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True: but remember, I'm new at this, and being extremely careful until both my skill and my understanding of my limits improve. My CFII recommends 24 hours, and I'll probably end up there -- but for now, caution prevails. Being inexperienced, I even try not to fly while over-caffeinated. (Did...

I gave my kids almost exactly the same speech. I pointed out that I was willing to give them more freedom than any of their friends had -- but if they had a problem that came up on my radar, it meant that the leash was too long, and would have to be shortened. We've got some funny stories...

"...pushed by the xwind" is weather vaning. On take off, you allow the wind to weather vane you into a crab, allowing you to maintain the centerline as you take off. -- Had my very first experience of this just today! I'm taking off on 34 into a 10 mph xwind, and about two seconds after...

OK, someone please 'splain the correct use of "wilco" to me. I get that it means "Will comply." But the thing of it is: Fifty hours in the air in two widely-separated states, and I have NEVER heard anyone actually use this term over a radio. Does anybody actually use it? If so, who, and...

I'm at the stage of my learning process where I'm doing almost all the radio work...and still invariably getting something wrong with almost every transmission. My CFI corrects me gently, so I'm getting better -- but he shares your opinion that if the message got through, that's what counts. And...

When it comes to flight training, I believe in the three Rs: Arrrrh! Arrrrh! And ARRRH!

Well, you're also dealing with some really unpredictable high-mountain winds up there in Long Valley, too. It's never not windy there.

Sounds like a(nother) good reason to always keep a pad of 2x2 post-it notes in the console.

Not necessarily. I could afford a Tesla, or a Cirrus. (But probably not both at the same time.) And I'm going with a 182 anyway. My flight school is Cirrus-affiliated -- but when I sat the chief CFIs down and started laying out what kind of flying I want to do, they both pointed me directly...

I live in one of the two states where marijuana is legal. However, it's still not legal, even here, for people under 18. And THC is detectable in your system for 2-3 weeks after you use it -- so if something goes pear-shaped while you're flying and you end up getting investigated by the FAA, you...

Now you're talking. I'll be spending a lot of time in and out of Mammoth one once I get my PPL. That, and the little strip down in Bishop. Making the Seattle-to-Sierra run is one of the big reasons I'm learning to fly. But I wouldn't fly the Owens Valley without a CFI or experienced local in...

Seems to be the case at our school. We've had the same DPE for years, and all the CFIs have flown with her and know how she thinks. And they build some of this into the lessons: "She'll definitely ask you about this," or "She's usually less concerned about X than she is about Y," or "She really...

Thanks for the welcome! I had Lyme disease good and hard and for a long time before it got diagnosed and treated. So when the FAA form asked all those "have you ever in your life had...?" questions, I had to give them a whole lot of YES. And, of course, every damned YES needed a doctor's...

Wow. That's unspeakable. He was such a lovely man. I lived 16 years in Half Moon Bay, left a decade ago and lost track. Eddie was one of the big personalities in town -- and a safe and careful pilot. He deserved better.

Explaining my day job either makes people's eyes glaze over or renders me too intimidating to talk to, so I try to avoid it where possible. So I talk about my hobbies. Flying. Shooting. Designing and making stuff. Travel. Mostly, we end up talking about the travel. But people don't expect a...

Oh, crap. I hadn't heard about that. Everybody has That Moment when they decided that learning to fly was a lifetime non-negotiable. I had that moment in the front seat of Eddie Andreini's big fat Stearman, about 2000 feet over Pescadero, doing rolls and stalls. He kept waiting for me to throw...

We call them "bad plastic."

Our local outlet mall gives a book of discount coupons to AAA members, with special deals at most of the stores in the mall. The discounts can be pretty substantial. So I always stop at the visitor's desk first thing to pick one up before setting off to shop. Since we only go to the mall...

I'd add...or a software engineer. We have new vulnerabilities now.

Exactly. Or management is on a kick, trying to encourage the take-out, delivery, and/or phone-ahead crowd -- and has ordered every employee to offer a menu to every customer, without fail (even if you have to chase them out into the parking lot). Happens a lot around here. Or, y'no, she could...