(Click on the title to open a Web Photo album of the flight)
Friday I finally took the glider ride that my wife gave me almost 10 years ago. Initially, I was unable to take the ride as the owner of the business died, but not in an aircraft accident. About six months latter we received a letter from the new owner with a new certificate and a note that it would never expire. That certificate sat in a drawer for a while.
Then I started learning to fly and remembered the glider certificate. I spent four years working on my private pilot license. I didn't want to mix the two modes of flying so held off on the glider ride. Now nine months after my check ride I finally took the glider ride. Very enjoyable, and less expensive than powered flight. After talking with some of the instructors I bought a book on getting your glider rating and I'm now currently reading it to see if I want to pursue the rating.
According to the FAR, as a private pilot, I need 10 solo tows and 3 hours of flight time. But the kicker is that you need to get to the point where your instructor feels comfortable with you soloing. The school offers an add on course which includes 30 tows, 10 hours of ground instruction, 10 hours of flight instruction and glider rental. This "usually" is enough to add the rating.
Now I have to determine if I can afford to take the plunge at this time. Everything I've seen states that I live in a prime region for glider flying. Boulder Colorado is right up against the front range of the Rocky Mountains. Fly over the plains for thermal flying, along the front range for ridge flying, and then in the winter catch a mountain wave for real high flying activity, 17,000 to 20,000 MSL.
Monday, July 09, 2007
Monday, May 21, 2007
Back in the air
Finally got back in the air on Saturday, May 19th. I had been delaying due to weather and the distance to the new airport. The airport I received my private at was shut down two days after my check ride.
The FBO I was using moved operations to Greeley (KGXY) and I had assumed it would take me two to two-and-a-half hours to get there. So, last month I visited a number of FBOs closer to home, Longmont, Boulder, and Fort Collins-Loveland. All of their rental rates were significantly higher and the planes were not as nicely equipped.
Scheduled my instructor and a plane at KGXY, while the FAA says I can get my currency back on my own, I'd rather have a check pilot on board after six months of no flying. I left home at 8:30 and got to the airport by 10, an hour early. Only 1.5 hours of driving. Actually, a little less time then when I was driving to Fort Collins Downtown, now closed.
Did the preflight while my instructor was finishing up with a student pilot, then hopped in. Greeley on a Saturday is quite a bit busier than Ft Collins Downtown ever was. It also has a restaurant on site, so that may account for some of the traffic. Taxied to the run up area for Runway 9. Everything checked out so made the call and took off.
Everything went as it should and I was going to just stay in the pattern, but my instructor recommended just flying a bit to get use to the plane again. So we headed west, took a look at his neighborhood, went up to Budweiser to check if they had any Clydesdale colts or foals out in the fields near the paddock, no luck. Then overflew Ft Collins Downtown and saw the big yellow X's in the runway and headed back to KGXY.
Not as busy when we returned. Did my three landings. I tended to start a little high, then get a little slow on final, but all touchdowns were reasonable. I'll need to continue to manage my speed on final.
Now that I know the airport isn't as far, time wise, as I expected I'll start scheduling more time int he air and try to meet some of those goals I set for the year.
The FBO I was using moved operations to Greeley (KGXY) and I had assumed it would take me two to two-and-a-half hours to get there. So, last month I visited a number of FBOs closer to home, Longmont, Boulder, and Fort Collins-Loveland. All of their rental rates were significantly higher and the planes were not as nicely equipped.
Scheduled my instructor and a plane at KGXY, while the FAA says I can get my currency back on my own, I'd rather have a check pilot on board after six months of no flying. I left home at 8:30 and got to the airport by 10, an hour early. Only 1.5 hours of driving. Actually, a little less time then when I was driving to Fort Collins Downtown, now closed.
Did the preflight while my instructor was finishing up with a student pilot, then hopped in. Greeley on a Saturday is quite a bit busier than Ft Collins Downtown ever was. It also has a restaurant on site, so that may account for some of the traffic. Taxied to the run up area for Runway 9. Everything checked out so made the call and took off.
Everything went as it should and I was going to just stay in the pattern, but my instructor recommended just flying a bit to get use to the plane again. So we headed west, took a look at his neighborhood, went up to Budweiser to check if they had any Clydesdale colts or foals out in the fields near the paddock, no luck. Then overflew Ft Collins Downtown and saw the big yellow X's in the runway and headed back to KGXY.
Not as busy when we returned. Did my three landings. I tended to start a little high, then get a little slow on final, but all touchdowns were reasonable. I'll need to continue to manage my speed on final.
Now that I know the airport isn't as far, time wise, as I expected I'll start scheduling more time int he air and try to meet some of those goals I set for the year.
Monday, December 18, 2006
Two Women, Four Men and some mistakes
This past weekend I went and saw, The Holiday. The basis of the movie is two women with relationship problems who exchange homes to get away for the holidays. Overall the movie was good, but can lead to misconceptions about home exchanging.
The first error was that the listing appears to have been an open listing with contact info available to anyone. This is not the case with most home exchange services. Even if it is a free listing, you still need to sign up as a member, listing your home and contact info, before a service will give you access to another member's information.
I think I would have to say that 99.99% of the exchanges that come about are not arranged in five minutes via an online chat service. Generally, you are in contact with your exchangers 3 to 6 months out and many people like to have their exchange arranged a year in advance. Most exchanges seem to require 20 to 40 requests, before you find someone in the area and during the times that you want to exchange.
Once an exchange is arranged, you generally exchange many details on how to get to the home or find the car at the airport, if you are exchanging automobiles. It is also strongly suggested that you develop a book that includes information on all your houses systems (water cutoff, circuit breakers, gas shutoffs) and contact info for any of the repair services you may use. Also, include the location of shopping stores for groceries, etc, and include any of your favorite places.
Our last exchange we overlapped on both ends of the trip. We flew to Ireland and rented a car driving down to Dungarvan to meet the lady who would be staying in our home. She went through her home and explained some of the differences, i.e. what switch to hit if you want hot water in the shower and the master electrical switch for all the kitchen appliances. We then shared information on our house and reviewed maps we brought along, gave her the airport parking ticket and explained where the car was. The next day she headed off to Dublin to stay with family for a day and flew to Denver. We enjoyed our stay for the next two weeks and then headed home. Our exchange partner picked us up at the airport and then we got to show her some of our favorite spots in the Rocky Mountains for the next two days before I took her to the airport.
One of the things in the movie that some people may think is far fetched, is the discrepancy in the home sizes. One a small English cottage the other a sprawling Los Angeles home on Sunset Blvd. The size of homes is generally not considered in an exchange, other than if it meets your needs for number of bedrooms. You may very well find someone with a 5000+ sq ft home who is willing to exchange for a 800 sq ft apartment in a city. It all depends on location.
Of the two ladies, I think that Iris is the more normal home exchanger. When you exchange you usually get to know the neighbors more than your exchange partner. That is one of the reasons it was nice to overlap, it gave us a chance to know who we were exchanging with.
If you want to see the movie because it involves home exchanging and you want to see what that is like, don't bother. The bulk of the movie is relationship based. Two girls in bad relationships who get away, via a home exchange, and find true love.
The first error was that the listing appears to have been an open listing with contact info available to anyone. This is not the case with most home exchange services. Even if it is a free listing, you still need to sign up as a member, listing your home and contact info, before a service will give you access to another member's information.
I think I would have to say that 99.99% of the exchanges that come about are not arranged in five minutes via an online chat service. Generally, you are in contact with your exchangers 3 to 6 months out and many people like to have their exchange arranged a year in advance. Most exchanges seem to require 20 to 40 requests, before you find someone in the area and during the times that you want to exchange.
Once an exchange is arranged, you generally exchange many details on how to get to the home or find the car at the airport, if you are exchanging automobiles. It is also strongly suggested that you develop a book that includes information on all your houses systems (water cutoff, circuit breakers, gas shutoffs) and contact info for any of the repair services you may use. Also, include the location of shopping stores for groceries, etc, and include any of your favorite places.
Our last exchange we overlapped on both ends of the trip. We flew to Ireland and rented a car driving down to Dungarvan to meet the lady who would be staying in our home. She went through her home and explained some of the differences, i.e. what switch to hit if you want hot water in the shower and the master electrical switch for all the kitchen appliances. We then shared information on our house and reviewed maps we brought along, gave her the airport parking ticket and explained where the car was. The next day she headed off to Dublin to stay with family for a day and flew to Denver. We enjoyed our stay for the next two weeks and then headed home. Our exchange partner picked us up at the airport and then we got to show her some of our favorite spots in the Rocky Mountains for the next two days before I took her to the airport.
One of the things in the movie that some people may think is far fetched, is the discrepancy in the home sizes. One a small English cottage the other a sprawling Los Angeles home on Sunset Blvd. The size of homes is generally not considered in an exchange, other than if it meets your needs for number of bedrooms. You may very well find someone with a 5000+ sq ft home who is willing to exchange for a 800 sq ft apartment in a city. It all depends on location.
Of the two ladies, I think that Iris is the more normal home exchanger. When you exchange you usually get to know the neighbors more than your exchange partner. That is one of the reasons it was nice to overlap, it gave us a chance to know who we were exchanging with.
If you want to see the movie because it involves home exchanging and you want to see what that is like, don't bother. The bulk of the movie is relationship based. Two girls in bad relationships who get away, via a home exchange, and find true love.
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