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Day 7 - Saturday, 9/15/01 - Departure TRK->OGD
Got up to a beautiful day of sunshine. The Saturday/Sunday weather forecast
was great for our trip home as long as we stayed to the North. We filed our
IFR plan to Ogden, UT with a 10 am departure time. On Friday, the EAA
chapter found a member to provide us with a copy of the OGD plates - a fellow
Lancair builder no less. Back out to TRK, I got rid of the car and noticed
that no one else made it to the EAA fly in. Arnie, with the faster Lancair,
would go first - the controllers would not allow an IFR flight of two, even
though VMC existed.
We taxied out to the runway, stopping and shutting down behind two ordinary
aircraft (Cessna, I think). Since there was an RCO nearby, Arnie got in
contact with Reno departure so we could get in line. Reno would only handle
one IFR flight into or out of our "zone" at a time. This meant that 4
flights got into South Lake Tahoe before anyone got cleared out of Truckee.
Finally, after over two hours, Arnie got his clearance and departed.
By this time you probably got the idea that I had no problem hearing
clearance delivery - true, but they could not hear me. So, being reasonably
smart, I pulled out my cell phone and called FSS - you know 1-800-WX-BRIEF.
Remember that Truckee in is California and Reno is in Nevada. The FAA
automatic call router gave me to an FSS in the bowels of CA because of the
area code (IL) transmitted by my phone. For some reason, they could not give
me a direct dial number for an FSS in NV and they didn't know the number for
Reno clearance. Ok, I taxied back to the main terminal and used the direct
land line phone for FSS - they could not give me the clearance because of
circumstances, but they could give me the direct dial number for clearance
delivery - of course, I was on a phone that could not be dialed. Saved by my
cell phone, I finally got a clearance with a void time. Arnie was long gone.
So long gone that I did not hear any center communications with him once I
was airborne.
Lesson #12 - Have all your ducks in a row, including any ATC phone numbers
you might need. Trust nothing to Chance; she can be a foul tempered lady.
The flight to OGD was pleasant and uneventful. There were so few planes were
in the air, it seemed as though I had my own personal controller. Several
times I received vectors to avoid restricted areas by quite a wide margin,
much wider than that indicated on the GPS. I guess they were worried about
sloppy F-16 pilotage.
Arnie got to the right airport first this time (under radar guidance, heh
heh) and, when I landed, we discussed staying for the night since we got such
a late start and lost an hour in the time zone change. A weather check again
showed no problem for the two-legged finishing flight on Sunday. Probably
OGD to ANW (Ainsworth, NE) and then on to home.
We did not notice any security at OGD, the gate was open and people wandered
out from the restaurant to inquire about our planes. There were many
businesses on the field with easy access from the street. However, Hill AFB
is 5 NM to the South and there were regular flights of F-16 pairs in and out
of Hill. They were slick looking and it was nice to see them flying cover
for us. Luckily, one of the folks that stopped by offered to take us to the
hotel (Marriott, I think), one with a nice bar. Note that Utah is not dry
and we were.
Day 8 - Sunday, 9/16/01 - OGD->ANW, or so it would seem.
Back at the airport, the weather was checked, IFR plan filed, Arnie fires up
since he's going first again and I listen in as he received his clearance.
Arnie doesn't believe it since we were told that the usual departure is 240
degrees with a circling climb over the Salt Lake, then on course over those
mountains east of Ogden. The clearance was something like fly the runway
heading, then fly the 005 degree SLC VOR radial, 62 NM, then on course, etc.
Note that this sends you North into the mountains rather than west of Salt
Lake City. They probably thought we were terrorists from Wisconsin. Anyway,
I benefited from hearing the clearance repeated several times so I was ready
when it was my turn.
Lesson #12 - Let the other guy go first so you can look like a brilliant
professional pilot. Eavesdrop on anything that could help improve someone's
first impression of your façade.
Lesson #13 - Confused terrorists should always reject a complicated clearance
and request radar vectors.
Ready, I tune in the tower for release and what do I hear, Arnie is coming
back! OK, I cancel everything (delays or retries were not allowed, we would
have to re-file) and taxi back, beating Arnie once again. Arnie pulls up
along side and deplanes. He said, "I could not get the #@%&# pump to run up
my gear!" "It works for down and locked though." Just my "cup of tea" and
the investigation began.
Having opened the dump valve, the pump would still not run "up". We borrowed
a continuity tester from the local Cessna maintenance shop (remember, shops
are open on Saturday and Sunday) and the isolated pressure switch was found
to be inoperative. We found and called Don G. for advice on how we could get
a pressure switch and he said, "Just get two wires and twist'm together until
the gear sounds like it's up, then pull'm apart." Clever, I thought, and
KISS too. Well, liking a more sophisticated solution, I asked the mechanic
to sell us some wire and a switch. "Nothing doing", he said as he gave us
wire, connectors and a discarded Cessna rocker switch. You run into the
nicest people when you fly a Lancair and know how to whine.
After installing the pilot operated gear control, the pump would still not
run! Uh oh! Further testing indicated that the "up" relay was dead too. No
problem, back to the wrench - "Any 12 volt intermittent relays?" "None
available." He replies, "But there's an auto store in Ogden". No Problem.
We borrow the courtesy car and head for Auto Zone. There, we find an old guy
who used to fly Luscombes. He knew exactly what we needed, an old Ford
starter relay - $13 I think.
Lesson #14, Trust old guys, they know stuff. Beware of whippersnappers.
Back to the airport, I jury-rigged it in since we would otherwise have had to
remove the whole pump/relay mount to replace just the relay. Now, the pump
ran (with the dump valve opened) but he was not allowed to flight test it
(IFR only). Well, what the heck, he could test it tomorrow, when the weather
was going to be ugly. "Let's go back to the hotel so we can practice
unpacking our bags again and visit the bar", I thirstily said. "Forget the
unpacking", Arnie added.
To Be Continued.
Grayhawk
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