CRQ in actual, but the lowest ceiling so far has been about 300'. Per usual in the Carlsbad sector, I was vectored onto final close and high so I had to dive for the GS. Because I was inside of ~3 miles when I intercepted the GS again, I pulled power to slow down and started adding power again to hold about 80kts - which is final approach speed, but not instrument approach speed (100kts). I had never really thought about the difference in the speeds and why they would be relevant.
Anyway, 250' off the ground at DH I could see the approach lights but not the runway and per the rules, I descended another 100'. I still couldn't see the threshold lighting or the runway so I went missed...
... Which is where that missing 20kts airspeed made a difference. It isn't that I couldn't climb at full power, it's just that when I pitched the nose up, I didn't start climbing immediately. Engine had to spool up and I was nose up, 50% flaps and leveling for probably 4-5 seconds before I started climbing. Turns out, that the initial pitch up simply arrested the descent and there wasn't enough energy left for an immediate climb until the engine got to full power. Interesting...
Lessons learned:
- Always fly approach speeds on approach. You might need that energy later.
- (reinforced lesson) Never touch those flaps until positive rate is established. I didn't, but in retrospect, with the low'ish airspeed and proximity to ground in descent, pulling the flaps would have compounded the issue costing me another ~80'. Very close to "landing" anyway :)
- Speaking of compounding workload, the components were: close in vector, high with a dive to the GS...
Then again, I probably wouldn't have even attempted that approach knowing that I was almost certainly going to have to go missed and I certainly wouldn't have continued down that last 100' "allowed" by the rules. So I've also realized that the whole point of personal minimums is to avoid (to the extent possible) making value judgments at critical times. This flight (at this time) was within my personal minimums given my proficiency levels and experience.
BTW, after missed, we flew the ILS to MYF and landed without any further excitement :) My passengers thought the flight (and alternate airport) was cool and fun. Me too ;-)
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