Something to get excited about.

I reluctantly admitted to Bob today that I “was getting bored with the circuit”. Reluctantly because I don’t want him to get the wrong idea and think that I’m not enjoying this anymore. I know why we’ve been doing so much circuit work and I know I’ve got still more to come and that the conditions are not exactly ideal at the moment for doing much else. Again, not to say that I’m not achieving anything in the circuit. I most definitely am, but I need a change of scenery, a break from tarmac bashing at City.

Bob, as usual, took this completely in his stride and had a plan*. A short trip to a nearby airport. A  mini cross country trip. Nothing too far away, but enough that I’m going to have to pull out a chart, figure out some headings. As well as looking up the airport in the CFS to figure out frequencies, runway layouts and other stuff. I also have a feeling that it’s an uncontrolled airport, so I’ll have to review joining procedures as well as brushing up on the required position calls. It’ll be very different to what I’m used to. I’m a little excited about the prospect to be honest.

 A really good idea. New challenges but still well within my abilities (I hope!). Just what I need. Perhaps it'll bolster my confidence enough that the prospect of my actual cross country stuff I've got to do will be less daunting.

Once we get there the idea is also to do a few touch and gos on an unfamiliar runway. I expressed my concern today that although I’m flying fairly reasonable circuits at City (even with some challenging wind conditions today I kept it square), I feel that I’m relying too  much on local landmarks. I’m flying relative to buildings and so forth, not the runway. An unfamiliar airport will stop that habit for sure!

 

*Secret Cylon maybe? Could explain a lot! (apologies to the less geeky in the audience who have no idea what I’m on about, but that's how my mind works. Live with it!)