Flightseeing
Not that I need an excuse to go fly, but it doesn’t hurt to have one. A friend sent me a text asking if I had plans for Saturday morning. I told him I didn’t to which he responded that he was going to be out my way and wondered if he helped pay for […]
Camarillo by Night
I love flying at night! Here in the LA/Orange County area there are so many lights on the ground that even when there is no moon there is enough light to help you keep your bearings. I have been to the airport a few times and just flown around the traffic pattern to get in […]
“As long as it’s not in that weather…”
I was looking for a title for this post. That was my son’s response to my question of “So, will you go flying with me again?” In all fairness, my answer to him was “I don’t really want to fly again in that weather either.” What kind of weather was it you ask? Well, let […]
French Valley Dinner Run
Finally, I get to fly with passengers in the Mooney!!! It was hazy/misty this morning, the remnants of the rain that never quite materialized yesterday which meant plenty of time to get some yard work done while waiting for the skies to clear up. A little after noon my wife and I piled in the […]
“Flightseeing” – Was that Wind Shear?
Ah, finally coming down to the end of the insurance transition requirements. I’m feeling pretty good in the plane, although I still have quite a way to go in learning how long it takes to slow her down. The Mooney really isn’t that different to fly than the Cherokees that I trained in, it’s just […]
Smoother Landings
I’m still working on my solo time prior to carrying any passengers. I don’t find cross country to be very difficult at all so I decided to just focus on pattern work and landings today. Cross country basically involves climbing to altitude, going through the cruise checklist to get everything configured, making sure you don’t […]
Last CFI Flight – First Solo in the Mooney
Before I could fly solo I needed another 1.9 hours with my CFI. We couldn’t make the schedule work last night so we planned to meet this morning to finish it up. I had told him that I wanted to get in some crosswind landing practice. Because I knew Chino and Riverside would probably be […]
Pattern Work and Airport Hopping at Night
I’m still working on my transition training but starting to feel much more comfortable with the plane. After a few winters here with very little rain, Mother Nature decided that this year was the time to make up for it. It was cloudy and rainy during the day Tuesday but started to clear up a […]
Cross Country, Repairs, Airport Introductions
Saturday brought more new experiences in flying the Mooney, a MP (Manifold Pressure) gauge that decided to stop working, and an adventure through the airport community. The names have been changed, some of them because I don’t remember all of them, and others because I don’t know if they would want to be named in […]
Flying in the Rain
Rain, stalls, pattern-work, simulated engine out, and about half a spin… After two weeks of waiting due to scheduling conflicts with Christmas I got the chance to go fly again. I took Friday off work to try and get in some more training and was crossing my fingers that the weather would work out. The […]
A Second “First Flight”
203 days ago I took my first flight, and today I took a first flight again. Today was the first time I flew a Mooney, it was also the first time I flew my Mooney, and it was awesome!!! I was supposed to meet my CFI at 8am so I got there a little early to start […]
Buying N78878
As you have probably noticed, there hasn’t been any flying for the past month. I am really itching to get back up, but the wait was for a good cause. I have been saving my “rental money” because we were buying a plane! So what went into the search and purchase process? Here goes… The […]
