Back in a 172 :)
 

So I went up yesterday in 172, first time in 2.5 years. I went up with an older CFI friend of mine. Well The pre-flight walk around was nice and quick :) Taxing was jerky and weird, the intercom was scratchy and loud, hard to hear the controllers, and found it difficult to answer back with the N# rather then "Jetlink". The T/O was not to bad, I rotated at 80kts and climbed out at about 90kts, with weak right rudder of course. On the T/O it was an awkward feeling, at one point in my life I felt like there wasnt anything I could do it a 172, yet here I was climbing out wondering if it was "safe". I forgot how unstable they can be and how the controls have so much play. I also remembered feeling very uncomfortable with the rudder pedals, they are extremely narrow down there. The turn to base & final weren't to bad, never got below 80 kts until short final and I was kinda high the whole approach. The flare:eek: of course I flared high, and its hard to remember that the wheels are underneath you, not behind you 50ft. I landed flat but wasn't too bad. After the 4th or 5th circuit around the pattern, I held centerline on T/O and departure with the appropriate amount of right rudder, and my landings were fine, actually pretty smooth. So I figured Id tell ya guys whats its like to go back to a 172, especially for those of you that haven't gone back in years. I went up for an hr and it was just over $100.00 If any of you guys have been thinking about, you have to do it, I remembered how much fun it was, and if anybody in NJ wants to go up for an hr and go get breakfast somewhere, PM me! nothing more funny to see then 2 airline guys in a 172

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Glad you went back to your roots.

I did all of my learning and CFI'ing part 61 at an airport that is about 1 mile from my house. I love that place. I still hang out there and I still drink all of my beer up there (private field for public use).

Check out my beloved Roosterville Airport. It states that the runway is 20' feet wide, but I have thousands of landings there, and I would say that it ain't a foot past 13. 50' obsticle at both ends, 2780 feet long, hanger party any time of the year. It is a great community of aviators.

It is also filled with OLD TWA pilots (MCI area). A LOT of them have been flying west lately, but I love talking with those guys about TWA's yesteryear. It very much reminds me of the book, Northstar Over My Shoulder, by Bob Buck.

http://www.airnav.com/airport/0N0

I stay current (small stuff) because I don't want to forget how it all started. I like my job, I like flying, I am proud of my chosen career, and I like to give back and be involved.

Welcome back. I would love to do some breakfest runs with ya if there wasn't 1000 miles between us. If your ever out at Roosterville, look me up.

Fellow Jetlinker

X

When I converted my JAA licenses to FAA I did it at FlightSafety in Florida. We had to do 4 hours of "Unusual Attitude" stuff in a S/E Zlin acro plane. It was a blast. I was actually surprised at how easy it was to reaclimate to the smaller airplane. Part of it was the stick, which is so intuitive.

Anyway, sometimes I say that I don't give a crap about flying outside the job. That is mostly true. But other days I sorta wish I could go out for a trip somewhere. It is too expensive, but I wouldn't mind actually owning an airplane. And a hangar. Fly when I want.

Sounds like fun sometimes.

A while back I rented a Seminole with a former student who at the time was trying to build multi time. As we were climbing out she said, "Uh, you gunna flying into that cloud or what?" Forgot about that VFR stuff.

And like you said, flaring at 50 feet does not have a pretty ending.

glad you had a good time saab, was looking through my logbook a few days ago and noticed that the last thing i flew (before the jet) was an hours worth of spins in a 152...

xkuz, so you were one of those 9 million radio calls i used to hear for "turning right base, roosterville"...I was a 9k4 boy...think they're RCM now...was kinda strange when that ole' 9k4 disappeared off the FMS database.

happy flying.

Isn't that how most accident reports start out?

"Two highly experienced CFIs on a day VFR mission.........":p

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Yea that'd been me. I dont know how many times I had my square ass around that Roosterville pattern in a 150.

Thanks for sharing, Saab...helps to make us realize why we do this.

Ive been wanting to but with my income it is hard to buy a 6 pack of PBR!

It blew my mind when I was instructing at ERAU-PRC how many students had never done any flying outside of the school. I had a handful of commercial students who had over 100 hours and had never flown back home or anything. One student told me her mother wouldn't let her because she didn't feel that it would be a safe decision. I told them all they're missing out on so much fun, because while training can be fun, it's still training.

I came to the school with my private and about 100 hours of puttering around the Black Hills area of SD & WY, and that's some of my favorite times spent in a plane. I was so fortunate that the airport had a flying club that was uber-affordable even for a kid in high school. Fly-ins, pancake breakfasts, family gatherings, or just poking around the area looking out the window, I wouldn't trade that flying for anything. I hope, someday in my lifetime, I can fly a plane I call my own.

Thanks for the read, Saab.

Ya! Followed by, "hey...........watch this!"

When I go fly GA with a friend of mine in his senca, I end up touching down at the 1000' markers, taking the whole runway up to land.

You're not an Acey are you?! :p (all the ATL guys I know drink PBR)

Great story SAAB... glad to see there's plenty of people who still actually like aviation!

Its always fun to go back and fly for fun. I fly a 182 for an older guy who can't fly anymore. We have all the hangar parties and everything. 45G is the airport....25 feet wide. Is it sad though when you plan hangar parties instead of flying?

Nice read!

I'm back at home for a few days and got a chance to hit up a Seminole FTD at the place I used to work (one of those fancy wrap-around visual kinds without motion). I did a lot of instrument instruction in Seminoles, but the shiny new jet I'm flying really ruined my scan on steam gauges. I didn't realize just how much that spiffy flight director and IVSI screw you when you go back to GA. My first ILS was crap, but by my second ILS I felt it starting to come back. Of course, there was still the issue of landing. Naturally at 50' I kicked out the crosswind correction and waited for the squeak. Of course, ERJs sit slightly higher than Seminoles so I ended up slamming sideloaded into the runway. Good thing it was an FTD.

And yes, I found it really hard not to respond to my friend's fake ATC instructions with "Jetlink." I really should stay away from small airplanes.

Great! Another high time jet guy in a 172! Just kidding, couldn't resist. Welcome back!:D.

rotated at 80kts? The seminole rotates at 70-75...

Yeah, I went up in a Bonanza about a month ago...the first single engine prop in a while. Rotated fast, as soon as the nose was off the ground I realeased some back pressure (forgot that didn't need to be done), definitely had the ball hanging out to the right, flared high, blah blah blah...but it was definitely a good time. Hopefully there will be a day that I can afford to stay current in singles.

I did a similar thing about 5 years after flying for Alaska. Didn't like the experience at all. The 172 seemed so light, plastic, and unstable. I have thousands of hours in a 172 but now have no desire to get back in one. If I do GA again, it will be in gliders (maybe).

I had a T'craft and a set of skis. Year round flying that was a good amount of fun and never really needed a destination to have said fun. Grass strips in the summer and snow cover grass strips or my grandpas cropless, snow covered field in the winter. One of the most memorable things I did was fly in, slide up to my parents back yard, walk in and have sunday dinner. When I was done I went out side, fired up the T-cart and flew back home.

Great Story Saab
 

About a month ago I rented a piper archer for some fun. Take off was a little uneasy as I thought I was way to slow to rotate. It's weird how fast one can forget. THen I wanted to stay under the class B at orlando so I had to fly the 20 miles at 1000'. That too felt very odd and I used to do it all the time. But it was still great being Captain Chow for a day instead of the New Guy FO.