Unprepped

Im usually fairly well prepared to tackle whatever airborne challenge I might face. Then there was a day in early March when I felt woefully unprepared. I got through it, but Im still licking my wounds. The mission was supposed to be a short hop to a nearby airport, pick up a fourth and re-launch for some airborne headset evaluations on behalf of sister publication Aviation Consumer. The weather was forecast to be broken layers at 1500 and 5000 feet, with good visibility between them. Walking out the door for the first-thing flight, I notice the early-morning stars had been replaced by a low overcast; an IFR clearance was definitely necessary. Soon, the three of us were on top of the lower layer, motoring off to our destination. But the plot thickened: Our destinations ceiling and visibility were down the tubes and the only glideslope was out of service. Not wanting to waste fuel, we turned around and headed back to our departure point, not far behind us. After a quick series of button pushes and leafing through the plates, we were set up for the approach and, after flying the full procedure, found the runway right where we left it.

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