Shedding monkeys and a bit of self indulgence

   Had my MRI last Thursday morning . I was told not to expect the results for a few days . But it seems the thing got read right away and I got the call that evening . They found NO cancer . Nothing remarkable about the confounded organ other than "moderate enlargement". Yea , I am getting a bit long in the tooth and have a lot of miles on the odometer . 
   So summing it up the Medieval Torture Biopsy / Easter Egg Hunt from last Halloween showed nothing , yet the doc felt there was still a 20% chance there might be something there , and now in theory this glorified microwave radar job clears up all doubt . I has been one heck of a terrifying ride since last July when this whole nightmare started with the bladder stone . It is a relief to finally have that monkey off my back , though I can't say I'll be completely at ease after this experience .
   The one aspect that has become glaringly evident how fleeting my own existence is . Time is ticking by , and for various justifiable reasons , for way too long , I have been holding back on the things I really wanted to do . Flying was once a big part of it all but somehow I let life get in the way . I'd sure hate to get to the point where I could not physically do it anymore and wish that I had . I want to get current again . Need to renew my medical certificate and find a place to rent an aircraft on a frequent basis to keep my feet in the game .

So as Saturday turned out to be a nice day , and I got the invite to do some instrument practice , we engaged in some unrestrained self indulgence  . . .

N67799 out of the hangar and topped off with 80 gallons of 100LL

First game plan for the afternoon .

While awaiting our departure clearance for RWY 18 we do our mag check and cycle the prop .

The plan is to simulate a panel failure and use the steam gauges to do the instrument approach into Brunswick instead of the G500 display .

Take off from RWY 18 KPWM

Passing over Portland headlight which is actually in Cape Elizabeth

Left turn on course to the BAILI fix

Passing Halfway Rock

Popham Beach on the nose

Entering the holding pattern at BAILI with the primary display dimmed all the way down to simulate a panel failure .

Going around the racetrack

The pink wedge depicts us in real time on the approach plate in the I-Pad. Outbound leg one minute , and then a one minute turn at standard rate , 3 degrees per second , takes us 180 degrees around for the inbound one minute leg . Four minutes around the hold . Shake and rinse three times .

Making the turn in the hold with Popham off the right wing about twelve miles out .

BAILI inbound

Down to 1700 feet before the CARMR fix and intercept the glideslope

Down to minimums at 263 ft, we retract the landing gear , add power and execute the missed approach as we pass over the solar panel array .

 The 01 approach in from the BAILI fix

Fly past Merrymeeting airport where I learned to fly thirty odd years ago

Over Pleasant Pond still iced in , we do the teardrop to reverse course and execute the approach to RWY 19 to a full stop .

After helping a couple Civil Air Patrol guys chase down an errant signal from an inadvertently activated emergency locator transmitter that's been going off for a couple days , we back the Bonanza into the hangar .

With this nifty rig made out of a Milwaukee Sawsall motor to power the nose-wheel

And took advantage of a smooth floor to crawl under the plane and clean the oil off the belly .

Back out in the afternoon sun

We taxi out past some big iron , a fifty million $ Gulfstream business jet . . .

. . .  and take off from rwy 19

And head back to Portland for a practice GPS RNAV approach to RWY 18

Controller brings us over the TOBKE fix

Then inside JANOB and requests we keep the speed up for traffic behind us so we come down the glideslope doing about 150 kts

Zooming in on the short north-south runway at Portland

This is what it looks like from the drivers seat