Midway To Somewhere (part 2) VOR + 20 hours of flying!!Hey
- abbie
- May 20, 2018
- 5 min read
So I'm a little over 20 hours now, about 1/2 through my total hours needed for Private Pilot!
^ (me after my first time flying completely solo for 1 whole hour in the practice area!) ^
Realistically, Steve (my CFI) says I most likely will take my checkride at about 45-50 hours, but for the sake of simplicity I'm pretending I'm halfway through :) UPDATE: May 2019: I ended up taking my checkride at 43 hrs exactly!! :D
I've soloed, done short take offs and landings, soft field landings AND take offs, so many stalls, slow flight, steep turns, little bit of IFR, and now just getting into VOR and Cross Country flying! I'm feeling more and more comfortable every lesson and as long as I come fully awake and with some food in my stomach before the lesson so as to not get airsick, I feel fantastic about how training has gone so far.
For the numbers people, I've spent about $2,000 so far, not quite $3K but nearly. I'm keeping a more concise record in my google docs. The price of Av gas (100LL, the blue coloured gas I need for the Cessna 172,) keeps going up and up, from 5.35, to $5.45, to $5.65....pleaseeeeee stoppppp.
Roughly, I'm spending about $1K a month and I fly about 3 days a week, but hours vary.
Most of our flights are 1 hour but some are longer, around 1.7
(I realized I spend about $1K for every 10 flight hours, a very rough estimate but very decent price overall!!!)
But costs' are cheaper now just because I'm not flying with Steve as much, so no CFI cost. But truthfully that's not the big spender, the big spender is gas/fuel. So you know that cheesy quote that goes something like "if plane tickets were free you'd never see me again" because travel would be free?
Forget free tickets, that's not realistic, what I want is free fuel. Because that's way more realistic eh?
(I know because I work at one ahem) Well think about what I mean, I promise if you look deeper there is logic! EVERY mode of transport needs fuel, cars planes boats spaceships motorcycles etc. So if fuel was free or at least as cheap as it is when filling motorcycle tanks, you really wouldn't see me ever again. Too many places I want to go to! Even a seemingly boring little airport, unattended and maybe in a barren field can be interesting to me at least just because it's new and I love exploring new places. Also FBOs have the coolest staff and there's always local legends to hear or funny little stories or the local diner that everyone says you just HAVE to try.
So far, I've been to 3 other airports: Independence, Mulino, and Lenhardts.
And of course the 4th being the one I train out of, here in Portland.
Today, we landed at Scappose (my 5th!) and got gas, then tracked the VOR back!
I really like to land at an unfamiliar airport even though at first I thought it would be so NERVE WRACKING. I mean it really is to an extent especially if the winds are wild!! But overall I love the challenge and I'll admit I love the look of approval on my CFIs face when I handle a new situation with numerous obstacles safely and smoothly.
Ok, maybe working on the smooth part still ;)
SATURDAY MAY 19TH, my 20th hour flight!
(halfway baby!)
ok, so I was ded tired this morn at the crack of 5:50 when I woke up, but I had no choice but to roll outta bed & go to the airport cos I had to be all pre-flighted before 7! I wasn't, haha, but close to! Steve & I had a good lesson but he could tell I was tired, I could tell I was tired bc I didn't sleep much or at all last night & I didn't have breakfast or bible study or nuthin', just rushed over to my lesson. It was still good & I learned a LOT though! I did however do 2 flat landings, which we were both upset about because I thought I was over it, and of course Steve thought he had cured me of that, terrible terrible disease common to student pilots 😂 (no but really I was mad at myself but such is reality when you don't rest enough or eat OR hydrate before flying. your performance suffers, just like an athlete not stretching or properly fueling before a game or a musician not tuning their instrument before going on stage assuming it'll be fine!)
Anyway, I'm now officially halfway through the required hours for my Private Pilot!! That does not mean I will get it in 40, but it means I'm very close!! Despite how dead tired I was for this morning's 20th hour lesson and first introduction to VORs, I did learn a lot and (kind of) enjoy the lesson. Even if I kept wanting to close my eyes and let the low ceiling and puffy gray stratus fog layer carry me off to sleep this morning as we flew back. It was really pretty, the first time I got to fly to the North instead of to the East, and also the first time I've flown for so long in a low ceiling (low clouds!) so we were just scuttling along the bases of the clouds the whole flight and it was really pretty!
Alaska Airlines day was fun too, I volunteered at the 99's booth for our chapter after my lesson. We finished at 9 and I raced home, ate some oatmeal, headed out to the airport again, but this time to the big papa, PDX! The event was so cool, and I loved being able to talk to and teach the kids and young teens (and adults!) who came by our booth. I was so tired when I showed up and honestly wanted to skip my volunteering slot like a bad person and tell Ellen (the lady who first really helped me get into flying! I've mentioned her before in past posts'!) I couldn't make it. But I did, and I'm glad, because I started to wake up and just get really excited when I walked into the huge white hangar and saw all the booths and the 737s set out back beyond the open hangar doors, free for everyone to walk around and explore! Aviation Activity event days are really cool, and this is only the 2nd one I've been to. I also made some good connections, networking, encouraged the other volunteers I was paired with and they encouraged me. It was a great time! I also got to share my testimony of my recent happenings with Ellen, about how quickly my training is going, etc. I DID also tell her about the happenings with San Diego, the Director of Aviation leaving and all that fun jazz party. She isn't too concerned, as she's seen my determination thus far, and she just goes "Abbie, you've made it this far and God didn't bring you this far just to get you THIS FAR" I laughed but you know she's right..... and I was just thinking the same thing :)
Well, it sure was a tiring weekend and yesterday at work too(not going to go into detail, but my boss yelled at me for leaving the counter to help a visitor at the FBO for too long...he said he'd fire me if it continues. So I was confused because getting in trouble for helping someone too much is hilarious, but also I hated being yelled at...well ok who doesn't.
BUT, this week ended good, viva la' Amavi, let the love spread and spur me on to tackle my cross country flight planning!
Eeep! What a pile of work, I'm excited :)
Comentarios