Pilot Life: Taking My Friend, Desy Flying!

Once again, I took up Desy, another first-time General Aviation passenger, and I got to do it in the Piper Cherokee. And today was another rare case of someone not having classes until later in the day so it was indeed another nice morning outing! Once we got to the airport and found where the Cherokee was parked, I went ahead and performed the pre-flight inspections. After that, I towed the plane over to the fuel pumps to add some fuel to each wing tank. That's when I noticed something unusual; when the plane sits, the nose gear usually keeps the nose slightly elevated due to the telescoping struts. But the plane was already sitting level with the nose gear strut compressed. That caused me some concern to seek out one of the flight school's instructor to get some input on the matter. In the end, the mechanic was notified and I was told that I can meet him over at his hangar by taxiing the plane over there. So after refueling was complete, we hopped in and I got the engine started. Upon start-up, the nose sunk even more, which was more than enough to concern me even more; I honestly felt that we would have a prop-strike, but thankfully, we didn't! Ever so carefully, I taxied us over to the maintenance hangar where our mechanic was waiting for us. I shut down the engine and he wheeled out a Nitrogen tank. The nose gear strut assembly is usually filled with Nitrogen to help add pressure to keep the nose of the Cherokee elevated when stationary. As it turns out, this is a normal occurrence as part of a preventative-maintenance process.

Another round in the good ol' Cherokee (N7625F)!

Thankfully, the maintenance issue was minor and ended up being an easy fix so once that was done, we hopped in the airplane again and got the engine started up. I then taxied us around a row of hangars from where the maintenance hangar is located and positioned the plane just short of the taxiway where I did engine run-ups. Everything looked good, so I continued the taxi over to Runway 12, which the winds were favoring today. And the nose gear strut felt much better too! Once I got us to the runway, I held short and prepared for takeoff. Once ready, I taxied onto Runway 12, lined up and began takeoff. And before we knew it, we were airborne!

Obligatory selfie before takeoff!
(Photo credit: Desy Mendoza, my lovely passenger!)

After departure, I made a right-crosswind departure and flew southbound, where we would fly around the southern portion of Utah Valley. Over the more urban areas, it was quite obvious that the air was turbulent; I'm not a fan of turbulence and I get the feeling that most of passengers share that same sentiment! I then circled back and descended, getting in position to make a few circling turns around the Payson LDS Temple for my passenger to see, as is customary on my scenic "joyride" flights! After circling the Payson Temple a couple times, I decided to put some distance between us and the Spanish Fork-area and flew further south towards Nephi, where I would practice a few landings at the airport there.

View of the Payson Temple as we circled it.
(Photo credit: Desy Mendoza.)

As usual, I tuned into the AWOS frequency for weather and wind information and then began monitoring the CTAF frequency; there was one other aircraft in the pattern. I made my routine position reports as I brought us closer to the Nephi Airport. Eventually, I entered the left downwind for Runway 17 and made my normal approach for a touch-and-go landing. I logged three landings total at Nephi, all the while sharing the airspace and runway with a Diamond DA-40 Diamond Star. After logging my third landing, we departed the area and headed back north to return to Spanish Fork. I tuned into the radio frequencies for Spanish Fork and I made my descent. I flew over the airfield at mid-field and entered the left pattern for Runway 12.

I made the landing a full-stop. After touch-down and rolling out, I exited the runway at the next available taxiway and then taxied back to the ramp the Cherokee's parking spot. I shut the engine down and I called it another successful flight with a first-time passenger! It was a fun morning outing!