Remember the view from the cockpit...
Well, I got to the active and started up. Man! The Piaggio just lifted off itself when I sped up!
A shot over Cheyenne as I was climbing...
Some lyrics from Bob Seger's "Roll Me Away" came to me at this point:
And as the sunset faded
I spoke to the faintest first starlight.
Well, my light-hearted mood went away real fast when it got all-the-way dark. We're talking "a sewer without lights" again. I was watching my instruments as I could barely make out the horizon. Except for an occasional highway, it was completely dark. Also, though I have flown many times at night, there is a huge difference beween this and the Lancair. The latter has a big angle of view while the Piaggio means looking through narrow windows (and you can't see behind you either...remember the view above?)
As I was heading away from VOR IIP I suddenly lost the signal! I wasn't picking up ECS either! I took a look at my compass and realized that I had been heading in the wrong direction! I should have been going 20* when I passed IIP instead of 320*. A hasty look at my map told me that I was may be close enough to pick up CZY, or GCC if I was lucky....
It turned out I was close enough to GCC (well, better to be lucky than good).
Landing also turned out to be a chore. It was nearly 11:00 and I was tired after a long flight (the Piaggio's speed indicator is shown in MPH and I never got above 130 or 150 in KIAS...it's not built for speed except during dives). Again, during turns, all I had to go on were my instruments (did I say it was dark?) The Piaggio may practically fly itself during takeoff, but landing one is another matter. It is real sensitive at low speeds. The wind didn't help either, I was all over the place like a toddler on chocolate!
Anyway, I did manage to get the Piaggio down and parked...
Frank came up laughing and saying something like "I knew you could do it kid!" How he calls a 34-year old a "kid" is beyond me, but I had no energy left to think about it...my priority was to go to bed before I fell over!
I lapsed into a coma for 12 hours or so... :-/
By the way, the first chapter is here.
The second chapter is here.
Chapter 3 is here
Chapter 4 is here.
Chapter 5 is here.
Chapter 5.5 is here.
Chapter 6 is here.
Chapter 7 is here.
Chapter 8 is here.
Chapter 9 is here.
Chapter 9.5 is here.
Chapter 10 is here.
Chapter 11 is here.
Chapter 12 is here.
Chapter 13 is here
