Marc's Flying Experiences

Far too long...

It seems that lately it has been far too long in between flying escapades.

This morning I decided to get my rear out of bed and go blast some holes in the sky. I decided that since the winds were blowing at a decent pace (090@8-11) I would first go and get warmed up by landing INTO the wind at Lewis (KLOT). These went well.

<ASIDE>
I'm always amazed at Lewis. Being an institute of higher learning (aka college) with a flight program, everything there is very structured. You can always tell when you are at the top of the hour because it gets really busy for 15 minutes before (incoming students landing) and 15 after (departing students). The in between times--at least for the first month or two of the semester--are quiet. As the semester wears on, it's busy no matter what time of day if school is in session.
</ASIDE>

I was feeling pretty good. I shook the rust off at Lewis, now let's go play with direct crosswinds. I head over to Morris (C09). My first foray into Morris this morning was fun. I don't think I get to count all 3 landings, though. I realized at this point that a. my x-wind landings were not up to snuff; and b. if I want to go back home (Naper), I should probably figure out how to land the stupid airplane in less than 2000 feet. It really wasn't that bad, all things considered. The next two landings were good, so I was much happier.

Then I remembered two things. 1. I have to work today (DOH!); and 2. I should go buy the cowl plugs for 5RC at DuPage (KDPA). I head up to DPA and have an uneventful landing on 10, buy the cowl plugs, and head home. I get up in the air, and due to the wonders of nature the wind picked up and the thermals were developing. For the short hop from DPA to LL10, there was no need to get too high, so I played in the bouncy air. On final for 36 @ Naper, I realize that I am slightly high, so I throw it into a slip, with full flaps, with a direct x-wind from the right. Cool. Get just above the runway and the Naper Wind Pattern (TM) goes into full force. I love landing @ Naper. I have quite a bit of float because the wind seems to race down the runway in whatever direction you are going. I land and then the plane lifts up again and dips a wing towards the xwind. I get it settled, taxi back and tuck the plane in. (What an abrupt end to the story, eh?)

It truly was a fun morning.

1.3 HRS, LL10->KLOT->C09->KDPA->LL10, 8 Landings

Posted by molson at February 27, 2004 12:32 AM GMT