Flying High Upon the Wings of Love

Yesterday I resumed some IFR training, including attempting my first instrument approach with my CFI talking me through it. I can definitely understand why IFR student pilots are so exhausted after training sessions - scanning those instruments, orienting oneself, listening to the radio, and executing a landing after 'breaking out' (of the clouds) requires a lot of mental energy. After my training session we returned to N07 for a quick lunch and a call for a flight briefer for an afternoon trip.

Once our lunch was finished, I had my briefing, and our car was all tucked away in the hangar, I climbed into the left seat of our C182 for my afternoon mission: fly Mr. Aviatrix and our dog to KFOK, also known as Francis S. Gabreski Airport in Westhampton Beach, New York. This was only my third time flying Mr. Aviatrix anywhere and I had never flown with our dog in the backseat, so I was a bit nervous.

It was an approximately 80 mile, 40 minute flight that included some time over the Long Island Sound. We divided up the responsibilities before we left: Mr. Aviatrix would handle the radios as well as the fuel-air mixture. I would fly the airplane. We would both look for traffic. I am happy to report that the flight went very well and I even had some moments of relaxing, enjoying the view, and chatting with Mr. Aviatrix as we were flying. He was an exemplary SIC and was so helpful and supportive, sweetly repeating over and over, "You're doing great! You're doing great!" The only time I didn't believe he felt that way was on my landing when he tried to "help" with the flaps; I was annoyed in the moment but I understand his impulse to want to make sure it was the perfect landing, as well as to rely on his own habits and ways of doing things. As in many other situations in life for most people, I'm sure sometimes it was difficult to relinquish control. This was our best flight together with me as PIC yet. In some ways, this was the flight that made me feel like a real pilot, more than when I passed my checkride, because it was just a regular trip from one place to another, flying real passengers, simply for the purpose of getting somewhere...getting somewhere in the most fun way possible of course!

Returning from My Aviation Vacation

I flew as PIC today after a hiatus of a little over five weeks. It has not felt good at all not to fly: I've worried about the atrophy of my aviation muscles and felt like I wasn't really a pilot. But Mr. Aviatrix has been taking the plane a lot for work, so I can't really complain. Although he's been flying it so much that I've joked that we need a second aircraft (some of my suggestions have included a Husky, an old 172, a Super Cub, and even a trike - I love all kinds of aircraft). We also did some fun flying around Canada, all of it with some IMC (instrument meteorological conditions, meaning clouds, meaning instrument flying as there is nothing to look at outside the airplane), so I could not do that flying. I certainly got to practice my radios, as I at least could help with that part of the workload. For any pilots that read this, you'll be relieved to know that I still sound like myself and am not talking in that "radio voice" we sometimes hear on the frequencies - you know the one that resembles 70s radio disc jockeys introducing the latest summer hits.

Today I went with my CFI to Sullivan County Airport (KMSV) to make sure I still had my landings and to build some cross-country time for my instrument training. While it would have been perfectly legal for me to fly there myself, I think it is always beneficial to fly with a CFI if you've taken some time off from flying, and as a new pilot myself I think it is essential, especially as I complete my transition to a high performance C182 from the classic trainer C172. The runway there is so long that we were able to do stop-and-go's, something I haven't done since my primary training at KLAL. Then we returned to N07 where I logged a couple of (very thankfully) uneventful landings.

Lastly, I hit 130 hours today!