12/05/03 Catching On - After a Thanksgiving discussion with a former flight instructor and a two-week lapse since my last time at the controls, I did a much better job on commercial maneuvers today in the 152. Lazy eights "clicked" with me. Chandelles were easy. I did several of each, then a couple steep turns and a few landings. My instructor and I liked looking at the new snow.

12/10/03 A Week From Now... - Only seven days from now, I will be flying on a Canadair regional jet and then a Boeing 767 to the Netherlands on the 100th anniversary of powered flight!

12/12/03 Bringing the 150 Home - It was cold (10-15 degrees F), but otherwise the weather was great for flying. I flew the 150 back to Clintonville where it will stay indefinitely. It might get sold, or I might get to bring it back to Dubuque someday. For now, I don't have to worry about hangar fees while I'm gone from Dubuque on break. The flight up was two hours. Not bad since I used my new iBook laptop to play music through the intercom! It was very smooth and the scenery was good.

I said hi to my former co-workers and went out to lunch while in Clintonville. Another UD student picked me up in one of the school's Trinidads. The flight back only took a little over an hour!

12/17/03 To Amsterdam on the 100th Anniversary of Flight - I departed from Green Bay, Wisconsin, changed planes in Chicago, and arrived at Amsterdam, the Netherlands the next day. My first airline flight of my life was a long, tiring, international trip complete with plenty of jet lag! I was not traveling with a group so it was a little nerve-wracking. My plane to Chicago was delayed an hour. I had to walk very fast through O'Hare. I couldn't fall asleep on the 767 overnight, either. I'll never forget my first sight of the Dutch landscape in the early morning sun, when I realized I had reached the place I had wanted to go to for over four years.

12/27/03 General Aviation in The Netherlands - I went flying in a Piper Warrior at Rotterdam. I learned about the major differences between Dutch and American general aviation: Dutch pilots have less freedom, worse weather, and higher flying costs. Americans take way too much for granted and I am lucky to be a pilot. I enjoyed seeing a little bit of The Netherlands from the window of a small airplane. We only flew for about 20 minutes, but I saw Rotterdam, Delft, The Hague, and the North Sea, plus a big rain shower on the horizon and a full rainbow after landing!

I didn't fly the plane myself since I was too busy looking out the windows. I couldn't stop staring at the extremely flat land. It looked as if one big storm could wash the whole country away! It seemed like every last acre was populated. Also, I was amazed at the endless greenhouses scattered across the land (I never knew the Dutch use greenhouses to grow so many plants and vegetables).

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