Back Home In Class C

On a recent flight out of south bend regional (KSBN) intended to get proficient at operation in class C airspace again I was able to benefit from the knowledge and experience of pilots far more experienced than myself. I got a firsthand lesson in humility and the value of interacting with other pilots. Over the practice area that I spent many hours learning and practicing private pilot maneuvers I had never noticed that in the trees by one of the major landmarks that indicates one of the boundarys of the practice area had been written the name of an old company that had gone out of business long before I was born. It took a little while to realize what I was looking at, but once my mind finally got a hold on what I was seeing I couldn't believe that after all the time I spent over that landmark I had been missing something that had been hidden in plane sight for longer than I have been walking the Earth. This was the start of what would turn out to be a great flight. Afterwards I took us down to Knox airport in Indiana. For those of you that don't know Knox airport is one of the friendlier airports around, and also has fuel prices that can't be beat. At Knox I learned about Goshen airport. Not far from south bend I am told that Goshen airport is just about the friendliest place a pilot can go. They have a friendly attitude, a pilot shop, fixed wing and helicopter flight training,and a lunch buffet. This has got me itching to get back up in one of those old Club 172's that I learned to fly in and rediscover flying in my old back yard. I look forward to paying them a visit, however it will have to wait. This weekend I will be attending the air show in Elkhart Indiana and will keep you up to date about how things stacked up. Also don't be worry about hearing more about Goshen airport, it is on my August visit hit list.

Not At Air Venture

I didn't get a chance to go to the great mecca of all thing's aviation this year. Actually i have never been to air venture. My only excuse is that i am a new pilot and was doing IFR training all this week. I have however been listening to all of the podcasts about this years air venture that I can get. An we have good news in the world of aviation with the new Cessna LSA concept and the surprise apperance of the Cirrus killer. The Cirrus killer is a sleek looking new desighn that is being called the super cardinal by spectators. The nickname is due to the fully cantilevered strutless wing. The new desighn also features both front and rear doors for more practical loading and unloading of passangers, and as the big shock it is a fixed gear trike just like all cessna's for the past fifty years or so. It looks to be a nice airplane but a cirrus killer it is not. More on airventure in my next entry.