Well, the weather forecast was looking a tad dodgy for flying later today but it looked good to go early this morning. Overcast at 6500 feet and similar at Tauranga where I had planned our first stop. I had booked Cessna 172, "WAM" from 1000 for the rest of the day to take oldest daughter out for a flight before she departs these shores on a 3 month OE.
However, by 0900 the clouds had lowered and it was raining and my heart sank a bit. It did appear to be clearing and by the time we had driven over to the club and preflighted the weather in the direction we were going looked acceptable, the same only a little windier at Tauranga, and I made the decision to go. It turned out to be a great flight over. The Kaimai range was clear enough to get over with plenty of height to spare even though it did not look too inviting to the North and West. However, with a South-easterly blowing it away from us, it appeared to be favourable for getting back, too.
The approach to Tauranga went really well. The wind was 120º at 10 knots gusting to 18 so a maximum cross-wind of 12 knots on runway 07 - well within my mental 15 knot limit. On turning final we were a bit high so I used a side-slip technique rather than crabbing to lose some of that height. As I got progressively lower I found I was needing less and less rudder so the surface wind was much more benign and a very good (one of my best ever!) cross-wind landing resulted. Very pleasing and we headed off to the AvGas cafe for a bit of brunch and a look around the Aviation Museum.
How things can change! We had just started our browse around the museum when I heard that distinctive pitter-pat sound on the roof. It was raining. Probably just a shower, I thought but the noise got louder and I went outside to take a look. Oh dear! In the 40 minutes or so since we left the plane the weather had really closed in. Visibility was around 10km at best and the hills to the south completely obscured by cloud with showers all round and more to follow from the East. OH @#**@!!!
We decided to complete our tour of the museum and then head over to Bayflight to get a weather update. I phoned the Aero Club to find the weather back in Hamilton and was told the weather there wasn't too flash, either. So, trapped in Tauranga by the weather at least for a while.
We had a look around the Military Collection at the Museum next and then went back to the cafe to take stock. It appeared to be slowly clearing from the East so we headed back to Bayflight to call Hamilton (the cafe was a bit noisy). The wind was getting up and the very nice people at Bayflight suggested I taxi WAM around to use their tie-downs. This was gratefully accepted.
I spoke to Ash (instructor) again and he reckoned Hamilton would be clear enough to come back in about half an hour and it was certainly clearing over the hills. 20 minutes later the way across the Kaimais looked clear enough, I confirmed things were OK at Hamilton with Ash, and made the decision to go. It was now or never I reckoned as there was more rain heading our way.
We got up and were cleared on track to Hamilton at 2500' or below. The rain was indeed on its way again but I could clearly see a way over the hills where the road from Tauranga to Hamilton crosses and headed that way. Now, I drive that road fairly often and know the summit is 499 metres (1650'). I was out of the control zone now (when I made my "clear" call to the tower they gave me a favourable weather report for Hamilton - thanks, guys) and at 2700' had ample room to cross. I was just clear of the cloud above but having to negotiate around some lower wisps. which threatened to obscure my vision ahead for a while. I was making sure I still had an escape route behind or to my left and right back to Tauranga and pressed on carefully. The way ahead became clear as I manoevred around, I was over the ridge and into the much clearer Waikato very quickly (20-25 knot wind at our backs) and breathed an inward sigh of relief. All that training had kicked in and I had successfully got us through a "real weather" situation.
The flight back to Hamilton was quick and otherwise uneventful. Ash had advised tracking a little further South as there was a lot of weather to the North and this turned out to be good advice. A routine approach, landing and taxi later, we were putting the cover on the plane when more rain hit Hamilton and by the time we left the club the weather was back to "VFR unflyable" again. I had a peek at the weather radar later and we appeared to have come through a fairly narrow gap between two banks of cloud and rain to get home.
OK, then, lessons previously learned (some in theory) and acted upon:
1) Weather can be very unpredictable and even the best forecasts can be wrong (the bad stuff today was 3-4 hours early!)
2) Get help. The aviation community are very friendly and helpful - particular thanks to James at Bayflight who gave us a couple of short rides to keep us out of the rain and to Ash for his help and advice.
3) Don't fall victim to get-home-itis. As we sat in the cafe, we worked out a "get-home" plan which did not involve using the plane (hiring a car, which my daughter could return the next day).
4) Keep your options open. One of my main tasks when flying towards the ranges was to keep my "escape routes" in view and check they were "clear".
We got home safe and sound but were fortunate there was a clearer weather "hole" to fly through. If it hadn't been there, lesson 3) above would have been acted on.
Finally, a few pictures:
No comments:
Post a Comment