On 01/26/06 08:52, three-eight-hotel wrote:
This, by no means is as exciting or interesting as some of the other
threads I have followed, but serves as a constant reminder to me, how
quickly things can change!

Wanting to get my plane down to Cameron Park before Feb 1. for an
annual, I determined that yesterday was probably my best opportunity
due to the stoms that have, now rolled in, and are supposed to hang
around for a few days.

I checked the METAR's, late morning/early afternoon, and the reports
and forecasts were P6SM, with areas of haze and a hint of MVFR (METAR's
seem to be amazingly accurate sometimes, don't they?). Cameron Park
being about a 10 minute hop from Georgetown, I figured I could get to
the plane, pop-up and make the call, always having the out to turn
around and land at Georgetown to try another day.

I took off out of Georgetown about 4:00, on what from the ground
appeared to be a slight haze. I popped up to 3,000 ft and was amazed
at how hazey it was towards the west. I stayed at 3,000, and always
had visual reference to the ground, although it was very hazey and I
really couldn't see much at a slant-distance. Having flown this dozens
of times, I knew right where I was going, but I didn't have favorite
landmark (Pilot hill) in sight. I always see this, as soon as I pop up
off of Georgetown. I continued on, always making sure I could see
down, and having the out to turn around as I mentioned before. (There
are a couple of private strips between the two airports that I always
like to have a visual on, when I'm in the area)

I got closer to Pilot hill and could finally make it out through the
haze and entered a 45 for left traffic 13. There was one other plane
departing the pattern, and I called 10, 5 and 3 miles out, so he knew
where I was and what my intentions were (I never heard from him, other
than is departure roll-out call).

I entered the pattern and had one of my nicer landings in a long time,
especially considering the lack of flying I have been doing recently.

I secured the plane, gave the mechanic my squawk list and went to the
parking lot, where my wife was waiting with my kids, and we went out
and grabbed a pizza.

Here's the kicker... We had a meeting to attend at my daughters
school, and had to eat our pizza pretty quickly to make it on time.
When we walked out of the pizza place, it was starting to get dark, but
more striking to me were the ominous clouds that were present.

Hiding behind the haze was a nasty bit of cloudiness that seemed to
have rolled in over the whole area. Had this not been a 10 minute
flight and had I not prepared for an out, this could have turned ugly,
quickly!

On the other hand, Todd, if you had been planning a flight that was longer
than the quick 10-minute hop, would you have continued once you popped-up
and saw the extent of the haze? It sounded to me like the only reason
you continued was because you knew you were just going next door.

There's a good article in AOPA's flight training magazine this month
about a fellow that got caught in some nasty weather/ice. It's worth
a read.

I remember one flight back to the home airport from a local practice
area. I climbed to 1,500', but the haze was getting thicker. It was
really difficult to tell where the haze stopped and the clouds began.
I estimated that at 1,500' I still had 3-5 miles visibility, but decided
to descent to 1,000' where I had P6SM (after all, it was only 5 minutes
to the airport).



Gotta get back to work, so that's it for now... I just thought, having
seen so many postings on weather changing quickly, that I would share
my observations on a VERY routine flight that could have been anything
but routine if it had been anything other than a quick hop from
Georgetown to Cameron Park.

Best Regards,
Todd



--
Mark Hansen, PP-ASEL, Instrument Airplane
Cal Aggie Flying Farmers
Sacramento, CA