Well guys, its been a pretty good week. I got out of KGPT Wednesday
nignt for my 1st out of state flight. It was simply over to downtown Mobile
(KBFM) but it was my 1st offiial $100.00 hamburger flight.
On the plus side, my landings are finally consistant. On the minus
side, the lighting is so BAD in the 172 and the flight plan is so ergonomicly
poor, I am having a VERY hard time with my in flight paperwork. To correct this
I went to radio shack and bought 8 of thir high intensity pink LEDS, and put
thim in my 98 cent Harbor Freight flashlight. I then bought a 3/4 inch
electical wire bundle clamp and mounted the flashlight on my headsets side
opposite the microphone, on the screw that tensions the sliding adjustments. It
is the PERFECT solution. After aiming it I now have a nice bright reddish light
EXACTLY where I am looking whenever I need it. I then took the silver eagle
flight planning sheet and increased its size, color coded the important fields
in yellow, and increased the font size in the GS, ATA, and Fuel Calculation
fields so I can, at a glance, know where my important info is. That should help
with my resource mangement greatly.
Thursday I got out in the afternoon and did my first solo from one airspace to
another (GPT to HSA and back). There was lots of early afternoon turbulance as
the earth warmed up, and I didnt think I'd be as nervous as I actually was, but
I did ok. Well, except for telling Gulfport Approach that I was 5 miles west of
the airport at TWO ZERO Thousand Feet for a full stop. The background laughter
from the GPT approach microphone was a bit telling....
And the saga continues.
Glenn Martin
KR2 N1333A
Biloxi, MS, 39532
rep...@martekmississippi.com
