Report to Cape May

This morning I made the quick hop to Cape May for my project.  I tried to file direct but that was a no go and instead I got ILG-OOD-WWD.  Ok, almost direct with a slight trek towards the Woodstown VOR. The sky was gorgeous and winds favored the south east leg. I was soon climbing out of Wilmington and checking in with multiple philly approach sectors and finally Atlantic City.

my ride today

Testing  for compaction

AC asked what approach I wanted and I responded the visual for runway one. It was a ten mile forty-five entry  with multiple call outs for position once my IFR plan was canceled.  A super smooth landing and taxi to the FBO for parking, the fun part of my morning was over.  Work was busy but being on site early  enabled me to accomplsh so much more than a normal driving day.

low ceiling

It was soon time to head home, where did the day go? I decided I would need to file if I wanted some actual with a good safety margin available,  bases were 2500 and tops 4500.  I'm still expanding my minimums and experiences every IFR flight, today would add another building block.

I called Atlantic City departure on 121.7 from the ramp at Cape May. The plan I filed was changed but not by much.  KWWD-SIE-OOD-KILG.  I was cleared 2000 feet and 4000 in ten minutes, I would be in the thick of it, temps were perfect and freezing level at 12000, plenty of safety to get some actual.

breaking out

At 2500 I entered the solid IMC. Flying in the proverbial gallon of milk. Clouds were white and bright as I sailed along just about 500 feet below the tops and a pretty blue sky. Instead, I bumped along dealing with erratic yaw movements and the changing winds. Approach vectored me to a 360 heading with the instruction to intercept victor 166 airway. I should have made the changes on the Garmin 530 by activating the SIE-OOD leg and the CDI would have acted as if I was intercepting a new course or established on an ILS (great explanation Mike),  Instead, as I crossed the victor airway I hit the direct to, cursored to OOD and hit enter.  It worked but maintaining the precision of the airway could have been an issue.

I was clear of the clouds just as the Garmin 496 had displayed. I settled in and ran through the actual flight time in my head over and over. I was happy with my performance and am excited about getting more actual as conditions warrant.