Happy New Year!

I enter 2016 slightly disappointed with last year's total hours once again. The past 12 months have been quite hectic for me, to say the least. But I also find myself rather satisfied by the fact that I somehow (barely) exceeded 2014's total time in the sky despite the craziness.

Prior Recaps: 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015

While I didn't fly much myself, I did do more than my fair share of flying - 220 hours commercially. I set foot in 9 different countries (Australia, China, French Polynesia, New Zealand, and Switzerland were new additions) and 16 states. I flew 86,330 miles (3 1/2 times around the planet, with 4 crossings each of the Atlantic and Pacific) on 72 individual flights on 11 different airlines. Add to that the trips by car and I spent a total of 114 nights away from home. So I suppose my relative lack of stick time doesn't seem so bad.

On the somewhat rare occasions I did get to fly, we still had some fun. I was able to take quite a few people for their first flights and that's always a special treat. We flew up to Kalamazoo for a WMU football weekend with friends. I still dedicated flights solely to practice - just over 25% of my hours were spent solo working on basic maneuvers to try and keep the rust at bay. As usual, there was also a bit of sightseeing and simply enjoying the view from above.

Total Hours: 24.1 | Solo: 5.8 | XC: 6.3 | Dual: 1.0 | Night: 0.6 | Landings: 55

Aircraft Flown: C150, C172, Cub

New Airports: None (again! egads!)

New States: None

First Flights: 7 (Chad, Lorraine + Joe, Jeff + Cassie, Tyler, and Austin)

People Flown: 13 (above, plus Abby, Rob, Lauren, Gary, Mike, and Gina)

$100 Burgers: 2 (New Year's Day breakfast in Middletown and breakfast at Hangar 5 in September)

Fly-Ins: None

What I'll Remember: Getting to fly in the Wright B Flyer. Logging my 100th tailwheel hour in the Cub. Hang gliding over some of the most breathtaking scenery I've ever encountered in New Zealand. Taking an aerial tour over our beloved college campus for the first time in three years. Continuing on my never-ending quest to gain experience and improve my ADM. Completing a non-WINGS BFR for the first time.

2015 Goals: I'm out of excuses on the glider front. Although the rating's still a ways off, I absolutely need to go for at least one ride this year. Hold me to it! I would like to travel by airplane on at least one or two overnight trips with Gina. It would be fun to take a few more friends and coworkers up for their first flights. I need to fly some Young Eagles again, too.

^ Nobody held me to it! ;-) Also, I didn't technically fly any Young Eagles but an old coworker contacted me in December about taking his grandkids flying; we're still coordinating schedules.

2016 Goals: I'm still out of excuses on the glider front. Pilot friend Tommy even offered me a free glider ride for my birthday - I need to set that up ASAP! A few of us pilot bloggers have discussed a meet-up and I hope we can coordinate that later this year.

After a complete false start three years ago, I again hope to start and finish my Instrument rating this year. That plan ran into a couple walls, financial and otherwise, but Gina graduated with her Master's in December (which we're done paying for!) so it seems doable this time around. Of course, that may change if I fall back into last year's travel patterns - time will tell.

Happy New Year!

Lunchtime Cubbin' with Mike

Plane: Cub, 85 hp 
Route: 40I, Local 
Weather: Broken clouds, 38 degrees, wind 300 degrees at 10 knots

Our friend Mike is in town for a few days from San Francisco. We used to fly together all the time on Pilots N Paws trips and elsewhere. He hasn't done much Cubbin' since moving away so the goal was to get some stick time in this week. Thankfully the weather cooperated today; I drove down to Stewart from the office at lunchtime and we spent an hour in the sky.

Mike recalling the Cub's cozy fit prior to propping the engine

We wandered out to the hangar, I did a complete preflight and we pulled the plane out onto the grass. Mike wedged himself in front, I propped the engine to life, and we were on our way out to the runway. Winds were moderate from the west so we departed on Runway 26 and were soon level at 2,000 feet flying north towards the city.

A rather not-small house we passed over after takeoff

Approaching downtown Dayton from the south

The University of Dayton's main campus

The Great Miami River

Relocation and reconstruction of I-75 downtown

Downtown Dayton from the north

Downtown Dayton from the east

View from the back seat approaching downtown from the south

I circled around downtown Dayton, enjoying the great visibility. Yes, it was overcast, but you could see for miles and miles beneath the clouds. We took note of the construction down below and spotted Runway 36 at Dayton International when we were perfectly lined up for a straight-in about 10 miles south.

Mike took the controls and circled over his and a friends' house in Oakwood as I snapped some more photos. We looked down upon the Deeds Carillon, which briefly held a rather spectacular Christmas tree of lights until an unfortunate encounter with the wind a few days ago. Then we flew southwest, passing directly over my office before turning south towards Caesar Creek Lake.

Possibly the best view of one's office during their lunch hour

Glad not to be shopping at The Greene so close to Christmas!

(Mike was flying here)

You may recall my photos of the lake earlier this year when it was significantly drained for construction. Those concrete footings now support much of the new marina that looks to be almost complete. A quick search indicates it's supposed to open at the start of next year's boating season.

The new marina at Caesar Creek State Park

Caesar Creek Lake

Caesar Creek Lake and dam

Mike handed the controls back near the airport and I made a quick pattern entry to a downwind for Runway 26. My landing was not without a minor bounce and thud - it's been a month since I last flew and the landing looked like it. We tied the plane down near the fuel pump, took care of things inside, and I headed back to work for a few hours.

Considering the amount of travel I've been doing all year (I actually just returned from a rather last-minute trip to China yesterday) I'm happy to have somehow exceeded my total hours from 2014. Still, my flights of the non-commercial variety have been fewer and further between than intended. Hopefully I'm able to get in one more flight this year myself.

In the meantime, here's wishing you and your families a very Merry Christmas and a happy holiday season!

Flight Track: Google Earth KMZ File 
Today's Flight: 1.0 hours
Total Time: 347.5 hours

Solo pattern work on a very un-Novemberey day

Plane: Cub, 85 hp 
Route: 40I, Local 
Weather: Clear, 64 degrees, wind 250 degrees at 6 knots

When I last went up in the Cub a few weeks ago it was to sight-see, plus Gina tends to tire of me flying laps around the pattern. Point being I didn't get in my usual three takeoffs and landings for tailwheel currency purposes. But today was a highly unusual late fall 30+ degrees above freezing day. Gina was busy working on some Master's assignments so I headed down to Stewart for some solo practice.

I did not venture very far today

Unlike many recent practice flights, I felt every gram of rust on the stick this afternoon. My takeoffs were all quite fine but the landings... oh, the landings. I forget if it was my first or second but I think I technically could have logged four for one of my attempts. I was looking to the side, using my peripheral vision as one does during the flare, but misjudged something that led to me being off just enough for the plane to stop flying about a foot above the grass. Bounce, bounce, bounce... save it with some brisk throttle application... landing. Sort of.

I later texted a few friends and CFIs who were at the airport to inquire as to whether they witnessed my beautiful quadruple landing. By my own calculations, it should've been worth at least 9 points. Oof.

Things didn't immediately improve as I had another solid clunker, albeit one that ended in the wheels remaining firmly on the turf after only two or three bounces. I threw in some short and soft field variants for good measure as well, greasing one of them. On the final approach, I went full power-off abeam the numbers and used an aggressive slip to quickly turn from downwind to base to final, culminating in a power-off 180 with a rather short rollout.

Turns out it was probably a day best suited for solo flight. While the weather and views were superb, my flying was certainly in need of a little fine-tuning. I'm glad I took advantage of the chance to do just that.

Flight Track: Google Earth KMZ File 
Today's Flight: 0.7 hours
Total Time: 346.5 hours

Fall foliage before the sun sets too soon

Plane: Cub, 85 hp 
Route: 40I, Local 
Weather: Clear, 60 degrees, wind 080 degrees at 10 knots

The weather was perfect, if slightly windy, for our annual fall foliage flight this evening. We always try our best to take to the sky for one final evening adventure in the Cub before Daylight Savings Time comes to an end and I'm relegated to mostly weekend-only flying. Gina met me down at the airport after work, Tommy propped the old Continental to life, and we were taxiing across the grass shortly after 5:30.

With a half-tank of gas and about 60 minutes before sunset, we quickly set off to enjoy the scenic views. I first flew east towards the lake, then down the valley, passing over the gliderport. I spotted a combine harvesting a field but it had stopped by the time I circled around for a photo.

Next I flew north, passing along the south and west edges of downtown Waynesville. I alternated between opening and closing the door, balancing warmth against the optimal photo-taking configuration. We spotted some driveways lined with vivid red trees and Gina snapped a photo of one of them; she (wo)manned the camera for most of the flight. The sun was getting lower, enhancing the shadows and washing everything in that beautiful yellow that only twilight brings.

Unfortunately we didn't have enough fuel or time to fly all the way to downtown Dayton. I'd hoped to do just that since we spotted some awesome colors there driving home from Michigan yesterday evening. However, I did spot some very vibrant pockets near Kettering so we crossed I-675 and circled around for a few more photos in the increasingly golden evening light.

Upon our return to Stewart the pattern was ours alone. I pulled the carb heat on downwind, brought the throttle to idle, and executed a pseudo-power-off 180 landing, touching down surprisingly softly in the moderate wind blowing almost directly down the runway. We taxied over to the hangar, pushd the J-3 inside, and shut the doors. Walking to my car, I spotted a large moon rising over the horizon and couldn't resist the urge to snap just one more photo.

With all my travel this month (20/31 nights away from home!) I'm very happy I was still able to fit in the annual foliage flight with the wife. We didn't just keep the tradition alive; we were treated to peak colors on an exceptionally beautiful evening. Fall has definitely arrived.

Flight Track: Google Earth KMZ File 
Today's Flight: 0.8 hours
Total Time: 345.8 hours

Austin's first small airplane flight

Plane: Cub, 85 hp 
Route: 40I, Local 
Weather: Clear, 57 degrees, wind 080 degrees at 10 knots

Gina and one of her former coworkers, Tammy, used to chat about flying and the fact that I flew. At some point it came up that her son, Austin, is rather into airplanes. Fast-forward a few years and even though Gina no longer work in that school district, they have been chatting about getting him up in the air. He just turned 18 and is considering going to college to become a pilot.

As I've said before and I'll say again, there are few things more enjoyable as a pilot than introducing others to the joy of general aviation and small airplanes. So it goes without saying that I was happy to take Austin up in the Cub this morning. Apparently his family kept it a complete secret from him until they were on their way to Stewart - well done! He seemed pretty excited about it when I met everyone at the field around 9am.

We walked to the hangar and I pulled the Cub out on to the still-dew-covered grass, explaining a bunch of things and answering questions along the way. There were a couple drops of water in the fuel, so I took the opportunity to cover the reasoning for checking the fuel. I pointed out the (very few) instruments on the panel and they took some photos while I completed the preflight. Everything and everyone ready, I told Austin how to climb in the front and I hopped in the back seat. Another pilot who was about to fly the Champ kindly gave us a prop and the cool engine coughed to life on the third blade.

Describing something before climbing into the pilot's seat

I taxied to the west end of the field, ran through the complete pre-takeoff CIGAR checklist, and explained exactly what all I was doing back there. Austin gave me the thumbs-up when I asked if he was ready, so I rolled onto Runway 8; there was a rather healthy wind from the east. Throttle forward and we were rolling, then airborne, within a few hundred feet. I rocked the wings at everyone below as we climbed away.

Visibility was incredible this morning. At less than 1,000 feet AGL you could clearly spot all the buildings of downtown Cincinnati close to 40 miles south. He couldn't believe how far we could see. I flew over Caesar Creek Lake and pointed out both Warren County and Wright Brothers airports as we cruised between them.

I gave Austin a very brief demonstration on adverse yaw, banking right with the stick without touching the pedals; the nose swung wide left. Cubs teach the point quite well! Then we flew west towards Germantown, where he lives. As we circled over the small town, he spotted his house and I circled overhead before turning back towards Stewart.

Since he's looking to become a pilot, I offered him the controls. He did a great job making a few gentle turns and commented how easy it was to fly. People always seem surprised by that fact. It's true, we're (usually) not wrestling the controls to stay aloft! Then I asked if he was interested in having me demonstrate a couple other Private Pilot maneuvers. He was, so I showed him a steep turn, power-off stall, and a full forward slip.

We were just northwest of Waynesville so I entered the pattern on a 45 for a left downwind back to Runway 8. The wind was still a little gusty but almost right down the runway as I touched down on the right main just before the other two wheels returned to the turf. He said he didn't think the landing would be so gentle. Needless to say, I don't think most pilots could ask for more than that.

As we were saying goodbye, I offered to take Austin up again in the future. I suggested maybe trying out a Cessna so he can see what radio work and flying to other airports are all about. Hopefully he takes me up on the offer at some point!

Flight Track: Google Earth KMZ File 
Today's Flight: 1.0 hours
Total Time: 345.0 hours