Countdown to Christmas has begun as I opened the
first number on my Christmas calendar today. We
went on another SPIC flight today, this time to
Asheville, NC which is at about 2000 feet (which
looks like mountains compared to here).
Yesterday we flew to Columbia,SC via Charlotte,NC
to try to shoot an approach there. Charlotte is
class B airspace which is the kind of airspace which
is over and surrounds the biggest airports here
in the States. We tried twice yesterday to get in
there, but they aborted our apporach pretty early
because of traffic. The Cessna 172 is simply too
slow when they're trying to squeeze us in between
a bunch of different jets lined up for landing.
An airport like this is incredibly at night, cause
it looks like a hornets nest. Yesterday was the
Sunday after Thanksgiving, and I heard on CNN this
morning that there were more planes landing in the
States than any other day in the year during the
period we were out flying.
I had better luck today when I asked for an approach
into Charlotte. After being vectored around for
a while I finally got to the runway. Before this
I've never been in the proximity of a class B airspace,
which I think should be a compulsary experience.
You really have to concentrate on the radio.
The flight went on to Asheville which is located
in the foot of the Appalachian Mountains. A really
cosy fligth with Christmasmusic tuned in on the
ADF (a gadget we use to navigate which also can
pick up AM radio stations) and an incredible view.
I had som trouble with a really strong headwind
for a while, and we were almost standing still in
the air. I also had som problems with tubulence
from the mountains and for a while I had trouble
maintaining altitude even though I had full power.
We had a lunchbreak in Asheville and Anna took
us to a bagel café that she loves. After
a delicious lunch Kristian flew home with a couple
of approaches on the way (Hickory and Florence).
