Flying Scott!

 It's only weird if you make it weird... And these 2 gents never have.

Mark took Scott and I flying! 

We landed at Centennial after a smooth and cool flight over Denver. Perfect Landing restaurant had our reservation and a tasty breakfast awaited. 

On the way home, Mark threw the yoke over to Scott and a wee flight lesson ensued. Check out the smiles!!!

Not a bad way to spend a Saturday morning, am I right?!

Thank you, gentlemen!  

Poking Holes in Clouds

Friday it snowed.  Saturday it snowed more!  I drove 45 minutes each way in blizzard conditions to show property to my buyer.  Then I mostly took the rest of the day off :-)

Up in the sky I periodically heard someone flying.  I sighed inwardly.

Sunday I woke to the sound of birdsong.  It was still mighty cloudy, but appeared to have patches of blue and the wind had substantially died down.

By noon Mark had pre-heated his hanger and I had been invited to fly 303B.
(Insert big smile!)
"Longmont traffic, Bonanza 303B is taking off on runway 29, departing pattern to the south, Longmont."

We flew over Boulder and the Flatirons.  The snow was fresh and white and the cloud ceiling was 11,000 feet.  

Back over Longmont, a few small lazy clouds hung about at 8000 feet and I was invited to play in them!  First we did steep turns around them, then poked holes in them.  Turning small clouds in to wispy little pieces of clouds, as the city went about its business below.

I had fun.  I was in my happy place.

Rocky Mountain Sunsets Move Me!

A perfect Colorado evening.  The air was calm and the sky was oh so clear.

NOT flying would have been a crime!

At just after 8pm, we took off from Runway 29.  The sun had dipped behind the mountains just minutes before and the colors were beginning to saturate the sky.

Almost an hour of zipping back and forth along the Front Range at 10,000', lay ahead.  I did most of the flying and Mark spent most of his time behind the lens.

Thanks Mark, for sharing your photos!

Going Solo

The time had come... like I knew it would.

I radio'd a "touch and go" as we approached the runway. Mark immediately radio'd in a correction... It was going to be full stop landing.

This meant only one thing... He was going to get out!

It was time for me to fly solo. (Despite the anxiety!)

I taxi'd back to the end of the runway and took off without him. The plane was lighter and colder, but other than that, not so different with just me in it.

First landing - pretty good, if I do say so myself!

Up I went again.

This time while flying the landing pattern there was little misunderstanding/miscommunication between two other aircraft. I watched, horrified, as they both called final approach to landing. A crash would certainly mess me up.... where would I land?

The second aircraft realized the dilemma and circled back around to land after the first one. I extended my landing pattern and followed in third place. It was a bumpier landing for me... What can I say? My mind was in overdrive!

It was also the landing that Mark and Marijke caught on film.

All in all I did three take-offs and landings to make up my first solo.

It was a beautiful day and went very smoothly. My anxiety took a vacation while I was in the air and I was surprised how clear everything became.

Back on the ground it was time to debrief...

Endorse the solo section of my logbook....

And get my shirt-tail clipped in "first solo" tradition!

Why the shirt tail?

Traditionally, the instructor sat behind the student in the plane. During lessons, with no (or poor) headsets, the instructor communicated to the student and taught them, by tugging on the back of their shirt. Once the student solo'd, the back of the shirt was cut out... no longer needed for or available to, the instructor.

Mark dated and signed it then handed it to Lori with these instructions...

She did a spectacular job of decorating it before it was hung on the wall at Air West.

I feel very special! :-)