It was a trip of firsts. In fact, this trip probably had more firsts that any previous trip, which is yet another first of sorts.
I passed my PPL checkride in December of 2000. Since that time, my flights have fallen into into one of two categories: those with a CFII directed towards my slow path to an instrument rating, and local flights in the neighborhood with friends.
When I write "local", I mean "not loggable as cross country". For example, one trip was from CDW to POU. Just under the 50 mile limit, this was one of the more extreme examples of my staying within the neighborhood.
This was also the first trip with my wife where we've landed at an airport other than our starting point. I checked out at an FBO outside of NYC's "enhanced class B" specifically to take Amy on a tour of the fall foliage. Later, I attempted to take her to Reading, PA for a $100 chicken wing, but a headwind and turbulance aborted that before we'd reached the Delaware.
So Amy's flown with me before, but never somewhere.
A Cessna 172 has a limited ability to carry people, so it was appropriate that our third passenger was, at this time, only a few pounds in weight. More, he didn't take up an extra seat, riding above Amy's. This was the first flight for our yet to be born son, Alex. Is it strange to be starting his log book at this point?
I planned the trip in expectation of getting no help from TRACON or tower. I had us avoiding the Newark class B, the various class Ds, and the class C at PVC(?). But I was hopeful. Before I'd even reached my temporary cruising altitude of 2500 (while still under the class B shelf), I was trying to reach NY approach for a class B transit. On a perfectly quiet 127.6, I managed to get no response.
It eventually occurred to me that, just because I used 127.6 when leaving CDW (the airport from which I do most of my flying), perhaps that wasn't appropriate for N07. In a bit of preparedness, I'd taken out of my Jeppesen book the page which describes the frequencies to use to contact approach while VFR based upon the radial from the LGA VOR. A quick check of the chart and the VOR showed that, indeed, 127.6 was wrong. I was nearly at the Hudson when I turned to the more correct 126.4.
I knew that things were looking up when I actually *heard* someone. That was a good feeling, as I was starting to take personally that nobody was answering me on 127.6.
But the good news just kept coming. A friendly NY approach fellow (approacher? approachie?) cleared me into the class B at 5,500, and direct to BDR.
That was another first, BTW: my first clearance into class B for more than a few minutes (without being on an IFR flight plan).
I was a little disappointed in the visibility. While I'm sure it was over 10 miles, it wasn't enough for my wife to get a view of NYC. I'd been hoping for that. But the tradeoff was that incredibly stable air from the high in the region. That gave us a perfectly smooth flight. I'll take that over a bumpy but clear NYC view for my wife's first real trip!
The weather at N07, and for most of our trip, was not a problem. But just before our 9am departure, I'd checked with Flight Service. There was still an airmet for IFR conditions over the entire Cape area for fog. The wording was a little vague. When I read the actual text, it appeared that the fog was expected to clear off the land by 10am, but remain over the water until 4pm. But what the briefer told me was that CQX was expected to be IFR until 4pm.
That concerned me, as my IFR checkride is scheduled for July, and here we are still in June. But the TAF for HYA claimed that 10am time again.
So my plan: when we reached Groton, we'd call Flight Watch and check on the weather. If the entire Cape was still IFR, I'd wait at Groton for a while (perfectly clear at the time, and for the expected future). If HYA was clear but CQX still IFR, I'd head for HYA (and my friends would have to drive a bit to pick us up).
I was getting advisories, so I requested a few minutes off frequency to talk to Flight Watch. To be a provider as well as a consumer, I started with a PIREP. I then asked about the weather on my route and destination.
The briefer found this as interesting as I: the airmet was still in place, but CQX's ASOS was reporting 10 miles of visibility and just a few clouds at some reasonable altitude.
I decided to continue, but with a hedge: I checked on the weather at EWB. It too was clear and supposed to remain that way. It was also outside of the airmet area.
So my "set down and wait" point moved from GON to EWB. I continued.
This conversation with Flight Watch was, all by itself, several firsts. I'd never had so complex a conversation about weather like this while in the air. There I was, while flying, thinking and preparing and measuring alternatives. It wasn't so long ago that all my attention was required just to maintain heading and altitude.
This was also my first PIREP. I'm tempted to log into DUATS or some such just to see it.
At this point, by the way, I can see some of that fog. I've never seen fog from the air before. It was pretty wild seeing a big flat cloud hugging the ground. It was nowhere more that a few hundred feet up, and it was generally a little off the coast. In fact, I was a little disturbed to note that GON's "perfectly clear" was probably under a couple of miles from that fog bank. Just how sure are they that it won't suddenly surge forward and cover major chunks of New England?
Providence approach to Cape approach, I received flight following for the entire trip. It was nice, but that "workload permitting" and "VFR still responsible for avoidance" is important. There were some awfully close planes that were never reported.
It was pretty wild seeing a 727 flying beneath us.
I was just south of Providence when I listened to the CQX ASOS. Perfect.
South of Otis, over HYA, and down to 2,500. I was getting a little worried when the GPS and my pilotage was telling me that CQX was right where a puff of clouds sat, but that was just an illusion. As I got closer, and could see past the clouds, CQX suddenly came into view.
It's a busy place, at least at this time of year. I could hear other aircraft operating around it, and a Baron was paralleling me heading for the same place.
[I later learned that the Baron was also from New Jersey. We chatted while waiting to pay for our fuel.]
Unsure of the area as I am, I flew over the airport at 2,500 for a looksee. I then teardropped into a 45 for the downwind to 24 behind that baron. I then committed one of the worse landings in the past year.
Happily, Amy thought it a perfect greaser.
2.0 hours of cross country, a class B transition, conversations with flight watch and advisories all the way, this was a terrific trip. Amy's as excited as I about it, and it's just a few months until I get to read this to Alex.
And most exciting yet: tomorrow, we fly back to New Jersey.
I feel like a pilot today.