Stuck in Troy
Posted
Sat Jul 2 11:00:38 CDT 2022
Updated
Sat Jul 2 11:55:11 CDT 2022
More so than I was expecting, it's happened. I got completely stuck behind the weather. As I type this, it's just past 11 am central time and I'm on the ground in Troy, Alabama.
Today's start was decent, though I didn't feel like I got enough sleep, yet again. I woke up at 6:15 with the alarm, and was packed and eating breakfast around 7:15 instead of 7 like I'd wanted (too much time spent looking at the weather briefing, not enough spent packing). I didn't get to the airport until 7:40. Interestingly, if we had taken off an hour earlier, as had been my initial plan, I think I would have skipped much of the trouble I'm now facing. Of course, it might also have been that I'd be stuck somewhere in the air with only clouds under me, so I'm not going to count that against my plan.
The plane was ready, and the lineman at Moultrie was very helpful as I got myself packed up and preflighted the plane. I'm happy to report that the cowling screws were not in fact working themselves loose, which is good news. I decided that for this next leg to Alabama, I'd try flying at 2400 RPM instead of 2100. Flying at 2100 RPM got me an impressively frugal 5.1 gallons per hour, and I wanted to see what the most-consumption conditions would return.
The actual flight was mostly unremarkable. Jacksonville Center couldn't hear me until I was about halfway there, so I wasn't actively talking to controllers until an hour into the flight. I normally talk to them so I've got a second set of eyes on my progress, as much as anything else, and someone will be paying attention if I suddenly descend to the ground and can't be reached on the radio any more.
I made most of the flight at 4500 feet, which was a good compromise between 2500 (too muggy) and 6500 (too much wind against me, and probably too cold). It was showing 66° F on the thermometer at 4500, and I was starting to get a bit chilled as I flew along. The extra noise at this speed was noticeable. I found that 2400 RPM was giving me a speed of about 115 MPH indicated, which is about 120 MPH true airspeed. I was making a bit less speed over the ground due to headwind, but still, that's pretty good.
For my fuel flow testing, I switched to the wing tanks at the 0.5 hour mark, as has become my habit (makes it easy to track how long I've been on that tank, which is only allowed for cruise flight). At the 1.5 hour mark, about 20 miles from my endpoint, I switched back, which should make the fuel flow testing math very simple.
As I got nearer to my intended destination (which was 07A, Franklin Field, near Union Springs, AL), I saw a more and more solid-looking layer of clouds under me. I hoped that they would clear off closer to the field, but it just got more solid. I descended to try and figure out how low the clouds were, and the lower I got, the more it looked like they were at maybe 700 feet above the ground. Far too low to try to make a visual approach to an airport. Poop. Franklin had quite a good price on fuel, at only $6.30/gal.
But, trying to make a landing under a 700 foot overcast is patently illegal, not to mention quite stupid, so I shoved the noise-maker forward and changed my destination to Troy, AL, which was about 30 miles to the south. I saw they had a tower, and make a call to check their weather, but was informed the tower was closed. Fortunately, my correspondent was able to confirm that their weather report was accurate, with scattered clouds at 4500 feet. Much better.
I got in to Troy, and tanked up on fuel, taking on 14.4 gallons at $7.84/gallon (ouch). But, interesting observation, that gives me a fuel burn of only 7.2 GPH, which is much better than I'd been expecting. I'd been hoping for 8, and planning for 9. I'll probably still plan with 8 as my target, since it'll drink more when I'm lower and not as obsessed with leaning the engine for peak efficiency. I'm thinking the next few flights will be at 2300 and 2200 RPM, to see what those return.
One thing I had noticed on previous days was that the right forward landing wire (one of the wires criss-crossing to hold up the wings) was vibrating rather a lot when I was flying at 2100 RPM, and I didn't like that at all. So I think 2100 is off the list of options for now. I hate to think of the fatigue that must induce in a stainless steel wire.
Then, of course, the reason I'm sitting here writing, instead of out there getting pummeled with air: the clouds rolled in. I sat down in the Troy pilot's lounge (btw, the Troy FBO facility is nice, highly recommended) for another 15 minute power nap, and when I got up, the sky was covered. The radio reported 1400 foot ceilings, which is just too low to try to make progress safely.
I still found myself itching to go. I finally applied my now-favorite dummy test for this situation: If I were at home, and making a voluntary flight for fun, would I fly in this? Answer: No, I would not. So why would I fly in it now, in a new-to-me plane that's been sitting in a hangar unused for a year? Because I want to Get There. Perfect case of get-there-itis. Damn. Caught by my own cautious nature.
Cool thing: my landing at Troy was excellent. I had my speeds down where they should be (80 downwind, 75ish on base, and 65-70 on final), and thought I might try for a wheel landing. At the last moment, I realized I'd tricked myself into getting properly low enough, so I flared into a 3-point landing, and was greeted with a gentle touchdown a moment later. Lovely! Now to do the same thing every other time I land (the real trick).
Now, as we approach noon, it's time to orient my gaze outward again, and see if I can spot the moment I should be climbing in the plane and heading onward. I really want to make more than 4 hours of progress each day, and I've only made two today. The trick is, as always, to temper that with my "Would I fly in this normally?" test.
Moments later...
Aaaaaaand this is what we see, moving east towards us:
And you may enjoy this panorama of the incoming storm (off to the left, we're facing roughly north for this photo).
Here's a gallery of today's photos
And now, Sat Jul 2 18:33:52 CDT 2022
Somehow, the rain never seemed to land at Troy. It should have, the graphic above tells a hell of a story (it was all moving east), but we got a few drops, and then it just kind of hung out looking sullen to the west. Evetually, I got sick of waiting for it to do its thing, and climbed in the plane around 2. Everyone at Troy was most accomodating (a trend that looks set to continue), and the line guy helped me pull the plane out of the hangar where we'd stashed it against the possiblity of storm. Although it looked like Mt. Doom to the west. I was headed north, and that way looked actually pretty blue. There were clouds stacking up, for sure, but nothing that looked like an actual thunderstorm.
I launched, telling myself firmly that if it looked bad, I was going to turn around and land, or land at Montgomery, AL, which is about 30 miles to the NW. However, as I got up, the towering clouds became much less ominous looking, and much more like something I could just avoid quite easily.
And such was indeed the case. I ended up playing a game of dodging between the clouds, which had a certain WWI dogfight feel to it. Something about being in a biplane and diving and weaving around.
For the most part, though, it was an uneventful flight. Note: the next few paragraphs are absolutely chock full of nerdery. I won't feel bad if you skip them.
The fuel consumption experiment was a complete success. I flew almost the whole flight at 2300 RPM, and even managed to do an hour on the wing tanks again (making the math simple during refill). We refilled when I landed, and the wing tanks took about 6.8 gallons, making my 2300 RPM economy cruise consumption 6.8 gallons per hour. I did the math on the three speeds I've flown so far, and came up with the following:
| RPM | True airspeed (kt) | GPH | nm/gal |
| 2100 | 84 | 5.2 | 16.15 |
| 2200 | 91 | 5.5 | 16.64 |
| 2300 | 101 | 6.8 | 14.85 |
| 2400 | 105 | 7.2 | 14.58 |
Unfortunately, the lower speeds set one of the flying wires vibrating fiercely, which I don't like very much. At 2400 (more specifically, at the speed achieved by flying at 2400, I suspect), the vibration goes away. So that may decide me in favor of flying at 2400 RPM, despite the lower efficiency. Saving a few bucks on gasoline does me no good if I crack one of the wires. They cost about $1000 each to replace, so let's avoid damage to those.
And, end nerd mode.
I ended up in Starkville, Mississpipi in the late afternoon, where I had a perfectly delightful conversation with the line guy, who told me about his flight training, and his plans to build time before enlisting with the Air Force. I thought about hangaring here for the night, since I was down, but I really wanted to make further progress.
Then I realized that it was almost 5 pm. On a Saturday. Before the 4th of July. Then I looked at the weather radar. Honestly, the first point was enough, but the evidence all taken together very clearly said: stay here! There's even a nice pilot's lounge with comfy recliners. No travel and no complication, and no cost? Done!
Of course, it's already almost 8 pm, and I'm hoping to be sound asleep by 10 pm, and somehow I still have a ton of stuff to do. The Stratux box (which shows me other planes in the air on my tablet) shut itself down midflight. I need to clean up before bed, and ideally get things packed in such a way that tomorrow morning will be little more than jumping up, eating a quick breakfast, and getting on my way.
I commented to someone that this is my first "roughing it" experience: oh noes, an overstuffed reclining chair, or my sleeping bag on the camping mat? How terrible. The building is well-provided with AC, and as the drops start to spatter against the window now, it's extremely comforting to know that I've got the plane in a hangar.
I'm excited for the opportunity to visit Little Rock (hopefully) tomorrow, to meet up with someone I've only talked to online. She is the fourth person on my list of "met online, now meeting in person," if all goes according to plan. I hope the weather cooperates, but leaving at the absolute moment of dawn will be helpful, since the weather clearly only starts going with the heat of the day.
I'm sure there is much more I want to write about, but you've been very patient for this long entry. More later.
Copyright © 2022 by Ian Johnston.