Category Archives for flying
Private Pilot, Airplane, Single Engine, Land
For all of you who thought I would never get this private pilot thing finished (including me at times), I did! It has been a long road with a lot of starts and stops, highs and lows but; I saw it through and this morning I was handed a temporary airman’s certificate. Yep, I am […]
Continue readingLesson 112 – The Real Final Tuneup
Sunday was supposed to be the last training flight before the re-test but, Monday morning was IFR so I didn’t get it done then. Tuesday and Wednesday were windy with gusts over 30 knots so I canceled those too. Today is a repeat of Wednesday. I canceled with the DPE but kept the airplane so […]
Continue readingLesson 111 – Final Tuneup?
The weather was marginal today but, we were able to get out in the pattern for some fine tuning before the re-test. We did seven good touch and gos in an hour of pattern work. This was probably my best landing session yet and I feel ready for the DPE. Unfortunately, the TAFs for tomorrow […]
Continue readingLessons 109 and 110 – Getting Ready for the Re-test
I was scheduled to fly on Tuesday but, the winds were gusting over 30 knots so we pushed the flight to Wednesday at 3PM. The plan was to go to Westosha for some more landing practice. On the way there, I was under the hood. Actually, I bought a pair of foggles and used them […]
Continue readingLesson 108 – Short Session in the Pattern
It was another busy week at work so I only had Sunday to fly. I was scheduled at 2pm but, Sandy called before I left home and asked if I could make it later. Another student had taken the airplane on a cross country and was delayed getting back. We pushed the time back an […]
Continue readingLesson 107 – More Soft Field Work and Re-test Scheduled
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 […]
Continue readingLesson 106 – Burlington Again
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 […]
Continue readingLesson 104 and 105 – Tricky Crosswinds
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 […]
Continue readingLesson 103 – Preparing for the Re-test
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 […]
Continue readingBad News
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 […]
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