My Flight to Napa to Pick Up My Wine

Getting Comfortable with N209J

After taking a sunset flight on Friday night and then spending the rest of the night in San Francisco chatting it up with fellow Spanish speakers, I returned to my house around 1AM and took what turned out to be a brief night’s sleep before my Saturday morning flight to Napa. Earlier in the week, I’d schedule the Warrior that was recently placed on the line (N209J). I figured for such a short flight, it made more sense to fly a Warrior at a reduced rate ($105/hr w/$5/hr fuel surcharge) rather than spending $20-30 more per hour in an Archer. I visited the airport a couple of days earlier to check the plane out and ensure that it would be comfortable for my Saturday morning flight. It’s a nice Warrior with a VFR only Garmin 400 GPS, autopilot, auto trim, and wheel fairings. So in a way, it was a test flight for me because I wanted to see how fast it would fly once I got it up to cruise altitude.

Let's see...which plane do you think is mine for the day?

Recently, I’ve become frequent and very satisfied user of ForeFlight on my iPhone. It really makes flight planning and filing easy and quick. I still like to call Flight Service (FSS) to make sure I get all the NOTAMs and TFRs, but now I don’t have to wait through an entire briefing to receive those two items. Not to mention that I can plan and file my flight plan before even calling FSS, so when I call in I only have to request an abbreviated briefing for my aircraft number and within a couple of minutes, I get the necessary information rather than what used to feel like forever just to get through all the preliminary requirements.

Hmm…This Doesn’t Feel Quite Right

I started up the Warrior around 10:30a and headed out to the run-up area. Like most late weekend mornings at PAO on a nice day, the run-up area was pretty full. I had to wait a couple of minutes just to pull up and run through my checks. I purposely took my time with the checklist since I was flying a different aircraft for the first time. And it was pretty easy to notice since I kept above my head for the main magneto and light switches (that’s where they’re located in the Archer III). I received my squawk code, departure frequency, and takeoff clearance and headed out for a right 45-degree departure out of PAO. During the takeoff roll, as the Warrior passed Vr at around 50kts, I noticed that I had to fight it off the ground. I did have a split second thought that…oh shit…the controls on this plane are tough and I might not be able to get it airborne. But just as soon as I had that thought, I started to play with the trim tab. I realized as this was happening that in all my run-up checks, the one thing I forgot to do was set the trim for takeoff. I always do this….but it’s just funny the little things that you might overlook when flying a new plane.

Shortly after departure, I climbed up to 1500 ft, turned to 360, and transferred over to Oakland Tower. I requested a cruise altitude of 4500 ft for my flight to Napa but I wasn’t sure if they were going to allow me to climb that high within Class C and Class B airspace so close to the major airports. After a quick clearance up to 2000ft, Oakland Tower handed me off to SFO Class B and they immediately cleared me to 4500ft. It was gorgeous up at that altitude. I’ve never been in the Bay at that altitude, especially flying directly between SFO and OAK.

Traveling through SFO Class B at 4500 ft.

Arrival into Napa

I thought that I would get Flight Following for my entire route to Napa but at about 20 miles out, NorCal cancelled my radar services, told me to squawk VFR 1200, and contact Napa Tower. At least that gave me enough time to tune in the Napa ATIS (weather) before contacting Tower for my approach clearance. Ironically, I didn’t feel to nervous about my approach into Napa even though I’d had an interesting takeoff back in PAO. It was a bit windy though (210 at 16kts), which was a slight crosswind on runway 24 at Napa. That made it a bit bumpy on the final approach and I felt like I was finding my feel with the aircraft and controlling its airspeed. But I was able to settle it down as I crossed the runway threshold and I just allowed the plane to glide down the middle of the runway while it lost the necessary airspeed prior to touchdown. Apparently the big boys were in town that weekend at Napa. There were several business jets on the main ramp, along with a B-17 that was giving air tours during the week (about $400/person!!!). That said, they sent all us little guys over to the south ramp, yet I decided to park next to a Citation business jet. It gave me a little sense of “pimpage.”

The vintage car I got a lift in along with the B-17 in the distance.

Just as soon as I parked the plane and began to tie it down, my ride called to say that she was in the area. I was visiting Napa that day to go bottle and pick up wine that I’d made with a group of people over the last year and a half. I bore the heavy winds on my 1/4-mile walk along the ramp to reach the pilot lounge. While walking a gentleman pulled up to me in an old vintage car. At first, I thought it was going to ask what the hell I was doing walking along the ramp, but instead he asked if I wanted a lift. I said “sure” in a surprising yet appreciative tone. In the minute or so that I spent in the car I came find out that the guy who gave me a lift was Gary Wooton, the owner of Smith-Wooton wines of Napa, CA. It was pretty ironic given that there I was a pilot and soon to be wine owner, getting a impromptu car ride along the airport ramp from a guy who was a wine owner and pilot in Napa. It was a fitting way to begin my day of spontaneity in Napa. For more information on my special day in Napa bottling my wine, visit Jarard.com – Il Amante di Vino.

Heading Back to the Bay

After a full day in Napa, getting my wine, visiting a winery with the group (and no I didn’t drink any), and then having an amazing late after lunch, I was dropped off back at the airport around 6:30p. Luckily the FBO on the field had a courtesy van to help me transport my two cases of wine over to the plane. Otherwise, it would have taken me another 20-25 minutes just to walk over to the plane case by case. I received a quick briefing from FSS and made sure to find out what the weather was down in the Bay. I could see some clouds forming over the coast and I wanted to make sure that I would run into any issues as I returned to the Bay. FSS informed me that the best information they had was nearly 45-50 minutes old and their radarscopes didn’t pick up anything to major in the area. So I departed Napa and performed a straight out climb up to 5500ft. As I neared 2500 ft I was transitioned to NorCal, which was great given that I was reached 4500ft, I received an immediate traffic alert for a Bonanza that was flying directly towards me at my same altitude. Just as ATC told me about the aircraft, I saw it at my 1 o’clock at about 200 ft below me. I immediately increased my climb rate though there was never an issue that we would get much closer.

Departure from Napa at 5500ft.

At 5500ft, I made my turn south into the Bay and noticed a pretty thick layer of clouds over the city of SF and about 3/4 over the city of Oakland. I decided to contact Flight Watch and receive a weather update. However, when I contacted Flight Watch I was told that I was “number 2.” I tried to wait a couple of minutes until she got back to me, but my quarterback clock was ticking, I’d been cleared by NorCal to switch frequencies to pick up Flight Watch but I wasn’t comfortable being away from NorCal for a long period of time given that I was flying in Class B at 5500ft. There was no telling what was going on around me. Instead, I picked up the updated ATIS at PAO and they were reporting few clouds at 2000ft. So I need to make a decision. I could see that the clouds covered a large portion of the Bay and I thought that it might be clear south of the middle of the Bay…basically around PAO, but I wasn’t sure. So once I reached the area around the downtown SF, I switched back to NorCal and requested a change in plans. Rather than flying at 5500ft over SFO down to PAO, I requested a descent below the clouds and over OAK where I could see a bit of a clear path.

Uh oh...the clouds are racing in over the Bay.

NorCal immediately cleared me down to 2000ft and direct to Oakland. But as I reached 2000ft I informed ATC that I’d need to get lower to get below the clouds. So then they cleared me down to 1400ft. I reached 1400ft a couple of miles north of Oakland airport and the Tower attempted to vector me over the Coliseum. I had to decline that request since I could see that I’d need to get below 1000ft just to get below the clouds and find the Coliseum.

1000 ft clouds above Oakland.

Instead, he allowed me to fly direct to the San Mateo Bridge, so long as I stayed south of the approach end of runway 29. At this point, I was flying thought an open area at eye level with the marine layer of clouds about 1/2 mile off the left and right sides of my wings. Yet the layer started to close up, so I decided to go lower.

Uh...I'd say I'm 2000ft horizontally from the clouds.

Thankfully, at this point I was flying directly over the Bay, so I knew I could go as low as 500ft and still be legal. I eventually got down to about 650 ft at the time I crossed the San Mateo Bridge. However, at least I could see that the marine layer ended in about 2-3 miles and as soon as I came from over the clouds, I climbed back up to 1200 ft and contacted PAO Tower for landing.

Skud running...650ft above the San Mateo Bridge and Bay.

I was the only aircraft in the area when I called in, so PAO Tower immediately cleared me for landing. Boy, was I ready to land. I entered a right downwind for runway 31 at PAO and prepared for landing. I requested a wind check, given that marine layers tend to create tricky winds around the airports. I think the wind was like 280 at 16 kts…so again a bit of crosswind. Yet everything seemed fine on downwind and base. On final, things started to get a bit weird. I was having a little bit of difficulty slowing the plane down. I used 2 notches of flaps (25 degrees), which would cause for a 65-70 kph final approach speed. But on final I noticed the plane was hitting speeds of 75-80. So I knew I needed to slow it down. It was also a little bumpy on final, but I’m used to it by now and usually find a way to get it down straight and settled. I cross the threshold and felt that the plane had a bit too much energy during flare. So I allowed it bleed off a bit, but apparently not enough. My main wheels touched the ground and immediately departed the ground. I had entered a bouncing state. I can’t remember the last time I bounced on a landing. Usually I might land a little hard, but I rarely bounce an aircraft. Not only did it bounce once…it bounced a second and third time. On the second bounced, I lost a bit of directional control and had an immediate thought of initiating a go-around. But in that same second, I could feel the aircraft losing energy and I didn’t want to initiate a go-around with an aircraft that wasn’t heading straight down the runway. Thankfully the plane settled after the third bounce and I was safely back on the ground…if with nothing else but a slightly shattered ego.

Lessons Learned

I felt pretty bad after my landing and was thankful that I didn’t have any passengers with me. As I taxied off the runway, I radioed ATC and asked, “Did that look as bad as it felt?” The controller responded, “It didn’t look bad at all.” Well thanks for trying to smooth my ego but I know that was pretty rough. It made me think back to earlier in the week when I spent time at the airport watching some student pilots land in crosswinds. Quite a few of their landings made me nervous, so much that I left the airport after seeing a guy nearly lose control while on the runway.

The landing really occupied my mind for the entire taxi back to parking and even while I was tying down the plane. But then I remembered something my dad said to me many times before…”sometimes we all make a bad landing.” That’s true and as long as you can return to the ground safely and learn from your previous experience, that’s all you can really ask for. And I did learn a couple of things on that flight. There were two instances during my landing into PAO that I had an uncomfortable feeling and I think I would have responded differently had I had passengers on board, as I tend to be more conservative when flying others.

The first time I should have decided to do a go-around would have been while I was on final having difficulty slowing the plane down to a decent final approach speed. The second time would have been once I experienced the first bounce. At that point, the aircraft was still heading straight down the runway and it would have been easy to initiate the procedure. Instead, I rushed it a bit and tried to make it work. I guess the good thing is that I rarely bounce a plane and did so in this case, so next time I know what factors will contribute to an unsatisfactory landing. Yet and still, it was a good flight and experience….something from which I can take a few lessons and become a better pilot. As they say, if you’re not learning something from every flight, you’re probably doing something wrong. Until next time!