Learning to Fly

PNP Rescue Flight — 6 pups plus mom

Haven't done a Pilots-n-Paws rescue flight in a while.  Been meaning to, but between Haiti & the commercial ticket, haven't had much free flying time.  Got a call mid week asking if I could help transport 9 pups and their mom from somewhere in the Shenandoah Valley area up to Buffalo NY.  How can you resist this?

 

 
 

The pups got transported up to VA on Sunday, and I was going to pick them up on Tuesday, but the weather wasn't cooperating. IMC all all along the route, with isolated thunderstorms predicted all along the route as well. Without in cockpit weather, dodging thunderstorms is not my idea of fun.

And, looking at the geography around Shenandoah Valley Regional (KSHD), I realize they aren't kidding when they say "valley".

Airport elevation is 1,200 feet, with 4,000 foot elevation to the east and west, and a 3,400 foot ridge directly in line with the runway to the northeast.  Not geography I want to be messing with in IMC. The temporary foster in Shenandoah, Beverly, graciously agrees to house the dogs until Thursday.

Thursday turns out to be a pretty good flying day.  Not too hot, some low ceilings around NY and some clouds along the route, but the weather forecast to get better through the early afternoon, before clouding up again.  I plan to get an early start to try to get back in before the weather got too bad.

The plan was for wheels up at 9:30, but things never go that easily on an IFR flight plan out of Linden.  Wheels up ends up being more like 10:15.  Get vectored considerably north of Linden, before being allowed to proceed on course in the southwesterly direction.  Filed for 8,000 feet.  Entered the clouds at about 2,000 feet, and felt a moment of anxiety---it's been a while.  Fighting the false sense that the plane is somehow banking left---my body messing with my mind---having to really focus to keep the climb nice and level.  Break out at about 4,500 feet to glorious sunshine with a nice carpet of clouds below.

It's been a while flying the C172, and the airplane feels much lighter than the C182, the controls much more responsive.  Enjoy hand flying for a good hour before engaging the autopilot.

The rest of the flight is entirely uneventful.  And once into PA, the clouds start to thin, with the ground showing in between breaks in the clouds.  Potomac approach informs me to expect a visual approach as I begin the decent.  Somehow, descending through the clouds is much easier than climbing through them.  No weird kinesthetic illusions this time.  Once I break through the clouds, it takes a long moment to get my bearings back.  Approach tells me that the airport should be dead ahead, but it takes me a while to pick it out through the haze.  (I'm also conscious that there's another airport around here, and don't want to land at the wrong one.)  The landing itself is a beauty---the wind is almost straight down 23, and the C172 touches down with a satisfying chirp---not too firm, but not too light, either.

The dogs have been waiting patiently outside the FBO. The local ABC affiliate has shown up to film the pups and I stand for a brief interview (thankfully I got edited out of the final news report). We load the pups into two separate crates, and the mom will ride in a harness. The pups are squirming and whimpering---they almost sound like kittens.  The folks at the FBO at KSHD are wonderfully accommodating.  I taxi the plane to the runway, with the pups whimpering the whole time.  I hit a little bump, and that dislodges one of the crates a bit, and the door opens.  Three pups spill out.  I manage to contain one back in the crate, but the two others rolling around in the back seat having a ball.  I park the plane in the run up area and spend 3 minutes corralling the errant pups back into the crate, this time being careful to position the crate with the door facing towards the seat back.  (Good thing this happened while I was still on the ground.)

Flying out of KSHD, I make one final call to the CTAF frequency.  The gal at the FBO comes on wishes me well and says, we can hear your passengers (yes they were still whimpering quite loudly).  But in a few minutes they settle down.  I call up Potomac Approach to pickup the IFR clearance to Buffalo-Lancaster Regional.  I had filed a rather round about route following the low airways from KSHD to Buffalo.  To my surprise, my clearance is "direct BUF direct" (i.e. fly direct to the BUF VOR, then direct to the destination airport). That was unexpected, but would shave a good bit of distance off the flight.

The flight is uneventful except for the fact that it takes longer than it should, battling headwinds all the way.  I request altitude changes a few times to see if I can't do better, but nothing seems to help.  And one of the pups decide to take a pooh, which stinks up the rather small cockpit.

When I get close to Buffalo, and Buffalo approach takes me a bit west to avoid traffic before turning me towards BQR.  I am having trouble finding the airport, until the controller says "um, it should be right off your left wing."  I look down, and there it is.  (How embarrassing.) It's a tiny airport with the runway running parallel to a railroad, and I had mistook it for an warehouse or railroad siding.

The pups get dropped off, the crate gets washed out, the plane gets refueled, the pilot grabs some water and a candy bar, and we are back in the air.  The flight back to LDJ is also uneventful.  Though the forecast clouds are starting to gather and thickens the further east I fly. This was great IFR flying practice.  It eased me into it---initially it would be a puffy cloud here and there along the route.  But the further I went, the more consistent the clouds got, until I was fully "in the soup" by the time I was past Allentown.  By then, I had regained my confidence flying in the clouds (and remembered how to properly scan the instruments).  And I had the luxury of engaging the autopilot from time to time when I felt a bit tired.

The ceilings around LDJ are around 2,000 feet, but once I pop back out of the clouds, I'm greeted by the familiar sight of approaching Linden from the west.  The New York skyline at twilight is rather nice landmark to fly towards.  The NY approach controller informs me that since I am landing at Linden, they are holding planes at Newark until I cancel IFR. Must be using runway 22. (Me and my little Cessna holding up the big boys at KEWR.) Since I was clear of the clouds, I oblige and cancel IFR.

A long day, but well worth it.  Got another bunch of dogs to a happier place.  And got some good flying in with some nice IFR practice to boot.  Can't ask for much more in a days worth of flying.

Pilots N Paws 5000

The good folks at Pilots N Paws are trying to raise awareness by transporting 5000 pets this week.  This seemed like a really good opportunity to fly, so this past Tuesday, I make arrangements to pickup 5 dogs in MD coming from VA for transport to Orange County in NY.

On my way down to Carroll County airport in MD, I have an electrical system fault.  (Not again!)  I get a low voltage warning, as well as a failed alternator warning, and have no choice but to put down in Reading, PA.  The mechanic agrees that it is most likely the alternator, but having arrived at 4:30pm, there is nothing he could do that day.  The folks at Millennium Aviation were super helpful, and they arrange for an rental car for me to drive back to NJ (at 120 miles, not too bad), while I scramble to arrange for repairs to the plane, and contact the pilot flying the first leg that I will not be able to meet him in MD.

The dogs are stranded in MD for the time being---thanks to the heroic efforts of a local PNP pilot, they have shelter for a few days while we scramble to find a pilot to fly them the rest of the way.  Unfortunately, the pilot who volunteered was kept on the ground by bad weather on Wed & Thurs, and on Thursday night I get a call from the first-leg pilot that the dogs are still in MD.

So, I put out another emergency request, while trying to secure another plane to do the transport myself.  As luck would have it, the club 172 is available for the afternoon, so I decide to do the transport myself.

The weather up in NJ is clear blue skies with a few clouds.  The weather down in MD is not so good---ceiling is at 1000 feet.  I call for the weather forecast---30 knot headwinds forecast all the way, IMC at the destination (though with the forecast set to improve), and an Airmet Tango forecast for "moderate" turbulence along the route.  (For the benefit of non-pilots, what most people think of as "turbulence" hardly registers.  The definition of "moderate" turbulence is momentary loss of control of the aircraft.) I huddle with the flight instructor, and he says that if I encounter turbulence, I just need to remember to reduce the speed (to prevent excessive stress on the airframe), and I need to have a plan B.  I note that there are numerous major airports along the route I could put down at, and decide to head out. On the tarmac, I bump into another instructor who quips "They alway have Airmet Tangos.  If you didn't go every time, you would never go anywhere.  Just have a plan B."  Okay then.

I figure that this would give me good practice in actual instrument conditions.  No such luck. I take off on an instrument flight plan, climb to 6000 feet, and find myself VFR-on-top (clouds below me, but clear skies all around). And as I proceed southward, the clouds below seem to be burning off.  By the time I get to Carroll County, VFR conditions prevail, and after punching through a thin layer of remaining clouds, I get a visual approach into the airport.

Pick up the 5 cutest dogs (the black lab puppy was to die for).  The two puppies get crated and put behind the back seat of the aircraft.  Two medium sized dogs get put in a medium crate on the back seat, and one dog gets harnessed to the back seat.  The C172 is tiny (think 1970s Honda Civic), but is able to carry a surprising number of dogs if you are creative about loading.

Take off from Carroll County Airport under VFR conditions.  Request VFR flight following (communication with the controller, where ATC keeps an eye on you) over Harrisburg.  The trip to Orange County airport is a quick hour and 40 minutes. (The head wind on the way down that was supposed to become a tail wind has died down quite a bit.)  And now, we are starting to see some clouds.  I start off at 5500 feet, but there is a pretty thick layer of clouds right at my altitude past Harrisburg, and since I'm flying VFR, I duck down to 3500 feet the rest of the way.

Funny thing about dogs, most howl and whine when they are first put on a plane, but most seem to just fall asleep en route.  And so it was with the five.  I hardly knew they were there.

Touch down at Orange County right at 6pm---on time for once.  The dogs get herded into a van on their way to a new (and hopefully better) life.

I return home to a voicemail box full of messages from pilots responding to my urgent request for assistance on PNP.  It is amazing how people will step up---from the various pilots who volunteered their time and planes, to the people down in MD who took care of the 5 dogs while they waited for transport.

Yet Another PNP Rescue Flight

I was off to do another PNP rescue flight---this time picking up a bunch of puppies being moved up to NY from VA.  Having just recently been checked out on the SMA "Diesel" C182Q, I decide to take this plane down.  Supposed to meet the first leg pilot at KDMW.

Depart from Caldwell without incident, check in with Allentown approach to request flight following.  But just past Reading (KRDG), the alternator warning light illuminates.  I shut down all unnecessary avionics and let the controller know that I am having electrical problems, and I need to diver to the nearest airport. I pull out my handheld radio just in case my onboard radio dies.  So far the FADEC warning light hasn't come on, so the FADEC is working fine on just the batteries.  He points me to Reading airport which is about 10 miles to the northwest.  I have a straight in approach to runway 31.  I land without incident, and just as I am landing the alternator briefly comes back to life, and stays up through most of the taxi, but abruptly quits again at the end.

I pull up to an FBO with a mechanic on site, explain to him my problem. This is the first time he's seen a compression ignition piston aircraft, but he confirms that the alternator is probably dead.  But seeming as it is 4:30pm, nothing he could do that day.

I briefly contemplate having him charge up the batteries to full, and heading back to CDW running the engine in mechanical backup mode where I could get the plane to a mechanic who knows the plane.  But with a TFR in place around the NY area (I think Pres. Obama was visiting, or maybe it's the UN), the thought of losing my transponder and radio is not appealing.

So, I decide to leave the plane with the folks at the FBO---if it is the alternator, it should be a pretty easy fix. I scramble to arrange to have the dogs kenneled around KDMW, and rent a car to drive back to NY (about a 2 hour drive).  I will come get the plane when the repairs are done---thank goodness it didn't happen further into my trip.

I have to say that in all this, the folks at Millenium Aviation at KRDG were incredibly accommodating and helpful.

Cessna clown car

So, how many dogs can you fit in a Cessna?  At least 6, it turns out...

Flew down to Manassas Regional Airport (KHEF) to pick up 6 puppies that were being transported from further south.  The first leg pilot had left the 6 in the care of a local foster, who bathed and groomed the puppies for their last flight to Hartford, CT.

The trip down was uneventful, but gave me a taste of actual IFR conditions.  Not hard IFR all the way, but in and out of clouds, especially around the Washington metro area.  Made me a bit nervous knowing that I was traveling in this tiny plane in between all the jet traffic into the DC area.  But by the time I managed to traverse the DC SFRA (special flight rules area), I broke through the clouds, and the landing to Manassas was an easy visual approach.

Somehow managed to stuff 6 puppies in 4 crates into the back of a 172.  And took off into IFR conditions that seemed to have gotten slightly worse.  Given the limited range of the 172, I had filed for what seemed to me the most direct route possible between KHEF and Hartford (KHFD), but the actual routing I got was nothing like what I had requested.  It had me executing a departure procedure out of KHEF that basically took me on a circuitous route around the western perimeter of the DC SFRA, before heading northeast up the coast.  While I was flying through the DC SFRA, I kept on getting vectored so as not to get in the way of faster traffic.  Suffice it to say, I ended up burning more fuel than I had anticipated.  (KHFD was close to the outer limits of the 172's IFR range to begin with.)

By the time I got close to NY, it was pretty clear that I was going to have to put down somewhere to take on more fuel.  Rather than stop at an unfamiliar airport, I notified NY approach that I was canceling my IFR flight plan to diver to Linden to take on more fuel.

After taking on fuel at Linden, I decided to just fly VFR the rest of the way (the weather was cooperating). I flew up the Hudson River VFR corridor, with magnificent views of the NYC skyline, then north of the Tappan Zee Bridge (and north of the White Plains Airport airspace) I turned east for Hartford.  The rest of the trip was entirely uneventful, and I landed only an hour late at KHFD.

The puppies were eager to get out.  And none were on a leash. The rescue folks wanted to take a picture of the pups in front of the plane, but I had visions of chasing an errant pup across the tarmac, so we quickly exited to the parking lot for the group photo.

The flight back from KHFD was uneventful but interesting in one respect.  After taking off from KHFD, I contacted Bradley Approach to request VFR flight following.  I asked for and got 4500 feet. When I got handed off to NY Approach, I was fully expecting to be asked to descend before entering the NY airspace.  Instead, they cleared me into the Hudson River corridor at 4500 feet. That day, they were using the Hudson River corridor for traffic into La Guardia.  So, all that traffic was being told to descend to 3000 feet at the Verazano before proceeding up the Hudson.  And here I was in a little Cessna, flying the opposite direction at 4500 feet.  It must have made those jet captains do a double take to see a Cessna overfly them in the corridor.  (I suppose, given the possibility for wake turbulence, I would prefer to be above than below...)  Somehow, looking down at all those Airbuses and Boeings was strangely gratifying.

The problem was that when I got to the southern end of the Hudson River, the controller had to figure out how to let me descend so that I could get into Linden, with all that jet traffic underneath.  Finally, he had me fly way to the east over Brooklyn, then had me execute a sharp descending turn before I interfered with JFK traffic, so that I could duck under all the traffic heading north up the Hudson.

When I started flying out of Linden (it's runways or 09-27), someone told me that I would never have to land on 09 because the winds are always out of the west.  Well, to top off a rather unusual day, the prevailing winds were out of the northeast, so my final landing into Linden was on runway 09.

Flying Casey home

Colleen from Save a Dog a Day has been trying to transport Casey to her adoptive home for a better part of a month. So, I decided to take the opportunity to do some real cross country flying. The mission is to pick up Casey from Richmond, VA (Hanover County Airport, KOFP) and deliver her to Westchester County Airport (KHPN in NY).

I start off in Linden (KLDJ). I had filed an IFR flight plan for the trip---there’s something really comforting about having an air traffic controller following your flight and talking to you---but I sit on the departure end of the runway at Linden for a while waiting for the clearance. Must have been a busy day at Newark, and it was taking a while. In the mean time, the weather was gorgeous VFR, so I tell the controller at Newark that I would depart VFR, and pick up my flight clearances en route if I need to. Ended up flying VFR the entire route. In VFR weather, flight following is almost as good---with an air traffic controller following your blip, and talking to you about any conflicting traffic. The flight down was entirely uneventful.

The flight up was entirely uneventful as well, even with a canine passenger in the back seat (in a crate, of course). All along Casey was a perfect passenger, mostly asleep though she seemed a bit unsettled by flying the first 10 minutes or so. The air was silky smooth, and the traffic was relatively sparse, though I did have to skirt a few areas with temporary flight restrictions.

However, landing at Westchester County was a bit of a thrill. On the Thursday before Memorial Day weekend, traffic was starting to pick up at Westchester, and the tower controller was working hard sorting through all those Learjets. Upon hearing that I was inbound on a Cessna, he requested that I land on runway 11, and hold short of runway 16---basically a land and hold short operation. For the uninitiated, what this means is that there are two intersecting runways 11 and 16. The controller wants to land another aircraft on 16 while I’m landing on 11, and wants to make sure that I stop before getting to the intersection of the two runways. There’s about 3000 feet of runway before I get to the intersection---more than enough space to land a Cessna. I’m confident that I can, so I accept though this is my first time doing a LAHSO. I guess I was a bit more concerned about the LAHSO than I admitted to myself. The landing was a bit hard (mostly because I was preoccupied with landing as close to the approach end of the runway as possible, and I was more focused on the intersection than the "numbers" I was trying to land on, so I flared a little sooner than I should have), but I did stop well short of the intersection. So, all's well that end's well...

I guess it was more a case of nerves than anything else---all the more reason to go and practice short field landings.

Another bonus of this trip was that I got to do the Hudson River route twice in one day, once northbound to Westchester, and once south bound back to Linden. No matter how often I do this route, I never tire of it, though I am aware of its potential pitfalls.

Bring Sadie home

 

Second flight for Pilots-N-Paws.

Pick up Sadie (looks like a Lab mix pup) from the foster in NC (KGWW) where she’s been raised, to bring her to her adoptive home in NJ.

The trip was interesting from the start. Upon takeoff, I turn south from Caldwell. Switch to Morristown’s frequency to request permission to cross their airspace. The tower asks me to stay east of their field because of traffic, and also warns me of snow flurries coming in from the southwest (which was not mentioned in any of the weather information I got prior to the flight). So, I have the New York Class-B to the left, weather moving in from the right, but clear skies a few miles to the southeast. The weather was moving rather slowly and still in the distance (I could see it coming in), so I was quite confident I would have cleared the Class-B by the time it got to my position so that I could turn east to avoid it. Though, in retrospect, perhaps I should have immediately circled back to Caldwell to wait it out. An interesting call.

Was flying along the NJ shore line (avoiding the alert area around McGuire AFB and the restricted area around Eagles Nest). I hear a soft high pitched whine in my headset, followed by a pop. And the “volts” annunciator panel lights up. The alternator circuit breaker had popped. After a moment, I gingerly reset the breaker. After a few minutes, same thing. So, I cycle the alternator side of the master switch, and reset a second time. After a few minutes, the same thing. So, I shut down the alternator, and power-off all non essential electrical items (strobe---since it was day time, second radio, GPS). I briefly contemplate returning to Caldwell, but the possibility of flying so close to the NY Class-B and have a failed radio, gps/nav equipment and transponder was unappealing. At this point, I’m already talking to Atlantic City approach, so I let them know of my problem and request to divert. They note that Ocean City (26N) should be right under my right wing. And so, it is. A tiny airport just blocks from the NJ shoreline. The winds are pretty strong (15 gusting 20, they say) almost due west. A tricky landing on runway 24. I enter right downwind, turn base, only to realize that I have completely misjudged the size of the airport (and hence my hight and distance). I sheepishly radio out on the traffic frequency that I’m going around. Do one slightly-larger-than-usual lap around the pattern to give myself time to set up, and try again. The final path to landing flies over a housing development that is just a few hundred yards from the approach end of the runway, so that further adds to the thrill. But manage to get the plane down, and taxi to the FBO.

I explain my situation to the staff, and ask if I could talk to the mechanic on the field. The answer was that they didn’t have one, and that I would have to call mechanics at Woodbine (another 10 miles southwest), to see if they would be willing to come up.  Leave a message on their phone but get no call back. In retrospect, rather than taking ATC’s suggestion about 26N (which was the closest airport), I should have requested to back track to KACY where there was sure to be an mechanic. Having run the plane on batteries for a while, and having shut it down, it was unclear whether I could get the plane to start back up, and even if it did how much electrical power I would have left (especially after turning the starter motor). So, my only remaining option is to call Tom (the CFI), and have Airfleet send down a mechanic with the necessary parts. And I settle in for the wait.

The staff at the FBO was friendly, and there was a fairly constant stream of old-timers coming in and out to chat. The diner attached to the airport served good coffee and a good meal, and gave me a place to sit to wait things out. The airport is just blocks from the beach, so it should be a great place to come back to during the summer.

Tom and the mechanic arrive around 2:30. The actual repair (replace battery, alternator, and ACU) takes all of 45 minutes, though done on the tarmac in the gusting wind made it a bit uncomfortable. I had decided that if I could get off the ground by 4pm, I would continue on. And am off by 3:30. The new alternator does the trick---no more problems.

Flying down the NJ then MD coastline provided some of the most beautiful scenery to gaze down on. Too bad flying precluded me from taking pictures. Continuing further down, along the coast, crossed over the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay over the Bridge-Tunnel, and land in Chesapeake Regional (KCPK) for a quick fuel top off. The staff at the flight school/FBO was incredibly friendly and fast, and got me fueled and out in 15 minutes to continue on to Goldsboro. The whole trip, I was been battling 25 knot headwinds, using more fuel than initially planned.

Land at KGWW, just north of Seymour Johnson AFB, around 7pm, have the FBO top me off again. Pick up Sadie from the foster family. The entire family had come out to see her off, and the kids were sad to see her go. I assure them that I would send them pictures of Sadie safe on the ground. Have a quick bite. Confirm that Sadie is comfortably curled up in her crate in the back. And take off for the three hour (if the winds cooperate) flight back.

The flight back is as smooth as can be. What should have been strong tail wind has died down a bit, but nevertheless I’m getting a good 10-15 knots on my back. I plot the shortest path I could while avoiding the Washington area and the Philly Class-B. I fly over Norfolk, and cross the Chesapeake around the same point. The Bridge-Tunnel is even more interesting at night---especially where the bridge turns into a tunnel, and the chain of lights is broken. Turn a bit north after avoiding the restricted area over Chesapeake Bay. Climb to 7500 to cross the Delaware Bay, but encounter some snow flurries, so request to descend to 5500, and turn north a bit to cross the Delaware at a narrower point. Then turn northeast to hug the VFR corridor next to the Philadelphia Class-B, for a nearly straight shot back to KCDW.

Landed just minutes after the tower closed so having to self-declare on the now CTAF frequency was a bit odd. Met the adoptive family, who had been patiently waiting for Sadie’s arrival (an airline-like 4 hour delay). But the smiles on their faces, and Sadie’s happy tail made the long day all worthwhile. (Is it just me, or is the dog smiling, too?)

As a bonus, more than enough to cover the long cross-country requirement for the commercial certificate.

Flying with Sunny

 

As an additional motivation, I decided to start flying missions for Pilots ‘n Paws.  Long term, I would like to start donating my time for humanitarian organizations like Angel Flight.  But their requirements are pretty stringent---minimum 250 hours of PIC time---even more stringent than the commercial pilot requirements, and at least a few years away.  In the mean time, I’ve decided to donate my time to this animal rescue organization.  I’ve always have had four legged companions growing up---and we currently have two cats---and can’t imagine going long without a few dogs or cats around the house.  So, I figured that this would be a nice way to contribute to a worthy cause.  Balance the karmic scales just a little, considering the joy and companionship that the various cats and dogs have brought me over the years.

So the first mission is to fly Sunny, a Shepherd mix.  She is being flown from a shelter in FL to her adoptive family in NJ, and I would handle the last leg of this marathon relay by flying her from Westminster MD (KDMW) to Atlantic City (KACY).

First time flying into Carroll County Airport in Westminster MD. A nice little airport with a single runway.  The previous legs up from FL are delayed, so I have a few hours to kill.  The staff at the FBO are incredibly friendly and accommodating.  As soon as I land, a lineman is at the tarmac to direct my plane in.  He fuels the plane, and offers me the courtesy car.  But I decide to take a stroll around the area instead.  The airport is set in rural MD, and the surrounding area is quite pleasant, though I was hoping for a place for a quick bite but everything was closed for the weekend.

 

(I didn’t know this, but interesting...)

The plane with Sunny arrives around 6:00 (with another dog on board, whose final destination is KDMW).  We have sunny transferred, and am off by 6:30.  The entire flight is being done under an IFR flight plan (I thought I would get some practice).  So I need to get my IFR clearances.  No clearance delivery on the field, so I need to call Potomac Approach by cell phone, which was a bit of a to-do trying to hear the phone over the noise of the Cessna’s engine.

In any case, in the air by 6:30.  I had filed the flight plan indicating that the plane was not equipped with a IFR legal GPS.  But my clearances were clearly intended for a plane with a GPS, so I need to explain to the controller that I will need radar vectors (basically directions) if I’m going to fly the clearance as given.  So, he gives me a vector to a victor airway, and gives me an amended route to follow.  (This was something we had not practiced during IFR training, so it was nice to know that I could write down all that information, communicate with the controller, while still flying the plane.)

The flight itself was uneventful. Sunny sat quietly in her crate the entire time that I hardly knew she was there.  So uneventful in fact, that I forgot to check my Directional Gyro against my magnetic compass, and over time, it had precessed quite a bit, such that it was off by a good 25 degrees or so.  The whole time I thought I was correcting for a wicked cross wind, when in reality I simply had forgotten to do one of the most basic in flight checks.  As I approached KACY, I was cleared to land on Runway 22.  This should have been routine, but I was momentarily so confused by the fact that the runway didn’t line up with the DG the way I expected it to, that I overshot my turn to final.  Not a big problem at that time of day with sparse traffic, but incredibly embarrassing.  (Of course, now I will never forget to check my DG as part of my routine cruise check.  And, of course, had this been in actual IMC, things would have gotten much harrier.) 

Sunny’s new owner greeted me at the tarmac with a big smile on her face.  It was a long day, but the sight of sunny happily wagging her tail made it all worthwhile.  Flying for PNP is definitely a good way to fly to airports that I would otherwise never visit, have some fun, and do something worthwhile to boot.

The short hop back from KACY to KCDW was truly uneventful (thankfully).