Saturday’s DFC100 autopilot test flight was a big success! Surprisingly, it was quite easy to use. I read the manual on Thursday ; Took one quick test flight with Bill from Sarasota Avionics on Friday ; Then another test flight with Jeff, who is a fellow Cirrus pilot, on Saturday. Everything appeared to be working. If you care to see the gory details of the test flight, check out my Youtube channel. The video is a bit rough... But you can see what I did to convince myself that the AP worked!
But autopilots are not really the topic of this post. Rather this post is about Sunday’s long X-country to Colorado (state #35).
I got an early start and took off from Tampa Executive @ ~ 7:00 AM. It was still dark when I did the preflight and takeoff. But sunrise was just a few minutes after departure. I used the cool new IAS mode feature on the DFC100 to climb at a steady 130 KIAS up to 16000 FT. From there, I flew direct to Vicksburg/Talluah Airport (TVR), which is a sleepy little airport right on the Louisiana/Mississippi border.
During this leg, I got a chance to experiment with a new camera mount that I got at Sun N Fun. After trying several locations, I found a couple of spots that seemed to work well, which you can see in the slide show below:
Unfortunately, the weather was not very cooperative. There was a an overcast layer @ ~ 700 FT that forced me to fly the GPS18 approach down to near minimums. You can see the approach (from the new camera angle) below:
In addition, the radar coverage in this area is not great, which forced me to close my IFR flight plan on the ground. Despite the weather inconvenience, I am glad I stopped there. The fuel prices were good and the sole FBO staff was very helpful! (Need to add this to my list of preferred fuel stops).
Since I had a long journey ahead, I stayed just long enough to stretch my legs and file another flight plan. I got my clearance on the phone and then raced to depart before my void time.
On the next leg, I wanted a break from using the oxygen cannula. So I flew @ 12000FT and enjoyed a very smooth ride all the way to Great Bend, KS. While the en-route portion of the flight was uneventful, the landing was not. The winds were howling and the crosswind was a solid 20 KTs. This made for a very challenging approach with a huge crab angle.
After a short break and an ugly weather briefing, it was time to depart for Denver. The METAR @ KDEN showed a 17 KT wind gusting to 24, 1/4 SM visibility, Snow, and an overcast layer @ 200 FT. While the weather was "legal", it was the most challenging weather that I ever faced! I departed with full fuel (and fully prepared to divert if needed).
Shortly after takeoff, the screens (and the windows) confirmed everything I suspected:
FL pilots don't usually see these colors on the map! |
Picked up a little ice on the wing and used TKS in max setting |
Even the windshield picked up a little ice. |
As often happens in busy airspace, the controllers asked me what was my "maximum approach airspeed". I did my best to cooperate and told him that I could maintain ~ 150 KTs till the final approach fix. By this point, I was listening intently to the PIREPs and totally focused on nailing every heading/altitude/radio call. In fact, I was so busy that I didn't even have time to turn the camera on.
After passing the final approach fix @ ~155 KTs, I struggled to slow down and was looking nervously out the window for a runway. Finally, at about 200-250 FT AGL, I saw it! At that point, I was feeling VERY relieved and managed to turn the camera on for the landing on the enormous 12000 FT runway, which you can see below:
After a long, challenging day of flying, I felt like I really earned the landing in the 35th state!
Cheers,
Great stuff, TJ! Glad you like your new "toy" :P
ReplyDeleteAwesome! You sure keep that airplane in good shape. Also, you're right - that's one heckuva lighting system.
ReplyDeleteThx Victoria and Steve! (It helps having a Cirrus Service Center @ my home base)
ReplyDeleteCongrats on the 35th state and great videos!
ReplyDeleteThx Todd! The videos are still a work in progress... Hopefully, you are seeing improvements as I learn about cameras and software.
ReplyDeleteI love your adventures!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteThanks Debbie! (As you can see, the states are getting harder and further)
ReplyDelete