• Welcome to the new Commander Owners Group Forums. Please bear with us as the kinks are worked out and things are tweaked. If you have any questions or issues with the new platform, please post them here.

Taking the bride to breakfast

gmascelli

Active member
Supporting Member
Ocean City, MD
Aircraft Year
1976
Aircraft Type
112/A
Reg Number
N453TC
Serial Number
453
Breakfast with my Bride




The weather in the mid-Atlantic is absolutely gorgeous for our Labor Day weekend. Humidity gone, rain nowhere to be found, sunshine in abundance. Mary wanted to join me for a short breakfast hop to Cambridge, MD - KCGE. I am always happy to have my bride fly with me; we were both excited to get in the air.



I did need to stick the tanks, and confirm fuel on board 3 Tango Charlie. I thought I had thirty-five gallons left after my last flight but honestly could not remember the exact number. After using the fuel stick I was able to confirm forty-three gallons. No fuel would be needed for the hour round trip. Saddle up!


I climbed away from ocean city on a 320° heading, and then turned direct CGE. The ride was smooth, cool, and the view unlimited. I did not video today, instead, I enjoyed my time with my bride. Patuxent approach was quiet as we skirted the north side of the Salisbury Class Delta. I switched com two over to pick up the weather at Cambridge. Winds were 260° at nine knots, making runway three-four my choice.

The on-field restaurant, Katie's, was busy with the one waitress playing hostess and bus boy. Thankfully, everyone was patient. It was nice to just sit and chat with my bride while we watched the many hummingbirds swarm the multiple feeders on the windows.

Once we finished up we headed back out to the plane to head home. I did a walkaround and then climbed aboard. When we arrived there were only two planes at the tie downs. On departure the front row was full, we had beaten the lunch crowd.



The return flight was a simple course reversal, again avoiding the Salisbury Class Delta. As we passed by the north side of the Delta airspace at two thousand six hundred. Patuxent approach called us out as a target for an American Airlines Embraer-145 crossing our path, south to north, at three thousand. The Embraer was cleared to nine thousand and we stayed on our heading and altitude.

Once clear of the Delta airspace I switched over to CTAF at Ocean City. There were a few calls from Woodbine NJ and zero traffic at the home base. The position calls at ten and five miles went unanswered and I made a nice landing on three-two to end the day. [TABLE="align: center, cellpadding: 0, cellspacing: 0"]
[TR]
[TD][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]3 Tango Charlie back in the nest[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
 
Awesome flight ... great that your wife enjoys flying with you.
 
Great Stuff!!... Quick question, what are you using as a fuel stick?
 
Great Stuff!!... Quick question, what are you using as a fuel stick?

I’ll look at the fuel stick when I go back to the hangar and report back. The previous owner took the time to build the fuel measurements chart, so I was good to go from the start.
 
Great Stuff!!... Quick question, what are you using as a fuel stick?

This is what I use along with a chart that the previous owner set up.


A81D492B-9B53-4B69-8CDC-4E2393823C40.jpeg

Click image for larger version  Name:	54ABFDA3-8F93-4C08-8C36-4355B89552FE.jpeg Views:	0 Size:	75.4 KB ID:	180221
 
Last edited:
Nice write up. I used a fuel straw a lot with my Warrior, very accurate. With the Piper wing the inches left seemed to have more bearing on fuel onboard. The Commander ‘dihedral’ combined with my fuel totalizer seems to make a straw less of a to-do, for me anyway.

What type of tow do you use? I’m still a pusher, hard if slippery. At some point I may get a tow that works.
 
Gang,

I keep my life simple, for flights under 2 hours, I fly at the tabs (48 gal). Two hours or more, full fuel. We also have a Shadin fuel totalizer onboard, which appears to be pretty accurate.

Hope this helps.
 
Gang,

I keep my life simple, for flights under 2 hours, I fly at the tabs (48 gal). Two hours or more, full fuel. We also have a Shadin fuel totalizer onboard, which appears to be pretty accurate.

Hope this helps.

Phil, I have the Shadin as well and it is unbelievable how accurate it is.
 
Will the chart you shared work on a 114 or is it specific for the 112?

I honestly have no clue. What I have came with the 112A, and I’m not sure about the total fuel qty for the 114’s.
 
I'm not sure about the total fuel qty for the 114's.

Same capacity, unless it was a 114B or later with the extended range tanks (88 useable).
 
Gary, another awesome flight! Keep them coming! :D
 
What type of tow do you use? I’m still a pusher, hard if slippery. At some point I may get a tow that works.

I missed this question. I am using the Dragger tug. I bought mine used at a fantastic price, it needed batteries and new tires. It works great although I wish the handle was taller/longer.
 
Joe. I bought Robotow tug earlier this year and it works awesome on my 114B. I have a slight incline into hangar and it handles it like a breeze. Speed and direction easily controlled. It uses a 28volt Milwaukee tool battery (included with charger) hooks to the nose gear plate with their supplied Commander adapter. I did tape the nose gear plate to avoid scratching. Very happy with it and would buy again. I had a Dragger previously, but the tires would slip on incline with greater load (more fuel onboard).
 
Back
Top