My Aviators - My Journey as a Woman Pilot

So weather plays a big part in my training. On Friday, we went up and came right back down. We knew storms were coming, we could see the clouds, but you never really can tell how quickly they are going to be at your doorstep.

During Pre-Flight, Tim walked up to the plane and said that we might have to make it short today. By the time we had loaded up, started up and were taxing to runway 21, we were both thinking that maybe it would be a real short ride. By the time we had done our runup, we thought wow that storm looks really bad. By the time we were at the end of the runway on liftoff, we decided to change the lesson plan for the day. Touch and Go's it is.

Round one, pretty bumpy and windier than any of the other rides. But all went smoothly as far as procedure. The crosswind made landing more troublesome and since I am still pretty new, Tim did the majority of the landing.

Round two, bumpier and windier yet, Tim still landed. We actually came to a full stop on this round, took a look at the dark looming clouds headed for us and decided that we could fit one more round in. This required a back taxi since we were in the middle of the runway.

Round three, those clouds looked scary, we brought it down, did a post landing check, and taxied back to Carver Aero. We parked the plane. Shut her down and closed her up. As soon as we had gotten inside and started reviewing the skies opened up. It rained lightly on my way as I was driving away from the storm. The brunt of it hit my house about 4 minutes after I got here. It was also nice enough to knock out our power for the next 20 hours.

Although I didn't do much flying during my lesson this time around, I think I learned something much more valuable. Watch the weather, it can sneak in, and it can kill. This time around I am thankful Tim was watching as close as he was, and next time around, I will be sure to watch just as close.