Today was supposed to be the day I did my first solo. However, the winds were too strong with gusts as strong as 23 knots. So instead my instructor taught me how to do short field take offs, landings, as well as soft field takeoff and landings. They’re very similar to regular takeoffs and landings; however the plane is configured a little differently for each. For example, for a short field takeoff, 25 degrees of flaps are used. In addition, once I got onto the runway, I pressed the brakes, applied full power and waited for the rpm’s to reach maximums. Once they did, I released the brakes and the plane shot forward. It was an awesome sensation to accelerate so quickly.
However, the interesting part of the flight was when I was in the downwind leg for one of the landings. On the radio I heard “Blue Angel 7 requesting to land on the active runway.” A blue angel form the Navy’s elite pilot corp came to the airport! He shot past me, making himself look like a blue blur. Once I landed and was done with the day’s lesson, I went and got a few pics of the F-18 while it was parked on the ramp.
However, the interesting part of the flight was when I was in the downwind leg for one of the landings. On the radio I heard “Blue Angel 7 requesting to land on the active runway.” A blue angel form the Navy’s elite pilot corp came to the airport! He shot past me, making himself look like a blue blur. Once I landed and was done with the day’s lesson, I went and got a few pics of the F-18 while it was parked on the ramp.
