As you may recall from last month’s recount of my flight
to DuPage Airport (Class D Airspace), I made a successful landing (remember, any
landing you walk away from can be considered “successful”) and found my way
to the tarmac ready to park under the tower.
I shut down my mighty 35-horsepower 2SI power plant and climbed out of my
Kitfox Lite, only to spy two men racing towards me in a golf cart.
Were they the “FAA guys” that I had worried about?
The two gentlemen hopped out of the cart and headed right
for me … well at least right for my plane.
“Wow, we’ve not seen anyone fly one of these in here,” one of them
said. I made a quick assessment
that these guys were cool. “Oh,
It’s a Kitfox – their Ultralight version,” I told them as they proceeded
to check out the plane and ask me many questions about how it flies, whether I
did the paint job, and how hard it was to build.
The guys turned out to be the ground service crew for the
FBO (Fixed Base Operation) at DuPage. I’m
sure they do lots of things, but I expect that manning the fuel truck is most of
what they do (well – besides perhaps also being the official DuPage Airport
greeters!) So, I asked them if I
could get some fuel (100 LL and Jet Fuel is what they carry).
I told them I would not need much, but they didn’t seem to mind.
They didn’t look all that busy anyway.
There were eight other planes parked and no one else in sight.
So they brought the fuel truck over and I “toped her
off” – a whopping two gallons. I
tipped the guy five bucks (actually I thought he’d wash my windshield too –
maybe next time) and said thanks. Off
they went back into their hut waiting for the next plane to land.
I waked up the ramp to the FBO’s office and paid for my
fuel ($5 and change). I turned
around and was met by a very large, fully decked out police officer with all the
firepower you would ever want. Oh
no, what did I do now?
As it turns out, he was on a lunch break.
He was in charge of the DuPage jail “chain gang” and was supervising
a roadside trash pick-up detail. The
“chain gang” weren’t actual inmates; they’d just been sentenced to a
certain number of hours of community service for their infractions.
I spoke with him at some length – a really nice guy.
About that time, Jim, my business partner, arrived.
We went over the details of the project that we were working on together,
and had a great sandwich at the restaurant located next to the FBO.
Of course Jim wanted to check out the plane.
So, after lunch, he and I walked out to the tarmac (no security that I
could find was preventing anyone from walking out there.
It’s funny: before
September 11th I would not have even given two thoughts about
security).
Jim’s reaction to the size of my plane was not uncommon
from the typical John Q Public. I’m
sure you know what I’m talking about. What
cemented his response was seeing all the “real” airplanes and jets on the
tarmac as points of reference. “Yep
it’s small, and it’s so much fun to fly,” I told him. And, I reflected, “gee that’s why we do it.”
After I said goodbye to Jim, I fired her up, powered on the
radio, practiced (repeatedly) what I was going to say to ground control,
squeezed the PTT and announced “DuPage Ground, Kitfox Lite under the tower
ready to taxi for departure.”
“Kitfox Lite, you have Quebec?”
Shit, I had forgotten to listen to ATIS.
You see, ATIS provides both arrival AND DEPARTURE information.
So, I had to humbly say “uh no, sorry…”
A proper announcement would have been:
“DuPage Ground, Kitfox Lite under the tower ready to taxi for
departure, with Quebec.” But hey,
that’s why we do this stuff, and that’s way I share this experience with
you: to learn.
“Kitfox Lite, Active is Two Two, Left; winds are One
Eight at Seven, altimeter 130.08. Proceed
straight out from tower on taxiway Golf, left on Delta, right on Hotel, hold
short of Two Two, then contact tower.”
I repeated his instructions (it’s a good idea to be ready
to write this down – I could never have just repeated it – funny how our
brain gets busy with lots of other stuff).
So, I throttled up a bit, rolled past the Citation Jets, returned a wave
back to a friendly GA (General Aviation) pilot prepping his plane and proceeded
down the taxi ways identified by the letters barked out by ground control.
At the hold short line for runway 22 I went through the
pre-flight routine that I learned from my flight training with Larry Gehrig.
Reciting “CIGTRS” I checked that the CONTROL surfaces were free and
fully operational; verified the EGT and CHT INSTRUMENTS were moving up and
checked my altimeter setting as well; looked down to make sure I had GAS and
that my fuel valve was open; set the TRIM flaps to one notch; did a RUN-UP on
the engine; and then check my SAFETY equipment – seatbelt was secure and BRS
was armed.
I switched over to the tower’s frequency and said “DuPage
tower, Kitfox Lite holding short at 22, ready for departure”
“Kitfox Lite, proceed to two two left, clear for
takeoff.” I repeated “proceed
to two two left, cleared for takeoff – thanks and have a great day.”
After lining up on the runway, I gave her full throttle and I was off.
Wheels up in 50 feet – only 5,120 more feet to go.
By the time I crossed the end of the runway (which must have seemed like
forever to the tower guy), I was at 1000 feet AGL. Probably no record for the altitude part, but I think I
earned the record for occupying the runway for the longest period of time.
Next time, I might request a mid-field departure.
Although not too many Ultralights find their way to DuPage,
it’s not “forbidden territory,” nor is any other Class D airspace.
I think the key to how warmly you are greeted and ultimately welcomed is
in the professional manner of your actions, and sounding like you know what you
are doing doesn’t hurt. Obviously,
I made many mistakes (at least after I had landed), and I’m sure I was clearly
labeled by the tower guys as a “rookie.”
But they were kind and polite to me and even helped me when I didn’t do
things by the book.
This summer the club has plans to fly into Aurora Airport, another Class D airspace. All you will need is a two-way aviation radio and an adventuresome spirit – oh and you might want to practice the lingo too. So, sign-up for the trip! Details to follow…
Where To Now?
Bill's Excellent AirVenture, Part 2