The route I settled on was MDW-HALIE-V340-RID-I68-I69. This took me around the MOAs in northern Indiana, east to Fort Wayne, IN (FWA), then south to Cincinnati’s Bravo, which I followed clockwise around to Sporty’s. I flew to Sporty’s at 5,500 MSL, which took me over FWA’s Charlie. I called FWA approach at the appropriate time and picked up flight following all of the way to I69—I’m glad I had just covered that topic with Alex! My interactions with flight following definitely had some rough edges on which I need to improve, but was a solid start to using that service.
Sporty’s was a bit of a disappointment. I had imagined aisles upon aisles of aviation goodies and an experience like being a child in a candy store. Alas, Sporty’s retail area was very small with only two short aisles and a counter area. The aisles and counter area were glass displays, so no touching the merchandise. The people behind the counter were happy to go into the massive warehouse behind the retail area and get anything I desired to peruse, but it wasn’t the candy store experience for which I had hoped. I picked up the SureCheck avionics checklists for the Garmin GNS 430/530 and Garmin G1000. The checklists make it easy to review common procedures for those devices without firing up the VFLITE trainer (which I love, but requires access to a computer).
We then flew home using the reverse route of our arrival at 4,500 MSL. I asked for flight following and received it all of the way to HALIE. Our arrival back at MDW was uneventful.
MDW-I69: 2.3 hours
I69-MDW: 2.7 hours
1 comments:
Sounds like a great flight. I am glad you went to Sporty's ahead of me, because in my head it is still the candy store. Even the photos of the exterior, with the Cessna's lined up on either side, make it look like a dream spot to drop in on.
I never go more than 30nm without flight following, and often have it for shorter flights. That way if something goes wrong I am already talking with someone (see also: Corey Lidle).
The checklist looks pretty nice. I have a single-sheet one (plastic, two sides) for the DA40/G1000. I think it's Flitecheck. I'll see if I can remember when I am next in the plane to check the name
Were you gliding distance to an airport the entire time? Was there a reason you didn't climb higher?
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