Page 18 - TNT Jan 17

Last leg of the trip: Little Rock to Mesquite, TX.
Day Four
PWK — KMGY (Dayton, Ohio)
Day Five
KMMU — LIT (Little Rock, AR)
Cruising Altitude Temp Leg Time TAS Fuel used
FL240
ISA+16
0+51
395kts TAS
FL 410 ISA+2 2+56 390 kts 2,160 lbs
KMGY — KMMU (Morristown, NJ)
KLIT — KHQZ (Mesquite, TX)
Cruising Altitude Temp Leg Time TAS Fuel used
FL 370
ISA+9 Temp
FL 320 ISA +10 0+56 395 kts 950 lbs
890 lbs
Fuel used
1+30 396 kts 1,320 lbs
Leg Time TAS Fuel used
Cruising Altitude Temp Leg Time
Cruising Altitude
Compared to tornados, 800 overcast and 5 miles in light rain isn’t bad at all as we load up for a 0800 departure to Dayton. Indy Center gives us a shortcut and we make the meeting right on time. I take a crew van to lunch. It’s a giant one with a driver’s seat that appears to have been bolted in place with no adjustment for short pilots. Stretching as far as my legs can go to reach the gas pedal, my head is invisible below the dashboard. I can’t see anything. It’s like I am driving in the clouds. I careen left to right along the busy road, in what appears to be a driverless vehicle. The one mile trip to get a sandwich turns out to be the most dangerous leg of the entire week.
Wherever we land, everyone wants to comment on the wild paint scheme of Larry’s M2. “It looks like my motorcycle jacket,” says one line guy. Another pilot walks over and asks if we are flyingarockband.Irespond,“Yes,butIcan’ttellyouwho.”
We depart late afternoon, dodge TRWs and shoot the ILS to runway 23 at Morristown. The New York approach controller is a hoot with his heavy Brooklyn accent and talkative personality. “Whaddya axe-pect ahfdah dirtyfive ears?” he transmits.
16 • TWIN & TURBINE
This right seat job is fun, but I am seriously ready to get home. The 1,166 nm nonstop is just out of conservative range for the M2, even against the modest 25-knot headwinds because of TRW’s in the Dallas area. We depart Morristown and get cleared higher immediately, eventually to FL410. Our original fuel stop was KMQY (Smyrna, Tennessee) but in-between is a large area of building cells. Larry suggests we overfly them and stop in Little Rock rather than land in Smyrna and then be forced to depart into the weather. What a great idea. Center concurs and we change our destination to KLIT.
After a quick turn in Little Rock, we are off for home. The TRWs in the Dallas area are persistent. On the Fingr 5 arrival, we dodge cells, pick up a little ice, and have to wipe the inside of the M2’s windshield clean despite the use of defog. Maneuveringvisuallyf•ortheRNAVGPS36intoMesquite,we fly between two cells containing lightning. “Are you OK with this,” says Larry. Just tell me it’s OK.”
“It’s OK Larry,” I say.
It’s good to be home. T&T
January 2017