Carrie's Flight Lessons!

 May 22nd 2023 I started my day by working my online ground school videos. I did about 3 videos and the quizzes that correlated with them. I learned about ground reference maneuvers and more about engines. After about an hour doing the videos, I worked on adding photos and perfecting all my blogs. I had lunch and then headed to Laconia for my 3pm flight lesson. I got there early to do the preflight and we were up in the air by 3:10ish. We stayed only in the traffic pattern today to work on emergency landings and how to apply what I was learning from practice to if I actually loose my engine no where near Laconia airport. I love flying during late afternoons, the wind is always great and the views of the lake are amazing. I made a significant amount of progress on landings as well today. I made four great landings without any support from my flight instructor, Karen. Although landings have proven to be the most challenging thing for me recently, I love getting up there to practice t...

 May 20th 2023 Similar to last Saturday, I didn't meet with Karen, but I did complete seven online ground school flight lessons. Unlike last week, I learned less about engines but more about what my first solo will look like and non-towered airport communications. I found those really interesting to learn about and I have a much more solidified understanding of what my solo will look and feel like and the purposes of communications in an un-towerd runway. I found it intriguing to learn about the aspects of flying I directly apply to everyday flight lessons. I look forward to using the information I learned today to my flight on Monday as I get ready for my solo. I spent about 2 hours working on videos and then headed to the airport to check out the "open airport" event that my mentor, Karen was running. We were expecting bad weather but nonetheless the turnout was fantastic and I got to meet so many sweet kids who were so excited to climb around in some cool aircrafts. Th...

 May 13th 2023 Today I worked on my online flight school. I got started around 10 am and worked on nine, 8 minute videos and completed the quizzes that went with each video. They were difficult videos to get through as they were not the most engaging, however, I did learn a lot about the physics of flying and the behind the scenes of how a plane really works. My favorite video was learning about the engine, how pistons work and how all the different parts of the engine come together to get us up in the air. Learning about the engine has also made me feel more comfortable in the air as I now how it works. I also found the aerodynamics of a plane video to be super informative and interesting to learn about. I mastered all the videos by completing the quizzes that correlated with them and made sure I had 100% score or I would go back to get a higher score.  Thank you for reading! Total hours today: 3 Hours Total hours: 26 Hours

Week 2 reflection These last two weeks have absolutely flown by. For majority of this week, I was so lucky to have perfect weather for flying. We flew everyday for at least two hours. I learned an unbelievable amount. Some memorable highlights of this week were completing my first "cross-country" flight and getting my solo endorsement. However, my favorite aspect of these two weeks has been getting to know my instructor, Karen Mitchell. She has been so informative and patient and I feel so lucky to have gotten to learn from her. I look up to her in so many ways and I have gained so much knowledge and wisdom beyond just how to fly an airplane. I appreciate how passionate she is about flying and is such a strong role model for me. I am so grateful to have had her as my mentor for this project.  On Thursday, I completed my first "cross-country" which was so so exciting. We started the day off in Laconia where we took my mom up for a joy ride. We dropped my mom off and ...

May 19th 2023 I had high hopes of soloing by the end of these two weeks, with all the planning and excitement leading up to today it came to a disappointing ending. There was extreme crosswind and rough winds in Laconia. I was pretty bummed but I know this means even more time to practice! Today I got to the airport at 8:30 as always and Karen and I started to finish up my pre-solo knowledge test. I completed it and was ready to get up in the air by myself. As soon as we headed out to preflight the wind sock was blowing heavily and I knew today wouldn't be the day I could solo. We took off around 11:15 and it was a rough one. We only did two loops of the traffic pattern and had to go in because the wind made things difficult. I will hopefully be soloing next week if the winds are good of course. I look forward to many more lessons because these two weeks have given me such a solid foundation for flying and a possible career path for me. Thanks for reading! Total hours today: 5 Hour...

 May 18th 2023 My Mom joined me today for a quick 10 minute loop around the traffic pattern 8:30 am. After the loop we dropped her off so I could work on landings and master my last day before my solo! As we taxied to the runway, the wind had shifted a bit and my instructor said "I think we should head to Concord and practice on their runway." I was so excited. After a smooth take off, she taught me how to put a track to concord into the Garmin because soon enough, I will be doing my own solo cross-countries. We got to concord within 15 minutes. We joined the traffic pattern where I was able to listen to Henry Krehbiel and Jack Parisian make radio calls. We passed them on the taxi way and gave them a wave. It was fun to listen to them and say hi to them through the radio. We continued to make about 6 loops in the concord traffic pattern. It was a challenge adapting to the new radio calls and the new traffic patterns. I was pretty comfortable by the last two loops in Concord a...