Wearing a rut in the pattern......

Weather around here has been the pits!!!!

I was thinking of up and moving to Seattle if it kept up for much longer :)

I awoke this morning to blue skies, as the weatherman has predicted for the last few days. I was hoping to solo today, but after my initial display in the cockpit it was apparent I wasnt quite ready. Id forgotten a whole block of the startup checklist and subsequently didnt have the master on when I tried to start the bird this morning :(. We decided pattern work was in order for this lesson, so off we went via runway 20. I was really disappointed in myself, and knew I needed to focus on the tasks at hand more.

Lots of trafic in the pattern today, the weather being nice and all. It seemed to steadily increase, but I was really happy as I felt I handled it well, and didnt rely on my instructor for cues. I just called it as I saw it, and it worked out really well. My first few landings went very well, but I was about to be introduced to the moral of this lesson ..... dont take anything for granted.

On my 4th approach, things felt a bit different. The wind had shifted almost 90 degrees. I landed her, but it wasnt pretty. Better luck next time they say ...... and on the next aproach the wind had shifted back across the runway, it felt like it was circling :) Every one of the approaches I attempted after that 4th one resulted in a different wind position. I struggled to keep up.

All in all it was a good lesson, and my comfort level in the pattern continues to increase, espically within moderate traffic conditions. Ill continue to hone my patten skills and hopefully solo within the next few lessons. FWIW, my new headset worked like a champ, the MIC and the noise cancelling really were nice. Thumbs Up for the ANR XC series from lightspeed.

The pics are of an aircraft Im considering purchasing. The price is really good (about 30k), and the insurance isnt bad either (about $80 a month). Suprisngly (to me at least) the major expense in owning an aircraft, is the maint. and storage fees. The airport Im flying out of right now wants $160 a month for a tie-down and $800 a month for a hangar with a waiting list longer than my arm! In looking around a bit I found a place approx. the same distance as the field Im at now for about $40 a month for a tiedown .... much better!