Still Grounded
Wow, it's been over 2 weeks since I last flew. The weather's not been cooperating at all; it's been rainy and/or low-overcast and/or windy. Today I was supposed to go, but I looked at the METAR from PAO:
The visibility is good, clouds not a factor, good temp/dewpoint spread...but that 12 knot wind at 270 is a problem; that comes out to an 8 knot crosswind component. My endorsement is only good up to 6 knots (and besides, I think I can handle an 8 knot crosswind but not when I haven't flown in 2+ weeks). So, no flying.
Good thing the check ride's not till March 27! That worked out extremely well, as it turns out. Hopefully next week the weather will improve and I'll get my flights in.
In the meantime I'm lusting after used aircraft. I don't think I'll actually be in a position to purchase any time soon, but they're fun to look at. West Valley has a pretty wide selection of planes to rent, and my first goal will be to get checked out on a couple of different models. Especially the Piper Warrior and the Cessna 172SP -- the Piper for a different maker, and the SP for the higher performance and availability for longer rentals. I'm thinking that flying is like swing dancing -- just as dancing with lots of different partners makes you a better dancer, flying different planes should (I hope) make me a better pilot!
KPAO 091554Z 27012KT 15SM FEW025 BKN150 09/02 A3002
The visibility is good, clouds not a factor, good temp/dewpoint spread...but that 12 knot wind at 270 is a problem; that comes out to an 8 knot crosswind component. My endorsement is only good up to 6 knots (and besides, I think I can handle an 8 knot crosswind but not when I haven't flown in 2+ weeks). So, no flying.
Good thing the check ride's not till March 27! That worked out extremely well, as it turns out. Hopefully next week the weather will improve and I'll get my flights in.
In the meantime I'm lusting after used aircraft. I don't think I'll actually be in a position to purchase any time soon, but they're fun to look at. West Valley has a pretty wide selection of planes to rent, and my first goal will be to get checked out on a couple of different models. Especially the Piper Warrior and the Cessna 172SP -- the Piper for a different maker, and the SP for the higher performance and availability for longer rentals. I'm thinking that flying is like swing dancing -- just as dancing with lots of different partners makes you a better dancer, flying different planes should (I hope) make me a better pilot!
posted by MKT at 8:01 AM
2 Comments:
What happens when you dance with different pilots?
I think it makes me a better politician.
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