Winging It

Lesson 107 – More Soft Field Work and Re-test Scheduled

October 29, 2007
/ flying
/ By tom

Work pressures are limiting me to weekends flying only for now so, it had been a full week between lessons. We went to Burlington again (I’m getting more time there than at Waukegan lately) to concentrate on soft field landings. The first two were just a little firm but, the last three could actually be […]

Lesson 106 – Burlington Again

October 21, 2007
/ flying
/ By tom
/ 2 COMMENTS

After a week long layoff for nasty weather, we went back to Burlington yesterday for some more crosswinds and to try the grass again. I had the hood on for the trip there and, that went fine. We did one simulated engine out after I took the hood off and we both agreed I would […]

Lesson 104 and 105 – Tricky Crosswinds

October 12, 2007
/ flying
/ By tom

The winds have really been kicking up around here lately. That’s good for crosswind practice so, Sunday and yesterday we did dual sessions working on crosswind landings. Some of the landings on Sunday were a little crooked but, the winds were very tricky that day. Yesterday’s landings were all quit good. I haven’t had a […]

Lesson 103 – Preparing for the Re-test

October 5, 2007
/ flying
/ By tom
/ 1 COMMENT

I had a short dual session with Sandy yesterday to work on landings in preparation for my re-test. We went to Galt, where we had a pretty direct crosswind. It wasn’t nearly as windy as it was during the checkride, but there was probably a 7 or 8 knot cross wind component. I was under […]

Bad News

September 26, 2007
/ flying
/ By tom
/ 7 COMMENTS

Well, I failed my checkride. I shouldn’t have, but it happened. I had a bad day at the wrong time. I watched the extended weather forecast for several days before the test. For most of that time, the reports were calling for scattered thunderstorms and gusty winds. On Sunday night though, the TAFs for the […]

Lesson 102 – A Short Solo

September 21, 2007
/ flying
/ By tom
/ 1 COMMENT

I went out for an hour yesterday just so I wouldn’t get too stale before my checkride. I did a couple steep turns and some slow flight but, mostly, I just flew around for fun. The thing was though, I gave up on the flight right after takeoff. As I took off on runway 5, […]

Lesson 101 – Marking Time

September 19, 2007
/ flying
/ By tom
/ 1 COMMENT

I was scheduled for my checkride last Wednesday (Sept. 12)with an alternate date on Friday. We had to cancel Wednesday because of low ceilings. To stay fresh, Sandy and I went out for a short dual session on Thursday. We did a few landings at Burlington and some hood time on the way there and […]

Lesson 100 – Gusty Wind Landings

September 12, 2007
/ flying
/ By tom
/ 3 COMMENTS

I flew with another CFI on Tuesday. This was supposed to be a final soft and short field lesson before my checkride. As it turned out, it was a good lesson but not in conditions that would allow soft and short field work. The METARS gave the winds as 290 at 14 gusting to 23 […]

Lessons 98 and 99 – Double Header

September 9, 2007
/ flying
/ By tom
/ 1 COMMENT

I flew two lessons today. At 10 AM I went out solo to go over all the maneuvers on my own. I went through the whole routine of slow flight, power off stalls and steep turns up high then dropped down to 1700 feet for S-turns, turns around a point and rectangular patterns. I had […]

Waukegan Airshow – 2007

September 9, 2007
/ airshows flying
/ By tom
/ 2 COMMENTS

Georgia and I went to the Waukegan Air Show today. We couldn’t have asked for a more perfect day to be out at the airport. Temperature was in the low 70s and the sun was shining. There was just enough of a breeze to keep the air moving. With great weather and excellent performers, it […]