So Long

I called my CFI last week and let him know I am bagging it at this point. I succeeded in soloing (and that's a huge deal for me). However, I have spent more getting to this point than I planned on spending for the whole adventure. Based on my performance thus far, I think it would take near that much to complete my training and get my license. Also, although I had a great time, I don't think I would be a good pilot without a lot of post-license flying to keep sharp.

My expectations when I started were a bit off. I thought that I would be able to get my license in average time or a bit above. My CFI told me at the outset that it would be the most challenging thing I had done as an adult. He was right. Part of it is age. Older guys take longer to pick up the physical aspects of flying. It's a lot of hand-eye coordination in certain phases of flight. One must attend to a large number of factors, also (for example, air speed, altitude, attitude, course etc.). All of that is harder for older guys. The academics were no problem, surprisingly. Young guys just do it. No sweat. No worries. I tended to analyze, overthink, and not be as fluid as I needed to be.

Anyway. I did solo and I feel great about it. I learned a lot about myself through the process and that amazed me. At my age I thought I understood me. I am harder on myself than I thought I was. After the solo, my CFI told me that he was very proud of how I hung in there for all that time when I was having a tough time with landings. He said I showed up every time ready to give it another go.. and that that was amazing to him. He was genuinely pleased for me.

So, my shirt tail is hangin on my wall for now and I am done. Thanks for reading all this time.

Solo

Finally. Two trips around the pattern in Nampa.. all by myself. 2 takeoffs. 2 landings. 0.7 hour logged as pilot in command. What a great feeling.

Update 2

I flew today for the first time in 3 weeks. CFI has had some medical issues. I had a long talk with him. Although we both agreed that altough I am not an "intuitive" pilot as some guys are (perhaps the result of video game usage), he said that non-intuitive pilots can be good pilots. He assured me that if I were a lost cause he would tell me. I have not set the record for the most number of hours to solo, but I have set one for being on the cusp of soloing for the longest time. We talked some about finances and the money to be spent after solo. Still uncertain how that will shake out. I flew and nailed 5 landings... it felt great.

Update

I finally got 2 flights in this week for the first time in I don't know how long. Was out of town for a week last week and had a string of bad wind in the afternoon. I flew Monday... and did ok, but had a couple of not-so-hot landings. I was pretty discouraged. I flew yesterday and had 8 in a row that were perfectly safe and acceptable.. that's a very good sign. I just need to demonstrate that consistency before I can solo and move on. God knows I have likely made a lifetime of crappy landings already, so maybe I am over the hump. I need to evaluate the finances after I solo. If the cross country work is as challenging as the pre-solo work, I may be in trouble. For now though, feeling good. I am glad the CFI told me at the outset that this would be hard. If he had told me it would be easy, I would have quit 2 months ago.

May as well be in Idaho Falls

This is what I have been dealing with for the last couple of weeks or longer. Cancelled more flights than I did all last winter. Times are Zulu so subtract 7 hours. Line 3 says that from 1900 (noon) winds will be from the northwest at 24 knots, gusting to 35knots. That won't change until line 4 kicks in at 11:00 tonight. 1 knot equals 1.15 mph.

TAFBOI TAF KBOI 141132Z 141212 30008KT P6SM VCSH SCT030 OVC045
FM1600 31015KT P6SM SCT040 BKN060
FM1900 32024G35KT P6SM BKN060
FM0500 32012KT P6SM SCT060 BKN100=

SSDD

I flew Monday and did fairly well after the first one. Still close to solo. I will likely not get to fly until next week because of scheduling issues.

Wind, broken plane

Windy yesterday.. didn't fly. Broken plane today. No fly. Next chance is Monday.