The Hunt

While a directionally challenged pilot from Maine blundered into the SFRA without authorization with his small Cessna, bringing fear to Washington DC and forcing a military confrontation of grand proportions, I was hunting for grass runways. The poor guy at TRACON must have thought I was nuts, zig-zagging all over the place. I met the guy from TRACON assigned to my sector a week before. I aim to bring amusement.

So what's with the hunt? Well, it is a lesson in diversion if required, such as mechanical problems or other such matters such as closing down airports or airspace due to crisis. Grass strips are not easy to see from the air. Below is the sectional with the strips I needed to find. I found 4 out of 5. I am determined to go back and find the other one. I snapped a couple of pics also shown below. I included Airlie, even though it was not one of the five I needed to find.

Sectional

AVIACRES

Horse Feathers

Airlie

This adventure was great. I used may skills: pilotage, dead-reckoning, instruments, slow flight, and steep turns. I used the VOR quite a bit. I first dialed up 270 on the Casanova VOR to find Horse Feathers. When I passed and did not see it, I headed up to Airlie and then headed south (190 degrees magnetic) till I found Horse Feathers. Airlie was easy to find and acted as great starting point. Once I found Horse Feathers, the other two neighbors were easy to see. Warrenton has nice big checkered red and white roof on a nearby hanger.

To find the southern airports, I first centered the needle on the Casanova VOR (TO) and flew until the TO went to FROM (passing over the VOR). I then headed 215 degrees magnetic to find Pleasantdale (using the VOR 'FROM' on the 215 radial). I missed it and circled a few times before giving up. I then went after Berryvale. The way I found that was interesting. I found Culpeper and then flew 280 degrees until I saw the radio tower and then looked around the tower. The sectional shows the little Tee-Pee looking mark near the airport.

The sectional also has a circle on the NAILR NDB. The point of this exercise is to fly with the ADF needle pointing up (to 0 on a ADF without a compass card) until the needle flips to point behind the plane. Done!

My adventure was near the SFRA line! Did I blunder? No! Sorry Mr. Maine pilot. I know our government is over-zealous in their expensive response to your ingress into the SFRA (there is no easy way to call you up and inquire about your intent). However, most people in this country do not see it that way. Most people instead look at you, Mr. Maine pilot, as the problem. That means that your mistake puts a blight on the general aviation industry. At this time of economic crisis and a country on the verge of pushing legislation for GA user fees, such mistakes have huge ramifications.

PLEASE! Pilots flying in or near the SFRA, pay attention. If unsure, turn around and LAND!

Dual Cross Country Radio Mishaps

My instructor and I flew from Manassas to Chesterfield County and back. It took me a while to figure how to summarize what I learned from this experience. Most of the 'problems' involved the radio and communication. The flight started with my instructor's headset jacks malfunctioning during the initial startup procedures. He spent the whole flight giving me hand gestures and listening to the speaker.

The next issue was a strange conversation with ground. I did everything right at the time, so I was confused why the conversation had so much confusion. I had radioed ground, detailing who I was, where I was, and what I wanted to do. The ground ignored the 'where' and the 'what' for a moment to inquire about my equipment code. I replied Uniform. This means I have a transponder with encoding altimeter. Ground then asked in a excited voice of disbelief: 'You do not have transponder'? Weird. I replied, 'Yes, I have a transponder with altimeter encoding'. The reply: 'You do not have altimeter encoding?'. Me: 'Yes, I do have a transponder with mode C' (same thing). Ground: 'You do or do not?'. Me: 'Do!'. Silence. Then ground replied with frequency and transponder code. I replied with the verification and then questioned ground if they cleared me to head to the runway. Once again, ground barks at me that they have not granted me clearance to taxi. I could not remember with all the confusion, so I asked. Ground apparently did not like that. What a mess!

Why did this happen? Well, it took sometime to put the pieces together. The mistake was partially mine. When filing the SFRA flight plan, I forgot to mention to FSS that I had a pre-stored plan. The stored plan had the information, including equipment code, for the plane. FSS created a new plan but DID not inquire about the equipment. Had they inquired, I would have caught on to the mistake. So the new plan was submitted without the equipment code. I later learned that there was an error in the prestored plan as well. It contained an equipment code Golf (for GPS). This is due to maintaining compliance with SFRA procedures when flying out of Leesburg.

The radio issues did not end here. Chesterfield County radio was out along with their ASOS. I used Richmond's ATIS for surface information and then picked the runway I liked the best, making the appropriate pattern calls. No one was responding.

Coming back into Manassas, we were an hourly early. It took me a few times, stating 'we are an hourly' to Approach, before Approach found the return SFRA flight plan and cleared me to enter. I explain why in a future blog. I always notify them around Warrenton. It is a good place to land if clearance is not granted. It is close to Manassas, so I could get a ride back.

GA industy is fighting back.

Seems like the GA industry, with its back being pushed against the wall, is starting to push back hard.

AOPA helps balloon operator hit with $8,000 tax bill

Cessna counters critics with new ad series

Proposed GA security regulation criticized in Congress

TSA actions in Nashville cause concern

On the flip side, the FAA is going forward with the SFRA around DC, despite request of re-evaluation from AOPA, local FBOs and local GA pilots. Still no sufficient proof of threat without the ADIZ of efficacy of the SFRA.

Now I am considering whether I should have permitted the TSA to inspect my birth certificate. It just does not add up. I cannot solo without a medical certificate. I cannot get a pilot's license without FAA certification. Why does TSA need to be involved in this process? I will go through regulations again and I will not be so compliant the next time TSA comes poking around without sufficient justification and cited regulations. If I was a commercial pilot, then maybe. But I am just going for my private ticket. Crazy.

So, I think I convinced my instructor that a cross country to Cambridge, MD from Manassas, VA would be a good experience (not the first cross country). I get to fly across a big body of water. I get to fly below class B air space. I get to navigate across the ADIZ. I get to call FSS and determine the activity of several MOA and Restricted areas south the route. Go ahead and look at the sectional to see what I am talking about. In the end, I want to know how to get to Ocean City, MD from Manassas VA for the day without having to go up and over OR far down and under the ADIZ. I just want to fly EAST. That's the freedom I talking about.

Other news: I have not flown in a long time. Weather, sickness, family vacation and a broken front wheel strut have wrenched my training. I am very discouraged student at the moment.