Here I am again with another enroute tale, and the questions that followed.
Last week I helped deliver an aircraft that my flight school had sold. I was to fly a Cessna 172, and another student and instructor were leading the way in a 172RG. The flight would take us from Southern Illinois to Monroe, WI. All seemed good the morning of, until we got a chance to look up the current enroute weather. Southwest of Chicago was a large line of thunderstorms moving to the Northeast which was smack in the middle of our planned route. So we wait around, talk about a few different options, hope it weakens, etc. We finally decide to change up the route and fly around the West side of the system. There was still light to moderate precipitation forecast for the area, but we said if anyone got uncomfortable we could just land, monitor weather, and go from there. So I'm feeling a bit off kilter to begin with. Single pilot, nasty weather, and a now unfamiliar route that I had to quickly punch into the iPad.
Off we go, in contact with each other via 122.75, the RG leading the way. We both ask for flight following, and announce we are traveling together. We hum along, dark clouds looming at my 2 o'clock. Center mostly talks to the RG, who is 20 knots faster and 20 NM ahead already. She says, "Moderate to heavy precipitation, 25 miles at your 12 o'clock." They press on and report to me that the rain is moderate, but manageable, and they were switched to an Approach frequency. When I reach the area of precipitation, I change course several times dodging the more visible areas, skipping one of the VOR's on my route. Again, fairly unfamiliar with the area and the route itself, I end up on a 010 bearing for the Moline, IL VOR. I'm out of the rain, but at 3,500 I'm noticing some low level clouds forming, leading to more of a broken layer to the Northeast.
Now, I'm in a basic factory 1970-something Cessna, no DME or GPS. At this point I'm fairly disoriented in distance to the VOR I'm tracking and especially the lead aircraft. Finally, I was given to Approach I hear the tail end of a transmission about the RG diverting to a different airport due to deteriorating weather. They were almost instantly given to Chicago Center, so I'm now starting to wonder what's going on ahead of me. My next building issue was that I couldn't communicate with Approach. I suppose I was too far out, and too low. But, they called my tail several times with no joy, and eventually stated I was severely broken. I climbed to 5,500 and finally established comms. They asked me what my intentions were, as continuing to Madison was not a strong choice. I said I'm traveling with the RG Cessna, I would like to also divert to their destination. I still had no idea where they were going at this point, so I asked. "The RG Cessna is diverting into Dubuque, IA."
Okay, where the h*** is Dubuque, IA, I'm thinking. I've got the iPad out, somewhat frantically searching the airports to my West and Northwest. I'm trying to use the search function, but of course I have no freakin' clue how to spell "Dubuque" out of thin air. Hmm... this should be awkward. "Approach, Cessna 6****, request Dubuque identifier, and initial heading." Delta, Bravo Quebec, fly 360. Found it. Okay, at least I know where I'm going now.
I've been trying to talk to the RG through our "buddy comm" for some time, with no luck. It looks like low level broken to overcast off my nose, and I'm still 30+ miles south of DBQ. So now it's getting kind of real. I can press on and hope to find some holes to sneak through. If not it looks good to the West, I'll go elsewhere. Several minutes later and out of nowhere the RG calls. "Hey, we have Dubuque in sight, you'll be over a layer until about 5 miles south of the field. It's clear enough to make it in VFR." So I press on. Dubuque ATIS indicates 1,400 scattered, winds right down the active, but gusting 25. I would assume these low level clouds and winds were some form of outflow from the storm, as it was all out of the Southeast, and a Northeast moving system.
I fly along looking down through the holes. Wondering if I should stay on top, or get below while I still can. I decide 1000 AGL is good enough for me, being this close to my destination. I get low, it's a rough ride and probably 40 knots crossing my route of flight. I'm following an interstate, which appears to lead right to the airport. Ah ha! There it is, just a few miles off my left wing. "Center, Cessna 6**** has Dubuque in sight, request frequency change." "Dubuque tower, Cessna 6****, 4 miles Southeast with Tango, requesting full stop." "Cessna 6****, Call midfield left downwind, runway 13."
I'm not 20 seconds closer to the field.... something isn't right here. That looks like a 130 heading runway, but where's the intersecting one?? It's the wrong field! At this point I've been flying for over 3 hours, getting fairly stressed out, and now have to make yet another awkward call to Tower. "Uhh, tower I'm a bit unfamiliar with the area, looks like I found the wrong field. I'm 15 South, still requesting full stop." "Roger, call 5 South." The weather is still dropping, I end up flying the rest of the way to Dubuque at a legal, but fairly unsettling altitude, and terminate with an uneventful landing and a bad taste in my mouth.
So, with all of this being said. What's the process of requesting a pop up IFR clearance? The aircraft and myself are legal to shoot an approach. They have an ILS to RWY 36 that would have had me through the broken layer with ~600 feet to spare until minimums, and a circle for RWY 13. And man would it have been A LOT safer than me scud running an interstate trying to find the field. I could have requested the approach to Chicago Center 30 minutes prior to reaching the field and saved a whole load of confusion and stress. Is it as simple as just asking? Is this practice a no-no? Does it get reported?
To me, it just seems like a good reason to have and utilize an instrument rating to safely get yourself on the ground. That weather was completely unpredictable, and changing by the second. Not 30 minutes after I landed it was overcast at 900 for the next 3 hours. Part of me feels like it's a bit irresponsible, but from my perspective it would have been a big help.
What should I have done?
And for the record, I think any student pilot could have made the same mistake.
Last week I helped deliver an aircraft that my flight school had sold. I was to fly a Cessna 172, and another student and instructor were leading the way in a 172RG. The flight would take us from Southern Illinois to Monroe, WI. All seemed good the morning of, until we got a chance to look up the current enroute weather. Southwest of Chicago was a large line of thunderstorms moving to the Northeast which was smack in the middle of our planned route. So we wait around, talk about a few different options, hope it weakens, etc. We finally decide to change up the route and fly around the West side of the system. There was still light to moderate precipitation forecast for the area, but we said if anyone got uncomfortable we could just land, monitor weather, and go from there. So I'm feeling a bit off kilter to begin with. Single pilot, nasty weather, and a now unfamiliar route that I had to quickly punch into the iPad.
Off we go, in contact with each other via 122.75, the RG leading the way. We both ask for flight following, and announce we are traveling together. We hum along, dark clouds looming at my 2 o'clock. Center mostly talks to the RG, who is 20 knots faster and 20 NM ahead already. She says, "Moderate to heavy precipitation, 25 miles at your 12 o'clock." They press on and report to me that the rain is moderate, but manageable, and they were switched to an Approach frequency. When I reach the area of precipitation, I change course several times dodging the more visible areas, skipping one of the VOR's on my route. Again, fairly unfamiliar with the area and the route itself, I end up on a 010 bearing for the Moline, IL VOR. I'm out of the rain, but at 3,500 I'm noticing some low level clouds forming, leading to more of a broken layer to the Northeast.
Now, I'm in a basic factory 1970-something Cessna, no DME or GPS. At this point I'm fairly disoriented in distance to the VOR I'm tracking and especially the lead aircraft. Finally, I was given to Approach I hear the tail end of a transmission about the RG diverting to a different airport due to deteriorating weather. They were almost instantly given to Chicago Center, so I'm now starting to wonder what's going on ahead of me. My next building issue was that I couldn't communicate with Approach. I suppose I was too far out, and too low. But, they called my tail several times with no joy, and eventually stated I was severely broken. I climbed to 5,500 and finally established comms. They asked me what my intentions were, as continuing to Madison was not a strong choice. I said I'm traveling with the RG Cessna, I would like to also divert to their destination. I still had no idea where they were going at this point, so I asked. "The RG Cessna is diverting into Dubuque, IA."
Okay, where the h*** is Dubuque, IA, I'm thinking. I've got the iPad out, somewhat frantically searching the airports to my West and Northwest. I'm trying to use the search function, but of course I have no freakin' clue how to spell "Dubuque" out of thin air. Hmm... this should be awkward. "Approach, Cessna 6****, request Dubuque identifier, and initial heading." Delta, Bravo Quebec, fly 360. Found it. Okay, at least I know where I'm going now.
I've been trying to talk to the RG through our "buddy comm" for some time, with no luck. It looks like low level broken to overcast off my nose, and I'm still 30+ miles south of DBQ. So now it's getting kind of real. I can press on and hope to find some holes to sneak through. If not it looks good to the West, I'll go elsewhere. Several minutes later and out of nowhere the RG calls. "Hey, we have Dubuque in sight, you'll be over a layer until about 5 miles south of the field. It's clear enough to make it in VFR." So I press on. Dubuque ATIS indicates 1,400 scattered, winds right down the active, but gusting 25. I would assume these low level clouds and winds were some form of outflow from the storm, as it was all out of the Southeast, and a Northeast moving system.
I fly along looking down through the holes. Wondering if I should stay on top, or get below while I still can. I decide 1000 AGL is good enough for me, being this close to my destination. I get low, it's a rough ride and probably 40 knots crossing my route of flight. I'm following an interstate, which appears to lead right to the airport. Ah ha! There it is, just a few miles off my left wing. "Center, Cessna 6**** has Dubuque in sight, request frequency change." "Dubuque tower, Cessna 6****, 4 miles Southeast with Tango, requesting full stop." "Cessna 6****, Call midfield left downwind, runway 13."
I'm not 20 seconds closer to the field.... something isn't right here. That looks like a 130 heading runway, but where's the intersecting one?? It's the wrong field! At this point I've been flying for over 3 hours, getting fairly stressed out, and now have to make yet another awkward call to Tower. "Uhh, tower I'm a bit unfamiliar with the area, looks like I found the wrong field. I'm 15 South, still requesting full stop." "Roger, call 5 South." The weather is still dropping, I end up flying the rest of the way to Dubuque at a legal, but fairly unsettling altitude, and terminate with an uneventful landing and a bad taste in my mouth.
So, with all of this being said. What's the process of requesting a pop up IFR clearance? The aircraft and myself are legal to shoot an approach. They have an ILS to RWY 36 that would have had me through the broken layer with ~600 feet to spare until minimums, and a circle for RWY 13. And man would it have been A LOT safer than me scud running an interstate trying to find the field. I could have requested the approach to Chicago Center 30 minutes prior to reaching the field and saved a whole load of confusion and stress. Is it as simple as just asking? Is this practice a no-no? Does it get reported?
To me, it just seems like a good reason to have and utilize an instrument rating to safely get yourself on the ground. That weather was completely unpredictable, and changing by the second. Not 30 minutes after I landed it was overcast at 900 for the next 3 hours. Part of me feels like it's a bit irresponsible, but from my perspective it would have been a big help.
What should I have done?
And for the record, I think any student pilot could have made the same mistake.
