2 Years

I've let myself down. I've missed my 2 year PPL ASEL anniversary by 3 days! 

Words can't describe the joys I've experienced over the last 2 years. I've survived the bad landings to share my stories with anyone who has wanted to listen.

Always chase your dreams my friends. Push yourself go take your adventures one step further. Never stop being a student. Never stop telling stories. Never stop smiling.

Departing 07R KPHX December 2012

SKYHAWK 288 @ Cutter Aviation @ KPHX

FLOATPLANE 21 TANGO @ Seattle

Meanwhile back in Ireland.....................

Been over a month since I flew. Life goes on here in Ireland. I have enquired about joining one of two flying clubs near Dublin. Hopefully I can join one in a few weeks time and fly in the autumn before the weather worsens for the winter.

Stay tuned. I am sure there are some great flying adventures ahead. Meanwhile, enjoy a few photos I've captured around Dublin Airport over the last few weeks.

In the Pattern Podcast

Big shout out to the team over at +In The Pattern Podcast for having me on their show. Having the opportunity to share my story sums up how powerful social media is in terms of building an aviation community.

Three years ago, these guys were just "voices in my head". Thanks to social media, I've met them at Oshkosh and flown with one of them. As we both lived in Arizona, I wish had met Chris a few months earlier but we did manage to fly twice before I left the US. 

The four Private Pilots all have similar experiences and hours build since passing their checkrides. Their podcast started back when they were Student Pilots. If you have not been listening, now would be a good time to look them up on iTunes or whatever software you use to listen to aviation podcasts.

Thanks Chris, John, Brad and Mark!

Link to audio - https://inthepatternpodcast.simplecast.fm/65

Ballyboy Airfield

First weekend in Ireland and I'm already having withdrawal symptoms from the US. As a result, I dragged my family to a BBQ event at Ballyboy Airfield (EIMH) which is located approx. 25nm NW of Dublin.

skyvector.com VFR Map

Spent a couple of hours touring the grounds and watching the aircraft arriving and departing. 

The Irish Coast Guard showed up with their Sikorsky helicopter. Lolar from the Aer Lingus Charitable Foundation also made an appearance. Good to see a couple of N reg Cessna's parked on the grass.

I'm looking forward to attending as many fly-ins over here in Ireland over the coming months. Hopefully it won't be too long before I'm flying into one myself. 

Wakey Wakey #letsgoflying

Irish Coast Guard Sikorsky S-92A

UK Registered Cessna 140

Chipmunks in RAF and Irish Air Corps Paint Schemes

918 Days

918 days after arriving in the US it is time to leave and head back to Ireland. I returning home to Ireland with no regrets.

So long America. See you next time.

N54288 KCHD

Last Adventure

Had my last adventure in the US. 3.5 hours logged on a cross country between Oregon and Seattle. Landed at KRNT which is my 42nd airport. Never quite made it to 50!

SEATTLE TAC

VFR transition across SEATAC class bravo was amazing.

Return flight is available on Flightaware.

http://flightaware.com/live/flight/N5440H/history/20140521/0212Z/KSEA/KPDX

Photos to follow.

Seattle Seaplanes - Part 2

Aborted take-off and my first glassy water technique approach and landing.

Seattle Seaplanes - Part 1

Check out my video from last weekend. Hopefully it motivates someone to go and try Seaplane flying.

Busy Evening at @flypdx

Flew into KPDX after a long week at work. Busy at KPDX and the surround airspace, but TRACON still found time to slot me in. Gotta love flying in Portland.


Cockpit Audio

http://k007.kiwi6.com/hotlink/8794y4h9o3/PDX_Class_Charlie_Arrival.mp3

AOPA Article

Big thanks to Jill at AOPA for her continued coverage of my aviation journey. She wrote an article about my pending move away from the US. Was a nice surprise to check my Twitter feed today to see this!

What I said is true. GA is very special in the US. Fight to keep what you have because its amazing!

http://blog.aopa.org/flighttraining/?p=3170

First Seaplane Flight

Logged 1.6 hours. 7 water landings and signed off my BFR. What a great day to go flying in Seattle. Booked a two hour training flight with Seattle Seaplanes based at Lake Union in Seattle, WA.

0W0, Lake Union, WA

WATER RUDDERS - UP

We departed Lake Union which lies just north of downtown Seattle. Flew over Lake Washington and then transitioned the northern part of Boeing Fields airspace before heading NW over the Puget Sound towards Port Orchards where we would perform the majority of the training maneuvers. 

Performed 95% of the flying myself. First take-off and landing was tough but I soon got the hang of it. What an amazing experience. When I return to the US I will be sure to add on this rating.

Downtown Seattle

Inside FLOATPLANE 21T

Flying NW over Puget Sound

Beach Landing in 21T!

Downtown Seattle

KPDX Arrival Video

Landing 10L KPDX.

KPDX

First time landing at KPDX today. Turns out it was my wife's first flight in Oregon too. Great service provided by PDX TRACON and TWR.

Video to follow.

Happy Wife!

PDX Class Charlie Airspace

Mount Saint Helens Video

Short video of my VFR photo mission to Mount Saint Helens on Friday evening. Unfortunately the new GoPro camera position looking forward did not come out too well. I still need to experiment with the best position.

New Camera Angle

Discovered a new camera angle on my GoPro. Here is a short video of me landing at Sportmans and Twin Oaks last weekend (no audio).

Mt. Saint Helens

Another first. Picked up flight following from PDX TRACON and headed north east on a photo mission to Mt. Saint Helens. The volcano peaks at 8600'. I followed the procedure stated in the AFD and flew counter clockwise at 10500'. 

On the return leg back south, PDX offered me a class charlie transition overhead KPDX and onwards to 7S3.

A great day to fly in Oregon!

Crater @ Mt. Saint Helens

Mt. Saint Helens VFR 10500'

Overhead KPDX VFR 3600'

Long Cross Country

Great flight Saturday visiting another new airport (KEUG). Flew over 210nm. Flight following from PDX DEP/APP, CASCADE APP and SEA CTR. Received flight following the entire way. Great service. No charge!

Great day to go flying in Oregon. Lots of activity at 7S3 yesterday and the surrounding airports. Landed at my 39th airport (KEUG). Aborted an approach at Newport, Oregon (KONP) due to high winds. Had an aircraft be told by SEA CTR to call a landline. Landed back at Sportman on the way back to 7S3. A great day to be a pilot in Oregon.

Video to follow soon.

Planned Route

Busy 7S3

Final 34R KEUG

Flying in Ireland

Here is a 10 minute video of my flight in Ireland last week. 

I will blog about the flight later this week.

#letsgoflyingireland

Logged 1.0hour and 1 landing in Ireland today. First flight in Ireland since passing my FAA PPL in June 2012. Photos and details to follow.....................

Twin Oaks - Runway 20

Here is the video from my flight last week. Great being airborne again. Loved the challenge of landing on runway 20 for the first time. Video quality is rather poor with the evening light fading but hopefully you get to see how much fun this approach was!