Using My New Rating

January 6, 2013

It's 7:00am and I wake up wondering what the weather forecast is reporting. I forgot to check it last night. I turn on my cell phone; it has numerous aviation and weather apps right on my front screen. I pull up the aviation forecast and it says it should be mostly sunny throughout the day with scattered clouds. This brings a smile to my face, as I love a beautiful, sunny day. I check the current conditions to find some contradicting information. It's only marginal VFR; the clouds are overcast and they're low. This is certainly not what I expected to read. I decide to drive out to the airport anyways, hoping that by time we take off, the clouds will rise or begin to clear out.

It's 9:00am and I arrive at the airport. It's still cloudy and doesn't appear to breaking up anytime soon. I meet with my commercial instructor and we come to the conclusion that we're going to fly our cross country anyways! Why not? The clouds aren't that thick and I have a newly acquired instrument rating which will allow me to fly though the beautiful, white fluffy things and soar above them. I take my phone out and call Flight Service Station. After hanging up I excitedly say, "I just filed my first IFR flight plan under my own name!" I was surprised how amazing it felt doing that! Everything I have been working towards for the last year has led up to this moment; the moment I can legally fly IFR, using my own rating.

After taxiing to the runway and receiving our IFR clearance from ATC, we take off. We begin our climb to 6000ft but reach the base of the overcast cloud layer around 2,500ft. I notice my heart is beating a bit more than normal; I must be nervously excited. We penetrate the clouds while continuing our climb. The ground quickly leaves our sight. It's time to rely on my instruments to safely guide me. Between 4-5,000ft we break out above the clouds and my face lights up with amazement. Wow this is stunning! I've never been above a full overcast layer of clouds before.

We level out at 6,000ft which is about 1,000ft above the clouds. The sun is radiating off the overcast layer and we suddenly wish we had sunglasses. After flying for about an hour, we reach our first destination of Rolla, MO. We perform an instrument approach to get us down below the now broken layer of clouds. The dispatcher on the field asks if we will need fuel and I inform him that it would not be needed. Soon thereafter the wheels touch down and we taxi back. It's time to file the next portion of our IFR flight plan. Once we have the plane configured, we depart the area and climb to 2,000ft at which I contact Mizzou Approach. The clouds are breaking up nicely but we stay below them until we get authorization to climb. ATC quickly responds and we rise above the clouds and level out at 4,000ft. 

Columbia is our next stop, but this time we have the added excitement of flying into a controlled airport. We switch frequencies and begin communicating with Columbia's control tower. We fly another instrument approach to get us down at which time we receive our clearance to land. 

Upon touchdown, the controller has us make a 180 degree turn on the runway to get us to the nearest taxiway. We turn off and then make another 180 turn to bring us to the hold short (of the runway) line. The tower clears us for our next IFR flight leg back home and then sends us off. We climb to 7,000ft but quickly get instructed to descend to 5,000ft. Bummer! The clouds are now scattered and no threat to us. We have a nice tailwind to push us along. With not much for my CFI and I to talk about, he asks me what I know about airplane engines. Might as well get some ground school in while we have the opportunity. Engines are not something that I am knowledgeable about. He explains how they work and then we move the conversation onto system failures. What if the ammeter's needle is completely to the right (+)? Then it's essentially too charged and we should turn off the alternator. What if that needle is to the left (-)? Then the battery is not charging enough or has died. Time to turn off anything electrical that we do not need. What about pressure systems and oxygen? If we were in a jet at 40,000ft and lost pressure, we would first get passengers and crew on supplemental oxygen, followed by making an emergency descent. The "what if" conversation continued until we reached Lambert's airspace. 

We descend down to 3,000ft and inform ATC that we'll just land visually (no instrument approach). Within 10 miles of the airport, we cancel our IFR flight plan and continue on our own. We enter the downwind leg for Runway 27 behind another plane. Our trip ends after a gentle crosswind landing. 

That was definitely an enjoyable flight and one to remember. At this point in time I only need 10 more hours of cross country time logged to meet the requirement for commercial. Within those 10 hours, I need to log a dual (with CFI) night cross country, and a long (one leg of 250NM minimum) cross country. Time to check my calendar!