Gary Reeves
SPONSOR
Lake Clark National Park, Alaska
I noticed that no one (not even that 26 point list) bothered to check to see if the tie down ropes were off and out of the way - especially that tail wheel rope.
Here is one. A good friend asked me to point this out. In Palmer but this could happen anywhere, we had a lot of wind. Ya imagine that. It was blowing around 40. The wind was not lined up with either runway. So, he landed in the grass between the runways where he could be lined up with the wind. Probably saved the aircraft (thus saving himself from a few scratches). .....
and just how many red bull's did you consume since the sun last day of sunshine, flat landers want to know?Hi.
Haven't been keeping up with the gang lately. My computer decided to take a smoke break. In fact, so did my phone, and my back up computer. I have had catastrophic breakdowns with everything computer. I needed a break. I guess they did too.
Speaking of breaks, I think I needed one. I let all my computing, calculating, business, everything take a break. I even let Super-cubs go for a month. I think that the hustle-bustle of flying the jet, running the school, trying to be a super-cub stud, and so on was having a real affect on my hot dance moves. My friends thought I fell off the radar, or maybe that whole alcohol, holstein-cow, dumpster incident finally caught up with me. More on that later...
Breaks, like the proverbial lunch break is there for a reason. It relaxes the mind and body. I clearly needed a month to get my head out of the box. I needed to get out of the game. Why? To get my head back into it. We pilots spend an incredible amount of time living on the edge. We educate ourselves day and night to maintain our edge. We spend an incredible amount of time trying to keep airplanes going, our logbooks current and our families happy while making all the ends connect. Aviation has it's downside for sure. We spend an incredible amount of time keeping this ball rolling. Geez, you would think were obsessed or something. I'm not sure about you but there are times when I think that if it doesn't belong on or in an airplane I don't need it. I live, eat, breath airplanes and anything to do with it. I love it for sure and most of the people I know also feel the same way.
So, why did I need a break? Well, I think it has to do with making sure everything else gets some of that quality time. I know my wife enjoyed the two weeks I was able to put in a new kitchen. Did you know you can get single tub sinks? I can get a whole hind quarter in this bas#@%! Anyhoo, taking the break let me catch up on all those things that kept my mind from doing what I love best...flying the airplane.
Before I took my "break," I noticed that my mind may have not been in the game all the time. I was not the focused (not saying much here), aviator I wanted to be. I took the time to get a little exercise, get the bills paid, fix the house and take some time with the family. It helped to peel off some of those distractors that would impact every trip I was on. They weren't very big distractors but they were a distraction. Heck, I was even thinking while landing the ol-73 that I needed to get home and get the garbage trailer to the Mat-Su dump. On a side note, do you guys know how many fuselage frames are laying there with good gear fittings on them??
In conclusion to this little note about breaks. I will learn how to spell spell distracters, and I will continue to add small periods of time in between flight segments to clear my head. I am starting to advocate this process to my primary students and to my commercial guys. If you're wondering why you feel a little not in the game, take a break. Get your mind out of the game, focus on something else for a while. Grab dinner with the spouse, take the dog for a walk, buy your wife a kitchen. Then get back into you flying with a clear head, and go get those gear fittings. Your flying will be more focused.
Artic
Thanks Jerry.
Can't wait to get back into the plane. I have one big, huge question for everyone. Is there an official Valdez Tattoo??
about the "funnest" airplane that was ever built and the view from the front seat is fantastic----just my 2 cents....!!!!!