Night landings

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So I was 6 months out of currency for night landings. (It can be difficult to get an aircraft late enough, as sunset is pretty late this time of year, and the flying school closes at 7 pm).

I fixed that last night.

One of the crew at the flying school was gonna be flying until about 10PM,  I arranged for him to call me when he was about 20 minutes out, met him at the ramp, and did 3 night landings before we put the plane away.

Total time for 3 full stop landings and the associated taxiing and pattern:
0.2.

The pattern was empty, winds were calm, so I did one takeoff on 36, transitioned to the left for landing on 9. Full stop…took off again and did a transition to 18, full stop, went around the pattern from 18, then transitioned to 27  for my last one and turned off at the appropriate taxiway (this was the shortest path) and taxied back to the school.  Pretty much cloverleafs.

I remember night landings to be harder. This time they were fairly easy.

So now I got my 3 for the next 90. 

More light makes it better

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So, having worked with another couple of range members to replace the lights in the indoor range, but not yet having had a chance to try shooting with the new lighting (the old lighting consisted of 6 500 watt quartz halogen fixtures for 12 lanes,….there were shadows and the fixtures had become…..tired) I chose Monday to spend an hour at the indoor range, as the outdoor range was about 94 F and VERY humid. Plus I had to wait there for the Fed-Ex dude to show up with a package for our in house FFL.

Anyway, I did slow fire at 50 feet.  Had the range all to myself. No distractions.

Wow, The new light fixtures make a great deal of difference. There is about twice the amount of light, and with 13 point sources instead of 6 (one in between each shooting point plus the ends) there are nearly no shadows. At times, with the old lighting, it could be difficult to see even .45 caliber holes in the target…no longer.

Plus, better lighting means better sighting.

 The first two are a string of 9 (each) ….1 in the pipe and 8 in the mag. Pace was about 1 round per second.

The first one is one handed

 the second is a Weaver stance.

This one was 2 mags, at a slightly faster, but not rushed, pace….Weaver.

I’m happy with those targets.

All in all, I like the results the new lighting make on my shooting. Much easier on these older eyes.

I must say though that that was the DIRTIEST WWB ammo I have ever used.
Seldom am I moved to clean my Para 7.45 1911 after only a hundred rounds…But today was one of those days. 

WTF do they expect???

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These are Wild Animals, not cute furry pets. The fact that they are caged in a zoo does not change their nature.

They need to eat, and, if not fed, will hunt for their food.
They hunt, and kill, other animals.
They are predators, doing what predators do.

NEW ORLEANS — Eight animals have now died after a jaguar escaped from its habitat at the Audubon Zoo in New Orleans. CBS affiliate WWL-TV reports an alpaca and fox died Sunday, the day after the male jaguar killed four alpacas, one emu and one fox Saturday morning.

To expect any other behavior is to show your ignorance. 

Keep pushin’ that story

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While the Media keeps pushing the “Russia hacked the DNC in an attempt to “influence” the 2016 elections” meme during the stories about Trump’s meeting with putin, they leave out an important bit of data: One fun fact that they leave out is that no one has examined the DNC server to see what, if any, evidence might point to the accusation that it is the “Russsians”.

Neither the FBI, nor the NSA has been allowed to examine the server. The DNC has refused to allow ANYONE to examine it. Nor has it been kept in a secure location, so it is useless as evidence now.

We only have the word of the DNC that it was the “Russians” that did this.

Odd that, despite there being such an outcry that there was a crime committed the DNC refused to allow any investigation, innit? 

On the one hand

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This idiot was pretty much out of line and should have been told by friends to shut up….perhaps a bit too much hops and barley?

On the other hand, He’s being charged with a Hate Crime….which is pretty stupid. Where are HIS Free Speech rights? He had an opinion, and even if it was in bad taste (or just flat out bigoted and wrong) he too has a right to speak, even if his opinion is bigoted and, frankly, stupid.

While I would like to see folks show some pride in the US if they are American Citizens, they too have the right to Free Speech, even if that is a t-shirt that others find distasteful.  Good with the Bad and all that. Either we have Free Speech or we have “RightThink”. Which is it?

So I ask you, why does this drunken idiot guy not get to speak his mind without being arrested for it? Just because some chippie posted her video on Social Media? Because everyone has the right to prove they are an idiot by speaking, don’t they?

I mean, he might have been intimidating (and an ass), but until he laid a hand on her, she had no cause to charge him. Perhaps he was as offended by her shirt as she was by his words…..
And nowhere in our Constitution do I see anything that says you don’t have a right to an opinion or not be offended.

This is why I worked to get it.

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My pilots license, that is….

Met my parents at the Airplane rental hangar yesterday about 4 pm.

We did the chores, fired up the 172 and flew around a bit, looked at their house (what we could see of it, they have a lot of trees) then flew along the Lake Michigan lakeshore for about 20 miles and looked at the beautiful beaches.

Then we flew to Rochester for dinner.

(Rochester is far enough away from our homes that we would normally not drive there for dinner, bust since we were flying at 105 knots, we could get there in a reasonable amount of time).

Someone got smart, and there is a well-mowed grassy area and a path off the paved taxiway that planes can use to taxi and park across the street from a nice little restaurant.

It was a nice dinner with my parents, and a nice flight.
Skies were a bit hazy, but the views were awesome, and the company was good.

I greased both landings, one at RCR and one back at my home airport. (yeah, the winds were light and favorable, but still).

All in all, a great evening and a nice reward for me, having struggled to gain my Private Pilot license.

Plus, I got to show off a bit.

This is why I wanted to fly, at least in part….To go places and see things and get there faster with friends and people I love to be with.

I shouldn’t really complain, but if other parts of my world were different, it’d be a perfect life right now. but overall, I’m pretty content.

So….

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Equal protection under the law…right?

When will Peter Strozk be imprisoned for  failing to answer question posed by Congress?

(And, for that matter, one would wonder Lying to Congress as well)

Isn’t it interesting

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That, after years of the DNC types ignoring court orders, and DNC affiliated heads of Federal agencies being allowed to ignore or dismiss court orders…Especially when it comes to investigations into the practices of their members…..or when ignoring those orders benefits their cause.

Yet now, these same folks are insisting the the Trump Administration follow the courts orders to reunite the kids taken from their (criminal) parents be reunited with them….

Odd how they think that the courts have the power to rule when it benefits them, and not so much when it doesn’t….

(and, again, are we gonna “reunite” all those kids taken from their parents when their (US Citizen) parents were arrested for crimes and incarcerated??? Who is gonna pay for those huge expansions to the prisons and jails for schools and playrooms? I mean, all US citizen arrestees get separated from THEIR children…..How come illegal border crossers get special treatment?)