After mastering slow flight, stalls, ground reference maneuvers and flying with "foggles" (a sweet pair of goggles that you can only see out the bottom of, so that you can practice flying with instruments instead of your view of the outside world for reference), my instructor decided it was high time for me to learn how to take-off and land properly. Up to this point, I have been doing most of the take-offs and I think we have only buzzed the tower twice. But landings have been a different story. I have heard that a coordinated and graceful landing is something even experienced and professional pilots still aim to achieve on a regular basis. Saturday was my time to shine.
I arrived at the flight school just as the drizzle was starting to fall. We would be flying within the landing and take-off pattern around the airport, so visibility wasn't as much of a concern as it normally would be. The initial take-off went pretty well, but the landings were less than gentle. I am glad the school has good insurance. I was not allowed to do too much damage because the weather moved in and we were eventually forced to call a full-stop landing.
Today we continued the onslaught on the landing gear. We took a heading to the North and flew to the airport in Fort Collins. There we flew in the traffic pattern over and over and over again. By the end, I wasn't dropping onto the tarmac quite so hard, but there is enough room for improvement to keep me coming back for more. I just hope the flight school has the tire shop's phone number on speed dial.
Included in this post is a link to some pilot humor. It doesn't take a full log book to find it hilarious.
