Flying garden hose.

Time this flight: 1.8
Total Time: 91.5
Landings: 295

My flight this evening found me in the pattern at Mettetal, trying to keep my flying knife "blade" sharpened. Once again, it's been a couple weeks since I've last flown and I find myself getting depressed. If flight training was a flood, I am down to a trickle lately and it doesn't feel right. I told myself (and others) that I wouldn't jump right into instrument training right after getting my PPL, instead I would take some time and build experience with my newly acquired privileges. The pendulum has swung too far the other way.

I enjoyed tonight's flight very much. It started in daylight and lasted well past sunset, which allowed me to participate in the "evening rush". This is the small airport equivalent of a Class B airport "push", except it's not about connecting flights it's about the amount of available sunlight. There are a slew of arrivals and several departures right around that magical time that the sun gets low in the sky. Not only do you hear it in the radio for your airport, but for all the airports on your common frequency.

I think what I am after is the middle ground between the flood and the trickle... sort of the flying equivalent of a garden hose. A nice steady stream of challenges, learning experiences, gaining knowledge and putting it to good use.