Vectors To Final

Last week I was experiencing some trouble with the glideslope indicator in 35388 so today I planned to test it at a another airport while building a little more time in the airplane using the VFR GPS for navigation. I also brought along the GPSMap 296 to test out the cigar lighter power plug (worked well). We went over to KFCI since they have an ILS 33 that we could test against. We made sure to stay clear (south) of the KRIC airspace since we weren't talking to them today. Unfortunately I found that the glideslope needle never came alive during the approach. The localizer worked fine but the glideslope flag never came alive and the glideslope needle just stayed centered. I double-checked my freq dial-in and ID'd the station via Morse code. I also twisted the OBS to make sure the localizer needle was correctly unaffected by that. All my tests seemed fine - except I was getting no glideslope. Guess we need to get it looked at. We've also had some problems with water...

This was too fun to not post. Someone made a small game where you fly over top of Google maps satellite images . Pretty fun way to waste a few minutes.

This morning we beat the rain clouds out to the airport (just barely) so that we could take our dog, Lynk the black lab, up for his first flight. He sat in the backseat while K kept watch on him, wary of any possible freak-outs. He did just fine though. Stayed totally calm throughout the entire traffic pattern. The only problem he had was figuring out how to get in/out of the backseat (quite a jump for him, especially with the wheel pants in the way). He also wasn't a fan of the doors slamming shut, but he'll get used to it. The dog made the short 0.2 hour flight a memorable one. I liked looking back to check the elevator movement and seeing him smiling back at me.

K and I went out to the airplane today to work on a few things. I wanted to add some air to the tires and put some petroleum on the primer in the hopes of making it move a little easier. K wanted to start work on some of the pockets that have not aged well. She removed one of the interior panels (held on by about 3 screws) and started looking into the best way to fix it. I also grabbed the GPS data card so that I can update it tomorrow. As we were leaving the airport one of the co-owners of 35388, John, gave me a call. He was coming out to the airport to fly his microlight trike and was looking for a passenger to join him - I think I said yes almost before he could ask. K and I turned back toward the airport and before long John was pulling the trike out of the hangar. We donned helmets (that had cut-outs for headsets too) and cranked up the engine. We taxied out and soon we were off the runway climbing at what seemed like a really nice rate. The throttle is operated by a gas ...

Today I purchased a 1/4 share in a Cessna 172-I, N35388. The airplane was built 9 years before I was born, but has been well maintained and updated over the years to keep it from getting too out-of-date. It has a VFR GPS ( a Garmin 250xl ) and a relatively new paint job. This is the first airplane I have been an owner of and I'm excited to start taking overnight trips with it soon. Having never made an overnight trip before (since I've always rented airplanes) I am looking forward to seeing what new flight-planning curve balls those types of trips throw my way. My underlying plan is to make sure I have a flexible schedule, since I will not be pushing any limits when the weather is involved. Some of its interesting traits, being an older 172, is that the right-side door does not have a window and there is no step-up to get to the fuel tanks - you need a little ladder. The airspeed indicator is in MPH. It also has old style switches (push-rod type) and a mixture that can...