Valentines Day Aloft

Last night was a pretty special evening. One of those nights that could only come as the result of a year of hard work, dedication and support. I was able to take Christina flying to see the city and airport lights from the skies for our Valentines evening.

After a nice dinner, we dressed warm and headed out to the airport. I had already visited two hours earlier to take a look at the plane's fuel levels and test the position, beacon, strobe and landing lights while there was still sunlight.

The ceiling was low and broken with what appeared to be a dark stratocumulus layer. From the ground it looked completely overcast over Alpine, and obscurred mountains to the north around Ramona. Not wanting to get stuck away from the airport after dark, we elected to just do a few touch and go's. (The airport lights are the prettiest thing to see out there anyways.)

It turned out to be a nice brief flight with smooth air and little traffic. I logged my first pilot-in-command night flight and we went home to some dessert. One of the nicest things about having a passenger in the right seat is someone's finally taking pictures of these adventures.

Christina seems to be enjoying the flying more than I expected. I warned her of a potentially uncomfortable side slip to lose some altitude, and she actually called it fun!

Read More

I'm a Pilot!

N2458Q, The plane I took my checkride in.

On February 8th, 2012, I passed my checkride and became a private pilot! After 71.7 hours of flight training (with 14.5 being solo), I spent 4 hours with the DPE and earned what I had been working on for the past 11 months. One week later, it's still sinking in and I cant stop looking at my Temporary Airman Certificate. It's such a strange feeling to not have any lessons in my immediate future, yet it's amazing how much I continue to learn after only 2 flights as a private pilot.

On my return from a flight to breakfast in Hemet the next day, I landed at Gillespie and exited 27R. ATC instructed me to cross 27L and contact ground. For some reason, I didn't cross 27L and when I advised ground I was off of 27L, they told me to cross it and I had to hold short for a few other planes to taxi by. Not a huge safety issue by any means (I didn't even enter 27L) and we laughed it off. Something to remember though - listening carefully.

If I had written this after the checkride, I could have filled it with a flood of half-interesting details, but what I remember most is it wasn't as difficult as I had imagined. The examiner was doing things a lot quicker than lessons I had taken, but it was a pracitcal test and he mostly wanted to see positive control & a regard for safety. We did not really do a lost procedure, though we discussed it on the ground. Upon landing, we went back into Rison's office and printed my temporary certificate! The examiner left, and I was standing there alone - finally able to relax for the first time that day, and I was a pilot!

I had to pull the plane back out one more time and go fuel it up. I was exhausted, but took my time with it. The excitement prevailed. I taxi'd that plane to the fuel pumps with private pilot skills.

Read More