Altimeter repair

[Pete Masterson]

C-152 has a maximum altitude of 14,000 ft. more or less, but the
climb rate drops down to something like 200-250 feet per minute once
you get above 10K feet. (pretty slow.)

However, on the occasion that I went to 12,000, there was a very
strong southerly wind that interacted with the Tehachapi mountains,
forming a 'standing wave' effect. At one point, I was in a full climb
to maintain 6500 ft or so (VFR) but then I was later in a humongus
updraft that gave me a climb of 500-600 ft per minute. As soon as I
realized what was going on, I decided to take advantage of the ride
so I could gain speed in a controlled decent north of the mountains.

It was actually a nasty day for flying such a small plane. Heavy head
wind -- fly high, clear of the valley fog and ground speed was
practically zip. Fly low, where the wind wasn't so bad, and the
visibility was not-so-great (but still legal). In the end, I opted
for low and mostly followed I-5 home to Sacramento -- checking my
progress against the highway signs...

The flight was taking so long, I had to stop for fuel in Fresno
(FAT)... As I made my approach, the tower said "keep your speed up,
there's a commuter turbo prop behind you..." so I flew the approach
at near-cruising speed, killing the power and shortly after dropping
flaps over the end of the runway. I even made the first turn off.
(Thanks to that headwind...)

Eventually, we got home to Rio Linda (near Sacramento) where I was
based. By then, the winds dropped, the fog lifted and we landed in
near-cloudless night after a long day of flying. (This was the Sunday
after Thanksgiving...)

It was an interesting flight for a relatively low-time pilot.

Pete Masterson
'95 Blue Bird Wanderlodge WBDA 42
aeonix1@...
On the road near Buttonwillow, CA (going home at last!)



On Jun 6, 2008, at 3:11 PM, dwalks@... wrote:

> Pete how did you get a C-152 to 12000.? It must have taken a long
> time.
> I fly a T310R
> Walker
> cramalot-inn
> 84fc35
> kcmo
>
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