Instructor: Tommy
Route: 40I-MGY-40I
Weather: Clear, 40 degrees, wind 130 degrees at 7 knots
So that whole New Year's goal of working on the IR is somewhere off in the weeds at the moment. It's a drupa year at work, which in the printing world means we're all working crazy hours preparing for the big show. That's also led to a significant uptick in my travel schedule.
Although many to-do list items may be pushed aside at the moment, I'm sure as heck not going to stop flying completely! My statistics are significantly skewed towards the commercial variety at the moment - about 36.3 hours in aluminum tubes (and soon to be many more) compared to 1.6 hours PIC. Fortunately this evening was a rare spring combination of good weather and me actually being in Dayton, so I jumped at the opportunity to get Cub current again.
It's been so long since my last Cub excursion that I had to go up with an instructor! Thankfully friend-who-happens-to-be-a-great-CFI Tommy was available. We topped the fuel tank with 7.7 gallons of 100LL and launched off Runway 8 in the evening twilight.
Sunset from the pattern before my final landing
I first made two landings at Stewart, both pretty decent and the second after a simulated engine-out. Tommy then suggested we fly over to Wright Brothers. Considering I can't even recall the last time I landed a taildragger on pavement it was certainly good practice!
The result both times was something in between a wheel and three-point landing. Hindsight suggests I should have held it off a little longer (if going for the full-stall variety) to get the stick full back upon touchdown for better tailwheel control. As it was, it took a couple seconds after touching down before I really felt the tailwheel come alive on the pedals. All in all, not bad.
With the sun low on the horizon I flew back towards Stewart, quickly circling over the lake to check on the progress of the new marina. Then I entered the pattern and attempted a power-off 180 that ended in a few inglorious bounces on the turf. Tommy and I think alike - "that sucked, can't end like that, let's go around the pattern one more time!" I opted for a more standard approach; the second and final attempt was much better.
Tonight's route over SW Ohio
At this point it's hard to promise frequent flying updates. I certainly intend to fly as much as possible but the "possible" part is hard to define right now. However, daylight hours are longer again and I can usually find someone who wants to carve up the sky in a Cub. Especially once we're flying with the door wide open. I'll see what I can do.
Flight Track: Google Earth KMZ File
Today's Flight: 1.0 hours
Total Time: 349.1 hours
Posts
There is no denying that the view from the pilot's seat beats looking out of a too-low-for-comfortable-viewing porthole in the side of a flying Greyhound. Glad to see you got some stick time!
ReplyDeleteThankfully, due to the degree of travel, I get to sit up front a good percentage of the time. So I suppose it's more like a flying Indian Trails charter bus.
ReplyDeleteNonetheless, the front seat is indeed the best seat!
Nice to get out! Getting really busy does negatively impact both flying and blogging. I've done more flying and no blogging since September, and I'd like to do more of both.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I definitely enjoy traveling and seeing the world but it's really cutting into the "fly thyself" time this year.
DeleteAt least you got some stick time. Always good to knock off the rust and enjoy the view. I'm interested to read about you latest venture around the country via the 'mailing tube'. The FB pics were fun to follow.
ReplyDeleteYeah I think I'll try and get a post up on here about it like I did for the other couple MRs I've done in the past.
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