Annual Biannual Flight Review (BFR) and Instrument Proficiency Check (IPC) time.  This is where I get a line check from the chief pilot at Midwest Corporate and a sign off for insurance and my log book.  The FAA requires one every two years.  I get one every year because of the insurance on the aircraft.  I negotiated a deal because the commercial insurance is higher than what I used to have. 

I like flying with the chief pilot at Midwest.  He is an experienced Army aviator with lots of time in Barons, Kingairs, Learjets, and other stuff.  I always learn something and practice is always good with an experienced instructor looking over your shoulder.

We went to Hutchenson, Newton, and back to Jabara.  The weather wasn't great, but it wasn't bad either.  I had to file IFR.  We found some holes and did our airwork above the clouds.  The RTB (Return to Base) was IFR.  The weather was about 1000 foot ceilings, but the deck was only about 500 feet thick.  The winds were very strong at altitude.  I was flying down final with more than 10 degrees of correction.  Even so, the approaches went great and the flight was fun--although very busy.  Everything in the aircraft worked well although, I think I saw the Trimble regain lock at some point. 

ATC did an outstanding job.  They looked out for us and gave us everything we wanted.  I was proud of them.

I'm good for another year!   

I'm catching up.  I've just been busy.  I took my daughter back to the ballerina grind on the eleventh.  Her junk filled the aircraft again.  She's lucky I have a Baron, the Ferrari SUV of civil aviation.  She took the old TV from my other daughter home--it was at least a 32 inch tube TV (big).  The flights were uneventful.  The return was at night, and I did fly a night overhead at AAO.

Two days later I had to fly to Florida (Destin, DTS) on business.  I took my regular copilot and my brother and sister-in-laws down to help.  I was not happy with the flight director and the GPSs both had break locks on the satellites.  Everything worked well except for those little details.  At Destin, Eglin approach kept us at 4,000 feet until about three miles from the field.  That's when they cleared us for the visual.  We had to loose 4,000 feet in three miles, and in a Baron, that ain't gonna happen.  Instead, I lined up for an overhead to 14.  No one else was in the pattern and that seemed like the best option to get down.  It worked great.

On the way out, the weather was about 1200 foot ceilings and clear above 5,000.  The main ADI tumbled and would not recover.  The weather wasn't that bad at DTS and although it was poop at AAO, the forecast brought it to clear by the time we were supposed to arrive.  I covered the bad ADI and took off using the electric backup.  We had the electric ADI and needle, ball, and airspeed.  That seemed good enough to me.  The only problem was that I would have to hand fly the plane for over 4 hours.

We broke out at about 5,000 feet and continued in the clear all the way to Wichita.  The main ADI did recover after about 30 minutes of flight.  I didn't have to hand fly it the whole way. 

I wrote up the ADI, one of the main struts, and the GPSs.  The ADI went out on warrantee service.  Supposedly there was some contamination that blew the rotors.  I think the rotors were just not repaired correctly the first time.  The rebuild company was great about the fix and took me out to lunch too.  I think they do good work there.  They need to, an ADI is a flight critical instrument--that's why I have a backup.  

Okay, okay, already--I had too much holiday cheer and I'm finally getting to my aviation blog.  I flew down to SAT (San Antonio) to pick up my ballerina daughter for Christmas and New Years.  It was after Christmas, but it is the Holiday Inn story.  On holidays, entertainers give an extra show.  She was in the Nutcracker with Ballet San Antonio.

What can I say.  Down during the day and back at night.  It was relatively uneventful.  The night landing was an absolute squeaker.  I got lucky.

I was lucky I didn't take anyone down to SAT with me.  The stuff I hauled back with my daughter literally filled the back and the front from floor to ceiling.  I couldn't have taken another human being in the plane. 

Ponca City, there and back again.  After I returned from Tyler, Texas, I left the plane set up for a flight down to Ponca City to fly the winners of the Kansas Aviation Museum dinner flight.  We had two couples and me on board.  The winner wanted to act as the copilot.  That's what I encouraged for the flight.  The point, after all, was to experience aviation at its finest.  The winner and copilot was a private pilot who had almost finished his license.  We didn't get to fly any instruments, but all the time was at night.  The flight was fast and the only problem was the unusable taxiways at PNC (Ponca City).  At night, that is a real problem and though the layout of the airport was simple, there wasn't a field diagram either.  Talk about a pain.  Without a field diagram, the moving map couldn't bring up any real GPS help.  It all worked out well, but I make a couple of clunky landings.  Remember, at night, you flare high or you flare low.  I flared a little high and bonked in.  They weren't bad, but they weren't squeakers--ah, night.

The food was good at Enriques--I recommend it from a pilot standpoint.  You pull right up to the tower and the restaurant is there.  You can watch the airport operations and eat good TexMex food.  The prices are low and there service is great.  The only thing missing its the Margaritas, they don't have anything stronger than beer.  Oh well, I couldn't drink anyway. 

I tried to fly on 12 Dec.  It was a flight to Ponca City (PNC) for dinner at Enrique's Mexican Restaurant.  The passengers won the Kansas Aviation Museum auction of the flight.  Everything was going great until we arrived at the end of the runway.  The ADI (attitude indicator) was tumbling and the weather was poop.  There's no way I'm taking any aircraft up at night, in the weather with a bad primary ADI.  I guess we could use the secondary or needle and ball :-(.  No way! 

By the weekend, the ADI was repaired ($3700 later).  Just in time to fly down to Tyler, Texas for my nephew's wedding.  There isn't much to say about this flight.  There was very little weather anywhere.  There were no fight hazards.  The FBO treated me great.  They did forget about the fuel discount we arranged and they did have a very crowded ramp with no wing walkers (danger, danger, Will Robinson).  Other than that, the flight was great.

I did have some little issues with the new (fixed) ADI.  The Flight Director (FD) showed low and put the aircraft left of course.  The number one radio improved, but the number two GPS lost lock three times in cruise.  Not sure what is going on.  Some things are better, some are weird.  That's gremlins in aircraft.     

I went up last night to make sure of my night currency.  I'm not sure why the FAA thinks this is necessary for experienced aviators.  Landings at night are no different than landings during the day--as long as you have lights on the runway and in the cockpit.  No one thinks you should try to land without lights in or outside the cockpit--unless you are in special operations :-).

The flight was awesome, but too short.  I made some go arounds, a single engine pattern, a touch and go, five total landings.  Mostly I left the gear down and let it hang for safety and just because I didn't want to put more cycles on it.  The plane was a rocket and everything worked great. 

What was funny to me was another Baron I saw in the pattern.  The pilot flew a wide pattern at about 500 feet.  The reason this was interesting is that this is typical of pilots, military and civilian, who haven't learned about using gs in the final turn to control airspeed and for safety.  With passengers on board, you don't want to fly hiaka patterns, but you should fly the pattern so you are using some g-loading for airspeed control.  A proper pattern for an aircraft for a Baron should start at 1000 feet above ground level (AGL).  The aircraft should be configured at the perch (downwind before base turn).  The turn to final should be a continuous banked turn with the nose down and the power in the green arch.  Speed can be controlled with pitch to keep the aircraft at or below 120 knots.  In this situation, an approach to a stall can be corrected by rolling out, adding power, and making a goaround.  A low, flat, low bank pattern is dangerous because an approach to a stall cannot be corrected just by rolling out and adding power.  A stall at low airspeed, altitude, and no g-loading will result in a non-accelerated stall that is very hard to recover from, especially when low to the ground.  This effect is especially bad at night.

All the landings were great and the flight was fun, but too short--still too many cycles on the aircraft.  One funny point was the lights of the runway went out during the last pattern.  I had to flick them back on--ha ha.  The world is very dark on the final turn when the lights go out--kind of like special operations ;-)--but then we had night vision goggles.      

Okay, I have been so busy flying I haven't had time to update this blog--sorry.  I flew during Thanksgiving to San Antonio (SAT) and Beaumont (BPT), Texas then return.  The weather was poor, but not terrible.  ATC was helpful, but not efficient or wise.  Of course with poor weather, SAT gave me an ILS (instrument landing system) into SAT both times.  The problem with this is they almost always ask me to maintain best speed to the FAF (final approach fix) and we all know Barons don't slow down very well.  This means you burn in at full speed and have to slow to 152 knots to get the gear and flaps down, then slow to 120 knots for the approach.  If the weather was really bad, I would hope they wouldn't do that.  Actually, I found their control to be helpful. 

The flight to BPT and back to SAT was a little less happy.  First, they would not let me fly over Huston.  I think that's dumb.  It added 30 minutes to the flight, but we did get a coast tour (only because, I filed that way).  When we arrived at BPT, the weather was not really bad enough for an approach, but I should have flown one, BPT is hard to see when approaching from the south.  It is really, really , really hard to see from the south.  The landing was uneventful and nice, but still... KUSA always takes great care of us at BPT.  I forgot to negotiate a lower fuel price--next time.

RTB was like I said a repeat of the first flight to SAT with similar weather.  Millionair there were all helpful and gave me 50 cents off on a gallon--plus you can get a free coke and popcorn!

The flight I really want to get to is the one I made for my supreme court case in DC.  I flew direct to Manassas (HEF).  The weather was great until we hit Indiana.  ATC was very helpful but kept calling out precipitation that my radar would not find.  We did get some snow and had some light ice for a little, but it wasn't a big deal.  ATC kept calling for moderate to heavy precip--not sure what they were seeing.  The weather at Manassas was 1700 foot scattered and 3500 overcast.  To me that's approach weather especially in the DC ATIS with TFRs everywhere.  Surprise, surprise, surprise, they gave me a visual approach.  It was a controller in training.  We broke out at 2000 feet with the clouds skimming the cockpit and didn't see the field until we were 5 miles out.  When we were at about 7 miles the controller tried to cancel IFR on us and the voice of the supervising controller came on line.  I thought it was dumb for them to give us a visual in the weather and ATIS.  Everything else went well.  The things I can control, that is.

Return to AAO (Jabara in Wichita) was another story.  We took off into clear weather and had stuff under us the whole way to Louisville (JVY).  JVY was a fuel stop (people and aircraft) because of winds.  When we arrived at JVY things became interesting.  The clouds had some ice in them (not forecast)--it wasn't a big deal.  The controllers were helpful, but a little clueless.  Basically he offered me vectors or the NoPT (no procedure turn) to the ILS at JVY.  The weather was 1700 overcast with a direct cross.  I took the vectors--bad choice.  The controller took me in a 90 degree intercept to an ILS.  I was blasting in at 180 knots, but saw it coming.  We cut across the course, but I had us right back and we made a stable approach.  I was pissed and told the controller when I cancelled on the ground.  He apologized, but as I thought about it, I became more irritated and wondered what would have happened to a less experienced pilot.  The TERPS criteria require a 45 degree intercept to an ILS up to 10 miles out and a 20 degree intercept within 10 miles.  That means I was not in TERPS criteria and technically could have hit something.  I called the supervising ACT and asked them to investigate.  After reviewing the tapes they concluded the controller gave me a last second turn to a 30 degree intercept of 210.  I didn't hear it, my copilot didn't hear it, the heading set marker was still at 270, shazam.  Who wants to guess what the tapes really showed.  I know if I had made a mistake like that, ATC would have violated me.  I was happy not to have to violate the controller, but I wanted to scare the crap out of him.  Remember, after the accident, what does the controller do?  He feels bad while he drinks a cup of coffee to settle his nerves--the pilot and crew are dead.  I have had this kind of situation of poor vectors on ILS approaches, I decided I'm not going to play along anymore.  This kind of sloppy controlling can kill people.  On the controller's side, he was trying to help correct for the hellashous crosswind, but a Baron flys more like a jet than a small prop aircraft.  A controller should be able to figure that out by the airspeed.  To me, this was the most interesting event of the flights.  I didn't wrack up the violation of ATC this time.  They need to make sure they carefully follow their own rules.

The flight to AAO was uneventful until the visual approach and landing.  ATC cleared me a visual approach for 36 at AAO.  A couple of Army Blackhawks were playing in the AAO and Beech Field patterns.  One of them was flying an approach to Beech.  ATC said he was going 110 knots, and I was blasting in at 190.  We saw him right away.  It was funny.  We were going fast enough we would have cut right in front of him with no problems.  We were at 2000 feet MSL and I planned to cut across AAO at center field and enter downwind.  At the same time one of the Blackhawks was in the pattern at AAO.  The Blackhawk on approach (opposite direction) to Beech broke off (chicken), we crossed midfield and made a short approach--it was fun.  When we landed, we got to see the Blackhawks up close.  I wanted to speak to them--I'm not sure AAO or Beech Field have joint use military agreements--such are the rules of aviation.  Until next time...    

My friend, the great hunter, shot two elk in Colorado a couple of weeks ago.  I flew him across to Pueblo, CO to pick up the meat.  Actually, the meat was being processed in Alamosa, but at 7,500 feet elevation, the Baron would have a tough time flying out with enough gas to go anywhere.  There were the two of us and 130 lbs. of elk meat to plan for.  At 5,400 feet elevation, Pueblo was a better choice. 

The day was beautiful with some junk at Wichita, but clear skies in Colorado.  The trick was the winds and runway outages at Pueblo.  The main runway was under construction and all that was left was a 3,100 foot runway and 17/35.  17/35 was plenty long, but the runways were at 90 degrees and the crosswind was near limits (22 knots).  On the way in, they gave us 17, so no problem.  I picked Flower Aviation because of the Flower Girls and I wanted to impress my friend--there are no more Flower Girls (It is very sad).  They have cookies, but who doesn't anymore.  There were no more steak deals or wine deals or anything.  The line guy was nice, but we didn't even get a ride.  Sad, sad, sad day in the world.

We got a ride to the rental car joint and picked up the car then headed out for Alamosa.  The drive was about an hour and a half.  When we found the place--a small house.  The butcher was this older Mennonite gentleman and his wife or daughter (couldn't tell).  While I retrieved the coolers (we carried 6 of various sizes), my friend filled the butcher with some info about our flight and me.  When I came back through the door, the butcher, out of the blue, asked me, "Do you know Chuck Yeager?"  I said, yes.  I knew him at Edwards AFB.  The Mennonite Butcher proceeded to tell us about his experiences as a guide for Chuck there in the mountains around Alamosa.  He was a hunting guide for the Forbs ranch.  We swapped stories for a while, ate some deer meat off the stove, and picked up the frozen elk meat.

We made our way back to Pueblo and packed up the airplane.  When we went to take off, I asked for the long runway.  The accel-stop distance for the Baron was at 3,300 feet and 3,100 wouldn't cut it.  Never turn your twin into a single engine aircraft.  We took off and returned to Jabara in Wichita.  By the way, both landings were concrete kisses.  I am very happy to report.

More great weather flights--this time I was flying for business, I assure you.  The first flight was from Jabara Field, Wichita, Kansas (AAO) to Destin Airport, Destin, Florida (DTS).  The weather was supposed to be poor with thunderstorms cutting across the USA from Mississippi on up.  We took off with a low ceiling and popped out of the clouds at about 3000 feet--then it was beautiful.  I was hoping for a little challenge, but that wasn't to be until landing.  We were fighting sunshine the whole way.  I had the radar and stormscope seeking, but they weren't finding anything.  Even Destin was clear and the weather was supposed to be below approach minimums--at least for part of the day.  I expected an approach, and took a visual straight into runway 14.  That's when the fun started.  I'm making all the calls plus some and I know there were people listening--I spoke to UNICOM and heard traffic all over the place.  A helicopter headed on a collision course with me.  It looked like it was on base, but it wasn't exactly on a standard base and it wasn't talking on the radios.  It wasn't squawking either because Air Traffic Control (ATC) Eglin approach hadn't told me about him.  I was configured at at 120 knots, the helicopter was probably making 50 knots, if that.  I was eating him alive.  I thought he might turn onto the taxiway for a taxiway landing since her wasn't talking or squawking, but he didn't, he turned right in front of me on final--GO AROUND time.

I went around on the right so I could keep the helicopter in sight.  We cleaned up the aircraft and cut up into a left downwind.  The landing was excellent as well as exciting.  I noted just where the helicopter had landed, so I could make a phone call.  I thought about violating him with ATC right then and there, but decided to talk first.  When I called, the pilot was very apologetic.  He was on the wrong frequency.  I read him the riot act, but I didn't violate him.  Flying without talking or squawking around a field like DTS is like playing Russian roulette with about five bullets.

The return flight (RTB) from DTS to AAO was both better than predicted and exciting.  I had to tanker a lot of gas because the nearest alternate was Amarillo, Texas more than an hour away.  The weather at AAO sucked (technical term).  It was supposed to be 500 foot ceilings and 3 miles visibility, but had been sitting at 300 foot all day.  I was looking at the possibility of an approach at Wichita Midcontinent (ICT) because the winds were favoring 36 at over 10 knots and the GPS to 36 only goes to 400 and 1.  Fortunately before I started the approach to 36 at AAO, the weather came up to 500 and 3.  I flew the LPV and that was an excellent approach, both because of the type of approach and because of the excellent pilot.  The landing was a squeaker.  Hurrah!  What a great flight and day.    

The first flights to Iowa and Muscatine (MUT) and return to Jabara (AAO) were pretty routine.  I was carrying important PAX (passengers)--my daughter and granddaughter.  It was the first flight of my 18 month old granddaughter--I plan to make her a copilot some day.  She loved the flight.  My father always told me my first flight in an aircraft was a Beech Bonanza he flew, and I was about 18 months then.  Everything went well and there were almost no clouds in the sky.

The return flights were something entirely different. What a wonderful weather flying day.  This was a manly man flying day.  The kind the inexperienced and weak and the foolish should fear.  The flight started with the clouds engulfing the aircraft at about 500 feet on both ends and ended with approaches to near minimums at each field.  It was awesome.  I flew the new LPV approach to 36 at Jabara.  This is an awesome GPS approach that has a glideslope to a DH (decision height).  Now picture this--in the soup, single cockpit (no copilot), a KC-135 ahead of me in the pattern at McConnell and flying an approach there.  What does ATC (Air Traffic Control) do.  Give me a vector at 180.  I guess I was then too far into the McConnell traffic pattern, I get a direct to CATCH (the IAF (Initial Approach Fix)), but then I get a vector to 270 for a few miles.  I'm burning my gas and not the taxpayers--when do I get some priority.  Finally, the controller sent me direct to CATCH, but I was pretty close.  Luckily, when they put me on the first vector, I pulled the power back--I was only going 160 knots and not 200.  The flights were great and the weather was fantastic.  

Another family support flight.  I took the regular copilot out to see little granddaughter number one and daughter number two and hubby.  We were time pressed, so I didn't stick over night, but RTB (Returned to Base) as soon as I off loaded and made connections.

The flight from AAO (Jabara Wichita, KS) to MUT (Muscatine, IW) was weather filled.  We spent the entire leg out right at the top of the clouds.  The copilot didn't like me going through them, so we did a little cloud avoidance deviations.  I thought it was great--the copilot was happy.  I didn't have to fly an approach at MUT, but ATC held us up for a long time and I had to make a hiyaka final to runway 6.  It really wasn't that extreme.  I really should have done an overhead.

The RTB was a little more exciting.  I was in the clouds most of the way back a 8000.  I should have found a better altitude.  Although there was nothing in them they did have a little vertical component and that made things uncomfortable when popping through them.  If the copilot was on board, I would have climbed to 10,000 to get over everything and lived with the reduced tailwind. Yes, there was a tailwind moving east to west at that altitude--that is really unusual.  I flew an ILS (Instrument Landing System) approach to AAO on RTB.  The weather was at about 1000 feet with a little reduced visibility.  I set them up on both, but forgot to switch the Nav1 from GPS to VLOC--ouch.  I went a little across the ILS course and caught it.  There wasn't any problem, and the nice, and busy ATC guy, gave me a vector back to course.  That was a nice courtesy.  It didn't mess up the approach, but shows you have to be careful all the time.  The landing was a nice touch with the horn on roll out with aerobraking.

The next flight back to MUT was a little interesting.  ATC at first could find my flight plan.  That was weird because I saw it drop in FlightAware.com and in Fltplan.com.  The controller said it was there, but didn't print?  What's with that.  After I picked up my IFR release from ATC for runway 36 (climb to 8000 and on course) a Piper popped up on the ILS 18 opposite direction.  I was following a Gulfstream who just landed 36.  I asked the Piper what kind he was and exactly where, did some mental math, and asked if he was happy if I took off in his face.  He said go and he would watch out--kool.  I tookoff and turned right after I had the gear in the well.  I spotted him at about 3 miles on the ILS while I was heading to Emporia (EMP)--all very kool.  The weather wasn't that bad and the flight unremarkable.  Oh, did I tell you, I was using Comm 2.  Comm 1 just sucks right now.  I think it is a grounding issue.  We changed the radio, the antennas, and it still is weak and has interference.  I think it is a ground somewhere.  ATC lost us on the way to MUT before, so just to be safe, I'm using Comm 2 all the time for communications.  Now, the landing at MUT was interesting.  They were running young eagle flights (free flights for kids to get them interested in aviation) and glider tows and landings out of MUT.  We came in visual on an IFR clearance.  Not a problem, but on landing there was three gliders and people just off either side of the runway.  My wingspan is easily within the width of the runway there, but I get a little concerned when there is a person standing that close to my landing area.  I'm coming it a 100 knots with a 4000 pound aircraft and two props going 2500 rpm.  This is a setup for disaster.  I landed a little long because of it and did a little wig wag to keep as far as possible from the people at the end.  Still a good landing.  I parked in my usual spot and everyone was there to meet me.  My little granddaughter had to come see me first and I had to hold her the whole time I bedded the aircraft down (she likes me best).

The RTB to AAO went like clockwork.  The weather was great and no complications.  Took off VFR from MUT and picked up my IFR from approach.  At AAO, we had to drop through an overcast at 5500.  There wasn't any traffic, so I canceled IFR.  I crossed the middle of the runway at 1000 feet AGL (Above Ground Level) and dropped into a left hand downwind for 36 from that position.  I didn't start slowing until I made the midfield call.  I configured on downwind and turned a tight base.  Right at that moment a Gulfstream started a conversation on the UNICOM freq.  That was great.  He got finished just in time so I could make my base and final calls.  I landed with a touch on the mains.  I did have to brake to make the usual turn off--the winds were almost a direct cross, but favoring 36.  

I had to fly back to MI to pick up my regular copilot and to see the little baby again--had to.

The flight out to YIP (Willow Run, MI near Detroit) was pretty routine.  This time the Avidyn talked to the Nav system, but the radios were still screwy.  I decided to use Comm 2 for communications.

Visit was nice, but instead of RTB, the regular copilot directed a trip to MUT (Muscatine, IW) to visit the other granddaughter.  A string of moderate to worse CBs (Cumulous, next to TRW, thunderstorms) ran from MUT to YIP.  I filed south into Ohio and across to slip into MUT just ahead of some real TRWs.  We tookoff into weather and continued in the weather.  The radar and stormscope were reporting all clear.  Flight was great, but IMC (Instrument Meteorological Conditions) the entire way.  The winds slightly favored 06, but they were mainly a pure cross.  I set up for a GPS approach to 06.  On the way to the IAF (Initial Approach Fix), the radar showed a TRW with a nugget right over the IAF.  I told the controller to give me a vector to the ILS 24.  I could fly a circle from the LOC or land from the ILS with just a touch of a tail wind.  It was a great weather approach and we landed on 24 without a problem.  It was a slight nosewheel touch, but still aokay.  The guys at MUT nosed us into the hangar I reserved, and we didn't even have to step out into the rain--that was great.  What an outstanding crew at MUT!!!!

RTB (return to base, AAO Col James Jabara, Wichita, KS) was another weather day, but it was only clouds without TRW.  We ran the radar and the stormscope--saw nothing.  The winds favored 36 at AAO, so I flew a LOC to 18 and circled to 36.  It wasn't too bad of weather the clouds were at 1200 with good visibility.  I did overshoot 36 a little, it wasn't much, but I could have snuck the downwind out a little.  Landing was fine, but a couple of bounces.  My copilot didn't complain, so I thought that was a good sign.  Fun trips!  By the way, we needed to get into AAO before Friday when the airshow started.  We could have come in, but we would have to give a show and the copilot vetoed that idea--oh well.

I'm a double opa, so I had to fly my regular copilot to Ann Arbor, MI to take care of momma and baby.  The baby was a home birth in a tiny student's apartment--where my daughter and son-in-law live.  Talk about a shift from modern culture--everything worked out great.  I flew from AAO (Jabara, Wichita, KS) to YIP (Willowrun, near Detroit, MI).  The day was a little stinky from a weather standpoint, but we skirted all the bad stuff while flying IFR (Instrument Flight Rules).  I almost always fly IFR--just a good habit.

The Avidyn would not talk to the Nav systems and I couldn't make it.  It was very bothersome.  All I had was an expensive radar head instead of a moving map and nav consolidation system.  The radios were better, but worse.  We switched the antennas because of interference on comm 1, but I think the (now) number two antenna is weak or has a bad ground.  The number 1 comm still seems weak but less interference.  The right cylinder temp gauge is screwy.  On the second leg it showed off scale high.  I ignored it.  All the other gauges showed everything fine.  I wrote all this stuff up, but I don't think it will get fixed before my next flight.

Chicago forgot to hand us off to Detroit approach control.  That got a little hectic.  They weren't that busy, plus just before descent is not the time to forget about an IFR aircraft.  Chicago control is painful anyway for lots of reasons.  The controllers gave us the CRUXX4 arrival (as expected), but took us off it right away.  I think they do that just to weed the men from the boys.  If you tell them you are unable, then they send you to the penalty box or make you go VFR (Visual Flight Rules).  If you accept the arrival, that means you really do know what you are doing, and they just point you at the field and vector you.  That's just what they did--they sent us direct and to the visual on runway 23L.  YIP is a very confusing airport.  When you fly in there, you better know what you are doing.  You have five runways to choose from, only you usually don't get a choice.  Since it is a towered field, they tell you the runway and give you the clearance--don't screw up.  If you make a mistake, you can get violated.  I use the GPS and the heading bugs and sometimes set up the instrument landing system (ILS) to make sure I'm going to the right place and the correct runway.  I've never landed on the wrong runway yet, and I'm not planning to start.

I used Active Air this time because the other FBO is full of idiots.  Active air gave me 40 cents off per gallon on gas and worked a deal for their hangar. I like it when an FBO takes care of you--most do.

The RTB was interesting.  YIP always gives the most complex outbound clearance.  It probably has something to do with Detroit.  I still had all the little maintenance problems mentioned above.  I filed at 8000 feet and the clouds for the entire flight were at 7,900 feet.  I was right at the top of the deck and that was neat.  The only scary point was when the KC controller called traffic dead ahead at 7,800.  This was VFR traffic right in the clouds.  This guy was doing the dumbest thing you possibly could do--flying in clouds and not on an IFR clearance.  The controllers kept us apart, but still that was very dumb.

AAO was very busy when I arrived, but cleared out by the time I was ready to land.  I crossed midfield and dropped into a left downwind for runway 36.  The landing was spot on nice, but I did a little wiffle I would have complained to a student about.  Still safe and smooth, but a little sloppy.  I'm not sure a Baron with VGs can every be landed really perfectly, but I do keep trying.      

Down to Stillwater (SWO) for ROTC introduction.  My son is going to ROTC at Det. 670 OSU while he attends University of Tulsa.  He wants to be an Air Force pilot.  I think it's great.  I hoped to have someone to give my airplane to who would be able to fly it.

The flight from AAO (Wichita, Jabara) to SWO is only about 35 minutes.  It is an easy flight and great.  I really enjoyed it.  There was some weather, but only a few clouds to punch.  The controllers were helpful and SWO has a tower.  Their runways were all torn up and some were closed, but at least there was 4000 feet of concrete and asphalt to land on.  I was happy with the flight and the landings, but no witnesses, so they were great.  Actually, the winds were blowing, and I think I put it down about as sweet as you could at SWO.

Return to Base (RTB) AAO they kept me high for traffic at the base.  When I was cleared I dove for the end of 18 and set up for a 2400 foot overhead.  I made an easy right overhead to a tickle touchdown with about 14 knots of wind gusting to 20 on the nose.  It was a pretty aerobrake with the gear on the ground and the stall buzzer going off for almost the entire roll to nose touchdown--I thought that was pretty good.  All in all a fun flight for a fun reason--can it get much better?  

Picked up my regular copilot at MUT (Muscatine, Iowa).  Great flight right on the south edge of a line of TRW (Thunderstorms).  We weren't anywhere near them.  The flight out was fantastic.  I flew through some clouds, but that was about it.  The winds at MUT were a direct cross at 14 knots, but the landing wasn't very challenging.  It was a greaser--to bad I didn't have any witnesses.  I did use COM 2 instead of COM 1 as the primary due to the reoccurring problem in the 122 and lower mHz range.  The number two engine was running a little hot, but it was hard to tell if it was the flight conditions or the gauge.  I just opened the oil cooler flap and that took care of the problem.

The takeoff was also with about a 15 knot crosswind.  The plane handles very well under these conditions.  RTB (return to base) seemed long, but it was only about a 2.6.  Everything worked well.  I did keep the right oil cooler flap opened just to keep the engine temp down, but it wasn't completely necessary.  The landing was in gusty conditions only a little off the runway.  I chased a 182 in so I made a 270 at about 5 miles on final to give the guy time to land and clear.  I really didn't have to.  He cleared before I was at 5 miles on final again.  The landing was fine with a slight nosewheel bonk--that's a Baron technical term.  It means I let the nosewheel touch just a hair before I wanted it to.  I still aerobraked.  

The proverbial $200 hamburger, only it didn't cost that much :-D  I flew a plane full from AAO (Jabara Field, Wichita, KS) to HUT (Hutchinson, KS) for lunch.  The trip was a fam for a couple of great kids.  They were twins and 13, and they were my copilots.  They did a great job, but I didn't have time to let them fly.  The flight was only about 20 minutes each way--it wasn't even a legal cross country (not more than 50 nm).  The weather wasn't terrible, but it was in the lee of a line of thunderstorms.  The weather varied from 400 foot and 4 miles to better than 5000 and 5, but it was varying quite a bit.  I hoped to get in two approaches, but I only had to fly one at Jabara. 

The flight was a non-typical compressed hop.  The controllers were very helpful, but they were busy.  It turned out to be a great couple of flights.  The air was pretty calm in spite of the recent convective activity.  It was really like rain showers instead of convective.  The company was great, the help from ATC was great, the conditions were not terrible, and the landings were smooth, but not perfect.

I took Oma, my regular copilot up to see Evie, granddaughter.  They are going on a road trip to see our other daughter.  The flying was fun.  The weather was great and everything was in the aircraft and mainly code one.  I did have some interference on the lower bands (118-120) on Comm 1.  That's the new Garmin 430, so I think there is a problem with the antenna or the connections.  I think there is a ground in the antenna cable.  We will see.  The swing window seal was also loose.  Try putting that in with your gloves on.

Arrival at MUT was exciting.  I flew an ILS for practice to runway 24.  There was a glider in the pattern coming in and a glider being towed up in the pattern.  On approach, the glider was ahead of me, plus they can't go around.  So I did.  This made my copilot a little excited, but we just pulled up into the downwind, where there was an other glider on a tow plane.  We just came in behind him since they were leaving the pattern to take the glider up for a release.  When we landed, the first glider had been pushed off the runway to make room for us.  They were still pretty close.  The winds were a little squirrelly too.  It made for an exciting approach, missed, and landing.

The return was almost a nonevent, but I do love flying.  It was fun and funtastic.  The only problem is my Trimbel GPS is out of date and will stay that way until I can get a spare card for it.  The cards cost $400+ bucks and they are just 4 Megs--oh well.  

Independence day flight to celebrate the fourth of July with family.  We flew to BPT (Beaumont, Texas) with five on board.  The plane flew great and the weather was beautiful, but a little cloudy.  I had to fly a GPS approach at BPT.  It wasn't to mins at all, but still good practice. 

The Trimble is still out of the aircraft.  The systems all worked well together, but I like the Trimble for some information that is hard to get off the Garmin 430.  The Avidyne came in handy especially for the return.  We had to penetrate a line of rain showers all the way across Texas.  There wasn't much there, but the radar saw all of it.  It worked great.

Landing at BPT was okay. I flew an overhead at AAO--wooh wee.  The first touchdown was perfect, but there was more than one--I just skipped it in.  Okay, not the best technique.  I didn't have that much speed, but ah well--so is aviation.  It was still a good landing and the overhead made it all worthwhile.  I took pictures of the new instrumentation, but I want the Trimble in the stack at the same time. 

Golf flight.  I went up to McCook NE to visit my sister and brother-in-law.  I need to go more often--great food, two rounds of golf, homemade ice cream, and lots of great conversation.

The weather and the plane were both cooperative--except for a few things.  First, this is the summer season and in the mid USA you always have TRW (thunderstorms).  Actually, we didn't see any thunderstorms, but there were little rain showers out there.  The Avidyne/RDR 160 picked them all out--it was a great test of the system.  The aircraft didn't get a wash job.  A little disconcerting was the Trimble (GPS #2) is out for an upgrade and the Avidyne didn't sync to the Garmin 430 on the entire first flight.  I tried everything but a complete power down of the Avidyne, I'll have to try that next time because the leg back, it worked great.  Painfully bad when expensive aviation things don't work exactly as they should.  At least the Radar was pinging just the way it should--that would be unacceptable.

Takeoff out of AAO was wonderful.  I hadn't flown for about 30 days and getting your hands on the stick and blasting out into the wild blue is just an ecstatic feeling.  The controller made us go east for a long time before they let us come back to the west and our course to McCook (MCK).  There isn't much to say about the landing--it was nice and with just a little wind.

The return was just fun.  Out of MCK instead of picking up a clearance on the ground (like usual) I just took off to find my brother-in-law's house and fly over the golf course.  There was another aircraft out there, can you believe it?  We coordinated and checked out the house and golf course.  I wanted to make a couple of more circuits, but my copilot wasn't happy with the bouncys or the little 30 degree gees--I was easy.  RTB we diverted a little for showers--they showed great on the radar and I greased the landing in calm winds at AAO, oh that's hard :-).

These were flights down to the beach--hey, I was working.  I condensed them because there wasn't a lot of excitement and because I'm lazy. 

This was an important flight.  Other than the test and checkout flight of the aircraft on 14 May, this was the first flight with the new avionics.  An Avidyne EX500 and Garmin 430 were added to the aircraft avionics stack and integrated.  The old analog RNAV and Comm 1 were removed.  The Garmin 430 is a fully WAAS capable unit with Comm and VLOC.  The capability of the aircraft avionics was significantly improved.  This gives N17979 the capability of almost every approach in the charts and the new systems are fully integrated.  The Trimble Approach 200 was left in the avionics stack, so it acts as a backup GPS.  The Trimble now goes to Nav 2 CDI and the Garmin is fully integrated into the Nav 1 HSI and autopilot.

The need for this upgrade was undeniable.  N17979's radar head was delaminating and that made the radar hard to read, and the Trimble was becoming obsolete.  The Avidyne EX500 turns the radar into a color automatically controlled radar system with moving map overlay.  On the 16 May flight this was indispensable since we were flying around isolated TRW almost all the way and in the weather most of the flight.  Further, the Trimble just didn't have all the approaches and airports in it.  The database of this information just wouldn't fit on the 1 Meg card anymore.  The Garmin 430 adds all the approaches, fields, etc. plus WAAS and GPS backup capability.  The Shadin Fuel Flow also talks to the Garmin.  This means that N17979 went from a partially integrated FMS to an almost fully integrated FMS.  The aircraft is almost exactly the avionics equivalent of the Lear 35s I used to fly in the late 1980s--but better.

The Avidyne likewise talks to both the Garmin 430 and the Trimble.  They share information, but are fully autonomous.  The Avidyne can also display charts.  I am evaluating that possibility right now.  This means that with Jepps charts on the Avidyne and NOAA Charts on the Anywhere Map tablet, I could stop buying all the emergency charts everywhere and just get those that are for takeoff and landing.  This would give double electronic backups.  The Avidyne and the Garmin also have terrain alerting features.  Combined with the Anywhere Map tablet, the situational awareness (SA), charting, navigational control, terrain alerting, etc. provide an outstanding basis for safety.

The integration of the Shadin and the Garmin are great.  All the information necessary to flight except: temp, barometric setting, and indicated airspeed are available to the Garmin.  The Garmin takes fuel flow and fuel level information from the Shadin and uses it for flight and trip planning.  These features are not well implemented in the Garmin unit, but they provide a means of checking the aircraft fuel status.  The Shadin also is properly integrated with the Gramin and gives info for fuel planning right from the indicators.  The Trimble still has better flight planning functions and is easier to address.  That is the difference between a professional aviation commercial unit and an advanced GA unit.  The Garmin and Trimble are relatively similar in their input although the Trimble is obviously much harder to learn.  I like to program both and compare route data.  The age of external NAVAIDS looks like it is close to coming to an end.  There is almost no need for them as long as the GPS constellation is alive and well.

The flight to Florida was great with just a little weather and nothing of great excitement.  The return was cloudless and beautiful.  Everything worked well together.  There are still a couple of small details in the integration of the nav systems that need to be addressed and some updates, but all in all, the new light show is fantastic.      

I picked up the ballerinas from Colorado Springs--whoo whoo!  I did a lot of work on the way out and the way back.  A funny thing happened on the way to the Forum...  My tablet with SA moving map just died.  Nothing seemed wrong--it just didn't appear to be getting enough power.  I unplugged the other PC, I was using for work, and bingo, bango, bongo, the system came right back up.  I guess it wasn't getting enough juice.

Flight was great without any real incidents.  The takeoff out of COS was right at the limit because of the high pressure altitude.  Also, on takeoff out of AAO, the controller said best rate through 4000--I gave him about 1500 fpm--yeah!

I flew a couple of ballerinas out to Colorado Springs for auditions--whoo whoo.  The day was beautiful and the weather fine.  There wasn't anything of note.  I did float the landing at COS, but who doesn't at 6187 feet.  I flew an overhead at AAO on the return.  That was great.  The ballerinas had a new lime green Beetle waiting for them as their rental car--it was pretty special. 

Back to BPT to pick up my wife.  The flying was wonderful.  The weather was like spring without any TRW or other hazards.  The way back was just as pleasant.  Both ends the winds were above 25 knots and gusting above 30.  No big deal, but a little challenging.  Landings were squeakers.  Airplane flew beautifully.   

Took my wife to BPT to visit her family and her father who is in the hospital.  Trip was easy and quick.  I had MX fill the tires a little and throw in some oil.  Had to punch through the clouds on both ends, but it was an uneventful trip.  I flew an overhead on the way back.  Plane flew well, better than book.  That was nice.

Sea Spray season prep trip.  Down to Destin for business.  We took a couple of friends to help. 

The flight down and back was great.  I was limited on fuel load again.  On the way down we encountered a front line and passed through with a few bumps, but the flight was excellent.  When we were on the ground huge TRWs came through during the week, and I was worried about the aircraft, but there was no hail and alles war gut.

On the way back, we also had to pass a front, but we had a lot of wind in the face, and I decided to head toward Texarkana to keep out of the main portion of the weather.  That took some gas.  With the headwind, fuel load, and redirect, I didn't like the numbers I was getting for reserve, so I dropped into Tulsa for a gas and go.  I flew an overhead at AAO.  Everyone enjoyed it.  I only gave them all about 1.2 g, but everyone thought it was a lot.  The landing was great.  Others were bumpers, but they were good.

Winter Cruise.  Trip down to Destin and then to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida for a cruise.  We took a couple of friends with us.  The gentleman was a great copilot.  The flight down was routine with beautiful weather.  The landings were okay. 

The return trip was a great IFR fest.  I flew a stacked approach into Destin.  We were vectored behind a Citation jet and ahead of another jet.  The weather was not that bad, with 1000 feet ceiling and 3 miles vis.  On the return to Jabara in Wichita, I went to Pinebluff, Arkansas for gas and lunch.  I had to fly a GPS approach there too.  The weather was about the same with 90 degree crosswinds at about 10 knots.

Wichita was socked in at about 1000 and 3.  I flew a GPS approach and picked up a windshield full of ice.  The wings didn't have much, but just the windshield.  There wasn't a problem because you don't need to see ahead to land an aircraft, you just need to find the runway.  We found the runway, right where it was supposed to be on the GPS 36, and I landed.  The landing was great.  I found the prop and the windshield anti-ice wasn't working right.  They are supposed to fix it.

Tulsa trip.  Sparks at Tulsa is a great FBO.  They let me borrow their car, and I was to the U of Tulsa and back in 45 minutes.  RTB I flew an overhead.  That was great fun.  By the way, I flew N6493S.  Painful.  N17979 was down because it was missing a bolt that allowed a slight leak from the left engine.  Now, why a part 135 aircraft would stay down for a missing bolt--I don't know.  Put in a new bolt.  They let me use 93S.  It worked.  The aircraft stall warning and the gear warning weren't working.  Oh well.  I did get an overhead out of it--woo, woo.

These were very straight forward flights.  I was hoping to get more weather time, but no such luck.  I did get to fly one approach at BPT--a GPS to 16.  The FRAG was AAO to TUL to ADS to BPT to TUL and RTB to AAO.  The only MX problem was the left engine was leaking a little oil, plus someone buggered the hold rod on the nose compartment.

The major purpose of the flights was to take my son to Tulsa so he could play in the GMAC Bowl.  He plays trumpet in the marching band and was shown on national TV--yep, that was my boy.

The secondary purpose was to visit and bother relatives.  Both missions were successful.  Actually, I enjoy all my in-laws and outlaws--they are all great people and fun to be around.  We had a great time.  It is even better since I was able to fly.

I did want to mention the great ABS (American Bonanza Society) board fiasco.  I volunteered to join the board.  I passed through two interviews to the final cut.  I knew I was out when in the final interview, the board member asked what I had organized in my community and I mentioned Cigar Night.  There is even a www.cigarnight.org for the organization.  When the board member said he was completely against any use of tobacco--I knew I was sunk.  Then, when he lectured me on lean of peak, and I told him I would never operate an engine in a state it was not designed or tested, I knew that was the end.  I thought it was funny.  Oh well, maybe sometime in the future.  By the way, don't ever run your engine in a state it was not designed or tested.  (When I say tested, I mean officially as in FAA certification.)    

Oh, I should mention one little event.  Landing at AAO, a Cessna was ahead of me in the pattern.  I turned base as they passed me about 1.5 miles from the end of 18.  Everything looked great until the Cessna landed and rolled out and slowed and rolled out and slowed and rolled out and slowed and rolled out... Until I had to go around.  They spent more time on the runway than they did on final.  Word for the wise...get off the runway right after you land!  I got to practice a go-around.

Training flight: IFR Competency Check (IFC) and Biannual Flight Review (BFR).  Another fun flight with Mr. Marvin Hesket.  I hope he is the guy still giving me my checkride when we are both too old to fly.  Good training and a lot of competency.  Like a always say, I get great training and new information from Marvin every time we fly.  He had some really great info on the RNAV procedures and the limitations due to GPS box in the aircraft.

If you want to know all about these kinds of training flights take a look at 16 November last year for the details. 

This year, we stayed close to AAO.  We lost an engine (simulated) after takeoff.  This was the first time I have brought it back into the feather range without actually feathering the engine--it is a procedure in the book and works pretty well.  Very interesting on the forces.  I still think they are higher than with an actual feathered engine.  I got the engine back.  We went up and intercepted a radial.  Got to, it's in the book.  We did the stalls and falls.  Always a good thing to practice--don't do it for real.  We flew an ILS to 18 that ended up being about 3 ILSs to 18.  Some guy kept hogging the pattern and we wanted to stay out of the way.  We went up and flew the RNAV GPS E which is a type of circling approach with a hold.  We messed with the GPS box on that one.  There is a lot of capability in those boxes, and only half of it gets used.  Finally, we flew a single engine ILS approach to a landing.  That was about all.  It is always good to practice these things.  The best safety device in an aircraft is a well trained pilot.    

I flew out to Dayton, Ohio to give my dissertation defense (Aerospace Engineering).  Soon, I hope to be Dr. Alf (instead of plain old regular Alf).  The flight out was remarkable for the weather.  It always astounds me how above about 5000 feet in the winter time, it is almost always clear and sunny.  At Dayton that seems to be true most of the time.  I flew an approach into DAY.  That was great.  The weather wasn't too bad about 600 feet ceilings and clear.  Not a whole lot of excitement.  I passed my dissertation defense with the members of my committee who were there.  I was missing one who is overseas.

The RTB at AAO wasn't so exciting either, even though the weather called for moderate ice, moderate turbulence, and winds in excess of 30 knots.  I had to fly over a front line as well.  The flight went great except that I once saw 120 knots ground speed when the aircraft was making 190 True.  The landing in a 30 knot wind was okay.  The wind was mostly down the runway and so not a problem.  

Down to Florida and the weather sucks.  Out of Wichita (AAO), the weather isn't too bad, but ice in the clouds and some clouds.  About halfway to DTS, we ran into the clouds and had IMC ground and air all the way to DTS.  DTS was calling the weather 1000 feet ceilings 4 miles visibility with rain.  It was worse, but Eglin approach tried to give me a visual approach.  The weather didn't support it and a Cessna jet had to go around--ha ha.  They should send a bill to Eglin.  We went in and had to fly the approach until about 3 miles.  Landing was a squeaker.

On the way back, I shorted myself about 50 gallons of fuel.  I took the wrong number from my flight log.  I had to take a reduced fuel load for the weight on the plane and so it is very hard to tell how much gas is on board.  The wing gauges didn't look right and the weight didn't seem right so I was watching it very closely.  About Russellville, AK about 2.0 hours out of AAO, I decided to land for gas.  I could have gone about 1.5 hours longer, but I wanted to get a fill up.  I put on 100 gallons at RUE and took off.  It was a good thing I put gas on board.  The winds clocked in at 53 knots on the nose.  That was about 20 knots more than forecast.  We landed with plenty and that landing was a squeaker too.

Here I am the brave aerodynamicist going to a space flight symposium--Okay I was asked and one of my companies sent me on my way.  I flew to Las Cruces, New Mexico for the International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight.  It was a great symposium.

The weather out of Wichita was poor--wet, rainy, and low ceilings.  I think the ceiling was about 300 feet when I took off.  Everything went well except, when I came out to the plane it was raining, the rudder trim was all the way to the right, and there was an unaccounted .5 hours on the plane.  Hum.  I set everything to rights while I got wet.  At the end of the runway, the left engine lagged the right a bit and the left mechanical fuel flow was jumpy.  The plane made takeoff power and climbed out in the weather okay.  At cruise the left engine EGT was high and the mixture wanted about 1 to 2 gallons per hour more fuel to run smoothly.  Everything seemed to work well.  

When I took off out of Las Cruces, the left engine wouldn't lean well on the runway, but it made takeoff power and climbed out great making about the same thrust as the other engine.  Everything was going well until after dark.  About 20 miles from Clovis, New Mexico, the left engine began surging.  I gave it full mixture and high boost and it smoothed out, but then went right back to surging.  The plane yawed about 20 degrees with each surge.  I called ATC and asked for the nearest runway--Clovis was it.  I started down and shut down the left engine.  It feathered and I set up a long straight-in with the help of vectors from the controller.  I still couldn't get down in time and made a 360 on final.  When all was good, I threw out the gear and landed with 15 percent flaps.  I kept the plane moving and was able to taxi to the ramp. 

The airport manager talked to me, the Blue Sky Aviation guy talked to me.  Everyone was helping me.  Blue Sky, Carlos Aries found me a hotel and loaned me a crew car.  He made arrangements for his mechanic to come out in the morning.  These were all very helpful and nice people.

In the morning, the mechanic came out and we ran the left engine.  The engine wouldn't run without the boost pump and he thought it was the fuel control.  Carlos saw a lot of fuel coming out of the bottom of the engine.  When they opened it up, the mechanic Tommy found a fuel line that had almost completely backed off.  The fuel was being forced into the engine compartment.  He tightened it back up and they put the cowl back on.  We ran the engine up twice.  First at low and then at full power--everything was fixed.  All that for a loose fuel line.

I RTBed to AAO and flew an ILS approach to a great landing.  Well I got a normal landing, a single engine night landing, and a instrument approach to a normal landing--good meeting the requirements tough having to.  

Weather, weather everywhere, but it's winter and nice out of the ice.  The clouds were low lying, but above them, the air was clear and beautiful.  I had no problems getting airborne.  The plane was ready and except for a slow start on the right--everything went well.  All the equipment worked great and we landed on time and at MUT for the baptism of my little granddaughter.  While in MUT, I finished my book The Goddess of Darkness and I had great Matt food.  Matt is the best smoker--that is smoking meat, I know.  Ever had a smoked potato--wow.

RTB to AAO was fantastic.  I thought I would get a full IMC approach, but the weather cleared below 3600 feet.  The landing was a bonk--a little nose gear first, ouch.  Still safe.

These are the kinds of flights that we dream of.  Down to Beaumont (BPT) for Labor Day.  The only problem was Gustav, the hurricane.  When we took off from AAO, there was a chord showing on the right main--uh oh.  Had to change the tire.  That delayed us and we were already on a delay for PAX.  The PAX was a dentist and had a late patient the night before.  So off into the wild blue late.  The skies were filled with isolated TRW, but the radar and stormscope found them all.  The flight down was uneventful.  At BPT, I flew an ILS to a nice landing, not perfect, but a crowd pleaser.

Now, Gustav: the reason for the trip was to visit The Colonel, and we found out, he was being evacuated from the nursing home because of the hurricane.  We went to the lake house and spent the night.  In the morning we visited with The Colonel and had takeoff before everything shut down and everyone in the city was evacuated.

The flight back was great, and the landing fun--a tight pattern to a nice touchdown.   

I took the young grasshopper up to Iowa to visit the new grandbaby and drive with his sister back to Wichita.  We were a little late, but the aircraft was ready and waiting.  Lots of work on the ramp at AAO, so we were taxiing around cones to get to runway 18.  Everything went like clockwork, my boy is a great copilot.  We had a little TRW on the way, but the radar and stormscope found them and we deviated.  When we arrived at MUT, I had to fly a VOR to runway 6.  I did it straight-in and landed.  The landing was a slight bump, but safe and good. 

I had lunch and smoked sausage then headed for the wild blue.  The plane was light and I was ready.  It was hot and I did the runup with the door opened.  I knew I should have held down the charts better.  At 2200 RPM, I lost an approach book, two charts, and the flight plan right out the door.  It was good they were only backups--oh well.  Takeoff was awesome.  I let her speed up to 120 knots and held her in a 60 degree bank around the turn to cross the field direct to OTM.  She climbed the whole way around, okay it wasn't right at 60 degrees, but it was close.  I loved it. 

Right over MCI (Kansas City), I had to deviate for a small TRW, but the rest of the trip was in the clear.  I did do some cloud snagging on the way (I was IFR).  Coming into AAO was a breeze.  I made a visual and the landing was faultless (no witnesses).  A young friend was there.  She just earned her license and was taking up a friend.  What a great way to spend a day!  

Young Life trip to accomplish an interview.  The weather was okay but with rain showers and possible TRW.  Radar worked great and didn't see any TRW, but did get a plane was every now and then.  We flew to Branson.  The airport was Point Lookout (PLK).  It was only 3700 feet long and I usually don't fly into fields that short.  My minimum is normally 4000 feet because the accel-stop distance for a Baron is almost always less than 4000 feet.  I worked the data carefully and found the accel-stop at 3420 for the conditions.  The landing was great, lunch was great, the interview went well, and the takeoff went great.  I had two first time copilots in the right seat and they did well.  I had to fly an approach at AAO and that worked well too.  Great flight, great day.  

Lake house trip.  My doctor brother-in-law has a great lake house in Texas.  I flew to Dallas (ADS) to pick up a couple of my sisters-in-law and a brother-in-law and we went out to (BPT) Port Arthur Texas for a mini reunion.  The excitement was just the normal IFR flying into and out of the Dallas area.  No real problems.  And the heat.  It was hot.  I told you the right engine was CND (could not duplicate) for the hot start issue, so I planned for it--let the engines cool more than usual.  The hot start out of ADS was great.  I also had my brother-in-law as the copilot.  He received the fire hose for high intensity flying and did a great job.  The first landing at ADS was great, but the rest were just acceptable.  An interesting problem is the loading of the aircraft.  The plane with heavy fuselage load and lower fuel gives makes it necessary to keep the nose down on takeoff and makes for interesting landing effects.  Just some data points to keep in mind.  The controllers were great and no real problems until I had to RTB from ADS to AAO.  The right engine didn't want to start.  Since there was no problem, I did a second hot start, but I let the boost pump run 1 minute instead of 30 seconds and I didn't prime the engine.  She started right up.  I think the problem is a little fuel creep while in cut off.  This puts too much gas in the engine and so makes the hot start tough.  

Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle (UAV) trip for Defense Research Associates (DRA).  I dropped Oma off in Muscatine to visit with the grandbaby.  I got to kiss the baby, plus I got a great chicken dinner from my son-in-law's smoker.  Can't ask for much more than that.

The flight started out in confusion.  The aircraft base didn't get the word, though I called on Sunday, and sent an email on Monday.  They had N17979 in maintenance for an oil change and to fix the GPS.  We were delayed an hour and Oma was supposed to babysit.  Well that plan wasn't going to happen.  When then brought N17979 out, the right engine wouldn't start.  I tried 4 hot starts and gave it back.  Their guy couldn't get it to start.  Problem was they just started it after the oil change for the leak check.  I see a CND (could not duplicate) coming on--hope not.

Midwest gave us N6493S to fly--God bless them!  It's not as good and not as pretty, but it flys pretty good.  The autopilot is still jumpy when altitude hold is turned on and the heater is still busted.  We flew low where it is about 50 F.  Thank goodness it is summer.  

The flights were great and the landings right on.  No issues and no problems to report.

Off to AUVSI in San Diego.  This is the premier convention for uninhabited systems in the world and since I design UAVs (Uninhabited Ariel Vehicles), consult about UAVs, and now fly UAVs with Flint Hills Solutions (FHS), it was only proper that I should park at AUVSI for its three days of symposium stuff.

I tested the southern route through Tucson (TUS).  I volunteered to take FHS employees with me to AUVSI, and at over 5000 foot altitude, Albuquerque (ABQ) is a tough place to take off from when the temperature is high.  TUS is just below 3000 foot altitude.  The distance is right too.  TUS is about 4 hours from Wichita and 2 hours from San Diego.  On the way back, I planed to go through Roswell (ROW).  ROW is at TUS altitude but the opposite in distance (4 hours from San Diego, 2 hours from Wichita).  

The flight out was excellent with no problems.  TUS was a great stop and gas was reasonable.  I landed behind a 737 and in front of Tiger 1 (a Gulfstream V).  I think it was Tiger Wood's plane.  I don't know who else would use that call sign.  Tiger was out at San Diego with me for the US Open.  We didn't have a chance to have dinner together--I was too busy.  I landed at MYF (Montgomery Field) in San Diego and parked at National Air College.  They had the cheapest gas and tie down.  Crown provided the rental car and drove right out to the plane.  I was very happy with the support from everyone on MYF.  It was a great place to land and get to San Diego.  The great support became a necessity when the time came to leave.  By the way, a lady at the FBO remarked the right main looked low.  It didn't look low to me--oh well.

I knew I had a problem when I drove up to N17979 and the right main was flat as a pancake.  The FBO manager (a guy in his 90s) took me to Francisco.  Francisco is a young A&P, looks less than 30, who is a phenomenal aircraft mechanic.  I tried the whole time to recruit him for Wichita.  This is the kind of mechanic we need everywhere--bright, enthusiastic, quality driven, and very smart.  He looked at the tire and said, you probably didn't get a puncture.  Two things cause aircraft tires to go flat like this: either the installer pinched the tube at the center or at the valve stem.  He pumped up the tire and towed the plane in a hair raising sequence between hangers with 3 foot spacing to my wingtips, a fuel truck, and another aircraft.  When he opened up the tire, the tube was pinched at the center--bad installation.  I called my maintainers in Wichita and told them the problem and that I would be sending a bill.  They were good about it.  I was lucky I didn't have a flat on landing--that would have been a treat.  Now began an exciting time of trying to find a tube for a BE-58.  The 3 tubes on MYF were old and deteriorated.  They found one at El Cajon and dispatched a truck for it.  An hour later, the tire was on the plane and I was taking off only 3 hours late. 

I filed direct and through the computer.  I wondered what ATC would give me for a clearance.  The computer took the flight plan and they did give me a routing through California, but once outside LA airspace, I was straight for Wichita.  I flew at 15,000 feet and sucked on the hose the whole way.  The plane was near book and I ran it at full power for the entire time.  It didn't want to lean very well at 2300 RPM.  The only small diversion I had was ATC took me around a 16,100 foot peak in New Mexico.  Otherwise, I just pointed the nose for AAO.

The flight was calm and easy (only 5.5 hours), but the arrival was anything but.  Wichita arrival kept me at 5000 feet until AAO.  They had a bunch of incoming traffic and I was routed right over ICT.  The controller was likely new.  He should have vectored me north and let me descend.  Barons just can't descent that quickly.  He kept me at 5000 feet and said he would let me descend east of AAO.  When I was about 3 miles from AAO, I asked if there was any other traffic.  He said, nothing squawking (on the radar), and I didn't hear (on the radio) or see anything in the AAO area.

I crossed the field at 5000 feet making radio calls and telling everyone what I was doing.  Since I was cleared a visual approach from ATC, I could do anything I wanted, but the pattern at AAO is right turns for 18 and I was planning on landing 18.  Since I was so high and no one was in the pattern, I decided to do an overhead pattern.  I made a high descent to 2500 (about 1000 feet above the ground) with left turns (how else could I get down) and entered the overhead pattern on the numbers.  Here is where everything gets interesting.  On the perch (base turn) I saw a Stinson (aircraft) on final to AAO.  This guy was making no radio calls and wasn't squawking.  Just flying anywhere on a Firday night without telling anyone.  Wow, I was thinking.  What a fool.  He was in my way for landing, but did get out of the way before I touched down, so I didn't have to go around.  I thought I should warn him of the danger of not making radio calls at a busy airfield like AAO and not squawking at least the VFR code (1200).  I made a beautiful overhead and landing, by the way.

After I landed.  The guy in the Stinson landed and came over to my aircraft.  He berated me for cutting him off in the pattern.  He said he could hear my radio calls, and told me I shouldn't make a left traffic pattern at AAO.  He didn't understand about IFR visuals, about overheads, about how I obviously was deconflicted, and said "he didn't make radio calls because he didn't have to."  I told him he was clueless--which he was.  If you ever wonder why some people don't grow up to be old pilots.  Here is why.  If you have a radio, use it.  If you have a transponder, squawk it.  If you are VFR realize IFR traffic can be cleared to do anything by ATC.  Only a fool would fly anywhere and not make radio calls and squawk VFR code.  Maybe the problem was he didn't speak American, he had a British accent--that kind of flying is why Britain, Canada, Australia, etc. have almost no General Aviation--oh well.  The coupe de grace was when he taxied back to the runway, he drug his tail-wheel chock which he forgot to clear.  I thought about waving and laughing, but I didn't want to make this amateur more uncomfortable about being stupid.  I did want him to start making radio calls.      

Back from beautiful Florida.  For a bad weather day, we saw almost zero weather.  With six on board (every seat filled), I had a critical fuel situation where I couldn't fill the tanks to the top.  This was made worse by the high temperature 30+ degrees C (90+ F).  Too much weight, temp, and pressure altitude means if you lose an engine, you can't takeoff and climb or on approach go-around.  With six PAX and their baggage, I could only put 50 gallons on for a full fuel load of 110.  I told the FBO at Destin to put 25 gallons on each side.  When I arrived at N17979, one fuel cap was opened--uh oh.  They had topped one side (50 gallons) and not put anything in the other side.  You can't takeoff like that.  You can't transfer fuel in a Baron (not that you would want to), and you aren't supposed to crossfeed except in an emergency (one engine out is the main reason).  When I pointed out the problem Destin MX went right to work and fixed it.  It took 2 hours, but they moved fuel from one side to the other using the fuel cocks on the heavy tank.  The wing gauges on N17979 are really accurate so we got the fuel to the exact amount necessary.  I was really happy with the service I Destin gave me, even though they were busy.

The 110 gallon fuel load meant I only had about 4 hours worth of fuel and to get to Wichita from Destin, I need about 5 hours plus 45 minutes minimum reserve.  I chose to use Pine Bluff (PBF) Ar-Kansas as a fuel stop.  This made for a 2 hour flight to PBF and a 2 hour flight to AAO.  Good for passengers.  Pine Bluff was a great place to land.  Cheap gas and they even cleaned the windshield with a smile.  I recommend them as a stop in the Little Rock area.  Getting in and out was easy too.  They have a restaurant there, but they are only open during the week for lunch.

The weather part was supposed to be between PBF and AAO, but we didn't see hardly anything even on the radar.  The stormscope saw some junk, but it was more than 50 miles away. 

By the way, I aft loaded the aircraft on purpose and she was a little touchy, but I put on two squeaker landings and the true airspeed and fuel usage was pretty good. 

On the way to Florida--this is becoming a regularly scheduled flight.  Down for property and relaxation.  We carried my nephew and his wife.  The flight was mostly clear.  A ragged line of thunderstorms and rain showers blocked our way, but with a little deviation, we made it through and on to the Florida coast. 

Destin was hopping.  I don't think I have been there when the airport was that busy.  We cut into the pattern and made a safe visual approach and landing.  The ground handling was something else.  We sat with a twin in front of us, engines running, a single beside us, engines running, and about 20 people all over the ramp.  They brought out the rental car, but I was ready to feather the engines if anyone came close.

Florida is beautiful and the work is easy.  

The weatherguessers got it wrong again.  I'm glad I don't do stock in weather prediction--it wouldn't pay.  The thunderstorms that were supposed to be long passed out of the Florida panhandle were still there and in their prime Friday morning when we wanted to RTB.  McDonalds food and waiting is the only way to handle thunderstorms in an aircraft.  We waited until the radar showed a big green sucker hole over everything, fired up the aircraft, fired up the radar and stormscope, and cut outta there.  The flight out to Mobile where the weather improved significantly was uneventful and washed the airplane down good.  It is always a great thing to wash down your airplane when it has sat around in salt air.  A little rain is great for that.

The return trip was a little bumpy, but fine.  I got a chance to fly some cloud canyons and I flew an overhead into Jabara.  The landing was a squeaker.  Joe is checked out as a great copilot.  Maybe we can make some more flights, but we have to remember to always save our watches.  

Back in N17979 and on the way to Florida.  Joe and I made our way to the emerald green waters and sugar white sand of Destin to go to the Daedalians Convention.  This is where all the old pilots go.  I'm glad I'm not old, only seasoned.  Still, I'm the youngest guy in the room.  Joe is a WWII era flight test and engineering pilot who had his fingers in the development of many of our favorite aircraft and flew them.  Joe is a great pilot and a good conversationalist.  We have a lot to share on flying.  The flight to Florida was easy and VMC except for one small thing--the panel GPS was out.  I had to fly based on VOR/DME and my moving map GPS.  This was work and slightly painful, but we made it to Destin Airport safely and correctly.  Flying the old way is difficult when you get used to all the modern conveniences.  Joe didn't see any difference, they didn't have GPS when he stopped flying.  How can you complain about something like that to a guy who always had to do without.  I can always remember that I helped develop GPS stuff so I deserve to use it.  The flight was great, the landing was okay.  N179179 floats because of the vortex generators--that's the way it goes.  The touchdown was okay and although a little bouncy due to the winds and sky centered and safe.   

The rest of the story.  No one knows, yet, what caused the FAA to go on a tear, but they did and few realize all commercial aviation was at the other end of the whip.  My aircraft was not exempt.  It was in an annual and was hit by the "paper storm of proof."  All of N17979's ducks were in a row, but the pain of going back to 1993 and showing that every item on board was clear and legal was a nightmare.  The company I keep my aircraft with did their aircraft first, so good old N17979 was not available for my trip.  I took N6493S.  Its an okay Baron, but not as pretty, not as well equipped, and as we shall discover not as well accoutered.

I flew to Muscatine to see my new granddaughter, my daughter, my son-in-law (great guy), my wife (who had to fly up commercial because of the plane snafu), my oldest daughter (there to help), my other son-in-law (another great guy).  The weather was VFR, but sucky up top with lots of clouds and potential icing.  N6493S does not have boots, so ice is a real sticky problem.  On the way to Muscatine, the weather was accommodating and the flight went well.  The heater seemed to not put out a lot of heat, but it kept me comfortable.  Into Muscatine, the winds were a direct cross at 11 knots.  N6493S has one of the funky airspeed indicators with knots and mph on it.  It is terrible to read.  I flew to a nice touchdown on three points.

The baby is beautiful.  Daughter and everybody was having a great time.  I had to leave--oh well.

Out of Muscatine the weather was similar to the previous day.  On climbout, the heater wouldn't work.  I'm flying in -15C and -15C air cooled by about 185 knots on the nose is coming into the aircraft.  I wrapped my coat around my legs.  I pulled my feet out of my boots and sat on them.  My moving map that usually is nearly in thermal runaway was happy--I was freezing.  I thought about diverting more than once.  It was not a pleasant flight.  In addition the weather was poop.  I didn't really get into any icing of note, but I flew through a cloud and got freezing rain on the aircraft.  I was only a moment in that cloud and picked up just a little ice, but that's how cold and yucky it was.  Luckily everything in the aircraft worked right...except the heater.  The winds in Dayton were a cross at 7 knots.  I made a nice touchdown.

They couldn't fix the heater.  I bought a gross of hunting hand and toe heaters from Meijers in Dayton.  I was ready to face the cold.

Returning to Wichita, the weather was fine and the temperature was great--even at altitude.  I popped open a couple of heaters and didn't really need them.  The worst was the weather was beautiful and I got back prior to sundown--I was hoping to get a night landing.  Great flight and the aircraft did what it was supposed to do.  I did realize what I should have known--why N6493S is so easy to land well--no vortex generators.  N17979 is a real challenge to put down perfectly.  It has more control authority and better handling, but it takes 10 knots more speed dissipation to get it on the ground.        

IMC everywhere!  I took off with the weather at 10 SM (statue miles) BR (mist) and a ceiling at 300 feet.  Then we broke out at 5000 feet and cruised in the sunshine almost all the way to Iowa.  At Muscatine, I made a GPS approach to runway 06.  It was a non event except the winds were mostly cross.  The landing was fine, but a bit uneven--one tire then the other, then the nose wheel.  The winds were enough to get some action between the mains, so the plane bounced a little before it settled down.

On the return flight--IFR everywhere!  Plus thunderstorms.  Takeoff at MUT (Muscatine) was in 2 1/2 SM with -R (light rain) and a ceiling of 400 feet.  I decided to takeoff on 24 even though the winds favored 06 because a line of thunderstorms just passed the field from west to east and a takeoff on 24 would ensure a straight line away from the thunder.  I had plenty of room since the runway was 5500 feet long and the tail wind worked out less than 5 knots.  Just before we took off a King Air tried to get in using the GPS to 06 and couldn't.  They came back for the ILS to 24 and landed with a tail wind.  Our takeoff was great and no problem.  We were in the soup and broke out at about 7000 feet.  The trip back was no real problem although we dodged rainstorms the whole way.  The thunder wasn't really anywhere around us.

Landing at AAO was a trip.  I flew a Localizer to 18 for a circle to 36 because the winds were about 20 knots direct cross with a 7 knot component down 36.  I didn't give myself enough room on the circle and rolled out about 1/4 mile to the right of centerline--oops.  Good thing I had plenty of final left over.  I had flaps full intentionally and the Baron easily captured center before we crossed the threshold.  I had enough time to put in good crosswind controls and make a good touchdown.  The plane wanted to burble around on the gear this time too, but with a 20 knot cross and a quarter mile correction,  I was happy to put it down right on centerline.  Good IFR, good flying, safe landings--can't ask for more than that.     

The trip back from DTS (Destin, Florida) to AAO (Wichita, Kansas) was much less eventful than the trip down.  There were no weather hazards at all: no icing, no projected turbulence, no clouds to speak of, no precipitation.  The flight was easy and since it was Saturday of Easter weekend, the military wasn't using their MOAs (Military Operating Areas).  This way, ATC gave us straight to Wichita without any deviations.   

One remarkable event did happen during and right after takeoff.  First DTS was busy.  We had jets and Cessnas all fighting for the same airspace.  We were flying IFR.  Once we took off, Eglin departure sent us straight out into the gulf.  We climbed up to 2000 feet and they sent us to 7000.  When they finally turned us to the north, we were headed directly over our house in Destin.  It was awesome.  We received a free beach tour on the way down and a free beach tour on the way out.          

When we arrived at AAO, the airspace was so clear, I decided to fly an overhead.  Now with PAX on board, one being my wife, I didn't do a full out overhead.  We hit the numbers and I put in 30 degrees of bank and let the Baron slowdown.  On the very short downwind, gear, flaps and the rest of the checklist.  The base was not too far out and allowed a comfortable almost constant turn to final.  The landing was almost perfect.  I kissed the concrete and let the nose down a little early.  There was almost no touchdown feel.  Another successful flight!       

Spring is the beginning of the convective season and this was a real beginning.  Wichita was blanketed in moderate rain with imbedded thunderstorms.  I was out at the aircraft at 0800 for a 0900 takeoff and rain was pelting the field.  The maintenance troops hadn't checked the anti-icing tank so they pulled the aircraft into the hanger and there I loaded the aircraft and accomplished the walk-around.  Next time I'll just ask for the privilege.  My PAX arrived soon afterwards as the rain was slacking off, and I loaded them up.  The storm front had moved very quickly around and east of us.  The sky at AAO was cloudy but clearing for the moment.  Unfortunately, our destination was Destin, Florida so we had to fly east through all the junk.  Luckily I have a radar and a stormscope on board. 

The weather report had a little for everybody: icing, turbulence, convection, gusty winds, low visibility, low clouds--everything.  We took off with the radar and stormscope blazing and immediately started a pattern of deviations to get around and through the worst of the line of storms.  In general, all we saw on the radar was moderate and light rain.  The stormscope didn't find any real thunder and we never saw any flashing nougats on the radar.  The problem is that even a little convection in the clouds can be disturbing to passengers who aren't used to it.  Our PAX didn't have any problems and we found our way safely through everything.  ATC was very helpful.  We never saw any icing and the turbulence was light with only a tiny bit of moderate.  The rest of the flight was a piece of cake until landing.     

One of my friends and his wife were flying with us, and he manned the copilot duties.  He did a great job.  When we arrived at Destin (DTS), the weather was VFR with a deck at 4000 feet and very gusty winds.  Eglin ATC first rejoined us with a C-130.  It wasn't intentional or unsafe.  We just were in about 1000 to 2000 foot tactical with 1000 altitude separation for a few minutes.  Good picture fodder.  Then the controller took us south and below the clouds.  We popped out over the water, and the controller sent us on a beach tour without me making a request.  Again picture fodder.  Everything below the clouds was clear and beautiful.  We received a visual approach clearance into DTS and cancelled IFR.  I crossed midfield for a left downwind to runway 14 and descended to about 1000 feet.  That's when things became exciting.  The wind was 130 at 15 gusting to 29 and the Baron was bouncing around like a Cessna.  That was the most bounce I have every seen from a Baron on final and maybe the most bounce since I last flew a 172.  You would have to be there to believe it.  We made a nice landing and everything was cool.  Passengers thought the landing was perfect.  I plopped her on the ground when I could on the center and was happy for that.  Big gusties are not the best time to be trying to put one down.  I was happy the wind was nearly straight down the runway.  I've taken off a Baron in 40 to 50 knots winds and landed many times at the crosswind limit.  A big gust factor is seriously a potential problem much worse than those situations because you can't do much to smooth it out except extra airspeed.       

Back in the air again for a short hop from AAO (Wichita Jabara) out to HYS (Fort Hays, Kansas).  This was a fantastic flight out.  The skies were clear with cool temps.  My brother-in-law was my copilot and we were off to play golf in Hays as part of the pre-wedding festivities for my nephew, the pirate.  The plane needed nitrogen in the nose strut, but other than that, everything looked great.  The log showed all lot of use for January and March and that is great too.  I had a positive on the ledger for February--yeah! 

The takeoff was awesome even with full tanks.  The plane wanted to leap off the ground and into the wild blue.  The trip was only 45 minutes almost too short to show my brother-in-law around the cockpit.  By the time we were at cruise, it was almost time to descend.  Hays has lots of runway choices and some good approaches.  I came in high and set everything hanging in the breeze and zipped down to the asphalt.  We touched down nicely, but not a perfect kiss.  The crosswinds were about 10 knots.  Still nice down the center and right on speed. 

Then we played golf, met a lot of nice folks, and attended a wedding.  Can't get much better than that.  Kicking back with my brothers-in-law and their families is always great.

For the trip back, I traded my brother-in-law for my wife.  She's better looking and a more fun copilot.  The weather out of Hays was low VFR with icing, turbulence, and winter junk between HYS and AAO.  My alcohol tank was empty on the way out, so I had the FBO at HYS fill it.  They were great.  The line guy found their alcohol (unlike the last trip into Minnesota) and filled the tank.  I just had to show him where the tank was--no trips out to Wally World for isopropanol.  The plane started and ran like clockwork.  We were making 191 knots true in cruise at 7000 feet--a knot better than book.  The trip out the plane made better than book.  For a Baron with vortex generators, that ain't bad.

We climbed through the weather and passed a tops report back to a pilot at HYS.  The bottoms were at 5000 feet and we topped them into a layer at 6200, no ice.  We were out of the clouds, in layers all the way to Wichita.  Landing was nice and uneventful.  Just a great flight without a lot of problems.       

I flew a compassion mission up to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.  The passengers were a sweet little girl and her parents.  The mission was through LifeLine and was it a doozy.  A cold front was coming in through Kansas, Iowa, and Minnesota.  The ceilings and visibility were coming down and there was some chance of inflight icing. 

I met the passengers at Jabara (AAO) and everything went well for load up, taxi, and takeoff.  Then the fun began.  The weather at AAO was great for takeoff,  but we entered the clouds at about 4000 feet and didn't get out at 9,000.  There was some trace rime in the clouds and I didn't want to hang around and see if it would accumulate.  ATC was fantastic and gave us direct to RST (Rochester) and 11,000 feet.  We broke out right at 11,000 and stayed out of the clouds for a while.  In Iowa we went into the soup again.  At -8 C, the aircraft wasn't accumulating, but I was using anti-icing fluid on the prop.  I have a big alcohol tank, so there is about 4 hours worth of alcohol.  I wasn't worried about the flight in, I was concerned about having enough alcohol to get back to Jabara on the return trip. 

The weather at RST was 5 and haze with a 1000 foot ceiling.  They were calling for trace to severe ice.  When we started down, I popped the wings for insurance, we exited the clouds at 10,000 feet and were in the clear until about 4000 feet.  The approach went great with really good vectors from ATC--they didn't even spit me through the ILS course.  The landing was a little bump--oh well.  No one said Barons are easy to land perfectly. 

The passengers and I traded pictures in front of the plane and I saw them off.  The big surprise came when I tried to get the alcohol tank refilled.  Maintenance said no one ever asked for alcohol before.  Now I found that hard to believe.  They offered me TKS fluid.  I had to call Midwest about that one.  Midwest said TKS is too thick for the Baron alcohol system and don't use it.  They did say I could use any type of alcohol:  methanol, ethanol, or isopropanol.  Now I am a chemist, so I asked the FBO (Fixed Based Operator, like an aircraft service station) where the closest Wally World (Wal-Mart) was and could they take me to it.  They were too busy to take me, but they gave me a crew car (yahoo). 

At the Rochester Wally World, I bought 8 quarts of 91% Isopropanol (all they had), a Subway Classic Italian BMT, and a big coke.  I was amazed there wasn't a law against buying so much Isopropanol.  Now N17979 and I were ready to face the world.

At the FBO, maintenance filled the Baron's alcohol tank, topped off the fuel and oil, and I took off into 3 miles and haze with an 800 foot ceiling.

On the way back to AAO, I flew at 8,000 feet and max power.  The winds were over 30 knots in the face and I didn't want to delay in this kind of weather.  For a while 8,000 feet was clear, but again in Iowa, I ran into the clouds.  I had a little ice from the climbout, but it wasn't accumulating.  I was using alcohol on the props.  Since this flight was about an hour longer due to winds, I was concerned I might not have enough alcohol to make it to an alternate if the weather at Wichita really crumped.  I kept checking the weather with flight watch and it was staying about the same as the forecast.

As I got to the Wichita area, the winds were 340 at 25 gust to 27 with 1 mile light snow and a ceiling at 900 feet.  The weather was improving slightly.  During the descent visibility increased to 1 and 1/4 then 1 and 3/4 at AAO.  I decided to fly a Localizer to runway 18 at Jabara followed by a circle to 36 for the winds.  Two aircraft preceded me into Jabara.  They flew the GPS to 36 and landed.  I had to slow to delay for them, but I received an approach clearance for the Localizer to 18.  The approach was uneventful and I made a sweet circle to 36.  The runway was covered with snow, so I flew an easy touchdown and rollout.  She still stopped before midfield without any brakes.

All in all a great mission and flight.  By the way, I made it back in time to see BlAst at the Century II, and the two aircraft that arrived just before I did into Jabara didn't have any anti or deice capability.  Here I was worried about having enough alcohol and these jokers were flying around in the weather in icing without a care in the world. Remember there are old pilots and bold pilots, and then there are stupid idiots who shouldn't even be allow within visual distance of an aircraft.          

We flew out to the Florida Panhandle to check on Sea Spray.  It happens to be our anniversary and we took some friends with us.  Our friends hadn't flown on a GA twin before.  Before start, I had to have maintenance check the air in the main tires and the pressure in the front strut.  The weather out of AAO was fine and everything went as planned until descent.  Destin had been 2 miles visibility with 200 to 400 broken and 800 to 1000 foot overcast skies all day.  They had just come up to 8 miles vis 400 broken with 1000 overcast.  Eglin was in a quandary--the weather was good enough to get flights out to the ranges and the high altitude ranges were open.  You have to realize that Eglin is an Air Force Air Traffic Control training base.  The weather was really not good enough for Visual Flight Rules (VFR), but they needed to get their test and training flights off.  Here we come tooling into the area to land at Destin.  Pensacola asked if we wanted to go along the beach or to CEW.  I choose CEW because the GPS approach to 14 at DTS has an IAF at CEW.  The controller for Eglin told us to expect vectors to the GPS 14 at DTS, then he took us through a box pattern from hell.  He announced his intentions and I told him I needed to get down.  A Baron is slicker than snot and you can't expect it to be able to descent from 4000 feet to the IAF altitude of 200 feet without a little room.  The controller gave a traffic call on an E-3 with a descent clearance when we saw the 707 sized plane.  We were flying into a cloud, so the controller cancelled the descent from 4000 to 3000 when I told him we couldn't maintain visual with the E-3.  We received a new controller then--I suspect the training supervision.  He turned us around to the GPS and sent us on our way.  He gave us a descent to 2000 feet and I kept trying to get a clearance out of him.  After we crossed the intermediate fix, he cleared us for the approach and my copilot and passengers called out 2 F-15s about 1000 feet below us in the Eglin pattern.  The planes were not a problem for us, but they were in formation and obviously VFR when they shouldn't be.  At that moment the controlled did not cancel our clearance and told me to climb back to 2000 feet.  Then he gave me a continued clearance.  There was no way the approach could have been flown safely from that point and the energy was bad, too high too fast.  Luckily I could see DTS through the weather and I was on the final approach course.  I continued IFR, configured, and landed at DTS.  I didn't cancel until I was safe on the ground--like I said, it wasn't VMC, but Eglin was playing like it was.  I would have violated the controllers if it was hard IMC.  They didn't scare me, but they need more training.  Hear that, you guys need more training, and if you do it in IMC, I'll violate you next time.

I don't violate controllers unless the situation is actually rather than inherently unsafe.

The time at the beach was great and we got a lot of work done.  The return was almost uneventful.  We did fly through some clouds and snow coming through Arkansas, but otherwise the weather was beautiful.  I was happy with my landings and our passengers saw a very comfortable and nice flight.   

Until next time.   

Off to Dayton, Ohio for a Christmas party and business with Defense Research Associates.  That is a story in itself about aircraft design and development issues, but not about my flight.

Kansas weather is outstanding.  When I took off the sky was a beautiful blue without a single cloud or obstruction to visibility.  My plane had been through extensive maintenance.  You might ask, more maintenance?  The FAA requires the prop system to be rebuilt every 2000 hours or 6 years.  We hit six years in January, so the props had to be redone.  The prop system is very complex on this type of aircraft because the prop pitch is controlled by the pilot.  This is called a constant speed propeller.  When you takeoff, you want the greatest power output from the engines and the props, you set the prop pitch to give the greatest power and that means the highest RPM possible.  In flight, you can trade prop power for efficiency so you decrease the RPM by changing the pitch of the prop so it takes a bigger bite of air with each revolution.  For you budding aero guys, this also changes the angle of attack of the blade.  The engines are set to put out the best power they can, the prop pitch actually controls the speed of the engine and drives the rest of the system.  Prop pitch is controlled using oil pressure in the prop hub.  The pilot moves the prop lever and the oil pressure rotates the prop to the correct position.  Additionally, the pilot is setting an RPM, the system is supposed to govern to this RPM.  In reality, RAM air rise causes the RPM to increase the visa versa, but it all works out in the end.  You can also move the prop to feather.  Feather is the position in the air where the prop has the least drag when it is stopped.  This is used when the engine fails in flight.  That's why you have two--engines. 

Because of the maintenance on the aircraft, I spent a little extra time on the ground making sure everything was right before I took off.  I also checked out the anti-ice equipment.  In winter weather, you want everything to be working just right.  When I tried to get an IFR release from Wichita departure, they had a delay due to two tankers.  One was right over AAO and the other about 3 miles north.  Plus another aircraft was flying into Beech field--only 4 miles south of AAO.  I told the controller, I would takeoff VFR and pick up my release in the air.  I already had a clearance.  These are the kind of delays traffic in the air can cause even when there is no weather.  In fact, these delays are more common when the weather is good everyone wants to fly. 

I took off VFR, the day was cold and the aircraft leapt into the sky.  It was awesome.  Even with a full load of fuel, the plane was making 2000 feet per minute up and made altitude before I had a chance to talk to the controller.  I had a visual on all the traffic and just headed on toward Emporia.  The controller was happy about not having to mess with sequencing me in.

When I leveled off at 11,000 feet, the aircraft accelerated up to cruise speed better than normal and I noticed it took less aileron trim to keep the wings level.  On the last flight, Marvin Hesket and I noticed the right flap was not retracting as far as the left flap.  This caused the aircraft to roll to the left and required a lot of aileron trim to balance.  Additionally, the aircraft wasn't making book even with two newish engines.  The maintenance guys at Midwest made some adjustments to the flap and it really improved the handling qualities and the aircraft speed.  I was only one knot off book.  That may have also been why it seemed to be so well powered during takeoff.  Little things make a world of difference in aircraft performance.

On the flight to Dayton on the way to KC, I heard a great conversation on the radio.  I couple of guys in the Cessna were getting VFR flight following from KC Center.  They weren't following the controller's recommendation.  I started listening closely when I heard the ATC controller say, "If you don't follow my recommendations, you need to get off flight following.  You have two F-16s about 1 mile left of you.  They are flying strafing runs at 540 knots against ground targets."  I don't know what happened after that, but I didn't hear about any collisions, violations, or shoot downs, so I guess they got out of the MOA safely.  That's the problem with not knowing what you are doing or where you are in an aircraft.

The skies were blue and cloudless until I talked to Dayton approach control.  The weather there was overcast and required an approach into Dayton International (DAY).  This is true about Dayton, Ohio.  In the winter (summer, fall, and spring too) when the rest of the country is skies clear (SKC) Dayton is under the clouds.  I don't know how I survived there before I could fly above it.  The cloud tops almost always are about 5000 feet.  Get above 5000 feet over Dayton and you can see the sun!  I flew an ILS to runway 18 at Dayton international.  The wind favored 24, but that is the main runway and 18 is over 10,000 feet long so no problem.  The controller told me to slow to 170 knots, I did.  He had a Bonanza ahead of me on approach.  Then he screwed up the vector and slung me right through the localizer.  What a pain.  These guys need to treat Barons like turboprops and not like small singles.  He made a half-hearted "legal" correction, but I would have never recovered with his vector.  I asked if I could slow below, 170, threw out the flaps at 152, took a 30 degree cut and hoped for his sake I intercepted prior to the glideslope.  I would have violated him if I didn't.  I should have called his super after the flight, but I forgot.  In the weather, single pilot, is no time to have a controller screw up vectors to an approach.  They do it all the time.  I intercepted right at the glideslope and slammed down the gear.  The approach was beautiful, but I was in control of that.  I landed quite nicely and went to see my friends at Stevens Aviation.

The return flight was about the same as the trip out.  Dayton was 900 overcast 6 miles with haze and a light drizzle.  I should have mentioned when I started the aircraft at AAO, I had a slow turnover with a hard start on the right engine.  I was afraid the starter broke.  I was sweating that a little, but I shouldn't have.  The right engine started up just like it should.  I concluded the starter was cold soaked at Wichita--maybe I should check on the heated hangar its supposed to be stabled in.  The airplane literally accelerated like a bat out of you know where.  I took off on 36 and the airspeed was at 90 before I realized and lifted off.  She climbed out at a fantastic rate   rate and I broke out at about 4000 feet into blue skies.  The flying was beautiful all the way to Kansas.  The minute I crossed over the boarder, the clouds disappeared.  I passed a Merry Christmas to every controller.     

Back at AAO, the arrival went pretty much as usual.  I did hear our friend Chelsea on the radios about to take a training flight.  The winds were up about 17 knots and I took it in high.  The visual approach was nice, but I kissed the nose gear.  It was a very light touch, but I could tell.  Then the most odd thing happened.  I can't explain it.  Usually with a nose gear kiss, you keep pulling back and the aircraft settles back on the mains and that's all she wrote.  The aircraft was at low speed and the mains touched gently, but bounced a little.  It felt like the mains were bouncing on the struts and not on the concrete.  The winds must have been at the point where they were keeping the lift high on the wings and the plane was kind of bouncing in the lift.  The proof of this is that when I aerobraked, the nose didn't touch down until the normal point.  Oh well, we pilots will do a lot to explain away a non-perfect landing.  She was safe, but not my best.      

Training flight: IFR Competency Check (IFC) and Biannual Flight Review (BFR).  These are the painful check rides and training every aviator has to accomplished every two years.  For my insurance with Midwest Aviation to keep my aircraft on part 135 Charter Operations, I have to get an IFC and a BFR every year.  This is a pain, but it is better than the military were every pilot gets 3 to 4 checks a year.  A basic, a mission check, a line check, and an instrument check.  You also could get a no-notice check anytime.  Civil flying is much more stress free, but I'd do the military flying again, anytime--they just have to ask.

Midwest is really good about the check ride--ops flight training.  They let me take a check with their chief pilot Marvin Hesket.  Marvin is an ex-Army pilot, thinks about aviation like I do (he's as anally retentive about aviation as I am), and he is a great chief pilot.  I always learn something from him when we fly together.  He gives me an ATP check, makes sure I'm safe, and signs me off.  You might think this is easy.  It really isn't.

First, before you train, you have to study.  It doesn't mater how up to date you are with your aircraft knowledge, you must study the aircraft handbook, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) part 91 and part 61 rules, Airmanship and basic instrument flight rules.  Some of this stuff changes yearly.  Some you think changes yearly because you missed it the year before.

Second, you end up in a cockpit with your pubs (which must be up to date) all over the place, going to fly approaches you have never flown before, expecting simulated emergencies at every breath, and you never have enough time to review the approaches--oh well.  On a normal flight things don't usually come at you so quickly, but the point of a checkride is to put stress on you and see how you handle it.  You also end up doing all kinds of things you hope to never see during a normal flight: missed approaches, single engine approaches, mucho holding, unusual attitudes, steep turns, and stalls.  All this is important to review and boy can it get exciting.  Maybe busy is a better word.

We took off simulated IFR, lost the right engine (simulated), got it back, flew up toward Newton (EWK), intercepted the airway from ICT (Wichita) out to 30 DME then went to do airwork.  These are the stalls, unusual attitudes, and steep turns all under the hood (like on the instruments simulating IFR).  After burning some gas and getting the airplane warmed up, we headed to Newton for the full procedure turn ILS to runway 17.  I flew it on the autopilot--whoo whoo.  Of course to a missed approach and a climbout to set up for a fix-to-fix to the GPS to 17.  This was a non-procedure turn.  I flew this to a missed approach with the full procedure and hold. 

We returned to Jabara to fly the ILS 17 single engine to a full stop landing.  Fun flying and a real work out.  I used to make my student pilots do the same--oh well.  What goes around, comes around.  

Departed 4 November 2007 on a trip with Holy Cross Lutheran Church for a Shepherd Institute Symposium.  I am establishing connections with groups in Wichita and with the Lutheran Church for my writing and Christian experience.  The Shepherd Institute promotes the theology of liturgical music in the Church.  The trip was to Fort Wayne, Indiana and the Concordia Theological Seminary. 

My tablet flight computer died and shipped back for repairs (under warranty, thank goodness).  I used my old iPAC moving map and it worked well.  I had to reremember how to make it work.  The flight to FWA was uneventful and N17979 flew great.  The heater was stinky on the trip out, but didn't smell on RTB (return to base).  The weather was clear.

On the way back, the weather was overcast and very windy at FWA.  Takeoff was near the crosswind limit, but the aircraft handled it well.  We picked up some light ice in the climb, but popped out of the clouds right at 8000 feet, the cruise altitude.  We skimmed the cloud tops for almost 200 nautical miles.  The sky above was absolutely clear and the sun caused the clouds below to shine like snow.  Every now and then we sliced through the cloud tops.  It was really beautiful.  N17979 almost made book and the engines were ticking over nicely.  I kept the power to 2500 RPM for the entire flight.

Landing at AAO was interesting.  A Cessna was flying the VOR A for training at AAO when we flew in.  We were at 14 NM when they started the approach at about 10 NM out.  At the same time, another Cessna was in the pattern.  We skimmed in south of AAO and beat the Cessna on the approach and the Cessna in the pattern.  That just shows the speed of the Baron and the vigilance you need in the Wichita flight area.

Departed 13 October 2007 for a visit to our beach property in Destin, Florida.  The visit was for business, to check out the property after the main season, and to get together with my wife's family.  Plus my brother-in-laws are great company, and they like to do fix-it work around the place.  One year they painted my beach walkover, and the next week a hurricane took out the whole beach walkover--oh well.

N17979 was in fighting shape out of an annual.  Everything was supposed to be fixed.  The flap indicator gauge was a known out and the gear warning horn needed tweaking.  Both of these checked out needing work.  On taxi out, the flaps worked great except they wouldn't come up when moved from full down to approach.  The heater was stinky during the first leg, but settled down on RTB (return to base). 

My brother-in-law sat copilot and we had two beautiful stewardi.  The trip to the beach was uneventful.  Clear and smooth skies without a hint of nastiness.  The airplane showed a couple of little problems.  The heater bothered me enough to pull out a CO strip, but there was no combustion issues--just fuel stink.  We could hear a slight rattle from the front and I was worried that the heater or a duct had not been connected properly.  The middle heater vent didn't have any heat and the rear and copilot vents were putting out more heat than I have felt from a Baron.  The airspeed was lower than normal even for a full load--not sure what was causing that.  I'm happy to say, the DME worked great, and the $1200 turn and slip peanut gauge worked--for that amount I sure hope it did.  Aircraft parts are a killer and will be the ultimate downfall of private aviation--unless Congress starts levying user fees like they have in Europe, Australia, and Canada.

The flight back was a little more exciting.  The weather across the middle of the US and right through Wichita was non-front associated TRW (thunderstorms).  They were expected to build in the afternoon, but cropped up early.  The track was across the center of the country north north east at 45 knots.  That is quick enough to move them out of the way in a few hours, but with the altimeter setting at AAO near 2935, the plains were creating TRW as fast as they could move.  The weather guesser advised a later TO than the planned 1500Z (1000 local), so we got off at 1200.

The aircraft started up great, but the AP trim light was flashing and nothing would turn it off.  We had a lot of rain and I figured the trim motor or wiring was wet.  The trim and AP worked fine, but the AP trim just wasn't happy.  We got one of the Eglin trainees passing the clearances--that was funny.  I can't ever remember getting an obvious trainee giving clearances.  The instructor controller had to keep interjecting help, and the guy got the order of the clearance wrong.  It must have been training day at Eglin, the initial controller took us out and around on loose vectors and finally put us direct CEW (Crestview).  He didn't have enough traffic for that much vector, and he sounded a little green.  DTS (Destin) was clear and a million when we took off, but the lower level clouds quickly obscured the ground and started to reach up to our altitude.  I planed originally at 8,000, but the winds were a tail all the way up, so I moved it to 10,000.  That put us in the right place for most of the MOAs (Military Operating Areas). 

Airborne, 17979 was doing great.  The trim dried out and fixed itself.  Never showed a single problem.  The airspeed came up a bit better than before.  I expect about 10 knots slower than book CAS (Calibrated Airspeed) with a full load.  Usually the aircraft makes 5 knots slower than book with a medium load.  I was flying around all the little puffies for the sake of the PAX of course.  There really wasn't a lot of junk in the clouds.  A little plane washing and that's about it.  We found a bit of stuff near Little Rock, but passed to the north.  I didn't know it was really growing behind us and to the south.  I didn't worry much about it because the clouds where largely broken below us and the TRW such as they were isolated.  The radar and stormscope were working great.  I don't think I ever saw a large electrical clump on the stormscope all day--little groupings, but nothing really bad.  The radar however was painting all kinds of bad stuff as we approached the Tulsa area.  I called Flight Watch and received the commentarian of the month.  All I wanted was an update on the weather--he wanted to make flight decisions for me.  He said, "doom and gloom, land at Fort Smith, don't proceed further."  Scared my PAX half to death.  We were in the clear with the buildups in sight, a crack radar and stormscope on board and under IFR control.  Since the weather at AAO was IMC, but clear of storms, I decided to proceed and see what the line was like.  ATC said it was pretty solid, but only 15 miles thick.  They had jets topping areas at 20K and props going below it at 4K.  I don't think it is a good idea to ever try to go below TRW.  When we got closer, we could see some significant holes in the line.  I choose a large hole between a couple of big cells that showed flashing nougats.  The ride wasn't bad and we came out in a couple of minutes into clear skies on the other side.  Getting into AAO required some more maneuvering around the cells.  With 500 to 800 foot vacillating ceilings and winds at 140 degrees 14G23, the ILS to runway 18 seemed like the best idea. 

I flew the approach and broke out about 300 to 400 feet above DH at 1614 feet.  The approach was right on and we came out right in line with the runway.  The landing was sweet, and the winds were strong enough that the aircraft slowed using aerobreaking alone.  I didn't have to touch the brakes.  I even had to add power to taxi. 

Departed 15 September 2007.  Trip to support the wedding of my cousin's son, but who really needs an excuse for a weekend cross country?

Back on board N17979.  No more fumbling for the call sign.  No more messing with a strange autopilot and a flight-directorless avionics system.  The engine was running beautifully.  Maintenance said they were still watching a forward seal leak and there was oil in the cowling from the alternator.  The alternator was seeping oil and had to be replaced.  Everything else wrong is secondary and on the list to be fixed: #1 radio swapped with a loner (still doesn't work that well), #1 glideslope out, DME out, and turn and bank indicator leaning a little to the right, no left, no right.  Turn and bank is redundant since 17979 has an RCA electric ADI (Attitude Indicator) backup to the vacuum ADI.

The engine was purring better than the left and after the flight I think the left has the same fuel pressure problems that we found on the right.  

Weather out of Jabara was alright, but a SIGMET covered this area and the Kansas City area that was the destination.  We were filed IFR to Kansas City Downtown (MKC).  This would be a great chance to test the radar.  Additionally, we had an AIRMET for moderate turbulence to 8000 feet and moderate icing above 13,000.  The weather was great other than that.  Pretty stinky when you have rough weather in route and you don't get to fly an approach at the destination.   

We ran all the checklists and were cleared with a release out of AAO.  We followed a Pilatus and a Kingair.   The plane surged with power.  Since the temp was about 10 degrees C, it should.  At 81 knots, I pulled back and she lifted off at 86.  Right as we hit 100 knots and I was pulling up the gear the crew door flew open.  The aircraft really went through a small conniption.  I noticed a real loss of lift right when the door opened.  The airspeed noticeably slowed.  I punched a little opposite rudder, but the door affected the airspeed and lift more than anything else.  I pulled the plane up to a 500 foot right downwind.  My copilot was hanging on to the door for dear life.  I didn't have the heart to tell her that the door would only open about 4 to 6 inches and that it could not be closed in flight.  It was cold in the plane, and through her efforts, I was happy to have a little less 10 degree wind inside.

On downwind, I saw a tanker in the McConnell pattern right above us.  We were squawking, but I didn't have time to call ATC.  I had enough trouble flying around the pattern and configuring the aircraft.  A door opening is not really a huge emergency, but I didn't want to mess around more than I needed to in the pattern.  I configured and flew a full flap landing.  On the ground, I cleaned up the airplane ground items, closed the door myself, and headed back to the end of runway 18. 

The key here is the age old Beechcraft lesson.  At some point your usual copilot will want to start closing the door.  This is a great convenience, but also a great sucker trick.  The other problem is that many copilots--women and children don't have the strength to check the door once it's closed.  We who have flown and learned to mistrust the Beechcraft crew door know you have to put your full weight on it to test it.  Good lesson--I got a free one and an extra pattern.  We only lost the flight log out of the door. 

I've had the door open before.  At ADS (Addison in Texas), the shoulder harness was caught in the door frame after I gave a fam flight to a relative.  The day was blistering and ADS tower gave me an immediate IFR takeoff.  The shoulder harness caught in the door and I didn't realize the door wasn't fully latched.  On that takeoff, I lost all my charts.  I had to go around for traffic in the pattern, with an open door, but everything was cool.  After I put everything to rights, I took off again and had no problems.  I did have to pull out my emergency charts.  On final someone called--"great job" on the radios.  That was nice, even if I caused my own problem.  That is why I always hook up and tighten down the copilot seatbelt and shoulder harness when I fly in the front alone.  

ATC didn't give me a hard time.  I just told them I had a delay in the pattern and asked for another release.  Now you need to realize, that the conditions were IMC, not hard IMC, but just below VMC IMC.  The kind that puckers the controllers but usually leaves out the VFR pilots.  On climbout, the controller asked what the delay was about because he had a heavy tanker in the pattern.  I just told him I had a door open on takeoff and had to land to close it--he was happy with that.

The trip to MKC was a little wet, bouncy, and IMC.  The radar worked great.  ATC was helpful and MKC is a perfect airport for visiting Kansas City.  We stopped at Executive Beechcraft.  They had everything ready for me and took good care of the aircraft.  Their charge for a hangar is a little higher than market.  They wanted $80 and going rate is about $50 to $65.  I would have hangared 17979 if serious or cold weather was expected, but with showers and warmish temps, a tiedown was enough.

I used Pilot Zen techniques to get around KC the whole weekend.  They work great, but It helps to be the Zen of Test.  Pilot Zen for the uninitiated is to point the direction of the car approximately where you want to go and head off until you find what you are looking for--it works for me.         

We returned to base (RTB) 16 September to AAO.  The weather for departure was the same, but better--no AIRMETs but an area SIGMET.  This time with rain showers and a little IMC around MKC and clear, hot, and windy in Wichita.  The radar was helpful and we didn't touch a cloud on the way back.  I checked out the glideslope and saw it was bad.  You can still fly an approach with #1 on the flight director and use #2 for the slope.  It's a little challenge, but it worked great.  Landing with the winds was a little challenge.  I clunked it down on speed and centerline.  Okay for an IMC landing, not the best for VMC.

The right engine is fantastic.  The mechanical fuel flow gauge needs a PMEL look for the right engine, but the left fuel flow is right on.  The left engine still has that little fuel problem--it wants to burn about 2 gallons per hour more than book.  The right engine purred alone at book and EGT showed it could have done better.  I think the power on the right is much better than the left, even counting for the engine change. 

Departed 30 August 2007.  We went to the 50th anniversary of dear friends of our family Uncle Bill and Aunt Mavis.  They are unfortunately not directly related to us, but my brother and I called them Aunt and Uncle from infancy.

The flight was from home base Col James Jabara Airport (AAO) in Wichita, Kansas to Pensacola Regional (PNS) at Pensacola, Florida.  I flew N6493S again because the maintainers were still working the bugs out of the new engine on N17979.  N6493S is a great 58 Baron, but the cockpit isn't set up as well as N17979.  N17979 has a King Silver package on it with a KFC 200 autopilot and a Trimble Approach 2000 GPS.  The setup is very similar to the Learjets I flew in the Air Force and instrument flight is a breeze.  N6493S has a different set up and no flight director.  You have to work at your cross check, plus like all aircraft it's a little bent, so trimming in all axis is a chore.  I know N17979 really well, but I still have to work a little harder with N6493S.  It's a great plane and I was happy to be able to use it on the flight.

The nose strut was low on N6493S and I had maintenance fill it up to book before the flight.  This delayed us about an hour and we took off at about 1100 instead of 1000.  The autopilot worked on this flight and held the aircraft rock steady on course and altitude.  Weather was good with some thunderstorms in route.  The color radar on N6493S is great and with ATC kept us clear of bad stuff all the way down.  We did have to negotiate a couple of rainstorms, but never saw any lightning and didn't get any turbulence above light. 

Pensacola was VMC.  The controllers took us all the way around to land with a visual on 26.  Wind was a total cross at about 9 to 12 knots.  Landing was good and right on the center--my cheering section liked it.

RTB was 1 September.  Weather was better, but we had some cumulus around Pensacola.  We took off about 1100.  They gave us takeoff clearance right in front of an MD-80 on 3 mile final--no delay.  N6493S got up and went.  It doesn't seem to accelerate as well as N17979, but the temp was about 30 C.

Controller practice at Pensacola approach.  We got some long vectors and a little IMC work.  This delayed the flight by 4 minutes and a couple of gallons that we never made back up the rest of the flight.  We kept away from a couple of towering cumulus right in the Florida panhandle area and continued direct to AAO.  ATC wasn't very busy, but it usually isn't in this part of the country on Saturdays and Sundays.

Wichita was clear and a million with light winds.  Coming into AAO, we had to dodge a couple of gliders flying within 5 NM of the field at 3 to 4000 feet.  We dove under them and made a left base to final on runway 18.  The landing wasn't as nice as the squeeker at Pensacola, but still on centerline and speed. 

I took my son up to Saint Louis (STL) and continued to Ann Arbor, Michigan.  I landed at Willowrun (YIP) because Ann Arbor's runway is too short for a safe takeoff in a Baron.  I flew N6493S which isn't my usual aircraft because N17979 was still NMC following the engine change and maintenance career moves.  They lost the log book entries and the changed engine had serious problems: missing, wouldn't feather, wouldn't govern, and the right mag dropped 300 RPM (not a good sign). 

Biggest problem during the flight was remembering the call sign.  No real weather to speak of, but TRW around YIP caused us to fly north a bit.  N6493S also had a bad autopilot.  I hand flew the whole way up and back.

Like all IFR flights to busy areas, the whole thing was SIDs to STARs.  The controllers were great, and it is also great to have GPS on board.  You become dependent on good equipment on an aircraft.  My moving map and altitude alerter are a couple of things I would not want to do without.