This morning we left the Blacksburg airport at 6:30, so it was still dark out. As we’re flying to Roanoke, I kept thinking, “it feels like the whole world is still sleeping and the world is all ours to enjoy.” That is until Roger pointed out the solid stream of cars on the interstate below! That sure broke that line of thought.
Every opportunity that I get to see the sunrise from the Cessna 152 in the morning, I feel like the luckiest person alive. Lucky me today!
I am so excited to let you know that I did a “wonderful job” with my landings this morning! If you could see my Pilot Log, you would see that’s what Roger recorded. He taught me excellent technique, so this morning I concentrated on “feeling” the plane (which he also explained to me). It worked!!!
I did numerous takeoffs and landings this morning. It’s such a great way to start the day. Plus practice makes perfect. So I enjoy all the practice I can get! I know in the past I’ve told you that Roger is the best instructor ever. But, I don’t think I’ve shared that there are definite advantages to choosing an independent instructor over a flight school in my opinion. One is that you have more flexibility. You choose how often you fly. You can choose to take one, two, or more lessons a week whenever it works best for you and works for your financial means. You can choose to do the lesson in the morning, during lunch, or whenever it best fits your schedule. Me? I love flying so much that I can never get enough. It’s like reading a really great book that you can hardly wait to turn the next page – for the next adventure, the next gorgeous scenery that you get the opportunity to see. I am experiencing a new beautiful world.
Displaced thresholds on runways: have you ever noticed the chevron at the end of an airport runway? In case you don’t know why it’s there, there are absolutely no landings there. It could possibly damage your plane. Chevrons can be on an EMAS (Engineered Material Arresting System) bed. (And it is indeed an EMAS bed on Runway 16 in Roanoke.) An EMAS bed is technology that provides a “graded area in the event that an aircraft overruns, undershoots, or veers off the side of the runway”.
By comparison, I took off and landed on Runway 24 many times this morning. On that runway, you’ll see vertical lines (called a “blast pad”). You don’t land on the blast pad. (It could be that it isn’t strong as the rest of the runway.) It is the displaced threshold of where you can land. Right after the blast pad, you see numbers. Runway numbers are determined by the “nearest one‐tenth the magnetic azimuth of the centerline of the runway,” says the FAA. Those are my lessons shared today. I continue to be pleasantly surprised by everything that I learn about planes and airports and their focus on technology and safety.
“Photography is a love affair with life.” Burk Uzzle
In the pictures below, first of all notice the planet (which looks like a star) in the right of the first four pictures. That’s Venus. According to Wikipedia, “As an inferior planet, it always lies within about 47° of the Sun. Venus “overtakes” Earth every 584 days as it orbits the Sun. As it does so, it changes from the “Evening Star“, visible after sunset, to the “Morning Star“, visible before sunrise.
