The ingredients are :-
12 galls 100LL, 0 volts, student pilot, C152 door strap
No you’re right it is not a cocktail at all, it is me at Pahokee on my QXC but more on this later.
At 7am this morning a peek out of the window confirmed what I had hoped for. A clear blue sky with no cloud. The forecast on the web also looked good too. I really will be doing my qualifying cross country today. I’m organised and ready to cycle by 7:40. It is quite chilly when I set out with a fresh north wind which of course is a headwind. My body temperature soon rises and my mind moves forward to what might be in store on the day ahead. I got a picture of a local school bus as it took it’s cargo of school children for another day in the classroom.
At 8:00 at NAC I went and got the weather and winds aloft figures. The winds at 3000 ft were significant at 050 at 24 knots. I started using these figures and I had to make large corrections to my heading to deal with the wind. Nikki came to check how my planning was going and she was concerned at the strong winds so she made some phone calls to get some more up to date weather. The figures were different. On the west coast of Florida it was 360 at 9 knots and on the east cost it was 010 at 11 knots. I worked out my corrections again and this time the adjustments were not so massive. Later on my planning was checked over and all was OK. I was given the bit of paper to get signed at the away airfields and then I did the pre-flight checks on N946AC. I had the fuel tanks brimmed and once everything was right it was time to go. My first leg was 46 nm north to Charlotte County KPGD and my course took me through Class C airspace. I took off from Naples at 10:00 and was soon at my cruise altitude of 2500 ft. There was just time to get everything stabilised before calling Fort Myers approach. On doing this I got my allocated Squawk code and was told to avoid Class C airspace. After some dialogue confirming the code I asked for a heading that would avoid their airspace. He gave me 340 and this was not too much off my planned heading of 352. A little while later I was given permission to fly direct to Charlotte County. I checked my position and a look at the map gave me a new heading. Whilst on this heading I was asked to change to another Ft Myers frequency which I did (at the second attempt). I got in touch with them and they said to continue. I crossed the large waterway south of Ft Myers city and was able to accurately fix my position on the chart. As I got to the northern tip of Ft Myers I could see the water tower and destination airfield in the distance. Having reported this I was able to cancel the flight following to standard VFR flight. I changed to the Charlotte frequency and was soon listening to other traffic in the vicinity. I starting calling at 10 miles south of the airfield. It was not too busy. At 5 miles south I started my descent and was transmitting my position, altitude and intentions. There was a Piper aircraft approaching the airfield from the north but he called to say that he would make a 360 so I could come in and land. Thank you Mr Piper aircraft. I joined overhead runway 03 at 1500ft, made a long right hand turn descending to 1000ft and joined the downwind leg for a left base turn onto 05. Soon I was down and taxiing off to the airport buildings. Wow, that was the first leg and it had gone pretty well. I got parked and shut down and went off with my form to see the very nice young lady at the desk.
She stamped up my form and told me where the phones were. The was a phone in the briefing room but a lady was using it. Ok, then I would pay a quick visit to the loo. On my way back I could tell that the lady would be on the phone for some time to come (how do they do that ?). There was a payphone outside and I used this to call Nikki and give her my current situation. As I walked back to the aircraft it was time to fulfil one of those lifetime ambitions!
To fly solo to another airfield and have a cup of coffee there.
Here is where it would happen.
The most expensive cup of coffee in the world, but it was worth every penny. You can even see 946AC out on the apron.
My chart and log sheets.
I was getting some strange looks from the café staff as I photographed my coffee. I just grinned back.
It was soon time to go. All went well as I taxied to the runway but I saw an aircraft land on 33 which was a bit confusing as most were using 03. I did my power and other checks and then crossed runway 33 a bit tentatively looking and calling out on the radio. At the threshold of 03 I did some finals checks. As I took off my door came open. I grabbed the strap on the door and gave it a good pull. The door shut but I was left with the strap in my hand. I thought this only happened with Ferrari’s, not that I have ever driven one. I deposited the strap on the passenger seat and got back to business. This leg was 66 miles to the east and landing at Pahokee. It went well and I was at 3500 ft and able to see a lot on the ground around me. I even heard Thorsten calling as he was doing the route in the opposite direction. I found myself a little to the left of track at one point but corrected for it. I could see some really good fields below if I needed to land in an emergency. That coffee was making me feel the need for a visit to the loo at Pahokee. As I crossed the shoreline of Lake Okeechobee I called Pahokee traffic. Amongst the replies there was a faint one that was difficult to make out so I said so. Halfway across the lake I started my descent and suddenly the faint caller came up loud and clear. It was Pahokee field asking my intentions. I gave them. They asked if I wanted fuel. Yes I do. Sorry they have no fuel. I said I would land anyway and check with base. One other aircraft was departing the field so I had a clear run in and landed on 35 before taxiing over to the apron. The guy who had been calling me came out on electric buggy. They had a power outage on the field so they had no fuel, no phones and if I wanted a pee it would be in the dark. Welcome to Pahokee. He had been using a handheld transceiver to call me and must of changed the batteries. Just as well that I was not relying on the PAPI lights for my landing. I asked if he could sign my form and if I could visit the restroom. And this was completed. I asked if he had a phonebook and they didn’t. I measured the fuel and had 12 gallons. I am so glad I bought that C152 dipstick at Transair back in England. There seemed enough fuel for the last 66 mile leg back to Naples especially with a slight tail wind. I remembered that I had got the NAC phone number set on my mobile so I turned it on. Yippee there was signal strength, so I called Nikki and we discussed the situation. I was to double check the fuel. She knocked a figure off my fuel measurement and asked for the Hobbs time. As long as my leg went as planned there was the required VFR fuel reserve. She said that if my times between check points were taking longer than expected then to land at Immokalee that was on route. The Pahokee VOR is also down although I already knew this. No pressure then !!!.
I am afraid that taking photos at Pahokee never even crossed my mind and I didn’t even ask what happened to that aircraft on the apron that had the front end missing and damage to the tailplane. It is almost like a skull and crossbones flying from the mast of a three masted ship. Approach at your own risk …….
Fortunately the trip back to Naples went almost exactly to plan. I made doubly sure that I leaned off the mixture at my cruise altitude of 2500ft. My trip took 46 minutes from takeoff to touch down on 05 at Naples. I taxied back to NAC, tidied the aircraft and paperwork. I checked the remaining fuel on board and it was 7 gallons. I walked into the office and presented Richard with the strap off the door of his aircraft. His face was a picture only I did not think about taking a photo. I had to clutch onto my precious signed QXC sheet for a bit longer as Nikki was out flying with a student.
Another English student, David LeGrand had just completed his first solo and I got some pictures.
David having just completed his first solo and his instructor Sery
David after the shirt cutting ceremony. Sorry I missed the actual cutting bit.It was 3pm and I still had not eaten my lunch. For those that have been expressing concern over what I have been eating, I took a photo of it.
It is a Ciabatta roll with Danish Lurpack butter and slices of Canadian tasty Cheddar + apple + water. A good mix of calories and fruit.
Nikki returned and we had a debrief on my flights. I now need to put in a couple of heavy days of training to be ready for my Skills test of Thursday morning. During our discussion I had a phone call from forum member DownN3Greens and we are going out for a beer (probably on Thursday evening) and he has even offered to get one of his yellow taxi cabs to take me to Miami airport on Friday. All I need to do is to give the driver a tip. It is a fanatastic offer and I could not refuse. The drinks are on me, on Thursday Dale.
At 4pm I cycle home and start my study and blog, etc.
It has been a good day.
I am going to have to wait until tomorrow to tell you about jogging on the beach the American way.
Bye for now
Peewit
No comments:
Post a Comment