back in the saddle again...

[woodstock]

after nearly 5 months off I went up again with my CFI. 2 hours! and a short SOFT field landing - combined. welcome back! no molly-coddling for sure.

it was great! perfect day to fly and hardly any screwups. this is a good thing even when you are very current let alone 5 months out.

Now that it is DST I will be able to fly during the week which is a good thing b/c I will be traveling on weekends - nearly every one. I think b/w now and mid-July I'll be home perhaps 3 other wkds. yipes. but we should be able to fly a few times midweek if our scheds mesh.

 

[Kaye]

after nearly 5 months off I went up again with my CFI. 2 hours! and a short SOFT field landing - combined. welcome back! no molly-coddling for sure.

it was great! perfect day to fly and hardly any screwups. this is a good thing even when you are very current let alone 5 months out.

Now that it is DST I will be able to fly during the week which is a good thing b/c I will be traveling on weekends - nearly every one. I think b/w now and mid-July I'll be home perhaps 3 other wkds. yipes. but we should be able to fly a few times midweek if our scheds mesh.

Good for you!!! Now keep it up....

 

[NC Pilot]

Congrats and welcome back in the air.

You now spoiled for commercial air travel?

 

[EdFred]

You know Elizabeth, if you actually stay in the country you can do more flight training.

 

[spiderweb]

Congratulations on coming back!

 

[woodstock]

Congrats and welcome back in the air.

You now spoiled for commercial air travel?

I am THOROUGHLY spoiled.

 

[woodstock]

Kaye, Ed and Ben - thanks! I will be flying mid week which is usually better anyway - an excuse to get out on time and a nice way to end the day!

 

[HPNFlyGirl]

I will be flying mid week which is usually better anyway - an excuse to get out on time and a nice way to end the day!

Makes you feel better after a long day at the office eh?

 

[woodstock]

Makes you feel better after a long day at the office eh?

yes!

 

[ScottM]

after nearly 5 months off I went up again with my CFI. 2 hours! and a short SOFT field landing - combined. welcome back! no molly-coddling for sure.

it was great! perfect day to fly and hardly any screwups. this is a good thing even when you are very current let alone 5 months out.

Now that it is DST I will be able to fly during the week which is a good thing b/c I will be traveling on weekends - nearly every one. I think b/w now and mid-July I'll be home perhaps 3 other wkds. yipes. but we should be able to fly a few times midweek if our scheds mesh.

You go and remeber to also have fun while doing it!!

 

[flyingcheesehead]

You know Elizabeth, if you actually stay in the country you can do more flight training.

Bah! Elizabeth, train everywhere, and you'll know more about international flying than anyone else on the board as well as having some great flying adventure stories! I love flying in the random places that I end up to mix things up, but I'm usually in the US still.

January: G1000 182 from Tampa to Key West
February: Cub and Super Cub on skis at Cadillac, MI
March: Twin Comanche out of Hillsboro, OR down the Columbia River and out over the Pacific
April (Today): Home drome, my first ILS to minimums!

Writeups on the last two are on their way...

 

[SkyHog]

w00t! Go Elizabeth. Have you soloed yet?

 

[poadeleted1]

As Larry the Cable Guy says: Git 'r done!!!

 

[woodstock]

no solo yet - but I suspect it can't be that far off. My CFI said to bring in my SODA letter from the regional flight surgeon so we can figure out the next steps.

Kent, what do you think of the glass panels?

 

[flyingcheesehead]

Kent, what do you think of the glass panels?

LOVE them. Well, the Garmin anyway. It has many advantages over the Avidyne, IMHO.

The amount of information you have available for making in-flight decisions is amazing. On the Key West flight, my favorite features were the engine analyzer, the XM datalink (which showed a TFR that hadn't been there when I took off!), the associated XM radio feed, and the fuel-range circles on the moving map. Of course, I had to zoom way out to see those, as well as the nearest NEXRAD returns.

Of course, the hardest part of using one is to NOT use it and look outside enough!

As far as learning how to use it, it's probably best to get the PPL first (in a cheaper airplane!) and get some time in a plane with a Garmin 430 or 530 first. Once you're good with the smaller Garmin boxes, the MFD will be much easier to learn.

Now, it's probably also best to avoid doing any of your early instrument training in it as well. Once you're good with instrument flying on steam gauges, it'll take an hour or so to get used to the instrument depictions on the PFD, and then you'll be surprised how much more accurate your flying can be because you can see deviations much earlier due to the high resolution of the display (not the number of pixels, but the accuracy of the instrument depictions themselves).

Can you tell I'm forever spoiled? (and that I like talking about glass panels?)

 

[poadeleted1]

Can you tell I'm forever spoiled? (and that I like talking about glass panels?)[/quote]

Now comes the hard part. Can you pony up the $$$$$$$$$$$$$$ for a 172 that flies no better or faster than one without all the glass and still justify it? If you can, then I know a confessional booth that has no waiting.

 

[flyingcheesehead]

Now comes the hard part. Can you pony up the $$$$$$$$$$$$$$ for a 172 that flies no better or faster than one without all the glass and still justify it? If you can, then I know a confessional booth that has no waiting.

172? Heck no. If I had the $$$ to buy a new plane with a G1000, I think the order of my choices would go more like...

Diamond TwinStar (my ultimate non-turbine lust machine)
Columbia ('cuz they have the keyboard input to the G1000, and the G1000 autopilot)
Mooney ('cuz it's a Mooney)
Baron/Bonanza (Also has the G1000 autopilot)
Diamond Star (An efficient, fun airplane)
Tiger (another efficient, fun airplane)

Now, if I had to go with a Cessna, my first choice would be the Citation Mustang (as long as I'm dreaming! haha), followed by the 182 (and/or 206), and the 172 would be on the bottom of the list.

But, if you're gonna be flying a 172 anyway, might as well get one with toys! IIRC, the last place I flew that had both, there was only a $15/hr difference.