Hi, my name is Dale, and... I'm a pilot.

WTG with a nice warrior which was just enough make the Federal guy illegal. I hate it when the FSDO is second guessing the DPE. Not for my students!
 
bbchien said:
WTG with a nice warrior which was just enough make the Federal guy illegal. I hate it when the FSDO is second guessing the DPE. Not for my students!
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I saw another club member had the 172 from 6 to 8 this morning. I suppose I could have called his cell and told him not to have the tanks topped off when he brought it back, per the club rule. I didn't... I was just too busy. Gosh, if I'd done that maybe I could have taken my check ride right at max gross for the first time, with a rear seat pax for the first time, in a crosswind, and the added fun of an official observer behind me.

Nah, I don't think he burned 18 gallons.
 
Not nearly as much fun when SWMBO decides flying isn't for her. Your best shot may be when she really wants to go somewhere and flying is the best way to get there. If that one happens to turn out well, others may follow. Or may not. They are curious creatures.
DaleB said:
I'm still trying to talk my wife into flying. She's not budging. "I haven't updated my will!" Gee, thanks, honey, I love you too. We're supposed to go on vacation next week, and if we end up driving all over the bloody countryside I'm not going to be a very happy guy. We'll probably ride the Harley, but to be perfectly honest the novelty of x/c touring on the bike when it's 90+ degrees has kind of worn a little thin. I'd rather fly a few short trips and maybe an overnight, visit all her family.
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DaleB said:
Next he wanted to see an emergency descent. I put the plane in a full slip and a pretty good descent with the throttle at idle. He showed me a faster way down... 60 degree bank, steep dive, we went down like a safe dropped by Wile E. Coyote. Neat. Maybe if there actually WERE an engine fire I'd try that. That put us at a suitable altitude for ground reference maneuvers. There wasn't enough wind to make them a challenge, not that I complained about it. Then we headed back in; I climbed to 2000 AGL until we were close to the airport, where he wanted to see short and soft field landings and takeoffs.
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Would that be though of as teaching during the test?
 
wabower said:
Not nearly as much fun when SWMBO decides flying isn't for her. Your best shot may be when she really wants to go somewhere and flying is the best way to get there. If that one happens to turn out well, others may follow. Or may not. They are curious creatures.
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It's so nice when SWMBO has her INSTRUMENT RATING!:yes::yes::yes:
Other than competing for PIC time, having a SO who's into aviation ROCKS!
 
Congrats! Enjoyed the narrative. I also had a FSDO inspector sit in on my oral. He contributed to some discussions, and I actually learned a thing or two from him. Now go enjoy flying whenever and wherever you want - with no logbook endorsements!
 
Oh! And now you can leave your logbook at home!
 
Unfortunately there's no twelve step program for this addiction.
 
denverpilot said:
Sure there is...

Step one: Admit you have a problem.
Step two: Go flying.

I haven't gotten to steps three through twelve yet. ;)
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Isnt step 3:eat and step 4:sleep?

Followed by step 5:go fly again. :D


Last year in my english class our teacher asked us to stand up say our name and one unique or interesting thing about ourself. So when it came my turn I stand up and with the required bravado and pilot swagger say: "Im Sean and I'm a pilot." Cocked-eyebrow and all. It stuck for the rest of the year. :D
 
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Jaybird180 said:
Congratulations DALE. Loved your write-up



What's the date? I plan to fly down to the area the last weekend of this month.
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Thanks!

Let me know when. I'm tentatively planning to fly up there this weekend, but if the restaurant is any good I'm game for another trip when you're around. I'm like a 16 year old with a fresh driver's license... dinner run? Yeah, I'll go! :)
 
DaleB said:
Thanks!

Let me know when. I'm tentatively planning to fly up there this weekend, but if the restaurant is any good I'm game for another trip when you're around. I'm like a 16 year old with a fresh driver's license... dinner run? Yeah, I'll go! :)
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It's good. I'd be up for a run as well.
 
Congratulations! Seriously the Alcoholics Anonymous reference was spot on. Flying is unbelievably addicting. I've been on the ground 11 days and 2 hours (not that I'm counting or anything) and I'm already going through flying withdrawal. I seriously need my flying fix before I lose it lol. Maybe we need a Pilots Anonymous.
 
MassPilot said:
Congratulations! Seriously the Alcoholics Anonymous reference was spot on. Flying is unbelievably addicting. I've been on the ground 11 days and 2 hours (not that I'm counting or anything) and I'm already going through flying withdrawal. I seriously need my flying fix before I lose it lol. Maybe we need a Pilots Anonymous.
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Our egos are too big to stay anonymous :D
 
This evening I took my first ride as a bona fide, licensed private pilot. I also took my first pax along -- my 28 year old son Rob. We put an hour on the Hobbs cruising along the Platte River, then I showed him a few regular and steep turns. He was (as I was the first time or two) amazed that a 30 degree bank was only 30 degrees, and 45 was only 45 and not 60. :) We saw a hot air balloon on our way back to the home field: we were close enough to see that it wasn't my brother-in-law's brother who flies a balloon. The first landing was not great, so we did one more lap around the pattern and #2 was much nicer.

My wife has agreed to fly with me Saturday evening to go get dinner at KOFK, where we'll meet Jesse and whoever else shows up. With any luck I'll be able to grease in a nice soft field landing for her and not scare the bejeezus out of her. :)
 
DaleB said:
This evening I took my first ride as a bona fide, licensed private pilot. I also took my first pax along -- my 28 year old son Rob. We put an hour on the Hobbs cruising along the Platte River, then I showed him a few regular and steep turns. He was (as I was the first time or two) amazed that a 30 degree bank was only 30 degrees, and 45 was only 45 and not 60. :) We saw a hot air balloon on our way back to the home field: we were close enough to see that it wasn't my brother-in-law's brother who flies a balloon. The first landing was not great, so we did one more lap around the pattern and #2 was much nicer.

My wife has agreed to fly with me Saturday evening to go get dinner at KOFK, where we'll meet Jesse and whoever else shows up. With any luck I'll be able to grease in a nice soft field landing for her and not scare the bejeezus out of her. :)
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No pressure. Remember this is supposed to be fun, eh.
 
Yeah. I think one constant that I have yet to shake is an unwillingness to use ALL the runway I need to get it down smoothly and gently. I feel this need to get the thing down close to my aiming point, which leads to either too much flare too quickly (with predictable results) or flaring a bit late (also with predictable results). I've found that when I intentionally treat it as a soft field landing and give myself mental permission to land further down the runway, things go oh so much better. So, I'll try that for a while. There's really no reason a soft-field landing would be a bad idea when you've got a few thousand feet of smooth pavement anyway, other than if there's a stiff or gusting x-wind.

I'm half tempted to sneak out and practice a little tomorrow.
 
I'm with Jay. Cut yourself some slack. I took my brother up this weekend and didn't have a great landing with him. He didn't really even notice. I went around again and greased it on. His response, "I didn't really notice a difference".

Trust me. She'll just be happy to be on the ground. Have fun!
 
That is great news you got your wife to go flying with you, and not just around in circles either but to a dinner destination! Honestly, I think, landings and takeoffs won't be an issue - but some people hate turbulence. And that is something you can only control a little bit but never 100%.
 
kimberlyanne546 said:
That is great news you got your wife to go flying with you, and not just around in circles either but to a dinner destination! Honestly, I think, landings and takeoffs won't be an issue - but some people hate turbulence. And that is something you can only control a little bit but never 100%.
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Well, there's a reason I didn't invite her along for an hour of pattern work. I am betting the takeoffs and landings will be her LEAST favorite part. When my son and I flew last night, the air was smooth as silk, I'm hoping it's that nice tomorrow night.

I'm HOPING she really likes it. I don't plan to fly everywhere alone... one of the big reasons I got a PP instead of SP or Recreational is so that we can go places together.
 
I just opened this thread, for some reason I thought it was about how we introduce ourselves to people. Then the light bulb came on... doh!

Anyway, just wanted to offer congratulations (belatedly). Good going pilot! :cheers:
 
DaleB said:
Well, there's a reason I didn't invite her along for an hour of pattern work. I am betting the takeoffs and landings will be her LEAST favorite part. When my son and I flew last night, the air was smooth as silk, I'm hoping it's that nice tomorrow night.

I'm HOPING she really likes it. I don't plan to fly everywhere alone... one of the big reasons I got a PP instead of SP or Recreational is so that we can go places together.
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Waiting to find out the mrs' reaction.
 
denverpilot said:
Did you guys do your dinner thing?
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Ha. Half of it. We flew up there fine. She was not at all comfortable with the idea. I told her I'd cancel if she really didn't want to go, but she decided to hang in there. Preflight and takeoff were uneventful. We did a circle around our house and flew to Norfolk. Landing was fine, but when we parked in front of Barnstormers, the nose strut was flat and leaking oil everywhere. We had a very nice dinner, then taxied down to the FBO and tied down the plane and waited for our son to make the 2 hour plus drive to pick us up.

So she's OK, we're fine but the plane gets to sit until the mechanic can get it in between spray planes.

I tied down next to an RV. Mmmmm, new plane smell. Bet it doesn't break very often.
 
DaleB said:
I tied down next to an RV. Mmmmm, new plane smell. Bet it doesn't break very often.
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Hmmm.. Great way to plant the seed of future aviating in the family. Going the " RV , new plane smell" is brilliant..:yesnod::yesnod:

Now all ya got to do is take her to Oshkosh to seal the deal..:wink2:
 
If she is not upset about the delay and the plane breaking then I think you have a good start. And of course the whole argument that if it was your plane it would break less often etc.
 
Yup. She's fine, she of all people would understand 40-odd-year-old machinery breaking down. We've had our share of older cars and there's a restored '55 scooter in the garage.

I got the call from the mechanic this afternoon, he'd snuck it in and fixed it. We drove up to KOFK and I flew it home while she drove. Tomorrow morning we leave on vacation, and I'm glad to have the plane tucked safely back into the home hangar before we leave.
 
DaleB said:
Well, there's a reason I didn't invite her along for an hour of pattern work. I am betting the takeoffs and landings will be her LEAST favorite part. When my son and I flew last night, the air was smooth as silk, I'm hoping it's that nice tomorrow night.
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My wife is fine with going someplace for a reason, expecially when flying is faster than driving. But, I wouldn't dream of asking her to come along for an hour of T&Gs. Landings are her least favorite part of flying. You chose well.
 
Ghery said:
My wife is fine with going someplace for a reason, expecially when flying is faster than driving. But, I wouldn't dream of asking her to come along for an hour of T&Gs. Landings are her least favorite part of flying. You chose well.
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Quit doing negative G pushovers:hairraise:
 
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