| Check-ride Prep 6 | |
| Flight time logged: | 1.4 hours |
| Total flight time logged: | 50.4 hours |
| Total takeoffs/landings: | 159 |
| Solo time: | 0.0 hours |
| Total time solo: | 10.2 hours |
| Total cost to date: | $7350 |
I originally planned on taking my check-ride today. Unfortunately, I had a severe head cold last week that kept me from flying. I did not finally get better until a few days ago. I'm happy to be feeling better and back to flying; however, I hate the fact that I missed being able to take my check-ride today. I really wanted to be finished before the end of February.
I completed my simulated instrument training requirement today. I needed to get 0.8 hours to complete the total 3.0 hours required. After take-off, I flew from LZU to the AHN VOR then to Madison airport all under the hood. At Madison, my instructor instructed me to remove the hood and land at Madison. Madison has a short runway -- the shortest that I've ever landed at, but I was confident I could easily land there.
I performed a forward slip to lose some altitude, then entered the downwind for Runway 32. I setup for a short field landing and as I turned onto final approach, kept the approach speed for the short field landing. I touch down right on the numbers and stopped within a few feet. It was a great short field landing. Even my instructor commented on it being good. I taxied back to take off and setup for a short field take-off. Again, I performed a great short field takeoff, easily clearing the trees at the end of the runway.
After getting into a climb attitude, I put the "foggles"-- a device that simulates flying in a cloud -- back on to fly simulated instrument flight again. I flew back to LZU under the hood. It was strange being under the hood for 50 minutes. Actually, it was somewhat boring not being able to see outside and just view the instruments the entire time.
My instructor took some of the "down time" to show me how to use the autopilot. This is a nice feature to have! I'm definitely going to make use of it on any cross-country flights from now on.
After landing and parking the airplane, my instructor asked me when I was going to schedule my check-ride for next week. It was just a great day today. The weather was great. It would have been a great day for my check-ride. If only I had not gotten sick... oh well. Maybe next week will be just as good.
