Today's flight. Less than stellar.

[korben88]

Finally got some clear(ish) weather today and logged 1.4 hrs solo. It was hazy out, but AWOS report was 10 sm.

South valley was busy, there were 4 planes in the run up area when I got there and I'd never seen more than 1 before.

Did my run up, had to wait to take off. Another first. Climbed to 5900 to stay under the SLC bravo and stayed there till I got around the mountain. Once I got into the Tooele valley I climbed up to 7000 to do some slow flight and stalls. Got into slow flight configuration but I didn't feel comfortable so I cleaned up and headed to TVY for some landings.

I over flew the field and tear dropped for a midfield entry but let my altitude get 200' low while looking for the airport. I climbed up to tpa before I got to the downwind and recovered but I was kind of mad at myself.

Did a slow low level flyby of the runway which was about as good as I usually do (not so good) a decent touch and go on my second time around. And a pretty good full stop. Headed back to South valley and made a good landing there.

It was awesome to be able to finally fly after about a 6 week hiatus but the uneasy feeling during slow flight and missing my altitude made for a less than awesome flight.

 

[acluffpoa]

I too got out after being grounded by poor weather for three weeks. Amazing how the flows and muscle memory atrophy. I flew down south and got out of the temp inversion muck and enjoyed a beautiful day but felt rusty.

 

[RV10flyer]

Many of us get rusty in the winter. I found just getting out there and practicing maneuvers and tng's works wonders.

 

[jordane93]

Maybe try going up with an instructor after a long hiatus. It wasn't a requirement for my students but I always mentioned that we could do a quick dual flight to knock off the rust then go solo and work on maneuvers and landings.

 

[rocketflyer84]

It was hazy out, but AWOS report was 10 sm.

1) Most AWOS/ATIS only reports a max of 10 sm regardless of if vis is virtually unlimited or actually 10 sm

2) As you've discovered 10 sm vis actually isn't that much when up in the air. 3 sm (which is technically still VFR) looks crazy bad in the air. That would mean you're only a few runway lengths from the airport before you can see the airport.

 

[midwestpa24]

We all have bad days. I had one just the other day while working on my multi. All we were doing was hood work, both engines turning, but I was getting disoriented and losing situational awareness. Finally we did a couple with the foggles off, just to let my mind settle down, and the last approach wasn't terrible.

 

[korben88]

Maybe try going up with an instructor after a long hiatus. It wasn't a requirement for my students but I always mentioned that we could do a quick dual flight to knock off the rust then go solo and work on maneuvers and landings.

Yesterday was originally supposed to be my first cross-country with my instructor but he had to cancel. Since I already booked the plane and it was nice enough weather I went up solo.