Happy New Year!

We begin anew once again - 2012 has come and gone, Gina and I have been married for over a year, and I logged more fun time in the sky. It's hard to believe that we've already reached another new year but I'm optimistic that both my aviation and personal life will see some real positive growth in 2013. Check out my goals below to understand what I mean by that last point.

Prior Recaps: 2010 | 2011 | 2012

The best news is that my hours-flown chart spiked in the right direction for the first time since I passed my checkride back in 2008. I logged, literally to the tenth of an hour, the same amount of time in 2012 that I did in 2010 - a 43% increase over 2011! Even ignoring my 4.5 hours of safety pilot time, it was over 25% better. I still didn't fly as much as I wanted (heck, I didn't even climb into a plane until April!) but I'm quite happy about the improvement.

Total Hours: 40.8 | Solo: 7.3 | XC: 11.5 | Dual: 2.7 | Safety Pilot/SIC: 4.5 | Landings: 84

Aircraft Flown: C150, C172, C182 (Safety Pilot), Cub

New Airports: LIH, ISZ, HAO, PMH, HOC, OZW, 45G, DET, BTL, 2H4, OEB

New States: Hawaii

First Flights: 5 (Jessica, Rob, RosaLia + John, and Jamie)

People Flown: 8 (above, plus Rob, Jon, and Gina)

$100 Burgers: 5 (Sporty's in May, Portsmouth and Urbana in August, and WMU's Pancake Breakfast and Urbana again in September)

Fly-Ins: 3 (MERFI in August and WMU + Triple H in September)

Pilots N Paws Flights: 1 (July)

What I'll Remember: Flying completely around the island of Kauai in April. Taking the 172 up to Michigan to visit family, land at my childhood airports, and fly past downtown Detroit in August. Heading back up to Michigan with Gina the very next weekend, flying over WMU's campus (our alma mater) and getting hit with a laser on our way home. Finally logging a bit of right-seat time as a safety pilot for Mike in the 182. Landing at Blue Ash before the airport closed for good this summer. Crossing the 250-hour mark (barely) on my final flight of the year.

2012 Goals: Log time in the Stearman, 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.

^ Uh, well it's good to bat .500, right? I need to get better about working towards my goals, which leads me to...

2013 Goals: Start and complete my Instrument and Commercial ratings. Yup, you read that right. Woo boy, I'm gonna be busy, eh? Here's the thing - I know I want to get them, I've put both off for far too long, and I sure as heck want them done before we have kids if at all possible. The ultimate goal is getting my CFI/II, but doing all of that this year would be extremely hard, if not impossible. Maybe in 2014. I'd also still like to log some Stearman time, get checked out in the Taylorcraft, and maybe finally take that elusive glider flight.

So it's time to get my ass in gear and hop back onto the flight training bandwagon. A lofty goal? No doubt about it. It's time to challenge myself, learn something new, and improve my skills. I intend to recap every lesson just as I did when working on my Private, so expect a significant bump in activity around here!

One final note - this post is my 300th on the blog. Not too bad in just over 4 1/2 years, huh?

Merry Christmas!

I hope you and your families are having a wonderful holiday season. Gina and I have been enjoying a good, if hectic, month and are thankful for finally having a few days to settle down with our own family. Here's to a great Christmas and New Year for all of you.

And now, a little aviation-themed holiday tale...

T'was the night before Christmas, and out on the ramp,
Not an airplane was stirring, not even a Champ.
The aircraft were fastened to tie downs with care,
In hopes that -- come morning -- they all would be there.

The fuel trucks were nestled, all snug in their spots,
With gusts from two-forty at 39 knots.
I slumped at the fuel desk, now finally caught up,
And settled down comfortably, resting my butt.

When the radio lit up with noise and with chatter,
I turned up the scanner to see what was the matter.
A voice clearly heard over static and snow,
Called for clearance to land at the airport below.

He barked his transmission so lively and quick,
I'd have sworn that the call sign he used was "St. Nick."
I ran to the panel to turn up the lights,
The better to welcome this magical flight.

He called his position, no room for denial,
"St. Nicholas One, turnin' left onto final."
And what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a Rutan-built sleigh, with eight Rotax Reindeer!

With vectors to final, down the glideslope he came,
As he passed all fixes, he called them by name:
"Now Ringo! Now Tolga! Now Trini and Bacun!
On Comet! On Cupid!" What pills was he takin'?

While controllers were sittin', and scratchin' their heads,
They phoned to my office, and I heard it with dread,
The message they left was both urgent and dour:
"When Santa pulls in, have him please call the tower."

He landed like silk, with the sled runners sparking,
Then I heard, "Left at Charlie," and "Taxi to parking."
He slowed to a taxi, turned off of three-oh,
And stopped on the ramp with a "Ho, ho-ho-ho..."

He stepped out of the sleigh, but before he could talk,
I ran out to meet him with my best set of chocks.
His red helmet and goggles were covered with frost,
And his beard was all blackened from Reindeer exhaust.

His breath smelled like peppermint, gone slightly stale,
And he puffed on a pipe, but he didn't inhale.
His cheeks were all rosy and jiggled like jelly,
His boots were as black as a cropduster's belly.

He was chubby and plump, in his suit of bright red,
And he asked me to "fill it, with hundred low-lead."
He came dashing in from the snow-covered pump,
I knew he was anxious for drainin' the sump.

I spoke not a word, but went straight to my work,
And I filled up the sleigh, but I spilled like a jerk.
He came out of the restroom, and sighed in relief,
Then he picked up a phone for a Flight Service brief.

And I thought as he silently scribed in his log,
These reindeer could land in an eighth-mile fog.
He completed his pre-flight, from the front to the rear,
Then he put on his headset, and I heard him yell, "Clear!"

And laying a finger on his push-to-talk,
He called up the tower for clearance and squawk.
"Take taxiway Charlie, the southbound direction,
Turn right three-two-zero at pilot's discretion"

He sped down the runway, the best of the best,
"Your traffic's a Grumman, inbound from the west."
Then I heard him proclaim, as he climbed through the night,
"Merry Christmas to all! I have traffic in sight."

- Author Unknown

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Crossing the quarter-century mark in fitting fashion

Plane: Cub, 65 hp 
Route: 40I, Local 
Weather: Clear, 48 degrees, wind 190 degrees at 6 knots

I really had no plans to fly today. Not that one ever needs to have planned to fly in advance! But the great weather and unfortunate, absolutely horrible news dominating every website and television program made for an easy decision to drive down to Stewart after work. There's nothing like a little time behind the stick in a J-3 to clear one's head.

I don't care how many times I take a version of this photo - it never gets old

Knowing the 250-hour mark was close, I had originally planned to cross it on a flight somewhere (probably a $100 hamburger/pancake run) with Gina. That obviously didn't occur today. Still, the end result was even more fitting in a way. My first flight - at Stewart, at least - was in a Cub just over 4 1/2 years ago. So it was nice to be up in the pattern, flying solo in a J-3, when I crossed that symbolic quarter-century mark.

There wasn't much time, so a few laps were all I squeezed in

I made four trips around the pattern and finished the first three with a mostly-normal landing. I came in slightly high and hot and landed too far down the runway but the touchdowns themselves were all extremely smooth. Perhaps the luxury of 3,000 feet of grass combined with a Cub made for a lax performance in that aspect. Regardless, I landed intentionally long on the fourth and final trip, touching down about halfway down the runway and rolling to a stop right in front of the hangar. I pushed the yellow bird back inside myself and wandered back down towards the office.

Mind cleared.

Flight Track: Google Earth KMZ File 
Today's Flight: 0.5 hours
Total Time: 250.3 hours

Experience the 787 in 360 interactive degrees - in flight!

Boeing has put together a very cool interactive experience on their website. We've all seen neat 360-degree panoramas of cockpits before, but this one-ups everything out there. Now you can actually "ride along" on an actual flight with the ability to look around the entire flight deck!

Click the image above or visit newairplane.com/787/dreampass to check it out.

Awesome cockpit footage from Matt Younkin's Beech 18 routine

This man is a pilot's pilot. Nothing like an aerobatic performance in twin-engine transport. The whole interview and video is great, but if you're in a hurry go straight to the 12:45 mark.

Not bad, eh?