Srinath and I both flew patterns today at Livermore, one after the other. N906MD continues to have starting trouble.
The traffic controller lost situational awareness on more than one occasion – when I was taxiing off 25L back for takeoff and again when there were a few planes in the air. On the latter situation, he sent one of the planes on downwind and never called his base turn until the pilot radioed and said he had gone almost to Brushy Peak. He then asked for my position and turned me base in front of the other plane.
When Srinath took off, he was cleared for 25R but for a left pattern on 25L. The radio communication snippet will be helpful because it was confusing to me the first time I heard it.
During my pattern, I asked to be switched to 25R when I was cleared for left pattern on 25L. The controller accommodated me and that too is a helpful radio communication snippet.
Starting up 737GM was a bit of a bear but chose to fly it this morning because 906MD’s carburetor was being re-worked due to starting problems. Tower cleared me for takeoff on 7L. Winds 130@5kts but quite variable.
Flight to Byron was quite straightforward and it was a good smooth landing. On the flight from Byron to Tracy, I had still been tuned to the Byron radio and I was wondering why Tracy traffic wasn’t announcing on the radio. I was still hearing Byron traffic. While in the pattern at Tracy, I saw an aircraft taking off and one waiting to take off and I had not heard either of them speak on the radio. It was only when I was nearing base turn in the Tracy pattern that I realized my mistake. Landing at Tracy was also good. I next proceeded to New Jerusalem where it was a bouncy touch and go. The flight back to Livermore was uneventful.
The weather continues to be unusual. It is the middle of April and it rained overnight into early morning. Winds are expected to start howling in the afternoon. I woke up at 6am to notice calm conditions so I was eager to fly this morning. 906MD’s starter had finally gotten so bad that it was nearly impossible to start it up. Also, COM2 hasn’t been working for a while so the plane has been grounded for maintenance. Fortunately 737GM was available but since it has been almost two weeks since I last flew, I texted Steve to see if he will join me for a couple of patterns around the airport before I fly solo to Byron, Tracy and back. He was available and we decided to meet at 8:30am. On the way to the airport, I checked AWOS to note that there was a 7kts wind from 240 at Livermore, 9kts from 220 at Byron and 11 its at Tracy from 260.
737GM wasn’t easy to start either. It took a number of primes and then a number of throttle primes. We pushed the throttle fully in and kept pumping it while the engine continued to sputter. It gradually picked up RPM and was finally able to idle around 700rpm.
We did 4 patterns around Livermore before Steve declared that he had had enough and decided to get dropped off at the northwest tiedowns while I kept the engine running and continued on a solo. Two things I noticed are (1) that the throttle lever is significantly shorter compared to the one on 906MD and (2) that the throttle lever slips out very easily when the friction lock is not engaged. A couple of times I took my hand off the throttle to adjust trim and the engine rpm dropped as indicated by a change in the hum. Steve and I both lunged for the throttle at the same time to push it back in.
I got a clearance for right downwind on 25R and as I flew towards Brushy Peak, it got significantly bumpier. Clearly the winds were stronger the higher I flew. I chickened out and asked Tower to bring me back in for 25R. I appreciated that the Tower thought there might be a problem and asked if I need any assistance. It continued to be windy and bumpy but not terribly problematic so I did 4 touch and go’s back at Livermore before calling it quits.
It has been a while so Srinath flew dual today with Steve. School kept getting in his way. The day started off with calm winds and clear sky. It was a day of doing patterns around the airport and Srinath’s rustiness showed.
The variety today involved following a Champ which was significantly slower than us, and a jet that was faster and ahead of us. On one pattern, the Champ was so slow that Steve requested a right 360 (while downwind for 25L) to increase separation. The wind then shifted significantly and that indicated runway switch was impending. Sure enough, tower asked if we can take a 9kts tailwind or if we wanted to wait to land until the runways were switched. Steve decided to take the tailwind to show Srinath how that feels for ground roll. Then after turning crosswind on the next pattern, the tower changed direction and gave him instructions to turn right for 7R.
On that last approach a jet was turning base for 7L while Srinath turned right base for 7R and they both touched town almost in parallel.
Crab Tales 