4/02/02 Back from Spring Break - I had spring break last week. I stayed at school March 23-26 to have some quiet time to myself, during which I worked on a resume and internship application. Then I spent March 27-April 1 at home. I didn't fly at all during that time, so it's been almost two weeks since I've flown. I wanted to fly the 150 pretty badly one day. But it is grounded for an engine overhaul and needs an annual inspection. I did go visit it and say hi though. Also on Thursday and Friday I worked at Airtronics, and it was nice to see everyone there again.

04/04/02 Fun Above the Clouds in a Twin - I still can't believe that I flew our school's four-seat twin-engine plane, the Piper Seminole, from the left seat today! It was a cool opportunity; I was asked to ride along on an instructor's standardization flight with a check pilot. As a last-minute surprise, I was told to sit in the left seat instead of in the back. The instructor had to teach me basic multi-engine operations while the check pilot observed us. It was a good test for the instructor, because I've had no multi-engine groundschool and didn't get much of a preflight briefing! I've ridden in the Seminole before but this was my first time at the controls. I dodged clouds during my climb and descent, which required some maneuvering to sneak through holes. We mostly flew at 7500 feet, above the broken cloud ceiling, and it was beautiful! The instructor had to demonstrate things and I had to repeat a lot of them myself. I was surprised at how well I did steep turns and slow flight. I did a good job at holding headings and altitudes. I didn't do the takeoff or landing (thankfully!?!). Flying the Seminole was a fun challenge! I logged 1.3 hours of flight.

04/09/02 Solo Practice - "Flying alone! Nothing gives such a sense of mastery over time, over mechanism, mastery indeed over space, time, and life itself, as this." -- Cecil Day Lewis

Since earning my private pilot certificate in March last year, the vast majority of my flights have been with an instructor or a passenger. Today I flew solo for the first time since September 21st! The weather was so perfect that I couldn't resist flying, because lately I never know when the next good day will be. I remembered that I had a solo lesson to accomplish for my commercial syllabus. After workstudy, at about 6:00, I climbed into a plane and took off into the clear sky. I practiced maneuvers, did four landings at nearby Platteville, and ended my hour-and-a-half jaunt with a perfect landing back at Dubuque. It felt great to remind myself that I can still fly alone! It's been almost seven months since I've experienced this simple joy and now I can't wait to do it again.

04/13/02 Clearing my Mind - After a long, busy, frustrating day, I cleared my mind with a 45-minute flight in the local area. A fellow Flight Team member who is a private pilot student rode along. I left my problems on the ground and enjoyed a nice evening cruise with some maneuvers and river sightseeing. It was a nice break from thinking about tomorrow's fly-in and plenty of other stuff. I made an unusually excellent landing.

04/14/02 Flight Team Fly-In and Cirrus Flight - Our Flight Team breakfast ran wonderfully this morning and we had an excellent turnout. The weather decided to cooperate with us much better than last year when it was storming. After the breakfast I logged another 0.8 hours of dual in a Cirrus SR22. Awesome. Nothing like giving myself a tour of the city at blazing speeds in my favorite airplane. I landed it this time too, with a little help.

04/23/02 IFR Cross-Country to Waukesha - My instructor and I flew to Waukesha this evening for an instrument cross-country lesson. I chose Waukesha so I could visit my friend again and because I just like the airport. We flew under an IFR flight plan. This meant I had to communicate with air traffic control during the entire flight, basically from startup to shutdown. I logged 3.1 hours which includes 1.4 night flight and 2.9 simulated instrument flight.

04/28/02 Pioneer Airport Training Weekend - The annual volunteer training weekend at Pioneer Airport (EAA AirVenture Museum, Oshkosh) took place Saturday the 27th and Sunday the 28th. I drove to Oshkosh to attend. It was awesome to see my "second family" again and to refresh my memory on our procedures. This year I attended our aircraft ground schools for the first time. I also learned to drive the tram so that I can do that this year. Pioneer Airport opens to the public next weekend and I hope to make it up there within the next few weeks. I am very much looking forward to my fourth season.

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