Stealing

The weather at Iron Mountain is clear with good visibilities. At Oshkosh, from where I departed just 40 minutes ago, the ceilings were 500 feet with 2-miles visibility in mist.

Even better the forecast for Anoka, where I will be 90 minutes or so after I land at IMT, load on 400 pounds of freight and add 240 pounds of fuel, is for clear skies and light winds.

I check on with Minneapolis Center and tell them I'll plan a visual approach into IMT.

What a difference 24 hours can make.

The previous day Iron Mountain was reporting 2-mile visibilities, rain and a low overcast. 30 seconds after leaving Oshkosh I was in the clouds and stayed that way until the approach lights oozed into view at IMT.

The runway at IMT is a little more than a mile long and I figured I was about a mile from the approach lights so I looked up and never did see the far end of runway 01. Good enough though, maybe it's more like a mile or a mile and a half, still above minimums and therefore legal to land.

From IMT to Anoka it was more of the same. Nothing to see inside the clouds but Anoka's weather, at least in terms of visibility, was better than at IMT and the second ILS of the day was an easy one.

I left Anoka at midnight, a time of day when I've usually been asleep for quite some time. Green Bay, where this run usually drops its freight, is closed so I'm pointed toward Appleton, WI instead. The weather at ATW, just north of OSH, is scuzzy but improved a bit from when I left nearly 8 hours earlier.

I glance at the outside air temperature then switch off the pitot heat and a few seconds later the right alternator failure light glows. Odd.

I consider turning the pitot heat back on. One basic rule in airplanes is that if you move something and something bad happens, move it back.

I flip the load meter to the right side and it reads zero, so the right side alternator is, indeed, not bringing anything to the party. Mentally I work through the electrical system schematic, come up with nothing and file it away in the “one of those things to ask about later” compartment.

Plenty of airplanes have been crashed when the pilots got distracted by a simple caution light and forgot about flying the airplane.

I'm descending through the darkness at nearly 200 knots. The left-side alternator is working fine and I'm being vectored for the approach so will soon be on the ground, which is a fine place to troubleshoot a problem. The airplane is running fine and I do not smell smoke. Life is good then.

A few minutes later the light winks out, glows again then goes out for good. I flip the load meter switch and it confirms the right alternator has decided to show up for work after all. I thank it and go about my business.

Another ILS, another landing. I cancel my IFR clearance then taxi around the airport looking for the courier who is waiting for the bags and boxes tucked under the cargo net behind me.

Twenty minutes later I find him. Who knew it could be so difficult to find the only other conscious soul on an airport at 1:30 on a Friday morning.

By now, the fatigue is catching up with me. I'd tried to adjust my sleep cycle and forced myself to stay in bed longer than normal that morning, but biorhythms are slow to change. So I slowly work though the checklists, set up my radios, dig out the approach that will get me back into Oshkosh and my hotel then get a clearance and launch back into nothing.

A few minutes later I'm on the approach, flying it relatively poorly due to the fatigue, and just when I think I need to go missed I catch a glimpse of the airport beacon and the runway lights off to my right. I bank toward them, find the runway and plunk down.

One night. Four approaches. This is normal freight pilot stuff but new to me. And good fun at that.

Fast forward a day. IMT is behind me and the weather is beautiful. I finish my trip at Anoka so instead of heading back to Oshkosh and a hotel I'll sleep in my own bed and eat a home-cooked meal.

I fiddle a bit to counter the boredom. I cycle the de-ice boots to make sure they're working. I'm certain I will need them soon enough as winter descends on the upper Midwest.

For a moment I consider seeing if the lights that point back toward the cargo bay actually work then I think better of it.

Seldom used switches in old airplanes are best left alone and I don't want to explain how I was bored on a beautiful day so turned on a cabin light and set the airplane on fire.

Instead I drone on enjoying the view. Yesterday I earned my pay and today I am stealing it.

Fair enough then.