Long, Overdue Updates

Sorry, I’ve been out learning.  Since my license on April 29^th, I have accumulated 44 hours of flying in under 6 months.  While I love the Cherokee Warrior, I have added in the Cessna 152 and the Cessna 172, and fly all three depending on my mission.

The 152 is for puddle jumping.  My flights in the 152 will be no longer than 1 ½ hours round trip. Most of the time when I take the 152, I am not using my GPS, and using the compass, the E6B, and my stopwatch. Many times when I take the 152 it is a solo flight with no particular place to go. I did fly from Cuyahoga County Airport to Mansfield Airport, the return trip was at night, and through Bravo airspace. Generally, I have had no surprises. Yes, the 152 is a great trainer and when I moved back down to it I got a chance to see the difference between a heavier four seater and the two-seat trainer. And I have come to the conclusion that for my needs, the plane is great for calm winds, especially if you are taking up somebody for the first time.  I am sure this is a great cross wind trainer.

I recently checked out in the Cessna 172 Skyhawk, and initially had problems landing it, but after a few flights most of my landings are full stall and the wheel in my lap. With the weather changing here, I wanted to get some crosswind practice and figure the 172 would be a great plane for me. My first efforts in gusting winds that were almost directly across the runway, did not go well at all. In fact, after one landing I called it quits with my instructor. While taxiing in, the rain started so it pretty much was a good idea to not keep trying and battling the storm that was approaching. In fact, about 100 feet off the runway on the departure we were getting kicked around quite a bit so I pretty much knew this was going to be a short lesson.  Overall I pretty much like the Skyhawk, even though I still love the Warrior much more. 

My cross country flights have been fairly short, all within the state of Ohio. I did, however, get to fly up to Put in Bay, and Port Clinton for lunch on several occasions. I have taken a couple trips to Salem Airport to the newly reopened restaurant. I also visited Carroll County Airport, known for their freshly baked pies, and was able to enjoy the pie and breakfasts they offer there. One overnight flight took me to Mount Vernon Airport, and I did fly down to Columbus to attempt to have lunch at Bolton Airfield, but unfortunately the restaurant was closed for 4 July evening.  I got to visit my old airport, Wadsworth Skypark for a cookout they were having, but unfortunately weather was a problem and we had to leave within an hour and a half, missing some pretty good times at my old hangout.

Like several other pilots that post on YouTube, I also have been making videos to be able to critique my progress. Not only have I mounted the camera on the window over my shoulder, I have recently experimented with mounting the camera on my headset so you would get a true point of view experience, and so far while it has worked, sort of, I will be trying to find a better way to mount the camera so that there is a full view of the panel and over the cowl shot.

So, I have been flying my butt off. Most important of all, I’d look at every flight as a learning experience and as I have been told by several people, I am very safety conscious intake my license very seriously. 

So stay tuned, there is a lot more to follow.