All kinds of thoughts were going through my mind and I was double checking the pre-flight checklist and the startup checks because I was sure that I was going to miss something or do something boneheaded.
My double checking must have paid off though because I got it started with no major oversights. :)
My first pick-up was pretty good and I was a bit wonky as I hovered out to the taxi-way, but I got that stabilized pretty quickly.
I made my radio call and was on the go. Now, I hate to admit it, but my first take-off wasn't that great. I completely didn't anticipate the little roll as I got through ETL and into transverse flow effect. So, I blew a bit left before I caught up to it and I'm sure any casual onlookers were snickering at the new student pilot. . .
After a turn through the pattern and a not-so-perfect normal approach, I settled down and was back to my old self. I was happy, surprised, and a bit shocked at how well I did overall. I need to keep my skills fresh so, I'm going to try to go for at least 30 minutes every other week until I can start up with my commercial lessons again. Hopefully, if I'm going a bit more frequently, for future flights I'll be able to skip the nerves and initial "break-in" that I had today.
I had a buddy along today for moral support as well (a fellow pilot who is a bit further along that I am) and he didn't run screaming from the helicopter when I finally set it down in front of the hangar so, I suppose that's a good sign too :D
Anyway, it felt good to get back up in the air in something that you actually have to fly (sorry you fixed wingers, it's just not the same in a plane).
For my next post, I'll try to add some pictures of the Remos and a few helicopter pics I have too.
Fly safe,
Kelly
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