And one week later, I put my new Instrument Rating to use!

[Brian Scranton]

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. 

 

[carusoam]

Brian,

great use of a new IR, transition through a moderately high ceiling.

 

for an idea, while you are here...

The kids love 26N.  The boardwalk is a healthy walking distance to the airport. 

My kids remember the pizza, ice cream, French fries and bottled water while walking...

It can be a five mile walk if you cover the whole Boardwalk.

OCNJ is an alcohol free environment.  The older kids have left for the other beeches...

Best regards,

-a-

[KSMooniac]

Mooney + instrument rating = freedom! Nothing beats a long trip for fun in your own plane, under your command.

Sent from my VS985 4G using Tapatalk

[JKSmith]

That's awesome! Looking to get my instrument rating soon! 

[ArtVandelay]

No autopilot ?! I'd be exhausted too.

[M20F]

You should burn about 17.5-18 in climb (I use 26/26) and leaned out around 65-60% should be 10.5-11 at 50ROP (100ROP is @.5GPH more).  

Not sure how you are leaning but you are very rich if you are burning 13.6. 

[donkaye]

12 hours ago, Brian Scranton said:

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. 

 

"We make it."  as though you were surprised.

You have a very nice wife and child, whom I'm sure would like to live a long life.  In my opinion your decision to fly anywhere near thunderstorms requiring vectoring from ATC, and in heavy rain in an F Model Mooney no matter how long you have an instrument rating shows a disregard for both your and their safety.

I've had 2 former students (one took his soon to have been wife with him) kill themselves through very bad decision making such as the above even though I warned them about the importance of conservative decision making.  I'd hate to see you be another statistic and take your family with you.  Food for thought.

Don Kaye, Master CFI

[jetdriven]

Just now, donkaye said:

You have a very nice wife and child, whom I'm sure would like to live a long life.  In my opinion your decision to fly anywhere near thunderstorms requiring vectoring from ATC, and in heavy rain in an F Model Mooney no matter how long you have an instrument rating shows a disregard for both your and their safety.

I've had 2 former students kill themselves through very bad decision making even though I warned them about the importance of conservative decision making.  I'd hate to see you be another statistic and take your family with you.  Food for thought.

Don Kaye, Master CFI

I've been flying 20 years now and you won't find me anywhere near bad weather like that. I've tangled it with a jet that has onboard radar and still came up short a few times.   Don has sage advice. 

Edited June 18, 2016 by jetdriven

[Guest]

For your first IFR flight, it looks like you jumped into deep water.  Be careful.

Clarence

[Jerry 5TJ]

Reminds me of a winter trip I made about 25 years ago from California to Maryland.  I was in my "E" model, no autopilot (not even PC), no XM or ADS-B, just two VOR radios and a big box full of paper charts and approach plate books.  Some OK and some seriously lousy weather.  I had a new IFR ticket and about 300 hours total time.

I learned a lot on that flight, both while aloft and later as I processed the experience.   I am reminded of the saying, "In life, first comes the test, then the lesson."  

 

[Brian Scranton]

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!!!

[ArtVandelay]

When in doubt it's best to go behind the storms, I don't play chicken with TS. And in and out of cumulus? No thanks, with my luck one of those would explode into a full TS

[Marauder]

Brian - if you fly long enough, you will know people who have died flying. Aviation is unforgiving. That is the message people are conveying. Just maintain respect for aviation, make good decisions, keep your skills sharp and you will be fine.

As for your flight, you learned having an autopilot will lighten the load on you. Even a basic wing leveler allows you to manage your workload. Another good IFR tool is a StormScope. NOT to navigate through thunderstorms, but rather to show where you shouldn't be. Summer time flying can be unpredictable.

As an example, a few weeks back I flew over to Blairstown NJ to meet up with Mr. & Mrs. Stinky Pants to fly gliders. The day was supposed to be absolutely beautiful. A couple of hours later, I start hearing thunder and see clouds darkening north of the airport. They were pop up CBs that eventually covered the Field. There was no mention of even a slight chance of TSs in the TAFs for the area, no SIGMETS, nothing. Sometimes weather is where you find it, just don't let it find you.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[kevinw]

Single pilot IFR with no autopilot at 15,000 feet; please tell us you had supplemental oxygen. On another note, when I first got my IFR ticket I started a little slower. You're right, the real thing is much different than foggles. For the first several months I brought my CFI with me on IFR flights. It was a nice safety net in case something went wrong and fortunately nothing did. Call me conservative but you should consider doing the same. Once I felt more comfortable and my CFI agreed, I started flights on my own. Glad the flight went well for you; it really is a rewarding feeling as you now know.

[Steve Dawson]

I'd like to back the message that Don gave. Please don't take this wrong but being wise is very important in flying. Especially in IFR and even more so when flying with passengers who are family. Build your experience by trying things a bit at a time. I believe John Lockhart is a friend of yours and I know he'll help you become a very good pilot and decision maker. We care about you. 

[donkaye]

Robert Buck's book "Weather Flying" is an excellent source for dipping your feet into actual instrument flying.  I followed his procedure after I got my instrument rating many years ago, and it served me well.

[flyboy0681]

3 hours ago, Marauder said:

Brian - if you fly long enough, you will know people who have died flying. Aviation is unforgiving. That is the message people are conveying. Just maintain respect for aviation, make good decisions, keep your skills sharp and you will be fine.

 

May I add that no matter how well you think you know your plane and that you and it are one, it won't hesitate to buck you and send you to an early grave.

[kris_adams]

21 hours ago, Brian Scranton said:

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?

Exactly.  Flying with foggles on CAVU days doesn't really seem to compare to the real thing.  I try to practice approaches on days when it's bumpy and the weather isn't so great (but still clearly VFR).

[eman1200]

I don't want to jump on the 'bust your balls' bandwagon, but 3 hours cruise with 1 hour on one tank? Is that possible?

[Hank]

I'm guessing he was running high power with the turbo. My longest leg so far was 4:40, and I landed with 11 gallons out of the 52 that I took off with.

I switch tanks every hour, even though the Owners Manual says to fly one hour on one tank; switch tanks, and fly until it's empty; you then have known duration in the original tank (time to empty on the other tank less one hour). Of course, this conveniently ignores the extra fuel burn in the climb, but if you plan to land with an hour in the tank anyway, the extra 3-4 gallons won't make a huge difference. I've not dipped into my reserve fuel yet . . . but I have flown longer legs (see above) than originally planned, due to reroutes, vectors, active MOAs with fast movers on the radio and everyone's favorite, headwinds.

[aviatoreb]

The concept of embedded t-storms scares the b-geezuz outa me.  If there is even a remote maybe of an embedded t-storm, the rule for me is to stay visual.  In addition - yes - to using all the tools, xm weather etc.  The eyeballs are effective storm avoidance tools if you think there are storms to avoid.  This does limit some perhaps flyable weather to a no go, but so be it.

Edited June 19, 2016 by aviatoreb

[Brian Scranton]

11 hours ago, eman1200 said:

I don't want to jump on the 'bust your balls' bandwagon, but 3 hours cruise with 1 hour on one tank? Is that possible?

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...

[FBCK]

I guess I will be the first to say it, 50 rop is not a good idea. From everything I read and experienced, your engine will run hot, integral pressures will be high and the life of your engine will be reduced.  Look up the " the red box" in airplane engine management. Either fly very rich or fly lean, keep away from peak, even more so in a turbo engine that can produce full power up higher.

[takair]

I don't believe 50 ROP is always bad.  It depends a lot on your power settings and engine timing (which affects power made).  The reason 50 ROP is in the red box is because it has the highest internal pressure for any of the mixture settings.  This thus puts it closer to detonation, but 50 ROP does NOT automatically put you into detonation.  Below 75% power it is not very likely.  With the 20 degree timing in my 360, 50 ROP still has my hottest cylinder under 340.  I'm sure 25 degrees is hotter and closer to detonation.  I think 50 ROP has gotten a bad rap for the same reasons as LOP.  You need to mind the CHTs, which is our only indication of detonation margin.  Just my 2 cents...

[flyboy0681]

Just now, Hyett6420 said:

 Makes life so so much easier and reduces your workload.  Also teach her how to read plates.  Helps when you go missed.  

 

Good words to live by but I take exception to "Also teach her how to read plates". While I consider my spouse to be very intelligent, I would't want to get questioned by a controller and then have my wife say to me "oh, was I supposed to tell you that?".