Brian Scranton

Fellers, just a quick question. Once I reach cruise, and after I set my MP and RPM, close my cowl flaps and begin my leaning procedure, I'll get a whiff of fuel. Any idea what's happening? It goes away after 30 seconds. Thanks!

Just an honest fella who knows that the time it will take to repair the unit isn't worth it...I appreciated it!

Mine does the same thing. I brought it to an avionics guy and he said, "You're 430 works fine. Who cares about your KN64?"

You have thought about a lot. I'd say a pacifier for the little one or bottle to help promote ear clearing and some gum for your gal...and a little batter powered hand held fan that can keep the little one cool during taxi/runup. It gets hot in there for those 10 mins. Love the idea of a 20-30 min test flight as well to get them both acclimated.

What an experience. ~25 hours total time. So many amazing FBOs. So many different WX conditions. So much learning. Eastbound: MTJ>SLN>SPI>CDI>MJX In NJ: MJX>MMU>MJXK Westbound: MJX>LWB>MQY>JLN>LAA>MTJ Highlights: The Hudson Corridor--by far, the coolest thing. We began our trip back with this, departed KMJX, picked up flight following and went from the lady to the GWB and back before we kicked off our first leg home. Amazing to do 187kts eastbound and 112kts westbound (neither of these were for very long--but still, wow...) So very glad to have gotten my IR before this trip. I got lots of IMC time and it was transformative. This trip would have sucked to do VFR and would have taken forever. Learning my plane and learning my engine from a long haul perspective. I wrote after our eastbound trip that I was burning in the range of 13.5gph and many of you suggested I was too rich. So, I leaned more aggressively and was able to get 11.5 at lower altitudes (6000-10,000) and 12.5gph at higher (12,000-16,000) with CHTs below 380. I was at 26/2500 for most of the flights so somewhere in the vanity of 75% - 80% power, and 100-150 rich of peak EGT and TIT. Tried to run LOP but she wouldn't let me. Also, we were loaded with me, the wifey, kiddo, dog, and bags...under max gross but still, a full airplane takes off a bit differently. NOSE. DOWN. GET AIRSPEED. Blown away by how much power she makes at sea level! Holy crap! You can go ANYWHERE. This is the best aspect of what we do, right? "Honey, instead of just flying a straight line home, how about we go to Nashville and see some music tonight?" Damn that town has music EVERYWHERE. And everyone is a pro. FBOs and our GA culture make me happy. On airport burgers, FBOs that insist on watching your dog while you grab a bite, FBOs that give you their crew car for the night after getting you a great rate at a hotel, lots of smiles and friendly folks all there to help; it was just freaking awesome to experience day in and day out. Thunderstorms win every time and I am ok with that. Day #2 on our way home. Nashville to Pueblo. Huge band of convection so we bailed in the tiny town of Lamar where the lineman asks, "Those storms look nasty. Want me to put her in the hanger? It's $20." Umm, yes please. Got my Century III fixed while I was in NJ. Autopilots are bad ass. Period. Got a call from the valet at the hotel, "Um, sir--we crashed your rental car." Greaaaaat. Amazing trip. Here are a few photos!

I had some time in a Baron and a King Air, but honestly, only a few minutes until we clicked the AP on in both of those planes. I wanted to get IMC during my training but it's very difficult in Colorado. In the winter, it's icing. In the spring/summer it's icing and storms. I never found a day that didn't have any of those. So, I dove into the clouds the fist chance I had once I got my rating. A week later. It was awesome.

Guys, I am interested to know what your own take off minimums are. Personally, what kind of ceiling do YOU need to depart?

As a new IFR pilot, I am asking myself this everyday! I am really excited to fly in the clouds--but of course, no icing, thunderstorms, etc...I love the idea of poking through a marine layer or some stratus or light, fluffy cumulus in non convective conditions. For example, today I wanted to fly to work from Ocean County, NJ to Morristown, NJ, but my departure airport had fog (200' OVC, 1.5 mile vis) and I decided not to go, even though my destination was nice and sunny as was 80% of my enroute segment. And while I think I would have no problem climbing through the fog to the 1000 AGL level needed to get VMC, a wise man once told me, "I'd never depart from an airport that I couldn't immediately turn around and land at if I had a problem." So, my question is--what ceiling level would I comfortable depart at? I'm thinking 1000ft...or maybe circling mins, but would love to hear what you guys have to say.

Bust them balls. I was running 120 ROP, so on the way home I'll take Mikes advice, run 50 ROP and see what that gets me. Two hours for each tank is what I was trying to say...ran an hour on one tank, then switched and burned all the fuel in the other which was exactly two hours...

Thanks guys! I never went through or got close to any TS. THAT WOULD STUPID. I checked radar, aviationweather.gov, got a foreflight brief....did get a Lockheed Martin briefing as well. The briefer told me to go south. That this path would avoid all the cells...but, once i picked up my clearance in the air, about 50 miles west of the storms and in vfr, ATC said, "No, south is where all the strong cells are. Go to Allegheny VOR, then Johnstown VOR, then direct as filed and that should give you 40 miles on either side of you..." So, in vfr, with a cell in the distance to my right and left, and never in IMC, I went between...smooth air, no rain...with towers visible in the distance the whole time. After the cells, there was a 10 mile swath of mod-severe precip and ATC asked if i had onboard radar...upon learning that I didn't , he vectored me around the rain. Once clear of that, ATC sent me down from 9000 to 7000...in and out of cumulus...then near philly, down to 5000, where I was IMC, rain/soup....calm air...did that for 20 mins and then asked for lower, and got out around 4500. I was excited to finally get some IMC time! It's so damn cool.I have zero intention of being bold or dead and have decided to land or not go on a few occasions. In this instance, I chose to go have a look knowing it was nice and clear behind me. It turned out I could see the WX the whole time...save for some rain but that was not anywhere near the line of thunderstorms. But it also sounds like maybe I was in more danger than I realized so clearly I have a lot to learn...and luckily, great Guys like you to learn from. I appreciate all this advice fellas. Truly. Keep it coming!!!

I flew from Colorado to New Jersey with the wife, kid, dog and 100lbs of stuff this week. Four segments (MTJ>SLN>SPI>CDI>MJX) of a total of 10.5 hours and 1575nm--ATC was amazing vectoring me through nasty thunder, severe to extreme rain, IMC for quite a while, no autopilot, a nervous wife, an excited kid, an indifferent dog and...we made it. Wow. IMC is VERY VERY VERY different from foggles. Very different. Did I mention it was different? Look away for 10 seconds? You're in a bank. Look outside for 5 seconds? You feel like you're turing when you're straight and level. Totally amazing to learn what your brain/body senses vs reality. This was also my first long haul in this plane so I was learning its capabilities. One hour on the right tank, 2 hours on the left (and I ran the left dry)...so...clearly 54 gallons does not take me the 4 hours I thought it would. 54 gallons on an IFR flight plan is a solid 3 hours, and I found out that I am cool with that. I calculated a burn of 13.6gph with the RayJay engaged at 25/25--both at 15,000 feet and 7000 feet (probably 15gph in the climb, 12.5 in cruise, and 9 in the descent, estimated). I saw ground speeds ranging from 145kts to 185kts, which was amazing--I do not look forward to heading home and seeing 130kts. The plane performed great at near max gross weight--and I couldn't believe how much power I was making at sea level! Holy crap, I've never seen 29'' MP before. It was truly an amazing experience. I was totally mentally exhausted.

I just flew from Colorado to New Jersey! Whew...that was pretty awesome. IFR flight plan the whole way--out of 10.5 hours, I got 3 hours of actual! Crazy. I'll provide some pics soon.

Grant Parsons at Southwest Aviation Insurance in Scottsdale AZ...480-483-7844 He beat everyone else I looked at. By a longshot.

The craziness of a go around is where all this really happens, right? Low, slow, full flaps, trimmed for 70 (pretty high trim setting)...then you go full power, experience a predictable but alarming left yaw, huge pitch up...I can see how shit can get real, real fast. You don't need an AOA or ASI to know you need to push the nose over, add right rudder, get some airspeed so the horn stops blaring, see a positive rate, gear up, milk the flaps, fly the airplane, then communicate. We train on this, over and over as new pilots...and I have already scared myself on a few go arounds by not doing exactly what I just outline above. But...I am almost positive I won't screw up a go around again.

Thank you so much! I can't wait to continue learning. This week, I fly the family from Colorado to NJ for a few weeks...I'll file for sure!

Instrument Rating Checkride Profile View File A brief profile of my IR check ride. Submitter Brian Scranton Submitted 06/09/2016 Category Safety & Techniques

I just ordered it!

A few recommendations: do an online course in a short period of time (like King) to pass the written. Get a good CFII and fly twice a week, even more when you get close (like everyday the week before your check ride), pick a few complicated cross countries to get used to working in the ATC system, watch the first two pages of youtube when you search IFR check ride prep (https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=ifr+checkride+prep), and study this thing for your oral: http://pilotscafe.com/download/IFRQuickReviewSheets.pdf

Thanks guys!!!! Passed!!!!

I'm so psyched!

Passed my check ride today! Whew...3 years to the day of my first solo flight as well! Thanks for all the tips and well wishes... Here's a quick write up: Headed to the FBO at 7am and got the plane ready. Laid out all the necessary documents (AROW, medical, PPL, annual, pitot/static, transponder, ELT, GPS, VOR)...DPE arrived and we went into the IACRA website to get all the FAA paperwork printed and signed off. We sat down with some coffee and dug into a few questions about what apps I am using and since he gave me my PPL check ride, I was using all the apps he likes (Foreflight and Aviation W&B). We went through how I set up the W&B and he asked about the importance of it (Va) and why Va mattered as well as the 3 kinds of turbulence one encounters (wake, pilot induced and wx-related). Then we talked a bit about the NOTAMS at our airport and how the DH for the ILS 17 at MTJ is wrong based on a new NOTAM. We discussed the route I chose for MTJ to PHX (SID, en route, and STAR), how wide federal airways are (4nm from centerline), MEAs (what they provide), random TFRs (and how they can pop up mid flight like in the case of a forest fire). He asked about required fuel (45 mins, but we both agreed an hour is way better) and when I would need an alternate (123 rule); we talked about lost communications (altitudes and routes). He asked about mountainous vs non mountainous separation and what designates it as mountainous (5-6-5 in the AIM, so basically some fella at the FAA). He asked about VOR checks (when/where/how). We talked a bit about how even small planes can easily fall into Category B on approaches if there is a tail wind and sure enough there was, so I was...and he showed me how the ILS 26 has a higher DH than the RNAV X 26 at KRIL, and how that's odd...and we talked about how LPVs aren't considered precision approaches, but they should be given that in some cases as in KRIL, they bring you lower to the ground. Then we flew. He gave me a clearance to the published hold at MTJ (PAGRE) and to expect an ILS 17 approach back to the airport, departed, entered the hold (teardrop) and I called to confirmed with ATC (him) that I had not received a clearance for the approach (no answer-call again-no answer), squawk 7600 (verbally) and talked about lost communication procedures. He actually talked the WHOLE time, which I expected based on my PPL--he does this to make sure you can handle distractions and of course, I could have told him to pipe down but that would have been rude since I like the guy! Then he cleared me for the DME arc and ILS 17, flew it to the missed, got radar vectors for the RNAV Z 17, to the missed and he gave me radar vectors back to the hold at PAGRE. Enroute we did 2 unusual attitudes (both nose down), back on course, got to the hold, cleared for the VOR/DME 13 but with new wx (Wind 310 at 30), so we circled to land (he talked about how we can descend 100 below each altitude at both the FAF and circling MDA since we have the airport in sight) and then we were on the ground!!!! It was a lot easier than I thought it was going to be. Oral was about 2 hours. Flight was about 1.5. Total start to finish with all the bs was around 4 hours. No steep turns. No weird holds. The wind was calm and the air was smooth. Whew. My remarkable wife and little girl as well as my amazing CFII were all waiting with flowers! What a day!

Thanks Russ! Wow--sounds like a fun ride. My DPE is a Foreflight fanatic so I know he'll be all over that iPad.

That's the question for sure--the VDP is the final spot where a normal landing can be made, so my thought is: sure, fly to the MAP before executing a missed but know that when you cross the VDP at MDA, and you don't see the runway environment, you're going missed.

Great advice--thanks Chris. Didn't know about the logbook notation for INOP equipment.

Great advice Mike. I am ON IT!