Pretty Pleased

I'm pretty pleased today and feeling good. No spectacular thing to report... just got back in the air for the first time in over two weeks after a nice, long, vacation. We'd been back for almost a week but today was the first opportunity for me to hop behind the controls of a plane and fly.

I flew one of the club's Arrows. Every plane has its own personality and our Arrows are no different. We have two Arrow IIs and one Arrow. I did my checkride in one of the Arrow II's. I've been flying the older Arrow more recently just to see how the smaller "hershey bar" wing feels. So today I went up in the other Arrow II. This one has a three blade propeller and some speed modifications like gap seals, cowl flaps, etc that are not on the other Arrows. Of course, it glides differently and flies differently. But that's the fun of it.

I just had time to go up in the pattern before heading into the office.... a light rain just passed through the area and it was cloudy and cool. Not another soul in the pattern. I did 6 takes offs and landings, getting used to the way this particular Arrow flies. I also did a couple Power Off 180s. I was pleased that I could do them in this "new" plane. Not quite with the precision I did on my check ride in April but it was good nonetheless. It just felt good to go up and fly. Just me, the plane, the controllers and a flock of geese sitting by the runway watching me fly.

I'm also excited about the progress I'm making in learning how to teach. I'm starting to enjoy the challenge of figuring out how to weave together the information or procedures or knowledge I need to communicate in an understandable and meaningful way. In a way that learning can occur. Instead of trying to show my CFI how smart I am, I'm using this time to brainstorm with him. We are working together to figure out the best way to combine my unique perspective and talents with his great experience, knowledge and practice training CFIs and pilots to develop a training program, lesson plan by lesson plan. A training program that I think will be effective for my future students. I expect to continuously adjust my lesson plans as I learn more and especially when I start to teach.  This is, I think, one of the coolest things about becoming a CFI. If things continue as they are, I will never stop learning!