Pilot Life: A REALLY Short Flight with My Friend, Tyra!

Today was not a good day weather-wise for us General Aviation pilots. Likewise, I was reminded of how deceptive mother nature and weather can be. I was planning on taking up a friend flying during the latter half of the afternoon, but I cancelled the flight because the weather was being bi-polar; it was sunny one moment, then it got cloudy and it started snowing, followed by more sunny weather, then some more snow (apparently, that's Utah weather for ya!), and the pattern repeated itself! However, I kept an eye on the weather and it looked like things were improving as we got more towards the evening so I called up my friend Tyra and asked if she wanted to go, which she accepted. When we got to the airport, I immediately conducted pre-flight. Afterwards, I pulled the plane out of the hangar and we eventually hopped in. After getting the engine started, I tuned into the AWOS frequency and it became apparent that gusty conditions have returned. Like I said, bi-polar weather!

A REALLY short flight in N802CT!

I decided that plan was to go up, fly the pattern to see what the air was like, and then make a further decision from there. So I taxied the plane over to the run-up pad and did the run-ups. Engine gauges and instruments were looking good so I taxied over to the runway, lined up and got airborne. Right away, I felt the winds shaking us up a bit. But it was still manageable. Once we got to pattern altitude, it wasn't so bad, but it was winds close to the ground that I was worried about. I set up for a landing and that's when I decided that I did not like the situation. As I approached the runway, the winds kicked us around a bit and that was the case all the way until touchdown.

Let's just say it was not my greatest landing ever, but my passenger was a good sport about it. And I plan on taking her back out on another flight on a better day! After a not-so-great landing, I vacated off the next available taxiway and taxied the Katana back to the hangar, where I shut down the engine. After hopping out, I conducted a post-flight check of the plane to make sure I didn't cause any damage, especially to the landing gear. Any landing you walk away from is a good landing! Any landing where the plane is reusable is a great landing! And the plane is reusable!

Selfie with my lovely friend Tyra after we got back. I plan on taking her flying again! But for now, we're just happy to be back on the ground! Better to be down here wishing we were up there instead of being up there wishing we were down here!

After post-flight, I grabbed the tug and towed the plane into the hangar, carefully maneuvering it around and putting it back just as we found it. As for today, I learned some valuable lessons and was reminded of my personal limitations and I found it humbling. I'll back with my passenger to fly on a better day!