Eblo

WX'd Out Again

Sunday, February 22, Amy and I were again scheduled to fly up to The Dells with Brice for my cross country training. And again, the weather had other plans. When I woke up, it was a beautiful, sunny morning and my hopes were high. But upon my first glance at DUATS, I knew things were going downhill fast.

By the time we got to the airport at 12:30, the ceilings were dropping and the sun was all but gone. When we walked into the FBO, there was a small crowd huddles around the weather station computer watching the snow/mixed/rain band march from Iowa and Minnesota into Wisconsin and Illinois. It wasn't long before DLL was enveloped in the white and pink sections of the display.

I was able to knock out a handful of takeoffs and landings and racked up .5 hours PIC - my first flight time in February. But I felt bad for Amy, as I'd forgotten to remind her to bring a book. The landings weren't my best - for calm winds, it was being really tricky. It was a slight cross from the left, and I'd line up with the numbers perfectly, hit 65 kts all the way in, and still float most of the way down the runway. I even did one go-around because I didn't like how much pavement was no longer in front of me. But I know I wasn't alone in my frustrations. As I was taxing back to the ramp, I watched the Arrow coming in behind me. That little bit of wind was giving him fits - he looked like a maple leaf on final. Folks back inside were also cursing the treeline south of the airport and the odd effects it creates.

Even though I didn't get to cross-country and Amy only got to try to take pictures of a white plane against a white sky, it was good to get back in the air. These three-week breaks are not fun.

Two other interesting bits:

1) While waiting on the weather and the plane, we were treated to some fine hovering, taxi (3 feet off the ground) and departure by a rock-steady guy in a R44 helicopter.

2) My CFI is going down to one day a week. Can you say 'scheduling nightmare'? It'll work out, though, I'm sure.