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Visibility: CAVOK, more than 10k
Temperature: 29°C
Wind: 350°, 5 knots
QNH: 1022hPa
Location: EDAY
Equipment: D-MALJ (Rider MD3)

I am excited. Airplanes in the stomach and all. I know the route very well but I have not travelled it in almost a year.

The flight bag is next to me. I packed it last night. Took the license and log book, checked the batteries in the head set and threw out the old map. It has been outdated for a while.

I walk the short stretch from the train station over to the airport. A glider is soaring in big circles towards an impressive tower of cumulus. Coming closer, I count at least three airplanes in the pattern. The gorgeous weather seems to make for a busy morning.

I took a bit of a baby break and am so ground sick that it hurts. But this morning will tell if I still have what it takes.

I’m at the big flight school first for a coffee and a chat. I need to fly at least 12 hours until next February to stay current. Challenge accepted!

Next stop is the LSA flight school. I can not drink more coffee and I’m getting antsy. So as soon as the instructor and student come through the door, I am out to take possession of the aircraft. My old love „Lima Juliet“ will be the ship today. We go way back together. I passed my very first check ride with her, took her to the island of Rügen and impressed my friends with her.

Old friend

„Lima Juliet“ is comfortable like an old pair of shoes. I was a bit worried but we get along just fine. She is light and the thermal up draft from the fields is playing with her even at 2.000 feet.

We go over to Eggersdorf for some pattern work. My landings are very acceptable and I am glad. I try different flap settings and approaches and the landings are pretty consistent. Not all greasers, non real bad ones either. Glad to be back!

To be continued…

Visibility: more than 10 kilometers
ceiling: more than 5.000 feet
GAFOR: “C” clear skies!
Temperature: 24°C
Wind: 290°, 10 knots
QNH: 1027hPa
Location: EDAY (Strausberg)
Equipment: “Lima Juliet” (my old love)

On Saturday a friend took me up on the promise to take him up! Since “Lima X-Ray” is still in the shop and I have not had my check-ride on “Kilo Sierra” yet, I called my old flight school. They had a cancellation and “Lima Juliet” is available for two hours on Sunday.

We have had a rainy summer and this is one of the first hot and clear weekends in a while. The aviation forecast is perfect, visibility is great and there are pretty white clouds.

Staying current

Many of us hobby pilots don’t get above the ground as much as we would like to. In order to be able to take passengers with me in the light sports plane, I have to have a minimum of three landings in the last 90 days.

My last trip was in February! Ever since then I have been training for the private pilots license with larger aircraft. That means I have to fly three patterns on my own before we can go on our little trip.

So I arrive at the airport a bit before my friend for the obligatory abuse at the flight school (“so you are back to fly real aircraft, right…”) and to go ahead with the three landings.

It is good to be back in the light sports aircraft. I still feel very comfortable with “Lima Juliet”. At the same time, the much larger “Kilo Sierra” has grown on me with her stable handling and redundant instrumentation. We will see what kind of flying the future brings.

To be continued…

 

(originally posted on July 25, 2012 by tilbo at aloft.blog.com/staying-current/)