Today's post is more of a public service announcement than anything. It isn't flight instruction, especially since I'm not yet qualified, but I want every pilot to learn from it. While perusing YouTube recently, I saw the video above in the side bar. I was a bit put off by the title, but I watched... Read more »

After landing, he asked me to stop by the FBO so he could grab some coffee "and then we'll get to the paperwork." The scary thing about the examiner, and the hardest part about the exam, is that he is impossible to read. You never know what is going through his mind or what is coming next. So I drop him off at the FBO completely unaware of whether I've passed or failed. If we go by my self - assessment I'm sure I've failed at this point, but there is nothing else to do but secure the plane and wait for the paperwork. So I taxi over, shut down, and secure the plane. As I am finishing the last tiedown, which is always the tail for me, the examiner comes up behind me and says, "Well, congratulations." I'm thinking..."Congratulations, you failed, but we didn't die here's a pink slip."... Read more »

Josh let me know on the very end of the downwind, that my electrical system had just failed. He turned down all the lights, and we were in the dark. All I had was runway lights, engine sounds and a stall horn to guide me. My response to this was, "Oh...does that mean I have no flaps either?" (The Skyhawk has electric flaps.) So now it was a no flap landing too. Nevertheless, I made a really good, short landing.... Read more »

The radio chatter was coming so quickly, that I was afraid I would never be able to break in and request to come back in for landing. I just flew along the ridge and kept turning around to try and maintain a decent proximity to the airport and practice area. I made about 3 circuits of this pseudo holding pattern before I got a chance to request permission to head back in. ATC issued me a heading that was basically parallel to the ridge and I complied. After about 5 minutes and upon noticing that I was nearly to Six Mile, the controller broke in and let me know that I didn't have to stay on the heading and just to hold to the east of the field until further notice.... Read more »

I elected to forego touch and goes in an attempt to lighten the load on the controllers and myself. They vectored me in, which was easy. I came straight in to my base leg and turned final. I set it down in the first thousand feet and made it to the first turn off. It was a really good landing.... Read more »