Current!

Plane: Cub, 65 hp
Instructor: Joe 
Route: 40I, Local 
Weather: Clear, 72 degrees, wind 130 degrees at 5 knots

I am happy to report I have finally broken a long streak - that of having gone 144 days since I last logged time in the cockpit. We got married, then the holidays came, and then there has been a bit of unemployment uncertainty. But I couldn't stay on the ground forever, especially if I want to continue my annual tradition of flying the Cub on my birthday next month! I renewed my renter's insurance yesterday and made it down to Stewart this evening to finally get current once again.

Joe and I chatted on the ground for a bit before filling the J-3's tank with 100LL and taking off into the warm evening sky. We flew north towards Dayton and pretty much just spent the first 20-30 minutes doing nothing but flying low and slow and staring out the windows. Gotta love a Cub.

After 3+ years, it's still fun to stare at the GPS tracks of my flights!

Eventually we made it back to the pattern and he asked for three landings. I was quite high on the first one and landed long although the touchdown itself was quite smooth. There was certainly some rust to knock off after such an extended period away from flying. The next two were better; I had a tad too much speed on both but slipped the plane down and made perfectly safe landings. Obviously that's something I'll try and polish up now that I'm able to fly solo again.

It was just an altogether enjoyable night at the airport. One of those evenings that always remind me why I enjoy Stewart so much - it's just vintage aviation in the best possible form. I still doubt that I'll be able to go crazy this year when it comes to flying time but it's always nice to get back into the air.

Flight Track: Google Earth KMZ File 
Today's Flight: 0.9 hours
Total Time: 210.4 hours

In Memoriam: John Lane

If you know anything about aviation in the Dayton/Cincinnati area, you probably have at least heard about John Lane. He flew for decades, served as a Designated Pilot Examiner, was a recipient of the prestigious Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award, and founded what is known today as Lebanon/Warren County Airport (I68) in 1956. Today we are sad to hear he has passed away at the age of 87.

I met him in person a couple times and have heard countless other stories about his skill and personality. He was at home inside an airplane, an incredible pilot - and was rumored to have occasionally introduced a student to spins in a 172 on their checkrides. Outside the cockpit he was one of the nicest people you have ever met, always friendly and willing to chat. They ran a great article about him in the Cincinnati paper last December - I encourage you to read it.

Blue skies and tailwinds, John.

In the rear seat of the restored 1946 Aeronca Champ sat John Lane, carrying with him virtually the entire history of aviation in Warren County.

Lane, 87, was on board the single prop airplane last summer as license examiner for Alaina Kappner, who was celebrating her 17th birthday by earning her sports pilot license at the Warren County Airport near Lebanon.

There was a circle of life tinge to the pairing of the young schoolgirl and the veteran instructor, who essentially built the airport from scratch – with a little star-power help along the way.

http://cincinnati.com/blogs/ourhistory/2011/12/05/lane-built-airport-armstrong-put-it-on-map/

March Madness, Pilot Style

If you haven't heard, AOPA is currently running their own version of March Madness. They have picked 64 airplanes and seeded them into an NCAA-style bracket, pitting many of our favorite flying machines against each other. In the end, I suppose us pilots will finally decide which one we love the most! The #1 seeds are the venerable P-51 Mustang, Piper J-3 Cub, Beechcraft Bonanza, and Cessna 182.

Head on over to AOPA's Favorite Aircraft Challenge website in order to cast your vote and follow the tournament. The championship round is scheduled for April 1st and 2nd. Needless to say, you probably can guess that I'm hoping to see the Piper Cub make it to the Final Four. But I'm honestly not sure what I'll do if it comes down to the P-51 and J-3!

An animated history of aviation

While this is simply a marketing video for the Aviation Science program at Utah Valley University, you can't deny that it does an incredible job lifting aviation's history off the pages of books. Hope you enjoy it if you haven't already seen it elsewhere on the web.

As for me, still no flying for the near future. We're undergoing some major restructuring and changes at work and I think it's in my best interest to limit the flying expenditures until everything is a bit more stable. Hope you're all doing well!

Happy New Year!

If you somehow didn't gather from my unfortunate drop-off in posting frequency, 2011 was a tad busy. Gina and I got married in November and that was obviously the highlight of the year. Due to all the time and planning that required I flew far less than in years past.

It would be dishonest of me to not also mention the simple fact that I seem to have gotten caught up in what seems to be a somewhat common situation for a relatively new pilot - quite simply, it's kind of hard to justify it at times. Yes, I will always love aviation and yes, nothing beats a Piper Cub with the door open... but there's no way around the fact that it's an expensive hobby. Couple that with the current uncertainty in the job market and I'm just not sure how much flying I will be doing this year.

All that said, I have no intention of giving it up. I would still like to learn some new stuff, too. So read along as I recap last year, just as I did in my first posts of 2010 and 2011.

Total Hours: 28.6 | Solo: 2.8 | XC: 12.8 | Dual: 4.3 | Landings: 57

Aircraft Flown: C150, C172, Cub

New Airports: I69, FKL, BFD, B16, SDC, 38D, OSU

New States: Pennsylvania, New York

First Flights: 5 (Aaron, Toni, and Russ, Jon, and Jake)

People Flown: 12 (above, plus my friends Rob, Mike and Sarah, Ted and Donna, fellow blogger TJ, and Gina)

$100 Burgers: 6 (Sporty's and the Sky Galley in April, two in June on our way to and from Syracuse, Urbana in August, and Marty's BBQ in October)

Pilots N Paws Flights: 4 (February, May, June, and October)

Stearman Takeoffs & Landings: 1 each (that was fun)

What I'll Remember: Our amazing wedding and honeymoon, showing friends the sheer fun of cutting toilet paper streamers in the Cub, our trip to NY that tested my personal limits and gave me some very valuable experience with weather, seeing the final Space Shuttle launch in person, and my first trip to Oshkosh.

2011 Goals: Fly the Stearman, log stick time in a glider, take some couples that we are good friends with on $100 burger runs in the 172, go on a yet-to-be-determined flying adventure with my groomsmen before the wedding, fly at least one Pilots N Paws rescue, continue expanding the variety of content on the blog, make sure Gina doesn't run away from the altar in November.

^ Yikes, didn't do nearly as good crossing things off last year as I have done in the past!

2012 Goals: Log time in the Stearman - Gina gave me a $500 certificate as a wedding gift, log stick time in a glider, take some of our friends flying, keep the blog more active than I have over the past six months.