First In-Flight Video - Martha's Vineyard

Here is my first attempt at an in-flight video from a dash mounted video recorder with a splice into the com receiver. The flight was from Bedford, Massachusetts to Martha's Vineyard in a Cessna 182S Skylane.

Finally...Some Actual IFR

With this lousy weather pattern this summer, it seems every low pressure system decides to stall on its way out to the Atlantic. Flying down to Nantucket and the islands has been a chore due to extremely low visibility in fog and mist in the morning gradually switching over to afternoon thunderstorms. Trying to get in some solo IFR time in some modest overcast layers has been pretty tough.
Today was another such morning but I decided to head to the airport and hope for some improvement. When I arrived to preflight, the METAR was 1/4 mile visibility in fog. Runway 11 actually had an RVR (Runway Visual Range) of between 1800 and 2600 feet.
So lets talk about minimums. Standard departure minimums for 2 engine or less aircraft would be 1 mile visibility. Clearly a no go from this point of view. No under part 91, I could legally depart in 0/0 minimums but say I had an engine problem on climb out; If a turn was possible back to the airport I would have the ILS for runway 29 available to guide me back in. The ILS minimums for 29 are 328' and 1/2 mile visibility. No Go. Finally there are my personal minimums. I conservatively want a ceiling above traffic pattern altitude at this stage of the game so it's a no go from this point of view as well.
However, by the time preflight was complete, visibility had increased to 2-3 miles and ceilings were 800 feet. I decided to grab a CFII who was hanging out (VFR student had cancelled) and head down to the Cape to get some dual time. We taxied out in the Skylane and I set up my #2 NAV for the Runway 29 ILS in case s return should be needed. We took off and I pitched for Vy but brought my flaps in early so I wouldn't be retracting them in the clouds. By about 2,000 feet, we were already above the clouds and in sunshine. We were cleared to KMVY direct at 7,000 feet.
The undercast only extended until north of I-495 while all of Cape Cod Sound was firmly fogged in. Nantucket sound was in better shape with the fog burning of of Martha's Vineyard to the extend that a visual approach was possible. Instead, I donned the foggles and asked for the ILS into KMVY, which went well. After obtaining a clerance back to KBED, we were off and heading back north.
The earlier overcast was slowly breaking up but mostly to the west of Bedford toward Worcester, As ATC vectored me to intercept the localizer and descend to 2,000 feet, I was back in the clouds and remained so until about 800 feet. I broke out and used the VASI for the remainder of the descent.

Some IFR Approaches

I decided to shoot some overdue IFR approaches today while under the hood in the Skylane with integral autopilot. The sky was hazy with an overcast layer somewhere around 6,000 feet so I filed for 6, hoping to get into some actual soup. Keene, NH seemed like a good destination; far enough to count as cross country time but close enough to get in a couple of approaches.After engine start, I received clearance via Manchester, direct at 6,000 feet. I copied ATIS and entered the altimeter setting in the Primary Flight Display (PFD) and the backup altimeter. No need to enter it in the autopilot seperately. Alone at the end of runway 29, I did my runup and pre-departure checks, obtained my IFR realease and takeoff clearance and was on my way. At 500 feet AGL, I retracted flaps and throttled back to 24" Hg manifold pressure and 2400 rpm on the prop for my climb at 95 knots. Now one big difference with the integrated autopilot is the FLC function, "Flight Level Change". Set this and the auopilot will control pitch to maintain the set airspeed. The older AP I'm accustomed to has only a vertical speed option, so as the plane climbs and engine power decreases, your airspeed gets slower and slower. Get distracted in the climb and you could wind up stalling. Not so with the FLC function.......run out of power and you simply stop climbing.

ATC cleared me direct Manchester and then direct to the Initial Approach Fix (IAF) for the ILS 02 approach into Keene, called CAHOW. CAHOW has a required hold in lieu of a procedure turn nut the autopilot knew that. It autimatically executed a teardrop entry into the hold. But instead of a 1 minute outbound leg, it flew a 5 mile pattern. I'll have to see how that can be changed, if possible. After the turn inbound, I crossed CAHOW and the PFD automatically changed over from GPS to Localizer navigation for the ILS. At the Final Approach Fix (FAF), I simply had to set power to maintain 90 knots approach speed and the sutopilot took me all the way down to decision height.........how cool! After a very nice touch and go (if I do say so myself, ) I went missed.

Now the autopilot went into suspend mode once I reached the missed approach point. I unsuspended it and selected GPs for navigation. It flew the entire missed appoach procedure including the terminal hold. Once again, I merely had to set power and flaps to maintain the proper airspeed and rate of climb. After announcing the missed to Boston Center, they vectored me around again for another try. I once again flew a touch and go and this time on the missed, asked to open the flight plan back to Bedford. I leveled off at 6,000 feet and was cleared direct to LOBBY.

There was an overcast layer about 500 feet above me but the haze was so thick you could really only see about 3 miles. After being cleared to descent to 3,000 feet, ATC called out a primary target return at 5 miles away at out altitude. As I got closer, I finally identified 3 ultralights, also at 3,000 feet, information and maneuvering in the haze.

Finally, I obtained clearance for the GPS 23 approach, circle to land 29. After contacting the tower, I was instructed to continue the approach to within 1 mile of the sirport, then enter the downwind for 29. I continued the approach to the 600 foor MDA and entered the downwind for what I thought would be a cicle to land clearance. However, the tower controller told me to continue the lft down wind and "I'll call your base".

Well, this presented a problem. We were number three in the pattren now, and the base leg intercepted three towers that were at 573 feet MSL. I adjusted my course to the right and climbed back up to 1200 feet to avoid any guy wires. The tower then called my base and I turned, but the Piper in front of me was far too close. I was just about to call a go around when another controller got on the mike and called for me to go around and squawk 1200. He did this to keep us in the pattern. Because I was on an IFR flight plan, If I popped up back on Boston's radar, Boston approach would have had to be contacted and they would have vectored me back to the start of the approach.

I crossed over the airport and entered the left downwind for a short final and landing. Good practice session.

Breakfast on the Vineyard

What a nice day! Skies clear, morning chill in the high 30's, and a northeasterly wind guaranteed a great flying day. Today I had David Bulkow along as a passenger for a short hop down to Martha's Vineyard for breakfast, a pilot who previously tooled around the skies of Wisconsin. The winds were calm as we preflighted, received a clearance to KMVY via radar vectors, direct. We started the takeoff roll at 7:21 a.m. in a calm wind on runway 29 with the skies "severe clear". The climb to 5,000 feet was at a brisk 1,000 fpm in the cold air. Our outbound course took us directly over Emmerson Playground in Concord (of Ralph Waldo fame, no doubt) as well as along the wetlands surrounding the Sudbury River. After contacting Boston Approach, we were given radar vectors until west of Plymouth, then cleared direct to KMVY. Visibility was very good although the ground haze made for mediocre photography. The route took us by Gillette Stadium, Norwood and Plymouth Airports and of course, the Ocean Spray cranberry bogs near Lakewood. The halfway point of the trip is Asswompsett Pond just south of Middleboro, Massachusetts. At this point we tuned into the ATIS at KMVY which reported the winds were from 080 at 12 knots giving us a slight crosswind of 7 knots from the right if we landed on runway 06. The decent into the Vineyard took us directly over Wood's Hole as we were cleared for the visual approach for Runway 06. On the right was Buzzard's Bay and you could see West Island just South of New Bedford as we crossed over Mattapoisett. A little farther and the Elizabethan Islands came into view with Naushon the closest of the chain followed by Pasque, Nashawena and Cuttyhunk in the distance. After being cleared for landing on runway 6, we turned left donwind to begin the approach and short final.We taxied right up to the restaurant and shut down. Hobbs time was 48 minutes compared to a planned 42 minutes and fuel consuption was 11 gallons compared to the planned 10.7 gallons; pretty good planning. In front of us was a Piaggio P180 Avanti II, the world's fastest business turboprop, all decked out in the colors of Ferrari.After breakfast we spoke with some other Skylane owners who had flown down from Plymouth for breakfast as well. An old radial engined WWII bomber was also parked on he tarmac (I think it is a Lockhed C-40, army version of the L-12). After getting a clearance back to Bedford via FREDO intersection, we taxied to runway 6 for a northeast departure. In the 10 knot headwind, the Sylane leapt into the air and climbed out with a great view of the control tower, tarmac and restaurant. After switching over to Cape approach, we were instructed to turn to a 360 degree heading to cross over Nantucket Sound as the plane rapidly climbed through 4,000 feet, leaving Martha's Vineyard behind.Traffic was still light and we were cleared direct Bedford almost immediately rather than heading eastward to FREDO. This set up a ground track just to the west of Vineyardhaven and Lagoon Pond, where my wife learned to sail in her youth.Passing over Vinyardhaven, you could see that the harbor was pretty empty this early in the season. Many of the moorings were empty but the ferry was docked, waiting for the return trip to Wood's Hole.We passed over Lake Tashmoo next. This is really a misnomer.. The "lake" is actually a salt water tidal basin that is large but very shallow with a maximum depth of only 12 feet. Unlike the lagoon, Lake Tashmoo does have a channel leading out into the bay.On the right, we could make out the unique shape of Mink Meadows Golf Course, a 9 hole course arranged in a square shape. We leveled off at 4,000 feet for our crossing back to the Cape amd were vectored toward Buzzards Bay, instead of proceeding to FREDO intersection, near Plymouth. Landfall was made just west of Falmouth.Flying up Buzzard's Bay, we passed over Scraggy neck in Cataumet and could make out Monument Beach.Groundspeed was 134 knots in a slight headwind as compared to the 161 knots we fared on the way back so I decided to make a PIREP via Flight Watch to make others aware. Meanwhile, we had a nice view of the Cape Cod Canal and the railroad and Bourne bridges.In no time at all, we passed west of Plymouth airport as well as Otis Air Force base on a heading of almost due north. Before long, the Boston skyline came into sight and Hanscom field stretched before us as we were cleared for a visual approach. We were vectored on a long, extended base leg for Hanscom runway 11 which had winds of 080 at 8 knots. There was only a lone Tomahawk on final ahead of us so the approach was short, sweet and punctuated by the second greaser of the day. We held for some jet traffic crossing the taxiway and taxied back to the west ramp. Total Hobbs time back was 0.9 hours vs a planned 0.7.

Flight to Keene, New Hampshire

Finally a warm, sunny day! Decided to head up to Keene with Kurt to get some photos and get some more 182 cross-country time. Unfortunately, there was a fair bit of haze which cut down on the picture quality. We were cleared to Keene via radar vectors, Manchester, direct at 6,000 feet. Boston Center sent us the whole way to MHT VOR and we made our turn to the west right over Manchester airport. Winds aloft were calm so we trued at about 131 knots as we passed over the Wapack range, south of Mount Monadnock and vere vectored to the ILS for Runway 2 at Keene. We intercepted the localizer almost over Orange airport and started down the ILS just south of KEEN VOR. Kurt shot a nice picture of the approach into Keene airport.

After taxiing back to the runway, I called up Bangor flight service for the clearance back to Badford via EEN GDM LOBBY direct. We departed to the north, climbing on runway heading until reaching 2,100 feet and then made a climbing left turn back over KEEN to proceed on course. ATC almost immediately gave us radar vectors back to Hanscom. When we finally arrived at KBED, we were actually cleared for a shirt final (first for me on a Saturday morning) and landed uneventfully on runway 29.
All in all, a nice flight.

IFR to Sanford, Maine.

Finally a day with no ice or snow storms so I thought I'd pop up to Sanford for a couple of approaches. Winds were 280 at 13 knots gusting to 20 so some attention had to be paid on aileron configuration during the long taxi to Runway 29. After receiving a clearance via Pease and Kennebunk VOR's, we were released and cleared for takeoff.

The landing roll was pretty short and we were up in no time. retracted flaps and pulled the manifold pressure back to 25" and 2400 rpm for a 90 knot climb. ATC was very busy and it took a while until they finally cleared us direct Pease. This Skylane has a fully integrated autopilot so I set it to maintain a constant 90 knot airspeed and then just kept adjusting the manifold pressue, watching the VSI vary as we climbed. At 5,000 feet we leveled off, set the cruise to 23" and 2300 rpm and leaned the engine back for about a 12.5 gph cruise and 25 oC rich of peak EGT. I went through the checklist and remembered to close the cowl flaps and we were on our way with about 152 knots of groundspeed in light turbulence.

We were soon given vectors and clered direct to SANFD, the initial approach fix for the Runway 07 ILS. I shot the approach and went missed. Meanwhile, my safety pilot took control to maneuver us away from another aircraft in the pattern. We obtained radar vectors back to the ILS and shot a second approach which went well in the gusty conditions. On the missed approach climb out, we were cleared back to Bedford via Lawrence VOR.

Boston approach was heavily loaded so they couldn't accomodate an ILS approach back. But suddenly, about 3 or 4 miles from the FAF at JAYCEE they radioed that traffic had lightened and we were cleared for the approach so we quickly loaded the approach, pulled power back to about 15" and dropped 10 o of flaps. Just about completed the GUMPS check when we were at JAYCEE inbound in the ILS. Landed in a pretty strong left crosswind with a little more drift than I wanted but all in all a good landing. Landing winds were 250 at 11 gusting to 20 which is a crosswind gusting to about 8 knots.

IFR to Keene, NH

Boy, this winter seems to have been defined by this picture. Snow....more snow.....low clouds with a freezing level to the surface, freezing fog.......finally a day with no icing arrived. Surface winds were gusting to 20 mph from the west with a northwest wind at 45 knots at 6,000 feet. So a flight up to the hills of N.H. seemed in order to sample some turbulence.
I received a clearance to Keene, New Hampshire via radar vectors, Manchester VOR. I held the 182 to the ground a little longer and rotated close to 60 knots because of the gusty wind condtions. The Skylane leaped into the air and as I pitched for Vy, was already at 100 feet and retracted flaps, set climb power for 25" manifold pressure, prop for 2400 rpm and pitched for a 90 knot climb out and contacted Boston approach. The flight was cleared to 5,000 feet direct Manchester and I was at altitude before even reaching Lowell, MA.
After reaching cruising altitude (remember to close those cowl flaps) and MHT VOR, we were cleared direct Keene and I requested the ILS 02 approach. Approach gave me vectors to final and some alternate missed approach instructions because KEEN VOR was out of service. KEEN VOR defines the hold on the published missed approach procedure for ILS 02 and I was wondering why this wasn't in the NOTAMS I received in my weather briefing.
During the descent to intercept the localizer, I finally encountered the expected turbulence. ABout 2 minuted out from the localizer I pulled power back to about 15" m.p. and conducted the pre-landing GUMPS check: fuel selctor to BOTH, mixture rich, prop to high rpm, landing light ON and dropped 10 degrees of flaps. Once on the localizer, it was tough not to chase the glideslope as the wind gusts shifed to the west as I decended below the ridgeline and into the valley. At decision height I went missed and executed the alternate missed approach procedure as instructed by ATC.
The 182 G100o with a coupled autopilot is a sight to behold. As I crossed the MAP, it suspended operations and after hitting the SUSP key and putting it into GPS mode it gave course guidance back to the VOR hold and automatically told me the entry was to be direct and could have even flown the hold for me, if that's what I wanted. However, I received radar vectors back around for another shot at the ILS, went missed and climbed back to 5,000 to head back to Bedford.

Well, the winds at 5,000 were smooth, but fast. My groundspeed was 184 knots as I headed back to KBED in record time! After shooting the ILS into Bedford, taxied back to the west ramp and tied down. Great flight!