A mostly-solo day of flying full of firsts and milestones

Plane: Cessna 172
Route: 40I-I74-VTA-CMH-MGY
Weather - I74: Partly cloudy, 83 degrees, wind 100 degrees at 5 knots
Weather - VTA: Scattered clouds, 80 degrees, wind calm
Weather - CMH: Clear, 74 degrees, wind 090 degrees at 4 knots
Weather - MGY: Clear, 70 degrees, wind 100 degrees at 6 knots

Over the course of the past week, a bunch of random flying ideas became an extremely loosely-tied-together plan. The annual Mid-Eastern Regional Fly-In (MERFI) was going on up in Urbana and pilot friend Lenny had told me about an evening fundraiser for Youth Aviation Adventure in Columbus. To top that off, another pilot friend sent me a couple Facebook messages in the afternoon that led to a third stop.

Gina was working today and I asked if anyone wanted to tag along - but there were no takers. Crazy, I know. Either way, that meant I'd be doing a bunch of solo flying. Nothing wrong with that. It's nice to get up in the air, just you and the airplane, from time to time.

The first half of today's flying, ending with my first-ever Class C landing!

I took off from Stewart a little bit after 14:00 and flew up to Grimes Field in Urbana. Over the years I've come to realize pilots must be morning people, as fly-ins always fill up early. I'm most definitely a night owl, so I've resigned myself to always moving opposite the mass flow of traffic. Even though the field was clearing out when I arrived, I still spent a couple hours at MERFI and saw some neat planes on the ground. I also dropped off some flyers for Stewart's annual airshow (Labor Day weekend!) with Chris and Sarah, who were up there for the day.

On the ground in Urbana - I do like my Nexus' panorama mode

I do believe everyone would love to own a nice Glasair

You'd think this flew straight out of the movie Planes

I'd sure love to own this gorgeous clipped wing Cub!

Might be the nicest Cub interior I've ever seen

Love this perfectly restored Travel Air 4000

Gary's a blog reader and student pilot who I had never met in person, despite chatting online for years. He was finishing up work and would be near Newark-Heath Airport by 17:00 - and I had a couple hours to kill before I needed to fly to Columbus - so I decided to fly over and say hello! I departed Urbana and turned east; another 172 departed behind me and he flew just off and under my wing for a while as we headed east until he landed at OSU.

The controller along that stretch was quite busy but at the same time was super friendly. He rattled off instructions to a bunch of airplanes and vectored me north of a direct course to Newark to avoid CMH's arrival/departure corridor. Eventually I was cleared direct and had the pattern to myself as I landed on Runway 9 at VTA. Gary was standing next to the FBO as I taxied up, shut down, and we finally got to shake hands and say hello in person.

New electrical substation under construction near Columbus

Since he's on a break from his training, I decided to take Gary up for a quick spin around the area. He was very thankful and I enjoyed having him onboard to point out the local landmarks. We'd been talking about how he was still learning some maneuvers so I offered to demonstrate a few. I climbed up and did some steep turns, a power-off stall, and a steep spiral. We flew over his house, past the Longaberger basket building, and returned to the ground by way of a short field landing on Runway 27.

I finally flew past the ridiculously recognizable Longaberger HQ

Goes without saying that it's a darn good visual checkpoint for pilots!

After some fun with the fuel pump (it's full-serve only, courtesy of a lightning strike a few years back) I added 18 gallons of 100LL to top off the tanks. I hadn't planned on refueling but the extra stop made it necessary. Thankfully Harold, the FBO manager, was still around and glad to pump the Avgas. Gary and I said adios and I took off on Runway 27, heading due west towards CMH.

Although I've had my pilot's certificate for nearly five years, this would be my first landing at a Class C airport. Kalamazoo was the closest (they're a Class D with a TRSA) I had come prior to today. The aforementioned YAA fundraiser was being hosted by Spirit Avionics at Port Columbus International Airport. Yup, the one with 150+ daily airline flights and all the big jets!

Like usual, the CMH controllers were great. I called Columbus Approach just off Newark as soon as I'd listened to the ATIS, about 15 miles out. They vectored me onto a right downwind for Runway 10R. Note that controllers at such large airports are clearly used to jet traffic - they had me a bit over two miles away from the runway on downwind!

I gradually moved closer as I approached and was cleared to land Runway 10R abeam the tower. Seeing as it's a 10,000 foot runway and my destination was at the very end, I intentionally landed long - though I still ended up having to taxi about a mile. The airport wasn't super busy but there was an airliner on approach to 10L as I turned final for 10R, which was a cool sight.

Eventually I arrived at Spirit, shut down, and spent a couple hours there nibbling on hors d'oeuvres - which seriously hit the spot after a day in the sun. My rental 172 didn't exactly class up a ramp that held a beautiful P-51 and other nice airplanes, but it was cool to fly in. I also got to meet Brent Owens, fellow pilot/blogger at iFLYblog, who was there with his family.

My night flight home from Port Columbus International to Dayton-Wright Brothers

Around 21:00, I decided I should start preparing to fly home. Night current for the first time in forever as of last month, I was really looking forward to another new milestone - my first solo night cross-country flight. Ever. Why another long, five-year wait? That's just the way it works out sometimes when you fly out of an unlit grass strip!

I called Clearance Delivery, told them I was VFR to Dayton-Wright Brothers, and they gave me a squawk that would keep me on ATC's radar scopes all the way home. One final check of all the gauges (and my flashlights!) and I called Ground; they cleared me to taxi to Runway 10R. I was offered an intersection departure and accepted. Although it's not something I usually would do, it left me with nearly 5,000 feet of runway - which is still longer than most runways I ever use. So it seemed like a sensible decision.

Runup and checklist complete, I called Tower and was cleared for takeoff on Runway 10R at the B4 intersection. The runway is brand new - it literally just opened on Thursday. Way to test it right away, huh? :) Being new, it's got fancy LED lights built right into the pavement that look downright beautiful at night. It was quite the sight as they zipped past faster and faster as I rotated and lifted off into the smooth sky.

Downtown Columbus, OH after departing CMH

Night flying is so different from daytime flying...

 ...generally calm, smooth, and extremely beautiful

Tower immediately handed me off to Departure, who instructed me to turn on course direct Wright Brothers once I reached 2,000 feet. I flew past downtown Columbus and enjoyed the view of the sparkling city through the crystal-clear night air. Soon I was out of the area, with far fewer lights below, flying over the farmland that stretches between Columbus and Dayton. Somewhere in that general area I crossed 100 hours of total cross-country time.

The controller warned me about skydiving operations and turned me 10 degrees off course to deviate. Surely they were just responding to a NOTAM someone forgot to cancel, no? How wrong I was. A few minutes later I heard the jump plane call "jumpers away" near Greene County Airport. In the middle of a moonless night. That's a level of crazy I'm still shaking my head at! :)

Before long, the lights of increasing civilization around Dayton came into view. I spotted Wright Brothers 15 or 20 miles out - this was absolutely aided in part by my recent flight with Mike where we landed after sunset. It's extremely hard to spot MGY's airport beacon when you approach from the east because it's nestled in between a bunch of very bright ramp lights. But tonight I knew what I was looking for and spotted it much sooner than last week.

The pattern was empty and I clicked the lights up to full intensity on base, clicking them back down to low as I turned final. Sliding smoothly down the glideslope, I flew over our neighborhood, crossed the fence, and touched down extremely softly on Runway 20. A perfect 10/10, total greaser of a landing. Always seems to happen on solo flights, right?

Instead of writing a separate post, I'll just note here that Gina dropped me off at MGY and I flew the 172 back to Stewart on Sunday morning. That added another 0.3 to the Hobbs for a grand total of 4.3 hours in the air, 3.8 of which were solo. It was an extremely fun trip, full of firsts, milestones, and a bunch of great piloting experience!

Flight Track: Google Earth KMZ File 
Today's Flight: 4.0 hours + 0.3 hours on 8/25
Total Time: 285.8 hours (100.8 hours XC)

Can a sim pilot fly a perfect pattern on their first try?

I had to share this. An airline pilot and fellow blogger (and author of two of the greatest aviation threads in internet history, on Two Plus Two and FlyerTalk) recently took part in an interesting experiment. Long story short, he met a guy with a ton of flight simulator experience who wanted to see if that experience would translate to success in a real airplane. On his first attempt. Ever.

So Tyler (sim pilot) went flying with Steve (airline pilot, not me - he's also a CFI) out in Las Vegas this past November. I won't spoil their experiment here. However, I will say that it's a cool little tale - and lots of fun! Click through to read the introductory Part One on Steve's blog, and then follow up with the flight itself in Part Two.

Old-school and new-school first flights with TJ

Plane: Cub, 85 hp (+Cirrus!) 
Route: 40I, Local 
Weather: Clear, 93 degrees, wind 260 degrees at 6 knots

This all started when I received an email from fellow pilot and blogger TJ, of TJ's Flying Adventures, on Wednesday afternoon. He was flying back home to Florida from Michigan on Thursday and would be stopping to stay overnight at Wright Brothers Airport. We made plans to meet for dinner and he, Gina, and I went out for a tasty Italian meal last night. It was great to finally meet up and have a nice conversation over some food and wine. He asked what my schedule looked like in the morning since it would be nice to take me for a ride in his Cirrus. I lucked out - my calendar was completely free of meetings!

I woke up this morning and logged into my email remotely, working from home for about an hour. Then I drove over to the Hampton Inn to meet up with TJ and give him a ride to MGY. After a quick preflight, I climbed into the right seat and he started to explain all the nifty, shiny gizmos in the cockpit. For someone like TJ that does a ton of XC and IFR flying, all that automation and technology is a major asset. Needless to say, it's also by far the most advanced cockpit I've ever set foot in!

TJ's gorgeous airplane on the ground at Dayton Wright Brothers Airport

It's a very comfortable ride, to say the least

Avidyne's R9 system in TJ's cockpit just after takeoff from MGY

We took off on Runway 20 and TJ had Stewart set as a waypoint. He activated the autopilot and the airplane flew us over towards my home 'drome at 2,500 feet. That turbo up front sure performs well - it seemed like we leveled off 30 seconds after takeoff! TJ showed me a couple of the countless functions available in the amazing R9 system. Then he kindly handed me the controls and I flew us around for a few minutes while he enjoyed the scenery below. I was amazed at how responsive the airplane was; TJ said he enjoyed being able to look out the window for a change!

Flying over Stewart in the Cirrus

Lebanon Correctional Institution

I flew us over King's Island and then made a 360 per TJ's request while he loaded an instrument approach into the system. Then he clicked the magic button and the autopilot engaged, flying us to the initial approach fix for the GPS RWY 2 approach into MGY. The airplane guided us right down the extended centerline, correcting perfectly for a rather strong crosswind. TJ set us down softly on the runway and taxied back to the ramp.

Believe it or not, this was actually my first-ever flight in a low-wing GA plane! I certainly lucked out that I was able to mark that milestone in an airplane as slick as a SR22 G3 Turbo. The short flight was a lot of fun - it was amazing to see all that techno-wizardry at work in person. I'm certainly thankful that TJ offered to take me up this morning... and that I was able to accept the kind offer!

Short final for Runway 02 at Wright Brothers

After that fun, there was still some time before TJ needed to hop back in the plane to fly home. The weather was perfect for a Cub flight with the door open... so what do you think we did next? All of you regular readers know where this is going. We hopped back in my car and drove to Stewart and TJ got to experience his first tailwheel - and first Cub - flight!

He was shocked at the simplicity of the instrument panel and got to figure out his own rendition of the "Cub dance" as he squeezed himself into the front seat. I think he got a kick out of our hand-propped start and enjoyed feeling the breeze through the open door once the engine started turning. I explained the incredibly brief CIGAR checklist as I ran through my checks. We rolled onto the runway and were off the ground quickly thanks to a headwind coming almost straight at us.

I'm about to show TJ some quintessential fun in the Cub...

I flew low for a little while, letting TJ take some photos of the foliage and scenery. Staring out the door of a Cub is roughly the polar opposite of the fancy avionics in his Cirrus and he enjoyed the heck out of it. After crossing most of Caesar Creek Lake, I pushed in the power and climbed up to around 3,500 feet. Then it was time for one of my favorite fun pastimes - streamer cutting! Usual buzz-kill disclaimer here.

Once he was ready, out went the roll of toilet paper. I managed to cut it almost at the roll with the right wing. That's good, except for the fact that without the roll attached the remaining paper just kind of flutters in the wind instead of streaming down. No major loss, it just meant that one cut was the only pass I could make at it. TJ still thought it was a ton of fun and I made two steep turns while we were still up high.

He took the controls for a few minutes after I explained the need for proper rudder usage via my "roll hard with no rudder" trick. You certainly see what adverse yaw is all about in a hurry in a Cub. TJ did a nice job flying and handed the controls back, saying "let's see how you land this thing!" The wind was still blowing down the runway and I remained high on purpose. That way I was able to use a large forward slip on short final before touching down relatively softly on the very dry, hard grass. (We need some rain here!)

Here's the video TJ shot with his camera in the Cub

I really should start requiring my new Cub passengers to sign waivers that they won't sue me for causing a new flying addiction. TJ said he had an absolute blast and, well, I can't blame him. Cubs in the summer are everything that's perfect about aviation. I'm glad he had a great time and I'm equally glad we finally met and shared some flight time together!

Flight Track: Google Earth KMZ File 
Today's Flight: 0.6 hours
Total Time: 207.0 hours

NY Trip, Day 3 - A significantly less stressful trip home

Plane: Cessna 172
Route: B16-SDC-38D-OSU-40I
Weather - SDC: Partly cloudy, 74 degrees, wind 160 degrees at 6 knots
Weather - 38D: Few clouds, 80 degrees, wind 170 degrees at 10 knots
Weather - OSU: Overcast, 76 degrees, wind 200 degrees at 5 knots
Weather - 40I: Partly cloudy, 78 degrees, wind 200 degrees at 4 knots

Gina and I both had a great time at the graduation party last night. It's always nice to see the family, especially since we don't make it to Upstate NY very often due to the 10-11 hour drive. Of course, it's much shorter by airplane - when the weather cooperates...

After a nice breakfast with her parents, aunt, uncle, and cousins, we gathered our things and headed to the airport. The local skydiving operation took off in their 182 filled with jumpers a few minutes before we departed. We said our goodbyes and I back-taxied down Runway 10 at Whitfords and took off shortly past 11:30 am.

The weather was great for the vast majority of today's flying

Compared to Saturday and Sunday the weather was downright spectacular. I leveled off at 2,500 feet for the very short flight south of Lake Ontario's shoreline to Williamson-Sodus Airport. We were heading there to meet pilot blogger friend Chris since he lives in the Rochester area. Originally I intended to land there on our flight up Saturday but the weather threw a wrench into those plans.

There was another airplane inbound to land from the opposite direction and I spotted him a few miles away. I made a 270 to the left to help with spacing, then followed him around the pattern and landed on Runway 10. Chris was waiting in the nice terminal building and we surprised him with two six-packs of Oberon, which any former Kalamazoo resident would most certainly appreciate. He was quite happy about the delivery and kindly bought us lunch at Bad to the Bone, a tasty little BBQ joint just down the road. I've actually visited both SDC and Bad to the Bone before while on business trips to Rochester but it was nice to finally fly myself in for a visit.

Looking north shortly after takeoff from Whitfords

Harvesting the crops down below

Sodus Bay and Lake Ontario

Parked at Williamson-Sodus to visit Chris

We all had a great time chatting before, during, and after lunch. In the end, we spent nearly two hours on the ground. Chris had to head back to work and we needed to continue the trek home since there were some storms moving from Indiana into Ohio. We were certain to make it to our fuel stop midway in Salem, OH and I figured we'd re-evaluate the weather situation there. I topped off both fuel tanks at SDC and we were back in the air just before 2:00 pm.

The view under the scattered clouds was great. You could see downtown Rochester, the Finger Lakes, Lake Erie, Lake Ontario... just about anything that was within 50 miles. I initially attempted to climb over the clouds for a smoother ride then realized they got higher as we went further inland. So I descended back down to 4,500 feet and remained there for this entire leg of the trip home.

Looking west along Lake Ontario towards Rochester

The views of the Finger Lakes region were great today

Conesus Lake - quite a few boaters were out

Genesee River near Mount Morris Dam

Letchworth State Park - the "Grand Canyon of the East"

It wouldn't be Upstate NY without a bunch of wind turbines

Holiday Valley Ski Resort

The town of Ellicottville, NY

As we neared the NY/PA border the clouds disappeared and we were treated to our first clear sky of the entire journey. The haze started to increase once the scattered layer disappeared but visibility was still very good. It was much nicer to be crossing the hilly terrain from this altitude with unlimited visibility than lower under an overcast as we had done the two days prior. I spotted Venango Regional Airport (where we stopped for food/fuel on Saturday) about 10 miles off the left wing as we flew towards Ohio.

Salamanca, NY and the Allegany Casino along I-86

You can see Venango Regional Airport (FKL) off in the distance

Crossing over downtown Youngstown I was able to see the town of Boardman out my window. My grandparents lived there the first 20 years of my life and I spotted their old neighborhood and some local shopping centers. I took plenty of photos that I'll have to send to my grandma - I'm sure she'll enjoy the view as much as I did. Much of my love for aviation comes from my grandpa and it was neat to finally fly over the area where I always visited them growing up.

Boardman - the Southern Park Mall and US-224

Another shot of Boardman and Mill Creek Park's golf course

It helped to have overflown Salem Airpark on our outbound leg to NY on Saturday. I spotted the airport a ways out, cut off flight following with Youngstown Approach, and continued in while descending since we were already aimed for a perfect 45-degree entry into the pattern. There was an almost-direct crosswind at about 10 knots and the treeline there made the winds a little swirly just prior to touchdown. My landing was still pretty good and we taxied down to the fuel pumps at the east end of the runway.

Salem is well-known for their restaurant... but the restaurant's only open until 2:00 pm on weekdays. I forgot to check that and our stop at SDC eliminated any chance of arriving at Salem in time to grab a bite. We landed just past 4:15 pm and were taxiing for takeoff around 4:40 pm after I had completely filled both tanks again. I checked the weather while we were on the ground and the storms I had seen on radar earlier had almost completely dissipated. While I had a feeling we still wouldn't make it all the way home in one shot, I realized we'd be getting much closer than Salem. With that knowledge in mind, we took back off and leveled off at 2,500 feet flying direct to Stewart.

Departing from Salem Airpark

A landfill that's only a few miles from Salem

Something interesting happened about 15 minutes into the flight while on flight following with Akron-Canton Approach. I was monitoring 121.5 on Com 2 and heard the distinct sound of an ELT going off. I immediately reported it to the controller who asked a few questions about the signal strength and where I started/stopped receiving it. We were just about directly over top of Beach City Airport (2D7) so I assume it was coming from an airplane hangared there, and mentioned that to him. Hopefully it was a false alarm (as ELTs usually seem to be) but calling in the report was definitely a first-time experience for me.

We continued on towards Dayton and the haze suddenly grew real thick near Millersburg, OH. Visibility probably dropped below 10 miles but it was still VFR. I was thinking that the cold front moving in from the west may have been stirring up the air ahead, reducing the visibility. If you're a meteorologist and that makes no sense, please let me know! :)

I called into Columbus Approach (we weren't handed off and weren't receiving VFR advisories at this point) to inquire about the darkening skies up ahead. They told me there was a line of moderate precip about 30 miles out. I knew that meant we'd be landing somewhere and I was hoping to make it to the Columbus area. At that point, even if we were stranded overnight, we'd be near family and friends and could easily get picked up and drive back to Dayton if necessary. The sky grew darker but visibility actually improved and I flew just north of CMH's Class C airspace while deciding what to do.

Within a couple minutes rain started to fall and was hitting the windshield at a decent rate. Our current position meant Ohio State University Airport was our best option and I had already checked their ATIS in preparation. I quickly called OSU Tower with information Tango and they cleared us to land on Runway 14. We were just over 5 miles out and I could still see the airport clearly through the rain so the conditions remained VFR. The winds were shifting due to the incoming storm and Tower quickly amended our landing clearance to Runway 23. That worked out perfectly and put us on a straight-in final from our current position. I touched down rather softly around 6:00 pm and we taxied to the ramp to wait out the storm.

We sat down inside the terminal and I pulled up the weather. The sky opened up a few minutes after we got inside and I was glad to be on the ground - it was pouring, which would've seriously reduced visibility in the air even though the clouds were plenty high. I had them top the plane off (it was that or pay a $10 ramp fee for less than an hour on the ground - ugh) while I continued to formulate a plan. There was another rather nasty (lots of dark red on the radar) storm cell that was moving in from Dayton and tracking almost directly east over top of I-70. After a little while it was clear we could get out, fly south for a while, then turn west and head direct to Stewart. That would let us squeeze between the storms and keep us in the clear.

OSU Tower cleared us for takeoff on 27L just past 7:00 pm. I turned on course and contacted Columbus Approach for flight following and told them we'd be tracking south towards Washington Court House before turning towards Stewart in order to avoid the weather. You could see that nasty cell moving closer from the west and I was glad my plan worked. We easily kept a wide berth (10+ miles away) around the storm and remained in the clear. I flew almost directly over top of I-71 for a little while before turning due west towards Waynesville.

The storm we were avoiding - still off to the northwest

Passing south of the storm while paralleling I-71

The outlet mall in Jeffersonville

Around 15 miles out I spotted Caesar Creek Lake and was excited to see the familiar landmark - we were almost home! There was a lower cloud deck out there between Columbus and Cincinnati and we skirted along underneath while approaching the lake. It was almost as if the weather gods finally decided to smile upon us because the clouds suddenly lifted and the sun came out just as I was entering the pattern at Stewart.

I crossed midfield from the north and entered a left downwind for Runway 26. We landed around 7:45 pm and taxied over to the tiedown in the grass. Gina drove the car over to the airplane and helped unload everything while I disconnected all the electronic gadgetry and sealed the plane up. After a long three days of flying, we were home!

Tied down back on Stewart's soft grass

Obviously we got stuck on the way out and had to spend a night in PA before flying the rest of the way to NY the next morning. That right there eliminated any time savings of flying vs. driving. Yet we still proved the efficiency and time savings of GA today. Consider that we took off from Weedsport, NY around 11:30 this morning and were back at our house about 9:00 this evening - including a half hour chatting in the office at Stewart before heading home. Had we driven, including the almost two-hour visit with Chris near Rochester, it would've taken at least 12-14 hours with the necessary food and gas stops.

In the end, the whole journey was a great learning experience and it even still somehow managed to save us a bit of time. Yeah it cost an extra few hours (without the weather diversions, it would've been closer to 8.0 hours on the Hobbs instead of the 11.0 that I logged) but $300 is certainly a small price to pay for being alive and safe. Oh, and thanks to those delays and diversions I managed to hit another big milestone - I crossed 200 hours total time on that final leg from OSU back to Stewart!

Flight Track: Google Earth KMZ File
Today's Flight: 5.2 hours
Total Time: 200.7 hours

A dream for many GA pilots: flying an L-39

Todd over at My Flight Blog recently had an incredible opportunity. He was able to go flying with Gauntlet Warbirds in an Aero L-39 Albatros, the Czech trainer that has become somewhat of a regular on the airshow circuit. In his 45 minutes in the air, they burned over 100 gallons of Jet A and I don't think I need to even say that it was worth every penny.

You can read his full post about the flight here. I hate roller coasters, but still... color me jealous!

High winds + light airplane = short field fun

Plane: Cessna 150
Route: 40I, Local
Weather: Scattered clouds, 86 degrees, wind 270 degrees at 11 knots gusting to 20

This afternoon I skipped out of work around 4:30 so I could head down to Stewart. Fellow pilot blogger Ben was spending a few hours in Waynesville going up in a Cub with CFI Joe before continuing down to Hamilton to pick up some friends for dinner. We hadn't yet met in person so it was a great chance for me to meet up with him and say hello.

It was quite windy all afternoon and it was still howling across the open field when I pulled into the airport. Ben had just finished his lesson so we sat down outside and talked for about a half hour. Nothing like talking airplanes and flying while sitting outside Stewart in their comfy Adirondack chairs.

Time passed by quickly and soon it was time for Ben to head back to the 182 he rented for the flight over from Eagle Creek in Indianapolis. I walked over and took a look inside - lots of nice glass in the G1000-equipped Skylane. We said goodbye and I headed back to the office. Since I was already at the airport, I had to at least go up for a few minutes!

Landing within one set of cones in a 150 is way too much fun!

Given the strong winds that were essentially right down the runway (we don't see days like this too often) I wanted to take the opportunity to get in some seriously short field landings. I checked the fuel in the 150 and there were about 9 gallons as measured by the stick. From experience, I know that it always measures about 5-7 gallons lower than are actually in the tank but even without that knowledge I knew I had more than enough fuel for three quick laps around the pattern.

I started up the engine, ran through my checks, and taxied all the way to the end of the runway for a short field takeoff. Full throttle, release the brakes, and I kept the nose wheel on the ground until pulling free at around 45-50 knots. It was somewhat bumpy as I expected but I sure was climbing quickly relative to the movement across the ground. I flew an extended downwind to set up for a longer final. Due to the strong and somewhat gusty winds I only used 30 degrees of flaps and approached at about 55 knots, whereas 40 degrees and 50 knots are the short field configuration.

My first and third landings were the best. I touched down just past the first set of cones lining the runway and was turning off by the second set both times. The distance between sets is about 200 feet so those were some real short landings! My second landing was still good, but I figure I went closer to 300 feet. All were still great, especially when you consider that the book landing distance over a 50 foot obstacle (there are trees and power lines at the end of the runway) is just over 1000 feet!

The major negative of the day was realized after I parked the plane and went back to the office to pay my bill. Ben was walking back over and I figured that wasn't good since he was supposed to be enroute to meet his friends. Turns out the starter on the 182 gave out and I spent a little while helping them unscrew the cowling to check things over. Check his blog out for further details in the future - he told me he'd write about it once he returns from a business trip.

It's always fun to fly on days like this. I'm glad I had the chance to quickly go up and knock out three trips around the pattern. Plus, the lack of traffic and convenience of the "wherever you want it to be" grass taxiway meant I only logged 0.3 on the Hobbs - a new personal shortest flight record.

Today's Flight: 0.3 hours
Total Time: 176.1 hours

Gary and Rob flew out to visit!

It took three tries (thanks to less-than-cooperative summer weather) but I finally met fellow bloggers Gary and Rob this afternoon! We tried to schedule a visit in May and were rained out; we then had the same problem in June. The stars finally aligned and they flew out together from Wilmington, DE (ILG) early this morning in Gary's Sundowner and landed at Wright Brothers around noon.

Landing on Runway 20 at Dayton Wright Brothers Airport

I had booked them some time at Stewart so they got their gear out of the plane and then immediately hopped in my car and drove to Waynesville. The 85 hp Cub and the Stearman were each reserved with an instructor for 1.5 hours so they could both get in some fun flying. Gary hopped in the Stearman first with CFI Joe and Rob went up in the Cub with CFI Dave. You may recall that Dave was my primary instructor and I have flown with Joe quite a bit as well. They're both awesome pilots and I knew Gary and Rob would have a good time with them.

Gary and Joe taking off in the Stearman - note the big grin on Gary's face!

Dave must have been explaining something to Rob as they taxied to the runway

I don't think the grin left his face the entire time he was in that seat!

Joe brought the Stearman right down the runway for a low pass - I was recording it on video using Rob's camera so I didn't snap any photos. You'll just have to take my word that it looked like it was way too much fun. Gary was still grinning after the ride ended and said he had an absolute blast. After everyone was back on the ground, Dave and Rob switched airplanes and took the Stearman up for about 20 minutes. Clearly they couldn't let Gary and Joe get away with all the fun, as they also made a sweet low pass - this time I took photos, one of which is below.

Dave and Rob, ready to take the PT-17 flying

Grass strip, vintage biplane, low pass - what more could you want?

We all chatted for a few minutes after the flying had ended. Both of them said they had a great time and I'm happy I was able to introduce them to the world of fun flying at Stewart. I also chatted with Dave briefly as he wants me to go up with him as a safety pilot sometime soon - that should be fun and I'm looking forward to it.

Since they had a somewhat tight schedule, we left the airport and I drove them to our house to pick up Gina. All four of us were hungry and we had a nice lunch at Milano's, just down the street from both our house and Wright Brothers. Thanks again for lunch, Gary! We finished up our food and then hopped back in the car for the short drive to the airport.

We said our goodbyes and then Gary and Rob were able to depart from Wright Brothers and avoid the weather. It had started raining just as we left Stewart and the rain continued until shortly before we finished lunch. They launched and headed north to avoid the rain and made it home safely. Their timing was perfect - less than 20 minutes after they took off, it started pouring at our house (we live a mile from Wright Brothers).

I'm really glad we all finally met each other in person. Frequent readers know one of my favorite things about this blog is all the great people it has brought me into contact with. Being able to meet up with fellow pilot bloggers is always a treat and today was no exception. Now I just need to fly east and say hello to Rob and Gary in their neck of the woods!