To Niagara




	Madison to Niagara Falls

We got up at 5am on the Sunday morning. showered and shaved with the last of the packing to be completed, I filed the flight plan and printed off the navigation log with all the weather included. We were far too early for breakfast in the hotel so we stopped off at Denny’s on the way to the airport to fill up with a good breakfast. Our flight plan was showing a 8am local time departure so we had plenty of time. By 6.45 we were at the airport. The preflight check was done, the luggage loaded and by about 7.30 we were all ready. I went back into the Office and rang Madison Approach for our IFR clearance. Back it came cleared as filed, but clearance void if not off by 7.50. Back to the plane, we both put on our lifejackets in preparation for the crossing of Lake Michigan and we got started. There was not too long before the clearance would become void. We were in the air by 7.48 and I called Madison Departure who came back with radar contact. They then gave us a vector to avoid the only other traffic around that morning and then a couple of minutes later cleared us to our planned altitude of 9000 ft and “resume own navigation”. Ten minutes later we leveled off and left Madison well behind us. The weather leaving Middleton was a visibility of 4 miles in haze, with ceilings at 12000 ft. so it was with some relief that at 9000 ft the forward visibility improved to about 5 miles. The minutes ticked away as did the checkpoints. The first significant one was as we coasted out from the western shore of Lake Michigan. Then it was mid lake and there was some relief as we crossed the eastern shore of the lake 72 nm later. Along the way was a series of hand overs as we went from one facility’s airspace to another’s. It was impossible to get a good horizon and especially when crossing the lake. We were flying into to sun and getting the full on effect of the haze. As we passed Muskegon we decided to remove the lifejackets as it was getting a bit warm. By now we had been going an hour and a half and all seem relaxed. The sun was also a lot further up and the haze had cleared appreciably. We began hearing all the other traffic start to come to life. Most of it was training traffic as we passed through the various approach control airspace. As we approached Flint, we were vectored to the north to pick up V 84 rather than fly the full way to the VOR. This save us a few minutes. However after picking up V84 we could see some weather ahead as we were tracking the airway to PECK VOR. I was contemplating asking for a deviation when we were handed over to Cleveland Center. Straight away I asked whether I could deviate to avoid a cloud top and ATC cleared me direct to London (Ontario), just like that. This suited me as again, it cut a bit off the journey. So I dialled up the London VOR and set the GPS to direct to YXU. Almost immediately we were transferred to Toronto Center. As we approached London, it got interesting. The weather had forecast isolated thunderstorms for the afternoon. The weather ahead looked anything but isolated and it was only mid morning. However at 9000 ft it looked a lot better than for some of the aircraft we could hear below us. A Baron was behind us having difficulty. There were tops rising to about 11,000 ft so the weather had not really started cooking. Nevertheless I did not want to fly through the stuff ahead. Center cleared me to find a way to the south of where I was. But after a quick look this was a non starter. So another chat with Toronto Center ended with them saying “cleared to do whatever you need to do and come back to us when you are ready” . A blank cheque really. I just steered between the clouds for about fifteen minutes mainly cutting an arc to the north. My only concern was that of getting too close to Toronto airport which I could see on the GPS. But very soon, we were away from and clear of the tops. Below us was a solid gray mass of cloud which we would need to descend through. The Baron meanwhile had decided to call it a day and diverted to Detroit. We were fortunate in that if we had been five minutes or so behind time we would have found it difficult to do anything but divert north and make an unscheduled landing in Canada. I would not have fancied fighting my way through a solid wall of convective cloud. Our ground speed was about 10 kts above forecast so that additional 30 nm made all the difference.



		Yellow shows the actual course taken

We called up Toronto Center to let them know we were clear. They replied with a “Direct to Niagara Falls Airport” and a chance to relax before we prepared ourselves for the descent. I had a good idea as to what lay ahead, Matt did not. A quick listen on the Niagara Falls Airport ATIS gave weather of 240/12, scattered at 2800, broken at 3000 and overcast at 5000. The cloud below us was topping at 8000 ft so I knew we had about 3000 ft to go through before we could see anything. There was no rain on the ATIS.

Toronto came on and asked when we would like to descend. I asked for another 5 minutes as I wanted to be sure I was ready. Next came a clearance down to 7000 ft. Power back, we were going down nice and smoothly and just as we got to 7200 ft we were just tossed back up to 7500 ft. Just after that the rain started. It gushed through the air vents to our surprise and it seemed as if the cockpit was flooded. We were then cleared down to 5000 ft so with the power back we continued down.

This was becoming really unpleasant. We were being thrown around all over the place. For the descent I disconnected the autopilot and chose to hand fly it through the rough weather. Outside was total grayness. The instruments were comforting as I systematically worked the scan. It was fun having direct control of the plane.

The rain continued to hammer against the windshield. As we reached 5000 ft we were handed over to Buffalo Approach who cleared me down to 3000 ft and began to give me radar vectors. We were to fly the ILS approach for runway 28 R at Niagara Falls. We were then cleared down to 2300 ft until established on the localiser. When I reported visual with the runway we were switched to land on runway 24.

After landing and parking up at the FBO Matt and I just sat there for a minute whilst we collected our thoughts. Brakes off to Brakes on was four hours ten minutes. It turned out later looking at the GPS that the distance flown was 503 miles, the diversion adding over thirty miles allowing for the earlier shortcuts but we were within 5 minutes of our estimated arrival time.

We were going to stay overnight at Niagara Falls so we asked for the plane to be tied down, and a hotel and taxi arranged to take us to the city. Within 40 minutes of landing we were in our Hotel.

As soon as we got into our room, Matthew crashed out on the bed and slept solidly for 2 hours. I dozed a bit in the armchair just mulling over what we had achieved and thinking through the lessons. It was clear that the last 30 minutes of the trip had taken it out of both of us.

After that we went across the border to see the Falls from the Canadian side on a really steamy hot afternoon.

The main lesson was that if you need something just ask ATC. The worst they can do is say no, but as I found out on the West Coast trip and on this trip they will say yes if they can. Asking ATC for deviations made all the difference between being worried about a situation to feeling in full control. I also had enough information to help with my back up plans too. Canadian charts and approach plates made a Canadian diversion viable too. I had plenty of outs, and when I landed, I still had 2 hours of fuel on board so there was no need to make too many decisions in a hurry too.

The other lesson was that retaining situational awareness is vital especially when you are faced with lots of twists and turns. Checking the DI is really important to ensure that incorrect headings are not flown. Like wise both the GPS and the traditional radio navigation instruments were used to confirm the position.

Having successfully managed my longest trip in both time and distance in IFR was a great confidence booster.


	[Home] [Oshkosh] [To the East Coast] [To Niagara] [To Providence] [Back to Niagara] [To Morey] [Introduction] [Gallery]