Like birds, let’s leave behind what we don’t need to carry – grudges, sadness, pain, fear, and regrets.
Fly light…LIFE IS SO BEAUTIFUL!
-Unknown
As I was pulling into the parking lot of the airport, I could see colors starting to show in the sky. As soon as I got in the airport, my instructor and I quickly headed out.
Christiansburg was the first direction we headed. For those of you unfamiliar with where I live, Christiansburg is a very pretty, small town with a mighty big heart. We are surrounded by the mountains. It has three steeples in town. For some reason, I always thought that set the tone. It has all the small town charm you could ever want. I haven’t met a single soul there that I didn’t instantly like. And, in 2016, Christiansburg was ranked the third happiest city in Virginia (although we’re just a town). http://www.onlyinyourstate.com/virginia/happiest-cities-va/
Then off to Roanoke we went. I cannot imagine more perfect runways to land on. The heading that the air traffic controller gave us to come in on this morning was different than in the past. It made me feel a little anxious. BUT, as we were going over a mountain ridge, we saw that this was the absolute perfect heading to see the incredibly gorgeous sky this morning. It just seemed so pre-planned.
I practiced numerous takeoffs and landings. From my instructor, I got one “Oh, that’s the way, uh-huh uh-huh ” (KC and the Sunshine Band), several “Good” – and one “I did that perfectly!” (from me). The others: well back to consistency, not bad, but I want to do better. Then we switched to my beloved Runway 34, but this morning there was a crosswind. Roger walked me through giving it more right rudder and left aileron. It worked, not as perfectly as I had wished for, but it worked. A few more and they got better.
As my morning of flying sadly ending, we flew back to Blacksburg and into to work I went – smiling all the way. I can hardly wait for you to see the photos below!!
On the way back from Roanoke, Roger pointed out the Roanoke VOR. VOR stands for “VHF omnidirectional range”. It’s like a giant wheel with 360 spokes pointing outward. You tune into the VOR station using the plane’s NAV radio. It tells you where you are. I’ll explain this more next week.
It’s really starting to feel like fall outside. We’ll see what pictures the changing seasons will bring.
If you see something beautiful, take a picture of it The world needs to see more beauty. -Steve Coleman
I am enormously grateful to Roger for the pictures!
