For Old Times' Sake

January 2, 2012

First off, I hope everyone had a great holiday season and Happy New Year!

The beginning of 2012 started off nicely for me. I have remained in contact with my first flight instructor, Justin, over the last year since he moved away. So when I received an email from him saying that he was going to be in town, we decided to go fly.

I scheduled a Cessna 172 for 12:30pm, however the winds were already gusting to nearly 40mph by 11am. We decided the smartest and safest option would be to cancel. I was on the schedule to work dispatch in the evening, so it appeared that we would not be able to get together. Then about an hour prior to my shift start time, I called the airport and they said all lessons had been canceled for the day and that they did not need me. Alright, maybe we could get some night flying in before he left for home. It was still gusting to 30mph but we were much more comfortable flying in those conditions so we decided to meet at 5pm.

We nearly froze while performing the preflight inspection, but shortly thereafter we were ready to take-off. He's the pro of the two of us, so I asked him to do the initial takeoff due to the crosswinds. We followed the Foristell VOR out west, then flew south to Washington Regional Airport. Now completely dark, the city lights illuminated the sky. I've never seen the city so gorgeous!

Once at the airport, we used the approach plate to guide us in to land with a circling approach. I handed the controls to him and let him do the first landing. Perfect. We quickly configured for takeoff and climbed out. My turn to land. It was somewhat challenging; I was already missing my back pad that I use on my seat to push me closer to the controls, plus I have next to no experience landing at night, much less with a crosswind. Justin talks me through it and lends a helping hand. Not too bad! We each did another landing before heading back to our home airport.

I was incredibly thankful for his help in navigation. Who knows where we would've ended up if it was left to me. The city lights were still a sight to see. If given the opportunity, I would've loved to fly longer. Now approaching our airport, I flip on the landing light. No one was out flying, so I just entered on the base leg of the traffic pattern, then left onto final. The winds were only gusting to 20mph now. I put the plane down, then immediately takeoff so he could do one final landing. Again, he lands with precision. After nearly two hours of flying, we taxi back to the hanger and park the plane.

I was really nice to get out and catch up with a friend while having an all around fun flight. I hope we can do this again in the future.