Today I am flying to Tennesee.

Since last week I flew to Iowa, I thought I would go some where different this time. I planned on flying to Tennessee and adding 4 more airports to my list of where I have landed. I only got to do 3.

In my flight planning, I picked out 4 airports near enough to each other that they fit in about a 4 hour flight.

I measured my distances, calculated my headings and did most of my planning. Then I remembered with Daylight Saving Time, it would be dark sooner so I checked the airports and my last planned airport doesn't have lights.

Arnold Field (M31) sounds not quite abandoned. The airport information says:
"There may be vehicle traffic on abandoned runway system."
"Runway 18/36 has 500 feet stopway on N end. Stopway markings are faded & 6 foot fence crossed the end of the runway."

There is also a Waterfowl refuge 1/4 mile east of airport. This could make it fun in the dark.

I switched my flight around and planned on doing my touch and gos here first.

If I got off the ground at 4, I would be there by 5:20. Sunset would be at 5:00, but I figured it would still be light enough to see and if not, I would just skip it.

I ended up skipping but not exactly for this reason.

Weather Brief

I called flight service and got my VFR flight briefing.

There was another student scheduled in the Seminole right before me so I didn't get to the airport real early as I knew I wouldn't be able to preflight the plane and be ready to go right at 3:30.

I got to Langa about 3:25 and waited around. Laura told me 2CharlieKilo wasn't back yet and I said I knew. I hadn't seen it out on the ramp.

Adam, another instructor told me it was just landing.

I stood around and listened to another student that had just passed his checkride. He was very happy.

Wade, one of the linemen came in and I told him 2CharlieKilo would need fuel. He said they had topped it off before it left. I said I was planning on a 4 plus hour flight, at night and wanted as much fuel as I could get. He said sure, he would take care of it.

Darren and his student came in and Darren said he would go upstairs to review the flight with his student while I preflighted the plane. He told me to check the oil and make sure both engines had more than 5 quarts of oil.

I headed out while he headed up.

There several other people preflighting planes as I walked across the ramp to the Seminole. It seems like it is alway parked on the far side against the edge of the ramp.

It had just flown so I didn't expect to find anything wrong.

While I was doing my preflights, Wade and the fuel truck showed up. They put about 25 gallons total in the plane. It holds 104 so it about 3/4 full before they started, about 4 hours with no reserve.

I checked the right engine and the oil was fine, about 5.5 quarts. When I tried to check the left engine, I couldn't get the oil cap to turn.

I asked the linemen if they had strong fingers. Wade tried but couldn't get it to move either. The other lineman went off to find a pair of pliers. I finished up my checks and checked the fuel.

They finally got the cap lose and I checked the dip stick. It was all covered in oil so I couldn't really tell where the lower end was but it looked like more than 5 quarts.

I put the cap back on, but only made it hand tight.

I finished up and headed inside to get Darren.

He was still upstairs so I waited around.

I talked with another person (I don't know if he is an instructor or a student) there who complemented me on my web site. He said he had used the pictures for training and had even taken one of them with him when he had gone for his checkride. He was able to go over the instruments with the examiner without having to be in the plane. He said he didn't know how I did it but to keep up the good work.

A little after 4, I went upstairs to see what was taking so long. He was just signing the other students log book.

I went back downstairs and out to the plane. I figured he would be along shortly, and he was.

I got the current weather. It was reporting wind from 160 at 10 knots, visibilty better than 5,000 & 5, runway 17 in use.

Once again I had trouble getting the left engine started. I should just always start the right one first.

Darren worked with the throttles and the left engine was running smoothly. The right started right up and we were ready to go.

I called Ground and said I was at Langa, with Victor, ready to taxi for departure to the south. Ground told me to taxi to runway 17. I acknowledged and pulled out.

There were other planes in the pattern and when we turned onto the taxiway that heads to the end of runway 17, I saw another plane facing us. It was doing its final checks before takeoff and had pointed itself into the wind.

I stopped well short of him and did my final checks.

While I was doing that, a Falcon Jet pulled up behind me and did his final checks. It was a busy place.

The first plane turned about while I was finishing up and was gone before I had pulled up to the hold short line.

I called Tower and said i was at 17, ready to depart. Tower asked my on course heading and I couldn't remember the actual degrees so just said 2CharlieKilo is headed south.

Tower cleared me to takeoff, 17. I acknowledged and before I could make a move, Tower said to cancel that, hold short. He had thought the Seminole had the same takeoff characteristics of an F16. I said it would be nice.

Looking out the window to the left, I saw another plane just turning final for runway 17. That was why Tower told me to wait. I think it was a long-ez.

When the other plane was down, but not off the runway, Tower told me to position and hold. I acknowledged and rolled onto the runway. I got lined up and watched as the other plane cleared the runway down near Langa.

Tower cleared me to take off, I acknowledged, gently applied full power and we were up. It was 4:31.

I had told Darren that with the late start, we would be skipping my first airport. Taking off at 4:31, we wouldn't get to Halls, TN until almost 6. I figured it would be too dark to find the airport .

Humboldt Municipal Airport (M53) at Humboldt, TN was dialed into the GPS and we headed south. (Darren had entered it while I was taxiing.)

My route of flight took us between Mid-America Airport and St Louis Downtown Airport. I had to stay below 4,500 feet to stay out of St Louis International Airports airspace so I planned on climbing up to 3,500 feet and checking with St Louis Approach.

After taking off from Regional, I got set up for my climb and called St Louis Radio to open my VFR flight plan. When they responded and I told them what I wanted they asked to confirm my route and said to stand by while they checked for any NoTams. Darren and I were surprised by this. I already had them from when I filed before.

Radio came back and asked if I knew about the runway closure at Henry County and the beacon out at Humboldt. I said I did. They acknowledged and said my flight plan was open at 33 past the hour.

Darren and I figured the double check was because I had filed almost 2 hours before and they were checking to see if anything had changed.

After opening my flight plan, I switched the radio over to St Louis Approach and listened a minute to wait my turn. When there was a lull, I called and said, Seminole 212CharlieKilo with request.

Approach came right back and said to go ahead. I said I was 6 south of Regional, at 3,500 and would like flight following to Mike53, down near Dyersburg, TN.

Approach asked what altitude I would like and I said 5,500. They said to maintain VFR and standby. I acknowledged. They came back and said I was cleared into Class Bravo Airspace, climb and maintain 5,500. I acknowledged and he ameneded the altitude to 4,500. I acknowledged climb and maintain 4,500, 2CharlieKilo.

I climbed up to 4,500 and leveled off again.

We flew right past Mid-America Airport and Scott Air Force Base.

When I was almost clear of the class bravo airspace, Approach said I could climb to 5,500. I acknowledged and did.

There was very little wind and it was nice and smooth.

Here is a picture of the sun setting.

Sunset

Here are some pictures of looking east and south.

Looking East

Looking South

St Louis Approach handed us off to Kansas City Center and they handed us off to Memphis Center.

We listened to Memphis Center talking to another plane to see if they heard anything on the Guard Channel. Apparently there was a plane down in the Fort Worth Area and Memphis was trying to find out more.

The plane he was talking to couldn't hear anything that far away.

Darren asked if it was commercial or general. Center said he thought it was general aviation, possibly an Archer. Checking the news this morning (11/04) I don't see anything about a downed plane.

My first airport of the day, Humboldt Municipal Airport has lights, but the Beacon was out of service. The beacon is the rotating light that shows you where the airport is.

With the GPS Darren and I figured we would be able to find the airport.

About 10 miles out, Darren keyed the radio 7 times to turn on the lights. We didn't see anything.

The GPS was taking us right to the airport but we didn't see any runway lights.

We were finally almost over the runway before we saw it.

I called Memphis Approach and said we had the airport in sight. He said there was no traffic between us and the airport (I hope not, we were over it.) and to squawk 1200, have a good night. I acknowledged VFR, and wished him a good night.

We flew out past the airport about 2 miles and did a descending turn to the left. This put me on a left downwind for runway 22.

I had already checked the weather at the closest reporting airport, McKellar-Sipes Regional at Jackson, TN. It was reporting wind calm.

With no wind, I could land on either 4 or 22. Originally I had planned on using 4 since arriving from the north set me up for a nice downwind entry for runway 4. Not being able to find and airport and overflying it, runway 22 made more sense.

I tured left reduced power and got set up to land.

With the landing light on I could see the runway fine.

I came in a little high but touched down ok. Not my best but not too bad.

Flaps and power and I was back up. I reported airborne off 22, staying in the pattern, left traffic, Humboldt Traffic.

I did 2 more touch and gos and they were better. I think the night landing and the differing sight picture was throwing me off. One time I flared high, the next time I was a little low.

After the 3 touch and gos, I reported airborne off 22, departing the area to the east, Humboldt.

I was at Humboldt from 17:59 till 18:08 Regional at Jackson, TN. It was reporting wind calm.

With no wind, I could land on either 4 or 22. Originally I had planned on using 4 since arriving from the north set me up for a nice downwind entry for runway 4. Not being able to find and airport and overflying it, runway 22 made more sense.

I tured left reduced power and got set up to land.

With the landing light on I could see the runway fine.

I came in a little high but touched down ok. Not my best but not too bad.

Flaps and power and I was back up. I reported airborne off 22, staying in the pattern, left traffic, Humboldt Traffic.

I did 2 more touch and gos and they were better. I think the night landing and the differing sight picture was throwing me off. One time I flared high, the next time I was a little low.

After the 3 touch and gos, I reported airborne off 22, departing the area to the east, Humboldt.

I was at Humboldt from 17:59 till 18:08.

From Humboldt to Huntingdon, it is 26 miles. I climbed up to 2,500 feet, leveled off and headed northeast.

I checked the weather at Huntingdon. It was also reporting winds calm so coming from the south I planned on landing on runway 1.

As it turned out, we spotted the airport beacon about 15 miles out and had the runway insight shortly ther after. I was almost lined up for a straight in approach to runway 1.

I adjusted my position to get lined up and reported 10 miles out, inbound for touch and go, runway 1, Huntingdon.

I came in and did 3 fair landings.

The runway is 5,500 feet long by 100 feet wide so I had lots of room. I touched down, put up the flaps, closed the cowl flaps, got lined up again, and took off, all with lots of runway left.

I reported airborne off 1, departing the area to the north.

I was at Huntingdon from 18:27 till 18:36.

From Huntingdon to Henry County Airport at Paris, TN, it is only 15 miles. We could see the beacon while we were still in the pattern for Huntingdon.

Darren said if I wanted to I could just shift right a bit and get lined up for another straight in approach again. I said sure and did just that.

Here is a picture of my long straight in final for runway 2.

The lights in the middle are the runway.

I was about 8 miles out on a straight in final when I reported my position, inbound for touch and go.

Here the runway is 5,000 feet long by 100 feet wide so I had lots of room again.

Looking at the airports in Tennesse, they have lots of nice long runways.

I did 3 touch and gos and 2 of them were ok, but one of them was a bit hard. I ended up coming in low, flared too high and dropped the plane the last bit to the runway. It wasn't anything terrible, but not so good either.

After the last one, as I climbed back up, I reported airborne off 2, departing the area to the northwest.

I climbed up to about 3,400 feet before I called Memphis Center to request flight following back to Alton.

Center gave me a squawk code and Darren put it in while I flew the plane.

I told Center I was at 3,400, climbing 6,500. They said to maintain VFR, standby for traffic advisories. I acknowledged and continued my climb.

I leveled off at 6,500 and got the plane set up for cruise.

I leaned both engines and set RPMs and Manifold Pressure according to the chart on the visor and trimed the plane to flight nice and level.

We flew along and chatted.

Here are some pictures of a town at night.

The camera wants to leave the shutter open longer to get more light, but I was travelling at about 150 miles an hour so it makes the pictures blurry.

We must have missed a call becuase we heard Approach ask if we were on 133.65. I said no, we were on 134.65. He said to switch to him on 133.65. I acknowledged, switched over, and reported on 133.65. He acknowledged. We flew along and didn't hear anything until Memphis handed us off to Kansas City Center.

Darren normally slides his seat back after we are in cruise. This gives him more leg room and is more comfortable for him. He was leaning back when all of a sudden he slide forward. He said we had lost the left alternator. I looked and the left alternator gauge was on Zero.

I pulled out the checklist and we went through it to see if we could figure out what was wrong.

No circuit breakers were popped, nothing else appeared wrong. We turned off the left alternator and reduced electrical load by turning off 1 radio, turned down the instrument lighting, and the overhead light.

The right alternator was showing about 30 amps. Darren told me the battery is a 35 amp/hour battery. That means it can produce 1 amp for 35 hours or 35 amps for 1 hour. We had about 30-35 minutes of power if the second alternator failed.

We were down to about 100 miles from Alton, travelling at 139 knots so about 40 minutes.

Darren said he thought he knew what had happened. He said that my one hard landing had probably knocked the alternator loose and it had slid down and was probably poking out the bottom of the engine cowling. That didn't sound good to me, but he said it has happened before. I looked but couldn't see anything.

Darren and I talked about what we would do if the right alternator failed. I said I would go to either the airport at Cape (CGI) or at Marrion (MWA). I could probably be at either of them within about 5 minutes. I was about half way between them and they are 41 miles apart.

That was one option, but Darren said he would probably continue back to Alton and land there. The plane can still fly without electricity. He said he would just call Center and tell them what was happening and have them relay to St Louis Approach to Alton that we would be arriving in about 40 minutes with out lights and we would use the light signals from the Tower to know when we were cleared to land.

I know that is possible, but I am glad we didn't have to do that. I could probably find Alton from where we were with out the VORs or GPS, but it would be tough flying with no instruments.

I guess we could hold a light on the compass to see it and fly by that. I knew our on course heading so I guess it wouldn't be too bad. Still, I'm glad we didn't have to do it.

We flew along, checking the right alternator more than usual. and about 50 miles out Kansas City Center cancalled our flight following. He said if we wanted to continue it, to contact St Louis Approach on 125.2. I acknowledged the VFR, for further, 125.2, and wished him a good night.

I switched over to St Louis and listed before calling and requesting flight following to Alton. Approach gave us a new squawk code and we flew along.

About 35 miles from Alton, and about 10 miles from Belleville/Mid-America (BLV), I called Approach and requested clearance into the class b airspace. If he didn't give it, I was going to have to get down below 4,500 but above 3,000 to stay out of St Louis' and Mid-America's airspace.

I started to explain why I wanted the clearence, but Darren told me not to. It takes to much time and can cause radio congestion. As I finished my call, Approach was already talking to another plane. He gave me clearence into the Class B and I acknowledged.

I flew along at 6,500 until we were past BLV then reported leaving 6,500 down to 3,000. Approach acknowledged.

When I was to about 3,500 and could see Alton (ALN) in the distance, I called approach and said I had the airport in sight. Approach said to squawk 1200 and to descend and maintain below 3,000, there was other traffic headed south at 4,500, frequency change approved. I acknowledged and got below 3,000 feet.

I called St Louis Radio and closed my VFR flight plan. This was the first time I have ever done it in the air. Normally I wait and do it when I am on the ground. This is easier, but you have to time it right. When I was done with St Louis Radio, I called Regional Tower and reported 8 miles to the south, with Zulu, inbound for landing.

Tower asked which runway I wanted and I said I would take 17. Tower cleared me to land 17. I acknowledged and adjusted my heading for a better downwind.

I reduced speed, put down the landing gear, flaps and got ready to land.

I touched down nicely. I was a little lower than I thought and when the wheels touched I was a little surprised. I thought I had a few more seconds.

I let the plane roll and Tower cleared us off at Bravo 1, taxi to the ramp, monitor ground. I acknowledged and wished him a good night.

When I turned off and headed for the Langa ramp, there were no other planes out. I was pulling up to park in the first row when Darren spotted the lineman over by the secondary hangar. I taixed over and following his arm signals, pulled up and stopped right in front of the hangar. I made it easier for them to put it away.

I shut down the engines and Darren hopped out.

I got my times and cleared out my stuff and then climbed out. I was stiff from sitting so long. It was also surprising how hot it felt in the plane once Darren opened the door. I hadn't realized the heat was working so well. Part of it I am sure is the fact that it was about 35 degrees, but it felt good.

While I was finishing up, Darren was looking at the left engine. He couldn't see anything sticking out, neither could I. He said he guessed it had just failed. I was releived. I didn't want to have been responsible for something sticking out of the engine. He said it wouldn't have been the first time. Still, I was glad I hadn't directly cause it.

We went inside and I filled out the Tach Sheet and my log book.

I had Darren sign the log for this week and last.

Last week I had left my log book at home so Darren had to sign it this time.

He also wanted to know the airports we had been to last time so he could update his log as well. I said he could always get them off my website.

As of today, I still only have the basics of our flight last week to Iowa. The pictures and info are there, but I haven't done my write up, hopefully this weekend I'll get that done.

All in all a nice flight. Excluding the alternator, it was a nice smooth flight and I added 3 more airprots as well as 2.3 hours of night flight.