Tag Archives for " private pilot training "
Lesson 60 – Barely Legal
It has been another long dry spell but, I managed to get in the air today – for the first time in 2007. In fact, this is the first time I have flown since before Christmas. I had scheduled the airplane from 7am to noon, hoping to beat the winds that seem to hit us […]
Continue readingLesson 59 – Local Solo
Finally, a day with weather good enough for a solo flight. I had the airplane reserved for two hours and planned to go out to the practice area to work on maneuvers and then back into the pattern for a few landings. As it turned out, I did get out to the practice area but, […]
Continue readingLesson 58 – Starting Checkride Prep
I had hoped to get my long cross country done yesterday but, strong winds and rain showers prevented that again. We decided to use the winds to get in some crosswind practice. Sandy chose East Troy as our destination because I hadn’t been there before. That would give me more pilotage practice on the way. […]
Continue readingFickle Weather
It has been just over a week since my last flight. I missed a couple lessons because of the cold weather. Last Thursday it was too windy for me to go out solo and too cold for dual landing practice. The winds were gusting to over 30 knots and the temperature was about 10 degrees […]
Continue readingLesson 57 – Winter Is Here
Waukegan got over 15 inches of snow on Friday. The snow storm was followed by a major temperature drop over the weekend. I got in a short lesson on Sunday but, it was sure cold! The thermometer in my car showed 18 degrees as I pulled into the parking lot. I was scheduled for my […]
Continue readingThe Go – No Go Decision
Sometimes, the decision to make a flight or stay on the ground can be a tough one. Other times, it is an easy call. Today was one of those easy ones. I had planned my long solo cross country to go from Waukegan to Oshkosh then to Baraboo/Wisconsin Dells and back to Waukegan. Today was […]
Continue readingLesson 56 – Finishing the Hood Time
I need 3 hours of simulated instrument time for the private pilot certificate. I had only done 2.1 up to now so, the goal was to finish it off during this lesson. I put the hood on while we were still climbing out of the airport and didn’t take it off again until we were […]
Continue readingLesson 55 – First Solo Cross Country
After weather, aircraft maintenance and scheduling delays, I finally flew my first solo cross country yesterday. I went from Waukegan to Janesville, Wisconsin and back. Only 53 miles each way, but a big step in my training. I ventured away from the familiar training area and navigated to a planned destination all by my self. […]
Continue readingLesson 54 – Night Cross Country
My first night flight got me 1.5 hours of night flying and three night landings. I need a total of three hours, ten landings, and one night cross country to qualify for private pilot. Last night, we finished off all those requirements. I chose Rockford as the destination because it satisfied the cross country requirement […]
Continue readingLesson 53 – A “Passenger”
Yesterday looked like a very nice day – from the ground. In fact, when I got to the airport, I learned that it was very hazy above the ground. I wouldn’t be doing a solo flight today. Instead, Sandy asked me to pretend she was my passenger and we were going to take a short […]
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