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Very nice Spook. Thanks. It certainly reminds me of why we fly. I think more of us should fly at night. I use the excuse that my unlighted field makes that impractical, but there is a lighted, 5000 ft runway available just five miles away. Keep up the flying. Ken Doyle Springfield, Mo ----- Original Message ----- From: Georgia Trehey <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Thursday, November 16, 2000 1:58 AM Subject: [COUPERS] WARNING:OFF TOPIC- Full Moon Night Flight > ----[Please read http://ercoupers.com/disclaimer.htm before following any advice in this forum.]---- > > > > > November 11, 2000 > > Veterans's Day - Full Moon > > > PREFACE > > I like to send my narrations to the list in chronological order but I'm > especially thrilled about Saturday night. I have to get it written down now. > BTW, Thanks for letting me write to you about my flying lessons and other > flying experiences. There is so much that I want to express and unfortunately, > there are not many people around here that are at all interested. Thank > goodness for my few local pilot buddies but I don't get to talk to them very > often. Not often enough! > > > INTRODUCTION > > A few of you know this already. My relationship to flying is somewhat unique, > in that, even though I've had only a few lessons, I have been in the left > seat more times than I had previously been in an aircraft, period. Prior to > my jaunt in the Coast Guard helicopter last year, I had only 4 count 'em, 4, > flights as an airline passenger. It's not that I avoided travelling by air. > I'm not sure what it was. What travelling I did was by car, bus, or rail. > In light of that, I think it's surprising that flying snagged me so quickly > and totally considering how little previous exposure I had to being in the > air. Maybe all those years of reading about, admiring, and fantasizing about > flying in WWII planes had more of an effect on me than I realized. > > > As much as I dreamed about prop planes, the notion of learning to fly never > entered my mind. It wasn't in my reality. It was as foreign an idea as > becoming an astronaut. Even after my stunning realization on my Coast Guard > ride, "Georgia, this is fantastic. You LOVE being in the air. Now why is it > that you're never up here?", my plan was to be a frequent passenger. It was a > few months after the CG flight before the possibility of taking flying lessons > entered my consciousness. My intro flying lesson was the very first time I > ventured forth in an airplane with a propeller! And during that intro > lesson, when my CFI told me to turn the key to "start" and the prop > started turning and then the engine started too, now that I think about > it, I was hooked at that moment. > > > FULL MOON FLIGHT > > Fall is my favorite time of year. I could write an entire essay on Fall > in Humboldt County, CA. But suffice it to say that Humboldt's Autumns are > beautiful and invigorating. Now that I have discovered flying and have > learned that some of coastal Humboldt County's best flying days and nights > occur in the Fall, I have another reason to love Fall. > > This is one time when I wish I had my Mom's ability to write poetry. Only > poetry could truly capture Saturday night's flight. > > For months now, I have been wanting to take a ride on a full moon night. > I have been asking people to describe to me what it's like. Apparently I > finally asked the right person and got an invite, sort of. I kinda > invited myself. Jim, my flying club's A&P, told me how he enjoys flying > on a full moon night. "If you're going and you don't mind, I'd like to go > with you." He said OK. That was a couple of weeks ago. Ever since, I have > had my fingers crossed for good weather. > > Saturday morning it was cold and clear and very promising for a night > flight. Oh, goodie! There was a flying club meeting in the afternoon. My > buddy, MaryBeth, who I went through ground school with, has the same CFI as I, > and who also is a member of the flying club, attended the membership > meeting. After the meeting, I was asking Jim if he was still planning on > flying. MaryBeth got interested in our conversation and soon thereafter, > Jim invited her too. "Be here at 9PM, you two. I'm leaving if you're > not here on time." I was there at 8. But let me back up a bit. > > After the flying club meeting, I took the bus to school to get some work > done. It was difficult for me to think of anything else but the upcoming > flight. Finally it was time to take the bus home, eat, and get the car. > My bus ride home was fun although the other passengers must have thought I > was strange, looking at the sky and grinning. It was getting dark, the > sky was cloudless, and the moon was starting to rise over the mountains. > I knew that it would be a spectacular flight. I anticipated this flight > as much as I anticipated my first trip to Disneyland when I was a little > girl. Maybe more. > > I fixed something for dinner. I don't remember what. My mind was on > getting to Murray Field on time. Also, the temperature was dropping so I > wanted to find one of my heavy wool sweaters and my gloves. My CFI, > Andres, tells me that 5656E or just "ECHO" as we call her, has a great > heater, but I wanted to be prepared. > > I loaded the car with my flying stuff, cold weather stuff, and a thermos > of coffee; popped a Blues tape into the car tape player, and headed out to > Murray Field. As I said, I got there early, 8PM. Murray Field is a small > airport and there isn't a whole lot of activity there any time. At > night, it's usually deserted. As far as I could tell, there wasn't anyone > around anywhere. I punched the code into the keypad which opens the gate > to the back portion of the airport. I drove slowly to the flying club > building. No, no one around anywhere. As I stepped out of the car, I > couldn't help notice how cold it was. I think it was colder at Murray > than at my house a few miles away. I know that for you folks in many > parts of the US, lower 30s is not all that cold. But to us on the west > coast, it feels pretty chilly. I didn't know if it would be warmer to > stay in the car or go into the flying club. I decided to go into the > club. I thought that perhaps I could study FAA's "Flight Training > Handbook", which Andres gave me, while I was waiting for Jim and MaryBeth. > It was so quiet. The only thing I could hear was the odd scraping sound of > the rotating beacon and the occasional cry of a shorebird. It was warm in > the club. Thank goodness. I couldn't concentrate on the book. I could see > that bright moon through the window and all I could think of was getting > in the air. > > Jim arrived at about 8:45. He sat down at the large conference table and > began to pull things out of his backpack and pockets. Three flashlights > and they all worked. The guy believes in being prepared. I tried to not > act too excited, but it was hard. Jim asked if MaryBeth was coming and I > assured him that she would be there. A few minutes later she arrived. We > gathered up what we needed, locked the door, and headed for the plane. > As we passed MaryBeth's car, Jim said to her, "You had better find and put > on all the clothes you have." She really didn't look like she was dressed > warmly enough. So while MaryBeth rummaged through her car, Jim and I > continued to walk towards "ECHO". MaryBeth caught up with us shortly. > > Now you would think that with one "real" pilot and two student pilots, > preflight should get done very quickly. Actually it didn't take us long > but it would have gone faster if our hands weren't so cold. We were so > happy to get inside and get those doors closed and locked. MaryBeth > picked the back seat. "Are you sure?", I asked her. "Yes I just want to > take it easy and not even look at the instruments. I've never been in the > back seat." > > I wanted to get going so badly I couldn't stand it. Jim does more during > the runup than is on the checklist. It's understandable. He's a > mechanic, after all, and he just recently finished breaking in the new > engine. Finally, finally we were ready to depart. Murray Field is an > uncontrolled airport, in case you hadn't guessed that, so Jim announced > his intentions to whomever might be around. Then Jim asked MaryBeth and I, > "Ready?" "Yes, YES!!!" As we took off and started to climb, MaryBeth > turned around and gazed out the back window with fascination at the > airport lights. They are pretty but I was more interested in seeing the > moon's reflection in Humboldt Bay. It was low tide. The moonlight was so > bright that I could see the channels in the exposed bay mud. As to the > full moon's reflection in the water as seen from the air, here's where I > could use the poetry ability if I had any. > > Both tanks were only half full so we needed to go get more fuel. It is is not > available at Murray after the FBO closes for the day. Fortunately, it is > available at nearby airports. Jim decided to go to Rohnerville (where > the T-6 lives). He turned left and followed the coastline to the Eel River > delta. The surf was clearly visible. The breaking waves were a frothy, pale, > almost irridescent blue. I could see lights from the fishing boats out at > sea. There were more of them out there than I would have thought. "Jim, > if we can see their lights, they must be able to see us too." "Of course > they can see us." "I wonder if they look up at the sky and think about > us, as I look at their lights and think about them?" "Could be, if > they happen to be on the deck and are looking up." That night I felt a > kinship with the fishing crews. The people in the plane and the people in > the boats. We shared the moon, the stars, and a cold, exquisite night. > > When we reached the Eel River delta, Jim turned to follow the river > directly to the Rohnerville Airport. Rhonerville is next to the river, but > separated from it by a 300' cliff. The end of the runway is near the edge > of the cliff. There always seems to be a bump there, no matter how smooth > the air is everywhere else. I'm sure it has to do with the river being > right there. I asked Jim if it was harder to land here. He said it > wasn't but it was good to be aware of the conditions so that one doesn't > get surprise and rattled a moment before s/he lands. > > Jim taxiied over to the cardlock fuel island and then shut everything off. > MaryBeth and I asked him if he needed help. "Yes, it should go faster if > we all work on this." I opened my door. Wow! I had forgotten how cold > it was. ECHO's heater does work very well. If anyone had been watching > us, they would have gotten some laughs. None of us had used that cardlock > pump before. It's supposed to be easy: swipe the credit card, read the > "simple" instructions on the screen, and pump the gas. Well first of all > our hands were so cold that we had trouble moving them. The light on the > instruction screen wasn't working. It's a good thing Jim likes to carry > so many flashlights. MaryBeth aimed the flashlight at the screen, Jim > attemted to read the instructions, and my job was to swipe the credit > card. The gas pump menu was surprisingly comples with many choices > having to be made. Also, it was set up to expect very quick responses. > If you didn't react fast enough, the program would kick you completely out > and you would have to start at the beginning. Swipe the card again! Jim, > with his dry sense of humor said, "Three pilots found frozen to death at > Rohnerville fuel pump, news at 11." That did it. We all got to giggling > which made it even more difficult to get anything done. At least someone > was considerate enough to leave a ladder by the pumps. So Jim climbed the > ladder, MaryBeth handed him the hose and then kept track of it, and I > dealt with the pump. We finally did get those tanks filled up. After I > shut the pump off, as a last insult, the pump was out of paper so that we > didn't get a receipt for our purchase. After we pushed ECHO back so we > could taxi, we about fell over each other trying to get back inside, or at > least MaryBeth and I did. MB and I are serious and intent when we're on a > lesson flight, but since we were passengers, we were a bit silly. > > After we took off from Rohnerville, Jim's plan was to go up high enough to > enter the ILS approach to Arcata Airport. I'm not sure if he was doing > this to practice it himself or for our benefit. Either way, MayBeth and I > learned a lot. In our area, we have to call Oakland or Seattle Center. > Sometimes you can get one or the other or both. My friend Eric says that > sometimes you can't get either one, especially on the ground. Jim reached > Seattle. All this is new to me. Yes, we learned a little about it in > ground school, but to actually see how it works is another matter. Jim > told me to let him know when we were exactly 13.6 miles from the Fortuna > VOR. I didn't know what was going on for sure but I can follow > instructions. He told me to think of a funnel and that we needed to stay > within its proscribed limits. He said that as we got closer and closer to > the airport, he had to be increasingly more precise. When we got very > close to Arcata, he explained about the decision height. On the taxiway, > Jim called Seattle. They were polite and didn't carp at him so I guess he > did a good job. Looked and felt like it to me, but then what do I know? > Not much yet. > > Leaving Arcata, MaryBeth was again looking out the back window at the > airport lights. Arcata has the most elaborate lighting of all our local > airports and it is beautiful. Oh, when we were south approaching > Rhonerville, I pointed out to her the "rabbit" at the Arcata airport. You > can see that far away. Impressive. > > Jim's next plan was to go up in altitude as much as he could to see what > we could see to the east. Our hope was to be able to see Mt. Shasta and > some of the other high mountains. For lessons, we rarely go > much above 3000' so this would be another new experience. Jim didn't want > to cover much ground, he just wanted to go up, so he did that with gentle > upward sprials. Neat. Everytime we went around the circle, we were > higher and could see more. Our final altitude was 9000', a three times > higher vantage point than I'm accustomed to looking at the north coast > from. There was haze to the east, so we couldn't see Shasta that well. > By using out peripheral vision we could see it slightly better. I wasn't > disappointed. I was so completely enchanted with what I was able to see. > I like being up that high. Awesome, just awesome. Jim thought that going > any higher wouldn't improve the visibility. Besides, the oil temperature > was towards the bottom of the range. I would not have liked to be outside > of the plane at 9000'. It was 30-32 F at sea level so I can imagine... > Brrrr. > > Jim told us that he was going to introduce us to a new experience. I was > thinking, "What's he going to do? He's not going to pull spins on us, is > he? Naw, I don't think he'd do that. Besides, didn't I read in the 172 > manual that you're not supposed to do that with someone in the back seat? > Oh well, if he's determined to do that, I'm ready." I think spins are the > first thing I think of because I'm both terrified and fascinated by them. > So now I have convinced myself that I must have Andres demonstrate spins > at least once while I'm his student. Anyway, Jim wasn't referring to > spins. He showed us how to descent rapidly, at a steep angle without > going forward much at all. Let me see if I remember this correctly: > full flaps (40 degrees in ECHO), maximum nose down trim, 1900RPM. We were > descending at 1000FPM. I was delighted that my body handled that fine > except for a little ear popping. But poor MaryBeth. She was > uncomfortable and had ear pain all the next day. I told her that she > should have said something to Jim. He certainly didn't want her to be > miserable on our fun ride. > > Honestly, I didn't want to go back to Murray. I didn't want to go back to > the ground. I would have been so happy to stay up until the fuel was > almost gone and we had to land. But I think Jim might have been getting > tired and MaryBeth had to be getting home. By the time we landed, got > ECHO tied down, etc, it was midnight. We were in the air 2.1 hours. Jim > said, "Let's do this again soon." I'm ready! There was ice on the windshield > of my car. As I drove home, images of all I had seen drifted through my > mind. All night I dreamed of night flying over the north coast. > > FINAL COMMENTS > > We had the sky completey to ourselves. We saw no other aircraft except > the CG helo over the ocean. I can't imagine why no one else was flying on > such a choice night. If I had my own plane I would have been up there > without a doubt. > > I have a colorful and active imagination but this full moon flight > far exceeded what I thought it would be like. It was the one of the most > beautiful, magical, awe inspiring, extraordinary sights I have ever seen > in my life. It was all my favorite night sky images from movies, photos, > paintings, books and more. I was dazzled, mesmerized, humbled, and very > grateful. Once I looked up through the skylight over my head. The full > moon and a few bright stars were perfectly framed. It was stunning. I > felt incredibly happy. I looked down at the lights in the houses far > below. I thought of the people warm in their houses having a pleasant > Saturday evening next to their wood stoves and fireplaces. A pleasant > thought but I wouldn't trade places with them for anything. I was exactly > where I wanted to be and doing exactly what I wanted to do. The > experience was profoundly moving and I'll never be the quite the same. > > > Spook > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > __________________________________________________ > To unsubscribe from this list please send mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > ___________________________________________________________ > T O P I C A http://www.topica.com/t/17 > Newsletters, Tips and Discussions on Your Favorite Topics > __________________________________________________ To unsubscribe from this list please send mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] ___________________________________________________________ T O P I C A http://www.topica.com/t/17 Newsletters, Tips and Discussions on Your Favorite Topics
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