I finally found some time this evening to get back in the air! Almost 49 days since my last flight and I was worried I was going to be rusty. Tonight’s flight was just to get up in the air again and practice takeoffs and landings. I did two quick loops of the pattern at Westosha. I have to admit the first landing was a little snarky but I had everything dialed in by the second. After that greaser, I flew up to Burlington (BUU) for a change of scenery. Apparently a lot of other pilots around there had the same idea I did, because there was a lot of traffic up there (especially for Thursday dusk). Ultimately I was happy for the challenge and the radio work, though…since it had been so long. I did three landings and takeoffs at Burlington (all nice in my opinion) and flew back to Westosha to end my flight.
Man, it was great to be flying again! I know 49 days days isn’t THAT much, but I was itchin’ to fly. I actually have a plane booked for tomorrow as well. I think I’ll fly to DuPage Airport and the Kittyhawk Cafe for lunch.
I logged 0.9 of Pilot-in-Command flight time this flight and 6 landings.
This past weekend my wife was out of town for a spa trip with one of her girlfriends, so I had some time to myself. Considering I hadn’t flown at night in probably over 5 months, I figured it would be great time to get current on my night takeoffs and landings (since I’d have to do those solo before taking passengers up at night anyway).
I headed to Westosha on a beautifully calm and clear Saturday night. The night air was crisp and the new moon allowed the stars to shine very brightly. Of course, this also meant that pre-flighting the plane was a little more difficult and tedious as everything had to be done by the light of my flashlight. I forgot how difficult it can be to check the airplane and read the checklist in the dark of night. Even once in the plane, things are a notch more difficult. Just goes to show how important it is to properly prepare beforehand.
The flight went great. I first headed up to Burlington (BUU) for a change of scenery and knocked out 2 full-stop landings there. I then proceeded over to Kenosha (ENW), since I always need a little more practice with communicating with towered airports. I had my Mio C320 personal GPS device and the airplane also had GPS to help me find my way. I must admit, I’m pretty happy with my C320 and the NavGPS software…it worked like a charm and jived 100% with the built-in GPS of the plane. It is great for situational awareness. That being said, I realized a pilot must take the data these devices provide at face value. For instance, the tower told me to report out 1 mile right base of the landing runway. Of course, the GPS doesn’t measure distance from the end of the runway, it measures from probably the airport center. That being said, when I reported to the tower 1 mile out (according to my GPS), I was probably 0.5 miles from the end of the runway. And as usual with night flights, distances are hard to measure visually. Needless-to-say, I had to perform a side slip to lose altitude quickly enough to land near the end of the runway. It was good practice, though, as I hadn’t had to perform a slip in some time anway.
After Kenosha I headed back to Westosha and tied up the plane. I completed 4 full-stop takeoffs and landings, one extra from the required three to keep me legal to take passengers up at night for a while. I can’t wait to take Lisa up at night again; it’s so pretty and peaceful with all the lights. I logged 1.1 hours of pilot-in-command flight time.
After more than a month since my last flight, I finally got up into the sky again today. It’s not like haven’t been trying, though, it’s just the weather around Chicago hasn’t been cooperating on the weekends. Luckily, since I had off of work today, I was able to schedule a plane and putz around a bit. My trusty Cessna 152 trainer, N64920, was the plane I flew.
I did a quick jaunt up to Burlington (BUU) just to land somewhere else, rather than run the pattern a few times at Westosha. The flight was uneventful, but it was definitely great to get flying again. I’m scheduled to fly tomorrow (Thanksgiving Day) with both my parents for the first time since earning my license. This practice helped make sure everything goes smoothly tomorrow!
This flight I logged 0.8 hours of flight time. Have a Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
