On Monday, September 21, two friends and I decided to go for a scenic flight at the end of the day. By the time we got into the air, there was only about an hour of daylight left and the shadows were growing long.
We departed Glens Falls Airport to the south, climbed to 2500' and immediately turned west to follow the Hudson River. As we continued to follow it, we ended up flying directly into the sun, which caused the river to turn into a brilliant silhouette.
We continued flying toward the mountains. The wind had been quite light all day and from the south, so I wasn't concerned about mountain wave activity. But I wanted to be high enough to have an out if my suspicions turned out to be incorrect. Fortunately, the wind over the mountains was very light and we experienced little turbulence.
We continued to follow the river, turning north at Corinth and descending as we flew upriver toward Luzerne. I wanted to get lower, so we made a gradual descent, getting lower and lower until we were well below the tops of the adjacent mountains. Flying below the mountains provided a spectacular view of the scenery.
Since the day was growing short, we had to decide how to head home. After following the river for a bit, I decided to climb up to 4500' so we could pass over the mountains toward Lake George. This gave us a great view of the lake. As we got to the lake, we turned slowly to the south and headed back toward Glens Falls. It was a nice, late afternoon view of the local scenery from a perspective that most folks never get a chance to see.
In a week or two, the foliage will begin turning. I hope the weather will cooperate so we can make some foliage flights. I think it might be a good season for the foliage, if the weather holds.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Instrument Instruction
I had a two hour lesson with my flight instructor today. More than half of it was spent sitting on the ground tossing around ideas for how to best progress with instrument training.
Put most simply, the instrument rating allows pilots to fly in the clouds. Pilots who do not hold an instrument rating must stay clear of the clouds at all times, day or night. An instrument rating allows a pilot to fly through clouds under the control of Air Traffic Control (ATC). This can be invaluable when you want to get someplace and the weather isn't good enough to permit flight according to visual flight rules. Consequently, an instrument rating allows a pilot to fly at times when he or she would otherwise need to sit on the ground and wait out the weather.
The instrument rating for a general aviation pilot most definitely is not a license to "go anywhere at any time". There are many kinds of weather where even an instrument-rated pilot should choose to sit comfortably on the ground and wait for better weather. But obtaining an instrument rating trains a pilot to be a better pilot and that's perhaps the best benefit of all.
Right now, it looks like we'll begin my training within the month. More updates to come.
Put most simply, the instrument rating allows pilots to fly in the clouds. Pilots who do not hold an instrument rating must stay clear of the clouds at all times, day or night. An instrument rating allows a pilot to fly through clouds under the control of Air Traffic Control (ATC). This can be invaluable when you want to get someplace and the weather isn't good enough to permit flight according to visual flight rules. Consequently, an instrument rating allows a pilot to fly at times when he or she would otherwise need to sit on the ground and wait out the weather.
The instrument rating for a general aviation pilot most definitely is not a license to "go anywhere at any time". There are many kinds of weather where even an instrument-rated pilot should choose to sit comfortably on the ground and wait for better weather. But obtaining an instrument rating trains a pilot to be a better pilot and that's perhaps the best benefit of all.
Right now, it looks like we'll begin my training within the month. More updates to come.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Garnsey's Airport
I've been busy with other things, so I haven't been posting much. But I'm still going to try to hit all of the grass strips in this area.
One of my favorites is Garnsey's Airport. It's a bit south of Glens Falls, in Schuylerville, NY, right along the Hudson River. There's also a floatplane "runway" on the river itself. I hadn't been there for a while, so I decided to fly down with a friend and do a landing and takeoff. It was a beautiful day for flying so after taking off, I decided it would be fun to fly along the river for a bit at a low altitude. To be legal, we needed to be 500' above the terrain, so I chose to fly about 700' above ground level. We flew south for about ten or fifteen minutes before turning back and returning to Glens Falls airport. All in all, it was a grand day to be flying. :)
One of my favorites is Garnsey's Airport. It's a bit south of Glens Falls, in Schuylerville, NY, right along the Hudson River. There's also a floatplane "runway" on the river itself. I hadn't been there for a while, so I decided to fly down with a friend and do a landing and takeoff. It was a beautiful day for flying so after taking off, I decided it would be fun to fly along the river for a bit at a low altitude. To be legal, we needed to be 500' above the terrain, so I chose to fly about 700' above ground level. We flew south for about ten or fifteen minutes before turning back and returning to Glens Falls airport. All in all, it was a grand day to be flying. :)
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Landing and departure at Argyle, NY
This is the first in a series of occasional videos that I want to make showing landings and departures from grass strips. This one is at Argyle, NY (1C3), on August 29th, 2009. It was a cloudy day and a bit windy at pattern altitude but calm at the surface.
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