We flew the airplane to Michigan for Memorial Day weekend in May 2010.  The trip had been planned for a couple of months and I started looking at the weather earlier in the week.  The outlook was good for the whole weekend.  To reduce the possibility of running into an afternoon thunderstorm we planned to leave early in the morning on Thursday 5/27/2010.  We were at the airplane before 6 AM and the loading and preflight were quickly completed.  Flight plans were filed and weight and balance checked the night before so we were ready to go.  We were off the ground right around 6:30 AM which was the plan.  The air was smooth but a bit hazy and I was glad to be on an IFR flight plan.  I was cleared west directly over Baltimore, MD and climbed up to 10,000 feet.  Luckily we had a slight tailwind even though we were heading west which is unusual.  It wasn’t much, but we were still getting ground speeds around 125 to 130 knots (143-150 MPH).  We settled in for the 2.5 hour flight to our planned fuel stop in Conshocton, OH (Richard Downing Airport – I40).  Lori kept busy by reading a book and listening to music, Hannah played with her toys and Daddy’s iPad, and Bryan watched a DVD and eventually fell asleep for awhile.  We landed in Choshocton on schedule and had a quick stop to take on fuel and use the restrooms.  After a quick snack of popcorn we hopped back in the plane as we were excited to get back in the air and get to Allegan.  I wasn’t able to get Indianapolis Center on the radio so I departed VFR and quickly was able to pickup my IFR clearance in the air.  The leg from Conshocton to Allegan was only about 2 hours and before long we were handed off to Grand Rapids Approach and cleared for the GPS29 approach into Allegan (Padgham Field – 35D).  It isn’t unusual to have good landings when the plane is full and has an aft CG but my landing in Allegan was one of my best ever.  Too bad no one was watching!

Baltimore, MD

We spent Thursday, Friday & Saturday in Allegan seeing family and friends in the area.  Lori’s family all got together at her parent’s house on Saturday and we had a very nice time.  Lori also was able to see one of her best friends from school that she has not seen in many years.  I didn’t see many of my friends but I did catch up with Troy for one evening who also lives in Allegan.  I had a very busy week planned at work the following week and it looked like weather might affect us if we decided to stay until Monday.  We opted to leave on Sunday morning and were off the ground right around 11 AM.  Again the flights went very well and we stopped in Conshocton for fuel.  They had an outdoor grill open so we decided to sit down and have lunch.  It was very hot and there was hardly a breeze.  After lunch we hopped back into the plane and were off for the final leg of our journey.  There were some scattered clouds that had popped up and we brushed up against a few of them as we climbed up to our assigned altitude of 9,000 feet.  I took quite a few pictures of this as it is a fun experience for me since prior to getting my instrument rating I could not do this.  We also flew into the Washington, DC Special Flight Rules Area (SFRA) and right over Baltimore.  Another great flight and we were on the ground back in Delaware (33N), tied down and unloaded before 5 PM.  It was hot and everyone was tired but it was definitely better than the 13 hour drive or flying commercially.  It is great that we are able to use the airplane for longer trips now with the whole family!

Click this link to view more pictures of the flights

Before I purchased the new plane I received a stipulation from Lori.  She said that she supported the purchase of the new plane as long as I studied and got my IFR within a year.  What an ultimatum!  Lori wants to be able to use the plane to travel places and to see family more often and I totally understand why she is pushing me to get it.  I thought it was a great idea and I immediately started studying again for the IFR written exam.  I’m about ready to take the test within a couple of weeks as I’m taking practice tests and scoring in the low 90% range.

I’ve also started the flight portion of my IFR rating.  Frank Dorrin is an instructor that I met through flying out of Delaware Airpark (33N).  Frank and I have talked a couple of times about the rating and what is required.  He is very much down to business and uses a structured syllabus.  He also owns a simulator which will help in my training.  I’ve decided to start working with Frank and have now completed two flights with him that were both very productive.  So far we have practiced the instrument scan, four fundamentals, constant rate climbs and descents, timed turns and we are currently working on patterns.  We’ve spent some time on the ground as well and he is preparing me for what I need to know by showing the reference materials that I should use.  What I really like about working with Frank as I know what to expect.  He lays out the plans and we execute them.  Both flights have been at night which is also helping me with my night proficiency.  I’ve attached the flight tracks of the two lessons that I’ve completed so far that I downloaded from my Garmin 496.  Technology never ceases to amaze me and this data is a great tool to evaluate the flight performance.  You can also view the speed and altitude information as well as the flight tracks by clicking on these links: IFR Lesson #1 and IFR Lesson #2.