A Day In The Life

[Citationkid]

The plan was to fly GED-EVY-CHS-MKY and stay in MKY for the remainder of the week and weekend. The short hop from GED-EVY was to pick up my boss and the stop over in CHS was for gas.

I arrived at the hangar at 8am for my 9am departure only to find the tug was gone. After thirty minutes of running around (in steady rain) I was able to get the FBO to pull the plane from the back corner of the hangar. Another half hour later I got fueled up and was in the plane by 9:30 only to find Dover was not answering the RCO. With 600 overcast ceilings, a VFR departure was not in the works. What is that phone number for clearance again?

I finally got airborne only to find the green radar returns from this morning had developed quite a bit in the past two hours. A few diversions later I was inbound on the GPS35 into EVY where I broke out at 1000'. Luckily my passengers were late as well. I loaded 150lbs of baggage in pouring rain and recieved my nearly direct clearance to CHS.

As we began the climb very slowly to FL200 I realized that the temperatures were getting very close to freezing with no sign of the tops. I decided to stop at 14,000. About twenty minutes later it became very bright, like you would get a thousand feet or so below the tops of clouds. Wanting to be as high as possible when I got to the upcoming storms I asked for FL200 and started the climb. Sure enough, I started picking up light rime ice. Level at 200 it didn't seem like I was any where near the tops and the ice was starting to build quicker than I like. Back down to 14,000' we go. I ended up going 80 miles west of my route for a line of storms (so much for direct right?). At least the weather at CHS was 10 and clear.

As I checked in with CHS approach I found out the airport was no longer VFR and to expect the ILS 25. So much for 10 and clear...I broke out at 600 feet. I was starting to get pretty hungry, but we had reservations at a very nice Steak House in Marco, so we all decided to skip lunch in anticipation of a huge steak.

After fueling we hopped back into the plane and received an as filed clearance to Marco. Other than a line of storms near Orlando, this should be a great flight! Yeah right...At 400 we enter the clouds, and at 1000 a horrid metal on metal sounds starts getting very, very loud. I ask approach to return to the airport only to be told we will be number 5 for the ILS. I told him we could not accept that and needed to be number one, the next words out of his mouth were fuel, souls onboard, and nature of the emergency. We broke out at 400 and taxied by a few emergency response vehicles on our way back to Corporate Wings. Luckily the mechanics at Interstate Turbine are great and got us in right away. The problem turned out to be the right hand turbo scraping the housing making that metal on metal sound.

It was now 5:30 and I had not eaten since 7. All of the hotels nearby were filled because of the five conventions in town this weekend. The one we did get into had a courtesy van that took an hour and a half to get to the FBO. We then had a decent dinner in the hotels restaurant. It looks like my two passengers will be flying home tomorrow on the airlines while I wait for the plane to get fixed.

Even after all of the stuff that happened today I am still going to bed happy. I LOVE this job and would hate to trade it for a regional job, even if I do just fly a single engine prop. I never imagined I could enjoy a job so much and urge any one that is remotely interested to pursue a job in corporate aviation.

That's all,

Alex.

[aloft]

Nice post!

So your turbocharger ate itself? Which part specifically?

[ZapBrannigan]

You wrote, "I" a lot. Are you single pilot?

[Citationkid]

Nice post!

So your turbocharger ate itself? Which part specifically?

Thanks! My understanding is that the turbo shaft had a little play in it and the exhaust side turbine wheel started to grind the housing.

Originally Posted by ZapBrannigan

You wrote, "I" a lot. Are you single pilot?

Yes I am.

[PGA07]

Great post and I like the closing. While reading that here at my desk (while contemplating which route in life to take) I got the feeling that even though that may not have been a "FUN" day, it sure beats my normal day!

Where else will you be tested in all sorts of different environs. and have to make so many decisions! Really makes me want to do this even more (despite being pulled in two different directions)!

One thing is for certain, whether we fly single or multi piston, single or multi turbo-prop, or turbo-fan, it is something to be proud of. No matter what stage of this we are in, be proud of what you do. There are others wishing they were in your place.

[n57flyguy]

Wow! I was thinking yesterday...."I wonder if he'll be able to take off?" Everywhere in DE sucked yesterday morning and It seemed you got a day to be in the soup all day. Guess that is a day in the life! Nice post, I look forward to more.

[TFaudree_ERAU]

Dude, that sucks to hear you're stuck in CHS. How long are you going to be there? My girlfriend lives up there if you get stuck in a jam. I actually heard a Malibu going into MKY yesterday afternoon and was thinking it was you.

[darrenf]

Originally Posted by TFaudree_ERAU

Dude, that sucks to hear you're stuck in CHS. How long are you going to be there? My girlfriend lives up there if you get stuck in a jam. I actually heard a Malibu going into MKY yesterday afternoon and was thinking it was you.

Wow, offering up your GF. Man the brotherhood here at JC is STRONG!!

[TFaudree_ERAU]

Originally Posted by darrenf

Wow, offering up your GF. Man the brotherhood here at JC is STRONG!!

Uh, yeah, right. I tried to word that 47 different ways and it still didn't sound right.

[BrianNC]

I love these kinds of posts. Looking forward to some other experiences.

[aeroman2]

great write up, i hope to see more soon if possible!