Trips that reward us

The first one was a trip to Minneapolis, where the U.S. Olympic Trials for gymnastics were held. My daughter Sydney is a former gymnast and is a huge fan of the sport. This was our third trip to the trials, but the first traveling in our own airplane.

I stayed glued to several weather apps and websites in the days leading up to our planned departure. Because there would be three of us, getting seats on an airline using my flight benefits would be iffy at best, especially with so many people flying into the Twin Cities for the meet. I desperately wanted to avoid a 10-hour car ride. Fortunately, some cooler air moved through the Ohio River Valley area in the days leading up to our departure, and we were able to plan a pretty straightforward VFR flight. I filed IFR because I like to have somebody watching over me when I fly, and I wanted to make sure I could easily avoid any pop-up temporary flight restrictions.

Our trip involved a quick fuel stop in Iowa. Time was a bit of an issue for the second leg because the forecast was calling for some rain and possible storms in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area the evening of our arrival, and I wanted to be on the ground with the airplane tied down if the forecast came to fruition. This was a bit frustrating to Sydney, because in her mind, one cannot get credit for having been in a state unless one leaves the airport. I took the position that if a cop from a local state can arrest you, it counts as being in another state.

Another reason I was antsy to get there early is that I was still getting comfortable with the new avionics in my airplane. I had flown it enough to be proficient and safe, and I played with the various features while flying the Iowa leg, but I wasn’t quite ready to tackle any serious weather. That said, while we could have made the flight nonstop from our home base, I wanted the extra fuel for a diversion that a fuel stop would give me. We spent less than 45 minutes on the ground at Iowa City, and launched north with full tanks.

Sure enough, the forecast was accurate, and we landed less than two hours before the skies opened up. The following day brought a line of storms that also cleared out the area for the weekend, leaving us with clear skies, great temperatures, and a chance to sight-see around the city during the day. The highlight was watching Simone Biles do Simone Biles things; Sydney also got a photo taken with Frederick Richard, the star on the men’s team.

We had hoped to attempt a fly-by photo shoot of Mount Rushmore on the way home, but another blob of storms put that idea on hold for another day. Instead, we made the flight back nonstop, essentially matching the door-to-door time of taking the airlines. The weather was great, the ride was smooth, and the mission was accomplished.

A few weeks later, we had another experience entirely. We were heading to New York for a Billy Joel concert at Madison Square Garden. We had three days set aside for the trip so that my wife, Lisa, could get her obligatory New York-ing done (I’m not a fan). There were several options for airports, but having used Essex County Airport in Caldwell, New Jersey, before, I set my sights on landing there, even though Teterboro Airport would be a bit closer. Again, the forecast played a role in our plans. We were hoping to do the Hudson River corridor flight, and getting out of Essex County Airport VFR is pretty easy. If the Hudson plan fell through, we could just make a quick departure to the west and be on our way.

A slow-moving front was basically going to parallel our course. All signs pointed toward passable weather, but it being summer, I didn’t want to risk any convective activity. Again, I was checking the forecasts almost hourly. I made sure that Lisa and Sydney knew the decision to take the Arrow might be last minute—and it was. I went to bed the night before feeling more confident that we could make it, but with the warning that it might not be the best ride.

I turned out to be pleasantly surprised. The front had pushed just a bit south and east of our course and all but stalled. There was ground fog everywhere, and there would be some low-level clouds and possibly some rain, but I was sure we could make it if we left early in the morning. Worst case, we’d have to spend a night somewhere in Pennsylvania and finish up the next day with plenty of time. Fortunately, the flight was smooth—Sydney spent the time reading a book, and Lisa slept. The weather in the Caldwell area was fluctuating between marginal VFR and IFR, but I was ready to finally put the new avionics to use. I set up and reviewed the RNAV GPS Runway 4. A minor vector and a few turns set me up for a nice intercept. It’s one thing to see an autopilot do its thing in visual conditions, but when you’re in instrument conditions for the first time with new-to-you avionics, there’s a bit of a leap of faith that it’s all going to work. I had a good alternate about 30 minutes away, and plenty of fuel. I activated the approach, activated the intercept leg, and triple-checked the lights on the autopilot control panel and the symbology on the display. Sure enough, at the appropriate time, we turned final, and crossing the final approach fix, the automation pulled the nose down. I had been primed to do some kind of manual intervention, but it was totally unnecessary. We broke out a few hundred feet above minimums and landed like it was old hat.

Two days later, with my ears still ringing from the show, we departed to the north as planned, and did the corridor flight. We bounced along below the New York Class B until we could climb to 4,000 feet, then climbed to 6,000. New York Approach was way too busy to try to get flight following, so I monitored several frequencies until west of Allentown, Pennsylvania. We made a quick stop in Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania, for fuel and to watch a bit of the Olympics opening ceremony before launching toward home. Next to me, Sydney was watching a movie and taking photos, while in the back, Lisa quietly read a book and pointed out the occasional traffic.

On the way home, I couldn’t help but reflect on the good fortune we had. The airplane is working out just as we had hoped. Lisa loves the flexibility it offers for travel, and Sydney has become a ready and enthusiastic passenger. With a new avionics package that includes Nexrad weather and a rock-solid autopilot, much of the stress and worry are alleviated, to say nothing of the fatigue. I’ve been watching airplanes fly approaches to minimums or to an autoland for almost 30 years now, and it never fails to amaze me just how cool it is. Trips like this are among the best features of GA, but a back-up plan is always a smart move—in fact, I usually have that in place first, because it makes it easier to plan for Plan A when Plan B is already established. That may not work for everyone, but it works for me.

We were no sooner on the ground at home than they started talking about where else they want to go. Who can ask for more?