Test Flight and Eats

 Chet and I decided we would fly out for breakfast this morning, following our success installing the seat roller bearings yesterday. The plan was to be in the air around 8am and head to either Millville, (KMIV) or Cape May, (KWWD).

I did my preflight and was waiting on the fuel truck to arrive when I heard and saw a motorcycle come around the hangars.  I had no clue who it might be, ruling out my hangar neighbor since he road a big black Harley.  This bike coming at me was a custom, along the lines of an Orange County Chopper build.  As the rider gets closer I recognize him, it's Chet!

Man this guy has all the toys. What a beautiful bike, painted to look like a war bird.  

The fuel truck pumped in twelve gallons.  Eight on the left side and four on the right side.  The POH calls for running on both tanks but from now on, once in cruise, I am going to switch tanks every half hour. 

The climb was smooth and steady as we followed the coast and made our way across the bay. I started down just shy of ten miles out, setting up for the left down wind one-nine.  I made my position call and was quickly corrected that I was on Millville's frequency. That was our initial plan but we switched, well everything switched but my brain, since I dialed in the KMIV CTAF. 

I thanked the guy who gave me a heads up then switched to the correct CTAF at Cape May.  With the position calls made I slowed 3 Tango Charlie down, and once on down wind dropped the gear adjacent to the numbers. Multiple GUMPS calls and I even decided to try the third notch of flaps. 35* really made for a smooth and slow approach as I crossed the fence. I liked it.

Once the plane was secure in front of the terminal, Chet and I headed in to the Flight Deck Diner. The place was busy with even the extra terminal seats filled. We decided on the counter and had our choice. 

Breakfast was good and so was the service. I had creamed chipped beef over home fries and a side of bacon with a large OJ to wash it all down. I think Chet had eggs and bacon. 

We headed back out to the plane and after a few tries 3TC finally started. I had such a good streak going with my hot starts. I taxied out to one-nine and launched for home. Again, the flight was smooth but with a few more traffic targets then our trip north. 

I had planned for runway three-two but a plane departing advised the sock is favoring two-zero despite the ASOS report.  It would have been a wash for me and I always like the longer runway even if it has a cross wind component. I played nice and changed up for a straight in two-zero and acknowledged the Cessna asking to leave ahead of our arrival.  I was two mile final at the point so he was good to go.

With the last notch of flaps added I settled in over the numbers and squeaked a nice landing. I had to add power to continue down the runway to turn off on the taxiway. With 1.2 in the log book and the seat passing inspection I was good to go. I should note that prior to departure Chet and I briefed in case my seat slid back on the rails. I knew it was working perfect but it's always nice to work through the what if scenario. 

There will be no BACFest this year. Mary had a fall and is not moving to fast with her back issues so we decided to cancel the trip to Denver. No ticket refunds but we have until February 18th next year to rebook and use up that value.  Not a problem, winter means cold temps here and Key West will be looking good in December.