Dust the Rust
N911PF on the ramp at Westchester County Airport near White Plains, New York
Image by Doug Wint
Warmer weather, longer days. withdrawal shakes - signs that it has been too long and some flying is overdue. Any pilot will tell you that it does not take long before skills can atrophy. And outside of the diminishing competency in flying the airplane, there is just the sheer pleasure in flying. While my season-long break was intentional, it was not easy.
Just like this hiatus, I also took a break from flying during winter 2020 with the idea of heavily getting back into it starting in the spring. I flew in early March 2020 and then Covid-19 happened and my leisure flying was significantly curtailed. I only flew 27 hours in 2020 - none of those hours were at night and the last of which were in November, nearly four months ago.
To meet both general and night currency requirements, I wanted to do the required three takeoffs and landings to a full stop. Safety is my utmost concern and I would never compromise it so I brought a CFI along. I had not flown at night since my instrument checkride in December 2019 (and never flown the Cirrus at night) and I recognize when the time for added insurance is necessary.
It was a beautiful night for flying - clear and a million. That did not matter much because we never left the confines of Westchester County’s class delta and never climbed above 2,000 feet. It was a few taxi backs and a practice ILS approach. Just a few things to reintroduce me to night sight and all of the changes that come with nocturnal flying.
It was a brief flight (1.1 on the Hobbs) and far from being mentally demanding but it was good to get up there again. In the coming weeks I’ll turn my attention to maintaining my instrument currency and proficiency in a simulator and will be flying again soon!
