tangopapa
Pre-takeoff checklist
After several weeks of scheduling and scrapping due to both weather and schedule conflicts, I was finally able to go on my first night flight. I thought I had an idea of what to expect, but the aesthetic component of flying at night really exceeded my expectations. It was absolutely beautiful. The moon was so full and bright it almost felt like cheating.
We flew over to MSN and did 8 stop and go's. A couple times we had to make short approaches due to incoming traffic. It was excellent experience (and fun) putting the "brakes" on and cutting a very short base and final. After the last landing, we went to the practice area to do some air work. West of the airport, with the glow of Madison's lights behind us, I was amazed that I could see and point out every city in my field of view, a couple of which were at least 40-50 miles away (Dodgeville to the southwest and Wisconsin Dells to the north, for those of you familiar with the area).
My instructor pulled the panel lights off and had me do a couple 360 steep turns and a straight ahead power-off stall. After that we did some unusual attitudes recovery, which I really enjoyed. And then it was time to go home. I reluctantly turned the plane back to C29. It was a kick to key up the runway lights. Even though I knew how it worked it made me feel like a little kid. After landing, my instructor told me "You make good landings" as I taxied off the runway. Cherry on top of an awesome evening.
My biological clock trends toward late nights and usually I feel my focus sharpening as the sun goes down, so it wasn't surprising that I had felt in control and not overwhelmed throughout the evening. But I really didn't expect I would feel so "in sync" the whole time. Definitely a positive experience to carry over into the rest of my training, and nice to be able to compare to my daytime flying.
I wound up with 1.5 hours of night in my logbook, and I have another lesson scheduled for next Thursday. This one goes with my solo flight as two that I will never forget.
We flew over to MSN and did 8 stop and go's. A couple times we had to make short approaches due to incoming traffic. It was excellent experience (and fun) putting the "brakes" on and cutting a very short base and final. After the last landing, we went to the practice area to do some air work. West of the airport, with the glow of Madison's lights behind us, I was amazed that I could see and point out every city in my field of view, a couple of which were at least 40-50 miles away (Dodgeville to the southwest and Wisconsin Dells to the north, for those of you familiar with the area).
My instructor pulled the panel lights off and had me do a couple 360 steep turns and a straight ahead power-off stall. After that we did some unusual attitudes recovery, which I really enjoyed. And then it was time to go home. I reluctantly turned the plane back to C29. It was a kick to key up the runway lights. Even though I knew how it worked it made me feel like a little kid. After landing, my instructor told me "You make good landings" as I taxied off the runway. Cherry on top of an awesome evening.
My biological clock trends toward late nights and usually I feel my focus sharpening as the sun goes down, so it wasn't surprising that I had felt in control and not overwhelmed throughout the evening. But I really didn't expect I would feel so "in sync" the whole time. Definitely a positive experience to carry over into the rest of my training, and nice to be able to compare to my daytime flying.
I wound up with 1.5 hours of night in my logbook, and I have another lesson scheduled for next Thursday. This one goes with my solo flight as two that I will never forget.
