flying (+ 0.8 hours)

[nibot]

It was a beautiful, warm, sunny day at the airport and it seemed like everyone wanted to fly. Usually I have the Hammond airport all to myself, but today there were three, four aircraft in the traffic pattern and the usually quiet common traffic radio frequency was alive with pilots coordinating with each other. Must sound hilarious to someone flying out of a busy airport, but for Hammond/Northshore (KHDC) this was a busy day! Adding to the day's novelty, the wind was blowing opposite its usual direction, so we took off (er, departed) on Runway 13 instead of 31. Which of course is the same runway, just used in the opposite direction. Waiting for departure, a bright yellow Steerman bi-plane (looked just like this one) landed right in front of us. Next week we're going to practice emergency procedures, including landing on a grass field somewhere north of the airport(!).

Up to 6.9 hrs dual instruction.

Comments

[bluepapercup]

Sounds like things are going GREAT! :)

I looked at KHDC on airnav and they mention military aircraft based at the field. What ops are based out of there? National guard?

[nibot.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I think it's going great! It's definitely a nice diversion from my usual routine.

I think it's just Louisiana National Guard stuff. I saw two national guard helicopters there the other day. There's also some rather worn-down Air Force installation but it doesn't appear that they have any aircraft.

[kaolinfire.livejournal.com]

Cool! :D

[bensdiorama.livejournal.com]

Way to go Tobin! Note: landing on grass is easier than pavement. ..as long as the grass is reasonably cut. Reason is that side movement of the plane is forgiven by the much lower friction. It can make one feel like such an expert in cross-winds, then get reality checked back on pavement, esp with big soft tires. ;)
ps: tall grass wants to pitch the plane forward -- can get a bit nasty in a light taildragger