Everest Conquered...final blog entry

I love watching this landing. A perfect, crisp December evening. This will be my last entry on this blog at least for now. I wish everyone good luck on climbing your Everest!

My Everest Buddy!

Last year, right about this exact time of the year, Kim (pictured) was helping me prepare for a speech contest. Kim is a drama and speech teacher at my high school by the way. So anyway, my topic finally (after a lot of torment) became: Climb Your Everest. I figured out that my "Everest" was getting my pilot's license...a goal I had had since I was 7 years old. Kim quickly figured out that her "Everest" was to do a full marathon. We both committed right then to Climb our Everest! Last year at this time it seemed impossible for both of us. We are both full time teachers and we are both parents with younger children. Neither one of us is rich and Kim spends a lot of her time getting her students ready for their plays and speech tournaments etc and my son has special needs and special medical needs and of course that takes time and energy as well. I can say from my side, it was definitely harder than I thought it was going to be, but it didn't turn out to be impossible. This fall I was about to quit again when Kim caught a lucky break and had the opportunity to run in the NYC marathon! I was a little jealous at first, because now she had a tailwind so to speak and was super motivated...she had caught a lucky break. But, I was sincerely happy for her and a few days later I recommitted to get my climb up my Everest moving in high gear. I found a new instructor and a new airplane that fit me better and 2 weeks later I had summitted my Everest! 2 weeks later Kim ran her marathon in New York...it is really amazing how powerful goals can be especially if you think them out clearly and have an "Everest" buddy. Climbing an Everest is empowering and addictive. Kim now has the goal of running the Chicago marathon and then wants to run a marathon in all 50 states! A really cool goal. For me as far as flying goes, I want to be able to fly frequently enough to keep my skills honed, get my instrument rating, get a glider rating and then eventually become a flight instructor on weekends and summers. I also really want to help other people climb their Everest. My wife Suzanne is now laying the ground work to start her Everest climb...more on that later.

2nd Passengers!

Friday after school I took my second passengers for a flight....Steffi and Annika (our hostdaughter from Germany)! It was cold, but it was a beautiful evening with a full moon rising as the sun was setting. Luckily, the air was very smooth and as soon as we took off, both girls were not at all afraid and really enjoyed the flight. We flew from 1H0 to KSET where Annika and Steffi switched seats. I was especially happy with my 2nd landing...a real confidence booster.

Foreflight App with the iPad

I recently purchased the Foreflight App for our iPad. It looks like it will work really well and it is really fun just to plan flights. It is especially a confidence builder for flying around and under Class B airspace. It has moving map showing you exactly where you are at all times. I have been wanting to do an Arch fly by for a while now, but until I had this, I wasn't comfortable trying it as a new pilot. As you can see on the pic from the iPad, I have planned out a circular route that includes an Arch fly by. It took me all of 3 minutes to put this together. There are lots of really cool features on this and I will be happy to answer any questions anyone has for me on this. Of course, I haven't tried it in the air yet...but, I plan to take my first flight with my new toy Friday after school.
For a completely economical option, especially for poor pilots or flying teachers (such as myself), I recommend a the etrex by Garmin. We bought ours (yes, this is "yellowjacket" for those of you who follow my blog) for $89 bucks on walmart.com. Right now they are $69! It is amazing what it will do and how simple it is. The only downside is plugging in coordinates....but it is highly accurate and gives you a ton of information...and it is a really easy, cheap insurance policy against being lost....just follow the arrow!! Plus the batteries (2 AA) last a really long time! I bought duracell rechargeables. Again feel free to put any questions or comments you might have below!

Tower Tour!!

Thanks to a friend who is an air traffic controller, we were invited to tour the ATC tower at KCPS or St. Louis Downtown. A nice tower, great view and friendly people. I had lots of questions and I really learned a lot. Can't wait to fly over and do some much needed practice at a controlled field in this case Class D airspace. I also talked extensively about how to do my Arch fly by that I am planning. A great way to spend a Sunday afternoon!

Takeoff 3DW

Here I am last summer on my first long XC taking off for home from 3DW. Thanks to Rick for filming and to Uncle Garry, Dan and Tindall for meeting me there for a spectacular memory. Note the flagpole banging around in the wind and it was also 109 degrees that day with high humidity!

First Passengers!

Like a dream come true...last weekend I took up my first passengers: Sue and Teddy! Teddy has been talking about this all year. Last year on his birthday--Nov 3, we went up in Hotel Alpha with my instructor...Teddy loved it...but he wanted to go "with just us". Last year at this time, I wasn't even actively taking lessons...but it was Teddy's persistence in asking me about it (like everyday) that, in part, got me going again...so last year on my birthday--Dec 28, I started back again and this time I finished. I finished by his birthday, which was a goal in my head this whole time. Teddy totally loved the flight as you can see from the pic...we flew north along the Mississippi, saw the Winfield damn and circled Athy Farm. He wants to go up on his birthday again next week...this time he wants to a fly-by of the Arch! So, I have been busy studying the airspace and procedures so that I get it just right.