KJYO-KCHO-KOKV
The month of September was a very dry month in the Washington, DC area where we received barely 0.4 inches of rain for the entire month. That changed in October where we soaked up over 7 inches of rain in the first two weeks. The good news in this was that it came with weather systems that presented warm weather with low to moderate ceilings. In other words, perfect IMC training weather.
I was able to schedule the plane for an evening flight with weather forecast to be misty under ceilings of 1800-2000 feet. I planned the flight for legs to Charlottesville, VA (KCHO) for a landing, then takeoff for a low approach into Winchester, VA (KOKV) and return home to Leesburg. Radar showed no significant precipitation, but area observations reported scattered mist with visibility generally greater than six miles.
By the way, AOPA's On-Line Flight Planner has really come in handy in times like this. Granted, I'd rather have the option of using it without being online, but the feature list for the price is hard to beat.
During the taxi to depart KJYO, you'll notice use of the pilot-activated lighting system. This will show the low, medium and high setting and how it looks from the taxiway. Also, you'll see how the Beech jet lands on runway 17 and I depart runway 35. With calm winds, it was certainly pilot discretion, but the preferred runway at KJYO is 35. ATC seems to like us using 35 on IFR departures, too, since departing 17 points us toward Dulles International. The KJYO AWOS was reporting an overcast ceiling at 8000 so I was slightly surprised to glide through a layer at 2500 after turning westbound north of the field. It's disappointing that the clouds don't appear on the video even with the landing light turned on (which is the only way I knew I was in a cloud to begin with). Traffic was relatively light and ATC crossed me over the Dulles 12 approach corridor at 4000 feet.
Just south of Dulles I found myself between layers. The upper layer was quite scattered under the bright moon and the lower layer was solid. The Winchester AWOS at that time was reporting overcast ceilings at 2200 feet and I could make out a couple of the nearby towns by the glow through the clouds. Winds were smooth and I settled into the cruise scan.
ATC vectored me for the ILS 3 into KCHO. Between the night and cloudy conditions, the video won't show anything but a black screen until about 14 minutes into the video where the lights of the city fade in from beneath the cloud deck. After a nice, smooth landing, I got clearance for immediate taxi back to runway 3 for immediate takeoff.
Departure from KCHO was uneventful. I had filed mostly airways back to KOKV and you'll hear ATC ask if I wanted that for training. My goal was just the approach and ATC cleared me direct to KOKV until a few miles south of the field. There they sent me direct to CLADD intersection to intercept the localizer and cleared me for the ILS approach.
Again, not a whole lot to see during the approach until about 5 minutes into the video where once again you can just make out some of the lights below as I descend below the clouds. You'll also see the pilot-activated lighting system come alive at about 5:45. Even though the conditions below the clouds allowed for a visual approach, I elected to keep tracking the ILS down to decision height. After that, I flew the modified missed approach given to me by ATC. Winchester, VA is located in the Shenandoah Valley and the ridges can interfere with radio communications at lower altitudes. You'll notice the effects of this as I climb out (about 11:25 minutes into the video). ATC doesn't hear me until 3000 feet. While you might be inclined to say he just didn't respond to my first call, fly into KOKV a couple times and you'll realize it's nearly pointless to make any calls until you're close to 3000 feet.
ATC vectored me east of the Martinsburg VOR (MRB) and then to STILL intersection for localizer intercept. As with the other videos, there's not much going on other than audio until a couple minutes in where once again the town lights fade in as I descend below the clouds. Once again you'll see the runway lights come up with pilot activation. Landing was smooth and I rolled out to the middle turn-off direct to parking.
Total time: 2.3 hours
Departing Leesburg, VA (KJYO) (9:15)
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ILS 3 Approach and Landing at Charlottesville, VA (KCHO) (18:00)
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Departing Charlottesville, VA (KCHO) (6:21)
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ILS 32 Approach to Winchester, VA (KOKV) (13:18)
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Landing at Leesburg, VA (KJYO) (6:23)
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