Flew the Diamond DV-20 out of KORH, (Worcester, (Ma), Regional).
Silly me, I decided to go “real time, live weather” and, when I set up the flight, the conditions were marginal but flyable. So, I did. Right outta runway 33, full speed ahead and punt the torpedoes!
There I am, flying along (at appx 1000’ AGL), with the clouds at about 5000’, (the runway is at about 1500’!), and I had some nice clear air to fly in, so I decided to go exploring North Worcester, (where I live when in the States), and I noticed two things.
- The trees were WAY overgrown. It looked like a rain forest!
- Mother Nature decided I’d had enough fun and the cloud base started dropping. Not to mention pelting rain and the light levels were dropping rapidly, despite it being just about 2:00 pm Eastern time, (14:00 for the rest of you). Did I tell you that the DV-20 doesn’t have interior lighting? Well, it doesn’t. And I didn’t bring a flashlight!
As the man once said, “Discretion is the better part of Valor”, and I decided that both my limited experience, and the DV-20, weren’t made for this, so I decided to bug the heck outta there and head back to the airport!
Lucky me, I know that Worcester Regional is just about exactly due south of there, so I was able to find it, despite the increasing fog and cloud cover.
Next stop: Getting that little beastie on the ground.
ATC said I should have Whiskey. Who are they kidding?!! I didn’t even have a warm beer, let alone Whiskey - and I wasn’t sure how to tune it in either. Since Worcester’s landscape is rolling hills at relatively high elevations, and elevation changes of up to 500’, I decided that I had two choices: Fiddle with the radio and (very possibly) crash into a hillside - or fly the blinkin’ plane and let ATC and the weather fend for itself.
I decided to “fly the plane” and I made a bee-line for the closest runway.
Attempt 1: Too high and too fast - I just couldn’t get that plane to land! - so I called a go-around and tried again.
Attempt 2: Tried it from the other direction. Full flaps, pull the power back, and set the propeller RPM’s waaay down. Still too high and I’‘m just floating down the runway trying to get the blinkin’ plane to decide to land. Seeing the 1000’ marker at the other end of the runway rushing up to greet me made the decision obvious: Go around!
Attempt 3: Since THAT’S not working, let’s try a different runway, (there are two, going different directions), and maybe things will be a bit easier. Did I hear you say “easier”? Surely you jest! Another go-around, barely clearing the hill at the opposite end by mere feet. Despite being closer to the ground than I’d like, I had to pull the flaps up before I could even think of airspeed. A hard turn to port takes us to:
Attempt 4: Since I was (fairly) close to the ground, I was able to FINALLY convince the plane to land. And land it did! The plane must have gotten tired of my shenanigans, and it planted itself on the runway with a firm “Thump!” It didn’t bounce, (I don’t know why not), and I was able to taxi off the runway, (badly), and ended up parked under a tubeliner’s wing.
Then ATC gets on the horn, offers me some more Whiskey, and clears me to take off on runway 33.
Nope. Nope, nope, nope, nope. I “nope’d” the heck outta there. That plane was parked, however badly, and parked it was going to remain!
Maybe, now that I have a cold cider, I’ll try somewhere else.
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