Late Updates, Making Progress!

Since my solo flight, I have been making some very fast progress. We are at the end of winter time and in Cleveland that means 50 degree weather on one day 20 degree weather the next day, and very rarely until the end of April can you count on several days of good flying weather.

Whenever I have a good day, without stiff crosswinds, both of my instructors have been very good at letting me grab the plane and go. While my landings are decent, I still have to work on the flare in the Warrior.  For a few weeks many of my approaches have been high even on base to final which has resulted in me going to idle and full flaps and touching down further down the runway than I like. As I recall when I was flying the Cessna 152 years ago, I have the same issue. The difference is I am on a much longer runway (5,100 feet) so touchdown is not nearly as critical however, and I am landing in a distance less than 2,500 feet.

I also did a dual cross country from Cuyahoga County Airport to Meadville Pennsylvania to Youngstown Ohio, which pretty much went well. I was able to sneak in a solo cross country to Meadville and back, unfortunately while in Meadville I did not get a chance to walk down to the hot dog stand up the street from the airport. I was however able to circle around the ex-girlfriend’s cottage on the lake and give her the finger.  (Okay, no I didn't)

On my last flight I was under the hood for an hour which was actually more difficult than I thought in some ways but easier in other ways. It was more difficult for me the first time out mostly because the air was pretty choppy and I did not realize that flying as accurately as needed in turbulent weather was so difficult. At the end of this flight I simulated in instrument approach from about 2 miles out following the glide scope and localizer, and I was surprised that the transition from instrument to visual and having a smooth landing was not so easy.

My instructor is okay with me choosing an airport that is 85 miles away for my long cross-country, which is Wheeling West Virginia. While in Wheeling I hope to grab lunch with a couple I know in the area, and then fly back to Cleveland by way of New Philadelphia. A lot of this will depend on the weather and I am looking forward to the challenge of flying to another state on my long cross-country, and to another area away from Cleveland.  

Solo practice is fun!!