This assemblage of hypertext markup language, graphics and text is essentially a blog, autobiography, photo album, and art gallery all mixed together in a blender and poured into a glass. For some insane reason, one of my hobbies is web site design, so check back often for updates, and thanks for visiting.


July 1, 2008 | 9:35 PM EDT
Well, after a long, 14 month hiatus, I'm finally flying again. Back on June 20th, I went up with my CFI Vicky (who rode backseat on my long IFR cross country to VSF last year) in N49185, the Cessna 152 that got me through my private training. I was surprised at how well I did; my radio communications were fine, slow flight and stalls went well, and most importantly, my traffic patterns and landings at SFZ were good. I'll attribute part of that due to the C152 being light in the controls (which leads to the bad habit of neglecting trim during pitch and power adjustments), but it's a relief to not have to spend 10 hours learning all this stuff again.

For my next two flights the following week, we jumped right into the cross-countries. First, I planned to go to 12N via GON CCC LGA, which took us right through the New York Class B airspace and over Central Park (click here for pictures). However, once over the city, we diverted to HPN to save time. The next day, we flew to LCI, which is next to Lake Winnipesaukee. Excluding the actual IMC I flew in while working towards my instrument rating, it was the lowest visibility I had flown in, yet it was still VFR. We encountered light to moderate showers on the way back, deviating to the east to get around the heavier precipitation, and we stopped for fuel in OWD.

Yesterday, we went back to SFZ, where after a few circuits in the traffic pattern, Vicky hopped out (when we were on the ground!) and I had my "second" first solo. I did it this way just because I hadn't flown solo in over 3 years and wanted to get used to the feeling while having a runway no more than a mile away the whole time. It went pretty well; she had me do three full-stop landings and one go-around. I did the go-around first, but I didn't intend to... I was way too high on final and figured I'd try again. The first and third landings were okay, but the second one was rough... about as good as I could get while being tossed around the whole time by thermals and crosswinds.

Right now I'm going to keep building PIC cross-country time (I've got about 25 hours and need 25 more) in the C152. It may be small, old, slow, and have only one nav/com radio, but it's (relatively) cheap. After that I'll be working on the commercial maneuvers in a Cessna 172RG Cutlass, and eventually I'll transition into the Piper PA-30 Twin Comanche for my multi-engine rating.

In addition to all this, last weekend was the annual Rhode Island National Guard Open House and Air Show at OQU. I missed the past two air shows because of work, yet I made it both days because of... work. We didn't have the Blue Angles or Thunderbirds this year, but we did have the British Red Arrows, which is apparently rare to see on this side of the pond. I've added 15 pictures taken over the weekend to the Quonset album.

June 6, 2008 | 12:00 PM EDT
Long time, no update... Fortunately, I've got good news to report: I finally beat college, and it only took me six years! I only had one last course to take this past spring; AVSC 471 Aviation Management. I managed to get an A-, which would have been an A if I didn't drag my ass for the first few weeks. Also, the entire course was conducted online, so the only times I had to drive up to Bridgewater were in May to pick up my graduation tickets and then go to the graduation itself. Not only was I able to spend less on gas and put less wear and tear on my already worn and torn car; but I was able to work full-time as well. At any rate, I managed to finish with a 3.368 GPA and graduated with cum laude honors despite my "C's get degrees" work ethic, and it's a huge relief to finally have that behind me. Anyway, I don't know what's more pathetic; this picture or the fact that I know the words to "Swinging the Alphabet:"

Now that I'm done with college, my immediate plans involve to start flying again, and hopefully, it'll be for good this time. First, I need to get rid of any rust that's accumulated over the past year and get current again (PIC day and night, IFR, etc.), get my commercial single- and multi-engine, CFI, CFII, and MEI. After that, I'll instruct to continue building hours and from there on out, it all depends on what the industry (and economy) are doing and who's hiring.

Despite the lack of updates, I have quietly added over 25 new photos taken at work to the photo album over the past few months. As a result, I've organized things a bit by sorting my flying and work photos into two separate albums. Now that the busy summer season is kicking in, and the air show is in just a few weeks, I'll be adding more as time goes on.


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