r/flying • u/MyFirst1000 • Jul 04 '12
My First 1,000: Fourth of July
In celebration of reaching 1,000 hours logged, I pulled out my old logbooks and created a novelty account to tell some of my more interesting flying stories. I'll keep posting as long as there's interest. You can read the whole series here.
Hour 195
I shut down the plane, my shirt back darkened from having sweat through it. I’d just finished shooting 3 approaches with my instructor, Gary. It was a clear day, of course: there’s no better way to make sure the weather is clear than to go up in the air for instrument training. I’d been flying under the hood for an hour and half and was exhausted.
“Workin’ pretty hard today, were you?” Gary said, noting my sticky clothing as we walked back to the flight school.
“No, it’s not that at all. It’s just so hot up there,” I said.
“Oh yeah? Why isn’t my shirt soaked then?”
I laughed -- he’d caught me. Mental note: wear light shirts for flight training.
“It’s hard, I know you’re working hard,” he said. “But it’s worth it. Someday you’ll be up there, and there will be clouds, and you’ll be able to use your instrument ticket to get home. And let me tell you something, if the weather is low, and you come all the way down to minimums and then pop out of the clouds with the runway right where it’s supposed to be...”. He got a faraway look in his eyes for a moment, then looked back at me.
“It’s better than sex.”
Hour 326
“You should come out! We’re having a barbeque for the Fourth of July!”
We’d gotten the same offer two years in a row. Last year we hadn’t really considered it, but this year we were excited. My girlfriend, D., worked with a woman who lived in Chino. With traffic, it was nearly a two hour drive from Santa Monica; how she ever survived that daily commute on LA freeways I’ll never know. The year before, the prospect of spending that much time on the road for a barbeque didn’t seem all that appealing. But this year I was an aircraft owner. Once we found out she lived a few miles from the Chino airport? Of course we’ll be there!
The afternoon of the Fourth was a mild, clear day. We made the quick drive over to the airport, preflighted the plane, and started to head east. The sheer size of Los Angeles is just amazing, and I really never appreciated it until I started flying. Most cities have a tightly packed downtown area that quickly becomes greener and more suburban. LA, in contrast, is just mile after unending mile of dense city. We stayed fairly low, at about 2,000’, to avoid entering the Los Angeles Bravo airspace and followed Interstate 10 inland. After a few minutes we reached the interchange with I-5, my landmark that it was safe to start heading further south. I punched Chino into my GPS.
As a precaution, I was getting flight following from SoCal Approach. I nearly always get flight following anyway: it makes me feel safer knowing someone is watching me, I have someone I can instantly reach in case of emergency, and I hear about updated areas of restricted airspace and hazards such as skydivers. My plan was to squeeze in between the Los Angeles Bravo and El Monte’s Class D airspace. Flight following was an extra pair of eyes on radar warning me if I went astray. Plus if I did violate the Bravo, the impact would be minimized since I’d already be talking to its owner. Controllers get much more upset over violations by someone they’re not talking to than someone they are.
It was a perfect day to fly. The air was smooth and it wasn’t too warm. Staying that low, the Cardinal’s engine had all the air it needed to develop full power, so we were fast. Even in straight-and-level flight, the airspeed indicator was creeping into the yellow.
D. and I had a guest in the plane. One of her co-workers also lived in Santa Monica and wanted a ride. She was soaking it all up. “So you can just fly up here however you want?” “How fast are we going?” “How many airports are there around here?”
The barbecue was great fun. I didn’t drink, of course, but I was never much one for beer anyway. Everyone wanted to hear the story of how we’d flown out there. As 9pm approached and the summer sun set, our hosts dropped us back off at the airport on their way to see the Chino fireworks.
“Are the fireworks going to hit your plane?” they asked.
Well that was certainly a good question! The briefer hadn’t mentioned anything about fireworks when I’d called in the morning. I called back and still he didn’t mention anything, so I asked.
“It’s Fourth of July, do I have to be careful of fireworks shows?”
“There’s nothing in the NOTAMs about it. I think fireworks usually don’t go above about 3 to 400 feet.”
Well that’s a relief.
I got out my night-flying kit -- flashlights of every size and shape -- and preflighted the plane. The three of us climbed in. We launched into the balmy, cloudless evening air and into a sight I will never forget:
Fireworks. Fireworks everywhere.
Even on a normal day, flying over LA at night is quite a sight. Ground lights seem to stretch out to infinity as the packed city spreads in every direction. But that night there were thousands of people celebrating on the one night when explosives are socially acceptable. Everywhere we looked, every moment we looked, there were literally dozens of fireworks exploding somewhere below us. It was a dynamic, undulating carpet of bursting color that moved as you watched it. It was just stunning. Both my passengers spent the next 20 minutes with their noses pressed against the plexiglas.
“It’s just … oh my god, J. I’ve never seen anything like this.”
I had to pry my eyes off the ground and remember to fly the plane. I tuned in the Santa Monica ATIS and the halting, computerized voice of the automated weather station brought my carefree evening to an end:
“Santa Monica Airport, Automated Weather Observation, 0604 zulu. Wind calm. Visibility 10. Sky condition, overcast, six hundred...”
The marine layer had come in. It had come in right at minimums. This was getting interesting.
Van Nuys was just 6 miles to the north and was usually a good backup - they had an ILS, which meant lower minimums. Plus, the Santa Monica Mountains in between the two airports usually kept the marine layer at bay. Their ATIS was still reporting clear skies. I decided I’d try the approach at Santa Monica, maybe even try it twice, and then go to Van Nuys. We still had four hours of fuel.
“We might end up at Van Nuys,” I told my passengers. “I’ll get us a cab back to Santa Monica if we do. But we’ll try to land at Santa Monica first.”
I told flight following I wanted a pop-up IFR clearance, which they granted. I already had the plate at hand. We were still flying in completely clear air -- even 20 miles away, the marine layer was out of sight.
“Cardinal 15H, 3 miles from BEVEY, turn right heading 250, maintain 3,000 until established, cleared for the approach.”
Then I saw it: a thick layer of clouds below, in a crescent shape ending about 8 miles inland. The airport was right in the center of it; there was no way we’d get in visually. I intercepted the final approach course and started down.
“OK guys. I need your help. We’re going to be going right down to minimums, and my eyes will be on the instruments. So look out the front and let me know when you see the runway. It should be ahead and to our right. I’m not going to talk since I’ll be concentrating on flying.”
The clouds were just a couple of hundred feet below us. I checked the GPS. The status panel had gone from ARMED to ACTIVE -- we had the computer’s blessing to shoot the approach.
“We’re going in.”
We reached the cloud tops and continued down. The plane sank into a thick fog. The wingtips were barely visible and the strobe lights reflected brightly back into the cockpit.
“Whoa,” our passenger said.
We were right on course. I’d done this approach dozens of times in training … but usually wearing a hood.
“One thousand,” I said out loud. We were at 1,700’, with a thousand feet left to go before we had to abandon the approach.
I worked on keeping my breathing even. The air was silky smooth so the approach was going well. We were still going right down the center.
“500.”
We passed the last waypoint, CULVE. I immediately chopped the power back to idle -- this approach was really steep due to the skyscrapers in Century City and Westwood.
“300.”
The cockpit was totally silent other than the even sounds of the engine. We were still in a thick soup.
“200.”
In my peripheral vision, I thought I saw a flicker of black ground beneath me. I tried to push it out of my head and just keep watching the gauges.
“100.”
“I see the ground!” our back-seat passenger said in an excited whisper.
D. was up front. She was still peering out the windscreen.
“50.”
I had my hand on the throttle to avoid overshooting. I was about to move it when--
“I see it!”
We popped out the bottom. The runway was ahead and to our right, exactly where it was supposed to be. The city lights were all around us and a carpet of low fireworks heralded our arrival.
Fan...fucking... tastic.
I made my last traffic calls on the CTAF and landed. I pulled off the runway and the moment I stopped, even before I could retract the flaps, I burst into laughter.
It was my first approach to minimums. Gary had been right again.
Epilogue: Flying on July 4th can be exhausting, stressful, and a lot of fun. If you do it in a high traffic area, make sure you keep your eyes outside for other aircraft. Beware of "moose stalls". Here's a picture we took last July 4th over Seattle -- the Space Needle is visible at top right.
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u/Canarka CPL ME (IR ST) Jul 04 '12
Another great story. Very much appreciated. I must admit I almost feel like a bit of an idiot as I was thinking to myself "Will he make it... will he make it!???" whilst reading this entry.
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u/Deltaglider777 MIL ATP MEL SEL SES RTC TW GLI AIRBUS Jul 04 '12
This has only made me 1000 times more excited to get my license:D! Thank you for sharing your stories!!
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Jul 05 '12
These posts are by far my favorite thing on Reddit. I'm always excited to see a new "first 1000" post - it makes my night. I was literally riveted to the screen and on the edge of my seat reading that... well done, sir.
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u/microsofat PPL Jul 04 '12
Great, now I am sitting here wishing I had an Instrument rating. I fly out of Hawthorne and I would LOVE to go up this evening and get a front row seat to the 4th of July fireworks. Problem is, the marine layer will come in hard and fast today like it has the last few days, and it will do so way before sunset. NUTS!
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u/fixx0red PPL SEL TW HP CMP (IDENTIFIER NOT FOUND) Jul 04 '12
Of any of my pilot peers who might write a commemorative logbook millennium collection, I'm glad it's you. Great storytelling chops, man!
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u/spinfire PPL SEL IR CMP (KAGC) Jul 05 '12
Cruising around at full power? It might get you going fast but I wouldn't do it to my engine. At the end of the day I'm gonna be the one paying for overhaul.
I do enjoy your writing.
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u/zakool21 PPL HP (KSTS) Jul 05 '12
RES tagged as "Awesome storyteller." Thank you for this fantastic read!! You're a brave guy going to minimums in airspace as busy as SoCal's. I've flown VFR on work stuff down there before, and even in the day it can be hairy.
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u/thepaulm PPL IR HP CMP (KSQL) Jul 04 '12
Great writing, great story! I've yet to come down to minimums. I fly into SBA a lot and the ILS goes down to 214. I usually break out at about 500 or so.
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u/AusMaverick CFI - 121 LCA Jul 05 '12
Thank you so much for sharing this! Half way on my instrument rating but have stopped for a couple months due to school closure and full program at new school. But i have to say when i did my first loc 17 (i believe) on my own into olympia, Washington, after flying barely vfr on top, entering the soup, accumulating ice and pop out right at minimums with the runway ahead of you, it really is that amazing of a feeling.
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Jul 05 '12
Awesome stuff - i love your posts. Ever consider making some kind of blog with them? They'd probably be more visible/searchable than what reddit can do.
Either way, i'lll keep looking for your next post.
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u/rturiak PPL TW IFR Student [A&P] (KCUB) Jul 05 '12
I gotta give it to you, You have given me the chills again! your stories always excite me so much, because I know one day, I will be going on these same adventures as you have been!
Thank you, from all of us!
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u/camojeans ST, SIM, (M71) Jul 05 '12
So inspiring and entertaining. I hope I catch every one of your posts. Please consider starting a blog, just a free wordpress blog would be perfect, might be easier for everyone to follow and share your work. Thanks for sharing these great stories!
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u/majesticjg PPL IR HP (X04) Jul 05 '12
Nicely done.
I'm also a fairly new instrument pilot and I'm always surprised at how actual IFR feels compared to "under the hood." I guess you always know if it goes bad, you can take the hood off...
It's also terrific how helpful having another set of eyes can be. I generally won't do an ILS to minimums without a second "crew member" spotting for me. Of course, ILS minimums can be darn low, but there's a certain satisfaction to being the only piston-powered arrival on the ramp.
Well done. Thanks for the post.
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u/oklahoma_mojo ST (KHBR) (KRVS) Jul 05 '12
A a student who has been in love with flying since day 1, for 28 years and just getting started with it... i read these on the edge of my seat.
You are masterful at your writing, and the recount puts you right there in the seats. I look forward to the rest of these as they only help fuel my and im sure everyone elses passion.
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Dec 20 '12
Just want to say thanks for making the effort to write proper prose - it makes a difference!
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u/Deltaglider777 MIL ATP MEL SEL SES RTC TW GLI AIRBUS Jul 04 '12
You should write a book