Thursday, July 25, 2013

338 is back!

Plane: Cessna 150
Route: 40I, Local 
Weather: Clear, 76 degrees, wind 070 degrees at 6 knots

It was another beautiful summer day so flying was certainly on the to-do list. Couple that with the fact that I could fly my most-flown airplane again and it was a perfect evening to take to the sky. Why so long since I last flew N60338? She got damaged while tied down when that massive derecho moved through the area last summer. But the plane's back on the line and flying great. It looks like I'll finally be able to accomplish my goal of 100+ hours underneath her wings!

My time was limited so I just hung around the pattern

We're headed to California for a weekend in Napa tomorrow so I had to mind the clock. I went around the pattern six times, then headed home to mow the lawn before flying across the country. I mixed up the takeoffs and landings to get in a bit of practice with everything - normal, short field, soft field, and simulated engine-out. I've forgotten how good that plane makes me look sometimes; it seemed like every landing was silky smooth.

Oh yeah - I've already bested 2011's dismal hours total!

The only thing I noticed was that the airspeed indicator appears a tad inaccurate at high angles of attack. It was showing me quite slow (below the white arc) as I began my flare - even though I clearly had more airspeed to bleed off before the stall. Not that it's unusual for an airspeed indicator to require some sort of calibration.

Either way, fly the airplane, and being light and solo it does land a little slower. After over a year, I'm still totally at home in 338's left seat. Now it's time to cross that 100 hour mark.

Flight Track: Google Earth KMZ File 
Today's Flight: 0.8 hours
Total Time: 279.1 hours

2 comments:

  1. I used to feel like the C-150 I flew would do whatever I was thinking.

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    Replies
    1. I suppose that comes with the fact that you basically wear the airplane, right?

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