General Currency: KJYO-KOKV
I haven't flown much in the past couple months. Between work, winter weather and the plane's annual inspection, it's been difficult to get a couple hours to get in the air. After finishing chores Saturday, I decided to rectify that.
It was a beautiful early Spring day with temperatures about 60° F/16° C, light winds and clear skies most of the day. Looking at the weather, though, I saw some clouds and rain moving into the area. Local forecasts were for light rain and 10k foot ceilings by 8pm local. So much for a pure night currency flight. If I wanted to fly in VMC, I need to be down by 8pm.
I filed the DC ADIZ plans for a VFR flight to Winchester, VA (KOKV) and back, collected my gear and headed to the airport.
The plane flew fine despite the lack of instrument lights. Not to worry as I had a flashlight plus we have a hood light installed which does an adequate job of illuminating the instruments. The rheostat dimmer for the instrument lights has completely failed and spins freely. I was pleased to see that I flew nearly as well as the plane (metaphorically speaking, of course). I did a series of normal, short and soft field operations just to prove I remembered how.
I was keeping an ear on the AWOS to keep track of what the weather was doing above me and after a few landing cycles, the AWOS reported 4300 scattered clouds and 5000 broken (in feet, of course). Just 10 minutes prior, the ceiling was 9000 feet, so the clouds were rolling in quickly. That was interesting since surface winds were calm.
Anyway, I decided to just head home to Leesburg and call it a night. Wheels touched down at KJYO at 2000 hrs local right on the dot. I made the first turn-off, too.