First (non-family) passenger..

But he's close to being family. This evening I took my best friend from high school up for his first flight in a small aircraft.

Soon after we rotated and were climbing up into the sky, he uttered a memorable quote: "Does the air blowing on my leg mean this door is going to fly open?" To which I answered, "No, but you can adjust the flow of air from the air vent next to your ankle with the silver lever". Note to self about another item to be discussed in the passenger briefing!

He was an excellent passenger, helping me with checklists, spotting landmarks, and asking very good questions. We flew from Mettetal, northeast bound towards St. Clair County / Port Huron International (KPHN). By the time we arrived at 15 miles out, the tower had closed for the day, so I explained how it became an "uncontrolled field" and we discussed radio announcements and pattern entry procedures.

My passenger snapped some pictures on the flight segment going back to Mettetal, and I told him that we would be performing a "no landing light" landing. I assured him that I had practiced just such a thing during my training to become a pilot, and he seemed only mildly alarmed :)

Pilot controlled lighting finally clicked on as we rolled out on final, and my right seat friend exclaimed "cool!" To which he quickly added "doesn't that runway look small?" I gave a chuckle and reminded him that I land here "all the time".

He was very excited about the flight, and expressed interest in going again... which is how I want all my flights (with people who have never been in a small plane) to end.

Time this flight: 1.5
Total Time: 88.8

Called in sick...

Had a bad case of the "flying flu". Cross country out to Grand Rapids and back, and now I feel much better. :)

Time this flight: 2.8
Total Time: 87.3

Almost caught the sunset...

Instead we returned prior to the sun setting and turned in a squawk sheet for inoperative nav lights. Just like in boating, the red / green / white lights help others to tell your orientation in space and therefore your relative bearing to other aircraft flying around you which is kinda necessary.

The best part of today's flight was getting my wife used to flying, helping with checklists, traffic spotting (we saw several hot air balloons off in the distance), and picking out landmarks (and obstacles) from the air.

Here is what our flight looked like when imported into Google Earth:


We departed runway 18 (towards the left in this picture) and you can see the noise abatement turn that cuts the corner off what should be two 90 degree turns.

Our path trails out to the west (upper left of the image) where we did some simple maneuvers. We then headed north and set up for a landing at Livingston County / Howell airport (OZW) in the upper right part of the image. After departing straight out from Livingston, we headed directly back to Mettetal and crossed midfield to turn downwind for runway 18, then base and final.

A simple, fun flight! Now to get those nav lights working....

Time this flight: 1.3
Total time: 84.5
Landings 275

Circuits

Time logged this flight: 1.4
Landings this flight: 9

Total Time: 83.2
Total Landings: 273

Today's flight was to get more familiar with the "handling" of the Piper Cherokee 180, so I spent my time in the pattern. 9 circuits were flown in total, for 2 of them my AOPA project pilot mentor Tom joined me. The Cherokee has many traits that make it different from the Cessna 172's I am used to. I will need to get used to a much more picky and delicate starting procedure, as well as remembering to switch fuel tanks on a consistent basis.

95T (the abbreviated tail number) has alot more jump than the high wings and climbs like crazy. At Mettetal, the noise abatement procedures when taking off to the north ask that you fly an extended upwind (about 2 miles) to fly past the city of Plymouth, before turning cross and downwind in the traffic pattern. In most of the Cessna aircraft I would be reaching pattern altitude around the time I was turning downwind... with 95T I was at pattern altitude on my upwind leg BEFORE turning crosswind.

I experimented with different pattern sizes and flap amounts, deciding quickly that a tighter pattern versus the high wing aircraft was necessary and I found that 2 notches of flaps worked very nicely. A good day of practice on a clear, crisp (summer is truly over here) fall day in Michigan.

Aircraft checkout: Somebody installed the wings on low!

The outside.

The office.

As the pictures might indicate, today's flight was to get checked out in the FBO's only Piper "low winger". My FI and I spent 1.5 on the Hobbs getting me used to seeing the wings in a different location. Basic manuevers, slow flight, and a trip to an airport I've flown past but never to before: Livingston County / Howell airport (KOZW). It will take a few more flights to fully get used to the added weight, and added zip of "Cherokee 95T" as well as the subtle changes in the checklist (fuel pump) but it should be fun.

Total Time: 81.8
Landings: 264