3 Years later, still winter!

Stay tuned as we pick up where we left off.  Two kids, three years, 15 flight hours, and a little different perspective later.

Still winter

 

 

It has been snowing like crazy here, and thus I have been shoveling at an equally exhausting pace. School was cancelled for a whole week which was not as fun as it might have been for me 10 years ago. Nevertheless it was relaxing and left lots of time for things like studying and shoveling. :)

Winter

 

 

 

 

It has been a marvelous winter. We have enjoyed a wonderful Christmas at home and we just recently returned from a trip to visit Nanny and Pops in Chicago. The weather was cold (like 3 degrees) but beautifully sunny. We had a great time exploring Chicago with Jeff and Melinda and taking a break before heading back to School. It was also nice to have someone else fly for me so I could spend more time watching the scenery instead of the instruments.

Trip home

What made the whole trip memorable was not the beach, the company, the mountains, or even the marginal VFR weather, all though they did make it interesting. It was the hydraulic leak in the landing gear system that really got my attention. We were just entering Washington when the circuit breaker tripped. Normally this is brought on by the flight instructor to simulate an emergency. In this case, it really was a problem. The hydraulic fluid that makes the landing gear go down was leaking and the pump was having to work too hard to keep the system pressurized. I left the pump off for the remainder of the flight and fortunately, there was enough fluid in the system for one more gear extension allowing us to make a safe landing back at Felts. It was an exciting way to end a long trip home.

LA

In the middle of December I had the unique opportunity to fly down to LA with three instructors to look at an airplane Moody was interested in buying. We spent a whole day taking the plane apart and inspecting all the nooks and crannys. Once we were satisfied and the money was transfered, we saddled up and flew the plane home. It was a marvelous experience not only to trade the snow in Spokane for few hours on the beach but to do that kind of an inspection and get exposed to flying in very new environments. As always I brought along the camera so I could share the views with you.

Flying with Hoovers

Last weekend I had the privilege of taking my in laws for a flight around Spokane. It was a beautiful sunny day and we all had a good time. Thanks for coming along :)

Why it is fun to take a pilot with you to a corn maze

Or if you just want to cheat...

Flying with Steve

Sometimes we can stow away in the back of an airplane during someone else's lesson. Thanks for the flight Steve.

Wrapping up the year

This is the last week of flight for me for 2007. These are some shots I have taken in the last week or so flying around Washington, Idaho and Montana.

Commercial

The last several weeks, I have been working on the first stage of my commercial test. To become a commercial pilot you must pass a written exam, a six hour oral exam and a flight exam. I have passed the written and the first stage of the flying exam. It has been a lot of fun so far and I feel much more confident as a pilot. At the same time, it is mind boggling to think about how much more there is to learn.

Kodiak TC Video

This is just a short montage of Kodiak flying from yesterdays party.

Kodiak Type Certificate Party

Today we got to take a break from the flying and take a drive up to Sandpoint to celebrate the certification of Quest Aircraft companies Kodiak. It was nice to drive under the ominous clouds and avoid the winter storm warning. Up at Quest we enjoyed some hangar flying, a formation Kodiak flight, great lunch, speeches from the who's who of Quest, hangar tours and a tribute to Bruce Kennedy. It was great to celebrate with the Quest team and see all their hard work. We can't wait to get a Kodiak at Moody. It will probably not arrive until after I have graduated but I hope to fly one on the field someday.

More Signs of fall. Punkin Chunkin and colorful corn. Leslie and I went up to Green bluff for the weekend and had a nice relaxing time taking in the sights. It was not like the big event in Delaware but it was still fun to watch.

Mountain Flying

Fall is here. It has been a busy few weeks as we have been trying to wrap up several training transitions in high performance and complex airplanes while preparing for our commercial written tests. I am pleased to report that I passed my Commercial written last week with a 96%. I am glad that is over. To celebrate I went on a long cross country flight to Montana. Sorry we missed you Joel. We stopped in Bonners Ferry in Idaho and Plains Montana. It was a wonderful trip and I enjoyed having two of my friends ride along in the back. It was beautiful to see all the colors of fall and learn more about the navigational skills it takes to fly low in the mountains and stay safe while not getting lost. It was some of the most enjoyable flying I have done in a while. Next week I start the flying portion of my Commercial certification. I will also post some more pictures of the Montana trip.

Riding For Koti

A few weekends ago, Leslie and I went to Wenatchee to ride in the dam2dam bike event to raise money for finding a cure for paralysis. We are praying for you Koti.