I got a double flying fix this weekend...
Yesterday, I went on my first CAP Sundown Patrol. Due to various challenges - aircraft availability, instructor availability, and me availability - I still have not had the opportunity to complete my Form 5, so I rode as passenger. It ended up being a very enjoyable experience. The pilot was the squadron commander, and it's always nice to get some quality time and instruction from "the boss." Also, it was really cool sitting in the right seat. I don't know that I have sat in the copilot seat since I earned my private pilot's license. It is a very different experience. Much like being the passenger when you are car touring on vacation rather than being the driver. Not only did I have more time to just look around - in fact, that was my primary job on the mission, but, I was able to look at and think about lots of different things that I just don't have the time / bandwidth for when I am the one doing the flying. Just as an example, it was really cool to look out the side window after take off and watch the tire still spinning. It was also really cool to look out the side window as we were landing and get a very different perspective of the flare and touchdown. It was also the first time I have flown with a color GPS in the plane. Having one sure does make staying away from the various airspace boundaries a lot easier and less stressful than doing it all with the sectional.
Today, after the weekly coffee and donut fest at the FBO, I took the Archer for a quick jog around the patch. It was the first time flying since my thumb incident, and just over a month since my last time flying, so I was a little - something. Anxious isn't quite the right word, not nervous either. Anyway, the whatever went away as soon as I lifted off, and I thoroughly enjoyed my .7 hours of flying, which included 4 landings, some dutch rolls, and some attention to "feeling" the airplane rather than just "yanking and cranking." I discovered that the Archer doesn't really exhibit any adverse yaw when banking from straight and level, but exhibits quite a bit when un-banking for example. The highlight of my flying was seeing Jeanie in the back yard. Often, after shooting a few touch and goes - especially if using the west oriented runways, I will fly over to the house and do a few turns around a point, using the house as the "point." For whatever reason, Jeanie has never seen me when I have done this. Today, she set up the hammock and waited for me to fly over. Having the hammock out was not only a great idea from a comfort perspective for her, but served as a great indicator that she was outside watching for me. The one concern I've always had when flying over our neighborhood - which is often on a Sunday morning - is that the noise would be obnoxious. I was very glad to hear that the Archer is not that noisy at all.
After having spent much too much time sitting in the back of commercial airliners over the last two weeks, it was really nice to be back in the saddle again.
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Posted by David at May 28, 2006 06:49 PM