Duxford Girl

My goal, since returning from vacation, has been to fly twice a week. This week has been the first in a month that I have actually reached that goal. If the weather hasn't been foggy, snowing, raining or rime icing it's been a beautiful Chinook day with winds somewhere around 30 to 40 knots. In my aircraft that means that I can reach the IAS for take-off sitting on the ground, pointed into the wind, not moving. It also means that it's too windy to fly.
On Tuesday, Spring was showing signs of appearing by having drastic changes in the weather ever 12 minutes. My flight got pushed back twice and finally I flew in the only decent time frame the day afforded (let me romanticise this by saying that it was a bit like waiting for the scramble). It was a moral victory for me as I was able to achieve my first touch-and-go's at Beiseker. Spring and the NE practise area are not a good combination for my pathetic weak stomach. Before Tuesday I'd never made it out there without getting sick. My take-off's and landings weren't great but on the way back to YYC I was able to trim the kite out well enough to take a few moments and notice how beautiful the day really was. I had forgotten my phone and was unable to capture the incredible view of TCUs circling around Calgary. It meant bad chop for us and a rather immediate need to land but those giant stacks of clouds were a sure sign that winter is finally on its way out.

This year, I'm making an effort to fly at other times a day, rather than just the morning. In short, I'm forcing my self to suck it up and deal with the airsickness problem once and for all. I've started to wear a baseball cap and I think the bill cuts down on the glare as well as propeller flicker. I wouldn't have thought something so simple would be of aid but it seems to be working for the time being.

Today, although high winds were threatening, it was still a pretty good day to fly. I once again made it to Beiseker and had lots of practice with crosswind landings. Crabbing and side-slipping are techniques that take practise but luckily there's never any want of conditions in Calgary to do that practise in. I made sure that I was equipped with at least my phone camera today and was able to get a few shots during the flight back to YYC. I think I'll start taking an actual camera along with me as standard kit for my flights.


Looking South West out of the cockpit.


Looking South East over my shoulder.


Golf-Hotel-Yankee-Juliette, the latest DA20 in the fleet at my school.