Hand me that flashlight....

 Crazy!
 Here we are again a month later!
 Can't believe that it has been that long since I have flown.
  Lots of time has passed, but lots of preparations have been made to get this training under way.
  I have recently moved in with my Dad.. and out of my own apartment. That means that he will not charge me rent, but instead I can use that money can be used to fly.  Paying to get out of my apartment was a little bit of a headache. But that is in the past now. Looking forward, I am excited for the future.

 James and I have a differing schedule, so we made a mutual decision for me to switch flight instructors to someone that has a schedule that would better mesh with mine. So now I am flying with Forest Fluckey.We are only going to be able to fly weekends for the winter, but when summer kicks up, I will have enough money saved up that I can hit it hard and get finished, and maybe move on to my tail wheel in the cub!!


Last night was my first official flight lesson with Forest. I had flown with him when James was gone one evening, but last night was the first official lesson.
 I just wanted to do a good  refresher flight and get back into the hang of things. So we launched out of Twin Oaks, on a South eastern heading that landed us right at Aurora State.
 On the way, Forest demonstrated a full drag decent for me, to show how quickly and safely you can get down if you had to.  With full flaps extended and the throttle set at idle, you can aim the airplane down about 25-35 degrees and descend, with out the airspeed climbing to an unmanageable level. Once you get to the altitude desired, you just level out and your airspeed just bleeds away and you can make a nice soft landing at the desired point.
 Little did I know, that this technique would come in handy later on in the evening.

 "practice makes perfect"
 Thtats the saying right? Well I am just now starting to believe it. Forest and I went to Aurora to practice landings. And boy were they dead on. The landings were perfect. Right on the stall warning, right on the center line and soft. I was exteremly happy that after a whole month of not flying, I was doing so well. I felt really confident. After a crazy experience at my solo, it was good to have a great practice flight.

Another highlight of the evening, was the transistion between day conditions and night flight. And boy was that a treat. You may have seen many a sun set, but you have not witnessed the true beauty of the world around you, until you have seen a sunset from the sky.
 As the sun dropped below the horizon, the city lights started to penitrate the sky. Highways and streets came alive with the blends of  color all flowing together. Even the airports looked impressive, with the full outlines of the taxiways and runways in full view. Lit with Blue, Red and White lights.
Very impressive.

At first I was nervous to be flying at night. As with driving a car, your depth perception is distorted slightly. However, after being in the air for a little bit after dark, and approaching the well lit Twin Oaks, all nervousness subsided, and I was able to enjoy flying to its fullest extent.
 I look forward to many more flying adventures.
 I am one step closer to completeing my 2nd of three solo flights, so that I can complete my private Pilot check ride.

Check out the video I took with the Go Pro:
 Sped up 4 times, so  I could put it all on YouTube, but it is a transitional flight. With 4 or 5 landings. Good little video. Check it out!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ojrNzqcMKVo

 One last sobering note,

 Today, at 4pm  two airplanes collided mid air, over newberg.(just south of Hillsboro by 10-15 miles).
 To what I have heard thus far, at least 1 person has been found deceased.
 One of the two airplanes was able to make an emergency landing in an irrigation field near a state park. The other aircraft was not so fortunate, and crashed inside a highly wooded area in the state park. My heart goes out to all involved. Yet again, another sobering reminder of safety in the air. Im glad I have met a good network of flight instructors.Being safe while flying is the number 1 priority.

 Thanks for reading!
 Leave comments/suggestions if you wish!