Resolution Progress

A couple of posts back, I posted a few of my New Year's Resolutions.  It's been almost 2 months since then so I thought I'd let you know of my progress.

Here is the list I posted, with my progress added in PINK of course.

1.  Get my medical so I can actually focus on going solo :)  My medical certificate finally arrived earlier this week.  Unfortunately, with the mint weather, there have been no bookings available for me to go flying.

2.  Start my new job. My first day of work at my new job started on 26 January, 2011.  It's been a busy month for me work-wise and I've been devoting a lot of time coming up to speed with my new specialty area (Clinical Research Trials in Hepatology). 

 

3.  Strike a positive work/life balance with plenty of flying! The work/life balance with my new job is great.  I work Monday, Thursday and Friday plus alternating Wednesdays.  There hasn't been much flying recently though!

 

4.  Complete my PPL this year. I have 2 exams left to pass for my PPL, as well as most of my flying.  I still think this goal is achievable and I am still definitely working towards it.  I will do my next exam on 26 March (I sat out today's exam because I haven't had enough time to study while getting settled into work) and hope to get back into weekly flying lessons soon.

 

So, that's where I'm at...not horrible progess overall but not great in the flying department.  I'm looking forward to having my head around my new job so that I can devote more time to flying soon.  Also looking forward to flying with Parakai Flying School's newest instructor, Scott!

Awaiting my medical.

After my last post, I was very good and went in to get my PPL medical.  One of the bits had to be followed up, but the doctor seemed confident there wouldn't be a problem and that I'd receive my medical in the post soon.  It's been several weeks now and a call today reveals they are still waiting for follow up.  Frustrating!

On the plus side, I found this cute air plane shirt :)

The design is called "Waiting for William" and it's available in 3 colours from Friends of Couture!

Happy New Year

Once again, I've taken a bit of a break from my flying lessons. After my last lesson, my husband talked to the instructor who said I best get my medical and go up with out B-Cat on my next session.  This has posed somewhat of a problem as I haven't made the time over Christmas and New Years to go in and get said medical.  Oh well, the weather over the past couple of weeks has been a bit of a mixed bag.

I still like a good flight though and a few days ago on a mint day, hubs and I packed up my father in law's super sporty DynAero and went to Whitianga for lunch.  Well, we arrived there about 3:30pm so it was a pretty late lunch and the food was a bit crap...

Anyway, on to a few photos!

 At North Shore Airfield getting ready to take the plane out.

 Mid-air snap!

 On the ground in Whitianga.

 Back in the plane.

Heading back towards Auckland - so many beautiful sights along the way :)

Since this is a New Year's post, I guess I'm meant to tell you my resolutions...

1.  Get my medical so I can actually focus on going solo :)

2.  Start my new job.

3.  Strike a positive work/life balance with plenty of flying!

4.  Complete my PPL this year.

Lesson 17

I wonder how I've gotten to lesson 17 in my flight training.  Although it's been months since I started on the lessons toward my PPL, 17 seems like a big number.  And that 17 doesn't include the return trip I did to Raglan with my husband.

You hear people say, "Oh, to be 17 again."  Well, here I am hanging on to the number 17 in a way and feeling much the same as I did when I was 17...a bit awkward, lacking in control, and having little self confidence. 

So, lesson 17, not a great one really.  A 2 month hiatus has not helped my flying.  I knew it wouldn't.

The good thing about today's lesson was flying with the new junior instructor, Charlotte.  She's very nice and very tolerant.  I look forward to flying with her again....

Going Somewhere

As I mentioned in my last post, I was doing a flight plan.  I even used that flight plan and flew to Raglan and back.  How exciting to say that I've now used my own pilot skills to fly myself somewhere for a little mini holiday!

Now, I didn't go all by myself of course.  My husband is an instructor in the microlight class, so he took the title of Pilot in Command while I did all the work. 

We packed up one of the "microlight" aircraft the flying school has on offer, a Tecnam P92 Echo Super.  Now, some of you may be thinking I'm talking about a low performance, open cockpit, fabric construction plane when I say microlight but instead I mean one of these:

 

You may also remember my post on aviator chic "Flying in Style" in which I kinda promised an outfit shot when I thought I was doing all right looking "casually glamorous" when heading off for a lesson and this is about as close as we're going to get.  It was a warm day out so I went with black trouser style shorts, belted with a brown leather belt, topped with a light weight leopard print cardi worn as a blouse and little brown ballet flats.  Not exactly an Amelia Earhart look but better than my usual!

And before I get side-tracked onto a style post, onward to an in flight photo (where, incidentally, you can see my rhinestone headset doing it's job...)

 

And here's my husband, moving the plane to a suitable spot to tie it down overnight.  The wide expanse of grass to the left in the photo is where I landed the plane.  It was my first grass landing, and a bit tricky as there is no "runway" to aim for - just a big ol' paddock.

That night in Raglan, we stayed at a nice little bach and had a night out to see the One Man Ska Band, Chris Murray (all the way from LA), and supporting act from Auckland Atsushi and the Moisties.  A great night of ska and many impressed people around when they found out we flew down for the show :)  Just one photo of Chris Murray jamming with this guy Nate who played the harmonica...it was awesome!

In the morning, we were happy to find the plane still tied down, exactly where we left it...

 

On the way home, my husband was so relaxed, he spent most of his time taking photos of the rugged west coast as we flew along.

I must say, there is something quite satisfying about having completed a successful cross-country flight...and not just any cross-country but one that took me somewhere I needed to go for a specific event.  This little jaunt was quite possibly just what I needed to get back to my PPL lessons.  Looking in my logbook, it's sad to note that my last PPL lesson was on 10 Oct - over a month ago.

A Gap in Flying Despite Good Weather

You may, or may not, be wondering where I've been.  The weather has been good and there have been plenty of flying opportunities, yet my blog remains inactive for a couple weeks.

The main reason is that my mother was visiting from overseas and I didn't want to waste any of the short time I would have with her off flying or on the computer.  We enjoyed all of the great weather we had and I even got her to go up with my husband for a flight to Pauanui where they had a nice lunch.

I'll be back to flying soon, got to go and get my medical and T-up my next exam.  I passed the Law exam I took, no worries...funny story, my husband and I got the same mark on that one! 

Hope everyone else is enjoying the spring weather!

What a difference a day makes.

Yesterday morning was sunny and relatively calm.  Not an exceptionally warm day,  but warm enough that I went for my flying lesson in a tshirt dress, no jacket.  By last evening, the temperature had dropped and the wind started to pick up.  During the night, I woke up to the sounds of screaming wind and driving rain - had the thought that the planes had all better be tied down well.  This morning, just 24 hours from yesterday's lesson, the wind continues to howl and little bursts of rain come and go - it's amazing how much the weather can change in just one day.

Yesterday's lesson was definite preparation for me going solo.  We revisited engine failure after take off and glide approaches.  We went around and around.  And around.  For 1.2 hours.  The last landing I did was mint, but there were a number of marginal ones before it.  I'm finding it really hard to judge my own progress at this stage...

The Onset of Summer

This past Sunday, New Zealand turned it's clocks ahead to Daylight Savings Time in preparation for summer.  And I must say, it worked!  After weeks of wild rainy and windy weather, yesterday and today have been beautiful clear "summer" days.  In fact, we don't really start summer until Labour Weekend (25 Oct) but the weather is good enough right now to really amp up the anticipation.

Over the past few days, the props have been turning and students have been enjoying their lessons...except me!  I usually take the 'left-over' spaces available when there is an instructor out here at the field already.  These past few days, with the weather being so good means that all the spots have been filled!  Everyone has been hanging out for some great flying weather, not just me.  I'm all right with that, I probably need a bit of distance from the frustration I was feeling over my poor landings so that I can get in a positive head space about learning to fly again.  

I'll let you all know when I'm in the air again - probably this Friday! 

Friday's Flight

I had a flying lesson on Friday.  Yes, it's now Monday and I'm just finding the time now to say anything about it.  That's what preparing for children's birthday parties does...I had to spend the rest of Friday and Saturday baking for the 16 kids we had around yesterday...not to mention parents!  Good thing I like cupcakes and cookies about as much as I like flying...

My lesson on Friday, while yet another lesson in the circuit, was different to any lesson I've had so far.  I was flying with a female instructor.  The dynamics of the lesson seemed somewhat different flying with a female instructor.  I'm not sure what it was but it was nice to have a different perspective on flying anyways.
As I said it was another lesson in the circuit...actually, another lesson on emergency procedures in the circuit - glide approach to landing.  As usual, all of the in the air stuff was good and I found myself setting up the glide approach with relative ease.  As usual, putting the plane on the ground was the difficulty.  For once, there wasn't a crosswind, but my landing technique is only good in a crosswind...side slipping and S bends aren't very nice on a calm day. 

While I can consider glide approach to landing learned, I have yet to perfect my landing techniques and can't really go on to the next lesson, flapless landings without getting regular landings down pat.  My goal for the next lesson is to pick a nice calm day and hammer the circuit with a real emphasis on a nice smooth landing without a crosswind!

My Week of Illness and Impatience 23/8-27/8

So I really must have over-extended myself on Saturday and then on Sunday I just went about my normal life without a thought to taking it easy or recovering.  Come Monday, I started to pay the price.  Whatever illness I thought I was over left me vulnerable and I caught something new and nastier.  I don't think I've ever had such blocked sinuses before - it hurt to touch my forehead on Wednesday! 

So between being sick myself, and taking care of a baby who is also not feeling flash, I didn't get out of the house much or do much.  This left me with a lot of time to think.  To think about my exam and become impatient about finding out my results so I can move on.  Yes, mostly I am anxious to move on from Aircraft Technical Knowledge for the time being (pass or fail). 

If I've passed, I won't have to give it much more thought.  I mean, I will have to go over the missed questions with our B Cat sometime before I'm granted my PPL but that's a long way away.  If I've failed (shock, horror, gasp!) I'm still going to move on from the subject for now and focus on the Radio Operator exam next; I will have to bite the bullet and revisit Aircraft Tech later on when I've gotten over my humiliation.

The testing agency tells you it will take them 7 days to mark your exam.  I'm not sure why this is as it's simply 20 multiple choice questions.  It's been 6 days since the exam and I was hoping the results would have been posted now.  They're not.  Another weekend of impatient waiting, I guess...