mtsu_av8er
Well-Known Member
Well, the night started out pretty normal. There were lots of storms moving into the Kansas City area as I loaded the airplane. Of course, the couriers were running late, and I'd pay the price. I like to try to get off the ground early when the weather is crappy, to give me some fudge-room. Not happening tonight, I suppose.
So, at 1834 (I was proposed at 1830), I pulled out of the spot and headed for the runway. Did some sweet talking to the ground controller, and he let me back-taxi instead of taking the long way - as long as I was completely ready to go, with NO delay once I was in position (this saved me about a minute and a half, which for us, is alot!!!). So, with the sky darkening behind me, I was off of runway 21 at MKC. I was racing a cell moving south, just to the southeast of the airport. Small cell - severe precip, and about 5 miles wide. It was a heck of a view, let me tell ya!
Made it about 30 miles east, and got a re-route over Hallsville, then V4, and on into the STL/CPS area. Visibility was about 5 miles, so I got vectored onto the downwind, was cleared for the visual, and switched to the tower. Easy landing on runway 30L, and taxi to the ramp. Oh, and I made up for the lost time, too - shut down exactly as scheduled - but still had to wait 12 minutes for the courier. Go figure . . .
Before the flight back, at about 0030 Local, the picture wasn't near as pretty. There was an area of weather moving toward the Kansas City area, with areas of severe and extreme (not sure what that means, but I don't think that I want to fly through it . . .
). In addition, the briefer told me that there was an area of severe weather over Jefferson City, MO and lots more weather up to the north of V12 (my route of flight).
OK, load up the airplane (after the late courier got there, of course), get my clearance, and head on my way. I request 4000 as a final (versus the 6000 that I was filed), and that keeps me under an overcast layer, with good visibility. Direct the Foristell VOR, V12 Napoleon, Direct. Level, run the cruise flow and checklist, and turn up the music (Randy Travis, Some old Isley Brothers and alot of Jimmy Buffet was on the playlist tonight!!) Everything was just groovy - until I was about 10 miles east of FTZ. Suddenly, the sky was alive with lightning! Consult with approach, and determine that that weather that was previously over Jefferson city was now pretty must in front of me, about 7 miles. So, I start deviating to the southwest, by about 35 degrees. Looks like that’s working out, and it does. There was lots of lightning to the north, but clear to the west.
Once I got past the weather, I headed direct to Columbia to pick up the airway. Joined the airway, but started feeling a little bit uneasy about the weather system that was now up north of the airway – seemed really close, and they confirmed my thoughts. They handed me off to Kansas City Center, who then gave me a vector direct to Kansas City. We had a little discussion about the weather moving toward my destination, and we decided that there was no way to tell if I’d beat the weather or not. Oh, well – no need worrying about it now. Besides, I had plenty of options, and stressing wasn’t going to clear the weather.
When I was about 45 miles east of the K.C. area, I picked up the ATIS – sounded good! 5 miles of visibility, 7000 overcast, and light rain. Visuals for runway 3 were in use. That lasted until I checked on with approach. At that time, a Special observation reported 1-3/4 miles, 2100 broken, rain, and mist.
Crap. The weather was beating me.
OK, no big deal. I was told to expect the ILS 3, and started getting vectors. I was still skirting the southern boundary of the worst weather, and was pretty much in the clear, with some intermittent rain. Lots of lightning, though. Right around the time I was ready to line up on the final, the weather went to ¾ of a mile, few at 700, overcast at 1100, with moderate rain. All bets were off as I needed at least a mile to commence the approach. I let approach know that I would need to “burn some gas” and see what the weather does. His response: That a cell with heavy precip was right on about a 2-mile final, and it didn’t move for the next 8 minutes.
OK, Looks like I’m landing at Johnson County Executive, which was reporting 7 miles, and clear.
Wait, I don’t have charts for that airport.
Looks like I’m waiting the weather out. And then, there’s a miracle – the visibility was varying between ½ mile and 2-1/2 miles, but at that moment, the airport was in between cells, and the final was clear of all but some moderate rain on about a 1-mile final. I’ll take it!!
Cleared for the approach, and had nothing but light-moderate rain all the way down the final (with a wonderful lightening show a few miles to the west)! Picked up the runway JUST BEFORE I HIT THE DECISION HEIGHT! Another approach to minimums!! An uneventful landing, a slow and methodical taxi to the ramp just as the next wave over heavy rain moved over the airport. By the time I was unloading the plane, there was a thunderstorm right over the airport, extreme precip, and I was soaked before I even go the aft cargo door open! After getting to the hotel, the beer tasted really good!!
This isn’t for the faint of heart, folks. However, if you have what it takes, freight dawgin’ is a heck of a lot of fun! You learn about weather, what it does, and how close you can push it before safety is compromised. You don’t need weather radar to fly when the weather is crappy – you need some smarts, some know-how and a way out.
This is the proverbial bomb, yo!!
So, at 1834 (I was proposed at 1830), I pulled out of the spot and headed for the runway. Did some sweet talking to the ground controller, and he let me back-taxi instead of taking the long way - as long as I was completely ready to go, with NO delay once I was in position (this saved me about a minute and a half, which for us, is alot!!!). So, with the sky darkening behind me, I was off of runway 21 at MKC. I was racing a cell moving south, just to the southeast of the airport. Small cell - severe precip, and about 5 miles wide. It was a heck of a view, let me tell ya!
Made it about 30 miles east, and got a re-route over Hallsville, then V4, and on into the STL/CPS area. Visibility was about 5 miles, so I got vectored onto the downwind, was cleared for the visual, and switched to the tower. Easy landing on runway 30L, and taxi to the ramp. Oh, and I made up for the lost time, too - shut down exactly as scheduled - but still had to wait 12 minutes for the courier. Go figure . . .
Before the flight back, at about 0030 Local, the picture wasn't near as pretty. There was an area of weather moving toward the Kansas City area, with areas of severe and extreme (not sure what that means, but I don't think that I want to fly through it . . .
). In addition, the briefer told me that there was an area of severe weather over Jefferson City, MO and lots more weather up to the north of V12 (my route of flight). OK, load up the airplane (after the late courier got there, of course), get my clearance, and head on my way. I request 4000 as a final (versus the 6000 that I was filed), and that keeps me under an overcast layer, with good visibility. Direct the Foristell VOR, V12 Napoleon, Direct. Level, run the cruise flow and checklist, and turn up the music (Randy Travis, Some old Isley Brothers and alot of Jimmy Buffet was on the playlist tonight!!) Everything was just groovy - until I was about 10 miles east of FTZ. Suddenly, the sky was alive with lightning! Consult with approach, and determine that that weather that was previously over Jefferson city was now pretty must in front of me, about 7 miles. So, I start deviating to the southwest, by about 35 degrees. Looks like that’s working out, and it does. There was lots of lightning to the north, but clear to the west.
Once I got past the weather, I headed direct to Columbia to pick up the airway. Joined the airway, but started feeling a little bit uneasy about the weather system that was now up north of the airway – seemed really close, and they confirmed my thoughts. They handed me off to Kansas City Center, who then gave me a vector direct to Kansas City. We had a little discussion about the weather moving toward my destination, and we decided that there was no way to tell if I’d beat the weather or not. Oh, well – no need worrying about it now. Besides, I had plenty of options, and stressing wasn’t going to clear the weather.
When I was about 45 miles east of the K.C. area, I picked up the ATIS – sounded good! 5 miles of visibility, 7000 overcast, and light rain. Visuals for runway 3 were in use. That lasted until I checked on with approach. At that time, a Special observation reported 1-3/4 miles, 2100 broken, rain, and mist.
Crap. The weather was beating me.
OK, no big deal. I was told to expect the ILS 3, and started getting vectors. I was still skirting the southern boundary of the worst weather, and was pretty much in the clear, with some intermittent rain. Lots of lightning, though. Right around the time I was ready to line up on the final, the weather went to ¾ of a mile, few at 700, overcast at 1100, with moderate rain. All bets were off as I needed at least a mile to commence the approach. I let approach know that I would need to “burn some gas” and see what the weather does. His response: That a cell with heavy precip was right on about a 2-mile final, and it didn’t move for the next 8 minutes.
OK, Looks like I’m landing at Johnson County Executive, which was reporting 7 miles, and clear.
Wait, I don’t have charts for that airport.
Looks like I’m waiting the weather out. And then, there’s a miracle – the visibility was varying between ½ mile and 2-1/2 miles, but at that moment, the airport was in between cells, and the final was clear of all but some moderate rain on about a 1-mile final. I’ll take it!!
Cleared for the approach, and had nothing but light-moderate rain all the way down the final (with a wonderful lightening show a few miles to the west)! Picked up the runway JUST BEFORE I HIT THE DECISION HEIGHT! Another approach to minimums!! An uneventful landing, a slow and methodical taxi to the ramp just as the next wave over heavy rain moved over the airport. By the time I was unloading the plane, there was a thunderstorm right over the airport, extreme precip, and I was soaked before I even go the aft cargo door open! After getting to the hotel, the beer tasted really good!!
This isn’t for the faint of heart, folks. However, if you have what it takes, freight dawgin’ is a heck of a lot of fun! You learn about weather, what it does, and how close you can push it before safety is compromised. You don’t need weather radar to fly when the weather is crappy – you need some smarts, some know-how and a way out.
This is the proverbial bomb, yo!!
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