Summer Flight Goals

11:31 AM Tuesday, May 31, 2011

I have been making a mental list of flight goals I want to accomplish this summer (June-August 2011) and I thought it was time to write them down.

  • Land in two more states (probably MN and MO)
  • Get my Tailwheel Endorsement
  • Have 110 hours in my flight log (currently at 88.1)
    Added .9 on 6/1/11 = 89.0
    Added .9 on 6/24/11 = 89.9
    Added .8 on 7/08/11 = 90.7
  • Take up two new passengers
    Took Ryan on 7/8/11
  • Fly on my 1 year anniversary (July 20th was my intro flight)
  • Fly at least one new type of aircraft (this goes with my tailwheel endorsement I guess but it is still a goal)
  • Land at 5 new airports
    Landed at 8C4, Tipton, IA, 6/1/11
    Landed at OQW, Maquoketa, IA, 6/24/11

Of course all of this depends on having some money so I guess I better get some work done :)

So after a weekend of hoping (aka: praying and begging) for good weather so I could take my brother up for a ride, Monday comes along and rubs its lovely weather in my face. Saturday was rainy with ceilings never getting much higher than 1200ft. Sunday cleared up nicely at the end of the day but my Brother was only available in the morning so we didn't get to go. Then Monday comes along and we all go back to work and stare out the window at CAVU skies and winds straight down the runway 030 at 12kts. Ugh, life is cruel! There are little yellow sunshine shapes (I think that is what those are, I haven't seen sunshine forever) on everyday of the forecast this week, and although my Brother is out of town, I may have to hit up the airport if I manage to get my work done :)

KDVN - KPVB - KDVN

2:06 PM Friday, May 6, 2011

Location: KDVN - KPVB - KDVN
Weather: KDVN 061452Z AUTO 29012KT 10SM CLR 17/04 A2991 RMK AO2 SLP130 T01720039 58004
Runway in Use: 33



It had been a while since I had gotten to fly (24 days to be exact but who's counting) so I had been watching the weather all week and today looked like a beautiful day to go. I had originally planned to meet my aunt for lunch up in Platteville, but I got buried in work and decided I should be responsible and get my butt back here and make some money so it was just a quick flight there and back.

I had my wheels up at davenport about 10:30 this morning. The AWOS was reporting 280@12G19 on take-off. That had me a bit concerned because although I could handle that no problem on take-off it was pushing my comfort zone for landing. I evaluated the situation and decided I could handle the landing if the winds were still at that level when I returned.

The flight up to Platteville (KPVB) was uneventful. It was pretty bumpy, visually evident by the clouds that were quickly forming. I had some traffic to contend with around Dubuque (KDBQ) which had me wishing that I had called for flight following, but I didn't feel that I was in the air long enough to make it worth the effort. The AWOS was NOTAM'ed out of service for KPVB but I was hoping it was back up, it wasn't so I overflew the field at 3500 to check out the windsock. It was straight out and probably about 280-290 (looked it up when I got home and it said 280@12G20). I descended and called for left downwind entry for 25. The set-up was good and the bumps held up long enough for me to make a decent stabilized approach. I had a very good landing that I was proud of. Then as I am back taxing someone calls asks me for a 5 count in platteville. I waited to see if maybe they were talking to unicom because I didn't know what that meant. Then when no one answered I asked him to clarify and he said 1.2.3.4.5. how do you read. I said loud and clear, felt like kind of an idiot but whatever. I guess I can put that one in my book for next time.

Take-off was smooth and I made a left turnout to head south. Climbed to 4500 feet, leaned and trimmed, I skirted DBQ airspace and then headed for home. I spent the next 40 minutes bouncing around but of course I loved every second of it.

I came back into davenport and crossed mid field for left downwind on 21. The AWOS was reading 260@12G20. I wanted a bit of extra speed for the gusts but I came in a bit too high so my landing was a bit long and not my best but it was decent none the less.

I exited on Bravo and Mike was outside to park me (another first) and I managed to do alright.

Although today was not my favorite flight, the bumpiness kind of takes a bit away from the magic, I did enjoy it a lot. I got back in the air. I got to see a bit of different Terrain, I landed at a new airport in a new state. Overall a very good time.

Duration of Flight: 1.6
Total Flight Hours: 88.1
Log book entry