Winging It

Lesson 49 – Overload

October 23, 2006
/ flying
/ By tom
/ 2 COMMENTS

Sandy decided the strong, gusty winds yesterday were just what we needed to make this lesson challenging. We flew to Palwaukee, which is one of the busier GA airports in the Chicago area, and did one landing there. We taxied back and got a quick clearance to take off to the north. Sandy had me […]

Lesson 48 – Another Round Robin

October 20, 2006
/ flying
/ By tom

This lesson was much like the last one and went even better. The plan was to fly to Lake in the Hills, Burlington and then back to Waukegan. The airplane was not yet available when I got to the airport and that made us a little late taking off. Another student was scheduled after me, […]

Lesson 47 – Back in the Air

October 16, 2006
/ flying
/ By tom

I finally got back to flying after my long layoff. I definitely have accumulated some rust that needs knocking off. That was most obvious in the landings. The plan was to take off from Waukegan and fly to Galt, enter the pattern and land there, take off again and fly to Grand Geneva, enter that […]

Holding

October 10, 2006
/ flying
/ By tom

Sorry for the lack of recent posts. In my last one, I mentioned that I missed a couple lessons because I wasn’t feeling well. As it turned out, I have had to miss several weeks of training. I have been battling a very bad prostate infection for some time now. I am finally starting to […]

Catching Up

September 23, 2006
/ airshows flying
/ By tom
/ 3 COMMENTS

It’s been a while since I made an entry and I have some catching up to do. I haven’t flown in a couple weeks but, things have been going on. I went to the air show at the Waukegan Airport on September 9. The weather was not ideal but the show did go on. The […]

Lesson 45 – Review and Some Trickery

September 8, 2006
/ flying
/ By tom
/ 3 COMMENTS

After fighting a cold for several days, I’m finally starting to feel better. I got in a long flying lesson yesterday. Even though I wasn’t feeling 100%, it went OK. This, and the next lesson, are supposed to be a review of everything I have learned so far in preparation for the Stage 3 check. […]

Lesson 44 – Soft Field and More Hood Time

September 1, 2006
/ flying
/ By tom

This lesson added another .5 hours of simulated instrument time to my total. In addition to more of the straight and level, turns and climbs and descents I did last time, Sandy added distraction by having me tune the radio and set the GPS while still maintaining my instrument scan. I kept the airplane right […]

Lesson 43 – Hood Work and Short Field

August 28, 2006
/ flying
/ By tom
/ 2 COMMENTS

Thursday’s lesson ended up being a ground school session because of thunderstorms in the vicinity of the airport. We went over non-directional beacons and ADF use. I have a feeling that all those calculations of relative bearing, magnetic bearings, magnetic headings to and from the station, etc. are going to be very hard to do […]

Lesson 42 – Class Charlie

August 20, 2006
/ flying
/ By tom
/ 2 COMMENTS

Today’s lesson was a dual cross country to Madison, Wisconsin for familiarization with Class C airspace. This is different from the Class D at Waukegan in that you talk to approach control on arrival and departure control on takeoff. These are radar facilities that provide an orderly flow of aircraft into and out of the […]

Lesson 41 – Simulator and Crosswinds

August 18, 2006
/ flying
/ By tom

Sandy called me while I was on the way to the airport yesterday. She was stuck in Kenosha getting a flat tire fixed on the airplane I was scheduled to fly so she would be late. Since I was already headed there, I went on to the airport anyway. I was content to just hang […]