Back in Town

Hi to everyone! I've been gone for a bit...but not much has changed. I know this blog is supposed to be about flight students, flight instructing, and such...but when it takes the Federal Aviation Administration nearly 4 months to still not have my medical application processed, it's hard to have a student. But, I was gone for several weeks, and while not much has changed, there still is a little that has. I am now married, to that wonderful guy who always asks for pictures...so...

We went on a honeymoon to a place very tropical, here are some of my favorite photos. Any guesses as to where it was?

In the meantime, I'll figure something else to talk about for a while, and maybe this is just a way for me to talk about a little more than just flying! Thanks for reading!

Up in the Air

Finals

I am sadly, still grounded. On the bright side of it all, I just submitted my last final. As far as I know it's my last final of my school-days, that is of course unless I decide to pursue a Masters degree (ugh).

I don't mean to bore you, but I am going to mention the weather for a second. It's cloudy...and rainy...and just plain gray out. While it may have been conducive to my studying, it makes me think of one of my favorite sunny day flying trip. Although I know as time goes on I will probably label every experience as one of my favorites, this by far, truly was. I had a great friend along and never were we short on laughs.

Our journey took us to northern California, where we were airport hopping from place to place. We landed first in Quincy and were surprised to find out we landed in the middle of a father's day fly in. I like to think we surprised all the dad's there as the two of us girls hopped cheerily out of the plane - but then again, I probably think way too highly of myself as a girl and a pilot. :) Back to Quincy - it is by far high on my list. Its like one of those storybook towns that you see on the page and wish you could jump into but never could. Whenever I'm there (and it could be just me) I feel like I'm in one of those storybook towns - green grass, barns, and small towns. Although Quincy boasts a 5,000 person population - it definitely gives off a small town feel, being as it is secluded in a gorgeous valley.

View from above Quincy.

We walked into town (probably a quarter mile) for some good breakfast from the Morning Thunder cafe, walked back to the airport and took off on our way to a new place! We had decided on landing at the airport right next to Lake Almanor, known as Rogers, and located right outside the city of Chester. We didn't go to town, and although the airport was definitely in a nice place, I didn't find too much exciting about it. Maybe if I had brought a boat and a water ski I would have enjoyed it more? That's probably it...

Lake Almanor

Shortly after we landed, off we were again. This time we wanted to try out Trinity Center, and ever since that day, I've wanted to go back! The view getting in was gorgeous, we followed the long end of the lake in as we descended down for a landing, all along the way I couldn't take in enough of the view. I wish I had taken more photos, but at the same time, the lack of many photos makes me want to cherish the memories all the more. If I was given the choice of flying to any airport today, I would say Trinity. Here's why:

We tried hiking into town for some lunch, but we really only found a couple of buildings that could make up a town - a place to grab a lunch (not even really a restaurant), and a small convenience store. That's it. I don't know if we walked right on by or if that's what they considered the city center, but somehow I think we missed it! We did have a burger and fries, and then trekked back to the plane for our journey home. We were a little slow getting off the ground (obviously ate too much...), but we eventually made it home. The rest of the trip felt uneventful, but that's probably because the bar had been raised so high.

To sunny days,
Up in the Air

Mount Rushmore

When I was doing my training for my Commercial Certificate I had to do quite a bit of cross country time, so I ended up doing a long one to Mount Rushmore. I had never been to Rushmore, and wanted to see it - it would be pretty cool to say I'd seen it from the air, although I had never even stepped foot in South Dakota. So, at the request of my fiance, who was wondering if I would keep adding pictures, here's a few from the trip.

Beaver Lake, ND


Crossing the Missouri River - a couple hours to go and I had to go to the bathroom pretty bad.


Despite the fact that there really isn't much to see in North Dakota and South Dakota, some sights really are gorgeous. At least in this one I was getting into the Badlands-looking area! :) Sorry to those native to North or South Dakota, I really don't mean to be negative, I'm just a spoiled west coast girl.


Hills! Mountains! Trees! How long has it been since I've seen you? This was as close to home as I could get, and oh was it nice.


I have yet to lays on Mount Rushmore from the ground, but it is a nice sight from the air! If you fly there, ask for the Rushmore tour, ATC is glad to help you out.


Looking back from whence I came.


Getting back into the flatlands...exciting...really, I mean it...


Home. Flatlands. The happenin' place to be.

I learned some important lessons on this flight. #1 Never ever have anything to drink 2 hours prior to a long flight. The same rules of a car do not apply, there's no guaranteed pit stops or car door to block a view. If you stop at an airport in the middle of nowhere you will most likely be using the tarmac as a bathroom, and that's no fun if it's in the open. Besides, you probably won't make too many folks happy if you're caught. #2 Never tell anyone from South Dakota there are no mountains there. They'll probably be as mad as I am when someone says California doesn't get snow. #3 Always bring along some form of entertainment. What did I have to do while I was thinking about that bathroom break that I would soon be awarded? Nothing. Oh, an I-Pod would have been nice, or perhaps XM Satellite radio. Either way, it was still a fun trip, despite the fact that I had long conversations with myself about drinking bottles of water. #4 Always include pictures so your significant other will be pleased.

Cheers,
Up in the Air

English Anyone?

I cannot say how many times I've said something over and over again to my students. At the end of it all, they just don't catch on sometimes. We all know there's lots going on...I've got to work on my patience. I know I was the same way.

Me: "Add a little back pressure."
Student: Intently staring outside
Me: "Add a little back pressure."
Student: Nods head a little (His hands?: Motionless)
Me: "How are we looking?"
Student: Staring outside

Sometimes you just have to have a laugh, and keep at it.

Or...

Me: "How are we looking right now?"
Student: "Good"
Me: "Are we a little high?"
Student: "Yes, I think so."

*seconds pass, no action*

Me: "How do we look now?"
Student: "Good"

If we're high do you think you should do anything about it? Why are you frozen like a deer in the headlights? I'm right there, if they're wrong to the point of making the flight unsafe, I will take over...there's really nothing to lose in trying to fix what you think is wrong. That's how we learn, but yet, nothing.

I work for Allegiant Airlines on the side, and I cannot believe sometimes how silly people are (I'm not saying I'm any less silly than the other person...I know I am far from that, but it's definitely a unique perspective to be on the receiving end...) We sometimes post a sign saying the flight is an hour late. Passengers who are checking in will read the sign and proceed to ask, "So is the flight late? Does that mean we'll be late getting into [insert destination here]?" My thoughts (I dare not say them): "Did you read the sign? Do you think you'll magically appear on time?" Later on, at the gate, I make a boarding call for rows 25 and higher. I'm not kidding you, people will walk up and hand us something for as close as row 24 or as far away as 5 or 10. Do you know which numbers come after 25? Really...it's not that hard. Better yet, at the end of the boarding call I like to tag on "your id's are not required". We checked them at the counter, and TSA checked them before you came to the secure area, so do I really need to see it now? No...and yet, despite our multiple calls and statements regarding not seeing id's, they still come...every time. We're taking our lucky dragon to the flights now (if you've seen How to Train Your Dragon and have kids who get kids' meals at McD's then you'll know what I'm talking about). Any way, it seems to ward off the silly questions...although not entirely.

Well, that's it for me and my ranting.

'Night all,
Up in the Air

Georgetown Jokesters

I had just taken off from Willows airport in an Arrow. My friends would be just a few minutes behind me in a Cessna 172. We were flying to Georgetown airport. If you read my last post, you'll know what happened when we got there...but we had had some fun getting there too. Since I had taken off first from Willows, and being in a faster plane, my friend in the 172 asked if I could slow it down a little. "Sure!" I had eagerly replied. Apparently we were still going too fast for them, so they asked us to do a couple of 360's so they could catch up. Innocently, I obliged them, and did so. After rolling out once more, they instructed me again to slow it down, they could see us but were still "a little bit behind." I don't know what I was thinking, but I was cooperating - that's for sure. I don't remember exactly what they recommended, but I believe they said to bring back the power to about 19" or so...(basically half power to those who don't know what I mean by 19"). Someone slightly sharper or perhaps more experienced than me probably would have caught on to something fishy going on, but I trusted them and figured they just really wanted to catch up - so back the power came. My friend sitting next to me was a pilot too, and she wasn't catching on either.

What happened? We finally made it to Georgetown, and my two friends in the 172 were standing by their plane (shutdown, tied-down, and as ready to be left for the night as it could be), waving at us as we pulled off the runway. So a word of advice to all my readers (if I have any): Do a little bit of thinking and calculating before obliging every request from a couple of friends who you know would make fun of you given the opportunity. At least I have lots to laugh about - probably the most from a single night. Oh, and the dinner in Willows was great too.

In honor of my clever friend,
Check your six,
Up in the Air

The Black Hole

I don't know if I've ever met a pilot who didn't believe they were above average. If any one who is reading this is a pilot - you know what I mean - you're probably thinking it too. I know I am. I can't say that I would even consider myself less than an above average pilot. I can admit my instructing skills can still use much improvement - but that's easy to admit, I'm new to it. But when it comes down to the skills of flying, I really do think I'm good. I'm being honest too. I know inside that it is entirely possible that I'm wrong and I'm not above average, maybe I'm just average (I don't think I can bring myself to consider below average...). Even in everyday situations in life - we feel that given a situation we can handle it. We can handle it better than most. Until you experience a situation that was said to be tough first hand you don't think it's as tough as it's made out to be.

Have you ever heard of a black hole? I'm not talking about those holes out in space that scientists say we get sucked into and I'm not talking about internet black holes that drop clients (I really don't know what I'm talking about there...), but I'm talking about the black hole in aviation terms. The black hole you were warned about by your flight instructor or your ground school instructors (if you went to one). The ones you encounter when flying into an airport that has little surrounding features to help guide you to touchdown. For those who have no experience flying - it's basically featureless terrain. If an airport is surrounded by fields, and those fields are snowed over, there's nothing to use to judge distance and height. Same thing can happen at night. Take a look at the following short video.



The video was a landing I did at Georgetown airport in the Sierra Nevada mountain range at night after one of our famous trips to Willows airport for greasy food and chocolate pie. There were absolutely no visual references to judge where I was at on my approach. Lucky for me, I had been there earlier in the day and knew where the obstacles were (by that I mean pine trees!) - so the whole way down I at least knew I wasn't going to hit anything. I was being so cautious that on the first approach I ended up coming in way too high. I was past the half way point and still floating (3000' runway). At that point, I thought, well, I'll just go around and do it again (probably a bad decision). I added full power and began slowly retracting the flaps. I lifted the gear handle to bring the gear up. The gear wasn't coming up.

My 1972 Piper Arrow had an old gear switch that didn't allow the gear to come up below a certain airspeed as what was considered a "safety precaution" (I wasn't so happy with it at this point). You could chose to change that manually whenever you wanted (located just by the flap handle) - but it was hard to tell sometimes which way you had it set up. Apparently mine was activated! Fun time to find out. From earlier that day, I knew there were trees off the end of the runway, this time on the departure end, and I was worried. With my little Arrow fully loaded (all 4 seats filled), it wasn't climbing out as fast as I wanted it to. I was nervous. For the first time, I was thinking, "what if we didn't make it". With a little bit of light from the moon I could see the outline of the trees on nearby hillsides, but in the pitch black I had no idea where I was in relationship to the ones below me. To this day, I don't know how close I came - maybe I cleared it by a lot, maybe just barely. I nursed the airplane to traffic pattern altitude (maybe not the proper way to say it since it was my pride that was hurt and not the plane) and waited for the airspeed to increase until I could bring the gear up (in the darkness I hadn't been able to find the override switch and defaulted to just flying the airplane).

When I finally landed the second time around, I was close to shaking, and my friends had surprisingly landed ahead of us (that's another long but funny story I may have to tell later). I had always been warned about the ominous "black hole", but I had always wondered why anyone made a big deal about it. After all, could it really be a problem for such a great pilot as myself? Don't let that happen to you, you may not be as lucky as I was. The factors sure set me up for disaster - night time, in mountainous terrain, no lights, a full airplane, and an incomplete knowledge of my airplane's configuration. Don't be caught by surprise. Sometimes, situations are tougher than you think, and I'm still learning that!

Fly safe,
Up in the Air

Dreaming of the day...

Who has ever dreamed of flying? I used to have dreams when I was little about flying just above the town where I lived. I'd dream of waking up, going outside, and leaping into the air from my house. I'd go off on a sight-seeing tour of everything around where I lived. Funny thing is I could never really control where I went, it was always like one of those dreams where you try to run, but you can't no matter what you do. I felt like I was along for the ride - with myself of course. But I always enjoyed those dreams. Sometimes I remember those dreams when I'm flying, and it's hard to believe that it's real life - I wouldn't except for the fact that I really can control where I go!

One of the first sites I ever saw when I began flying was the Foresthill Bridge in Auburn, California.

It is considered the tallest bridge in the state and is featured in the movie "xXx" in which Vin Diesel drives a stolen red Chevrolet Corvette off it. Do I like the movie? Not really, but I love that scene mostly because of all the memories I have from the bridge. I grew up in Auburn, and I thought it was so fun to cross - little did I know I would soon circle around it in an airplane!


Not too far off, I constantly enjoyed the view of the Sutter Buttes (also known as "Sutter Butts" to myself and my flying friends), the world's smallest mountain range. They are located in the central valley of California, and from where I flew out of, they were on a direct flight path to Willows airport - an airport about an hour away that serves the greasiest food - but oh is it good!

Look closely at this one, San Francisco Bay is in the distance, with fog blanketing the city.




















I'd love to say I've been from sea to shining sea in an airplane, but I haven't quite yet. I did get to see one of my favorite little towns on the northern coast of California, Mendocino. The first try was a failed attempt - it was fogged in, with no way of getting in. But my friends and I were finally successful!


It's barely been 5 years since the first time I started flight lessons, but I have had some of the most amazing experiences thanks to some great friends and a supportive family. These are just a glimpse of some of the wonderful places I've seen - there will be more to come soon. In the meantime, I patiently await my medical (well perhaps not so patiently).

In honor of a friend,
Smiles,
Up in the Air