Aviating, obviously!

Stop children, what’s that sound? That’s the sound of me not owning an airplane and not living within doable distance of a flight instructor. Don’t get me wrong, I love where I live. But every place has it’s upsides and downsides, and Diomede’s lack of aviation opportunities is a downside for me. Not a life and death sort of thing, doesn’t make me love it any less, but it is what it is.

So now back to the original question again. What is the best way to spend a sunday afternoon–if not flying?

Simple.

Pretending to fly!

I practiced calm takeoffs/landings, navigation by VOR, and crosswind (10 gusting to 15) takeoffs/landings. Next session: more crosswind practice + nighttime navigation by VOR. I had my reservations about spending money earmarked for flying real life airplanes for this simulator set up, but one afternoon of practice cleared out my apprehension. Flying a Cessna 172 with this setup is astonishingly life-like. I found myself making the same errors which I was working on scrubbing out at the end of my flight lessons last summer.

For the curious–that is a Saitek Proflight Cessna Yolk & Power Quadrant, Pedal Set & Trim Wheel, and the simulator is X-Plane 10. The thermos is a Stanley 1.1 quart filled with delicious black coffee.