Kaden's Mohawk

Kaden got a little shampoo mohawk tonight. Rockin!

3.7 & Sign-off In the Arrow

I finally finished! After 3.7 hours in the Arrow tonight, I'm finally good to go as far as insurance is concerned. The CFI and I flew from 5G7 to PKB (Parkersburg, WV) for some late lunch and then back via IFR. It was pretty clear in Bluffton, but about 30 miles east, the overcast started underneath us and continued all the way to PKB.

I was vectored by ATC onto the ILS 3 final approach course and flew it down to 1,300' where, 400' above the ground, I finally saw the lights. Sweet! Instrument approaches are always more fun when you're done with them. Very satisfying.

We ate and flew back and then did some t-n-g's to get the required time. It was good and I feel completely comfortable with the Arrow. Now...where to go...

Friday Evening at the YMCA

We met up with the Redmonds at the Y tonight for a little Wallyball and some basketball. Well, it ended up being "run the kids around in a cart" which we eventually turned over to themselves for entertainment. Fun!

Running/Biking Log

I am going to start keeping track of my running/biking with a little log so I can see my progress on graphs and such. You can see it to by clicking here.

I think this will help me train for my first 5K. I don't know when (hopefully January) or where (probably in Ohio), but I'd like to do one just to have some type of running goal.

Four New Kaden Posts

I figured I'd put this up so you know where they are. They are somewhat buried since I post them on the dates the photos were taken. Just go here and check out the last four or five entries.

CLICK HERE FOR ALL

Laura & I Fly To Columbus - PF Changs

Laura and I took the Archer to Columbus this afternoon to meet up with Dave G and his family to enjoy some PF Changs. The food was good as usual and the day was beautiful. The temp was in the mid-50's and the overcast was around 8,000' . It was a smooth ride down at about 125 knots GS. Not bad!



We parked at Bolton and had the Chang's and then headed back. We logged 1.6 total and saw some cool crop drawings that Dave mentioned were 19.4 miles from TZR on the "Direct To" line to AOH. Sure enough, after circling back and looking for something not-so-huge, we found it.


Between here and there, you always head right over the Honda plant and their HUGE test track. Here is a good shot of the whole complex:


Getting back, we fueled the Archer back up and headed home.




P.S. I hit 200+ hours total time today. I had 199.5 going in and now have 201.1. Woohoo!

Piper Arrow II - My First Lesson

I was planning a flight tomorrow to Columbus with Laura when I looked around and noticed we had nothing going on today. A quick call to the club CFI and we had a 3pm date with the Arrow. I need ten hours of dual to satisfy the insurance gods (I'm sure if you asked them...nevermind), so I wanted to get a move on. Today was beautiful and cool (high 40's).

I got there early, plugged in the Tanis heater and read through the POH to get the main points and a few V-speeds (important speeds for different aspects of flight). He showed up at 3pm on the dot and we pulled the plane out and launched. We started with some manifold pressure (MP) and RPM talk and then started doing some slow flight, stalls and other maneuvers.

That went very well and we ended up north of Ottawa and headed to Lima to do a practice ILS. After nailing that, I did a hold over the AOH VOR and then headed back to the FDY VOR to do the VOR 23 approach into Bluffton for five landings. They all (that's right - ALL) were acceptable landings. A couple might actually qualify as pleasant.

We ended the lesson with 2.0 on the Hobbs and 18.6 gallons of 100LL burned. Not a bad day, if you ask me!

Kaden's Swim Class

Kaden and mommy had a swim class this afternoon at the YMCA. I couldn't stand the heat in the heated pool area, so I took some photos and headed out. Kaden looked like he was having a great time!

Kaden & Friends

We had a small groups gather at our house on Friday and all the kids came over and put on their costumes. Kaden was feeling generous and then they all ended up running around playing harmonicas and dancing like madmen. It was a great time!

8.5 Miles & Still Going

Since Monday, I have ran 8.5 miles either at the YMCA or at home. Monday's run was pretty good after biking 5.75 miles the night before. Midweek was rough, but it got better. Today I ended up running 2.5 miles after feeling strong at 1.5 miles.

Monday: 1.5(Y), Tuesday: 1.5(Y), Wednesday: 1.5(H), Thursday: 1.5(Y), Friday: 2.5 (Y)

I'm planning to work my way up (eventually) to 3 miles per day, 5 days per week and then 5+ miles each on Saturday and Sunday. I'd like to throw some swimming in there as well for a little change up. I hear it's the best cardio you can do.

Onward to less fat!