Every other July I am made to realize once again how time flies because it is in July that I have to see my Aviation Medical Examiner (AME) to get my third class medical. Two years ago I waited until around the 28th of the month to go see my doctor. This time, I decided to get an appointment a little earlier – on July 20th. Next time, I’ll try and go even earlier in the month in case I have to endure what turned out to be a complete surprise to me this time around.

When I arrived at my doctor’s office, the desk lady gave me a clip board and the usual paper work and a copy of my last third class application form from two years ago to go by. I worked my way down the form to the “are you taking any medications?” Ah, there is the one thing different than last time. I am now taking Levothyroxine, a generic of Synthroid for my newly acquired thyroid condition. My family doctor has been working with me over for almost two years, at first working to get the prescription amount correct and then six-month check ups to monitor my condition.

Once my doctor zeroed in on my prescription everything went back to normal for me health wise. The thyroid condition had been causing fatique, slight hair loss, chaffing eyebrows to name a few things. The daily medication has fixed all that. The unfortunate part is that I will be taking this medication everyday for the rest of my life. My doctor finds that I am doing perfectly well now – my follow up checks and blood work reports all indicate such. For me, yep, I feel better and the physical things like hair loss and chaffing eyebrows have ceased – expect some hair loss due to getting older and having for daughters in the house.

Many months ago when I started taking Levothyroxine, the thyroid hormone generic equivalent to Synthroid, to treat my hypothyroidism, I was instantly concerned about how this would effect my ability to keep flying. Hypothyroidism is a condition where the thyroid gland does not produce enough thyroid hormone. Hence the daily supplement. I asked my doctor if this would keep me from flying and he assured me that I need not worry about it. I left his office feeling comfortable that my flying days were not nearly over. Thank goodness!

When I got back home, I immediately visited the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Assoiciation (AOAP) website and searched for “thyroid and synthroid.” The one search result that came up was link to FAA accepted medications. This is a database of medications that are acceptable to the FAA. The table shows a list of acceptable (or not acceptable) medications according to the FAA. The table also tells the class of medication, what it treats, and what acceptable conditions are based on. There is also links for some medications for more information.

I checked for Synthroid and Levothyroxine and, great for me, they were listed as exceptable. I do not remember the conditions listed way back then, but I seem to remember that I was completely in the clear. So I did not think about my thyroid condition or the medication further with regards to flying.

So, at the doctor this time around, filling out the third class medical form, I wrote in “Synthroid for thyroid condition” and what other pertinent information the form asked of me – and past doctor appointment dates to the best of my knowledge.

The assistant called me back and put me through the usually rigors: pee in a cup for the urine test, check my height and weight, check my vision – an now I have reading glasses, so I brought them along. After a good wait in the cool room, the doctor came in and we had a pleasant conversation while he checked me over. He noted the Synthroid use on my form and this is where my world started to unravel a bit. We discussed the condition and he explained to me how the FAA is handling thyroid patients differently that before. Now it is on a case-by-case basis. They just do not shove you through any longer. My eyebrows raised and perhaps my blood pressure too as we talked this thing through.

He was looking out for my best interest when we told me to obtain a copy of my last blood work and an indepth note from my doctor as to my status – a status report. I said, “No problem, I will get that too you asap.” As we walked out of the room to the front desk, he told me that he would just hold my medical certificate until I got him those two documents. I was caught off guard as I fully expected to walk out of his office with my third class medical in hand. Not the case. I was floored. I perhaps showed it, but I reached over to shake my doctor’s hand once again and thanked him for all his help.

Back in my truck heading home, I felt almost devastated. I kept telling myself that my doctor is only looking out for me. See, he explained that if he sent my medical in to the FAA without the proper medical documents from my family doctor, that the FAA would request them with time-dated letters and this could snowball into a really unfortunate series of transactions with the FAA that could prevent me from flying until the case was solved. So, disappointed as I might have been that my doctor held my medical, I assured myself that he was looking out for my best interests – this was the case. He has no reason to do otherwise.

I called my familty doctor and explained to the nurse what documents I needed and she passed the information on to my physician. A few long days went by and I called again on Monday, July 26th – we’re getting awfully close to the end of the month! The nurse told me that my doctor was out of town traveling until the next Monday. Oh my! That pushes this thing past my July 31st deadline. I pleaded with the nurse to try and get in touch with him before then as time is of the essence. No luck, but I did send an email to my doctor that week hoping he would be able to handle this from out of town. I emailed him a link to AOPA’s Introduction To The Airman Medical Certification Process – What Is A Status Report? This contained some information that I thought my doctor might find helpful in preparing my status report.

So, the week dragged on. I thought Monday would never come. But on the Friday prior, my doctor replied to my email that he was sorry that this coincided with him being out of town and promised to have the required documents for me no later than Monday afternoon. And, indeed, when Monday came, my doctor’s assistant called to tell me that the documents were ready for me to pick up. I drove to my doctor’s office, picked them up and raced over to my AME’s office to drop them off. The assistant took my documents, and my AME doctor happened to be standing by and said he would handle this right away, so I stayed put. After about a ten or fifteen minute wait, the assistant came out and handed me my third class medical certificate. When I got back in my truck I kissed the medical certificate and put it safely away in my wallet.

This all turned out okay, but next time I will set my appointment with my AME a good bit earlier in case something like this comes up again. From what I understand, the FAA now looks at thyroid conditions on a case-by-case basis. If they have any concerns, a yearly update may be required. Time will tell whether the FAA will contact me regarding my thyroid condition and medication use, but for now, I’ll just enjoy flying as usual but with the thought always in the back of my mind that things may not be as easy as they once were with regards to obtaining my third class medical certificate.

mb to 7500 feet. It tightened up over north Georgia, so we dove back into clear air below the clouds again at a hot and bumpy 3500 feet. We made a quick fuel stop at Elberton County Airport (27A) on the Georgia/SC border. This place was about as laid back as I have ever seen. There were two kind fellows sitting in the quaint FBO, hangar flying. We told them we needed fuel and they said to help ourselves and leave the money on the manager’s desk.Our last leg might be interesting as there was a bad storm between us and Columbia. The great Garmin 496 GPS weather showed us that we might just be able to fly to the north of the weather. And if Betsy can keep the speed up we might just outrun it and drop into Columbia ahead of it. A great tailwind helped us do just that. We were showing groundspeeds as fast as 147 mph over Lake Murray, where we descended from 5500 feet just in time to sneak up under Metro’s Class Charlie.Back on the ground we were greeted by Pam and the kids at the hangar. After we put Betsy away we joined a party in progress behind the SAC, where folks had gathered to celebrate Tom Roberts having gotten his Private Pilot Certificate thursday, July 30th, while we were at Oshkosh. Congrats Tom!It was great to be back home after such an eventful trip. Ole Betsy was solid the whole way, and Mac taught me a whole lot about navigating the weather and flying above the scattered clouds, where the air is smooth and cool. Thanks Mac for such a great trip! It will be hard to beat this, our Oshkosh odyssey.

He had a question about Bluetooth technology and his new headset. I said, “Well, Pam will know all about that!” So there we stood at the back of Joe’s SUV and he shows us this new headset he bought recently. It is the Zulu Active Noise Reduction (ANR), Bluetooth-enabled headset by Lightspeed. Pam looked through the user’s manual and had the Bluetooth operating in no time. This allows you to receive and make calls on your cellphone without being connected to the headset with wires – it’s Bluetooth! Both Pam and I loved seeing this feature.  

Joe explained that you can also hook up a hardwire to your favorite music player and listen to music – and with the Front Row Center (FRC) technology in the headset, the quality of music simulates sitting “front and center” in an ampitheater. The leather foam ear cushions and top cushion made for a very comfortable and snug fit and they weight just under 14 ounces – a little heavier that Bose X’s 12 ounces.

Joe said he has yet to feel uncomfortable in them and they hold snuggly without shifting. They are even priced below the Bose X’s $999 price at $850, and with the added features, will certainly give Bose a run for their money. I have the Bose and love them, and am getting pressured to get a set for Pam.This has me rethinking Bose in favor of the Zulu – it has the immediately justifiable Bluetooth feature that we would find great value in so Pam can make and receive calls without the cockpit noise.

So thanks to running into Joe at the airport the other day, we might be ordering the Zulu sometime soon. Joe, please don’t buy a Garmin 696. If you do, please don’t tell me about it! 

With the cowling off, I drained the oil as usually from the quick drain. I let it drain for a good while to let as much as possible come out of the quick drain to avoid having so much come out when removing the oil filter screen. I snipped the safety wires from the oil screen and unused sensor plug bolt head which is bolted into the head of the oil filter screen. Next I loosened the oil filter screen with the torque wrench, a three-inch extension and a one inch crowfoot wrench. I did not loosen or remove the smaller hex-head plug bolt on the end of oil filter screen.

I carefully backed the oil filter screen out by hand just enough to allow oil from the sump to drip into a plastic cup that I had wedged in underneath the filter screen to catch the oil. I happened to use a clear plastic drink bottle that I happened to have handy. I cut it in half and used the bottom portion. It helped that it was clear so I could tell if the cup might overflow. About a cup and a half of oil came out so I did have to hand tighten the screen back to stop the oil flow and dump the cup out and then go back and loosen the screen again and get the remaining oil out. Once the dripping stopped, I carefully removed the oil filter screen from the crankcase and noted which way the old copper crush gasket was installed; the open “parting line” was facing the crankcase.

I inspected the oil filter screen for any debris such as metal flakes. Then I cleaned the oil filter screen in some avgas and inspected to ensure it was in good shape. It looked just fine.

Back at the crankcase opening, I put my finger in just inside at the bottom to “scoop” out as much oil as I could onto a paper towel underneath to stop any dripping, then cleaned the outer surface where the oil filter screen and crush gasket come in contact with the crankcase.

I inspected the opening in the crankcase with an inspection mirror, shining a flashlight onto the area so I could see well. Everything looked fine with no mars or other abnormalities.

I checked to make sure the oil quick drain was closed and then reinstalled the oil filter screen. I placed a new AN900-28 [MS35769-48] with the “parting line” facing the crankcase. I am not sure how to interpret the SB that says to install the copper crush gasket with “the parting line up against screen face.” Not sure what the “screen face” part means so I just put the new  copper gasket in the way the old one was installed before - with the “parting line” facing the crankcase.

I was careful to make certain the that copper crush gasket was centered well when hand tightening the oil filter screen. It is a little loose and can move up, down or sideways slightly. If need by, you can put a little bit of grease on the face of the oil filter screen where it contacts the crush gasket to ensure that it stays centered in reinstalling the oil filter screen into the crankcase. I did not have to use any grease, but made sure it was centered by holding the copper crush gasket in place with three or four fingers around the head of the oil filter screen assembly while screwing it back into the crankcase to hand tight.

Once the oil filter screen was hand-tightened with the copper crush gasket centered in place, I tightened the oil filter screen with the torque wrench set at 42 ft#. This required a little finesse as that is a bunch of torque and the crowfoot wrench tends to want to slip off. You have to hold it in place with one hand and torque with the other.

Once the oil filter screen was reinstalled, I filled the engine with oil (I use seven quarts, but cause this engine will blow out the eighth one pretty quickly.) After a few minutes, I checked the oil filter screen to see if there was any oil leaking. It looked clean so I pulled the airplane out of the hangar and started the engine, did a run up and then a full static run up, shut it down and inspected for leaks around the oil filter screen once again. There was no oil leaking, so I went flying!

Tools:

5-80 foot pound (ft#) torque wrench

3” extension

1” crowfoot wrench

Needle nose pliers

Wire cutters

Safety wire tool

Flashlight

Inspection mirror

Supplies:

AN900-28 (1.75”) [new part number MS35769-48] copper crush gasket (I bought several from Aircraftspruce.com but your local A&P should have some)

.041 safety wire

Clear plastic cup

Paper towels

Note: Continent SB76-7C, page 7, calls for a 1.75” copper crush gasket [AN900-28], and tightening to 500-520 inch pounds (in#) or 41.6-43.3 ft#, and says to install the copper crush gasket with “the parting line up against screen face.”

See the SB online at: http://www.tcmlink.com/pdf2/SB96-7C.pdf

On Wednesday, July 16, 2008, Pam, Kayla, Mallory, and I departed Columbia (KCUB) at around 10:00 a.m. and traveled to Reynolds, Indiana, to see Pam’s sisters and their families.

We took off from Owens Field a little later than we wanted to due to some marginal VFR in the upstate between us and Asheville. As the weather reports predicted, the low cast  was gone by the time we got to the upstate. We were at 4500 feet until around Spartanburg and the mountains south of Asheville. We climbed to 6500 feet south of Hogback Mountain and over flew the Asheville area and were treated to beautiful mountain views, with Mount Mitchell towering hazily far to the east.

As we ventured on over the Blue Ridge Mountains we climbed to 8500 feet to give us a good margin to clear the Great Smoky Mountains into Tennessee. For a while we were flying under a cloud layer that was getting close above us so we descended to 6500 feet and enjoyed some beautiful views of the rippled and raked terrain of the northeastern Tennessee and southeastern Kentucky cumberland landscape.

After about two and a half hours, we landed at London-Corbin Airport (KLOZ) in Kentucky for our fuel stop and to let everyone stretch their legs and take a break. The runway at London is 150 feet wide so my landing flare was a bit high as I am so used to the view of CUB’s 75 foot wide runway. We were still well above the runway when I expected my tires to be touching, but we continued to sink right down and down until finally a couple of mild barks of the tires and we were there.

London is an excellent airport. The folks were friendly and the FBO was large and very well maintained. The lady at the desk said there was a restaurant on the field, but was closed for now and would reopen on August 1st. The girls and I were hungry and had to settle for snacks from the machine. Perhaps we’ll venture back to London someday and try it out The Hangar Restaurant.

On past Lexington, Kentucky, and west of Cincinnati, we flew. The girls slept on and off as Pam and I both worked the cockpit. Pam changed frequencies as required and wrote down flight and ATC numbers – and thank goodness! Cincinnatihanded us off to Indianapolis and I reached over to set the transponder code. What a goofball! I quickly realized that I had changed the transponder to the altimeter setting. I was thinking, “Oh $&@!#!” Thanks goodness Pam had written it down. I changed it back so quickly that perhaps ATC didn’t notice, I hoped.

The flight was pleasantly smooth at 6500 feet. We descended to 4500 feet just beyond Lexington to clear the scattered layer and put it above us. Cincinnati routed us east and around some restricted area and an active MOA and then we were straight on course again southeast of Indianapolis. The terrain was flat farmland as far as the I could see. Beautiful country!  We descended to 2500 feet for the last thirty minutes of the flight. There is no shortage of places to land if an emergency were to arise. We radioed White County about ten miles out and listened for traffic. We were met by Pam’s sister, Sharon, who was waiting for us on the porch of the FBO. Since we had an Automaic Position Reporting System (APRS) onboard,Sharon had been monitoring our flight on the internet all day so she knew about when she needed to be at the airport.

White County Airport is a nice venue. It sits two miles south of the town of Monticello and on the west side of the north-to-south runn
in
g, snake-like Lake Freeman. We taxied up to the FBO and parked at a tiedown. The FBO is a small and simple looking structure parked under a larger oak tree. The FBO staff was very welcoming and friendly. White County has a new FBO that was built behind the existing FBO which will be torn down as soon as the new one is up and operating. We were given a tour of the new FBO by Phil Gutwein, a prominent figure in the community as well as the Airport Board President. The new FBO is much larger, has vaulted ceilings covered with wood panels, giving it a warm and welcome feel. It is absolutely beautiful! They also plan to widen and lengthen the runway and improve the taxiways and parking areas.

In Reynolds, we enjoyed a week of Indiana farm life. There is corn growing everywhere. Pam gave me the grand tour of the area. Pam’s sister, Sharon, and her husband, Ron, and their family farm about 3500 acres in the area and are gearing up for suppling corn to an ethanol producing plant being built next to his land. Corn is king right now in this area. Ron gave me a tour of his farm equipment and even let me drive one of his John Deere riding mowers. This was a heavy duty machine, not the kind you find at Lowe’s.\

Pam, the kids, and I got a chance to go to Indiana Beach, a local theme park located on Lake Freeman, a couple of miles north of Monticello. All week while we were there, the White County fair was taking place only a block from Ron andSharon‘s house. There were craft displays and judging, farm livestock contests and plenty of great food. The fresh made vanilla ice cream was the best I ever had.

The last day before we were to depart, I got a chance to take Ron and Pam’s other sister, Sheila, for an airplane ride. We toured Reynolds, and Monon to the north, where Pam’s parents used to live, and flew over a bunch of Ron’s farmland. We flew over Indiana Beach and circled over Ron and Sharon‘s house a few times, and then flew back to the airport. It was a great visit, and educational as well. I never realized how high-tech farming actually is, with GPS driven farm machinery, vast drainage systems and canals, to the impressive crop dusters with their turbo props. We got to watch several fly over the fields during our stay and got to watch them take off and land at the airport. They sound like P-51 Mustangs – loud, strong and commanding in their presence.

Our week in Indiana had gone by quickly and it was time to head back to South Carolina. I had been keeping track of the weather on Weathermeister.com everyday, and it looked like Tuesday, July 22, was our best weather window. Back at the airport, we loaded up, fueled up on the self-serve pump, and departed around 10:00 a.m. We climbed above some lightly scattered clouds to 2500 feet and enjoyed a smooth cruise to the south. I chose to fly a route south towards Atlanta and then east to Columbia because the weather reports indicated cumulus clouds building at 5000 feet about the time we would expect to be over the mountains towards Asheville. So we planned a stop in Tennessee for fuel, fly south towards Atlanta and then once out of mountainous terrain, make a course east to Columbia.

The flight started out nicely, but we got zig-zagged a bit by ATC around Louisville and Fort Knox. We could have done without that. It cost us 10 or 15 minutes of flying time and more importantly, fuel. Over the Kentucky foothills, the sky was very hazy and it was getting hot. Kayla was not feeling well so we began to divert to a nearby airport. I checked the chart for airport information and it indicated that the runway was only 2600 feet and there was no fuel service. With the density altitude reports of 3900 feet in our area, we decided to continue for the twenty to thirty minutes longer to our planned stop at Crossville, Tennessee. Their “fuel pumps were not operating,” so we had to fly east a few miles to Rockwood (KRKW) where we topped off.

The weather was looking very bad, so we tied down for the night. While still at the FBO, a bad storm came thru and it rained as hard as I had ever seen and the winds were blowing hard, and the lightning was flash-booming on the airport property. Pam and I were looking out of the FBO at the heavy rains and wind and suddenly the wind shifted and you could hear that spooky whoozing wind sound through the gap in the FBO door. I told Pam, “That sounds tornadic!” And suddenly, she yelled, “That plane is moving!” Then she told the girls to get into the bathroom and rushed off to usher them in. We both had just seen a twelve and a half ton, three mi

llion dollar business jet parked on the tarmac skid around ninety degrees, trying to vane into the hard-blowing wind and rain. The FBO operator came running out of his office and ran outside in a panic. Realizing there was not much he could do in the rain, wind, and lightning, he came back inside the FBO to wait it out. After the hard rains and wind subsided, he went out to secure the by parking his truck in front of the aircraft.

With the excitement over, we rented a car and drove a few miles to nearby Harriman off of I-40, ate a nice meal and stayed the night at a motel. The next morning, the weather was not very promising as there was a heavy fog that concealed the hilltops. It was predicted to lift by 9:00 a.m. but it was lifting slowly. We made our way back to the airport and Pam turned the car in as I gave Betsy a good preflight inspection – making sure to note if any water had collected in the aft fuse and tested the fuel several times. This is the first time Betsy had to stay outside in bad weather since I have been flying her. It was no surprise that there was some water in the one of the fuel tanks, but it wasn’t very much. Betsy was ready, so we loaded up, cranked up and taxied to runway four.

Flight service had reported 1200 scattered at the closest reporting station and clear to 12,000 feet. With Rockwood’s field elevation at around 1660 feet that seems interesting to ponder. Rockwood airport is on top of a hill. It looks like they just shaved off the top and put the airport on it. Looking down in the valleys around the airport we could only see low clouds all around. Some clouds above us were starting to move in as we prepared for our flight, but it looked clear above them.

We departed around 10:00 a.m. and headed south. We climbed out to 3500 feet first and then climbed to 5500 feet, weaving our way around clouds and trying to stay out of them. With severe clear above them we found our comfortable altitude at 7500 feet. Flight Watch reported that our waypoint airport, Pickens County (KJZP), north of Atlanta was now 1200 feet overcast. They advised Gainesville to the east was reporting scattered, so we immediately changed course to the east. As we fly closer to Gainsville, although well north of it, the sky opened up nicely and the scattered clouds became sparse.

On to towards Columbia we flew with the girls sleeping soundly in the back seat. We descended to 5500 feet at the Georgia/South Carolina border and then to 3500 at Abbeville. The air was bumpy there so we climbed back to 5500 feet until we contacted Columbia Approach. Columbia directed us straight down the center of Lake Murray as we descended, which made for much smoother flying over the water. By the time we reach the dam, we were at 2500 feet at ATC gave us the go ahead direct to CUB.

Once on the ground, we got Betsy topped off again and put her in the hangar. Pam and I both gave her a kiss on the cowling and a hug – a thank you of sorts for taking care of us. We had flown our first long cross country – to Indiana and back! Loaded with kids and luggage and looking for adventure, we had flown the Appalachian Mountains, toured the geographic marvel of the Tennessee and Kentucky cumberlands, the vast flat farmlands of Indiana, and the foothills of Kentucky andTennessee.

In retrospect as a pilot, this trip demanded from me almost everything that I know about flying. What piloting skills and knowledge I possess, I used – what I lacked was revealed. And thinking back, the trip seems like a dream – too good to be true. Thanks goodness we have plenty of pictures to remind us of this wonderful adventure.

Of all the weather information available on the internet today, there are a few sources that I rely upon regularly: AOPA, NOAA, and Weathermeister.com. AOPA has all the “official” and highly dependable aviation weather and airport information, and NOAA gives local forecasts in simple laymen’s terms. Weathermeister.com however provides pilots with a collection of weather and airport information from various sources and displays that information on a single webpage.

Weathermeister.com is a result of ten years of development by Dan Checkoway, a pilot, airplane builder, and computer software engineer located in Chino Hills, California. His initial intent was to have quick and concise weather information for his personal flying. Over the years, tweaking the website led to Dan’s offering it to other pilots.

Weathermeister.com charges a monthly fee for all but its limited-use service. For upgraded functionality, there are three fee tiers: Basic, Premium, and Corporate. The Basic tier offers a saved aircraft profile and a few custom routes and area reports. The Premium tier offers additional aircraft profiles, more custom routes and area reports for pilots that fly routes regularly, TFR notifications, email and internet instant weather messaging. The Corporate tier offers yet more aircraft profiles and custom routes and area reports. All three paid tiers have METARs, TAFs, PIREPs, NOTAMs, National Weather Service forecasting, and Flight Optimizer.

All of the weather reports on Weathermeister.com roll out on one webpage, so there is no need to click on several links to get the complete weather picture covering your intended route. And, there are mouseover functions and items to click on to find even more information such as airport information, maps, sectional charts, runway crosswind information, etc.

We planned to depart early enough Sunday so we would have smooth air for the trip over, but as Sunday drew closer, weather forecasts were looking like IFR or marginal in the morning, but possibly lifting by afternoon. Additionally, our proposed return flight either Tuesday afternoon or Wednesday morning was still in question due to iffy weather moving into the area around that time.

Monitoring the weather for several days in advance of the trip provided great insight as to how the weather reports change from day to day. Good weather on Sunday, bad on Wednesday a week in advance. Marginal on Sunday and good on Wednesday as Sunday approached.

Finally Sunday morning arrived. Up early, coffee and laptop in hand, a look at Weathermeister.com revealed that a morning flight was not possible due to low overcast. The METARs and TAFs along the route all indicated IFR in the morning, but showed the clouds lifting by noon. So I was checking the weather reports often, hoping the weather would lift before late afternoon. If not, we’d have to drive and who wants to do that when you can fly!

This is where Weathermeister.com really shines. I chose my route (already saved from earlier), in our case it was Columbia Downtown Owens Field, Saluda, McCormick, Athens, and finally Gwinnett County/Briscoe in Lawrenceville. Weathermeister.com then displays the weather and airport information for this route on a single webpage and updates every five minutes automatically. You only need to scroll down through the page to review all of the necessary data to make a highly-informed go or no-go decision.
First you see a flight recap: distance, magnetic course (wind accounted for), your departure time, best altitude and economy, which is based on aircraft performance and wind conditions.

Next is a small Google map of the flight route showing your waypoints. Then you see the Flight Optimizer which shows ETE, fuel, ETA, climb, cruise, and descent data at various altitudes – even thousands plus 500 for westerly routes or odd thousands plus 500 for easterly routes. It displays several altitude options: 4500, 6500, 8500, etc, and gives all the time, speed and economy data and highlights the altitude that is best for economy and speed. Many times they are the same altitude but sometimes speed and economy are at different altitudes – you decide which is important.

If any TFRs are reported along the route, they will be displayed. METARs are displayed for every reporting point along the route. The route’s corridor width is selectable in the route menu, as are departure time, aircraft profile, etc.

Next are pilot and air reports, AIRMETs, and SIGMETs, if any are reported.

Several graphics are displayed, including: current surface, flight rules, radar mosaic, satellite views of departure and arrival areas, infrared satellite, AIRMET and SIGMET chart, freezing levels, winds at various altitudes – all these overlaid on maps of the US.

Next is the winds aloft table, displaying winds aloft for all waypoints, with wind direction and speed, and calculated headwind/tailwind data. Freezing temperatures are color coded blue for easy visual reference.

Sunrise and sunset data for all waypoints is next, then TAFs are diplayed and interpreted into plain language for really easy reviewing. All available TAFs along the route are displayed.

Then there are the very handy National Weather Services forecasts for the route, showing predicted weather information for various times of the day. Area Forecasts are next and then an array of front/precipitation images are displayed for various future time periods such as: 12-hour, 24-hour… 3-day, etc.
The all-important NOTAMs report is next. A table of all NOTAMs along the route are given.

This default report ends with a display of a portion of the sectional chart for the departure and arrival airports and a button to click to find fuel prices along the route. The display of all of this information is customizable, depending upon user preference.

All of the textual information provided by Weathermeister.com is given in plain language where possible, such as METARs, TAFs, PIREPs, and are color coded according to whether the data indicates LIFR, IFR, MVFR, or VFR. This, with the plain language interpretation, provides a very visually intuitive report, making go or no-go decisions easy to decide, with all the data from various reporting sources combined into a complete picture of conditions for your flight.

So Weathermeister.com was telling us that our Sunday departure might be possible in the afternoon. So we waited at the SAC for a few hours while the ceiling lifted as reported by Weathermeister.com. We finally departed Columbia at 2:10 p.m. with 1800 feet overcast reported, hoping the weather would indeed open up by the time we reached Lawrenceville. When we got to Saluda, the conditions were as predicted there, and the lower ceiling along the SC/GA border was lifting up nicely. By the time we got beyond McCormick, the blue sky opened up as we ventured on towards Athens, and finally Gwinnett County/Briscoe.

The weather for our departure from Gwinnett County/Briscoe on Wednesday morning was looking good, but as we trudged through our business seminars Monday and Tuesday, a weather system was moving in from the southwest, bringing a wintry mix of rain, ice, and snow. I told Pam that if it looked bad for Wednesday, we would break away from seminars early Tuesday afternoon head for home. I was checking Weathermeister.com every time we got a break on Monday and Tuesday.
By early Tuesday afternoon, conditions looked better for a Wednesday morning departure, so we opted for that, hoping the weather reports were accurate for a late Wednesday afternoon arrival of that nasty system.

Wednesday morning arrived and Pam and I got out to the airport at around 8:00 a.m. The temperature was 29° F and Betsy’s poor battery didn’t make it. The kind lineman tried to jump start us with a generator, but the battery was so far gone it wouldn’t take a charge. Now this, with our weather window closing in on us! We had already decided that if reported weather conditions were not favorable for the flight, we would rent a car and drive home – what a nightmare!

So back in the warm, comfortable lobby at Aircraft Specialists Jet Center, waiting to see if maintenance could locate a battery, I continued to monitor the weather on Weathermeister.com. It was now close to 9:00 a.m. and Weathermeister.com was still indicating a window until around 5:00 p.m.

The maintenance hangar called my cell phone and the mechanic said he had located a battery and that it would be a couple of hours before he would have it installed. A bit pricey, but I gave the go ahead, hoping that they could install it and get us airborne before our weather window closed on us; I wanted to be in Columbia by 3:00 p.m. at the latest.

Sure enough, as promised, the maintenance hangar had our battery installed and the lineman pulled Betsy up in front of the lobby. At around 11:00 a.m., the lineman and I put our luggage into the airplane once again. The engine cranked up better than ever with the new battery. Ironically, I had paid to have the battery checked and serviced only six days earlier.

In our earlier attempt to jump start, I had left the master switch in the off position when the lineman hooked up the generator. An after-the-fact review of my POH told me I should have had the master switch on to avoid surges to the buses. With the switch on, the battery would absorb any surge that might happen. Well, it seems I must learn the hard way at times, and so a surge did indeed happen. It happened, as I would later find out, to take out my turn and bank indicator, and my GPS that was plugged into the cigar lighter. The cigar lighter fuse didn’t break but looked “used” and the fuse in the GPS power cord looked brand new, but the GPS was not turning on. With engine running, I unplugged the GPS and replaced the batteries to see if that would help, figuring that the cigar lighter fuse must have blown. The GPS wouldn’t work. Yikes!
I thought to myself, we have an airspeed indicator, an altimeter and a whiskey compass. I looked at Pam and said, “Hand me the chart.” How we do get so spoiled using the GPS!

So we had a chart and a compass and that’s good enough. We did some radio work with Tower and taxied to runway seven. They asked what type aircraft and what letter. I was thinking, A or U? Or F! I am not so sure after this mornings panel losses. I told them we had mode C. We departed Gwinnett County/Briscoe at 11:25 a.m. – still well within our weather window by a “safe” margin. Off to the east over Winder I realized that I had my little Garmin Geko 201 “hikers” GPS in my flight bag. Pam got it out and I put in on the dashboard by the whiskey compass. I hadn’t learned how to enter waypoints, so the only functionality I could squeeze out of it and still fly the airplane, was to have it display a compass to verify what the whiskey compass was telling us in its rather shaky way.

The air was smooth at 3500 feet and the flight rather effortless, although very chilly in the cockpit. Over the GA/SC border we were several miles north of where we wanted to be but soon we picked up Abbeville and Greenwood several miles to the north of us and finally Lake Murray. A call to Columbia Approach gave us a bee line for KCUB and home.

As it turned out, the wintry mix did arrive just about exactly as Weathermeister.com’s forecasts had reported, in the later afternoon and evening, hitting the Atlanta area first and then Columbia shortly there after. Weathermeister.com had displayed this information to us in a manner that made frequent reviews easy and tireless. Its plain language text and visual queues, along with the mass of the weather and airport information compiled into a single review makes it a reliable one-stop-shop for aviation weather – a weather compendium of sorts. Check it out at http://www.weathermeister.com/.

We got airborne and flew over downtown Columbia, right by the State Capitol building with the big Christmas tree out front. Its lights were on, but there was still a little too much daylight to make them look bright from our viewpoint, but pretty none the less.

The sun was setting blindingly bright to our west so we flew eastward over Forest Acres. What an incredible view of the vast “forest” of the Forest Areas area as the low lying sunlight had shone on the trees, lighting them up intensely with an almost glowing golden hue on their westerly sides, and casting shadows beyond them to the east in a way that only the setting sun can.

After a while, we returned to Columbia Owens Downtown and landed on one-three. The light was fading fast as we taxied back toward the hangar. I asked Pam if she felt like going around the pattern once more. She was fighting a head cold and decided remain on the ground while I went back up.

I departed one-three again, and while on downwind, saw that the sun had set and the view westward was just beautiful. I grabbed my camera and attempted to take a photo or two, not really sure if I got a good one because I was more focused on flying the airplane. On downwind, I tried to shoot a photo of the downtown city lights as they were starting to really stand out in the fading sunlight.

I made my second landing and was clear of the runway when a taxing aircraft passed by me on the taxiway as I held short on the middle exit ramp. I started to hear a crackling sound in the cockpit that I hadn’t heard before. At first I thought it was my headset. Or perhaps my intercom. The taxiing aircraft passed and as I pulled off the exit ramp onto the taxiway behind it, taxing north back to the hangar, the crackling noise stopped.

An airplane that had been holding short of one-three departed so I slowed my taxi speed to watch it take off. The crackling started up again, so I stopped to try and find the cause. It was a rather loud constant crackling sound, sort of like a bad connection in stereo speakers, or how crinkling plastic wrap sounds. I took my headset off and the sound was all throughout the cockpit. It was hard to tell where the crackling sound was coming from. I turned the volume on both COMs down and made sure the cockpit speaker selections on the intercom were off for both COMs. It sounded like it was coming from everywhere. The panel, the doors, the dashboard, the windscreen. I put my ear to the panel, then the dashboard, and then the door panel. Still no idea what might be causing the mysterious crackling noise that was verberating throughout the cockpit.

I then continued to taxi further up the taxiway toward my hangar and the noise ceased. What the heck is going on? I slowed to a stop about at the on ramp to runway one-three. The crackling started up again. Was the noise coming from outside? It sounded like sleet hitting the windscreen, crackling with every impacting ice particle. And a bunch of them. But it’s a clear evening! Nothing is hitting the windscreen. I pressed my hands in several places on the wind screen and this seemed to effect the noise – subdue it perhaps – but not nearly stop it. I pulled my hands away from the windscreen and the noise then continued its normal level of crazy crackling. Hum?

I pushed the throttle in and revved the engine for a moment and the noise again ceased. I pulled back on the throttle and the engine settled to below 1000 rpms. The crackling noise started back again. I revved the engine again. Noise stopped. Backed off the throttle again. More crackling.

And then it hit me. This was perhaps the coldest day I had flown Betsy. The temperature was below 50 degrees and falling rapidly with the fading light. The windscreen had contracted with the cold air and was relatively loose in its mounting. The combination of typical engine and aircraft vibrations and prop wind at low rpm caused the windscreen to vibrate in its mount, thereby causing the mysterious crackling noise that reverberated throughout the cockpit. The crackling sound seemed to come from anywhere and everywhere because it was being created all about the perimeter of the windscreen, which is shape somewhat like a parabolic section – a megaphone – and was being amplified and transmitted throughout the cockpit.

And so there was something hitting the windscreen – wind! And with increased rpm of the prop, the resulting higher wind pressure against the windscreen stopped the vibrating – and the mysterious and crazy crackling noise. Case closed. I radioed to Columbia Downtown traffic and departed runway one-three, once again around the pattern, to enjoy the view of the sky and cityscape at dusk.

We had to go thru the north gate to get into the airport as the gate nearest the SAC was out of order. That was just fine since my hangar is up that way. Once at the hangar, I gave Betsy (N2878L) a good looking over and pulled her out onto the tarmac. Since Pam and I had this weekend to ourselves – kids gone to Dad’s – we decided to forego the YE flights and take a trip to Aiken to see my mom.

We hadn’t called her in advance to let her know, but decided to try and call her while in flight to give her enough time to meet us at the airport. To my surprise, Pam’s cell phone works well while in flight – mine does not. So Pam called my mom and told her that we were air borne and about twenty-five minutes from KAIK.

We had departed CUB about 10:30 a.m. and the air was really smooth to well beyond Pelion airport. Visibility was about six with a ceiling of around 2300 feet. About three-fourths the way there we hit some really bumpy air for a few minutes and then it smoothed out again.

The wind at Aiken favored runway two-five and I wanted to do a straight in final, but since there was traffic in the pattern doing touch and goes, we chose to fly a pattern entering upwind for two-five. We taxied to the ramp at the FBO and were greeted by a polite lineman who parked us right up front. The folks there have always been pleasant and courteous.

We sat in the FBO’s very nice pilots lounge while waiting for my mom to arrive. After about ten minutes, she pulled up and we greeted her out front on the sidewalk. We had planned to have lunch nearby, so she recommend a little “home cooking” buffet restaurant named Baynhams Family Restaurant, located on Highway 1 about a mile north of the airport entrance.

Baynhams Family Restaurant

My mom’s old car had a seating problem and she could not get but one of us in the car at a time, so she and Pam rode to the restaurant first and mom returned to the airport to get me. Something about not being able to put the backseats up (old mini-SUV) because the driver’s seat back would fall back. Oh well!

As mom and I pulled into the restaurant, there were several motorcycles lined up outside. I asked, “What kind of place is this?” Mom said, “I’ve never seen motorcycles here.” Well, Pam was already inside getting us a table, so I figured it couldn’t be that bad. Looks are deceiving and those folks were a group of guys and gals just enjoying a day like we were – and were not the Hell’s Angels I had expected to encounter.

Once we were inside and having coffee, the waitress, Mickie, offered good Southern hospitality, and we enjoyed a nice buffet. I think it was around $8.00 including a drink, and there was plenty of good food. But don’t ask for a “to go” box! Mickie told us that Thursday is their BBQ day. Perhaps we’ll have to take a trip over there one Thursday to try it.

Once we finished eating, we had to take the “one-passenger-at-a-time” rides back to the airport. Mom took Pam back first, so I hung around in the parking lot for a few minutes, wondering if the restaurant owners thought we might be crazy for how we had arrived and departed their premises. And to think I was worried about the “Hell’s Angels”!

We spent a while at the airport FBO letting our food digest and then headed back to Columbia. Mom said to make sure we called her as soon as we got back “on the ground” in Columbia. Pam promised to call her as soon as “we hit the ground.” I was thinking to myself that horse apples hit the ground, not planes. I told Pam that “hit the ground” is not the best choice of words, to call mom “as soon as we land.”

Departing AIK – On downwind for runway 25, looking East

Leaving AIK, the ceiling was 1800 feet with five miles visibility, but cleared right up about half way back to Columbia. The trip back was pretty bumpy and we were tasting lunch again. Lucky we had a good tailwind. It seems like no time at all before we were over Pelion Airport. Columbia Approach directed us straight to CUB, reminding me to contact them on 124.15, from that direction – not 133.40. Oops! But the ATC fellow was very nice about it.

I always go through a mental post-flight review to critique myself – what things need more attention and what went really well. This flight went very smoothly with the only negative thing being that I contacted Approach on the opposite approach channel. At least this time, when they told me to “squawk VFR and have a nice day,” I remembered to change the COM channel to 122.8 before trying to get an airport advisory from Columbia Downtown Unicom.