Post by yankeegolf on Dec 21, 2013 16:03:52 GMT -5
When will this stop ?
I took off from Albuquerque (NM) with Gunisson (CO) as my destination. It was a northbound course that made me overfly a high east-west mountain range in Colorado. The METAR was good at my destination with VFR conditions all along. My flight being in the 1 hour class, I neglected to check the TAF. No big deal for an experienced pilot like me. The only problem that I foresaw was my high cruise altitude with a risk of hypoxia. The flight conditions were good; I easily spotted my prepared waypoints and found my way without trouble. My flight was uneventful till I reached the mountain range. There, reaching the top, I saw in horror, an ocean of clouds on the northern side of the mountain a few hundreds feet below me. Being only 50 miles from Gunisson, I had to start my descent right away through the dense cloud layer. I quickly pulled out my ILS approach chart. I would have to aim first at a VOR located 15 Miles east of the airport and then intercept the ILS on a 270 radial. Now my problem was that I was rather rusty, IFR wise. But I had no choice, I had to land. The cloud layer was thick and I knew that just below me, there were scattered peaks all over the place. I descended gradually making sure that I kept a safe height, taking into account the mountain altitudes showed on my sectional chart. Occasionally I could see glimpses of the passing terrain just below me. I began to feel really uneasy. What if I am not where I think I am? Will it hurt if I crash? I rechecked my location in relation to the VOR to make sure that I was not too low. Everything seemed to be correct so I carried on with my descent. Still I had some doubts. I selected the ILS frequency. Good news, I received the LOC and the glide signals. I listened to the Morse code as a crosscheck. I kept my heading waiting for the LOC needle to be centered. And I kept waiting too, and the needle would not move. I was still descending wondering whether my trajectory would intercept the terrain below me. I could not see anything, except that dense cloud layer I was flying into. I was now only a few miles from the VOR, waiting anxiously to turn right on the loc beam. Come on needle, please move!! I can’t take it no more. Am I on the right frequency? Yes, I should be. Where I am? Not far from Gunisson or am I? Maybe I am not where I think I am. In this case, where am I? I may have made a huge navigation mistake and be heading right in the face of a mountain, oblivious to my impending brutal death. When will this stop? Here it goes, the needle is moving at last. I turn right, trying to center the ILS. Here it goes, Don’t panic, be cool on the flight controls. Only concentrate on the instruments, don’t look out of the cockpit.Cleared to land by the ATC. Oh no I am still too high, I have to descend, one more notch of flaps, gear down. OK on the glide, Loc still correct. Speed on the high side, throttle idle. Full flaps. Now I have to wait for the runway to show. What is the MDA? Still 500 ft higher than the MDA, and no runway in sight. Please runway, do show, I need you, I don’t want to do a missed approach, not here with all those nasty mountains all around and start the approach all over again. When will this stop? Enough is enough, I want to leave this aircraft right now, but I can’t. I don’t want to die, not yet, I still have some blunders to make. MDA….top… here come the runway lights. I am saved; just a smooth landing and everything will be over. Touch down, shriek, thump, braking action, speed controlled. It has stopped, at last. Oh my god that was tough!!
YG
Good story! I know the feeling, I like to fly in the mountains in Alaska. You can be having a great day and then the clouds show up at your destination lol. You had everything on track but now things don't look familiar......am I where I thought I was???!!