EXCELLENT account!!! Sounds like you handled it like a 'seasoned pro',,
congratulations! Don't know much about the N.J. area but my wife grew up in
Rariton (sp?) and she told me that she remembers some 'interesting' weather
in your neck of the woods!

Take care and once again congrats on a job well-done!

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Good Flights!

Cecil
PP-ASEL
Student-IASEL

Check out my personal flying adventures from my first flight to the
checkride AND the continuing adventures beyond!
Complete with pictures and text at: www.bayareapilot.com

"I fly because it releases my mind from the tyranny of petty things."
- Antoine de Saint-Exupery -

"We who fly, do so for the love of flying. We are alive in the air with
this miracle that lies in our hands and beneath our feet"
- Cecil Day Lewis -
"David B. Cole" wrote in message
m...
Tuesday's forecast for my neck of NJ was for a high of 63, light rain,
and 1500 overcast. The perfect day to get some actual IMC. My
instructor and I had planned on going to Hartford, CT to fly the LDA
Rwy 2 approach. However, by the time I made it to the airport the
layers were mostly scattered to broken at about 1500-2000 feet, but we
decided to go anyway. The forecast winds aloft were out of the
southwest at approximately 30 knots at 6000. However, there was a
weak cold front predicted to move through later in the day. We filed
for 7000, preflighted, and were on our way. We passed through a
broken layer at about 1200 and soon were on top on our way to our
initial altitude of 6000.

Because we had GPS we were cleared direct to our first intersection,
Brezy. After Brezy we flew direct to the Carmel VOR and I decided to
switch back to VOR Nav at that point. While it was fairly smooth at
altitude, the winds were strong and variable enough to make any wind
correction valid for only a few seconds. I never had to make so many
corrections to keep the CDI from going fully deflected. Because of
the tailwind we had a groundspeed of close to 160 kts. By the time I
figured out the winds we were being given vectors for the LDA and were
told to descend from 7000 to 2500. After leveling at 2500, the bumps
started to really pick up, but it was nothing too scary. I flew the
LDA as I would a normal LOC and managed to keep the CDI fairly
centered despite the bumps. We passed through a few clouds on the way
down and leveled at the circling minimums. I spotted what I thought
to be the airport, but it turned out to be another airport that
happened to be closed, but which was very close by. My instructor
admitted that he once made the same mistake so I didn't feel too bad.
After finally acquiring the right airport we circled to Rwy 20 and
landed uneventfully.

We went inside the FBO, checked the weather, and I spent even more
money by purchasing a couple of books. One happened to be Bob
Gardner's "The Complete Advanced Pilot", which appears to be excellent
in the portion I've read. Anyway, the briefer told us that the front
had moved in faster than expected and that winds aloft would be 40 kts
at 4000 and as high as 50 kts in some locations.

On the departure we turned to the southwest and had a GS of 30 kts in
the climb! The only time I'd gone that slow was during my private
training where we actually had a headwind strong enough to push us
backwards while doing slow flight. It seemed like we were literally
standing still on the climb back to 6000. In cruise, max groundspeed
was about 80 kts and sometimes as low as 60 kts. We had plenty of
fuel so we weren't concerned about running out, at least not then.
But we kept our eyes on the fuel gauges and the clock. My instructor
wanted to see if the winds were better at 4000, so we asked for
permission to switch to Flight Watch on 122.0 and report back when
done.

The winds aloft at 4000 were only 2 kts lower than at 6000, so we
decided to stay where we were. We gave a PIREP and reported back to
the NY approach controller. I had never used Flight Watch or given a
PIREP before, so this was good experience. I also received my first
amended clearance, which was also interesting. And despite the slow
going, it was still fairly smooth at altitude. But that's where the
fun ended. Approximately 30 miles NW of the airport we were lowered
to 2500. It was from there on out that I experienced the worst
turbulence I had ever experienced in a small plane. My head hit the
ceiling at least four times. I kept the airspeed below Va as the
plane essentially did what it wanted. We rolled 25-30 degrees
uncommanded on several occasions and once the sudden movement of the
yoke nearly took my wrist with it.

This was the first time I could say that I was somewhat nervous in
turbulence. The bigger boys going into Newark were reporting moderate
turbulence and before switching to the tower my instructor reported
that we had severe turbulence. Yet he remained calm and somehow I
still managed to keep altitude to within 100 feet, with the exception
of a few excursions down 150 feet.

We were vectored for LOC Rwy 22 approach at CDW. I tuned and ID'ed
the localizer, but was so whipped that I forgot to set the OBS head
from GPS to Nav. When I finally figured this out, thanks to my
instructor, the needle was centered and I still had a 30 degree
intercept. To make a long story even longer, I eventually got on
course, although we were still getting smacked around fairly hard.
The surface winds were from 260 at 12 kts, so we circled to Rwy 27,
although I made the mistake of descending to the straight-in minimums.

Back on the ground, my instructor complimented me on a good landing as
we taxied back. We were just in time for his next student, with whom
he of course cancelled. He also told me that he could tell I was
fatigued and if that happened on a solo flight I had to recognize it
and possibly land somewhere else until I was ok to fly. He also told
me that if I needed to use the autopilot, meaning himself, that I
shouldn't be embarrassed to say so. So between the weather, flying a
LDA, contacting Flight Watch, and getting an amended clearance, it was
still a very good lesson. If you've made it this far, thanks for
listening.

Dave