02/03/02 Snowstorm - Dubuque (and much of the country) got its first major snowstorm of the season this past week. Last Sunday, the day after I flew as safety pilot, it was still about 65 degrees. Then it turned drastically colder. Monday's flight lesson was cancelled because of low visibility, clouds, and icing conditions. Wednesday's was cancelled because of snow. Friday's was cancelled because of a combination of a crosswind and slippery runway, even though the sky was clear. I planned to do a cross-country yesterday morning but it was too hazy. So, somehow I managed not to fly for a whole week, which seems strange because I can't believe a week went by already. I've been busy. The weather has been annoying. At least next time I fly, I'll get to see something other than a brown ground.

02/06/02 Instrument Stage 1 Check - I took my first instrument stage check today with the chief pilot. I flew for 2.1 hours and was exhausted afterwards. I spent 1.9 hours wearing foggles. Here's what I had to do, all while not being able to see outside:

I was afraid the weather would turn bad like it usually does when I schedule something important. But amazingly, the weather was great except for strong winds aloft and some haze. The wind made it challenging to stay on course during tracking and approaches. I didn't have a problem with anything and did great on this stage check. Now I've got another hurdle out of the way and can move on in the syllabus. Yay! Up next: a few more basic things, then IFR cross-countries.

02/08/02 Defeated by the Simulator - The weather cancelled my plans to fly a cross-country to Iowa City and Peoria this afternoon. Instead I had a simulator lesson that introduced partial panel approaches (which involves failing two of the main instruments). I have never felt so defeated by a machine. I don't know if it was the simulator, or me, or both, but I couldn't hold altidues or headings at all. I didn't think partial panel flying was going to be so hard. I understand it but I just can't do it in the simulator. I gave up after 45 minutes and decided I'll come back to this next time. I vented my frustration by throwing snowballs, and my instructor and I had a good laugh.

02/14/02 Defeating the Simulator - Yesterday I spent an hour in the simulator and finished my lesson on partial panel approaches. I managed to do a DME arc, VOR approach, NDB approach, and localizer approach without using the attitude indicator or heading indicator. And oh, Steve failed my airspeed indicator and flaps, too, just for kicks.

02/17/02 Southern Wisconsin Cross-Country - My trusty copilot Claire and I flew the Cessna 152 from Dubuque to Waukesha (near Milwaukee) this afternoon, leaving at 12:45 and arriving at 2:10. We visited my friend Jenny at Carroll College and the three of us ate at Pizzeria Uno's. I decided I would rather fly in the dark than fly back with the sun in my face, so Claire and I left at 6:00 for a night flight home. (Also, before sunset, there were hundreds of geese all over the air and I wanted to wait for them to land!) We were on the ground in Dubuque by 7:30. It was fun to visit my friend, the weather was gorgeous, and I liked Waukesha's airport. I'll definitely make this trip again.

02/22/02 An Uncle's First Flight - My uncle Dave was passing through Dubuque so I took the opportunity to take him on his first flight. We took off just before sunset and flew north over the city and river. My uncle went from being nervous about the idea of flying to thinking it was in his words, "Totally awesome."

02/27/02 Compass? What's that? - Today I began instrument lesson number 21: reviewing (without outside references) stalls, slow flight, and steep turns, and practicing partial panel flight (without an attitude indicator or heading indicator). This lesson should be called, "How to Use the Magnetic Compass, the Instrument You Forgot Exists." I had practiced partial panel flight on the simulator twice. But our simulator doesn't simulate compass errors caused by the idiosyncrasies of the earth. Now it was time for the real thing. Depending on what you're trying to do, the compass might sit still while you're turning, turn in the wrong direction, indicate you've reached a certain heading when you really haven't yet, and more. But there are rules to the way it works so you always know how to deal with it. I had always read about these things but never paid much attention to them in flight. I was surprised because the compass errors were more drastic than the books made them sound. I learned some useful things today. On my next lesson, I'll take things a step further and do partial panel instrument approaches.

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