Richmond for Dinner

N80399 - C172M - 2.5 hours

Prior to this flight, there was some talk among the Clipper Crew to take the DC-3 out for a bit, but those plans got delayed, and I really wanted to take advantage of the weather. Phil agreed to sit right seat so that I could log the never ending simulated instrument time to help chip away at that requirement. Along those lines, at some point during the flight, he asked me how long it had been since I actually flew a plane by looking out the window. Apart from short flights and takeoffs and landings, it has been a while.

We chose to fly down to Chesterfield (FCI) to meet up with his brother and sister in law for dinner. The flight down was simple, and Phil kept me out of the way of some other people taking advantage of the nicer weather, to include someone doing aerobatics down near Warrenton (HWY). Once we were down at FCI, Phil coordinated with his brother to get us a ride to dinner. The Cracker Barrel isn't exactly gourmet dining, but I think we all appreciated it. I definitely ate too much. Oh well.

The flight back was slightly calmer, and we finished it off by taking a few laps around the pattern in order to keep night currency. These landings were witnessed by a few members of the Clipper Crew who had been working in the hangar, so I got a ribbing from them via text as we were putting the plane back in its spot.

The Lights of Richmond

The only debrief item I noted for the flight was that I should be more mindful of allowing other people to rush me. The Runway 16L runup area is closed for expansion and nearby taxiway work, so the controller asked if I would be ready upon reaching the runway as there would be another aircraft behind me. Instead of saying no, or coming up with an alternate solution, I simply agreed, ran the engine up very briefly on the taxiway, and then called ready. While I checked the engine briefly, I should have given it my full attention with a complete run up. The controller would have understood, or at least given me an alternate instruction had I said no and opted to take a moment to check things over before departing.

Hours:
Pilot in Command Cross Country (PIC XC): 2.5 - 114.5 (of 50)
Actual/Simulated Instrument (Act/Sim): 1.6 - 28.8 (of 40)
Dual Complex: 0.0 - 5.0 (of 10)
Total Time in Aircraft: 2.5 - 183.2 (of 250)