gettin' there

Flew for 2.1 today. 1 hour was with Chris doing some work in the holding pattern over the Seminole VOR followed by a ILS 36 at KLTH. It was so nice out that after we landed I called Corie up and had her come out to the airport so we could go on a nice VFR flight down the coast to St. George Island. At least that was what I intended....

We got out over the coast, and I started messing around looking for a friend's boat who was out fishing. It seemed like every one had a green bimini top on their boat today and I could not get a positive ID on my buddy Jims' boat. We circled a few non-the-less. Hopefully I didn't scare too many boaters out there. After I got bored of that, we headed south east for St. George and decended through 1000 ft. But before I could level off at 500 feet over the beach Corie alerted me of her desire to relieve her bladder. Oh well.... full power, climbing right hand turn direct to Tallahassee. So much for that idea. It was still a nice flight just because it was so beautiful out. It did get a little hotter by the time we got back to base, but it still wasn't too bad. No clouds, calm wind, and 72 degrees at 2500 ft. Can't beat that with stick! Unfortunately the nice weather we've been having should end tonight as this cold front moves on past us.

Interesting tidbit: ATC had traffic landing on 36 and 27 with the winds out of 180 around 7 kts. No big deal... sometimes ya have to land with a little tailwind. I made the mistake of calling up ATC and requesting 18 if it would not interupt they're flow. "Roger 172RK we have your request..." Then nothing. The controller kept on talking to other aircraft in the vicinity. Ok I thought, no problem. I've already been cleared to land on 36 and the traffic behind me has been cleared #2 for landing. At this point I'm at 100kts following the ILS down to the ground. At about 500 ft no more than a mile from the threshold I hear, "172RK enter right downwind for 18. I'll call your base". So once again I added full power and made a climbing left turn to enter the pattern. I could have declined the landing clearance and kept following the ILS down landing with a slight tailwind, but I chose to be safe and take the runway with the more favorable winds. It ultimately was a non-event and I made a nice landing.

Thats all for today, off to study my oral exam guide some more before heading to work. Check ride is coming up soon!