222.5h – Confident Flying

Yesterday I did my first solo flight in the United States since 2011 and it all went great. Back then, just after my checkride, I did only one flight as a private pilot in this country. The flight to Ocean Shores, WA, was quite eventful. I had direct crosswind on landing, deer on the taxiway,…

213h – Lightnings

The weather in Denver was again hot and convective. I scheduled a usual VFR flight to become familiar with the area. During taxi I realized the Skyhawk had a lightning detector built in. After departure, my instructor asked me if I had seen the lightning ahead of us. In fact, our “strike finder” indicated it…

NOTAM: Airspace not Classified

The flyout from Switzerland to Greece taught me a lot, and not only flying-wise. I have seen Europe from a different point of view. Astonishing, how unique every country on our continent is. In this context I remember the flight from Croatia to Greece the most. We were cruising above the most beautiful islands of…

Class Delta Confusion

Does air traffic control ensure separation between IFR and VFR traffic in class delta? The answer is no. Curiously enough 75% of private pilots and 70% of airline transport pilots believe it is not their responsibility. A survey revealed these shocking numbers. An airprox involving a Saab 2000 and a military PC-7 occured on september…

Blue Skies

During the grey fall days it is hard to believe that there’s blue skies – anywhere above. One lucky Saturday the clouds opened up a bit to let us catch a bit of sunlight. Knowing there weren’t any clouds in the alps, we headed toward them for a $100 fondue. The alps holding back the…