Arrived about 3 minutes too late to get on load 1. Should really have remembered to empty the dishwasher last night, which was why I ran it early.
Got geared up for load 2. About 2 minutes before we would have walked out to the plane, the wind went from 7 to 19. I'm off. Another 19, then 22, lots of gusts, radar shows the rain coming. I think a 3rd load went, and that was about it. Rained for half my drive home.
Sunday, April 28, 2013
Saturday, April 6, 2013
Back in the air with 3 jumps
27 days after refresher training - next week would have meant another round of refresher training, and not free!
Very little wind today. Flew the Cessna 182 all day. The 230 and 240 rigs are getting new AADs. I didn't want to downsize, so I pulled the 280 out. I really forgot how that handles. Lots of toggle input to get it to turn fast. Flaring sends it back up and stops its forward motion.
Jump 1 - Cat D2 with Jamie. I went out on the step, he gripped me, and I did the exit count. Stable fast, one PT, 360 right, slow 360 left. At that point, we were at about 6200, so I signaled to stop maneuvers. He flew around to my main side, watched me wave off and pull at 5000. I landed in front of the FBO building (bldgs on the left). Jamie wanted me there in case I overshot, which would be bad, because the field beyond the picnic area just got covered with manure.
Jump 2 - Tried swoop-n-docks with Doc Larry. I waited a little too long after he went. I went right into a steep dive, and didn't flip. Not sure what was in my mind, but I turned before getting to his level and blew past him. I turned toward him, and tried to close. I know I was forcing things at this point, and probably over thinking and not just doing. I didn't pull my arms back far enough for good forward motion. I didn't stick my legs out straight enough for forward motion. My legs were spread apart. I had a great track at 5000, got stable, and opened at 4500. Larry gave me some good feedback afterwards about just doing the maneuvers rather than thinking about them. He also said not to worry about crashing into an instructor - he'll get out of the way in plenty of time. Landed standing up in 0 wind right in front of the hangar.
Jump 3- Solo jump to remind myself about how to get good forward motion. At 10,000, it was Jamie and Casey doing an E, and me. Casey got a little anxious, so we went around a couple of times. On the third time, Casey and Jamie got out, but slowly. I waited the 15 seconds that Jamie asked me to wait, then did a poised exit off the step. Flipped (rare these days), got stable in probably 5 seconds after exiting, and worked on forward motion perpendicular to the line of flight. Felt good. When I opened, I was way the heck over Shatzer's farm, so I turned toward the airport and just flew straight. Crossed the road at about 1700 feet, so I was fine. Had some time to play with the canopy, then got into a wide landing pattern because I was getting closer to Casey's altitude. No problem, she was well below me. Casey and Jamie were in front of the hangar about half way between the pad and the runway, so I aimed a little to their left and landed straight in front of the hangar.
Feels damn good to be back in the air!
Very little wind today. Flew the Cessna 182 all day. The 230 and 240 rigs are getting new AADs. I didn't want to downsize, so I pulled the 280 out. I really forgot how that handles. Lots of toggle input to get it to turn fast. Flaring sends it back up and stops its forward motion.
Jump 1 - Cat D2 with Jamie. I went out on the step, he gripped me, and I did the exit count. Stable fast, one PT, 360 right, slow 360 left. At that point, we were at about 6200, so I signaled to stop maneuvers. He flew around to my main side, watched me wave off and pull at 5000. I landed in front of the FBO building (bldgs on the left). Jamie wanted me there in case I overshot, which would be bad, because the field beyond the picnic area just got covered with manure.
Jump 2 - Tried swoop-n-docks with Doc Larry. I waited a little too long after he went. I went right into a steep dive, and didn't flip. Not sure what was in my mind, but I turned before getting to his level and blew past him. I turned toward him, and tried to close. I know I was forcing things at this point, and probably over thinking and not just doing. I didn't pull my arms back far enough for good forward motion. I didn't stick my legs out straight enough for forward motion. My legs were spread apart. I had a great track at 5000, got stable, and opened at 4500. Larry gave me some good feedback afterwards about just doing the maneuvers rather than thinking about them. He also said not to worry about crashing into an instructor - he'll get out of the way in plenty of time. Landed standing up in 0 wind right in front of the hangar.
Jump 3- Solo jump to remind myself about how to get good forward motion. At 10,000, it was Jamie and Casey doing an E, and me. Casey got a little anxious, so we went around a couple of times. On the third time, Casey and Jamie got out, but slowly. I waited the 15 seconds that Jamie asked me to wait, then did a poised exit off the step. Flipped (rare these days), got stable in probably 5 seconds after exiting, and worked on forward motion perpendicular to the line of flight. Felt good. When I opened, I was way the heck over Shatzer's farm, so I turned toward the airport and just flew straight. Crossed the road at about 1700 feet, so I was fine. Had some time to play with the canopy, then got into a wide landing pattern because I was getting closer to Casey's altitude. No problem, she was well below me. Casey and Jamie were in front of the hangar about half way between the pad and the runway, so I aimed a little to their left and landed straight in front of the hangar.
Feels damn good to be back in the air!
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