Passion for Learning

Aircraft:        C172
Registration:  C-GBRI
Dual Time:     0.0    Total:  34.0
Solo Time:     0.8    Total:  8.5

Today was gorgeous with CAVU skies and temperatures in the pluses.  I arrived at RFC with only a few butterflies in my stomach.  Pre flight went well with me noticing that fractured brake pad again.  Today there was a man and his young child watching as I did my pre flight.  I noticed that they went away as I performed my pre start check list.  As I looked around before yelling clear, I noticed they were very close to my aircraft again.  I opened the window and said “Hi!”, then “Would you mind i’m about to start my engine, you should be back a ways”.  They stepped back a few feet.  I was not super comfortable with this but did not want to press the issue and I could tell they were very clear of my prop and wash.  I turned over the key and away we went.  During the taxi I could tell this would be a busy day!

Due to the nice weather it seemed like everyone was out polisihing their spinners or flying circuits.  I departed directly to the west and flew out towards Breckenridge.  As I passed into the practice area the radio was a blur with activity.  It was hard to make a radio call at times due to the sheer volume of students out there.  I went further North than I ever have but managed to find a place to practice between Luskville and Quyon.  On my way over I saw a couple of aircraft below me that were on a collision course if not for about 1000 feet of seperation. 

I flew one forced landing approach from my 3700′ perch.  Since the air was so smooth up there I didn’t realize how bumpy things would be around 900 AGL.  After riding the bumps and finding the field achievable I powered back up to 2200 feet.  I did not like the sensation of the bumps and figured “why ruin a good flight so far!”. 

I made my way back to Rockliffe, as I asked for a field advisory it was apparent there were at least 3 aircraft in the pattern and one departing to the West.  I made my way over to dequence into a straight downwind entry for runway two seven.  As I lined up on final for the landing I could see some “spotters” sitting right in my flight path.  The pressure was on!  I managed to get the aircraft down just past the numbers with a satisfying screech but I was too far right of the centerline for me.  Ahh well, I can practice that tomorow.

All in all I am muc happier about how I managed the bumps this time around.  I will continue these “baby steps” until I am cured of my fears.

Tags: Busy Airspace, Practice Area, Solo

This entry was posted on Saturday, April 5th, 2008 at 3:12 pm and is filed under Flight Training PPL. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.