Monthly Archives: August 2015

Our Summer Trip 2015 – Part 2

After spending a few days as tourists in St. Louis, My wife went to her conference and I flew north towards Oshkosh. The flight up there was very easy. I made one stop for refuel on the way up.
Link to the Route on Skyvector


Monmouth Airport C66

Monmouth Airport C66

I chose an airport a bit out of the way because airnav.com told me they had the least expensive fuel in the area and as usual they were correct.  I saved around 20 cents a gallon stopping here.  What a great little airport.  They had a homey FBO office on the end of the main hanger and a large agricultural spraying operation going on.  I had to negotiate my landing with a
couple of air tractors coming in and out as I was landing.  Nice folks at the FBO and they even helped me pump the gas.
Video of landing at Monmouth C66
I was experimenting with different positions for the camera on the airplane so you will notice the camera is on the right side and mounted a bit lower. My plan for Airventure was to stay at a hotel located next to a small municipal airport located in Portage Wisconsin.   Again I was influenced by the fuel prices on airnav and the ease of access to Oshkosh. I would fly in and out of Oshkosh each day and sleep in a bed at the hotel.  I must say it all worked out great.


Ridge Motor Inn

Ridge Motor Inn, Portage

The Ridge hotel, located about 3/4 of a mile and a short walk from the airport, was nothing fancy but it was inexpensive, had a bed, a good working shower and a restaurant that served simple comfort food and ice cold local beers.  My favorite beer for this trip was a local brew made by New Glarus Brewing called Spotted Cow and it was really tasty with a cheeseburger with an over easy egg on top.


New Glarus Spotted Cow Beer

New Glarus Spotted Cow Beer

Video of Landing at Portage C47


Portage Municipal Airport

Portage Municipal Airport

The Portage municipal airport was a great spot. The manager was a character!  He cussed like a sailor, yet went out of his way to be hospitable to all guests. The airport is located about 48 nautical miles southwest of Oshkosh, the flight would take me less that 20 minutes and  provided me with access to low price fuel.   I really enjoyed gabbing with all the pilots coming from and going to Oshkosh.  I will probably use this same place again as it was a gem.


Portage Municipal Airport FBO

Portage Municipal Airport FBO

After an uneventful yet enjoyable flight to Portage I put my knapsack over my shoulder and made the short walk over to the hotel for the night.  I needed to get plenty of rest and be ready for my first flight into Oshkosh.  After a good dinner and a couple of cold beers I kicked my feet up and relaxed and got prepared for the flight to Oshkosh the next day. Stay tuned… part
3 coming soon!

My Visit from the FAA

On July 18th I experienced a partial loss of power in my Piper Comanche while approaching the St. Louis Down town Airport.   I requested an expedited landing into the airfield as I thought it best to get on the ground.

Video of approach and landing at KCPS

 

A note about the video.  About 1:10 you will see the engine stumble and notice that it seems to sound different and run differently.  After the landing you will see the fire truck parade.  It seems the approach folks got a little excited and declared an emergency for me.  I requested an expedited landing as the engine starting running rough and I lost the ability to generate some power.  I did not declare an emergency I only requested an expedited landing as I was unsure if I could do a go around if it was needed.  In the end, it was discovered that my right magneto had a broken rotor brush.  Seems it was still working sometimes and was throwing the engine timing off.  It all ended safely so no worries.

After landing and filling out paperwork with the fire department, we went on our merry way and I thought that was the end of it all.  No it was not.  A few days later I got a call from a very polite gentleman from the local FSDO.  He wanted to let me know that because of the incident, he was tasked with investigating the situation and wanted to meet with me.  I agreed to meet and then he asked me to bring my log books.  I explained that I was on vacation and did not have that information with me.   No worries he said you can send that along later.

Before I got the call from the FAA representative a few fellow pilots urged me to fill out a NASA report.  That is essentially a report where a pilot tattles on themselves for what we did wrong, which can help if any legal actions might be taken. I am glad I did so and believe it was a wise precaution.  It also helped me to organize my thoughts and present my finding when I met with the FAA representative.

So we met at the FBO and he asked to see the regular documents – my medical certificate and my pilot’s license.  I produced them and showed them to him.  Then he asked me what happened and I explained pretty much what I wrote just below the video above.  I asked him why all the fuss as I never declared an emergency and only asked to be expedited as a precaution.

This was news to him.  He was not aware of those circumstances.  He seemed to understand though and he wrapped up the questions by asking to see the plane. I took him out to the plane and showed him the standard documents. AROW – Air Worthiness Certificate, Registration, Operators Manual, Weight and Balance.

He looked at the engine, took a picture of the data plate and that was pretty much it.  He asked if I would start the plane, which I did and I flipped to the right magneto and it started popping and backfiring and generally running like crap.  This seemed to satisfy him that an actual problem existed in the plane.

He asked me about my plan to get it fixed.  I told him I was going to take it to the local shop on the field.  he asked me to send him a copy of the log entry once it was fixed, plus copies of the most recent annual inspection entry and the AD compliance report.  I explained that it would be a few weeks as we were on vacation.  He gave me his business card and that was it for that day.

When I returned home I had an email from the FAA Inspector reiterating the request for the documents.  I scanned them and emailed them off to him the next day.   So now we wait. I have emailed him back and asked that when the report is finalized that he email a copy to me.

Our Summer Trip 2015 – Part 1

Hello All
The summer trip has come to an end. We had a good time. It was much shorter than planned but we still did some fun stuff.   Our trip this year took us from Ocala to St. Louis then on to Oshkosh, Petit Jean State park, Memphis, Nashville, Crossville, and Spartanburg.

Link to the whole trip on Skyvector

The first leg of the trip took us from Ocala to West Georgia Regional Airport in Carrolton Georgia for a refuel stop.  Nice little airport.  We borrowed the courtesy car and went into town to grab a quick lunch.  The cheap and quick option was a Subway sandwich shop just a few miles down the road. We returned to the airport, lunch in hand and gabbed with some other pilots in the lounge for a bit while we ate and then climbed back in the plane and flew on to our next destination – St. Louis.

West Georgia Regional Airport KCTJ

West Georgia Regional Airport KCTJ

Video of the Landing in Carrollton

After lunch and a refuel we continued on to our first destination KCPS St. Louis Downtown, which is located in Illinois across the river from St. Louis proper.  I must admit it was very cool to look down the runway at the St. Louis Arch just across the river.  The flight was pretty easy we had good weather and a light tailwind so we picked up a few extra knots and cruised at about 135 kts at a70% power setting.

St. Louis Downtown Airport

Video of the landing at St. Louis Downtown 

A note about the video.  About 1:10 you will see the engine stumble and notice that it seems to sound different and run differently.  After the landing you will see the fire truck parade.  It seems the approach folks got a little excited.  I requested an expedited landing as the engine starting running rough and I lost the ability to generate some power.  I did not declare an emergency I only requested an expedited landing as I was unsure if I could do a go around if it was needed.  In the end, it was discovered that my right mag had a broken rotor brush.  Seems it was still working sometimes and was throwing the engine timing off.  It all ended safely so no worries.  The repair was simple and was completed by the shop on the field in a few hours.

We called ahead and the FBO, Ideal Aviation, arranged a rental car and a hotel for us at very good rates. For the next four days we stayed at a Drury inn and Suites to the east of the airport in O’Fallen Illinois, which was a bout a 20 minute drive from downtown.  I must say I am a big fan of that hotel chain.  In addition to a complimentary hot breakfast they also offered a complimentary simple dinner and free adult beverages every evening.    We would get up in the morning and have a lovely breakfast and then spend the day as tourists and return for a hot dinner and a cold beer.  From now on I will try to stay at this chain when I travel.

IMG_20150721_203027

I have to say that visiting the Arch was pretty cool.  It was a very easy drive from our hotel.  We drove across the Mississippi river and then right into downtown.  Finding parking was very efficient and inexpensive.  A short walk got us from our parking to the steps of the courthouse, where the above picture was taken.  Then a quick walk across the street and into the park under the arch allowed for a close up view of this magnificent structure.

Another interesting stop was the Cahokia mounds.  This is the remnant of a native american city that lasted some 300 years.  They build pyramids and had a whole city with walls and even their own version of Stonehenge – but with wooden poles.   Here is a link to the museum website: http://www.cahokiamounds.org/

So this was our first few days in St. Louis.  After this my wife went to her conference, and I continued on to Airventure at oshkosh.  Stay tuned for part two.