Breakfast Flight to N81

I swapped a few posts with Bob C on the North East Flyers Facebook group.  Bob was flying to Hammonton and his friend Matt was coming with him.  Once Bob’s Cessna 09 Lima was frost free he filed for a special TFR squawk code and launched.  I had 3 Tango Charlie already at the hold short for runway two-zero at Ocean City. 

I launched and headed for the Delaware Bay crossing and then on to Hammonton, N81.  The ride was smooth and it felt good to be in the air once again. I monitored Dover approach and once on the Jersey side I switched to Atlantic City approach.  At the ten mile out point I switched to CTAF to set the mental picture of the current area traffic.  A Bonanza landed ahead of me and then I rolled one on clearing the runway at the midway taxiway Charlie. 

The restaurant was busy and I had to get in line for seating. Waiting in line worked out as I was tracking Bob on his way in to land.  The wait was maybe fifteen minutes and it moved along quick and orderly. 

Bob had an issue with his Cessna 172 and ended up calling for a ride home. I offered my ride but I only had room for one additional passenger since I removed my back seat. I did let Bob know to call me when he needs a shuttle flight back to N81 to pick up his plane. I'm home all this week and weekend but we will be heading out on vacation next week. 

With some sort of plan made, I left Bob and Matt on the ramp walking towards the restaurant. I launched for home and made another nice landing to end my flying day. 

Plane Spotting KOXB

 

Mary and I took Lucy over to the airport for some play time.  As I turned to parallel the runway I saw a King Air waiting to depart three-two.  I grabbed my iPhone and managed to video the 2007 Beech B200 King Air start their roll and take off. I also videoed a 1977 Cessna 172 departing. 

Overdue Spa Day, 3 Tango Charlie

3 Tango Charlie is long overdue for her spa day.  I had to look back through my blog posts to find her last time spent with Ivan.  December 2020 was the last bath/degrease and wax for our Commander. 

I agreed to meet Ivan at the hangar at 8am and he was waiting as I rolled around the corner. Ivan had that confused look as I passed him with Lucy hanging her head out the rear passenger window. Once parked I got out and let Lucy out of the SUV.  Ivan asked, where was  Ziva? I let him know we had to say goodbye to our girl in mid December. He quickly respond that she was such a nice dog. Ivan then followed up with who is this pup, I responded, this is demon spawn, laughed, then introduced Lucy. 

I tugged the plane out so she could get her degrease and bath.  Steve (line guy) pulled up and we all chatted for a while from airplanes, motorcycles and everything else along the way. 

Ivan got started and I headed home with the plan of returning this afternoon. After Lucy and I each enjoyed a nap I decided I should think about lunch. Mary offered to make sandwiches but I wanted soup or done thing hot.

With lunch complete I thought I would drop in and check on the progress of 3 Tango Charlie. The tail and bottom of the plane were done and Ivan was getting ready to start on the fuselage and wings. 

Unfortunately Ivan pointed out where a paint chip popped on the lower cowl between the exhaust and nose landing light, it wasn’t pretty and I wasn’t happy.  You could clearly see some small cracks in the surrounding area and it looks like the paint had blistered. There’s really not much Ivan could do. 

I made a few contacts about painting the lower cowl and after giving it some thought I decided to have it completed during annual.  I have the matching paints, secured them on one of my annuals after locating the entry detailing the aircraft repaint back in November of 1998. 

Ivan finished up with the spinner, prop and windows. I did manage to learn a trick of the trade with polishing the spinner, no, I’m not giving it up. 

The plane is ready for our Florida trip, needing only a preflight and fuel sump which I’ll do Saturday.  Mary had been going though outfits and planning her packing.  I’ll throw clothes in a suitcase on Sunday afternoon and be ready, no need to plan outfits. 

Total cost for the detailing was $500 today. The prices have went up, what hasn’t lately. Having it done by a professional sure beats me doing the work and my body  can still function when all is done. We are ready for vacation! 

Garmin 480 - Recall and User Frequencies

 

A quick "How To" video on the Communications recall feature and saving user frequencies for future use.

Hangar Time with Lucy

I needed to head over to the hangar and plug in the pre-heats for 3 Tango Charlie and put on the cowl blankets.  We have a mission to KILG - Wilmington sometime this week or next. Even with the warmer then normal day time temps the early mornings are still forty and below so it's good to preheat the oil and cylinders.

Lucy needs time in and around the hangar to learn what's accepted and what's not. Our pup is way to young to have full run like our Ziva, but, in time will hopefully earn that freedom. 

Intercepting a Radial to a VOR or Waypoint

Corrected spelling of the ENO Smyrna VOR

I have read this very question multiple times over the last few weeks on various forums that I frequent. I have been so busy practicing the buttonology on my Garmin 480 that I decided to make a quick how to video on this subject.

Lets set up the flight and the ATC change to intercept the radial to a VOR. The flight plan as cleared by ATC is as follows; KOXB SBY ENO KILG. 

Typically upon departure from Ocean City (KOXB) Patuxent requires you to fly a 270 heading upon entering controlled airspace. Once Identified you are immediately turned on course to your initial waypoint. 

Only once so far in my eight years of flying out of OXB was I given a Radial to fly to the initial fix on my flight plan once in the air. So it's not common here but in many places it seems to be a thing. 

Once ID'ed by Patuxent I was assigned an intercept radial (180*)to my initial plan fix, Smyrna (ENO). On the video I work through the process on my GPS, the Garmin 480. I also included a link to a Midlife Flight video that focused on the exact topic for Garmin GTN and Avidyne IFD units.

Reposition Plane & Pilot

My friend and fellow pilot Charles G had to leave his Piper Cherokee here in Ocean City due to weather, and instead ground pound it north back home. The plan for today is to head north to N57, New Garden, and shuttle Charles back here to Ocean City, OXB, so he can fly his plane home. 

We swapped a few text messages and it will be a late afternoon flight, but we'll be back to OXB before dark or I'll turn into a pumpkin. No, I'm still not night current since November 2013 and have no plans to change that.

First I need to plug in the Piper since it's on the ramp and todays temps are hovering around 35°F. I didn't know this until recently but OXB has power boxes out on the flight line next to the terminal, this makes plugging in very convenient.

Next I'll pre-flight 3 Tango Charlie and launch around 3pm for the 96 mile 50 minute flight north to N57 bucking a 15 knot headwind.

Despite the headwind the ride wasn’t to bad. I had a 10-15 knot headwind that eased up a bit north of Dover. I was treated to a C5 departing Dover AFB making a climbing right turn out over the Delaware Bay. It was fun to watch that huge plane climb away.

I adjusted my flight track more to the left or south west to avoid any wake turbulence from that C5 beast. I did fly through very light turbulence and it was gone as fast as it appeared. 

 

I was handed off to Philly approach on 124.35 and road along enjoying the view. I found it odd I was given that frequency since it typically is 119.75. I had a hard time  hearing the controller and even a harder time understanding him. Once clear of Wilmington Delta airspace I cancelled flight following and made my calls for New Garden. I made a nice landing and let 3 Tango Charlie roll out saving as much brakes as possible.

Charles was right on time, showing up a few minutes after 4pm. I was on the ground just about 10 minutes and did not bother to shut down. We taxied for runway two-four, made our call and launched for the beach.

The ride home south provided a 10-13 knot tailwind which helped the ground speed. I monitored Philly and then Dover, deciding to pass on flight following. There was one plane in the pattern at OXB that landed on three-two but the winds clearly favored two-zero. I lined up for two-zero and rolled 3 Tango Charlie on. Charles helped me tuck the Commander in the hangar then we drove over to his Cherokee next to the terminal and disconnected the extension cords. While Charles did his pre-flight I headed home to Raviolis and home made meatballs. 

Avionics Buttonology

Despite maintaining my IFR currency on a full motion sim, I really needed to push the buttons and turn the knobs on my Aspen/Stec 60-2/Garmin 480 avionics. 

The weather has been above average with temps just tickling the sixty degree mark. With a blue sky and no winds I decided today I would get in the air. The plan was to launch from runway three-two and climb straight out for PFAIR on the RNAV GPS 14 approach. 

Setting and confirming altitude and switching to GPSS mode was easy peasy. I would have done a parallel entry to the procedure turn but the autopilot did a tear drop. Once inbound, and the GPS confirming LNAV, I had no glide slope light. Maybe it was because I didn’t select NAV once inbound. Nope, the real reason is the approach is an LNAV approach, it's on me the pilot to fly the glideslope. Now that issue sounds very familiar. AP disconnect and hand I fly down to minimums. Honestly I still prefer to hand fly approaches.

On climb out I reset for the RNAV GPS 32 approach and set up for direct GOBYO. After some thought I decided to mentally vector myself to just outside the final approach fix (FAF), ELUCO. I figured why be out over that cold water (ocean temp of 44° F) if I didn’t need to be. I was higher then the approach called for but working my way down to 1500 feet. This time I did select NAV, however, it was late and I was above the glide slope. Vertical guidance did not capture. Once again I disconnected and hand flew to a nice landing. 

Needless to say I really need to put some time in and work on proficiency. I know I can hand fly any approach but having the AP really makes life easier after a long day of flying. I’ll be back up in the air this week and again this weekend. 

Remember, currency is good for the log book but proficiency will save your ‘bacon’.

Oil Change and Log Book Notation

I went back to the hangar yesterday to complete the oil change. The temps were a bit cooler so I did not open up the hangar door. I have a new drop light so that helps to see where any oil drips and to make sure all my tolls are accounted for.

First things first, of course, release the auto-drain plug so it is closed, then clean up around the plug. Next I brought in the case of oil and Camguard I had warming in my SUV. It's so much easier using a funnel when the top cowling is on, not so easy with it off. So one by one I opened the oil and just set the bottle to drain directly in the oil dip stick tube. Worked perfect and in the middle of the seven quarts I added the Camguard.  I gave the floor a quick peek just to make sure there was no spillage from the auto-drain. All is dry.

I forgot to grab a marker when I left the house so I jumped in the SUV and headed to the office. Thankfully they had a sharpie marker and I was able to add the info to the filter. What info had to be added to the new filter? I added the date, tach time, tail number, and left the right/left engine lines blank.  Clearly there is only one fan turning out front on my commander.

Steve was in the office so I asked to borrow a one inch socket and a torque wrench if he had his in the hangar. Luckily he had moved tools to his hangar and had what I needed available. I can't believe I walked out of the house, passed by my tool box in the garage and drove to the airport without the few tools I needed. At least I did remember what my keys were for and I found my way to the airport.

I did head over to the new Harbor Freight and purchased a 3/8" inch drive, 5-80 ft.lb. click torque wrench. The wrench I purchased was on sale for $16.99, perfect for doing oil changes and spark plugs when needed. Steve stopped by and watched my safety wire tie work and gave his nod of approval.

I cleaned up the hangar getting everything put away before bugging out for home. The filter is draining and I'll cut that open this week and do the run up/leak test. Now I need to order some oil and a filter for the next change sometime late this summer.

Oil Change Prep

 

I was lazy this past Saturday and just pushed 3 Tango Charlie back in the hangar following my flight. I should have set up to drain the oil like I had planed. So this morning I headed over to the hangar and set up to drain the oil. It's going to need a day or two to drain so I'll head back to finish up later this week. I did manage to find a filter without much searching, unlike many other pilots posting about no filters. The Champion filter was $57 and the shipping $25. Yep, I typed that correctly $25, what a rip.

I hope to video the oil change and I'll show an example of the log book entry I use to document the work.

Katie's Farewell Fly-In

The North East Flyers posted the first event of 2023, a farewell fly-in to Cambridge (KCGE), at Katie's restaurant. Katie's released a statement informing the public that she will be closing the doors as of January 31st.

Mary and I have been going to Kays/Katie's since October of 2007. Over the years I have met up with fellow pilots and friends, along with the Beech Aero Club and the North East Flyers groups. Looking back through my blog Mary and I even took my sister and her husband for breakfast there. 

Photo by Bob Ciotti

I will certainly miss this short hop for good eats and service. On field restaurants are far and few between and the really good ones even more scarce. 

Todays flight was smooth despite 20 knot headwinds going west. My hangar neighbor Chet accepted my invitation via text last night so he road right seat.

When we landed and taxied in and the front line of the ramp was full so I took the third spot on the back line right next to Bob C's Cessna 172. Katie's was crowded as pilots and the locals want to say goodbye and enjoy a last meal. 

We were quickly seated but had a bit of a wait to order. It really didn't matter, the three of us sat and chatted and I soaked up the buzz of the crowd and my surroundings. Yes, another restaurant may come in, but it's not the same as Mary's and my favorite go to. Breakfast did not disappoint and the crowd had picked up as we were walking out.  

Ramp time

Bob, Chet and I spent a good bit of time on the ramp watching all the traffic taking off and landing. We all had a pucker moment when a plane on short final had a CAP Cessna roll out on the runway and takeoff right in front him. Since the plane taxied in and parked just a few spots up from me I had to go ask what happened. The pilot, a young man, flying in from the west side of the Bay, said that the CAP Cessna had asked how far out he was. IMO, obviously he didn't look out the window or if he did he needs glasses. The pilot responded one mile final and with that the CAP plane said I'm taking off and rolled across the hold short line. The CAP plane was wheels up as the plane on final landed. 

Our flight home was smooth as we enjoyed a 14 knot tail wind. I set up to cross midfield and enter the left downwind for runway two-zero. I made a very nice landing and road a wheelie almost a thousand feet. I tucked 3 Tango Charlie in the hangar, taking a pass on draining the oil for a change so I'll go back next week either fly, run up, or use the sump heater before I do the change. 

A few pictures over the years...

Beech Aero Club

Bev, Frank, Jeff, and me

Jeff's Saratoga, a surprise find that day.

Me and Jeff

First Flight 2023

We all hear about New Year’s resolutions and I typically don’t partake in the ritual so let’s just say I am going to work hard at flying once a week in this new year. 

Todays first flight of the new year is to a favorite breakfast spot, Katie’s at the Airport, located in the Cambridge airport terminal. I posted on the Pilots of America (POA) forum and Allen decided to join me.  Time to meet up, 0900.  The weather was looking good, and I had enough fuel on board for the hop. 

With a new puppy in the house I needed some additional time so that’s the reason for 9am vs the original planned 8am meet time. Mary got up early to help out so I could get dressed and pack my camera bag  before bugging out. 

I got the fan turning on 3 Tango Charlie after an overnight preheat. I learned my lesson and went with no pump and just opened up the mixture to rich, slowly leaning once cranking. Best practice is to have warm oil and I wait until at least 120 degrees before performing a run up. 

Runway three-two was open with new paving, lights, and striping.  The take off roll was smooth, and I was airborne at my usual point. I climbed to three thousand and enjoyed the ride. Cambridge was fairly quiet, landing on three-four and securing 3 Tango Charlie at the third spot from the terminal on the ramp. 

Allen and his friend Eric were already seated so after intros we ordered. Good eats and service were followed by plenty of airplane and retirement talk. When business picked up we surrendered our table and headed out to our rides. I had to square up my fuel bill for 27 gallons and then out to preflight. 

Allen filed for the ride back to Frederick and I planned on a VFR ride home to OCMD. I finished my run up and taxied out, Allen had to wait for his clearance. As I departed on the downwind I watched Allen's Archer climb away from the runway, wishing them a safe flight.

I monitored Patuxent approach just like this mornings flight west, but this trip I enjoyed the tailwind. Traffic was picking up and there were three of us landing at OXB. A Cessna was on final as I entered the left down wind for three-two. The second a Piper flying up the coast continued right in calling final as I watched him below pattern altitude at my one o’clock. What a dip…stick! I kept my mouth shut and made a 360 to let him cross in front of me on “base”. Sometimes it’s best to just be smart and safe. Giving that pilot crap on the radio wouldn’t have done any good and being safe instead of right but dead seemed way more appealing. I’m looking forward to next weeks flight!