maxbc wrote:
First flight as an officially licensed PIC !… (well, baby steps !)
…
It was an overall uneventful flight. The land is still a little flat for my taste (again, baby steps). But definitely very enjoyable !
Congratulations! You are saying and doing the right things – “baby steps” and “uneventful flight” – that’s the way we want to approach every flight!
Uneventful flights are a good thing 
On my last flight with my wife, who suffers from airsickness, she was ill to the point that I had to carry her out of the plane to a couch. Her worse flying experience ever. Not fun. Often she is completely OK but on this day the air was a bit rough, I couldn’t land without stretching out the ordeal, so she had an hour or more of severely tumbled gyros and anxiety. After that experience I decided not talk to her about flying and if she never wanted to step foot in the plane again, it would be fine. I’d also have to judge the safety aspect if she did.
My wife however is a stubborn, determined Bavarian… Yesterday she said she wanted to go flying. We talked about it and this morning went for a 20 minute flight in smooth air and CAVU skies. I planned it so if things took a turn for the worse I could return to base without delay, and she was OK. Now I will say nothing again, there is no chance I want to push her. We went through this in the car and airliners when I first met her and she got completely through it, so it might not be a waste of time and trouble, but I’m not sure she will or would do the same in light aircraft. I’d rather have her finish on a positive note regardless, or whatever she wants.
So a kind of success, better than some other possibilities. The flight was also a nice little loop over scenic terrain.
I know several pilots who have wives who are very air sick in an SEP but are quite okay in a twin. This despite AFAICT the conditions and bumpiness being the same.
My wife is terrified of turbulence and turning..She won’t wear the headset as she prefers not to be spoken to in the air or to hear anything else that’s going on.
Yet she can read a book or map (head down) in a car or light aircraft without feeling nauseous, something I cannot do.
Yet after all that she is looking forward to hopping of to a restaurant or a night or 2 away in the Super Guépard. Why? Because it has a parachute. Go figure.
I spent the weekend in Poznan training emergency procedures in the simulator. Great experience!
Blue skies, 23 degrees Celsius. It was lovely to be warm and nice weather for a change :)
That’s amazing… how close is that sim to the real thing?
Peter wrote:
That’s amazing… how close is that sim to the real thing?
It was a fantastic experience. Inside, the sim is a replica of the plane. Motion is pretty realistic! As I was practising emergencies and had very unusual attitudes, I could even feel some G forces.
The only downside is that the yoke’s high sensibility isn’t enough for all types of manoeuvres. For example, cross-wind landing are quite challenging in the sim. Apart from that, I loved it.
Not super exciting, but flew the plane back to Rotterdam after an uneventful annual inspection, which itself is amazing given how much work went into what’s now as close to a new airplane as it comes without actually buying new! The weather was gorgeous as well:
The RV went for its first away trip since the new avionics and prop. With a rare spell of nice weather in north Wales, a trip to Caernarfon was mandatory, with a visit to the Mach loop on the way up. After lunch at Caernarfon we flew around Snowdonia and through the other half of the Mach loop, and got overtaken by RAF Phenom who was a bit lower than us (only slightly though…). Climb and cruise performance with the Whirlwind CS is excellent, and operating around 2100-2200rpm makes for a smooth and quiet ride. The G3X is great as well – the sheer amount of functionality and features is always a surprise and I’m fairly well up to speed with it. There is no doubt at all in my mind that it greatly aids situational awareness compared with a steam gauge configuration.
Snowdon:
On the way back we stopped at Sleap, which is highly recommended for people who enjoy flying.
I don’t know how much this is of interest on GA, but anyways, since I’ve been away flying the jet instead of what I prefer in my own airplane, I thought why not. A few added details for those interested. This is too much flying for my taste, as seen from the logbook snippet!
On ground in Astana, Kazakhstan (UACC). Refueling on arrival for next mornings return to Europe.
Circumnavigating the FIRs
Just the OFP
Arrival Payern, Switzerland (LSMP). Combined military and civilian airport.
Definitely interesting! A friend has been flying everything from piston and SET/MET GA to a CJ4 (and some Lears) and he says these planes are easier to fly than the SEPs and SETs, so long as nothing goes wrong…
I see you are avoiding a certain airspace 
