Club Signoff

I hadn’t anticipated all the delays that have come up in getting my complex endorsement. It has been dragging on since the end of December. I though I would be signed off to fly all the club aircraft a long time ago. Now, a new set back has come up that I should have known about but somehow didn’t. In addition to the 10 hours, 25 landings and 5 go-arounds in the Cutlass , the insurance company also requires 25 hours of PIC time in a C172 or equivalent since getting the private pilot certificate before being signed off for the 172RG. A look at my logbook shows I am a few hours short of that. So, yesterday, I diverted course.

I booked a couple hours in the non-complex C172S and a couple hours of Pete’s time. In the end, we only used .9 hours of the time. During my training at Skill, I flew R model Skyhawks. The S model at Stick & Rudder is almost identical. The fuel injection system and the avionics are virtually the same so the transition was easy for me.

We went to the practice area for a steep turn in each direction and a stall. Then Pete had me line up on a smoke stack and do a slip to the right and then one to the left while holding heading. After that, he dialed in a VOR station and had me intercept the inbound course and track it for a couple minutes. Done with that, we called the tower to let them know we would be entering the pattern for some touch and gos. In all, I did 5 landings, including one with no flaps, and a full flap go-around before we called it quits.

I taxied back, we tied the airplane down and Pete endorsed my membership card for all the club aircraft except the Cutlass. My new plan, now that I can fly on my own again, is to build the required 25 hours then use the last 2 hours I need in the C172RG as a review before adding that endorsement. After that, it will be time to start instrument training.

As long as I fly, there will always be new things to learn and that is the way it should be. I just have to stay flexible and willing to adjust to what ever comes up along the way.