I created a simple paper VFR flight planner and like to keep it on my kneeboard for VFR flights. I think of it like a checklist of things to research and write down before any flight, and a scratchpad to … Continue reading
Category Archives: flying
Fear of Flying: Reflections on My First 100 Hours as a Pilot
Last weekend, after landing the airplane following an ideal flight on a clear, cool, cloudless March day, I performed the last element of my typical post-flight ritual – entering the flight into my logbook – and realized that I had … Continue reading
Father’s Day Flight
Father’s Day 2011 was marked by nearly unflyable weather, with low 2200-foot ceilings and unstable air. I had never taken my Dad flying before so wanted to treat him with a flight to Independence, Oregon, (7S5) for breakfast at the … Continue reading
Declaring an Emergency
With the nice recent weather we have had in Oregon, I invited a friend who had never been in a small plane before to take a ride. Our plan was to depart from Pearson Field (VUO), then fly up the … Continue reading
No Lunch, Crappy Weather, Still a Good Time
Meghan and I were planning to head down to Albany for lunch today. Albany is a decent place to fly for lunch because they have a Chinese restaurant, Lum Yuen, adjacent to the airfield, and a taxiway over a little … Continue reading
Amanda’s First Flight in N4542L
The skies were clear blue, and the wind was strong but blowing right down the runway. When you live in Portland, a cloudless day in November is something to take advantage of. So Amanda took her maiden voyage in N4542L. … Continue reading
How I Learned to Fly
The FAA has issued me a private pilot certificate; at that moment, I became an official pilot. The process of learning to fly was not a trivial one. It took me almost a year from start to finish, and a … Continue reading