Flying weekend is off to a good start.

"TheRealBicycleBuck" (therealbicyclebuck) 03/15/2019 at 22:54 • Filed to: None

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Today’s flight was supposed to be a practice run for my cross-country solo tomorrow, but at the last minute, my instructor decided we were going to Galveston. I had to put together the flight plan and do all of the calculations.

Getting to Galveston is a bit tricky. There’s a narrow VFR corridor between Bush Intercontinental and Houston Hobby airspace. You still have to get cleared into their airspace, but we used flight following so we were in contact with Houston Traffic Control for most of the flight. Once I had the plan ready, it was time to go!

Just before takeoff. An excellent sign.

These fellows landed and pulled off at the FBO.

Houston from the air on our way to Galveston. We are in the “bravo” airspace at this point, so we’re flying at 2,500 feet per instructions.

It was overcast and we encountered a little rain, but overall, the flight was pretty smooth.

This is a really unusual shot of the Galveston airport. Can you spot the runway ?

It’s unusual because the wind is usually off of the Gulf of Mexico and the approach is over Galveston Bay to the north. This was my first flight to Galveston and we got to approach from the south. Yep, I was officially flying over the ocean!

It was getting dark on the way back, so all of the street and building lights were coming on. That bright pink spot downtown is a ferris wheel at the Houston Aquarium.

This was the best kind of flying - uneventful. Now it’s time to get my flight plan put together - I can’t wait for tomorrow!  

jminer > TheRealBicycleBuck 03/15/2019 at 23:20

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Excellent write-up.  Your adventures are making me really want to follow through on my dream of a private pilots license.

TheRealBicycleBuck > jminer 03/15/2019 at 23:41

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Do it!

WilliamsSW > TheRealBicycleBuck 03/16/2019 at 00:30

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Nice! Great training!

The runway runs from 10 o clock to 4 o’clock to the right of the lake, right?

CodyVella > TheRealBicycleBuck 03/16/2019 at 00:57

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What aircraft are you training in?

I spent nearly all my training time in a 1982 Cessna 152, then was immediately catapulted into a 1976 Piper Aztec.

I preferred flight following with ATC. We used to commonly fly Oshawa (CYOO) to St. Catharines (CYSN) which involved flying between Toronto City Centre Airport (CYTZ) and Lester B. Pearson (CYYZ). We would awlays be in contact with CYTZ tower and either got to fly directly over CYTZ or within a few hundered feet of the CN tower. 

TheRealBicycleBuck > CodyVella 03/16/2019 at 08:44

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I’ve been flying Piper Warriors. My go-to bird is a little 140 which is perfect for building time. It’s also the cheapest rental in the fleet. They recently purchased a 180 which was on my list when I was actively searching for one to buy. I’m looking forward to flying it. I want to see if my instincts were good when I put it on my list.