Juxtapilot’s Blog

Last night I finally completed my dual night cross country flight that I have been waiting so long to do. The weather was great; the sky was clear and the air was very smooth. I planned out a flight from Grand Forks (KGFK) to Fergus Falls (KFFM), then to Fargo (KFAR) and back to Grand Forks. I had done this flight during the day and was excited to see what it would look like at night. I arrived at the airport at 6:30 for the 7:30 flight. I brought a friend with me to observe the flight. I arrived with performance/weight and balance done and ready to go. I met with my instructor and we flight the flight plans and discussed the flight objectives (something we had discussed 6 times already) then ran out to the plane. The plane was in a hanger so I got to stay warm during the preflight. That only lasted for a few minutes though. Line service needed to tow our plane to the ramp, so the preflight stopped a little over halfway through. Being that I was preflighting inside a warm hanger, I left my gloves inside the airplane. We walked from the hanger and met the airplane on the ramp. It was -20 degrees outside and my hands were freezing. By the time I finished the preflight my hands were completely numb. I jumped into the airplane and simultaneously warmed up my hands while completing the before engine start checklist. The plane actually started this time! With all the checks done we taxied out and took off. The flight was pretty uneventful. It was a lot of fun though. The approach into Fargo was one of the coolest I have ever flown. The airport it pretty much surrounded by city lights, it’s really beautiful, and it reminded me why I love flying so much. After arriving back at Grand Forks I did a few landings in the traffic pattern. The landings were fine, with the exception of the last one. My instructor insisted that I didn’t flare soon enough. He actually pulled the yoke back while we were approaching the runway. We ballooned up quite a few feet then settled down smoothly. I didn’t agree with my instructor at the time. I figured that he was a little over protective but, now I think he’s probably right. I suppose he knows what he’s doing—he’s got quite a few more hours than me.

I’ve got quite a few solo flights coming up so hopefully I can start taking some pictures!!!

I haven’t been in an airplane since January 25th. The reason is mainly that the weather has been too bad to go flying. It hasn’t even been the weather as much as the weather forecasts (TAFs). I think the forecasters are having a real tough time with the North Dakota weather. Up until yesterday I had weathered 6 flights. The weather wasn’t too great, but it was good enough to get a night cross country flight out of the way. Finally a glimpse of the sun, well the moon actually, shining in North Dakota! I had been waiting so long for a break in the bad weather.

I arrived at the airport at 19:00 for a 20:00 flight. I had the flight planned out and all the performance/weight and balance done. I met with my instructor and discussed the plan with him. We were going to climb to 5500 feet to stay 500 feet under the clouds. On the way back 4500 feet was perfect as the winds would be most favorable. At 20:15 we turned in a slip for a plane. It was a quiet night so they gave us the book for our plane 15 minutes early. I filed our flight plans which put us back in Grand Forks in 2 hour 20 minutes.

We arrived at the plane and I did the outside preflight while my instructor did the inside. The temperature was 11 degrees! Very warm considering the weather during the past week. The preflight went well, and we hoped inside. So far so good. There was frost on the wings so we requested a spray down from line service. I remember telling my instructor while they were spraying down the plane that “this is going to be a fun flight.” With the Before Start checklist done I pulled up the Engine Start-Cold checklist.

Throttle………1/4 Inch Open
Fuel Pump………On
Mixture………Rich
Prop Area………Clear
Starter………Engage

Well, that’s as far as I got in the Engine Start checklist. My instructor got on the radio and requested an EPU start from line service. They brought the EPU cart out to the plane and hooked into we ran through the EPU start procedures, engaged the starter, cranked it 3 or 4 times and the engine never came to life. At this point I realized the flight wasn’t going to happen. Line service called maintenance to come out and help use get our engine started. They came out and took a look at the engine and had us do a “Flooded engine” start. There are 4 engine start procedures for this aircraft. We tried 3 of them and didn’t have any luck getting the engine to start. Unfortunately we had to cancel the flight. I guess it was just too cold. Thank you North Dakota!

Even though we didn’t get to go, I think the line and maintenance guys are awesome for trying to get help us get going! Oh well. I am scheduled for this flight next week. Hopefully it will happen. I guess if my bad luck continues it won’t though. Even though we didn’t get to go, I think the line and maintenance guys are awesome for trying to get help us get going!