BrianR
Pre-takeoff checklist
I know not all pilots are enamored with these, and plenty decline to do them for various reasons, but never having done it, I was looking forward to it. Three of us flew 26 kids...which doesn't sound like many, and it was nothing like the usual turnout here, but considering the weather was marginal VFR with either mist or rain showers all day, I was surprised to see that many. We finally called it quits at noon, when ceilings were just too low to continue safely.
I didn't look at it as attracting future pilots, but rather to give the kids an opportunity that many of them would never have otherwise. And every one of them walked away with a huge grin! They were all respectful and listened, although I did have to tell one group to keep it down. And one kid, who was really interested in learning to fly, is a type 1 diabetic, like myself, so hopefully our chat about the need to always maintain good control of one's diabetes carried some weight.
We won't talk about my adventure returning the plane to its home base 40 miles away, when the weather finally -- or so I thought -- lifted enough at both ends. In the middle, it was another story. Suffice it to say I lost a few pounds sweating, and all I could think of was what the NTSB report would say. Thankfully, it worked out. But what a demonstration for getting an instrument rating; with that, it would have been a non-event.
And tomorrow, I leave on my longest cross-country to date - literally, half way across the country.
All in all, quite an interesting couple of days...
I didn't look at it as attracting future pilots, but rather to give the kids an opportunity that many of them would never have otherwise. And every one of them walked away with a huge grin! They were all respectful and listened, although I did have to tell one group to keep it down. And one kid, who was really interested in learning to fly, is a type 1 diabetic, like myself, so hopefully our chat about the need to always maintain good control of one's diabetes carried some weight.
We won't talk about my adventure returning the plane to its home base 40 miles away, when the weather finally -- or so I thought -- lifted enough at both ends. In the middle, it was another story. Suffice it to say I lost a few pounds sweating, and all I could think of was what the NTSB report would say. Thankfully, it worked out. But what a demonstration for getting an instrument rating; with that, it would have been a non-event.
And tomorrow, I leave on my longest cross-country to date - literally, half way across the country.
All in all, quite an interesting couple of days...
