Page 42 - Volume 17 Number 10

by David MillerAll Weather BirdsIdon’t know who coined the title phrase, used to describe airplanes decked out with all the bells and whistles needed to fly in inclement weather. But I thought about it as I cruised at FL 390 on the first leg of a flight from Boise, ID (KBOI) to Corpus Christi, TX (KCRP) in mid-July. For those of you who keep score, I was making a TAS of 375 knots at ISA+3. The CJ1+ has everything I need to fly- most of the time. But, Mother Nature had concocted a very interesting low pressure system over west Texas that resulted in mid-summer record low temperatures, as well as plenty of tropical moisture covering the entire state. And, looking at the accompanying terminal forecast, it was obvious that we were not going to make the 1,309 nautical miles into KCRP without a fuel stop.Thirty minutes from our Amarillo (KAMA) fuel stop, the Garmin 725 reported a visibility of half a mile in a thunderstorm. Not a huge deal. If we had to miss and divert, I would just lose the ham sandwiches waiting for us and go to Lubbock (KLBB). It was a nice feeling to have that option in my all-weather bird. On this day, however, I wasn’t the only all-weather bird in the sky. There were eighteen more of them.In my airplane.Our passengers were a dozen-and-a-half six-week-old endangered Aplomado falcon chicks and we were flying them to Corpus as volunteers of Lighthawk.org and the Peregrine Fund’s effort toWith 5,000-plus hours in his logbook, David Miller has been flying for business and pleasure for more than 40 years. Having owned and flown a variety of aircraft types, from turboprops to midsize jets, Miller, along with his wife Patty, now own and fly a Citation CJ1+. You can contact David at davidmiller1@sbcglobal.net.repopulate the species. Packed in five brown cardboard boxes, these inquisitive, small, feathery, cute creatures were anxious to be anywhere but the cabin of the Citation. And they were already wired and plumbed for all-weather flight. By the time we made a visual to runway 22 at KAMA, Patty had chosen names for twelve of them.I was too anxious to eat my sandwich after I looked at the KCRP forecast. But, helping to make the launch decision was a lack of any SIGMETS along the route and the absence of lightning in the heavy rain at KCRP.Enroute, with the birds flapping in their containers, things began to change. Corpus went down to 1/4 mile in a thunderstorm. Good thing I topped off the tanks, I thought. We were IMC at FL390 after using the engine, wing, windshield, pitot and tail deice during the climb. Just like our passengers would use when they arrived in Corpus. I planned to shoot the ILS to RWY13 and divert to San Antonio, (KSAT) if necessary.On this day, luck was with us. The biggest cell moved just north of the approach course and we landed in heavy rain with 3 miles visibility. The birds were home.Now I just had to get back to mine. Fly safe.ON FINAL40 • TWIN & TURBINE OCTOBER 2013