Flying to the medieval

So on Saturday, MC and I flew the 340A to meet Aaron in Pontiac, Michigan to attend the local RenFaire.

A good time was had by all. Aaron got his turkey leg (You should have seen the serving  kid’s face when I told him I only wanted Left legs….) and we had a great time. Food, shops, Lots of cutlery (of the pokey-stabby kind) and costumes, jewelry, etc. It was an awesome time with a friend that I have not seen too often lately.

The RenFaire was HUGE, larger in area than Bristol, Wisconsin (which MC and I have attended in the past) and, while not as well organized, was attended by a great many more people. I love people watching and so had a good time….Plus food. Plus music. Too soon we had to head home.

We flew to PTK from NW Indiana, departing IFR… first cleared to 3000 feet, then cleared to 11,000 feet and final cruise of 17,000 feet. Total time was 1 hour 4 minutes, then a visual approach to the newly paved and painted 27L runway at PTK. The view was beautiful on the way to PTK. Here is the view just as we began our descent into PTK.

 

(As you can see at the end of the video clip, we were really “haulin’ the mail”)

 

After the RenFaire (we left a bit early due to deteriorating conditions in Indiana and I didn’t want to do an IFR approach at night in the 340 just yet)), we were delivered back to the airport by Aaron and departed on an IFR flight plan back home. First cleared to 3000, then 11,000 then our cruise altitude of 14,000. The headwinds were brutal, at 32 knots (14,000 was the least bad of the altitude choices)) .

One nice thing about flying the 340A is that there is less traffic in the mid and upper teens, so one gets clearance via the route one files for, at least most of the time. Higher than the “Bug Smashers” (Hey, I used to fly one of those!) and lower than the big jets and the airlines…so less traffic for ATC to deal with at your altitude.

We were IFR shortly after leaving PTK before reaching our initial assigned altitude of 3k, then all the way home we were in the soup (this means in the clouds with no visual reference for up/down or left/right….only instruments… easy to get disoriented).  I blew the approach on the first try and went missed and had to be vectored back for my second, successful, approach….. we broke out at 1300 feet (Minimums are a little above 1000 feet) and I made a nearly perfect landing.

All in all, a good day, time with friends, flying, learning more about the plane and a challenging flight home.

I’d like to thank Aaron for his hospitality and just being a good guy.

 

5 thoughts on “Flying to the medieval

  1. Nicely done, and NOTHING wrong with a missed when things just don’t feel right.

  2. Thanks for coming, and it was great to get to go to the Renaissance Festival with you and Midwest Chick.

  3. Love your Cessna!
    Learned to fly at PTK back in the 70’s. Moved lots of freight thru that area. Good times!

  4. Congrats on being intelligent enough to take a missed. Too many have let their ego take control at that point and wound up in a bad place.

    • I tend to go Missed and/or Go Around more often than many others.

      Fuel is cheaper than airplane repair and/or my passengers lives.
      I don’t let Ego dictate safety. If I ain’t stable on the approach and comfortable on short final, I don’t land.

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