PIREP

I've seen very few days more beautiful than yesterday here in the Pacific Northwest. Since I had a few days' notice that it would be gorgeous, I booked the 172 I usually fly, with the intention of doing my long 3-leg cross country flight required for my private pilot's license. Oh man, let me tell you, it was just amazing up there. Most of my flying lately has been in the choppy springtime air, so I was delighted to find the air incredibly stable. Surface visibility was a little impaired, as it will be in such a stable atmosphere, but I could still see for many miles through the light haze.

I left Troutdale Airport (KTTD), and tracked inbound to the Newberg VOR (UBG), and then outbound using the V182 airway to Newport, Oregon on the coast (KONP). Climbing to 8500' on the first leg, it was like driving a car over newly paved asphalt. It's the first time I've been that high, and I was impressed by how easy pilotage is from this vantage point.

Arriving at Newport, I heard another aircraft taking off on runway 34. I swung out wide over the coast to enter the left downwind for 34, but heard the pilot who had just taken off request that I let him in front of me so he could do an emergency landing. He reported that he had "low power" and worried that his engine was on the fritz. Of course, I was happy to oblige, and circled over the ocean once so he could slip past me. On landing, I went inside the FBO to see a friend of mine who runs the show there. He and I watched the pilot who had been in trouble taking off again. Turns out his flaps were extended and he hadn't realized it. That's exactly the kind of thing I'm always afraid will happen to me when I'm flying! ;-)

After a refreshing Snickers bar, I took to the sky again, traveling up the coast to Tillamook Airport (S47) for a touch and go, before climbing out over the coast range to return to Troutdale. As an aside for avid 'simmers, one of my final checkpoints before returning to TTD was overflying the Flying M Ranch, of Georender fame. All it took was a glance to spot it, as I've flown into it many times before in FS! Yep, there was that squarish pond, just to the right of the runway. Richard really nailed that one.

If anyone is sitting on the fence about taking flying lessons, let me heartily recommend it. Unless you're independently wealthy, it's fairly irresponsible from a fiscal standpoint. But I wouldn't trade the experience for all the zero credit card balances on earth.

B.B. in a boxcar

Some days just look like they'll be perfect for flying. I got up this morning to an endless blue sky, light wind and cool (but not frigid) temps. I was feeling a little smug that I had reserved my trusty 172 for the afternoon, and was anxious to do some more short/soft field landing and takeoff practice over at Portland Mulino, a field for which I was just checked out last weekend.

Today was a good example of how different conditions on the surface and even a few thousand feet up can be, however. No sooner had I left Troutdale on my climbout than I started getting knocked around by some rogue wind gusts. I initiated a climb, hoping to get on top of the burbling air below me, but it was not to be. During the short flight to Mulino, I found myself white-knuckling the yoke, trying in vain to anticipate the dips and lifts. I did get a second to pat myself on the back for navigating directly to my destination using pilotage, arriving dead-on over the middle of the field just about when I thought I would, so that's something I guess.

On my first pass around the pattern at Mulino, I caught a few hair-raising gusts, but managed to set the plane down pretty well on the center line, considering. As I lifted off again, however, I got knocked hard. This was the first time I've felt a twinge of fear since I've been flying. I mean, these gusts were really bouncing me all over the place. I cooled down pretty quickly once the air smoothed out, however, and managed to get in four landings before calling it quits and high-tailing it back to Troutdale.

This was one of those decision points for a pilot. I had to choose whether to stick with my landings and get some valuable crosswind practice, or cut and run and hope for smoother air another day. I made the choice to choke down my insecurity and get a grip on what was happening, and I'm glad I did. But I also know that had I encountered much more wind activity than I did, I would have just bagged it. That's the advantage of being a 40-something student, I guess. I am many things at this point in my life, but daredevil is definitely not one of them.