As good as it gets...

It's flights like the one today that just keep you coming back for more... much like that elusive 'perfect' shot during a round of golf (which eventually ends up at 38 over par), today's flight had me grinning like an idiot for hours...

After weeks of ratty, grey, wet weather, I woke up to perfect blue skies and no wind. Rolled out to NZAR and pre-flight JFY and then headed up for some simulated IFR and compass turn and short field (aka. Grass) landing practice.

After such a long period without flying and my last couple of IFR lessons had been a bit wobbly, I had thought my flying today would be a bit average. But I actually did really well. I think I have finally figured out how to ignore my senses and believe the instruments. Also, I think I am starting to get 'The Feel'(tm) for the instrument scan, so I can keep an eye on everything and keep the plane under control.

I was actually starting to enjoy it, when Dan decided to throw me a curveball and simulate a vacuum system failure. This basically involves covering up the Attitude Indicator (Artifical Horizon) and the Direction Indicator. This is definitely a lot harder... especially when you then have to pull off compass turns at the same time!

I surprised myself and managed to fly relatively well... got the compass turns almost perfectly and managed to hold headings and altitude well.

So he decided I could take the hood off and we would head over to the grass strip at Mercer to practice some short field landings. Unfortunately, upon switching to the Mercer frequency, we got a radio call from a guy meat-bombing (dropping parachuters), so landing there was out of the question. So we headed back to NZAR, put in an overhead join and then a fullstop landing onto the grass.

This flight: 1.1 Hours Dual (0.6 IFR)
Total Hours: 52.1 (46.2 Dual, 5.9 Solo, 1.9 IFR)