2012 Aviation Update
It is that time of year where we pilots (yea, we are all analytical) look back on all the flights and summarize our stats. Even with a significant amount of downtime on the plane due to avionics upgrades/repairs and the engine being replaced at annual I was still able to meet my yearly goal of flying over 100 hours. We also had some great adventures. Here is a summary of 2012:
2012 Hours: 109.3
Total Hours: 593.4 – I’ll break 600 hours early in 2013. Next year I’m shooting to break 700 hours.
2012 Approximate Mileage: >10,000 miles.
New Airports: 24 – KOXI, 2H0, KSKY,KSPI, 06C, 3A1, KDTS, 2M2, KPIA, KSUS, KDKB, C09, KMDW, M01, KNEW, KJWN, KBBG, KIND, KRCR, KVPZ, C20, KRPJ, KVGT, U30.
New States: 4 – Missouri, Louisiana, Nevada & Arizona. The picture below is all the states that I have landed in.
Notable flights: Wow, there were a ton this year. The family was able to get good use of the plane even in the winter months with a trip to Allegan, Michigan in early January to see Lori’s family and a trip in February to Sandusky, OH to meet Jeff’s sister and family at Kalahari Water Park Resort. In March for Spring Break we flew to Destin, FL and enjoyed a great week with great flights. In April we were back in Michigan for Easter. In June Jeff and a friend flew up to Chicago Midway to go to the Tiger-Cubs game at Wrigley. In July Jeff & Lori flew to Memphis, New Orleans & Nashville for their 10th Anniversary. In August the family flew to Branson, MO to enjoy a weekend just before school started. The plane was in annual for most of October & November getting a new engine installed but in December the family was again able to fly up to Michigan to celebrate Christmas with Lori’s family. In early December Jeff and a group of friends went to Las Vegas and rented a plane where we flew around Lake Mead, the Grand Canyon & the Hoover Dam. You can click on each of these links to see pictures and more details of these adventures.
Along with all these trips I was also able to fly with an instructor friend from the University of Illinois numerous times to stay current and sometimes find a good place to eat. On one of these flights I was able to experience my first approach to minimums. I was also able to meet up with the SMBC – “Sunday Morning Breakfast Club” on quite a few occasions throughout the year. This is a group of Chicagoland pilots who meet up a different airports in Illinois & Indiana every Sunday morning. Hopefully we will be able to attend more of these meetups in the coming year!
2012 has been a great year from an aviation perspective! I only hope that the coming years are as exciting and productive!
Here is more data for my pilot friends (2012/Total):
Cross-country: 91/369
Night: 11/52
IMC: 7/29
Simulated Instrument: 6/56
Landings: 84/856
Approaches: 30/153
Did you enjoy this post? Why not leave a comment below and continue the conversation, or subscribe to my feed and get articles like this delivered automatically to your feed reader.
Comments
No comments yet.
Leave a comment