Pilot Life: Taking My Friend, Miriam Flying!

This morning, I took up Miriam, another one of my friends flying and we actually had to work for our flight today because a few things just didn't go the way I intended. After arriving at the airport, we headed over to the aircraft on the ramp; the Piper Cherokee was brought back online because the radios that got fried was replaced, so the plane should've been ready to go, or so I thought! After getting the pre-flight inspection AND refueling done, we hopped in the plane and got the engine started up. As I went through the checklist, I switched on the new radio and that's when I noticed that I had a problem; the radio turned on fine, but it was indicating a Comm failure and I could not get the radio frequencies I wanted tuned! I decided to shut the engine down, and called up the owner of the flight school to report in this problem; he decided to take the plane offline again in order to troubleshoot it. A phone call from him later in the day while he was troubleshooting the issue revealed that there might be an interface issue after getting the engine started as the radio was only tested when the plane was static on the ground and the engine was not running upon installation.

Tried to go flying N7625F with the new radios, but no dice!

So I ended up aborting the flight in the Cherokee and we towed the plane back to the parking spot on the ramp. I got us in a Katana instead. And yes, I had to do the pre-flight all over again AND pull it out of the hangar! Thankfully, I didn't have to refuel the Katana! Once pre-flight preparations were complete, I helped my passenger into the plane before hopping in myself, closed the canopy and went through the engine-start process. Once I got the engine started, and got the gauges and instruments set up, I began taxiing.

So it was another unplanned flight in N968CT again!

I taxied us over to my run-up area by the ramp, checking the brakes and steering on the way. After going through the engine run-ups and before-takeoff procedures, I taxied us over to Runway 12, which the winds were favoring at the moment. And since I was pilot-in-command of the Katana that has a Stratus on board, I connected my Foreflight app on my iPad and handed it to my passenger for some real-time in-flight information. I held short of the runway on the far end of the airport for a Lancair that was in the traffic pattern. While we waited, we took a selfie!

Obligatory selfie while awaiting our turn for takeoff!
(Photo credit: Miriam Flinders, my lovely passenger!)

After the passing Lancair landed, I visually cleared the approach and departure ends of the runway before taxiing onto it. After cross-checking the runway heading with the compass and heading indicator, I throttled forward and began takeoff roll. We got airborne and it was evident that it was a little bumpy, but nothing I can't handle. Once airborne, I took us southbound following I-15 below us; as I climbed in altitude, the air started to smooth out. As we headed southbound, I performed a clearing turn before demonstrating a power-off stall; my passenger was a good sport about it!

Once we were over Santaquin, I demonstrated an emergency descent, pretending that we had an engine fire; the descending turn got us back on a northbound heading and I was in position to do turns around a point around the Payson LDS Temple for my passenger's benefit and allow her to get some pictures on her phone. We circled the Temple a few times before I flew us back to Spanish Fork. As we headed back, I tuned into the AWOS frequency to get any updated information on the winds; there was now a slight crosswind over the runway. I thought about doing some touch-and-go landings to get some practice in, but I decided against it and set up for a full-stop landing instead as the winds were somewhat unpredictable. I flew overhead midfield and swung back around to enter the left downwind for Runway 12, the same runway we departed from earlier.

I configured the Katana for landing, and right away I noticed that the winds were a little squirrelly and descending was a little difficult. On my base-to-final turn, I came in a little high, so I executed a slip during the final approach to help bleed off the excess altitude, which eventually led to a successful and smooth landing on Runway 12! After rolling out, I cleared the runway at the next available taxiway and headed back to the hangar, where I shut the engine down and ended another successful flight! After vacating the airplane, I grabbed the tow tug and carefully pushed the Katana back into the hangar and called it another fun outing!