According to the  Finnish Aviation  Magazine "Ilmailu" , Year 2011 has been a good Year for flying Enthusiastics. There have been spectacular

Air Shows.  Gliding contests have also been very succesfull. For Me the Year has not been so great . My "sore" neck can't stand

watching Air Shows. I don't like contests either. The only ethanol-free autogasoline ( Shell V-Power )  changed its ethanol content

to 5 %. I will have to use 100LL again with about 100% higher expenses. Of course - if I cut my flying hours to half of what they were

last Year, the expenses will be on budget again...

Some of my Readers, who are not Pilots themselves , may have concluded that  piloting an airplane is  as easy as driving a Car.

When making my travelling stories I have not given  any consideration to this. Well - this time I will tell about my flight from Pori

to Ranua with more details in  it:  The flight was going to be a usual travelling flight with two people and one dog . The Route was

planned via Vaasa,Kokkola and Oulu and the purpose of the flight was to deliver us to our summer cottage in  Posio and leave

the plane at  Ranua to be shielded  for the winter.

A week before the actual flight I was already following long weather forecasts. It seemed that Monday 12'th of September would be

the best choise. I was looking for favorable downwinds and high  cloudbase. Flying as high as possible would give  us stronger downwinds

and better fuel economy. Foreca's 24 hour forecast gave me the estimated cloudbase hight and visibility on  Monday with reasonable

probability . I decided to send the Flight  Plan   already on Sunday to Finavia by e-mail. That left me with fewer  things

to remember on Monday morning. I planned the flight from Pori via Vaasa, Kokkola and Oulu at 3500 feet because that was the 

forecasted cloudbase in controlled airspace during  Monday. I could have  planned a straight line up North that would have been a shorter

route, but the airspace at Kauhava MilCTA is very busy on weekdays so it probably wouldn't have been any faster. I also made my operative

flight plan for my kneeboard and arranged my paper charts ready for the flight on Sunday evening.

Monday morning came and we packed all the luggage into our  car and  left Rauma .

The Cessna was waiting for us  at Pori Airport hangar. We  had to unpack our luggage from the car and pack it again into the plane.

The dog had  some affairs  before the flight.

In about 30 minutes the plane was checked and packed and ready for startup and taxi.

We were cleared straight for the route as planned . Leaving Pori couldn't have been any easier.

I had bought a new gps device Aera 500 and tested it for the first time.

Aera functioned perfectly and gave me the opportunity to leave old gps devices out of the office  for good. Controlled airspace over  Vaasa,

Kokkola, Kauhava MilCTA and Oulu seemed  busy enough on Monday morning .Time during the flight was well spent changing frequencies and

asking for cleareaces. I had no time to get bored or tired. The actual flight time from Pori to Ranua was 2 hours and 44 minutes due to a fair downwind.

Before landing at Ranua airfield I closed my flightplan by radio in the air. This has proved to be a practical method if someone is waiting for You at the

airport. It is very easy to forget to close the fligthplan after You have landed. It has happened to me once. It is so embarrassing when the controller from

Tampere Control Radar gives You a phone call and asks if You have landed succesfully.

After landing we had to unpack the Plane and pack all the luggage again into the car waiting for us. 

Cessna's engine was to be shielded for long storage and the radio and the battery to be removed and storaged in a warm place for the coming winter.

We thrusted  Cessna  into Sampo's care and drove off  . We headed to Posio and to the place where  our Holiday Estate has been built about 25 km's

north from Posio. It takes  one and a half hour to drive there from Ranua - except that I diverted to Posio's  Alko and picked up some Red Wine for our

dinner.  I felt that  our dinner needed special appreciation - sensing the  autumn coming ...

Tero 

Muutettu: 30. marraskuuta 2011