Vectors To Final

Each flight with the G1000 avionics teaches me more about them. My most recent flight was no exception. This time I tested how the G1000 handles switching over to the alternate static air source. Static air pressure is used to determine altitude, air speed, and vertical speed in the airplane - when you switch to the alternate source (maybe because ice formed over the normal port , or it was otherwise clogged) you switch to reading the pressure of the air in the cabin of the airplane. This cabin air is at a slightly lower pressure than the outside air due to aerodynamic forces sucking air out of the tiny gaps in the cabin (around the doors, windows, and other places). So when you switch to the alternate source, the airplane thinks you are climbing momentarily. I wanted to see how the autopilot and the G1000 would react when this was done in flight. The first time I tried it I switched to the alternate source and saw the autopilot start to correct altitude as I expected. I quickly ...

Having not experienced too many crosswinds recently, today worked out well to give me some practice. I just made 2 landings, but each had a ~10kt crosswind - not much but enough to let me practice my crabbing/slipping technique. I flew down to KCDN to check out that airport in Camden, near the family lake house. Here's a quick photo of the lake house I grabbed with my iPhone: As I approached KCDN I talked with some traffic going into the airport. By the time I was within a few miles the traffic had all settled down - a Cirrus was dropping off a passenger, a Cessna was taxiing to their tie down, and a turbine helicopter was idling by a building on the airport property. I just taxied back to take off again. While I was down on the ground I took in the local sites. The airport has two runways, both of which looked recently paved and were in top-notch condition. The airport buildings also looked well maintained. The return trip to KUZA was a slow one with a 27 kt headwind (so my ...