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How Quickly Things Can Turn!
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! 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 |
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