Click to enlarge especially the last three photos to get a sense of seeing the field from the sky. (I always find it tricky to spot grass runways!!)
It’s one thing to practise soft field landings as a student flying out of an airport with paved surfaces, quite another to actually DO them! In PEI, most landings are grass strip landings. Last Sat, I had the opportunity to catch Jimbo’s smooth landing at Cable Head on camera. Click to enlarge especially the last three photos to get a sense of seeing the field from the sky. (I always find it tricky to spot grass runways!!)
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While the guys hung out chatting about their aircraft after breakfast, one of the youngest members of the PEIFA peacefully made her appearance on the apron -- in a carseat, lol! It was very cute to see the juxtaposition of all these big, mostly middle-aged men and -- in the middle of it all -- a BABY! Alex and Simon also did their bit to add to the twins contingent on the apron Sat morning. (click to enlarge the photos below) One of the guys in our flying club often brings his helicopter to breakfast. The boys got to see it Sat morning, as he lifted off. Readers may recall the "cessna-like-object" I posted photos of last year on this blog... the AME's "friends" teased him mercilessly, insisting the project was insurmountable, the plane would never fly. 12 months later, it has been purchased by another PEI pilot, and just went for its first flight. I could hardly believe this was the same aircraft I saw last July, but here she is, complete with a fresh coat of the original Cessna paint job! She looks newer than any 150 I've ever flown in at Island Air in Toronto, LOL!!! (click above to enlarge)
My first PEI flight of 2013 took us across the eastern part of the Island and had me calling on my recently improved piloting skills. I was lucky enough to have the infamous "TC" take me up in his Sundowner, and I savoured this first flight of the summer on the island, from the taxi onto the rwy in CYYG, to the brush with the cornfields outside Pownal enroute home at the end of our hour-long adventure!
There are two things in particular that I like about flying with TC--the first is his obvious passion for the beauty of the island's colour palette, which is so clearly visible from the sky. The second is his enthusiasm for sharing flight knowledge with his passengers. As a lover of the PEI landscape myself, I enjoy being able to spend time with someone else who also delights in nature's bounty. Today's flight took us over a dizzying array of golden, green and reddish fields, flanked on various sides by rich, dark forests, blue waters and fascinating cloud canvasses, depending where you looked. And as a recently-passed-my-PPL-check-ride pilot, it is fun to show off my new skills to such an appreciative audience: Once I quickly discerned that "cruise attitude" in TC's plane was a little different than the Cessna 150 I've become so familiar with, TC did a little mini flight test on me to assess how far I'd come since our last flight together two years ago; he was very impressed with my steep turns, which he demanded I show him (once w an instrument cover, just to prove to him that I could!), as was I, especially considering that I was flying from the right seat, in an unfamiliar aircraft!!! As I did not have a camera with me today, the only images I have of the flight are the ones in my memory. But they are good ones, and I am much obliged to my willing and generous PEI pilot friend. |
Welcome to Vera's Flight Brain...Here I will attempt -- hopefully not in vain -- to share my connections to previous knowledge. Or I might share a few random thoughts loosely connected to flying, too, as well as any useful resources I may stumble across in my studies.
AuthorVera C. Teschow is a certified teacher and mother of twin boys Alex and Simon. In addition to documenting her flying lessons, she also blogs about babies, teaching and life in general. Categories
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September 2013
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