September 8: The airfield was crowded
today. There was a collection of warbirds (WWII-era fighters, trainers,
and even an old Grumman TBM "Avenger") as well as some jets.
Someone even had a Sukhoi SU-29 aerobatic trainer there. We had to do
our touch-and-goes between landings and take-offs of these veteran aircraft.
At one point, Jeff took the controls and flew just above the runway, going
into a steep climb at the end, just to "show them what a Cessna can
do". Of course, we had been buzzed by a North American P-51 Mustang,
the "Avenger", and a couple of T-6 "Texans". It's
nice to get even.
I did well, I think. Even in the last
couple of landings (we were landing toward the North), with the aid of
VASI, when I came in too low, I managed to add enough power and touch
down with little difficulty. I think I'm finally getting the hang of this.
I should be. Today's lesson brought the total to 12 hours of instruction.
Later, Lynn and I returned to the airfield
and got some pictures of the assembled relics.
September 11: An unspeakable horror was
visited on the United States today.
Religious fanatics, knowing no moral bounds and fueled by absolute hatred
for us and our allies, hijacked four civilian airliners and crashed three
of them into buildings that symbolized our nation, murdering thousands
of innocent people in the process. Some of the passengers on a fourth
airliner fought the hijackers, sacrificing their lives to prevent a greater
disaster. The criminals will learn, as have others in the past, that we,
as a nation, are slow to anger, but swift in our response, and absolute
in our revenge.
 September
11, 2001 |
|
American
Airlines Flight 11
|
American
Airlines Flight 77
|
|
United
Airlines Flight 175
|
United
Airlines Flight 93
|
|
World
Trade Center
|
The
Pentagon
|
|
Honoring
the memories of those who died.
|
|
September 22: For obvious reasons, civilian
flying was non-existant for the last couple of weeks.
Finally, we got permission for VFR flying,
and when we got to the airfield, Jeff asked Lynn if she wanted to come
along. This meant flying the Cessna 172 (Skyhawk). I had forgotten how
much more stable this model is, especially with an extra passenger aboard.
We practiced a couple of touch-and-goes (one not so good, one pretty good),
then headed north for a couple of turns over Olympia.
We flew over the house a couple of times until Lynn was able to pick
out my car parked in front, then we headed out over the Sound. Sighting
a tug pulling a load of logs, I circled it a couple of times.
Lynn has been a resident of Olympia for over a dozen years, yet she
never realized how much water is around us. You can't get a good perspective
from a commercial jetliner, but a few turns at 1200 feet really make the
eyes take notice.
Afterward, we returned to the airfield.
The 172 requires a lot more muscle than the 152, so it was tricky getting
lined up correctly, while trying to compensate for the wind. But the final
landing was one of my best.
September 30: This time Lynn had planned on coming along, so she brought
the camera. This one was off
the cuff, just a chance to get in some more time without
a prearranged plan. Once again, we took the Skyhawk....I took off, turned
for a quick touch-and-go, then we headed north. Some areas were still restricted,
so we didn't continue too far in that direction. I circled around a group
of sailboats participating in what appeared to be a regatta.
Then I headed southwest toward Shelton, and turned back east to Olympia.
We
did a couple of touch-and-goes at Tacoma before landing and taxiing to
a building where I could purchase a sectional map. Learning to read one
of these is a real challenge....every field is listed with information
giving control tower frequency, altitude (Olympia is 200 ft above sea
level) which is critical since you have to adjust your altimeter before
every flight, runway length, services, radio navigation aids and frequencies,
as well as the standard topological features and elevations. Map Reading
101, with lots of homework. 
