A morning at the airport

This morning was perfect flying weather: winds right down the runway at a
constant six knots or so, with not a cloud in the sky. I called my CFI and
asked if we could go flying, and he agreed. The airplane was already pulled
out of the hangar, fueled and waiting when I got there. We got in, and I
proceeded to demonstrate that I actually remembered what I'd learned: 7
landings, almost all of which failed to suck, and one was quite good, and
4/10 of an hour under the hood (simulated instrument flight conditions), in
which I showed that I remembered what I'd learned about flying solely on
instruments.

That was an hour in the airplane, although it seemed like a lot more. We did
have one exciting time: a student pilot on his first solo cross-country did
just about everything wrong entering the traffic pattern and while he was
there, and managed to scare me to the point that I seriously considered
going elsewhere while he was around. Fortunately, he broke out of the
pattern long enough for me to make two more landings, and that's when I
called it a day. One of the folks out there is an ex-Navy instructor pilot,
and he really read him the riot act when he landed looking for a signature
in his logbook.

I stuck around for some hangar flying, then to help another student with his
landings - and wound up helping a different pilot tow his Cessna 170 in
after he had a seat back failure and a brake problem when beginning the
takeoff roll. We all sat around and talked a while more, and then I gave up
and came home.

I'm getting to know the folks I'll be sharing the airport with. That's
important, as it's a community, and being plugged into it will help in the
future.
--
Jay Maynard, K5ZC http://www.conmicro.com
http://jmaynard.livejournal.com http://www.tronguy.net
Fairmont, MN (FRM) (Yes, that's me!)
AMD Zodiac CH601XLi N55ZC (ordered 17 March, delivery 10 June)