Cessna 182--The "Skylane"

Today was absolutely gorgeous. I woke up at 530 am and left in the dark for what I figured to be a windy and cold day. I was dead wrong. Temps topped 65 and winds werent any stronger than an occasional gust to 12...right down the runway. After the last couple of days and the massive nor'easter that moved up the coast I figured today would get the backlash of wind that usually follows. As it turns out there really wasnt a frontal passage associated with that.....so...no wind. nice.

I started the day with some pattern work with Gene. We worked on his landings for an hour or so. Then I had the opportunity to fly the Cessna 182 Skylane over to Front Royal. Jim has been kind enough to let us fly his airplane out at Leesburg while hes been too busy to fly. So, the nice weather was here and he wanted to fly so I took it back out to FRR for him. What a great day. The winds were mellow, the temps standard, and visibility was greater than 30 miles. I knew I needed to make a short field landing at FRR so I took the opportunity to do some slow flight, a power off stall and some maneuvering to get used to the heavier feel of the Skylane. I did a couple touch and goes at Winchester and then headed over to FRR. Before I landed I needed to figure out how to get home via the public road system, so i flew the route Id drive from the airport to I66. A good idea as it turned out to be confusing enough. Some solo stick time in a different airframe was just what I needed. Break me out of the routine.

The afternoon sent me out with Sean to work on ground reference, steep turns, and forward slips and traffic patterns. We hammered out some problems he was having with his landings. Winchester was a bevy of activity and it made it tough to work the pattern. Touch and goes were the only option since there was a line of aircraft waiting to depart. I usually try to do full stop and taxi back when working the pattern to give them a chance to breath. It worked out though.
The rest of the weekend is looking good. Not alot on the schedule but Im sure something will materialize. I am about 15 hours from part 135 single pilot mins. Good stuff.