FINALLY!!!

CharlieD3

CharlieD3

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Jun 17, 2019
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CharlieD3
Well, at the end of next month it'll be one year since I went to the AME to get my 3rd class. I was deferred, but eventually got my SI.

I joined the flying club in February.... The airport remained closed thru March due to soaking rains making the runway (turf) unusable. Then COVID... Then my instructor was exposed to COVID... Then he got it.

FINALLY, he was cleared by the board of health!

FINALLY, I was able to schedule time!

After 21 years, I am flying again.

Short flight, heading and altitude holding fairly good. 360° turns, ascending, descending 360°s.

2 landings. Lots of help on them.. let's not talk about that...

Lots of rust .. it'll get better....

FINALLY!

fly to the scene of the incident, or be recovered at the scene of the tragedy
 
Fabulous news! Congrats!! And good on you for the perseverance.
Enjoy. It'll come back quickly.
And post some pics. ;)
 
GRG55 said:
Fabulous news! Congrats!! And good on you for the perseverance.
Enjoy. It'll come back quickly.
And post some pics. ;)
Click to expand...
Chicom GoPro failed on me... Avare did track the flight, most of it anyway...

I'll get the GoPro sorted before tomorrow evening's flight. And post eternal evidence that I are a pilot...!

fly to the scene of the incident, or be recovered at the scene of the tragedy
 
Avare track of flight... Pretty simple really...

I didn't turn Avare's tracking until after initially airborne.

The knockoff GoPro was my fault...
1a5d5e593c9e5d60983c468bb82551d2.jpg


fly to the scene of the incident, or be recovered at the scene of the tragedy
 
TCABM said:
You should try CloudAhoy. https://www.cloudahoy.com/
Click to expand...
I'll look into that... I'm kinda new to the tech end of flying nowadays... I still have my real kneeboard and my old sectionals...

And, heck... I can't seem to work the radios and fly the plane all at one time anymore.. instructor did a lot of the radio work...

And landing, did I mention he did (or is that rescued) both my landings...

I'll get it... Really I will!

fly to the scene of the incident, or be recovered at the scene of the tragedy
 
CharlieD3 said:
I'll look into that... I'm kinda new to the tech end of flying nowadays... I still have my real kneeboard and my old sectionals...

And, heck... I can't seem to work the radios and fly the plane all at one time anymore.. instructor did a lot of the radio work...

And landing, did I mention he did (or is that rescued) both my landings...

I'll get it... Really I will!

fly to the scene of the incident, or be recovered at the scene of the tragedy
Click to expand...

Probably best to minimize the toys right now and concentrate on the basic airmanship.

Plenty of time to reintroduce electronic gadgets later. :)
 
CharlieD3 said:
I'll look into that... I'm kinda new to the tech end of flying nowadays... I still have my real kneeboard and my old sectionals...

And, heck... I can't seem to work the radios and fly the plane all at one time anymore.. instructor did a lot of the radio work...

And landing, did I mention he did (or is that rescued) both my landings...

I'll get it... Really I will!

fly to the scene of the incident, or be recovered at the scene of the tragedy
Click to expand...


denverpilot said:
Probably best to minimize the toys right now and concentrate on the basic airmanship.

Plenty of time to reintroduce electronic gadgets later. :)
Click to expand...

^^^This.

Plane flies the same as it ever did, and there's nothing wrong with a kneeboard and sectionals. Don't get distracted by the tech.
 
CharlieD3 said:
.. I still have my real kneeboard and my old sectionals...
Click to expand...

95% of my flying is done that way still. I like that I can start the app while I’m still in my truck, throw my phone in the flight bag and it just does it’s thing on its own.

When I get home, it’s a good debriefing tool...I feel it’s almost as good as a camera in the cockpit with zero hassle.
 
Good to be back in the sky, no? 21 years of rust will take a little to remove. Heck, 2 months of rust is bad enough. Have fun!
 
CharlieD3 said:
Well, at the end of next month it'll be one year since I went to the AME to get my 3rd class. I was deferred, but eventually got my SI.

I joined the flying club in February.... The airport remained closed thru March due to soaking rains making the runway (turf) unusable. Then COVID... Then my instructor was exposed to COVID... Then he got it.

FINALLY, he was cleared by the board of health!

FINALLY, I was able to schedule time!

After 21 years, I am flying again.

Short flight, heading and altitude holding fairly good. 360° turns, ascending, descending 360°s.

2 landings. Lots of help on them.. let's not talk about that...

Lots of rust .. it'll get better....

FINALLY!

fly to the scene of the incident, or be recovered at the scene of the tragedy
Click to expand...

Congratulations! I understand how you feel. I completed my most recent flight review on May 13. The last one before that was in 1991! Got my Class III, then was set back by COVID, no CFIs flying. I spent that time reviewing all the changes that had occurred in that 30 year hiatus, and there were a lot! Did all the YouTube reviews and figured the new stuff out. It took me 2.5 hours in the air and about 30 landings before my CFI said "OK...you're rusty but you're safe". We started out with a few stalls, slow flight, turns-about-a-point, emergencies, etc, then it was touch and gos on long runways, short runways, grass runways, narrow runways. Man, those were some of the ugliest landings I've made in 50 years of flying but it came back quick and I'm doing well now...trying to figure out cross-country navigation using a technology that hadn't even been invented when I last flew in 1991. Good luck...it is great to be back in the cockpit, even if it is just a beat up 45 year old 172.
 
Well, then... 4.1 hours added to the logbooks. And a BFR sticker signed off.

Now, that puts to rest my fears of an hour for each year away from the yoke.

That said, I'm still quite rusty. Though my instructor says "competent and safe." I have never felt more that a PPL is a license to LEARN. Note the caps.

I will work diligently on moving from competency to proficiency...

While I could go get some buddies and go flying... I don't feel smooth and proficient enough to do that...

I have learned over these scant hours... I was used to normal, rectangular patterns... And proved I could pull those off... If not expertly, safely and competently.

My biggest hitch was that my club 'drome is along a river, near developments with noise averse snooty neighbors requiring a higher, more oval pattern... Less "crutches" to rely on... Climb to here, turn to there, cut power here, etc. Had to become somewhat more fluid.

More work is in order... Boring holes in the sky, not in the runways... And more practice... What fun!

Feels sooooo darn good to know I can do it, and can improve myownself... And try like the devil to avoid any bad habits....

So, I'll refresh with instructor in a couple few weeks, and get night current at the same time.

Thanks to all for the support from getting my 3rd class back, to rooting me on from the sidelines...


fly to the scene of the incident, or be recovered at the scene of the tragedy
 
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