Category Archives: cross country

50 More Hours and My First Ski Landings

With so much other stuff going on, I haven’t updated my flying blog in quite a long time. That doesn’t mean that I haven’t been flying, though, in fact I have over 150 hours in my logbook now. I’ve learned … Continue reading

Posted in cross country, General Aviation | Leave a comment

Winter Flying: Round Two

Riding my bicycle out to Merrill Field in near-zero temperatures, fiddling with the preflight checklist while wearing thick gloves and landing on runways that are completely covered with snow and ice reminds me of when I learned to fly. Since … Continue reading

Posted in cross country, General Aviation, Scenic flying | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Flying Grids Over Unfamiliar Terrain

I’m currently training to become a Mission Pilot with the Alaska Civil Air Patrol. Essentially, they’re the ones who fly the planes during search and rescue missions, and since the entire crew depends on them for the safety of the … Continue reading

Posted in cross country, General Aviation | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Fall Flying

Not that I have been in any hurry to see summer end and the colder weather arrive, but I’ve really been looking forward to Autumn, just so that I could go flying and see the fall colors from the air. … Continue reading

Posted in cross country, Scenic flying | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Anchorage to Seward, past Exit Glacier

Flight time: 1.2 hours I had the opportunity to help shuttle one of the Civil Air Patrol C172’s from Anchorage to Seward yesterday evening. Being my first time flying in a CAP plane, I flew with Chet Harris as my … Continue reading

Posted in cross country, Scenic flying | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Lesson 23: Long Solo Cross Country to Homer

 Aircraft: C172 N52654 Flight Time: 3.2 hours Total Hours: 33.9 I’d been looking forward to my long cross country. In some ways, it’s the culmination of my flight instruction and the real test of my piloting skills. The requirement is to … Continue reading

Posted in cross country, Flight Lessons, Solo Flight | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Lesson 22: Solo Cross Country to Soldotna

Aircraft: C172 N52654 Flight Time: 2.0 hours Total Hours: 29.6 I’m approaching 30 hours now, and looking forward towards my private pilot checkride, which at the current pace, should be sometime in April. As I make each new entry in my … Continue reading

Posted in cross country, Flight Lessons, Solo Flight | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment