Friday Photo: Clouds
Cross-country flight on a beautiful day with scattered clouds. This is one of those days when shooting through scattered clouds present a great day to fly in IMC while still having some VFR conditions.
Author Archive for: davidsmith
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Friday Photo: RNAV Approach at Cumberland Regional Airport
Conditions and visibility kept changing due to haze. Density altitude at CBE was over 3,000’ and, with airport elevation at 775′ and the mountain straight ahead, I decided to go missed and fly to the alternate of MRB (Martinsburg, West Virginia).
Learning to fly after 55
The COVID pandemic at least had one positive outcome for me: achieving my Private Pilot license. I have always wanted to share my journey and offer some lessons learned and tips for those that are either learning how to fly or are considering it—especially if you are 55 years of age or older.
Friday photo: Ocean City, Maryland in the winter
Having grown up in Maryland, flying over a resort that I have been to many times by driving, was great to see it from the air and longing for summer to come.
Friday photo: Approach into York, PA (KTHV) Runway 35
Approach to York Airport (KTHV) Runway 35, York, Pennsylvania. The summer brings opportunities for late flying, sunsets, and just beautiful green landscape.
Friday Photo: waterfront runway
I started my Private Pilot journey at this airport at Middle River Aviation. In the spring I did a fly over of the airport, doing a transition over the class delta airspace due to the DC SFRA and Aberdeen Proving Grounds restricted area. And then three months later I became a one tenth owner of a Cessna 172SP hangared at this same airport. I had no idea at the time that it would become my home airport as an airplane owner.
Friday Photo: landing on the centerline
No matter what the rest of the flight looked like, a great landing means touching down right on centerline. David Smith shows that perspective in this Friday Photo. He was landing a Cessna 172 at Harford County Airport in Maryland when he adjusted his airspeed, managed his descent rate, worked the rudder, and kept it right in the middle. No easy task with the wind blowing (note the windsock).
Learning to fly after 55
The COVID pandemic at least had one positive outcome for me: achieving my Private Pilot license. I have always wanted to share my journey and offer some lessons learned and tips for those that are either learning how to fly or are considering it—especially if you are 55 years of age or older.