The Mid-Winter Pilot Blues



Winter...Blaah

Well here we are, early February and the flying time is quite limited.  I finally got out today and did soft and short practice.  It seemed good to get back in the air since I have only flown 3 out of the last 11 times I scheduled a plane and instructor. Most of the cancellations were due to weather the rest to the normal mechanical issues.  That is how it goes in the northern portion of the country.  There are a few activities things that can keep us interested in flying during the middle of winter blues.  Try scheduling a visit to a museum.  I was surprised how many aviation museums are located within a days drive of northcentral Pa.  You can drill down on them by going to www.thirtythousandfeet.com/museums.htm  Select Pa or NY and you will be surprised what you find.  I have added a new museum to my "wanna see" list after looking at this site.  It is in Rhinebeck NY. http://www.oldrhinebeck.org/  They have airshows every Sunday in season of what appears to be WWI aircraft.  The next activity to keep your head in flying is attending safety seminars.  You can get a list of those at http://www.faast.gov/  You may be surprised at how many there are and how close they are to where you live.  Lastly, and if you are really bored, try logging into http://www.mywrittenexam.com/  Here you can take a FAA private pilot knowlege test.  You will be graded just as though you were taking the actual test and timed while you do it.  Go ahead, test your knowlege, this is a great place to drudge up some of those forgotten FAR's and see just how sharp you are on the knowlege side of flying.  Go to a museum, find a ground school, attend a safety seminar, refresh your knowlege.  Winter is a great time to do aviation things that you put off when you can fly the rst of the year!