You Spin Me Right Round

Yesterday, the young man who brought the Skycatcher over as the demo pilot came up to me and said that I'd scared him in an airplane, which surprised me, as scaring people isn't my (usual) MO in flying. Come to find out, I'd done his spin training with him, back about 7 years ago or so. :) I didn't remember that at all, but as I told him, I have a terrible memory for who I've flown with, particularly if it was just a lesson here or there. Too many faces. And if I DO remember somebody I only flew with a time or two, it's usually not a good thing. ;) Kind of funny though.

As I've jokingly said, "Ice Pilots, OKK" today. The first flight of the day there, the plows were still out working on the runways, taxiways, and ramps. There wasn't a ton of snow, but there was a lot of thin ice and a little bit of snow, which isn't great. It was, however, a good lesson on winter operations, brake usage, wind, keeping an airplane straight on touchdown, etc. We went to do the run-up, stopped, held the brakes, added the power for the run-up, and instantly started sliding right around sideways. Heh. "Into the wind, plenty of room in front of you, rolling run-up" it is. ;) The sad part was, the landings really clicked in today, the winds were dead smack down the runway, and the guy probably could have soloed, but there was no way I was getting out with those runway conditions even if he was doing well. It was also amazing that 27 degrees felt balmy. It did. I almost felt warm. That's what a few days of flying around in single digit temps will do for you. :O The runway will probably all melt off nicely by this afternoon too...temps are supposed to get up around 36, and it is a sunny day. Not that I'm complaining, but it would have been nice to be cleared off earlier...

Jon took the big flag down from the back of Nathan's hangar-it had started falling down, and is just dusty/dirty as all get-out, so we took it down all the way, folded it properly, and I brought it home to try to wash, knowing full well that it may just fall apart. I sure hope not. It is currently on the spin cycle from its third washing cycle, on gentle, using baby detergent, in cold, and the water is still black. I'm just going to keep gently washing it until the water is at least light brown, gently take it out and see if it held up. So far I can't even tell it has been washed...

I ran around after getting Kaylee and did an hour's worth of errands. She wasn't too thrilled with that, but a Frosty helped keep things civil back there. ;) We ended up going to Outback for dinner with Nathan & Tre and the kids, where we ran into our insurance agent and our friends the Aldridges, and we got a fantastic meal out of it. Home for a little R&R, including Godiva, and not a bad way to end a busy day!