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So today I am out flying with will doing some short field/soft field takeoffs and some cross wind landings. In addition to that we also did some hood work which I thought was pretty fun and a good thing to learn for emergencies. At any rate we were flying back from Maple Lake airport today tracking the gopher VOR and climbing up to around 3500 MSL and heading west. Off around 5 miles or so I spotted a low wing plane, piper or something heading towards us but it was flying straight and level around 2500. I pointed it out to Will and we decided that we would be fine since we were well over him. As we started getting closer this idiot goes into a climb and is now not moving in the wind shield - bad thing. Will just says, lets get out of here and peels us out. Really the first time he has touched the plane since we first started. I was probably a second or so off of doing the same thing. At any rate bubba turns back around onto our heading and after following us for a while decides to peel off and go in another direction. We had a few fun comments about intellegence and some peoples children. After that bit of excitement we headed back to the barn for a straight in landing. Hopefully this rain, clouds and wind comes and goes quick tonight so I can get some good time in tomorrow.

As you can tell by the title today I did my first solo! It was very exciting. The story goes something like this. Showed up to where I have been flying for the past month while N13329 has been down this morning around 1045 and finished up a few bits of paperwork while they got N9584L ready to fly, it was running rough so they put in some new spark plugs and gave her a bit of a tune up. Once that was ready I did my pre-flight and we were ready to go. At this point I had no idea I was going to solo but I did have all the paperwork done so when Will thought I was ready we could do it. So we set out to do some more practice landings and some power off landings. So we went out and did three full stop landings, on my third I knew something was up when Will was digging in my bag and pulled out my logbook. I kind of knew something was up because he had really not said a word except motioned to pull the power all the way off on my first landing to get rid of the float. When I said I had pulled all the power off we discovered that after the “tune up” the plane would not idle below 1000 rpm’s which gave us a bit of float during my landing flares. So we landed on my third one and Will said we should taxi back to Scotchman because I was going to go “terrorize the pattern” He asked if I had any questions and told me not to forget to lock the door or call the tower for taxi clearance. Then I was on my own to go do three takeoffs and landings. It was all quite the rush and flew by so fast. Really there is nothing compared to the first time you take the controls all on your own and the wheels leave the runway, you realize that well yes that takeoff was optional but damnit I have to land this thing. Really it all went smoothly and I just had a great time. After my last landing I asked to go back to scotchman but they had me turn right and contact ground. I contacted ground who had my taxi to runway 32L ( I was in the middle of the airport) as I am going there the controller says something like well you could have just gone the shorter way. I replied “say again tower” he said nevermind. I think he realized he had just sent me the long way around the airport. After a long taxi back to the barn, I was greeted by Will with a handshake and congratulations. So now I have my first .5 hrs solo, 3 solo takeoff/landings, and now I can go terrorize the pattern within reason and after I call will, so great day and I will have the picture up soon!

Finally, I am back in the sky and flying on a regular interval. Yesterday we got up and went over some emergency procedures and some slips. Today we got out and did some regular landings and some power off landings. The winds were just pretty crazy today but I think I delt with them pretty well. Finished up Will’s pre-solo take home test which was not too bad until I finished it and realized that there was a back side to each page. That was a bit of a let down but, finished it up. Just a few more things to do until that big solo. I am not really nervous for it, actually very very excited. I am sure I will be a bit nervous when it is actually time but I think I will deal with it pretty well. At least that is what I keep telling myself. Really there is nothing to worry about, Will has done a great job showing me the right way to do things. Whew, here we go!

Server was down today and interrupted my posting of Wednesdays flying. At any rate I finally got back in the air with one of the local FBO’s. It was good to get out and practice some crosswind landings. Today Aaron and I headed up for Duluth for a long cross country for him and to shoot some photos of a friends house from the air. The trip was great and we got some great photos but it was a bit late so the light is not so great. Hit the local FBO up in Duluth for some popcorn and headed back to Lake Elmo on a beautiful VFR night flight.

I have been on hiatus this week due to a few factors. N13329 is now down for its annual maintence. This is a possibility that Will and I had talked about so we are in the process ofgetting plan B together for the next few weeks which is to fly with one of the FBO’s on KMIC until the plane is up again. Even though it will cost a bit more it is worth doing. N13329 will be down for the next 3 weeks due to various reasons and will not be up until the end of the month. Also, I have been under the weather for the past week and a half and am finally starting to clear up and feel better. The big thing is when you fly stuffed up your ears and head can not correctly regulate for the pressure changes at altitude which makes for a very uncomfortable flight. So now we are rolling into the weekend and hopefully I will be able to start fresh on Monday feeling better and ready to fly. I am so tired of being sick =P

Another day of full stop, landings/takeoff’s at KANE. I was feeling a bit under the weather yesterday not so bad that it really messed with my head but I just felt like I was about a half second behind which is not a good place to be. Yesterday was my last day flying for the week as the plane is booked up and it goes in for maintence next week which sounds like it could be anywhere from 1 to 3 weeks so Will and I are dead in the water for a bit. He is exploring some other options to see if we can find a 172 to fly in for the next few weeks while N13329 is down. I am just resting today and enjoying our new TV, HD Cable and PS3. Though the HD Cable is giving me the finger, It seems as though it is an issue with the signal because some channels work and some just don’t so we will see what happens in the next little while and see if Comcast can fix it up. Well I might as well study.

This post is actually for yesterday’s flying I was feeling a bit under the weather yesterday afternoon so I decided just to nap and relax. No flying today as Will had a prior engagement so it’s a good day to study relax as I still feel a bit under the weather. Hopefully I will feel better tomorrow, at least I have some good stuff to clear out my nose and stuff. At any rate yesterday I got the chance to expore the Anoka - Blaine Airport (KANE) pretty neat going from one controlled airfield to another. KANE was nice because it was quite windy out and since the wind was coming from 180 and the runway is 180 there was not much of a cross wind component. Had a few decent landings then when we buzzed back to KMIC my cross wind landing was a little shakey but okay for how windy it was out. So I have one more day of flying this week since the plane is booked up. The bad news is the plane goes down for its annual maintence the first week of October and we dont know how long its going down for. Hopefully not too long otherwise I am going to need to look for another plane to fly until our plane is done with maintence. I have my physical on Friday and I really need to study for my test, it is no joke now. I have been delinquent in studying so this afternoon I am going to focus on that.

Today was another scuzzy day out, basically poor visibility and shitty ceilings. I am okay with these types of days as we get to really hit the takeoffs and landings. Wind was out of the south today so we really hit runway 32L. I really like 32L as it has a VASI approach lights so it is easier to tell if I am on the glide path. Yesterday we worked on 14L which does not have VASI, it was good to get those sight pictures down and get the feel. I think the VASI helps perfect things as you can see where you are at in relation to the glide path and you can feel it at the same time. It is starting to come together now as I am getting the feel and the tricks down. It was actually a quite beautiful day flying on final coming in with the airport in front and in the background Minneapolis with an amber glowing cloud covered sky. Hit Old Chicago today after flying to enjoy a beer. I do not drink Sunday night through Thursday after flying so it was nice to have a cold beer.

Today was another low ceiling day today so we did some more pattern work today. I actually like these days that we work on landings and such. Today started out on runway 24R with a small cross wind. The whole day was a bit like that, changing winds and crosswind takeoffs and landings. It was good to get into a rhythm today though and really re-inforce landing procedures. I think I really got the hang of the cross wind takeoffs today and did a few that just felt right. On the other side of the spectrum I had a few landings that were well not so soft. Though I did have a few that were allright. One landing I came down and I just knew it would be one of those WHEEEEE Plop ones, it was probably not that bad but it didn’t feel right. I would say one not frustration but thing I will need to work on is that transition from the glidepath to roundout to flare. Will said it just takes time and work to get the right feel and this is really the one to hammer and get it right. So I look forward to doing that work to get it right. Otherwise he thought everything else was for the most part going well. So now I am sitting right about 10.2 hours of dual instruction time. I feel like things are going along pretty well. I just need to focus on studying for my written for the next few weeks, focus and get it done. So another day tomorrow and I really hope we can get some good weather to go out an practice forward slips and emergency procedures next week. We will see though as fall is in the air.

Today was just a soupy day at KMIC. Will and I met up at our hanger this morning to do some flying. The original plan was to head north and practice some pattern work and learn how to do slips. By the time we got in the plane and tuned up the ATIS the clouds had dropped in a bit. We made the decision just to work on take offs and landings. Did about 6 take offs and landings to a full stop, taxi back and start over. Great, great training, I really enjoyed it. It was good to be able to just put the pieces together and really reinforce it. One one of our take off’s there was a piper taking off on 14R just ahead of us so it was kind of cool to be taking off and climbing out with another plane. Just kept working the landings and getting down the sight pictures of how downwind, base and final legs should look. It was also great to get back in the saddle and fly again after taking too long of a weekend off of flying. I hope the weather is good tomorrow. If it is not great but flyable I would not mind doing some more pattern work just to really get it down.