Saturday morning my alarm went off at 6 am, and it wasn't quite enough sleep, but...it is what it is. So I got ready and was out the door by 6:45 am, wanting to be a little early, because I didn't know how bad the roads were. OUR road is still bad, and I didn't know if some of the back roads would be, especially since everything had frozen over again after another dusting. Well, come to find out, the roads were quite clear. I was so early I sat in the parking lot for a few minutes and caught up on internet stuff before I went inside and waited for them.
Our first leg, the owner (Ethan) flew left seat, and I instructed him, with his son in the back seat, and his other pilot CFI guy Mark also in the back, and we went from Frankfort to Athens, Georgia. Uneventful, busy, especially going into there. There's a *lot* going on in the 340, it's a busy airplane, with a lot of fuel management, and a lot of systems, and pressurization, and just...busy. So I was busy talking the whole time. They dumped us into Athens so high it was a dive bomb to get down to the runway, with me firing stuff at him. "Turn here. Pull your nose up, can't pick up all this speed. Power back more. I know the gear horn is going off, it's just going to have to. Pull back till you hit 160 kts. There we are, first notch of flaps, and watch out, it'll balloon pretty good on here. There, that'll slow us to 140, now drop your gear. Great, 2nd notch and lower your nose and let this thing come down!" Short final we got stabilized and on path and he made a very nice landing out of it. He said he was glad for the experience.
While he was switching fuel tanks one of the many times you have to switch fuel tanks, the right engine quit. I told him to just fly, and I dealt with the fuel valves, and got it running again within a few seconds. He said "DID THAT JUST QUIT FOR REAL"? I said yes, and notice how we didn't fall out of the sky in a death spiral like they talk about on TV? lol But this one has a sweet spot where if you don't get the valves in the right place, right away, it quits. I think I've found the sweet spots now, since on the course of this trip I lost fuel flow to an engine quitting three times. There aren't detents you can feel, so you have to just guess on some of it, which is stupid. But...The last leg of home I put it where I thought it was, and it didn't quit on me, so I'm guessing that's it. Now, to show him where that is so he doesn't scare his family to death.
From Athens, his friend Mark hopped in the left seat. He has C-310 time but no C-340, and flies a Cirrus Vision Jet, so I was surprised when he didn't know how to work a pressurization system. So I looked up Cirrus Vision Jets today, and their pressurization system is all completely automatic. Fancy pants. Anyway, he flew us down to Punta Gorda, FL, where they were *super* busy, also dumped us on top of our airport, re-routed us a bunch, and kept us hopping. He got overwhelmed, which also surprised me...I'm guessing he's not single pilot in that Cirrus. Anyway, so I started helping out on pushing buttons. This panel is new to both him and me. It has some unit that works with the autopilot, and it's a PAIN. You have to hit a button to say you're about to select something. (DTA button whatever that means). Then you select your altitude, or your barometric pressure, or your vertical speed, or whatever. Then you dial it in with the knob. Then you hit the DTA button again to "enter", or lock it in. So think about it. They say "Descend and maintain 8000', expedite descent, barometric pressure 30.30." This is what you have to do. Hit DTA, hit ALT, dial in 8000', hit DTA. Hit DTA, hit VS, dial it down to 1200 fpm, hit DTA. Hit DTA, hit BAR, dial in 3030, hit DTA. That's a *lot* of steps when you're busy. Meanwhile they're telling us to turn to this heading, change to this frequency, etc. Oh, and a re-route to your clearance. Good old Florida, they're always a mess.
So they dumped us on top of Punta Gorda, and I helped talk him through the landing too. We all get out and go inside while we get a little gas, and Ethan pays for fuel for us and for his Cherokee Six, which is on the ramp there, which Mark is going to fly home to Frankfort for him. Mark takes off in the Cherokee Six. We take off in the 340, with Ethan in the left seat, and go on to Bartow, FL. Ethan was not comfortable with how busy it was, so he asked me to do the radios. By now, he's tired, we've been at it for hours, and he started getting sloppy. It was his worst landing to date, but all his others had been beautiful, so...can't complain. But he was done. And I was just gettin' started. ;) I'm on the ground for an hour, and I finally eat for the first time that day, at a restaurant on field that was closing but showed me mercy and let me stay and eat a sandwich anyway. I was so grateful I tipped $5 on an $11 meal. Trust me, it was well worth it.
As soon as I was done eating and they were done topping me off, I got back in the 340, and now with a pretty stiff headwind, I took off and headed for Athens, GA again. It's a great fuel stop, open late at night, right on the way there/home, and just outside the Atlanta Bravo, so they don't mess with you too much. I topped off at Athens, all tanks, and then got right back in as the sun was setting, and headed for home. This was a longer leg, but everything went fine. The weather was good, which is good because I'm not very familiar with a Garmin 750, which is what is in here. I can work it to go places and I can plug in an approach, but if I had to do a lot of approach button pushing at a critical phase, I might stumble around a little on it. So I said I wanted good weather, and we got it, and I'm glad. It worked out well.
My last couple of controllers, I heard Mark on the radio in the Cherokee. I passed him just south of Indy, and got into Frankfort first, by at least 30 minutes. Frankfort's weather was calling for overcast and scattered layers, so I was planning on my first approach, but...I could see the airport from 30 nm away. So I just did a visual. I heard him ask for the approach, and I know it was because he got the AWOS, but the AWOS was wrong. Weirdly wrong, because there wasn't a cloud in the sky for hundreds of miles!
So I landed, cleaned up the plane, got my stuff together, and now it's 9 pm. An airport guy came out and tugged the plane away for me, and I got in my car for my hour drive home. Steve asked me to stop at Glenndale and pick up stuff for him. I get to Glenndale, and I don't have my keys. Can't find them for nothing. So I have to go home without the stuff, as we don't keep a spare key out there any more. I walked in the door around 10:20 pm, after leaving at 6:45 am. Long day, and I was *tired*.
But...good views, nothing exciting, some good practice on the new panel stuff, I think I'll get along with everyone here, so hopefully it'll be a mutually beneficial relationship and a good time with a good plane. :)
Now, for picture overload.
Palm Trees in Bartow, Florida. Where it was warm and sunny.
The "new" ride. A blue and white 340 whose N# I can't say.
The T-6 is 43826. This is 8632(K). It messes me up.
The T-6 is 43826. This is 8632(K). It messes me up.
Florida sun shining on Florida water
The panel in the daytime. Old school gauges plus a Garmin 750
Sunset in Athens as I climb in to head for the last leg home.
The cord is to power the Stratus, for my traffic and weather on my iPad.
Getting better on the lighting. That cord messes up the shot, but it is what it is. :)
This looks like every sunset 340 photo I take. :D
Louisville, KY I think.
Indy over the nose
I know you haven't seen a photo of Indy at night lately. ;)
And look. It's more snow. Back home again in Indiana.
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