Pilot's Log : Hours 18.6 - 20.1

It seems like I'm hardly flying anymore.  (because I'm not)  I had 3 flights cancelled last week because of weather and I cancelled another 3 this weekend because my folks will be in town.

But today's flight made up for all of that.  We started working on my cross-country training.  To start with, I had to learn how to use 2 more instruments--my VOR's.  It's how I can navigate without GPS.  And it's how those commercial planes you fly on get from place-to-place.  It's a fairly simple concept and not too difficult to work with so far.

The really good part of today's flight was the weather.  When I arrived, it was nice and mostly clear.  When I fly with my CFI, we don't always check the weather--he usually knows what's going on from being at the airport all day, so I didn't give it a second thought.

But once we got up, it was clear that clouds were rolling in quickly.  But we just got above them and did my training.  At 4,500 ft, I think it was the highest I've flown yet.  (yeah, it's not very high at all, but it's what I've got)

But by the time we headed back, it was clear that the clouds were really thick.  I found a little open spot and dropped from 4,500 to 2,000 through the hole.  But things weren't looking any better--another layer of clouds were right below them.

So, my CFI decided to give me some experience in the clouds.  He filed an in-flight IFR plan (Instrument Flight Rules--meaning you can fly through clouds) and had me fly in.  I've always heard that flying in the clouds is disorienting, and every bit of it is true.  I honestly couldn't tell you which way was up.  I had no idea.

I had to trust my instruments 100% to tell me what the heck I was doing.  (which is what you are supposed to do)  It's not as easy as you think.  I never realized how much attitude and altitude correction maintenance is a subconscious function enabled by having ground reference points.

But, of course, my CFI and Houston Approach guided me straight in.  Even though I couldn't see the ground--let alone the runway until I was about 700 ft off the ground and 1.5 miles from the runway (e.g. about 30 seconds away from touchdown), I was perfectly aligned and right on the glideslope.

I quickly remembered why I love flying.