(we're all about bandwagons…)
Here Berck talks about learning to fly, a topic that seems to interest more people than any of the other uninteresting things he has to ramble about.
Well, when I showed up for some ground study since my plane had been taken, I noticed that the plane was in the hangar. Turns out the prop governor quit working the flight before.
D. said he’d try to complete everything in one flight tomorrow evening. Provided that the plane is back in service by then (it should be) and no one takes the plane (at 6pm, I might get away with it, but who knows).
As I suspected, I’m not flying today. It seems they took the plane for someone’s check ride.
I’m going in to do some ground study instead.
I’m supposed to fly today at 2pm. The weather is beautiful, although slightly windy and gusty, which means the plane will probably go down for maintenance. I’ve still got the same two flights left. Plane was down for maintenance on Monday. There’s supposed to be two 172-RG’s, but the other one is down with bad gear actuators and has been for weeks. This means all training and all check rides happen in one plane, so I’ve been scheduled every other day, rather than every day. I guess since I’ve only got two flights left, and I’m leaving this weekend, it doesn’t really matter. If I can get signed off for the stage check and check ride before I leave and take them when I get back, all should be good. I’m seriously ready to be done with this program. I’ve been here over a year now, and that’s long enough. I’m starting to tire of Oklahoma as well– thinking that looking for a job elsewhere might not be a bad idea at all. Especially if this forces Joanna to do something else. I worry that if I work here, she’ll stay at the warehouse forever.
I’ve tinkered with the blog a bit. All pages have sidebars now, so maybe Sydney will feel better about the “stupid wasted margins” on the single-post pages. I tend to think a sidebar should be a constant thing, so it’s on all pages now. And it doesn’t change into half-a-sidebar when viewing the archives.
I also fixed the archives so they behave more reasonably, when you click on a month, you get the whole month on one page. It’s not like I’ve got so many people hitting it that the extra bandwidth makes any difference. I didn’t minding them being paged, but it didn’t work in a meaninfful way at all.
The archives are going further and further back. We figure this is as good a place as any to store all this stuff. There’s no good way to tell what’s been added, so if you actually want to read old stuff, you’ll just have to browse. We’re not adding in any chronological order, and Joanna’s unsure about the dates for many things.
I got to go flying with Berck today!
Last night Berck told me he had an 8 a.m. flight. “I bet my instructor would let you ride in the back.”
So we got up early this morning and drove over to the airport. Mike was like, “Sure. But we’re just doing pattern work.” That means flying around and around the airport practicing landings. He even got me a headset to wear.
Berck is currently flying a Cessna 172 with retractable gear. Which means he has to remember to pull them up and put them down each time around.
The first time in the pattern, I just stared all around. It’s so cool to see the town where you live from the air. Berck says that he’s yet to find our apartment, but we flew over it each time around. The second time I snapped a bunch of pictures, especially of the apartment. This was tricky because we pass it right when we’re turning downwind. It’s like trying to take a picture of a corner lot when turning in a car. Really fast. Mainly, I just pointed the camera out the window and tried to click at the right time.
The third time around, I started feeling really queasy. If you sit the backseat of a 172 RG, you can’t see out the front. I could see out the sides just fine. Even though it was a smooth day, the wind kept us pretty well buffeted, especially around turns. And we were constantly landing and taking off, which works havoc on one’s ears, especially when wearing a heavy headset.
I think if we had been going somewhere different, instead of just flying in circles, it would have been better…I would have had new things to gawk at and not had time to feel sick. It’s a good thing I didn’t eat breakfast.
So the first part of the flight was really fun, and the rest of it was really not. But it was good to be able to go and see Berck have a lesson. I could hear all his conversation with his instructor through the headset. Near the end, each time we were flying downwind, they would say, “Okay, one more touch and go, and then we’ll full-stop,” only to repeat it the next time. Maybe that kept me from feeling too bad, thinking that I just had to last one more time around. Next time I’ll take some ginger. I bet that would be sure to do the trick.
I guess I won’t be coming along for tomorrow’s lesson. They’re practicing maneuvers.
KOUN 231633Z AUTO 01004KT 10SM OVC017 07/02 A3003 RMK AO2
That’s overcast at 1,700ft. Which means I didn’t take my stage check today either.
At least I’ll have lots of time to cook dinner for Joanna.