Category Archives for flying
Lesson 33 – First Solo!
After my last lesson, Sandy and I talked about the schedule for July. I will be going on an Alaskan cruise at the end of the month so I wanted to schedule my usual twice a week lessons up until then. Sandy said we would get my first solo done before I leave so we […]
Continue readingLesson 32 – More Landings at KENW
We made the short hop to Kenosha again yesterday. I am getting familiar with entering the pattern there so that I can fly up on my own soon. My first solo is very close with solo to KENW close behind. The tower gave us runway 24L this time so the entry was to the left […]
Continue readingLesson 31 – Landings with a Different Perspective
I had to cancel Thursday’s lesson because of work commitments. Sandy was taking a day off so yesterday I flew with CFI Kim. It worked out fine and it was good to get a different perspective on landings. We stayed in the pattern at Waukegan and did eight landings, one low approach and one go […]
Continue readingLesson 30 and An Aviation Weekend
On Saturday, my wife and I went to the Lake in the Hills Air Expo 2006. The displays and performances were great, but I found that I was most interested in watching how the pilots handled the strong cross winds that prevailed that day. I watched every landing and studied how they fought for the […]
Continue readingLesson 29 – Same Thing, Different Day and Place
Instead of practicing landings on runway 14 at Waukegan, we made the short hop to Kenosha to practice landings on runway 14 there. Last time we went to KENW, we flew out to the northwest and then back east to allow me time to get oriented and make all the proper radio calls. When I […]
Continue readingLesson 28 – Repeat As Needed
I could just copy the entry for lesson 27 to this one. Again, we stayed in the pattern and worked on landings. The only real difference was that the pattern was more crowded yesterday. Every time around the pattern, something different came up. I had to extend downwinds, bases and departure legs to accommodate traffic […]
Continue readingLesson 27 – Landings Again
I was frustrated with myself after the stage check. I didn’t feel like I performed very well, especially with my landings. This lesson went great though and got me back on track. We stayed in the pattern at UGN and concentrated on landings. Out of the seven I did, four were very good and the […]
Continue readingLesson 26 – Stage Two Check Flight
The oral portion of my Stage Two check was no problem. I was quizzed on solo privileges and limitations, a few questions about the C172 systems, a little about traffic patterns and then a lot about emergencies and how to deal with them. I had most of the answers but I learned a few new […]
Continue readingLesson 25 – Polishing Landings
Scheduling a morning session paid off. When I got to the airport at 8AM, the winds were only 6 knots with a 2 knot crosswind component for runway 5. That is a big change from my usual 10 to 15 knots gusting to 20 or 25. I did my preflight then went back inside for […]
Continue readingLesson 24 – More Landings at C02
It was hot on Sunday! The temperature was about 90 when we took off and the sun shining through the windows of the Skyhawk made it even hotter inside. Opening the windows became an essential part of our after landing routine. I did a couple power off stalls and three steep turns before we started […]
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