Today I got off from work early and decided to try and make a flight. I knew that the weekend weather was supposed to be bad and today's weather was very pleasant. My daughter had early dismissal from school so it was off to the airport with her for a ride. My second passenger since I got my license.
We got to the airport around 4p.m. and I knew that it would be a short flight because the sun was going to set in about an hour. After preparation and engine start I taxied over to runway 28. Along the way I made a radio call to advise I was taxiing. While I was on the taxiway the Howard County Police Helicopter made an approach to land from the East. I didn't hear him at all on the radio and found that a little odd. I could hear the Comm2 radio just fine and couldn't seem to figure out why he hadn't announced the approach. After run up we departed to the Southeast and I called up approach control. I got no answer. After about four or five more calls I gave up. I hoped that everything was okay and that I would get a call on 121.5MHz, the emergency frequency, if anything was wrong. Because of the time and the lack of communication with approach control, we turned around and headed back to Tipton. If had been a short flight, but my daughter was so very excited to be flying with me. She had a spectacular view with the setting sun. The air was smooth and the winds were nearly calm on the surface. Once again, my landing was another greaser. While the flight was only about 15 minutes, it was magical. My daughter is looking forward to her next flight.
I called up approach to make sure that they were not looking for me. They said that they had called me several times but go no answer. Since I returned to Tipton after being unable to reach them everything was okay. Then I discovered my radio "problem." The volume control had been turned down all the way so that the radio was inaudible. I felt pretty stupid and vowed to make a squelch check part of my checklist.
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