January 30, 2004
Wandering Out Alone
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Today was my first solo out away from the airport. It was a VERY cold day (around 0F/-18C), so I couldn't do takeoffs and landings as it would have been too hard on the engine. Instead I headed out to the practice area, doing a few steep turns along the way. I was having a hard time keeping the oil temperature up in the green because it was so cold out (I, however, was quite toasty inside the heated cabin).
I wanted to work on my ground reference maneuvers becasue there was a 10 knot wind to make it interesting. At first, I had doubts about finding the road and intersection I always use since this was my first time doing it on my own and especially because the ground was blanketed in snow. I ended up leading myself right to the correct spot, however.
I started out with S-Turns across the road heading west. When I ran out of road, I turned around and headed back east. The S-Turns weren't picture perfect as you can tell from the plot above, but they weren't terrible, and I did well holding my altitude.
As I flew over a stand of trees north of my reference road, I saw three deer run out into a field. I think they were initially scared by the sound of the airplane engine. However as I flew past them and set up for my turns around a point, their little deer brains seemed to forget all about me and they set to searching the ground for food. I did a couple turns in each direction and split my attention between judging the wind, hitting my marks, holding my altitude steady, and watching the deer. These, I think, were some of the best turns around a point I've done.
I headed back home and found the airport without any problems. There was nothing noteworthy about the landing - just the way we like it. Every time out, I feel more and more like a pilot. I can't wait for my solo cross-countries.
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