Scrubbed mission
Posted: Sun Mar 25, 2007 12:04 pmWell, after cancelling last weekend, Willit and I were all set with a fair forecast for our planned flight today: I arrived at 47N at about 0700, hoping to pick him up at KVAY before 0800 so we could maybe scoot up to 4N1 and back before he had to be home.
But Nature was not so keen on this idea: out of nowhere, a bunch of moist crud moved in during the wee hours. Northern NJ would be fogged in until 0900, so 4N1 was out. Trenton, the nearest station along my route to KVAY, was reporting a 2500' overcast with scattered clumps at 1000 or less; visibility occasionally 3-5nm., 6 nm at best. Hmmm. Seemed worth having a look... I didn't get any pics of my foray as far south as Princeton, but let's just say it was a no-go. Not for me. I could maybe have popped up over the OC thru a hole, but... besides, it was bumpy below 2500, and KVAY was reporting strong gusts, although it was mostly clear there. Diverting SE would have taken too long, and involved crossing an alert area.
This view to the east, near 47N, gives the general idea... same thing to the SW, only with a broken layer below this, with poor visibility.
I came back to land at 47N and call Cory.
This shows things as they started improving... still bad to the SW... there's a Tiger arriving on 07.
Much better almost right away... I bet I would have made it OK, but I don't like to gamble with my life. I would have had to either scud-run under any low stuff, probably violating VFR mins in order to do that, or try to go between layers or use holes to get over and back down, which would just not be smart.
So, since I had about an hour left, I decided to go horse around a little bit near 47N... been a while since I just went to have fun. Chandelles among puffy little clouds... weee! Too bad Cory hadn't come up to meet me here...
I made 4 very good landings at 47N, and went around once when the wind got really whacky on my third approach.
By the time I returned the plane, it was, of course, shaping up to be a perfect day. Still a bit blustery, but not overly so. Sigh...
Well, it could be worse...
A couple of other non-flyers: these two have been sitting by the maintenance hangar for ages, now...
Well, I have to go get ready to catch a flight to Tampa- keep your fingers crossed for some pix from this event:
http://www.macdillservices.com/myairfest/
But Nature was not so keen on this idea: out of nowhere, a bunch of moist crud moved in during the wee hours. Northern NJ would be fogged in until 0900, so 4N1 was out. Trenton, the nearest station along my route to KVAY, was reporting a 2500' overcast with scattered clumps at 1000 or less; visibility occasionally 3-5nm., 6 nm at best. Hmmm. Seemed worth having a look... I didn't get any pics of my foray as far south as Princeton, but let's just say it was a no-go. Not for me. I could maybe have popped up over the OC thru a hole, but... besides, it was bumpy below 2500, and KVAY was reporting strong gusts, although it was mostly clear there. Diverting SE would have taken too long, and involved crossing an alert area.
This view to the east, near 47N, gives the general idea... same thing to the SW, only with a broken layer below this, with poor visibility.
I came back to land at 47N and call Cory.
This shows things as they started improving... still bad to the SW... there's a Tiger arriving on 07.
Much better almost right away... I bet I would have made it OK, but I don't like to gamble with my life. I would have had to either scud-run under any low stuff, probably violating VFR mins in order to do that, or try to go between layers or use holes to get over and back down, which would just not be smart.
So, since I had about an hour left, I decided to go horse around a little bit near 47N... been a while since I just went to have fun. Chandelles among puffy little clouds... weee! Too bad Cory hadn't come up to meet me here...
I made 4 very good landings at 47N, and went around once when the wind got really whacky on my third approach.
By the time I returned the plane, it was, of course, shaping up to be a perfect day. Still a bit blustery, but not overly so. Sigh...
Well, it could be worse...
A couple of other non-flyers: these two have been sitting by the maintenance hangar for ages, now...
Well, I have to go get ready to catch a flight to Tampa- keep your fingers crossed for some pix from this event:
http://www.macdillservices.com/myairfest/
