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1. 08:50 PM - Accidental IFR!!!! (Stein Bruch)
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"Rv6-List" <rv6-list@matronics.com>, "Rv7-List" <rv7-list@matronics.com>
| Subject: | Accidental IFR!!!! |
--> RV6-List message posted by: "Stein Bruch" <stein@steinair.com>
Hi All,
Slightly off-topic, but VERY pertinent none the less.
Today a friend and I had the day off so we decided to fly from Minneapolis
to Milwaukee to see some old buds at the Citabria factory. Weather online
looked good...checked METARS,TAFS,RADAR,SATELLITE, etc.. Forecast was
great...so....
We took off around 10:00 am for an expected 1.5 hour flight to Milwaukee.
Great flight, 205mph over the ground and arrived at the Citabria factory's
airport ahead of schedule to some hefty crosswinds, but nothing else.
Stayed there until about 2:00pm then went outside to head home. Here starts
my flight from hell.
There was an overcast layer about 3500', but clear below and the forecasts
looked OK, so off we went for MSP. Winds had picked up to 18G22 directly
across the runway, but not a huge deal since the wind at home was only
8-12KT. Flew for about .5 hour and started running into some haze and the
clouds were getting lower. We pressed on, but had decided to turn back if
it didn't get better. Well, it didn't and about 5 minutes later the clouds
dropped all the way to the ground and into a wall of
fog/haze/clouds/overcast we went:( Made an immediate 180 to go back, but
the weather suddenly had dropped all over the place. SOLID IFR/IMC and 0/0
visibility! Heading back didn't help. Called flight watch and found out
the layer was only about 2000' thick and VFR on top. Since these planes
just love to climb, we immediately went up above. Beautiful sun over the
clouds and away towards Minneapolis we go! Fly back to the flight plan that
was plugged into my SkyforceIIIc and proceeded to fly towards home when
about 5 minutes later the GPS lost all satellite signals and I got a "no fix
possible" warning. GREAT, no ground to look at and no GPS. We were
originally just going to follow the good old Mississippi river home, but no
good above a solid cloud deck.
All this while flying against a 35Kt Cross/Headwind that made flying
straight & level miserable, terribly bumpy (+4/-2G), and overall NO FUN.
I had to revert to flying with the VOR---GOD I'm glad I put that thing in my
panel! Pulled out the sectional, found some VOR's and got back on track
towards home. Called flight watch and found out the clouds were breaking
near Minneapolis so everything was pretty smooth from there. About 20 miles
south of MSP the clouds broke and we arrived safely, albeit a bit tired,
stressed, and somewhat rattled.
Anyway, my whole point is that I've become some dependent on my GPS and it's
flight plans that I've rarely had occasion to use my charts and VOR. Just
thought I'd pass on a reminder to everyone that it definately pays to keep a
sectional handy. Additionally, if you have a VOR, it pays to keep at least
somewhat current! Oh, one last thing...flying IFR/IMC "accidently" is NO
FUN and definately NOT SAFE when you're not prepared.
Well, happy flying and CLEAR SKIES!
Cheers,
Stein Bruch
RV6, Minneapolis
Do Not Archive.
P.S. I looked at the weather when I got home, and it looked much better than
it actually was. Lesson Learned.
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