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We flew again today. When we got to the plane we had scheduled, N5533F I got the checklist and started the preflight. #1… Master switch ON. Oops. The last person to fly it had left the master on, and the plane was stone dead. Not wanting to hand prop it (no way I’m doing it) we grabbed another Cherokee 140, N698FL that the chief pilot was about to fly to North Omaha (3NO) for some maintenance on the front gear. All good on preflight and runup, I made tha radio calls to Clearance, Ground & Tower (poorly). I made a good takeoff and we turned North.

John told me he would make the landing at 3NO, because the runway is short, narrow and has trees pretty close in. After getting air added to the front strut I taxied back down and did a short field takeoff. The hop to Blair (BTA) only took a few minutes. We crossed midfield and I made my FIRST EVER landing — woohoo! It was actually pretty good, and I remembered to raise the flaps before using the brakes (no toe brakes in this bird). We did three more normal takeoffs and landings. There was a light crosswind, so I was slipping in with right aileron and left rudder.

By the time we did our last takeoff the sun was going down, we couldn’t get the panel lights on and John’s headset was not working, so we headed back to OMA. I made a halfway decent landing on 14L and we taxied back. So, I went from zero to four unassisted landings, did some radio work, a short field takeoff, pattern flying and gained a ton of confidence.

At one point on my last flight I was wondering if I had made a mistake, and if I’d be able to do this thing I’ve dreamed of since I can remember. After today there is no doubt in my mind. I can, I will, and it’s just going to get better. Now I need to practice comms and memorize checklists. John wants me to do the flows from memory and just use the checklist to verify.

Well, after a few days of weather-induced delays, I finally got in a training flight yesterday.   Hey, it’s only been 9-1/2 years since my last flight! No matter that no CFI who has ever flown with me is still a CFI… and who cares if half the planes I have flown are no longer flying?

So I preflighted N5533F, tucked my new CFI (John) into the right seat and off we went. I was able to taxi much better than I remembered doing before. This was my first time flying from a tower controlled airport — Eppley (KOMA) instead of Millard (KMLE) where I’ve flown before, so I got to put my ground school self-study knowledge to work. We got taxi clearance and I was able to follow the signs and tell John (before he asked) where we’d be stopping, and why. Cleared for 14L, and up we went… after a little veering and white knuckles. Let’s say it was not my smoothest takeoff, and that stall warning light will definitely get your attention, but we got off the ground and out of the area.

The weather was not the best. 6 mile vis, overcast at 3500 AGL so we stayed under 3000 (2000 or so AGL). Flew up to a practice area and did some basic maneuvers, and after getting over the initial jitters I was pretty comfortable. I had forgotten how much flying a Cherokee feels like piloting a soda can in the ocean. I did OK, though, especially holding altitude in turns and such. The ceiling was dropping and visibility was getting noticeably shorter, so we headed back. John took the yoke on the base leg because by now the crosswind was a bit more than he thought I was ready for.

I have two previous training flights in the log book — one from 1999, and one in 2002. Hopefully now that some of the pre-emptive priorities are not as big a factor, I’ll be able to get scheduled regularly and finish up soon. John’s feedback during the post-flight debrief was that he thought I’d be ready to solo in a pretty short time. On the next flight we’ll likely go up to Blair (KBTA) and do some touch-and-gos.

While I was not able to meet my goal of doing an unassisted landing on today’s flight, at least I was prepared for the sight picture on approach and knew what to expect — John just felt that it wasn’t a good day for me to make my first landing. The other two times I lost confidence on final and asked the CFI to do it. I hadn’t done an approach in a small plane before; airliners come in with a significantly nose-high attitude, and it kind of freaked me out to point the nose at the runway and fly it into the ground. This time I was ready for it, and even was able to watch the PAPI lights and know we were a little low and needed power. But… I’m confident I’ll be able to bring it in all the way on the next flight.

Had a training flight scheduled for this morning, but of course weather moved in overnight and it’s not going to happen.   With ceilings at 1200-1500 AGL, it’s not exactly a good day for primary training.   Instrument training, maybe…   or maybe not, depending on icing conditions.   So…   time to re-schedule, I guess.   Wish I’d have set it up for yesterday!

Today I went down the Eppley (KOMA) to meet with the chief pilot of Flight Nebraska Group.   I had never been on the GA side of Ellpey before.   I found out that Elliot Aviation sold out to Signature a few months ago, so now we’ll have an overpriced FBO if we need it.   🙂   The Tac Air FBO (where FNG is also located) is really nice, especially compared to a couple of much smaller places I have visited.   That’s really not so much a factor, since it’s not like I’ll be bumming around there a lot.   But, if you have to be somewhere, you may as well be somewhere nice.

The overcast was too low for flying, but we had a good long chat covering a lot of ground.   We discussed FNG and their operations and aircraft, my goals for training, safety, war stories, general hangar talk.   Looks like a good bunch of people, so I have a lesson scheduled for next Tuesday morning – weather permitting.

It’s time.