Flying Across America - Hello N4857W

When we moved to Florida, we packed what we could and sold or gave away nearly everything else. Nearly everything. One thing that we did not pack, sell, or give away was our 1/3 ownership of N4857W. It was not for lack of trying. I took a guy out for a demo flight, but he decided to buy a Mooney instead. I also was conversing with a Canadian gentleman, but he bought a different Commander. So, 57W was left behind in Renton, WA.

It is now three years later, and I have returned to Seattle to bring 57W home. Thanks to my air miles, I was able to get a free flight to Seattle on Alaska Airlines on Friday evening. Hector - one of the co-owners - and his wife Pat generously picked me up at the airport and invited me to stay at their home on Mercer Island; which is situated on a hill overlooking Lake Washington and is more like a resort than a house. I accepted.

This morning we drove to Renton airport to get re-acquainted with 57W. It had been a little over three years since I last flew N4857W. The plane had been in the shop getting its yearly maintenance work done, as well as some required work on the elevator, since April. There was some concern that the work would not be completed before my arrival. Needless to say, I was happy to see her parked in our hangar, ready to fly.

Before I could go fly, I had some paperwork to take care of. My co-owners joined me in creating a bill of sale and signed over the registration. At 9:30 am, I became the sole owner of N4857W.

N4857W, nose in the sun, ready to fly

The next step was to get current and familiar in the plane. Hector had arranged a flight instructor for me weeks in advance. When I showed up to pick him up, he was not there. The FBO checked the calendar and he was not scheduled. They called him and he was on a sailboat in the Puget Sound. I called my co-pilot - Todd - to see if he was willing to do the checkout. He was in a weather seminar and wouldn't be available for another hour. So I went back to the hangar and reviewed my checklist and the layout of all the cockpit instruments.

When Todd called back, he mentioned that he had an instrument student who wanted to see the plane. I said sure, but after lunch. After lunch, we found Derek waiting for us outside the gate. I opened the hangar and pulled 57W out into the sunlight to complete the pre-flight. Derek seemed like a nice guy, so I asked if he'd like to join us for the next three or four hours. To be forthright, I gave him a brief history of the plane's recent maintenance and asked him if he accepted the higher-than-normal risk. He did, with pleasure. I'll never tire of seeing the joy in another person's eyes as they experience general aviation.

After more than three years, I stuck the key into the ignition of my airplane, turned it, and the engine roared to life. Oh what a fantastic feeling that was.

The flight plan consisted of a few key items. First of all, we wanted to verify that the plane was indeed airworthy; it had not been off the ground for over six months. To reduce the risk of a possible issue, we planned to ask the tower if we could circle the airport above the traffic pattern. Second, we wanted to test the autopilot. For the flight to Florida, it is likely that we will encounter some bad weather, so we wanted to be sure we could count on the autopilot to fly the correct course. And third, we wanted to build some confidence and trust in the machine. After being away for so long, I needed to get a feel for the controls at various speeds and configurations. Finally, I wanted to get current - three take-offs and landings in the past 90 days - so I could carry passengers (Carrying passengers while flying with a flight instructor on a training flight is legal).

With great excitement and anticipation, I taxied onto runway 16 and applied full power. The plane accelerated briskly and moments later, we were airborne. The tower cleared us to circle the airport at 1,500 feet. After three circuits, we found no problems, so we left the "nest" and headed for Hoquiam. Along the way, we configured the autopilot to fly a specified heading. The autopilot performed this task with ease, so we challenged it to hold the VOR radial from SEA to HQM. Again, no problem for the autopilot. Finally, we asked it to intercept the ILS into Hoquiam. This didn't work out so well, so I hand flew the approach and landing.

On the ground, we taxied past Lana's Cafe; home of the best peanut butter milkshakes (that I've come across) in the Pacific Northwest. I looked at the clock. It was 4:30. Lana's was open, but when did it close? What if it closed at 5:00? Would we have time to take off, do another full approach, land, and make it back? We decided not to risk it. I pulled a 180 and taxied back to Lana's. Since Derek was the passenger, we decided that he should buy the milkshakes. He happily agreed. Ahh, peanut butter milkshake... yummy.

After our shakes, we put some fuel in the tanks and continued our flight. I flew west toward the VOR, then out over the Pacific Ocean for one minute before turning around to fly the approach. As I looked down at the waves, I first thought that Andrew would sure like to see that, then I thought how amazing it is that today I'm flying over the Pacific coast, and in one week, I'll be flying the same plane over the Atlantic coast.

I landed one more time at Hoquiam, then we headed east toward Shelton. I handed the controls over to Todd so he could start to get a feel for the plane, too. Flying from the right seat of a plane is not that difficult physically, but it changes one's view of the instruments, so it is difficult to read certain gauges properly. We worked through some of these issues as we tried to find Shelton visually through the decreasing evening visibility. Todd entered the downwind leg to land as I announced our position over the radio. When we reached midfield, another plane asked us for our position, then asked if we could see him. I looked up and saw the parachute jumper plane about a thousand feet above us and slightly ahead. He asked if he could land first and I said yes. At that point, the other pilot descended sharply toward the runway. Whoa, that was pretty impressive. Todd followed him in and scored his first landing. Derek noted that he was amused to see his instructor receiving instruction from another instructor.

After Shelton, I took over the controls and we turned back to Renton. Once out of the pattern, I asked ATC for Flight Following. This is something pilots do to increase the safety of the flight. With Flight Following, the air traffic controller will point out nearby traffic that (s)he sees on the radar screen. As a side bonus, flights that use this service generally show up on FlightAware (I was later disappointed to see that our flight was not tracked).

Just before dusk, we turned the corner at the 520 bridge and headed south for Renton. I reported our location to the tower as we passed downtown Bellevue. I was cleared to land over the lake on runway 16. After landing, the controller cleared me to taxi on Bravo, then told me that it was good to see us flying again. I thanked her and told her it was great to be back in the air again. What a fantastic first day of flying.