A VFR

cross-country
adventure

By Ricardo Seiti Yoshimura

www.makestraightin.com

It was a beautiful sunny day in the early morning in Stuart. The forecast

to Brunswick looked good, although the current weather nearby

Jacksonville showed up some showers. After all, the forecast was
expected to be safe enough to fly by the time I reach there.

I decided to fly solo through Stuart Brunswick Jacksonville Stuart in

order to comply with the 300NM cross-country requirement for the

commercial pilot. Surprisingly, by the time I arrived in the airport, I met

my friend Nathan that was going to do the same flight to Brunswick in a

Skyhawk. Me, I was going to fly my old buddy Cessna 152. 255 NM, an
estimation of 17 gallons of fuel from the 24 usable, yelp, fair enough. If I

tell you, I arrived there with less than 5 gallons remaining Please keep
reading, the adventure is about to begin!

I was missing N6294M. After flying my previous flights with a certified

instrument airplane, I returned to my partner 152 which I practiced so

much during my private pilot course. But it was kinda different As I set

the strobes on, what was that? Oh my, every flash was a damm noisy

spike to my ears I can sing a melody in flight if I follow this handy

metronome.

Yes, as I reached cruise altitude at 4500 feet, everything was perfect.

The air flow was smooth, the ocean was sparkling the sun rise, the

clouds were very, very far away. As I crossed Melbourne, I could see
NASA runway for the space shuttle. Wow, fascinating!!!

Clouds A fluffy maze wall

I was once in front of a medium size cloud, and I need to say they are

very tricky. From my perspective, I thought that, if I descend, I would just

cross underneath of it, so thats what I requested to ATC. Bad luck, as I

descended I put the airplane straight ahead of that fluffy thing. If I had

maintained the altitude, I would have crossed from the above. Very
elusive!

As I approached Daytona, a big wall of clouds appeared in front of me.

Ok Mr. Master of Disguise, this time I wont fall into other of your tricks. I
will just maintain my altitude and I will cross right above of you. Hum

Those clouds were approaching, and approaching Getting bigger,

bigger Holly crap, thats more complex than I imagined. When I
realized, I couldnt move forward neither westbound nor upwards to

maintain VFR. Moreover, when I listened to the radio, there was a

Skyhawk on the same altitude pretty close to me from the eastbound.

Hey, I guess thats my friend Nathan! Well pal, between facing the

mother nature and make a ball of twine entanglement, I chose the cats
play to get out of this snooker. As I requested ATC to turn eastbound, he

started to move one airplane after another to different directions, in order

to avoid a collision with C-152 fellow. 94M, turn right heading 120

immediately. Gee, the cats play appeared to be turned into a dogfight,

as I promptly took the response action. And wed better pay close

attention to it, because moments ago I saw an airplane (I guess it was a

Cirrus) blowing out one of those clouds and crossing in the opposite
direction of me like a bullet.

After Daytona, I reached Jacksonville. Huge city, lots of tall buildings,

bridges from all styles. Ill be there in a few moments, I thought to myself.
The air traffic jam was gone, but the cotton invited ones remained, and
more guests were coming up. In fact, they showed up so crowded and

they were developing so massively upwards that it was clear that I

couldnt stay in that way.

I heard on the radio someone requesting to maintain in 2000 feet, so I

proceeded like this. Well, I needed to do some serious sewing work in

order to descend and attain that altitude. At that time, I was diverting
northwest and then I was thinking about fuel consumption and the

forecast on my destination. There were very few options if I wouldnt land

in Brunswick and I needed to take a decision. Since I had only one radio

on board, I switched to Gainesville radio and asked the weather

information in Brunswick to the FSS. As they reported showers in the
vicinity and a VFR broken ceiling, I decided to continue (gee, days after

my journey I asked to John G. and he said that the correct procedure

was to request ATC to momentarily stay out of his/her frequency). Alright

then, 1800 feet to maintain VFR, covered by a gray sky, enough fuel to
the destination. Well, at least to the assumed destination I took a look
in the sectional chart to avoid a 1500 feet antenna that was straight
ahead of me. Yep, pretty close.

First destination Brunswick Golden Isle

I heard in the radio a pilot requesting weather information to ATC
northbound of Jacksonville. At this point I took a look in McKinnon

airport, about 7NM southeast of Brunswick Golden Isles airport, and it

was fully covered by rain. In fact I was unable to see the runway. As I

provided the PIREP to ATC, he cleared me for the visual approach in

Brunswick Golden Isles airport. I my goodness, almost there. As I

crossed the runway and started the turn over descent to enter on the
downwind, I could take a glance far ahead from where I came from. The

big picture of my adventure: the joyfulness to divert through canyons of

cotton and maintain a safe VFR flight (with enough fuel of course). Here

comes the final approach! Although there was no turbulence and strong

winds blowing there, I decided to land a little faster than usual, so that I

smoothly floated after the flare. Then I remembered when I flew solo by
the first time, when I got lighter weight than usual, and from the
perspective of a Cessna 152, that makes some difference. Oh yeah, and

differently from that ballooning in my first solo, I got a gentle touchdown

with the main gears.

Yelp, first part of flight completed! And guess how many gallons were

remaining??? Less than 5 gallons. I found Nathan in Manning FBO and,

although he was more experienced than me, Im sure that he considered
this a very memorable flight as well.

Time to make the flight plan to Jacksonville. As I took a look in the

current weather radar, I got astonished. Its impressive how the weather

can change 3 hours ahead. I certainly wouldnt takeoff from Stuart if the

weather was like this. Well, Craig Executive looked clear, but the 55 NM
through was pretty crappy in certain vicinities, and it would be even

worse if I dont take my butt outta there. Alright, couldnt go direct

straight, and heading southwest looked a nice option. Let`s do it.

The flight track is depicted by the green line. You cant imagine how covered by clouds
it was while deviating northwestbound from Jacksonville.

The weak radio signals

All set, airplane refueled, I got a safe flight plan to a destination which

was five times shorter than the previous one, piece of cake. As I took off,
I was forced to sense the new reality. As I headed southwest, a big,
giant wall of rain was just in front of me. No way to proceed. Let`s divert

to the south. Gee, that deterministic sensation that I had when I saw

Jacksonville enroute was fading I had to level at 1500 due to the

ceiling, and again, took the necessary caution for the 1500 feet antenna
nearby. As I switched for the next ATC controller, things started to

complicate. I did the first call, no response. Second call, nothing. Third,
the same. Alright, I was low, and at that time I was thinking in a million of

reasons for why I got no response. Still, I had to descend to 1300 in

order to maintain VFR and every decrease in 100 feet was really not
welcome to my tastes. The airplane possibly got some precipitation

static, since it didnt have the static wicks. I wonder if on top of the

antenna my buddy there didnt seem illuminated in the sahasrarawith a

corona effect. In fact, if it was light I was looking for, that was my
guidance at that moment. I could see far, far beyond, a shining cluster

that was my only hope on continuing straight ahead the flight. I would
estimate around 30NM from the place I was. I reminded the flight plan I

did, and that distance would be quite enough to cross that pressure
cooker. Alright then, here we go! Although the lack of communication

was a big issue, my way through the light was encouraging me a lot. In
fact, from time to time I could hear some radio calls but it was completely

trunked and noisy. And then, after 6 minutes (6 minutes my dear

fellow!!!) after continuously reporting my callsign I finally heard ATC

requesting me to Ident. Oh my God, glad to hear you, I thought to

myself. As we established communication, he asked 6294M, are you

familiar with P-50?. What?! -50?! Watta hell is he talking about, I

thought to myself. As I requested to clarify, he replied to turn eastbound

or westbound, immediately! Right after the command, I said that I would

deviate westbound, still wondering, what is that??? And then, as I

increased the zoom of the GPS, there came my terrifying surprise, as

the prohibited area circle flashed on the screen. Damm! I confirmed in

the sectional chart and I was really about to cross it straight ahead. I

cant state you my feelings at that time, cause light was upon me, I reestablished communication but I was about to be intercepted by F-16s.
Well, after all, it was all about appreciation: to be breathing again, to the

controller that didnt press the red button, to enjoy the flight in low
altitude, to feel the warmer air heading me to the destination.
2nd Destination: Jacksonville Craig Executive

More than 10NM before reaching Craig Executive from the north, ATC
requested to report the airport in sight. I confess I was I bit anxious and
ended up confirming it exchanging the airport for a flatted narrow lake

in front of me. Well, unless you are Superman, it is a little difficult to see
far beyond a facility at about 1500 feet.

Gee, Id rather do not do anything fancy again, I thought to myself.

Although I was under flight following, I concentrated to cross between

the 1 NM corridor between the Charlie airspace from Jacksonville Intl.

and Mayport military airbase.

Although there was some sunshine there, the winds were shifting
periodically. I was preparing to enter on the left downwind to RWY 5

when ATC requested to change to RWY 32. When I turned to final, I felt
like an invisible wall on the right to set me on the proper center line of
the glide path. As I added aileron to the right, I requested ATC for wind

check. 360 10 gust 14 as tower replied. Alright then, 9 KT cross

wind. Yelp, thats gonna be memorable. C-152 has a maximum

demonstrated cross-wind of 12 KT and the total weight was somehow
light (well, at least it hadnt less than 5 gallons remaining). Low wing

method, here goes an unusual extra-aileron to the right, rudders to

maintain the centerline. Still, the headwind was strong and I ended up
touching down right beyond the threshold line and a little bit off-centered,
but proud to first land with the right tyre hahaha!

Decompression time

My goodness, I was really cheered up after those intense moments (and

hungry as well). The ladies in Craig Air Center were absolutely

hospitable and provided me a courtesy car to Jacksonville. As I crossed
the

very

unique

John

T.

Alsop

(see www.makestraightin.com/2015/09/08/bridges-from-the-past-to-the-

bridge

present/ ) I remembered when I checked it from the skies, then I smiled to

myself: I told you I would be here! That was relaxing! During planning, I
saw a free pass entrance to the Museum of Science and History offered
by Bank of America, so that I could take a very, very short visit in there.
Alright then, all set, time to concentrate on the return to Stuart.

The party was not over yet

It was about to get dark in Craig Executive. As I turned on the strobe

lights, that squeaky annoying metronome reminded me that I would have

a delightful rhythm to my ears on the way back. Well, the forecast

mentioned that there would be some precipitations in small diameter size

along the route, but at least the ceiling would be much higher than
before.

For my surprise, I needed to maintain 2500 feet right below the broken

clouds. From time to time I needed to do some sewing. The beautiful

cracked lightning from the far thunderstorms provided me the best clue
ever from the big picture ahead of me. Ironically, those were friends that

I strongly avoided, of course. Curiously, for every of those flashes, the

VFR GPS signal appeared to suffer some interference, and the airplane

in its screen got to do some funny 360. Very odd, isnt it? Satellite signal
should be very high frequency, and it looked like I was receiving kinda
an AM signal. Remember when you used to listen your fathers AM radio
during a thunderstorm?

As I was approaching Charlie airspace in Daytona, I was cleared to

overfly the intl. airport. When I was eager to get a grip, the controller
requested me to deviate southwestbound of it. Reason: moderate
thunderstorm coming from Melbourne. Well, a least I could see the nice

MALSR A5 sequence lights and RWY stuffs from there! But no

complacency at that time old buddy! As I looked in front of me, the

visibility was getting shorter. Roads and city lights: if they sudden start to

disappear, a cloud was just covering it. And there were too many of

them! As I requested guidance to ATC, she provided me vectors by

following the Interstate 95 highway. Gee, that was a terrific clue! Such a
lighted backbone to be followed up to my destination.

So beat it. I tracked it all the way down, the visibility was getting better,
and then, as I switched to Miami center, the controller avoided me to fly
direct to Stuart due to a moderate thunderstorm and requested deviation

toward southwest to SHEDS (about 20 NM northwest from Witham

Field). Well, at least I had fuel for more than an hour! Upon reaching

SHEDS, he told me I could proceed to Witham Field. Alright then, at that

time, the tower was already closed, and AWOS informed that the wind
was 340 10. So RWY 34, I thought to myself. But, wait a minute, as I
remind from the A/FD, RWY 34 does not have RWY edge lights. Damm,

lets set to RWY 30. I began to descend, and I could clearly see the city
lights from Stuart. And suddenly, as I started the pre-landing checklist, a

shower surprisingly hit me badly. Where did it come from? Since I was

descending and I didnt see any clouds obstructing me before, I

assumed that the rain started at that moment from much higher cloud

layers. Was that a blessing in my adventure completion? Well, lets say, I

read once that pilots most of the time have moments of boredom, and
the remaining, may have it filled with terror. I completely disagreed with

it, however what happened next I would say I confirm with the second
option.

The water drops that punched the windscreen were the only voice at that
moment (yes, the metronome was over!!!). As I was approaching to level
at 1000 feet, I smoothly pitched up the nose and added some power.
Nothing happened. Right after that, I checked the altimeter and I was

already at 800 feet. Full power and the engine noise merged with the

corresponding drops. I had to set the airspeed to the glide speed while

the nose remained pitched up. Then I started to look sideways because I
reminded an antenna at 368 feet. As I started to gain altitude, the

shower stopped to fall over me, and the engine harmonized as well, but
at that point the greatest noise was from my beating heart. Well my dear
friends, now that Im comfortably seated and typing this, I analyzed the

situation and I probably got a strong tailwind while transitioning my

descent to level flight. Winds were from the northwest, I was entering

downwind from the northwest and God knows what that moderate

shower provided to me. I could barely understand what I was saying to

the radio while turning to base but at least I could align pretty well the

airplane, my mind and that tuning metronome. But, there was only one

lighted RWY Jesus Christ, then I remembered a NOTAM for the RWY
30 closure! So, winds 340 10. RWY 25 or 7 available. Do you know what

does it mean? I could choose which direction I could land, since on both

I would experience full cross-wind. Here we go, RWY 25, alright then.
Well, let me be more specific. ALL RIGHT THEN! If landing in Craig

Executive was an exciting experience, now that was going to be

challenging at night. Tyre 1, go. Tyre 2, beautiful. Tyre 3, awesome!!! As
the airspeed was decreasing, I realized that my journey was coming into
an end. When I completed the after-landing checklist (and finally turned

the metronome off), I had my moment of peace, slowly taxing through

those blue lights. What a bonanza

In fact the bad wolf blew from the northbound you know

_______________
Read more about Ricardos journey through his flight training on
www.makestraightin.com
_______________
Watch this VFR cross-country adventure in YouTube at
www.youtube.com/watch?v=gy8e1Zdjf2c

www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEv2DDCUN9M