Pattern Flying

It looked like it would be another good day to go flying. Weather reports indicated the visibility was fair and getting better. So, I worked up a flight plan, headed to the airport, and rolled out the Cessna 172, looking forward to a day above the ground. As soon as I took off, the conditions were worse than had been reported. Sure, it might have been “good enough” for someone else, but these were below my minimums, mostly because of the mist. When you’re flying, you have to consider the worst case. Sure the visibility at cruising altitude may be legal, but what if you can’t see large portions of the ground due to mist and fog. You lose an engine and down you come, landing in what? You don’t know what. Not good. Hence, upon seeing the conditions didn’t suit the mission, I ended up flying pattern, which is always good practice. Here’s the video:

After a few laps around the patch, practicing short field takeoff and soft field landings, I headed back to the hangar. Sometimes, that’s how it goes. (By the way, those stripes you see on the video are due to an anomaly created by the spinning propeller and the shutter speed of the video camera.)

Published in: on October 25, 2011 at 12:25 pm  Leave a Comment  
Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

Passenger View, video

The weather was just about perfect for flying yesterday, clear skies, light winds, and an airplane available. I mounted a small video camera on the right seat, for a view of the flight. The following video takes a look to the side and slightly forward from a Cessna 172 during take-off, a short cruise, and landing. Take a look:

More flying videos are on the way, weather and funds permitting. Next time I’ll position the camera straight ahead. Hopefully, it will be another smooth day or else the footage gets jostled about a bit too much. Either way, can’t get enough of this kind of footage. The little GoPro camera is not the most sophisticated, but it does the job. I wish I had three of them.

Published in: on October 19, 2011 at 11:40 am  Leave a Comment  
Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Cessna 172 Panel Overview

The Cessna 172 is a venerable aircraft in which hundreds of thousands of people have learned to fly. The following video gives you a basic overview of the instrument panel in a typical 172, explaining what each instrument does. Take a look:

Fairly easy to remember, eh? Of course. These instruments have been around for decades, and I highly recommend anyone learning to fly master them prior to moving on to digital cockpits. I’ll be posting more flying videos soon, including footage taken in the cockpit, which can be exciting and fun to watch. Remember, always do your checklist!

Published in: on October 1, 2011 at 12:56 pm  Leave a Comment  
Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Steady now…

This blog carries some of my flying adventures. Regular readers will remember my recent adoption of the Cirrus S20 as the cross-country flying machine of choice. It’s a steady ship, capable of 135 knots cruising. The control yoke is mounted to the side, which actually works very nicely as the pilot can rest an arm on the molded door panel and be quite comfortable. Here’s a shot of me at the helm.

The Garmin G1000 avionics suite is impressive, too. Plenty of situational awareness, an excellent autopilot, and clear graphical representations of what’s going on with the airplane. Of course, take note to the old magnetic compass in the upper part of the photo. You have to have one of those to go flying. Even your commercial airliners have them. If all else fails, pick a heading and go for it.

Published in: on August 10, 2011 at 5:22 pm  Leave a Comment  
Tags: , , , , ,
« Older Entries
Newer Entries »