So I had been doing a lot of instrument training but not much "real" flying. You know, place to place, landing and debarking from the airplane and then taking off again....
Mostly going place to place and flying approaches, but not really landing, except for that single one at the end just before i put the plane away..
And my landings were becoming less and less on the side of "perfect" and getting a bit rougher.
Sunday was clear, and if a bit windy, not too turbulent nor gusty.
Also, my dad had asked me to take an aerial photo or three of a structure about 30 miles away. Since the day was clear, sunny and bright, I decided to get him his aerial photos....and do some touch and goes.
Flew to Kgyy and did a touch and go on 02 (winds were 020 at 10) The ATIS said the PAPI was out of service, and it was somewhat weird flying a final with only 2 lights showing that I was high (2 whites, no reds) and yet I knew that I was pretty much on the glide slope. Did a nice touch and go anyway and then asked for permission to depart to the west and take my pictures....the place was just on the edge of their airspace.
I got my permission and flew west 4 miles and took my pictures, orbiting for 5 minutes or so, then called for and got permission to depart to the south and back to my home airport. Oddly, the normally grumpy controllers at Kgyy were very accommodating today.
Flew south, departed their airspace and then turned east-ish and flew 35 or so miles back home.
Did 6 touch and goes on rwy 36 with a wind at 040 (ish) at 7-12 knots... did 2 that were "Meh", two that were "acceptable", and the last two were pretty good, the second to last even dealing with a pretty good side gust.
Like shooting well, landing well takes practice to keep the hands and eyes calibrated and the muscle memory fresh. I shoot weekly, and have lots of practice...landings are still being beaten into my brain.
But it was a nice day to fly.
Mostly going place to place and flying approaches, but not really landing, except for that single one at the end just before i put the plane away..
And my landings were becoming less and less on the side of "perfect" and getting a bit rougher.
Sunday was clear, and if a bit windy, not too turbulent nor gusty.
Also, my dad had asked me to take an aerial photo or three of a structure about 30 miles away. Since the day was clear, sunny and bright, I decided to get him his aerial photos....and do some touch and goes.
Flew to Kgyy and did a touch and go on 02 (winds were 020 at 10) The ATIS said the PAPI was out of service, and it was somewhat weird flying a final with only 2 lights showing that I was high (2 whites, no reds) and yet I knew that I was pretty much on the glide slope. Did a nice touch and go anyway and then asked for permission to depart to the west and take my pictures....the place was just on the edge of their airspace.
I got my permission and flew west 4 miles and took my pictures, orbiting for 5 minutes or so, then called for and got permission to depart to the south and back to my home airport. Oddly, the normally grumpy controllers at Kgyy were very accommodating today.
Flew south, departed their airspace and then turned east-ish and flew 35 or so miles back home.
Did 6 touch and goes on rwy 36 with a wind at 040 (ish) at 7-12 knots... did 2 that were "Meh", two that were "acceptable", and the last two were pretty good, the second to last even dealing with a pretty good side gust.
Like shooting well, landing well takes practice to keep the hands and eyes calibrated and the muscle memory fresh. I shoot weekly, and have lots of practice...landings are still being beaten into my brain.
But it was a nice day to fly.
Yep its a perishable skill. My landings yesterday were worse than last month's by far, and not what I considered up to my standard. It was partially due to the 09L Approach which has a weird approach picture over water and a tree line, and I'm not used to it as 27R is almost always used, and some gusting lifting crosswinds for fun made it worse.
ReplyDeleteI definitely need to fly more than once a month for sure. I figure I'll start my IFR training either at the end of this month or April to get flying more.
Keep blogging your IFR training experiences, it's useful to read about what you're doing.
The instrument rating was the hardest rating I ever got. The commercial was a piece of cake after that - my grandma could have passed that checkride and the ATP not much harder. Good for you. We're on quarantine after EJ was on a flight out of Singap9ore with an infected
ReplyDeletepassenger. Lots of Mexican Train Dominoes and Scotch.
Practice is just as important as trigger time.
ReplyDelete