Flight 11 - PAO to SQL to PAO

(note about GPS track: I only turned it on after landing at SQL so it's missing some of the track)

Flying with no CFI intercom

Patti has this pre-solo test where she unplugs her microphone so that she can't talk to you, and she can't do the radio. At first it freaks you out. All of a sudden you feel like you're in the plane by yourself and there's no one to help you. You HAVE to do all the radio calls, you have no choice. If you don't understand the control tower then you, the student pilot, have got to ask for clarification. It's quite overwhelming at first, and takes some getting used to. Plus chatting while flying is part of the fun!


Palo Alto (PAO) to San Carlos (SQL) and back

On top of the no CFI audio the next part of the challenge was flying to a different airport. I'd flown to San Carlos once before but only once. I made the mistake of being confident on the directions and I didn't fully review the map before I left. I also made the mistake of not turning on the GPS! Sometimes you learn things the hard way :)

Landing at a different airport

This time was the first time I actually landed on a different runway. My landings were not that great, I levelled too high, flared too little and dropped down onto the runway. The runway is a similar size to Palo Alto but it looks very very different. Different scenery, different markings, different surface - all confusing to a new pilot.

The other challenging thing at SQL was lots of helicopters in the pattern and a very talkative tower ATC.

Back to Palo Alto

Back 'home' at Palo Alto everything looked familiar again. Though my landing wasn't much better. I blame the fact that the airport looked different again :)

Happy flying!

Lesson Highlights: 100% radio (for part of the lesson at least), landing at a different airport

Stats: 4 landings, 1.0 hours.