Llano, TX

Well, some of the Purpleboard members had decided for a meet up in Llano for lunch at Cooper's BBQ. The plan was to fly down to Stephenville and pick up a guy that was going to ride with me into Llano for lunch. I was planning on getting to Stephenville at 10:30 am and just take my time getting to Llano. To do this, it required a 8:30 departure. I arrived at the airport at 7:45 and discovered the school locked up tighter than a drum. A little while later, the owner showed up and we got to pulling planes out. (For some reason, mine is always buried at the back) Preflight and checked the tanks. WAY to low to make the flight. We grabbed the fuel truck and discovered that it was out of fuel, too. After waiting until a little after 9:00 the fuel truck from the FBO showed up and filled me up. It was nearly 10:00 before I got up. Cruised into Stephenville and had a very nice flight in. Grabbed my passenger, and departed for Llano. We met the other guys at Llano and headed in for some of the best damn BBQ on earth. After lunch, we went back to the airport and sat around talking and waiting for the liquids that had been consumed to run their course. Filled up the planes and departed Llano to Stephenville and had some bumps going back, but nothing bad. I stayed around Stephenville for a while waiting for the temps to drop a little bit and kill off some of the convective turbulence. After departing for Lubbock, I got my first experience with haze. There were times the ground was hardly visible. Now I see how inadvertent entry into IFR happens so often and easily. After getting home, I was glad to see Lubbock airport and be home. I put in a lot of time today, met some new people, made some new friends, and had some real good flying.

Tailwheel Endorsement

Got hooked up for some training in a Super Decathlon today. I showed up at the airstrip at about 9:00am for preflight and briefing. The goal was to just get some time in and start working on the endorsement. The crosswind wasn't going to be any big deal to get, today. The winds were 25G29 050 and the runway was runway 8. The instructor walked me through control positions for taxi, and how if it starts to get away from you, just stop and start over before it gets real bad. After taxing out, and getting on the runway, we took off. Decathlons climb really, really good!! We went to go play around for a few minutes so I could get used to the controls and the response. It doesn't take much to get that thing to change direction! After that, we went back and got down to business. First up was three points. That really was a piece of cake, even with the wind. (Just don't get lazy on the rudder after touchdown, ask me how I know) We made about a dozen landings, then stopped for fuel, and lunch. After lunch, the fun with wheel landings started. It took about five landings before it came together. Something about pushing forward on that stick when the mains touch just takes some getting used to. After I started nailing them, the instructor was telling me what landing he wanted when we would be on short final just to see if I could make the split second decisions and reconfigure quickly. I had a blast today dragging my tail, and walked out with my logbook endorsed!