Sugar Valley Airport - 5NC2

I have discovered a hidden jewel of an airport that would remind anyone of the way airports used to be and ought to be. Here there is no 12 foot barbed wire fence, just a friendly community of aviation enthusiasts who want to share the magic of Sugar Valley Airport. Located just outside of Mocksville, NC, 5NC2 is a 2400 foot runway located beside a lake. They have camping facilities, canoes to use, and a brand new 5820 square foot heated hanger that is sometimes used by the community as a meeting space.
This past Saturday, I went to the Sugar Valley Airport to attend a Women in Aviation Symposium that brought in 14 women who are at various stages of their flying lives. Presenters included Linda Finch who recreated Amelia Earhart's voyage around the world in an Electra, Capt. Bridgett "Atlas" Fitzsimmons of the 335th Fighter Squadron, an F-15E Strike Eagle pilot, and 10 other accomplished women in the field.
The volunteers were friendly and went out of their way to make the 150 or so guests feel like part of the Sugar Valley Family. Coffee and danishes were available as the event kicked off at 9 a.m. When the panel discussions and presentations were over at 12 noon, EAA Chapter 1083 provided a delicious lunch. My daughter and I sat by the runway, ate our lunch, and watched the Young Eagle Flights come and go. It was delightful.

 

First Passengers!

     Well, after two weeks of waiting, I finally found some time with my family to take them flying. My first passengers were two of my children and my wife.
     On Friday, Mollie, Kinsley, and I headed out to KEXX after school. After pre-flighting the N4369R, we took off from runway 24. We climbed to the south and toured High Rock Lake from 2500 feet. We were able to see some houses of some friends who live on the lake. Then we flew over their schools in Lexington. The football field is an easy landmark to pick out. We turned south and Lexington passed by on our left.

     We flew over our house and then entered a mid-field cross wind to land back at KEXX. Mollie said that it was the best landing she had seen me do. (She had come along on a few of my lessons.) Total time was .6 hours. Just a taste, and they wanted more.
    Saturday, I took my wife Brooke on her first ride. Our route was the same that I had done the day before with my daughters. She loved looking at all the houses, the lake, and our town from the sky. As we headed back to the airport, she even mentioned that it would be nice to have our own airplane one day. (YEA!) (Of course, after three college educations and weddings!)
     These two days really made me feel like a certificated pilot. It was great to finally share the joy of flying!

Success! - A Newly Certificated Pilot!

After 20 years of dreaming the dream has been fulfilled! Today I sat for my Private Pilot checkride; and I passed! It was a challenging experience, and I learned a lot. My DPE was tough but fair. She did a good job of revealing my knowledge deficiencies. I had a big brain freeze on Airmets and Sigmets (weather warnings to pilots). I was expecting the question, "what are the three types of Airmets," and she asked somthing like "tell me some examples of Sigmets and Airmets." For some reason I named a couple of sigment weather phenomenon under airmet. I'll give it up to nervousness.
Otherwise, I did very well with the oral portion of the test.
The practical portion was what you would expect after having read the Practical Test Standards (PTS). We did: Dead Reckoning / Pilotage; diversion to alternate airport, slow flight, approach and departure stalls, steep turns, turns around a point, unsual attitudes, simulated IFR descending turns, emergency procedures, soft field take off and landings, short field take off and landings.
We were flying along, and she pulled the power and said our engine died. I quickly trimmed to best glide speed and began looking for an open field. I looked to my right and my left, and picked a slightly rough clear field. I worked my check list, and descended until she told me to go around. Then she pointed out that the airport had been right in front of me! Sometimes things ARE right under your nose!
The last manuever was a short-field landing. When my wheels touched down and she told me to taxi to parking, I knew that I had passed! It was an incredible relief to have the practical test over and to hear her say congratulations! All my hard work over the last 8 months and studying over the last two years had paid off.
During the debrief, she gave me some excellent feedback on areas I need to be attentive to. Attending to her comments will make me a safer pilot; I am thankful for that.
I have a number of people I need to express my gratitude. First is my wife Brooke. When she told me at Christmas that it was time to pursue my dream, she gave me an incredible gift. This has been one of the most challenging and rewarding things I have ever done. My three children have also been very supportive and have loved seeing their dad fulfill a dream. My CFI Jerry is an incredible teacher with an encouraging approach to instructing. He believed I could do it; and because he believed in me, I could believe in myself. I know that he would not have released me for the test if he didn't think I could do it. This gave me the confidence I needed. I look forward to doing my instrument rating with him! I also want to thank my friend Robin who helped rekindle the dream that had long lain dorment. He has been a great cheerleader as I pursued the goal.

Well, I guess I am going to  have to change my "willfly1day" to willfly2day"

ATC Communications

On August 23, 2012, I headed from Davidson County (KEXX) to Smith Reynolds (KINT) to follow my flight instructor who was ferrying a Baron. Then Jerry and I went and did soft and short field landings at N97. On the way there and back, I did some more simulated instrument training.
Up at the top left of the page there is an embedded link with my communications with Smith Reynolds tower as recorded from LiveATC. You will notice that sometimes my side was not very readable. But this will give you a flavor of my day.

Winston Salem Airshow - 2012

Well this year's W-S Airshow was a mixed bag. The weather for watching was spectacular. It was in the low 80's with a cool breeze. It made it one of the most pleasant afternoons ever for an air show. However, the wind was blowing 13 knots gusting to 20 knots about 70 degrees off the show line. As a result, most of the acrobatic parts of the performers routines were cut. So the afternoon was full of primarily flybys.
This year seemed to be notable by who wasn't here. The Aeroshell  Team, Team RV, and Honda Jet were absent.

The military did bring an EA6B Prowler, a C-130, and a P3C Orion as static displays, but there were no flying B-1's B-2's, F15's as in past years. It also seemed that the fly-in population was pretty light. Perhaps 20 planes at the outside.

The best part of going to the show was spending time with my daughter Madison, who loves encouraging my airplane geekness. She also loves the frozen lemonade!

One cool thing was that I had flown into Smith-Reynolds (KINT) on Thursday. I was able to see the grounds from the air. It gave me a better appreciation for the layout of the show.

I guess I was a little disappointed with the show overall this year. But it was still an airshow, and airshows are always worth seeing!

Winston Salem Air Show 2012

Tomorrow is the Winston Salem Air Show at Smith Reynolds airport (KINT). I flew into KINT yesterday to pick up my flight instructor for a lesson. (I will say more about the lesson in another post.) The grounds were well on their way to being prepared for this great event. I will be posting a bunch of photos and comments as the day progresses. You may want to follow along at my twitter: @willfly1day !

Slow Flight Practice - 8/17/12