Milestone

My first logbook reminds me that this journey began, in a sense, on 15 March 1994. On that date my CFI, Tom Lehn, decided that he may as well turn me loose on my own. After a couple of dual touch 'n' go's he had me do a full stop and got out of the Skyhawk. He told me to make three circuits and that on one of them the tower would call a go-around. To that point I'd logged 18.1 hours of dual instruction.

That first solo flight in N6583D, a somewhat weary '79 172N, came off un-remarkably. After the third landing I taxied '83D to it's parking spot and shut down. When I got out, Tom came over, shook my hand and said, "Frank, you're a pilot now!"

He meant that sincerely, but I had trouble accepting it. It would be a while before I began to believe that I'd earned my place at the controls.

Now, time has flown in its usual manner. At 0.4 hour after departing KHEF this morning my log clicked past the 1,000 hours Pilot-in-Command mark. Sixteen years (plus 29 days) after that initial solo, I can use four digits to record my PIC time.

What can I say about these 1,000 hours? Well, I think they've been reasonably diverse. I've seen quite a few airports, poked my nose into a fairly broad range of weather conditions, and had a nice mix of short and long distance trips. I think that about 400 hours ago I really started to "feel" the airplane. I am really sure that the sum of what I've not yet learned far exceeds the small store of knowledge and experience that I've acquired. Every flight remains a learning experience. It's a rare occasion when, looking back at a flight, I can't find things that I surely could've done a lot better. It's said that the Pilot's Certificate is a license to learn, and that never changes.

Mostly, after 1,000 hours, I'm grateful. Grateful for having had the chance to bring my childhood dreams to life and grateful to the mentors and instructors who made it happen. Among them, Tom Lehn, Ray Noble, Bob Parks, Greg Erianne, Rich and Field Morey - each an essential partner on my journey. My gratitude to each of them is unbounded.

And, hey, I'm half-way to 2,000 hours!

A Little Ice & A Lot of Wind

The flight last evening from KBDR down to KVKX was, shall we say, interesting. In more ways than one. The cold front, with associated precipitation, had come through Bridgeport overnight but the forecasts insisted that by late afternoon the rain would end and cloud cover would be going from broken to scattered. Well, that didn't exactly happen.

I'm thoroughly trained, so I filed for my usual route.[1] On departure at 2045Z in light rain, KBDR was reporting scattered clouds at 4,200 and a broken ceiling at 8,000. I knew I was going to find the freezing level at around 6,000 feet. New York Approach cleared me to 6,000 and gave me a heading of 290 in the direction of SAX. (You can see the initial track on the plot from FlightAware.com above. Click to enlarge.) As expected, the Outside Air Temperature (OAT) instrument indicated 32F. In a few miles, the ceiling came down to meet me and it was time to make myself unpopular with the controller.

I know the drill. The controller handling the White Plains sector needs to get me above the KEWR arrivals so I'll get "climb and maintain 7,000" and then, usually crossing the Hudson, "climb and maintain 8,000". But the ceiling looked thick and dark and gave every indication that if I poked N631S's nose in there I'd be thoroughly iced up in short order. So I told Approach, "Skylane 631 Sierra is in IMC at the freezing level. I will be unable to accept any higher altitude."

That got a reaction. The controller said, "Cessna 31S, 6,000 is just not going to work. We'll have to reroute you up over Huguenot and V162 at 4,000." That would be a pretty extensive loop to the north and would add about a half hour to my trip, but it sure beat picking up ice. I said, "That'll be fine, 31 Sierra."

Then the controller demonstrated why controllers are wonderful, by asking, "31 Sierra, are you going to be OK there at 6,000 for a few miles while we work this out?" I love these people. I replied, "31 Sierra is doing fine at 6,000." Of course, within a minute the OAT dropped to 30F and I began to pick up a bit of light rime ice on the strut and wheel fairing.

My best friend the controller soon came back to me and said, "Cessna 31 Sierra, y'know what, we're going to send you direct to JFK and then down V16 all at 6,000 feet, does that sound OK?"

I could see breaks in the clouds to the south and the ice was not accumulating so I replied affirmatively and heard, "31 Sierra, cleared direct JFK, maintain 6,000 and the next controller will have your full route." I entered JFK into the GPS-530W and turned to the south, soon to find myself just below the ceiling (see photo above). As the controller handed me off to JFK I said, "120.7 for Skylane 631 Sierra. Thanks very much for your help today." He replied, "No problem; I've been there myself."

Heading down toward JFK I noted that N631S was getting about 5 or 6 fewer knots of true airspeed than normal for the throttle, prop and fuel flow setting I was using. The small amount of ice I'd picked up was having an affect on performance.

I leaned forward and looked at the left wing. There was a narrow line of rime, perhaps 1/2 inch wide and 1/4 inch thick just below the leading edge, along the stagnation line where the incident airflow divides to pass above and below the airfoil. Kind of neat! And there was a small amount of rime on the struts (click to enlarge) and the gear fairings as well. Not hazardous, not getting worse, but something to get rid of at an early opportunity.

So when I was handed off by New York I checked in with "McGuire Approach, Skylane 631 Sierra, level 6,000, requesting 4,000 when and if you can." I was advised to expect 4,000 in a couple of miles and so it came to pass. At 4,000 feet the OAT was 41F and all of the rime disappeared in about a minute.

McGuire handed me off to Atlantic City Approach who, in their turn, turned me over to Dover. I knew that the forecast had called for breezy conditions in the DC area so I thought to check the METAR's for Andrews and Washington National.[2]

Here's what the XM Weather system had to say:
KADW 092155Z AUTO 32023G30KT 10SM CLR 12/M02 A2990 RMK AO2 PK WND 32030/2152 SLP129 P0008 T01161016 $
KDCA 092152Z 32013G29KT 10SM SCT060 12/M03 A2992 RMK AO2 PK WND 30033/2135 SLP133 T01221033

Well, clearly the flight was not through being interesting. The wind at Andrews would be almost a direct crosswind for the 6/24 runway orientation at VKX. And I'm not at all sure that either N631S or I can handle 23 knots of crosswind.[3]

If there was any consolation, it lay in the fact that the wind on the ground at KVKX is nearly always less than is current at either KADW or KDCA. My little airport is in a valley and surrounded by trees, and the terrain and forestation act to shield the runway environment from the worst of the wind. I'd need to press on until I could pick up the automated on-field weather information from the local traffic frequency (CTAF).

About 10 miles out I checked the weather - by switching to the CTAF and clicking the microphone three times. This triggers an automated weather statement and it reported "Winds Variable 270 to 050 at 12; caution, crosswind; caution, wind shear." Well, that was less bad. The wind was swirling around like a confused squirrel but at the surface it was just 12 knots.

I calculated that the wind would sort of favor Runway 6 and set up for a straight in approach. At about 1,000 feet I was holding a 45 degree crab angle to stay on the extended runway centerline. At about 250 feet the swirling ground effect tossed N631S about quite a bit - keeping on a path toward the runway and ensuring that the airspeed stayed somewhere near 75 knots was a bit challenging.

As we dropped below the tree line (about 100 feet AGL), the handling got a little less sporty. I put in the last notch of flaps and flared just a bit. As the left main gear touched the runway the ground speed must have been about 45 knots and so the rollout was short. I made my usual turnoff, stopped on the taxiway and took a deep breath. It was 2305Z, and it was good to be home.

---

[1]As regular visitors here already know, that means radar vectors west to Sparta, NJ, thence airways south to Solberg, NJ, west to East Texas in PA, south to Lancaster, PA, southeast to Baltimore and then direct to Potomac Airfield. It reads: SAX V249 SBJ V30 ETX V39 LRP V93 BAL and that is what the ATC computer will give me regardless of what route I request.(back)
[2]KVKX doesn't issue a METAR but Andrews (KADW) is about 4.5 miles away and National (KDCA) about 6. So while enroute, those two give a reasonable idea of what's going on around home plate.(back)
[3]N631S's Pilot's Operating Handbook (POH) says that the Maximum Demonstrated Crosswind for landing is 15 knots. Now, that is not a Limitation, and I believe I have managed about 17 knots of crosswind - but that pretty much used up all of the rudder and more than 20 knots of crosswind would be good cause for a diversion to a better oriented runway.(back)

Trapped in Security Theater

Operating N631S from Potomac Airfield (KVKX) has proven for over a year to be convenient and trouble free...'til now. I should have known that sooner or later the Security Theater people would find a way to disrupt the lives of we law-abiding denizens of the 'Maryland 3 airports'. Their opportunity arrives in the form of the Nuclear Security Summit.

Presidents, heads-of-state and high factotums will converge on Washington, DC next Monday and Tuesday for discussions aimed at keeping us safe(r) from loose nukes and such threats. It would appear that this has led to the DC Convention Center being considered a Target Rich Environment and so, of course, Something Must Be Done. Actually, several "Somethings" including road closures, Metrorail station closures and NOTAM 0/3400.

The NOTAM establishes a Temporary Flight Restriction (TFR) that provides, among other things:

"D. Effective 1004121200 UTC (0800 local 04/12/10) until 1004140200 UTC (2200 local 04/13/10) all flight operations within the dc FRZ [i.e., the inner red ring, above] are prohibited unless specifically provided below;
...
5. The provisions of FDC NOTAM 9/4399 and 14 CFR part 93, pertaining to the Maryland 3 airports known as Washington executive airport/hyde field (KW32), Potomac airfield (KVKX) [N.B.: That's me!] and college park airport (KCGS), are temporarily suspended. Aircraft operations are not authorized at these airports."

Normally, N631S and I make the trip from KVKX north to KBDR on Monday morning but this week there are personal obligations keeping me in the DC area until Tuesday morning. Thus, the TFR complicates my life considerably. But, there is a work-around:

"C. Effective 1004121200 UTC (0800 local 04/12/10) until 1004140200 UTC (2200 local 04/13/10) daily 1200-0200 utc (0800-2200 local), all flight operations within the DC SFRA are prohibited unless specifically provided below;
...
2. General aviation aircraft on an active IFR flight plan may arrive and/or depart the following airports only: a) Dulles international airport (KIAD) b) Baltimore Washington international airport (BWI) c) Manassas Regional/Davis airport (HEF) (only when tower is operational)"

I've checked...the tower at Manassas (KHEF) opens for business at 0630 local time. So here's my plan: Fly into KVKX Friday evening in the usual way. Arrange for a ride back there on Sunday afternoon and fly over to KHEF. Rent a car and drive home, take care of business on Monday, and head back to Manassas at the crack of dawn on Tuesday to return the rental and fly north. That ought to work, at the cost of two day's auto rental and some lost sleep.

Here's my question: Why can't they convene their Summit in, maybe Sparks, NV? Or Whitefish, MT? Hey, I hear that Ulan Bator is lovely this time of year.

Every Flight a Learning Experience

Even on the most uneventful of flights, you learn things if you pay attention. Last evening's trip from KBDR to KVKX was totally routine. Light winds, severe clear, couldn't find a cloud if you wanted. Just boring a hole in the sky.

The KEWR west arrivals sector gave me direct SBJ then direct LANNA (thank you very much) and soon switched me to Allentown Approach. Upon checking in with Allentown I decided to try something and said, "Allentown Approach, Skylane 631 Sierra, level 8,000, direct LANNA, and happy to take direct FLOAT whenever that works for you."

The immediate response was, "Skylane 631 Sierra, Allentown altimeter 30.13, cleared direct FLOAT, join Victor 39, resume own navigation."

Neat! Lesson learned: On check-in, ask for what you'd like to have. You may very well get it!

A Nice Day to Fly

With the Annual Inspection completed and last evening's half-hour flight check in the logbook, it's a perfect day for the flight back to the DC area. A look at the 1745Z satellite image (from Aviation Weather Center) reveals not a single weather feature between Connecticut and home:

The computer at FltPlan.com is suggesting that I should expect about 2 hours + 15 minutes en route.

That leaves me thinking about Monday morning and the trip back. At left, the current forecast map for Monday,courtesy of NOAA. It looks good, with high pressure dominating.

It's still early enough in the season to be thinking about the freezing level, so here at left (again, from Aviation Weather Center) the forecast 800mb pressure level temperature chart for Monday at 12Z. The zero degree isotherm is expected to be comfortably to the north.

So it should be not just a good day to fly today, but a good weekend to fly.

2010 Annual Inspection (vi)

We're in the home stretch. This morning, N631S is in the process of being closed up. The new forward engine mounts have been installed and most of the other minor work package items have been completed. I'm told that I may even get the logs back with finished entries covering the work.

I'll go back to KBDR after work today, put a few necessary items back in the airplane and go for a brief flight to verify that everything works "ops normal." That should get N631S and I all set for a flight back down to the DC area tomorrow afternoon.

As usual, I'm very happy with the work done by Mike, Tony, Skip and their colleagues at Three Wing Flying Services. These folks are real professionals.

2010 Annual Inspection (v)

The "Inspection" part of N631S's "Annual Maintenance Availability" is finished. I'm pleased by the small number of issues and discrepancies found after a year when the airplane flew far more than it's been used to in recent years.

The new Lord engine mounts have arrived from Cessna. The photo at left shows the old front right mount as installed. While you can't really see them in the photo, the rubber elements have narrow but fairly deep circumferential cracks.

Mike the IA wants to get the new mounts installed today, and then to get started closing out areas where no further work will be needed. I'm still optimistic that N631S will be ready for return to service by close-of-business tomorrow.

2010 Annual Inspection (iv)

We appear to be in the home stretch. I stopped at the airport this morning to drop off the Brackett air filter hardware (it turns out that Three Wing stocks the filter elements) and to check with Mike the IA on the status of the inspection. The only area yet to be looked at is the nose gear.

Mike discovered an area under the rear window that appears to be leaking and so we'll re-seal as needed. There are a few other fairly minor airframe items to attend to, but in total N631S is in fine shape for a mature airplane.

The replacement engine mount assemblies were expected to arrive today. It's looking good for getting everything done by the end of Thursday. That's great, as it will allow me to do a post-maintenance test flight after work on Thursday prior to heading back down to the DC area on Friday afternoon.

2010 Annual Inspection (iii)

Just before heading for the train station yesterday I got an update from Skip, the Director of Maintenance at Three Wing. He wanted me to know that Mike the IA's effort to pressure lubricate N631S's propeller control cable had been successful, so the cable will not need to be replaced. I figure that to be about $650 worth of good news!

Skip also said that he agreed with Mike's assessment of the forward engine mounts - the old ones have got to go. I anticipated that and told him to order the parts. The parts in question are Lord J-6545-1's and Aircraft Spruce will be happy to sell them to you for $98.50 a pop. Lord Corporation is, of course, the premier name in vibration isolation technology. If you are looking for a little light reading they offer a nice white paper on Aircraft Engine Attachment and Vibration Control

Then he asked, since we were going to install a new air filter, did I want the OEM-style pleated paper filter or the Brackett foam-core filter. And that's an interesting question.

The original filter element included in N631S's design is Cessna part C-294510-0901. The OEM part was manufactured by the Donaldson Company - an old and respected name in air filtration. It's a pleated paper filter that requires replacement every 500 hours. The one that was on N631S's nose had about 420 hours on it but it has clearly deteriorated to the point of dysfunction. Aircraft Spruce offers them for $142.50.

In May of 1992, N631S's original equipment filter was removed and a Brackett Air Filter (Assembly P/N BA 8110) was installed under the authority of an STC. The modification was memorialized on a Form 337. Then at some later unknown time and place the Brackett filter was removed and a Donaldson pleated paper filter was reinstalled. However, the STC that covered the Brackett filter installation was not reversed - so it turns out that I've been flying an airplane for five years that's a teensy bit illegal. We're going to fix that now.

Unlike the pleated-paper filter, the Brackett assembly uses an oiled polyurethane foam core to entrap foreign matter from the induction air stream. The element is replaced annually (or at 200 hours service) and costs about $15.00. As nearly as I can tell either filter type will provide good filtration. If anything, the foam filter may be a bit more effective in dusty environments, but the paper filter may "breathe" a little better. The differences would seem slight and marginal.

The Brackett filter hardware was in the small collection of peripheral stuff that came along with the airplane. So I told Skip we would go with the Brackett filter. All that he should need to do is order a foam element and N631S will once again conform to its paper profile.

2010 Annual Inspection (ii)

There isn't much to report from this morning's visit to N631S's annual-in-progress. The inspection is, I'd estimate, 75% complete with not many squawks uncovered. Mike the IA plans to try addressing the one I knew about, the sticky propeller control cable, later today.

The plan is to "pressure lubricate" the cable by attaching a fitting, pouring lubricant in the end, and then connecting an air hose while working the cable core in and out. If that doesn't produce the desired result then the cable will need to be replaced. Of course, of all of the engine control cables (throttle, prop, mixture) this is the expensive one at about $400 (plus about $200 labor to install a new one).

The forward engine mounts (think "rubber doughnuts") are deteriorated and will have to be replaced. That will involve supporting the front end of the engine with an engine hoist, disassembling the mounting hardware, and replacing the rubber elements. The rubber parts shouldn't be very costly but the labor will run $250 to $350.

Finally, the inlet air filter element has filtered its last, and needs replacing. The rest is "odds and ends", which will certainly add up but are not individually daunting.

I've asked Mike and Skip to call me if they find anything scary as Mike completes the inspection. The target remains to get N631S back and flying next Friday.

2010 Annual Inspection (i)

The ritual of the Annual Inspection has begun at Three Wing Flying Services. Yesterday I removed all of the "loose items" (like headsets, the Garmin GPSmap 396, publications, tools, etc.) from N631S and Mike the IA started getting into the airplane.

There hasn't been too much progress yet. When Mike checked the compressions there was one weak cylinder. Initially, #2 showed 38 psi (on a day when Continental's service guidance said that 48 psi was the minimum). However, when the prop was pulled through a couple of times and the cylinder rechecked, it came up to 54 psi which is acceptable. The other five cylinders have comfortably high compression levels.

Of course, Mike will inspect all of the cylinders visually with a borescope and we'll hear soon enough if there are any issues.

The spark plugs looked good. There was a fair amount of lead fouling of the lower plugs - not too unusual - but that's why I run fine-wire plugs in the lower positions. They all look like they'll clean up nicely.

There's a bunch more Inspecting happening today, and I shall be visiting N631S again early tomorrow morning for more news. And, of course, AmTrak will have the pleasure of my company this week.

Better Late Than Never

N631S finally got to the intended destination last evening - parked in front of Three Wing Flying Services' maintenance hangar - about 36 hours late (due to Monday's diversion as a result of fog).

I got back to KBDL with the rented auto at about 2230Z, pre-flighted in the rain, picked up my clearance and launched a few minutes past 23Z. On departure the METAR at KBDL was:

KBDL 232307Z 32003KT 6SM -RA BR FEW008 OVC017 07/06 A2944 RMK AO2 P0001

In minutes N631S and I were in the clag, not to see anything other than gray in the windscreen until about 3/4 mile final.

In a few minutes more, Bradley Approach abrogated my already brief routing with "Skylane 31 Sierra, cleared direct Bridgeport." Then a short while later, "31 Sierra, contact New York Approach on 124.07." I was ready for that.

Me: "New York Approach, Skylane 631 Sierra, level at 4,000, ATIS Kilo at Bridgeport, requesting the RNAV 29 approach."

Approach: "Skylane 631 Sierra, Bridgeport altimeter 29.46, expect vectors for the RNAV 29 approach."

Me: "New York, 31 Sierra, if you can just clear us to New Haven for that transition we can take the approach from there."

Approach: "31 Sierra, cleared direct New Haven, maintain 4,000."

While it's always been nice to get vectors-to-final for an approach from the controller, I've come to the conclusion that the RNAV approaches, when flown with the aid of a WAAS-enabled GPS like the Garmin GNS-530W, are easier when you get the full procedure as published. The machine just knows what to do.

The METAR at Bridgeport was:

KBDR 232318Z 23005KT 5SM -RA BR SCT008 BKN014 OVC050 07/06 A2946 RMK AO2 P0002

...and a few minutes later when I dropped out of the overcast at about 1,000 feet, there was Runway 29 exactly where it belonged. N631S was shut down and secured by about 2345Z.

Diverted by Fog

When I got up yesterday morning and checked the weather for my flight from KVKX up to Connecticut, everything looked good - except for the fact that Bridgeport was reporting dense fog. The METAR at the time was:

KBDR 221052Z 05007KT 1/4SM FG VV001 07/07 A3003 RMK AO2 SLP168 T00720067

But fog usually dissipates. The TAF was predicting better weather from about 15Z onward and nearby Waterbury-Oxford (KOXC) was looking reasonable, so off I went.

The departure from Maryland and the flight up over New Jersey were quick and uneventful. But on arrival in the Bridgeport area, things were not at all improved:

KBDR 221352Z 07007KT 1/4SM FG VV001 08/08 A3004 RMK AO2 SLP173 T00830078

That's a quarter-mile visibility in fog, with a variable ceiling at 100 feet. Well, not likely to land there. I shot the ILS 6 approach for practice and went to the missed approach holding point to wait for a while.

It was nice to watch the WAAS-enabled Garmin GNS-530 driving the autopilot around the holding pattern for multiple laps. While it was so engaged I had a talk with Flight Watch. Bridgeport was fogged in, as were Oxford, Danbury, New Haven and White Plains. The nearest reasonable weather was at Stewart Field (KSWF) in New York and at Bradley International (KBDL) north of Hartford.

After 40 minutes in the hold I asked KBDR tower if they saw any hint of improvement and got a succinct "Negative." So I got back on with Approach and asked for a clearance to KBDL. They obliged with "Cleared present position to Bradley Airport via direct, climb and maintain 4,000 feet." And off I went.

Bradley had their ILS 6 on offer and asked me to keep my speed up (which I did). N631S and I broke out at about 900 feet, landed, and taxied to the TAC-Air FBO to wait some more. But it soon became clear that KBDR was not going to get better for a long time (and, in fact, did not lift to ILS minimums until after midnight). I rented a car and drove to Bridgeport...and tonight or tomorrow night I'll drive back up there to retrieve N631S.

As one of the other diverted pilots at Bradley said to me yesterday, "Well, that's aviation."

Rainy Days and Mondays

This is probably a good time to look ahead at the conditions forecast for tomorrow morning's flight from KVKX up to Bridgeport. There is weather on the way, in the form (see left) of a fairly large and vigorous low pressure system currently making things wet in Tennessee and Alabama.

Here's the big picture, the forecast of fronts and precipitation for 12Z tomorrow morning from the NWS Hydrometeorological Prediction Center. This is about the time I plan to get off.

It's worth noting that the chart suggests convective activity deep within the precipitation area, but the conditions for the DC area look to be pretty benign.

As always at this time of year, the key question is, "Where's the freezing level?" The map below, from the Aviation Weather Center site, shows the 5C isotherm right over DC at the 800mb pressure level. That corresponds to 6,000 feet MSL. This map suggests that temperatures at 5,000 feet MSL along the route up to KBDR should be comfortably above freezing.

This is important enough to crosscheck with another source. The nice folks at Wunderground have a freezing level chart for 12Z tomorrow (see left) that also gives confidence that icing won't be an issue. For most of the route it looks like the freezing level will be at 8,000 to 9,000 feet MSL.

The Terminal Area Forecasts (TAF's) say that there will be some weather, but nothing too nasty. For departure, I look at both National (KDCA) and Andrews AFB (KADW):

KDCA 211732Z 2118/2218 16009KT P6SM SCT120 BKN250
FM211900 19011G16KT P6SM SCT140 SCT200
FM212300 17007KT P6SM SCT120 BKN150
FM220400 14004KT 6SM BR VCSH FEW015 SCT025 OVC070
FM220700 12004KT 5SM -RA BR SCT008 BKN015 OVC025
FM221100 12008KT 2SM RA BR SCT004 BKN006 OVC009
FM221600 12011G17KT 3SM -RA BR FEW003 BKN008 OVC011

KADW 2118/2217 20012G18KT 9999 SCT100 QNH2995INS
BECMG 2123/2124 17009KT 9999 BKN100 OVC220 QNH2986INS
BECMG 2208/2209 14009KT 6000 -RA SCT010 OVC025 WSCONDS 650905 QNH2975INS
TEMPO 2213/2217 14012G18KT 3200 RA BR OVC009 T25/2120Z T11/2210Z


So for a 12Z departure, National is expecting 2 mile visibility in rain and mist with scattered clouds at 400 feet AGL and a broken ceiling at 600, winds from the southeast at 8 knots. Andrews is looking for a mile in light rain, scattered deck at 1,000 feet, overcast at 2,200 feet and southeasterly winds at 9 knots.

The TAF for Andrews does contain "WSCONDS", meaning "Wind Shear Conditions" - there will be some strong winds aloft. As the map at left from Aviation Weather Center indicates, the cyclonic winds wrapped around the low at about 6,000 feet will be bumping 50 knots over the South Carolina coast, and will be 20 to 25 knots along my route of flight. As a tailwind!

The TAF for Bridgeport (KBDR) looks fine:

KBDR 211925Z 2119/2218 09010KT P6SM FEW150 SCT250
FM212100 13011KT P6SM BKN150
FM220100 10004KT P6SM SCT050 BKN150
FM220900 13004KT 4SM BR BKN025 OVC100
FM221200 11006KT 4SM BR BKN015 OVC025
TEMPO 2212/2216 3SM -RA BKN010

On arrival at about 14Z I should find 4 miles visibility in mist and a broken ceiling at 1,500 feet with wind from the east at just 6 knots. The ILS for runway 6 will probably be on offer.

At this point, FltPlan.com is telling me to anticipate 1 hour + 44 minutes en route. A quick trip!

Uneventful

Tonight's flight from Sikorsky Memorial Airport in Stratford, CT (KBDR) to Potomac Airfield in Friendly, MD (KVKX) can best be described as uneventful. N631S performed perfectly, the weather was benign, and ATC did the usual splendid job.

Here, courtesy of the nice folks at FlightAware.com, is the track of the 2 hour + 18 minute (wheels-up to wheels-down) flight:

And now we get to look ahead to Monday. At present (Friday night) the forecasted conditions for a 12Z departure from KVKX are not bad at all, and the freezing level looks like it will be above 5,000 geet MSL for the route. The only thing that bears watching is a forecast of fog and limited visibility in Connecticut for that time. Right now, I'm expecting to fly.