Flying Things

I earned my private pilot certificate (single-engine, land). And I've written up some desciptions of a few of the milestones.

But anyway, here are some things...

Milestones and Tales

My first solo flight probably was no more unnerving than anyone elses, but it's probably the biggest first step.

The next event was the first off airport solo. Until that time, I was always within the airport's traffic pattern.

Oddly enough, my first solo cross country flight went fairly smoothly and was so uneventful, that I didn't write anything up on it. However, I did jot down a few thoughts about my second solo cross country flight.

After that comes the big one. The check ride to actually get my license. Described in painful detail, long, and should be edited if I ever had the time and interest.

And then, there's the tale of taking up my first passenger.

It was 8 months after getting my license that I took my first night flight by myself and landed at a different airport. I wrote down the tale of my first non-local night solo flight.

The flying club recently had an outing to The Speculator Seaplane Fly-In, in Speculator, NY, at the southern base of the Adirondack Mountains. I was able to take a brief introductory lesson in a seaplane.

And now, about a year after getting my private pilot certificate, I now have my instrument rating. I haven't written up much about the lessons, but I have written up some highlights from the IFR Checkride. I don't know if it was that I knew what to expect this time, but it felt a lot less stressful than the private pilot checkride.

And about 2 months after getting the rating, I finally file and do some practice approaches under the hood, technically my first IFR flight since the rating (even though I've filed since getting my rating and flown under the hood too).

I haven't written up the tale of my first solo ILS approach (and Hudson River VFR corridor trip the day before). It went fine. I'll just say that it was with a pop-up clearance, as I was flying VFR (with the instrument charts and approach plates, just in case).

Well, it's been 2 years since I first started flying as a student pilot. It was bound to happen sooner or later. I guess not everyone likes to fly...and it shows. Sigh.

The flying club requires an annual check out. My night check out was in our Grumman Tiger (AA5B).

Recently I took a quick trip to Rochester with a friend, to pick up another friend. We left late in the day and it was night by the time we arrived at Rochester and had a full night flight back to Ithaca. This was the first time I've had passengers at night. It went well.

I was out in Colorado for a week long vacation in July 1998. While there, I rented a plane and an instructor for a dual cross-country flight to do some mountain flying including a trip to Leadville. Lots of fun, beautiful scenery, and I learned about high performance airplanes, especially when their performance isn't that high.

Cool Imagemap

I also have an image map that I played with of the cockpit of a Cessna 152. Click and have fun.

A Plug for the Flying Club

And finally, a link to the East Hill Flying Club, which is where I learned to fly.

That's pretty much all I have currently. Enjoy.

Written by FNA on June 17, 1996. Last updated August 17th, 1998.