Drench

I added Friday down there in the appropriate time line, just hadn't felt like writing so didn't do a great job of what could have been a big story.  But that's probably good for everyone else.  :D

Busy busy!  I woke up early this morning, almost two hours before I needed to and I needed to at 7:15.  So that's a little too early.  Got out to the airport at 8:20, and we were going to be ready to go flying at 8:30.  Glenn was taking a little longer than he expected to get the oil filled back up, which was no problem for us because we weren't on a time schedule, and we finally got rolling I think close to 9.  

Today's checkout included... going up and doing a demo of the loss of rudder effectiveness in the landing configuration while slow.  Doing some more single engine (the drill) work.  Doing an emergency gear extension not simulated.  And takeoffs and landings with 15 gusting to 25 knot winds.  It was pretty close down the runway, but still swapped around a little bit here and there, and the gusts made it a little more work.  I didn't work up the nerve to have him go over to the direct crosswind runway with that much wind.  I need to work my own way up to that first, be smart about it.

We landed after 1.8 hours to get fuel for the plane and us.  Steve came out and brought us sandwiches, and we sat and ate and talked.  It was time to get gas and go again, so I called the gas truck, and walked outside, and it was raining and cloudy.  It wasn't supposed to do that until 3-4 pm, but it lied.  Steve climbed up on BOB and got soaked filling it up.  Glenn stood out there and watched him and got soaked.  I pulled the 340 around so that they could fill it up too, as I have a 7 am trip tomorrow morning in it and needed the gas.  I got soaked.  When they finished fueling BOB, I took the tug and pulled BOB back into the hangar, and got SOAKED.  Like, wet socks, wet underwear, wet jeans, coat soaked all the way through, wet.  I put that away, Steve put the 340 in, then I put the Cheyenne away, and we all sat in the maintenance hangar just drenched.  I said I don't want anybody calling me a Princess this week.  I took my coat off and put it in the dryer along with Glenn's and Steve's coats.  I really wanted to take my pants off, but...that's a problem.  ;)  After they left, Cusick and a student were there, so I still couldn't take off my pants, but I did take off my socks, shoes and sweatshirt and put those in the dryer too.  They came out nice and toasty.  When I made it home, I took everything off and threw it in the washer.  We were done flying.  The weather just tanked on us.

Meanwhile Glenn was trying to get home.  He ended up having to shoot an approach to a nearby airport down to minimum minimums, aka at 200' he saw environment but not the runway, continued down to 100' where he found his runway.  As low as you can go.  But he made it.  :)

So I started looking into my tomorrow trip.  Forecast is calling for 200' overcast and mist at my first stop, and IFR and thunderstorms with moderate rain at my second stop.  My first stop is in the hills and has only non-precision approaches, with the one into the wind only going down to 600', and the one with a 15 knot tailwind on a shorter than Kokomo runway going down to 400'.  Obviously odds are not good in our favor of getting in there tomorrow.  So I looked up a viable alternative not too far away, and found an ILS 15 miles away.  It's still at minimums tomorrow so I have to look for an actual alternate with better weather, but at least we have a shot of getting in tomorrow to this place.  I haven't had an approach to full minimums all year--usually I get 2-3 a year, down to 200 and 1/2 or even 100 and 1/2, so I'm due.

I had a good time with Glenn and the C-45 checkout, and I'm really glad he was my first checkout.  He's good, and professional, and thoughtful, and skilled.  High time pilot, high time multi jet pilot, low time tailwheel pilot, but he put it all together really nicely and did a great job, and made my first time easy on me.  I appreciate that!  That gives me a little more experience and confidence for the next guy down the pike. As long as six months doesn't go by before I fly the thing again, anyway.  But I needed that push to do the first checkout in it; I was a little nervous about it considering my own low time in it.  But I felt pretty comfortable, actually, and I've picked up a few of those good little pointers to pass on, too.  If I can remember them.  ;)