Because I was Inverted
About five and a half years ago, shortly after getting my private pilot license, one of my sisters asked me, “If you got a Top Gun t-shirt, would you want it to say Goose or Maverick on it?” I responded, “Maverick, of course. Goose died.” It’s still one of my favorite t-shirts and shows the […]
IFR Checkride!!!!
September 29, 2021 More than a year in the making, the day was finally here. I began studying for the written portion of the IFR Exam August 20, 2020. After a few months of study I gave myself a deadline to take the written and scheduled it for December 22, 2020, scoring a 92%. I […]
IFR Training – 1.2 Actual in the Log Book, Extended IMC
Flight 23 – August 18th I scheduled a flight after work and all day I was looking at cloudy skies. The forecast said it should still be cloudy at 6pm when we would be flying so I was hopeful for some more actual IMC. When I got to the airport after work the skies had […]
IFR Training – Fullerton to John Wayne and Back – With a touch of IMC
After 21 training flights and only spending a couple of minutes in actual IMC (Instrument Meteorological Conditions) on flight 19, I had back to back flights in actual IMC. Where the first time my heart was racing, these flights felt much better. When I was done with flight 23 I came to the conclusion that […]
IFR Training – First Time in Actual IMC
This was first published in The Mooney Flyer in the August 2021 Edition. If you have been following along on my Blog, you know that I started the flying portion of my IFR training in February of this year. It is something I have wanted to accomplish for quite some time, but I was waiting […]
IFR Training – Aviate, Navigate, What’s Next?
All pilots know that when you are flying the number one priority is to “Fly the airplane first,” AVIATE. Next on the list of priorities is to know where you are, NAVIGATE. Finally, rounding out your responsibilities is COMMUNICATE or using the radios to talk to ATC (Air Traffic Control) or in the case of […]
IFR Training – Cross Country Completed
Among the requirements for the IFR rating is the IFR Cross Country flight. It must me a flight of 250 nautical miles along airways or by directed routing from an air traffic control facility, an instrument approach at each airport, and three different kinds of approaches with the use of navigation systems. I reviewed distances […]
IFR Training – I Brought Along a Photographer
I actually didn’t bring a photographer. My wife joined us for one leg of the flight, but she did take pictures, so I suppose that does make her a photographer. We had kids and grandkids in town for a week, and then some of them went to Oxnard to spend some more time at the […]
IFR Training – Back in the Saddle
After a month without any IFR training I finally got back in the air. The plane was down three and a half weeks for the GFC500 Autopilot installation and then there was a weekend trip to St. George for a family reunion. I used the autopilot for the flight there and back and it was […]
IFR Training – Breakthrough
Training flights 13 and 14 took place Wednesday April 28th and Saturday May 1st. Initially my plane was supposed to go into the shop April 26th for the GFC500 Autopilot to be installed, but the shop was backed up and wouldn’t get to it until the following Monday, so I kept the plane and planned […]
IFR Training – Round Robin – Take Two and Three
IFR training flight 11 was to take place in the evening on the 14th. I was doing pre-flight on the plane and heard some police sirens but didn’t think anything of it. However, after a few minutes went by without hearing any planes coming or going I walked out in front of my hangar, and […]
IFR Training – Flights 9 & 10 – New Challenges
IFR Training flights 9 and 10 took place the evenings of April 7th and 9th. The two flights presented some new challenges. Flight 9 – April 7th Wednesday we filed IFR flight plans from Fullerton (KFUL) to French Valley (F70) and back. We filed TEC (Tower En Route Control) routes to make things easier for […]
