Tristar
Pattern Altitude
Yesterday was one of the warmest days we've had in a while. It finally reached the 70 degree mark with clear skies by the afternoon. I had thought the winds would put a damper on the day but once the prediction dropped to 16, there was no stopping me from some pancakes!
Ponca City, OK, as some may know, puts on a huge pancake breakfast every first saturday of the month. I don't believe it gets the recognition it deserves since no one advertises it yet it is one of the state's more popular monthly Fly-ins. I had been once before but I couldn't believe the amount of aircraft that attended yesterday morning.
I took off at around 8:30 and with the winds I was 10 miles from Ponca in a rather short period. After tuning 123.00, the radio calls were endless. It was quite interesting listening to where everyone was at and how they were entering the pattern but everyone did a great job lining up. I soon was 4th in line on downwind following a mooney and more behind me. Its very important to anounce your position and intentions on all legs, it's not only important for safety but its very helpfull for others in situational awareness. I announced my turn to final and when I approached a 1/2 mile out (we had to extend our downwind) a 172 cut in front of me doing the normal pattern. It's a bit annoying that he wasn't paying attention, thankfully for both of us, there was plenty of room. After a great landing, I was given hand signals of where to park. I couldn't believe that I had to taxi all the way to the south end to get one of the last two parking spaces! I've never seen that airport so packed!
After I shut down the engine, the guy in the 172 was very thoughtfull and appologized admitting he was new. I can't say I was happy with him but he felt bad enough. Plus, he took a great picture for me in front of the plane!
I was like a kid in a candy shop at that moment as my eyes glazed over with all the activity and variety of aircraft. I was very glad to see a 172 from our fleet joining us as well as a twin from the FBO next door. There were some beautiful aircraft including RVs, a swift, a very shiny C170, and an R44 helicopter just to name a few. Some of the arriving aircraft even had motorcycle escorting serivice! I decided to take a bunch of pictures while I wait for the pancake line to die down. (link below)
I wondered later towards the north end of the field where breakfast was located to find a line of people but whats great about pilots is you can strike a conversation with any of them. I ended up talking with two gentleman; one owned the C170 and came from Stearman Field by wichita and the other owned a Navion and felt a little bad he couldn't "fly-in!" Although it was funny that he was intrigued I flew here by myself and was in the aviation program. Apparently this isn't seen often!
Breakfast was fantastic with a whole buffet of all you can eat items and either coffee or orange juice for a $6 donation. It's highly worth it! Chit chat was short and eating quick since I needed to have the plane back by 11. I walked back to my airplane as the crowd started to depart, jumped in and got in line for my turn at the runway. I flew home a little bit slower than I arrived, mostly because of the tailwind turned headwind but the skies were beautiful. Winds were almost down the runway when I got home, windcheck was 210@17G26. What a fun flight!
Later that day our OSU flight team had its first practice which added another 30 minutes to my flying adventures for the afternoon. The best part isn't just the flying, it's being allowed to sit next to the runway and judge your friend's landings! Reminds me of Gastons.
Ponca City slide show: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-rujklL6kc
Ponca City, OK, as some may know, puts on a huge pancake breakfast every first saturday of the month. I don't believe it gets the recognition it deserves since no one advertises it yet it is one of the state's more popular monthly Fly-ins. I had been once before but I couldn't believe the amount of aircraft that attended yesterday morning.
I took off at around 8:30 and with the winds I was 10 miles from Ponca in a rather short period. After tuning 123.00, the radio calls were endless. It was quite interesting listening to where everyone was at and how they were entering the pattern but everyone did a great job lining up. I soon was 4th in line on downwind following a mooney and more behind me. Its very important to anounce your position and intentions on all legs, it's not only important for safety but its very helpfull for others in situational awareness. I announced my turn to final and when I approached a 1/2 mile out (we had to extend our downwind) a 172 cut in front of me doing the normal pattern. It's a bit annoying that he wasn't paying attention, thankfully for both of us, there was plenty of room. After a great landing, I was given hand signals of where to park. I couldn't believe that I had to taxi all the way to the south end to get one of the last two parking spaces! I've never seen that airport so packed!
After I shut down the engine, the guy in the 172 was very thoughtfull and appologized admitting he was new. I can't say I was happy with him but he felt bad enough. Plus, he took a great picture for me in front of the plane!
I was like a kid in a candy shop at that moment as my eyes glazed over with all the activity and variety of aircraft. I was very glad to see a 172 from our fleet joining us as well as a twin from the FBO next door. There were some beautiful aircraft including RVs, a swift, a very shiny C170, and an R44 helicopter just to name a few. Some of the arriving aircraft even had motorcycle escorting serivice! I decided to take a bunch of pictures while I wait for the pancake line to die down. (link below)
I wondered later towards the north end of the field where breakfast was located to find a line of people but whats great about pilots is you can strike a conversation with any of them. I ended up talking with two gentleman; one owned the C170 and came from Stearman Field by wichita and the other owned a Navion and felt a little bad he couldn't "fly-in!" Although it was funny that he was intrigued I flew here by myself and was in the aviation program. Apparently this isn't seen often!
Breakfast was fantastic with a whole buffet of all you can eat items and either coffee or orange juice for a $6 donation. It's highly worth it! Chit chat was short and eating quick since I needed to have the plane back by 11. I walked back to my airplane as the crowd started to depart, jumped in and got in line for my turn at the runway. I flew home a little bit slower than I arrived, mostly because of the tailwind turned headwind but the skies were beautiful. Winds were almost down the runway when I got home, windcheck was 210@17G26. What a fun flight!
Later that day our OSU flight team had its first practice which added another 30 minutes to my flying adventures for the afternoon. The best part isn't just the flying, it's being allowed to sit next to the runway and judge your friend's landings! Reminds me of Gastons.
Ponca City slide show: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-rujklL6kc
C'mon, winter is the BEST time to fly! As long as you have a working heater in the airplane. 
