Click!

I can land an airplane now.  3 weeks ago I couldn't -- at least not very well.  It's funny how the learning curve goes -- up, down, flat, up, down.  For me this landing thing has finally clicked.

Today my instructor and I went out and did a short hop to Tracy, an uncontrolled airport a few minutes away and shot several landings there.  One was a simulated engine failure with a glide all the way down.

The pattern altitude is only 800' at Tracy -- less than the typical 1,000' at most airports.  So, you have to visualize the landing slightly differently than usual.  Good practice.

Then, we took a short hop north to the uncontrolled airport of Byron and did the same.  It was busy.  Gliders, skydivers and other student pilots all buzzing around.

All in all 11 landings -- all of them good enough to make it through the FAA exam according to my instructor (who might be a bit generous in his evaluation).

What did I learn?  I learned that landings are part process, part analysis and part feel.  You have to balance out all three aspects.

So what does me bragging about my landings have to do with the photo and the video in this post?  Before we took off, the owner of the flight school was taking a student up for his first jet flight.  Yes, jet flight. For a mere $2,200 per hour you too could do the same.

How cool is that!