Sometimes You Shouldn't Push Your Luck

Here in North Texas we are having the rainiest June in history. As I write this, we are just .5 inches shy of breaking a record that has stood since the 1920's. At the rate we have been getting rain, we will break this by tomorrow and still have Saturday to increase the record. So why in the world would I want to go flying in weather like this? I'm not quite sure but as I sat at my desk, encoding video on one computer and watching the radar on the other (doesn't everyone have several computers at their disposal?), I was looking for a slight relief from the rain when I spotted a hole in the action. I called Richard and asked if his radar showed the same thing I was seeing and he said that we should give it a try. So I made some changes to the time I had reserved (no one else wanted to even try to fly today) and set off to the airport.

When we got there, we made our pilgrimage to the lock box and went to get the key for N737TY and it had a grounded tag on it again. My luck with this airplane is not going well. So I run back up to the FBO, look up the squawks and find out that the flaps are stuck but it is flyable. Seeing what the weather is doing, I opt for another airplane seeing as I may be tested harder than I am ready to be tested without flaps. So I change to N733NB since it is wide open most of the day. To be a good club member, I make sure that I change the reservation on the website to reflect our shift in game plan. Unfortunately, 3NB is a lot heavier, had more horsepower, burns more fuel, sinks faster in the turn to base and final and still has that strong fuel smell during descents.

I'm surprised when I find that the weather is cooperating fairly well but I see rain all around us. Richard brought along his tablet that has a moving map GPS, approach plates for every airport in the US, current sectionals, a very expensive solitaire game and near real time NEXRAD radar service. The GPS antenna and the XM antenna (for the NEXRAD) all talk to the tablet via bluetooth. It's really pretty cool. So here I go, buzzing around the fine folks of Fairview (that's a joke unto itself) while Richard keeps track of weather. Of course it is still pattern work for me because of a "stubborn" streak, according to Richard, so we never get more than a mile and a half from the airport. You would think that even in that close proximity to the airport you could get on the ground pretty quick and avoid any potentially difficult weather.

So we are watching some rain coming up from the south and it looks like it is growing in size and strength. It starts closing in on us and while it is just a rain shower (not a thunderstorm) it is dumping a lot of rain quickly, bringing visibility down to under VFR minimums. We just outrun it and get on the ground when Richard keys up the mic and tells the tower that we are going to make one more lap around because it doesn't look "too bad". He is the instructor, who has a LOT of experience, my neighbor and the PIC. No time like now to test the student. By the time we get airborne and I make my left turn at 1,000 feet it's really raining hard and I'm being blown pretty hard to the north. I quickly turn for my downwind leg, get my clearance for the option (No option for me, It's down to stay until this blows over.) and I start setting up to land. I start my base early because of the wind still blowing me and I have to keep power in longer than usual, once again because of the headwind. I can barely see the runway but I can see the numbers and the stripes at the end of the runway so I know I can line up with the stripes for my correct angle. By the time I get to flare height, I can see the centerline so it isn't too scary.

We get down without too much of an incident and taxi to the ramp to wait it out. While we are there waiting, we both realize the we have just landed with special VFR, even though the phrase was never spoken by us or the tower. My heart rate finally started to come down. It only took about 15 minutes before the storm blew over, we did our preflight, taxied back out, did our run-up and were cleared for more abuse by the weather. All in all I got a lot done today even though I am still having problems using my ailerons for drift control and my rudder for runway alignment. My last landing was the best of the day so we stopped there. After today, I think that Richard has some reservations about soloing me (I do too).

As an added bonus, since it was so slow, I asked the tower what the possibilities were of getting a tour of their facilities. I was told to just go up and knock on the door. So I spent the next hour in the tower talking to the fine people who are always watching out for us as we travel at high speeds and keep us safe. A great afternoon even with the trying conditions. Maybe we can do it again tomorrow? With our current weather situation, it is very possible.

Total flying this time - 1.3 hours
Total hours - 8.2