Ed_Wischmeyer
Well Known Member
Today's "plan" was to take an almost private pilot for a ride in the RV-9A as weather and schedules have been conspiring against her getting her last 3.7 hours solo for PPL. This flight wouldn't count towards her license, but she wanted to at least get off the ground, and this would be a chance to see a different airplane.
Curious weather in Savannah: for the last two or three days, surface winds have been 10G20, 15G25, and 20G30. And early this morning, a very skinny front came blasting through with heavy but brief rain. Surface winds today forecast at 10 knots or less, unusual for post-frontal winds.
Per the norm, I called flight service and asked for NOTAMs (none), TFRs (none), and winds at 3 (15 kt) and 6 (42 kt!). Pretty unusual, so I got on the iPhone and checked winds aloft. 50+ at 9,000, so maybe today would be the day...
We saddled up the RV-9A and headed upwind. I had chosen Claxton airport so that departure control would have some idea where we were going, other than "west." Flying directly upwind would have taken us into a hot Restricted Area, but it looked like we could fly directly downwind from Claxton with no airspace encumbrances.
I had her fly a bit, and I had her rest her arm on her leg. She was reluctant to grab the stick with two fingers and a thumb below the grip, but did so, questioningly. With that grip and stick position, there was no overcontrolling, but she was still amazed how much lighter and more responsive the RV-9A was than the C172.
A little ways short of Claxton, I told her to start a climb at 110 knots and I told ATC we were going to explore the winds aloft. Smooth air came at 3,700 feet, whereas normally smooth air would have been 2,000 feet lower.
The winds aloft peaked at 6,200 feet, but we kept climbing to 7,500 feet, just to make sure. It was real handy to read off the winds aloft in heading and speed, whereas I normally display headwind and crosswind components.
I called ATC and told them we wanted to go eastbound at 6,500 and they approved. I'd previously flown full throttle and full RPM at 9,000 feet, but not at this altitude.
When things settled down: 147 KIAS, 165 KTAS, 215 GS. 23.1" MP, 2670 RPM, 1395° max EGT, 76% power, 11.4 GPH. All this with a 160 HP engine and a Hartzell constant speed prop. No cheating with an oversized engine.
We had a great time, set a new personal best groundspeed, and burned maybe six gallons, 0.9 hours logged.
Curious weather in Savannah: for the last two or three days, surface winds have been 10G20, 15G25, and 20G30. And early this morning, a very skinny front came blasting through with heavy but brief rain. Surface winds today forecast at 10 knots or less, unusual for post-frontal winds.
Per the norm, I called flight service and asked for NOTAMs (none), TFRs (none), and winds at 3 (15 kt) and 6 (42 kt!). Pretty unusual, so I got on the iPhone and checked winds aloft. 50+ at 9,000, so maybe today would be the day...
We saddled up the RV-9A and headed upwind. I had chosen Claxton airport so that departure control would have some idea where we were going, other than "west." Flying directly upwind would have taken us into a hot Restricted Area, but it looked like we could fly directly downwind from Claxton with no airspace encumbrances.
I had her fly a bit, and I had her rest her arm on her leg. She was reluctant to grab the stick with two fingers and a thumb below the grip, but did so, questioningly. With that grip and stick position, there was no overcontrolling, but she was still amazed how much lighter and more responsive the RV-9A was than the C172.
A little ways short of Claxton, I told her to start a climb at 110 knots and I told ATC we were going to explore the winds aloft. Smooth air came at 3,700 feet, whereas normally smooth air would have been 2,000 feet lower.
The winds aloft peaked at 6,200 feet, but we kept climbing to 7,500 feet, just to make sure. It was real handy to read off the winds aloft in heading and speed, whereas I normally display headwind and crosswind components.
I called ATC and told them we wanted to go eastbound at 6,500 and they approved. I'd previously flown full throttle and full RPM at 9,000 feet, but not at this altitude.
When things settled down: 147 KIAS, 165 KTAS, 215 GS. 23.1" MP, 2670 RPM, 1395° max EGT, 76% power, 11.4 GPH. All this with a 160 HP engine and a Hartzell constant speed prop. No cheating with an oversized engine.
We had a great time, set a new personal best groundspeed, and burned maybe six gallons, 0.9 hours logged.
