Guy trying to fly is right! I booked two flight lessons for this week, Monday 10-12 and Tuesday (today) from 9-12. I’ve been fogged out both days. The last time I flew on New Years Eve, the plane was late, my instructor had car trouble and she was late (which is fine because we didn’t have a plane to fly anyway), when the plane finally did get there, it was almost empty of fuel, and two of the three tires were low on air. So I had to wait for the plane to get towed to the fuel pumps to fill it up, then towed to the maintenance hangar to get air in the tires. So by the time we actually got to fly, our noon reservation turned into 1:30. Someone else had the plane right after me, so I couldn’t just extend my flight by 1.5 hours. Instead of … Read More
Just Call Me “Wog”… With VIDEO!!!
Well today was finally the day! My first solo flight! The day started out rather discouraging. The automated weather at Thun Field (KPLU) is still out, so we’re still going on best information we have available to determine what the weather is doing, which usually means checking the METAR and TAF at McChord Field on JBLM. They were reporting Marginal VFR conditions with the ceiling between 1,800 and 2,000 feet. Pattern altitude at Thun is 1,500 feet, but being a student pilot I need to maintain at least 500 feet of vertical separation from the clouds, which means the clouds need to be at a minimum 2,000 feet. I arrived at the airport at 9:30 for my 10AM flight lesson. I checked the gas and the oil in the plane and began my weight and balance calculations. Since the automated weather was out, AND I REALLY wanted to fly, I … Read More
One Step Closer to Solo…
Well since POTUS was in town today, that meant no flying for me! Thanks Mr. President! But it didn’t mean I couldn’t do anything aviation related. I’ve been working on my presolo written exam for a couple of weeks off and on. I decided to finally finish it today and review it with my instructor. So we spent an hour or so going over the last few questions we didn’t get to review on Sunday and then I got my first Log Book Endorsement!! “Presolo aeronautical knowledge: 61.87(b) John E Hurlbut has satisfactorily completed a presolo written examination demonstrating knowledge of the portions of Parts 61 an d91 applicable to student pilots, the airspace rules and procedures for Pierce County/Thun Field/KPLU, and the flight characteristics and operational limitations for a Cessna 172” I have another flight lesson scheduled for Thursday morning, but I seriously doubt that will be solo day. … Read More