{"id":140,"date":"2012-02-06T21:42:58","date_gmt":"2012-02-07T02:42:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.airdorrin.com\/?p=140"},"modified":"2012-11-13T09:26:17","modified_gmt":"2012-11-13T14:26:17","slug":"kvdf-33n-tampa-to-delaware-airpark-direct-feb-2nd-to-feb-5th","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.airdorrin.com\/?p=140","title":{"rendered":"KVDF-33N: Tampa To Delaware Airpark Direct – Feb 2nd to Feb 5th"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Harley shop didn’t open until 10am, so I filed for an 11am departure thinking we might not get off until noon. I took a look at the developing weather and decided that a straight shot would be better than including a stop over.<\/p>\n

\"Non-Stop<\/a>
Non-Stop over low weather<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

My reasoning is as follows:<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  • Late start and a layover gets me home in the dark.\u00a0 Darker is colder and colder is icier.<\/li>\n
  • Cold front is moving south into the Carolinas.<\/li>\n
  • IFR and Low IFR from Georgia up into Virginia.<\/li>\n
  • Thunderstorms were possible in the panhandle to the coast. I didn’t expect it though.<\/li>\n
  • Weather in the subsequent days will not be VFR and will ramp up the risks somewhat.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    What we experienced on the way home:<\/strong><\/p>\n

      \n
    • Temps on the ground at Florida were 23 C \/ falling to 15 C at 8000′<\/li>\n
    • VFR up to the Florida\/Georgia border<\/li>\n
    • Moving out over the ocean we stayed above a smooth stratus layer. The clouds looked like endless snow banks.<\/li>\n
    • Back over land, the tops rose to met us and brought on the bumps. I considered briefly a descent to get under the layer for a smoother ride, but waited it out. It paid off as we slid out the other side and were above the layer again.<\/li>\n
    • Now we were over the low IFR zone. I’d performed a low approach into Kingstons, NC only a few weeks before, so I didn’t see any issues getting in here if needed.<\/li>\n
    • Approaching Norfolk, the layer came up and over us again.<\/li>\n
    • I put Ted in charge of\u00a0 watching the windshield and wings for ice. That is what I have been expecting based on the forecast and how far north we’ve traveled.<\/li>\n
    • I was on the gauges and noticed ice on the windscreen; looked at the wings and saw it there too; then me and Ted did icing 101.<\/li>\n
    • Contacted ATC for a descent due to ice and it was granted right away. They asked me to let them know when the icing stopped; and that was 8000′ and now in solid IMC.<\/li>\n
    • Heading further north the temperature kept dropping. Down to 7C at this point and passing Melfa, Va.<\/li>\n
    • The XM Weather told me that Melfa and Wallops Island were at 3800 ovc and we slid out of the layer as the tops sloped down to 7000′ over Salisbury.<\/li>\n
    • Patuxent gave us a descent to 3000′ south of Salisbury. We descended into the deck and Ted called out ICE – we are learning now.<\/li>\n
    • I confirm more ice than the first time – but honestly not much at all. I already know I’ll be clear out the bottom, and pushed the nose over to 1000fpm as the ice continued to slowly accumulate. Temps dropped now to -1C and the ice more persistent.<\/li>\n
    • We pop into the clear underneath, and not long later slid out into VFR conditions and on into Georgetown.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      I left the airplane in Georgetown to have the new AI swapped out for a replacement unit that actually worked with the autopilot.\u00a0 I did benefit from 1.5 hours of hand flown IMC though, it was a good thing.<\/p>\n

      Ted and I drove my truck home, and all of the planning paid off handsomely.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      The Harley shop didn’t open until 10am, so I filed for an 11am departure thinking we might not get off until noon. I took a look at the developing weather and decided that a straight shot would be better than including a stop over. My reasoning is as follows: Late start and a layover gets […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"gallery","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-140","post","type-post","status-publish","format-gallery","hentry","category-home-page","post_format-post-format-gallery"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.airdorrin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.airdorrin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.airdorrin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.airdorrin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.airdorrin.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=140"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/www.airdorrin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":344,"href":"https:\/\/www.airdorrin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140\/revisions\/344"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.airdorrin.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=140"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.airdorrin.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=140"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.airdorrin.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=140"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}