Six November Delta, Readback Correct Squawk zero two one zero.
So thursday after the lovely tropical storm ernesto rolled on through with little to no damage here but enk said there was a fair amount of flooding in Wilmington. Regardless, friday at 4pm I'm scheduled to fly. I look outside at the back end of a tropical storm and it was one of those really spectacular cloudscapes. Ceilings were listed as broken at 3200ft and overcast at 3700ft. So for all intensive purposes, there was a solid cloud layer and it was specled with terrain. Some of the clouds were really dark and filled with moisture, others were fluffy looking. The sun was even peeking through displaying the rays as it beamed through the moisture.
So I've flown once before with him in actual IMC (instrument meteorological conditions) and we filed an IFR (Instrument Flight Rules) flightplan. It was pretty cool.
BUT THIS TIME! I was doing the lesson so we were doing alot of neat stuff. But Im getting ahead of myself.
We took off under dark cloudy skies and a moderate 7-12kt crosswind. We climb out and dial up Fayetteville approach whom enk had spoke with earlier in the day to set up an agreement for a block of altitude for us to train in. We dial them up and they go through the whole deal 6ND cleared to the lumberton airport as filed climb and maintain 6000 and remain between the 180 and 170 radials off of the fayetteville vortac and block your hard deck at 3000, squawk 0210. We read it all back and comply they say 6ND radar contact 5 miles south of KLBT 3,500 readback correct. SO we're all set. We have our own little square of blind sky (because you can't see out the windows in a cloud) and we are good to go. Im observing the scenery while we are underneath the lowest layer of clouds and climbing out. It was the most beautiful thing ever. No words or photos can convey this to people. You have to see it. The words that I choose although holding the potential of being very descriptive do nothing for the visual stimulation in which I was presented with. The photographs that I WILL be taking won't do it justice because they lack the sense of speed. Flying on a commercial jet does some justice but looking out the side window is a faaaaaaar cry from seeing the clouds rush at you at 130kts (tailwind). All I can say is that the combination of the cumulus clouds both filled to the brim with water and dry (well as dry as a floating ball of moisture could be) combined with some very small breaks in the thickness of the layers that allowed the rays of the sun to shine through and make the rays visible. It was amazing, and then you point the nose up, and you go crashing into them.
Flying IN the clouds although is likely a unique experience probably isn't quite exciting but I'll tell you that I didn't get to pay that much attention as instrument flying is hands down the trickiest thing Ive ever done. You sit there and quickly sweep through your instruments to see whats going on, to try and establish what the aircraft is doing in comparison to the ground. You ask yourself, "What is my goal" if its to climb at 79kts (Vy) then you put ur airspeed at 79kts and sweep past your attitude indicator over to your altimeter back to airspeed down to your vertical speed indicator and then even up to the thermometer to make sure the temperature isn't to low and you don't need to turn on the pitot heat to prevent an instrumentation failure. You do all of this JUST to reference a correct SPEED! Not to mention that you have to do it all while moving your head as little as possible to prevent veritgo or any of the other number of bad news bears situations a lack of visual cues can provide while your vestibular canals (inner ear) are fucking you up! And then....
POP! You come soaring out of the top of the clouds. Into the most glorious sunny day you've ever seen. The sun shines brightly in the crisp cool temperatures that were at 6000ft today. The cloud layer no below you is all white and fluffy and goes as far as the eye can see (well not really but I couldn't see the end) (It was a tropical storm) We continued to remain at 6000ft which was where the tops were listed. As the sun was heating the cloud tops it caused irregularities in their altitudes. Some were slightly higher than 6000 some were lower. What it ended up showing was us flying into and out of clouds pretty rapidly. It was unreal. UNREAL! Enk just says to me as we were about to punch through the tops, "This is what its aaaall about right here" and I can't think of ANY other way to convey that to you. Me with all of my vast flying experience (LOL) its one thing for me to be impressed, but ENK although only a year and a half older than me, he's been around the block. To hear him say it, you know it has to be good.
There are so many things that while im on the ground I hear people say how pretty they think it is, I usually think to myself, you should see it from the air. But this truly belongs to the pilots. No one on the ground will ever see this. There's no way to look down at clouds (without being rediculous anyways). Everything else, the sunsets in schipol amsterdam, landing a plane over the beaches in st. croix. The airport with an 18% grade nestled into a ski slope in the french alps, the northern lights, all of this you can see. But looking down at a cloudscape from the cockpit of an airplane is truly a magnificent sight that I know so few people will ever get to witness. Too bad for all of you by the time I get my IFR license I'll also have my commercial license so I can charge you an arm and a leg for rides. Just like that gas station at the corner of walden and harlem near st joes.
Just kidding.
Im starting the list now though.
Enjoying my new perspective on the world yet again
~DAVE
So I've flown once before with him in actual IMC (instrument meteorological conditions) and we filed an IFR (Instrument Flight Rules) flightplan. It was pretty cool.
BUT THIS TIME! I was doing the lesson so we were doing alot of neat stuff. But Im getting ahead of myself.
We took off under dark cloudy skies and a moderate 7-12kt crosswind. We climb out and dial up Fayetteville approach whom enk had spoke with earlier in the day to set up an agreement for a block of altitude for us to train in. We dial them up and they go through the whole deal 6ND cleared to the lumberton airport as filed climb and maintain 6000 and remain between the 180 and 170 radials off of the fayetteville vortac and block your hard deck at 3000, squawk 0210. We read it all back and comply they say 6ND radar contact 5 miles south of KLBT 3,500 readback correct. SO we're all set. We have our own little square of blind sky (because you can't see out the windows in a cloud) and we are good to go. Im observing the scenery while we are underneath the lowest layer of clouds and climbing out. It was the most beautiful thing ever. No words or photos can convey this to people. You have to see it. The words that I choose although holding the potential of being very descriptive do nothing for the visual stimulation in which I was presented with. The photographs that I WILL be taking won't do it justice because they lack the sense of speed. Flying on a commercial jet does some justice but looking out the side window is a faaaaaaar cry from seeing the clouds rush at you at 130kts (tailwind). All I can say is that the combination of the cumulus clouds both filled to the brim with water and dry (well as dry as a floating ball of moisture could be) combined with some very small breaks in the thickness of the layers that allowed the rays of the sun to shine through and make the rays visible. It was amazing, and then you point the nose up, and you go crashing into them.
Flying IN the clouds although is likely a unique experience probably isn't quite exciting but I'll tell you that I didn't get to pay that much attention as instrument flying is hands down the trickiest thing Ive ever done. You sit there and quickly sweep through your instruments to see whats going on, to try and establish what the aircraft is doing in comparison to the ground. You ask yourself, "What is my goal" if its to climb at 79kts (Vy) then you put ur airspeed at 79kts and sweep past your attitude indicator over to your altimeter back to airspeed down to your vertical speed indicator and then even up to the thermometer to make sure the temperature isn't to low and you don't need to turn on the pitot heat to prevent an instrumentation failure. You do all of this JUST to reference a correct SPEED! Not to mention that you have to do it all while moving your head as little as possible to prevent veritgo or any of the other number of bad news bears situations a lack of visual cues can provide while your vestibular canals (inner ear) are fucking you up! And then....
POP! You come soaring out of the top of the clouds. Into the most glorious sunny day you've ever seen. The sun shines brightly in the crisp cool temperatures that were at 6000ft today. The cloud layer no below you is all white and fluffy and goes as far as the eye can see (well not really but I couldn't see the end) (It was a tropical storm) We continued to remain at 6000ft which was where the tops were listed. As the sun was heating the cloud tops it caused irregularities in their altitudes. Some were slightly higher than 6000 some were lower. What it ended up showing was us flying into and out of clouds pretty rapidly. It was unreal. UNREAL! Enk just says to me as we were about to punch through the tops, "This is what its aaaall about right here" and I can't think of ANY other way to convey that to you. Me with all of my vast flying experience (LOL) its one thing for me to be impressed, but ENK although only a year and a half older than me, he's been around the block. To hear him say it, you know it has to be good.
There are so many things that while im on the ground I hear people say how pretty they think it is, I usually think to myself, you should see it from the air. But this truly belongs to the pilots. No one on the ground will ever see this. There's no way to look down at clouds (without being rediculous anyways). Everything else, the sunsets in schipol amsterdam, landing a plane over the beaches in st. croix. The airport with an 18% grade nestled into a ski slope in the french alps, the northern lights, all of this you can see. But looking down at a cloudscape from the cockpit of an airplane is truly a magnificent sight that I know so few people will ever get to witness. Too bad for all of you by the time I get my IFR license I'll also have my commercial license so I can charge you an arm and a leg for rides. Just like that gas station at the corner of walden and harlem near st joes.
Just kidding.
Im starting the list now though.
Enjoying my new perspective on the world yet again
~DAVE