Last night I had my first adventure flying an airplane at night. The night was beautiful! What a difference flying in the day makes. It is amazing how different the eye works during the day than at night. Though it was amazing, boy did it cost a lot!
During the flight I went to three new airports I had never been. Two were planned out by Rick, the third was a stop I wanted to make for a friend. All three though were different in their own way. Continue reading
This weekend I had two wonderful flights. The first, soloing in a Cessna 150 around Twin Oaks, the other, flying with Rick over to Lenhardt Airpark (7S9) and landing for the first time on a grass (soft-field) runway. Both flights were amazing and made me realize even more that this stuff is sinking into my brain!
Fridays Change of Plans
Friday I went out to fly with Rick. I got there early even, but the plane wasn’t ready. When it finally was, Rick ended up having to go on a flight he had scheduled but thought was cancelled. Oh well. It gave me a chance to talk with James and figure out what I am going to do with my flying with regards to the size of plane I’m going to use. I made the decision that since I had over 40+ hours in a 172, that I would finish in a 172 and spend my solo time flying the 150 (except for some cross country flights). Continue reading
This last week I had two fantastic flights. One in a Cessna 172 with Rick on my birthday, then a first time flight and solo endorsed in a Cessna 150 with James. I couldn’t have asked for a better time.
My flight with James in a Cessna 150 was brought on by the increased cost of flying Continue reading
Monday was quite a lot for me. Not only did I have a great flight, I also turned 27, had my 1-yr anniversary living in the Portland area, and Tuesday brought 1-yr working at my job. What an awesome day.
I’m now soloed at all three of the non-towered airports around Twin Oaks. Those are Aurora State (UAO), McMinnville (MMV) and Stark’s Twin Oaks Airpark (7S3). Since I’m soloed, I’m now able to fly between these by just renting a plane from the airport and taking off; which is quite a thrill in itself.
The flight between all three of these airports is nicknamed the “Triangle of Death”. Not that anyone has died during the flights in this triangle; however there is quite a lot to consider. For starters, there isn’t much distance between the airports, so planning ahead is important. Also, there are some small mountain ranges from Twin Oaks to Aurora State and from McMinnville back to Twin Oaks. The ranges are only around 2000ft, but important to keep in mind the amount of wind that can get kicked into the plane causing for some turbulent flying.
On Monday, Rick and I flew this course. Actually, he really just went along (off the clock) as a final unwritten check-off to make sure that I did just fine, and with no surprise, it went great.
The day was beautiful, not a lot of wind out, and just a few clouds to get in my way. I prepped Cessna N734KU, plugged in Aurora State, and got my radios ready. I took off out of Twin Oaks without a hitch and made my way on over. One area I know I need to work on are my outgoing and incoming radio calls when exiting and entering the different airspaces. The flight over to UAO was wonderful. Nice climbing speed, steady controls, and nicely directed. The first landing over at UAO ended up being a bit rough, but then Rick hopped out, I got going and flew a solo flight around the patter and had a great landing.
Rick then hopped back in and we did the same over at McMinnville. McMinnville was busier than Aurora that day, but I did just great. In fact, I had one of my best landings to date over there on my solo landing what made me extremely happy.
We took off and flew back to Twin Oaks, came in to land on runway 2, but as I was coming in for base, the other traffic switched things up on me, so we had to do a landing onto runway 20 over the trees. Unlike before, after Monday, I felt just great about landing into runway 20. Everything kinda just clicked and I came down with ease and had a fantastic landing with how many times I’ve landed on runway 20 (not many at all).
The flight ended on a very positive note, and made me feel great about soloing the entire triangle. Working on my radios and also working on my entries/exits into/out of the patterns is something I’ll continue to practice, but I’m feeling a ton better about how my progress is coming.
What a stellar birthday flight! Here’s to next year when I’ll make my birthday flight as a private pilot. Awesome stuff!!!
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On a side note, gas prices are getting expensive, therefore costs to rent went up. Renting a 172 is now $115, while renting a 150 went up to $85. My plan over the next couple weeks is to get soloed in a 150 with James. Hopefully that makes things a bit more affordable!
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Logs:
Flight Time: 1.4 Hours
Solo Time: 0.4 Hours
Landings: 5
After waiting a number of days to finally get the weather to cooperate, I was finally able to perform my solo take-offs and landings at Stark’s Twin Oaks Airpark!
Friday was such a beautiful day in the Portland area and the winds were so calm. I was hoping I would have a chance to solo that day, but not sure if things would go as I planned.
The plane I usually flew, N2108Y, was out of commission due to the lack of flying it received (it was really just me and one other) and N734KU was booked until later that day, so I had to fly a plane I haven’t flown since September(!), N5440H. This plane, another Cessna 172, only has 150HP, unlike N2108Y and N734KU which both have 180HP. Not a big deal, except that it took a bit to get use to flying in an aircraft that didn’t have the power to climb like I was use to in the other two airplanes. 
5440H also has electric flaps which you have to set by watching the LEDs light up next to it. I had to get use to counting how long it takes for the flaps to increase and stop when I glanced to see the correct number of LEDs light up. The design isn’t terrible, just very different; another thing to get use to on a day I was potentially going to solo.
After a couple successful landings with Rick, he said I was ready, and he hopped out and I got things ready for taking off and landing all by my lonesome.
All three take-offs, the pattern work, and my landings all went without a hitch and I was able to finally get signed off with soloing at Twin Oaks. What a great moment that was. With the two airports I soloed at before, Aurora State (UAO) and McMinnville (MMV), I am now signed off to fly between all three airports, titled “The Triangle of Death”! Not that anyone has really died between them, but it is what it is. Now I can really knock out the solo hours!
On top of a great flight, I was able to chat a bit with my former instructor James Boughen. His knee is mostly healed up now and he is back in the states. Great to have you back James!
A fantastic ending to an amazing day of flying!
So what about you? What have you been able to accomplish in the last week that has blown you away. Leave a comment below!
Logs:
Flight Time: 1.3 Hours
Solo Time: 0.5 Hours
Landings: 5
