Winging It

Lesson 97 – Better Landings

September 5, 2007
/ flying
/ By tom
/ 4 COMMENTS

Sandy and I went out in the pattern yesterday to concentrate on landings. I did much better than last time. I was trying to concentrate on my crosswind correction and so, let the landings get a little flat; not horribly so though. Sandy wasn’t worried abut the flair and she was happy about the improved […]

Lesson 96 – Back to Landings

August 31, 2007
/ flying
/ By tom

We went to Kenosha where they have parallel runways. That way we could do touch and gos without interrupting the traffics flow like we would back at Waukegan. My landings were better than last time but, still far from perfect. The good news is that they got better as we went along. I was really […]

Lesson 95 – Remedial Landings

August 28, 2007
/ flying
/ By tom

For some reason, suddenly I seem to be unable to find the ground with both hands. Sandy and I went out to do short and soft field landings on Sunday but, ended up doing short and soft field takeoffs but only normal crosswind landings. I just couldn’t get it together in the flair. I did […]

Lesson 94 – Stormy Weather

August 24, 2007
/ flying
/ By tom

Those readers in the Chicago area know all about the extreme weather we had yesterday afternoon. For those of you who live elsewhere, it was a period of severe thunderstorms and near hurricane force winds. The Waukegan airport was spared the worst of the storms but, it was still not flyable for training after about […]

Waiting out the Weather

August 21, 2007
/ flying
/ By tom
/ 3 COMMENTS

I haven’t posted lately because, I haven’t had the chance to fly for a while. The weather here in the Chicago area has been crummy, especially on the days I have been scheduled to fly. Today is a perfec t example. I should be leaving right now to go to the airport but, here are […]

Lesson 93 – Maneuvers Run Through

August 15, 2007
/ flying
/ By tom
/ 2 COMMENTS

Sandy and I went out to the practice area to go through all the usual maneuvers. I didn’t have any real problems with any of them. Sandy pointed out a few little things I could do, like getting the power in quicker when entering slow flight, but nothing major. There are a couple things that […]

Lesson 92 – Solo and Checkride Plans

August 13, 2007
/ flying
/ By tom
/ 2 COMMENTS

I went out to the practice area for some solo work yesterday. I did a quick run through of all the maneuvers and I was happy with how I did. Back at the airport, I stayed in the pattern and did four landings before calling it a day. The Designated Pilot Examiner I was planning […]

Lesson 91 – Touch and Gos

August 10, 2007
/ flying
/ By tom
/ 2 COMMENTS

The weather wasn’t great yesterday. It was another hot, humid day and METARS around the area showed low ceilings with scattered rain showers. Sandy and I stayed in the pattern for more landing practice but, this time, we did touch and gos instead of full stops. That let us get in more landings in a […]

Lesson 90 – Hotter Day Pattern Work

August 3, 2007
/ flying
/ By tom

We considered several options to deal with the yesterday’s heat. I could go solo or we could do some dual to review high maneuvers since the air should be cooler at higher altitude. One of the CFIs put together a new training presentation on the KAP140 auto pilot so, we could do some ground school […]

Lesson 89 – Hot Day Pattern Work

August 1, 2007
/ flying
/ By tom

This week is the hottest of the summer, so far. Staying in the pattern doesn’t allow the interior of the airplane to cool off much but, landings are what I need work on so landings are what we did yesterday. We only did six take offs and landings in a short 1.1 hour session. I […]