Pilot.

Part of being a private pilot is doing a thorough pre-flight inspection of the airplane before setting off on an adventure. This is especially important with rental aircraft and double important for those aircraft being used by primary students. The flight school requires that a student pay for damaged tires; the tire shown above has a flat spot. It’s still safe, but it will need to be replaced soon. I’m happy I discovered this before my flight so I don’t get blamed for the flat spot and end up paying for the tire. Take a photo and send it to the mechanic.

The flat spots usually result from pilots having their feet on the brakes with they land. I had a tire blow out on a landing years ago; it’s not a pleasant experience.

One of my favorite photos of me in “aviator mode” is one of my earliest photos as pilot. Taken in January 2014 by fellow student pilot Nicole, I’ve always enjoyed my look of determination during my third flight lesson ever.

Because I grew up around airplanes and flew with my father quite often, my instructor Chuck said on more than one occasion, “you know things about flying an airplane that you don’t even know you know”. I can vividly remember this flight and the glass smooth air of the January skies in Upstate New York.

What a feeling.

Last night’s flight in the Cessna 172. In case you’re wondering, you’re looking at one takeoff on Runway 33, followed by three instrument approaches to runway 6R, with a circle to land to a “full stop” on runway 24L. It was windy but I didn’t break anything.

In the desert it often gets too hot or stormy in the afternoon at this time of year for any sort of productive general aviation in a Cessna 172 or a Piper Cherokee. I like checking in to FlightRadar from time to time to see what I’m missing out on as I do my day job. All the smaller airplanes flying in the area at 6:00 AM (when I started my first meeting at work) are likely students getting their flights in before the desert heat makes things too bumpy.

I’m writing this while the blog is down. I’ll post it to this day after things are up and running again.

Tonight I flew with a different flight instructor. Ed was a pleasant guy, fairly new out of flight school but he has all the ratings he needs. He’s now building time so he can make his way to the airlines. We had a pleasant flight.

It’s always important to take photos of the aircraft when doing the preflight, especially slightly flat spots on the tires. Primary students have a habit of having their feet on the brakes when they land and this can cause flat spots and early tire wear. If you blow a tire, it’s your financial responsibility to get it fixed. I thoroughly check the tires during my preflight. Tonight one tire had a slight bit of wear but plenty of tread. I wasn’t concerned about it surviving one of my landings, but I took a picture just in case.

I took my written exam for Instrument Rating-Airplane today. I’ve been not looking forward to this exam because written exams tend to make me nervous. I passed the exam with an above average score and I am quite pleased with the result.

The written exam is one of three tests associated with becoming an Instrument Rated pilot. I now have to complete an oral exam and a checkride with an FAA examiner. I’m about a month away from doing this; and I look forward to that opportunity.

I’m went flying with instructor Prabesh on Wednesday night. It was a bit windy and the desert keeps it quite bumpy in the afternoons and early evening, but I kept the needles pointed where they were suppose to be pointing, the airplane in the air, and I didn’t make a fool of myself on the radio.

I walked away from the flight feeling quite pleased with myself. And that’s a great feeling.

I’ve literally been having dreams about flying. I’ve always dreamed about flying, both in an airplane and just flying around like Captain Marvel, but lately I’ve been having flying related dreams. It’s probably because I’m working on my instrument rating with instructor Prabesh. Learning the intricacies of flying in the clouds can make an impression on the subconscious.

A few of my pilot dreams have involved my Dad. The other night I dreamed that I was my age and Dad was alive and his age and we were at the airport not too far from his house. There was a Cessna 150 and I said to Dad, do you want to go flying? You can ride right seat. And I remember smiling big at him.

I don’t believe in regrets; life is lived on purpose and we choose our path and we follow it. No regrets when looking at the past. However, I do wish I had earned my pilots certificate when Dad was still alive. That was always my plan. It was always something I wanted to do, but I wasn’t in the right place in my life (nor did we have the funds) to get it accomplished. I’m happy that I did. I do wish I had flown with Dad in the right seat at least once, though. That would have been very nice.

I was looking around on Youtube and came across this video my friend Nick had posted. I rode right seat with him on his first flight after getting his Private Pilot Certificate back in 2015 and it was a fun little flight. Nick is a great pilot, had to take a break from it for a bit, but got back into it a while back. I think he’s based in the Capital District now.

I like flying with other pilots. It’s a great way to learn technique and it’s just a lot of fun.