Got It

I could joke about how it's cold enough that some place must have frozen over and that's why this finally happened, but it was actually a lovely, sunny, (cool) day to get to do the first instruction flight in the PT-26.  Two years in the making--I joined in November of 2012 I think.  Amazing that it took this long for everything to align, paperwork to be filed, checkout(s) to be accomplished, and finally schedules, weather and maintenance to cooperate all at once.  Now that Winter is coming at us hard and fast and will effectively ground us until Spring, soon. The canopy doesn't fit tightly or properly in the back seat, so I got a good draft going back there, which is really chilly at 90-100 mph.  I was shaking with cold a little bit, and it was in the 40s to low 50s on the ground, so I may need to wear Long Johns or snow pants.  But for now we can get some flying in, and today, finally we did!  I got up before the sun was up to do it, and drove two hours round trip, but we made it.  We flew an hour and a half to start with, took a break, then flew for most of another hour, and after that I was still willing to keep going if he wanted, but he'd had enough for one day.  It is tiring having to focus that hard for that long.  It looks like we have a nice weather week coming up, so we're looking to get more flying in soon.

Steve had a student in the pattern in the 172 at Kokomo while I was in the pattern in the PT at Indy Metro, both on the same frequency, so it would kind of make me smile to hear him talking on the radio from a distance.

Kaylee had her church youth group tonight, and otherwise is spending a lot of her Fall Break (after skydiving and such) reading, watching Bones and Glee episodes, and sleeping in. I feel like I should set up something else fun for her to do, but I'm not sure what right now.  Hmm.

When I got back from Indy, after over 2 hours of driving and 2.5 hours of flying, I needed to stretch my legs, so I went for a walk in the park.  The trees are really getting colorful in some areas, and it was really my favorite kind of weather to be outside in.  Not cold, but cool enough you can get some exercise without getting all sweaty, sunshine out and lighting up the beautiful colors in the trees...add in some music I was listening to while I walked, and it was downright peaceful.  Well, it was peaceful until I got to the set of 20 concrete steps and decided to jog up and down them four times.  Why?  Because I can, again.  ;)

Here are a few photos from today.

The sun was coming up as I was driving to Indy, so warm and pretty, so instead of taking a photo of the sky, I took a selfie (while watching the road, as you can see ;)), and decided that the sun apparently finished turning me into a redhead for awhile again.

 

Trees changing color by Geist Reservoir

 

My first official victim in the front of the PT-26.  Working on the tailwheel endorsement and a PT checkout.  Gorgeous day to start off, with light winds and blue skies.

 

On take-off out of Indy Metro.

 

You can see the Indy skyline off the wingtip there, and you can also see there really isn't anywhere to go if your engine quits.  (I don't like that, those urban airports with nowhere to go.  I like options.  Good, safe options, and that highway you kind of see isn't one either.)

Highland Park in the Fall.  And a nice steep set of steps to tackle.  :)

 

The sun through the trees at the park...