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Howdy folks, I have been trying to get in a flying lesson every day since Tuesday morning. Either my CFI, Andres, had other students, or when he didn't the weather wouldn't cooperate. The conditions can change here, on the coast of Northern California, very quickly. And then we have all these microclimates which can be very confusing. I was supposed to have a lesson yesterday at 2PM. In the morning it was raining hard. The wind, thunder, and lightening was causing minor power problems. That is, it caused our UPS units on our computers to start complaining. It is not at all unusual for us to have power surges and blackouts here in Arcata, where I work and go to school. However these problems are more likely to occur in December and January when we get our worst rain storms. Every time I glanced out the window it looked worse. I really didn't think it would clear up by 2PM, but it was possible. I left work about 12:30 to go home to Eureka, which is on the other side of Humboldt Bay from Arcata and is only about 7 miles road distance. As soon as I got home I started trying to contact Andres to see what he thought of our chances. I got the answering machine. I really didn't think we were going to fly, but on the other hand, the sky was changing rapidly between 12:30 and 1:30. Finally he called me back at 2 from the airport (Murray Field) and said that it was beautiful over there. Murray Field is only about 3.5 miles from my house. It's hard to believe conditions could be so different from what I was looking at. Microclimates. I didn't have a car yesterday so I told him I'd be over but it would take me a little while to get there. I was going to take the bus or a cab. But he offered to pick me up. No charge. Such service. I have such a great CFI. I haven't had a lesson since MAY and I have to admit that I was more than a little nervous. That last lesson in May was the time of the taxiing fiasco. No, I didn't hit anything or go off the runway, but it was not a pretty sight! So anyway, we start doing the preflight and the weather starts getting ugly again. Pretty good crosswind going on and it started raining fairly hard again. When we got inside the plane and continued with the preflight, the wind was shaking the plane like it was a blade of grass. I always do my best to pay attention to Andres when he's giving me instructions, but my mind was nagging me with, "If it's this windy on the ground, what is it going to be like up there?" Nevertheless, I have a lot of faith in Andres' judgement and ability. I was willing to try it. I'm so new at this that mostly, I don't know what to expect. By the time we got done with the preflight the ceiling was way low, not to metion it was raining so hard that visibility was considerably limited. About this time Andres said that conditions were too bad now and that I REALLY needed to practice my taxiing anyway. And maybe the weather would clear while I was doing that. It didn't. I taxiied that 172 for almost an hour. The good news is that, although I have to practice more before I get expert at it, I'm doing so much better than I did at my last lesson. I even greatly improved from the beginning of this lesson to to the end. I know how humorous this probably is to coupers. But remember, even I had no problem sticking right on that yellow line the one time I taxiied a coupe. I think I'm safe in assuming most of you learned how to fly on a plane with rudder pedals. So you know how different they are to taxi. As I suspected, taxiing is something I have to get a feel for by doing it. Yes, Andres corrects me constantly and I understand what he's saying, but I have to train my brain, feet, eyes, and hands to all work together smoothly on this. And I think it takes practice. True, I may need more practice than many, but that's perfectly OK with me. I am making progress and I am stoked! I was particularly encouraged by Andres comments. Yesterday's "lesson" was the first time he ever said, "good, taxi, and Georgia" in the same sentence. My next scheduled lesson is Tuesday afternoon. I hope the weather cooperates as I would like to get off the ground next time. Spook __________________________________________________ To unsubscribe from this list please send mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] ___________________________________________________________ T O P I C A The Email You Want. http://www.topica.com/t/16 Newsletters, Tips and Discussions on Your Favorite Topics
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