2015 Aviation Update
I love looking back on all of my flights from the year and summarizing them for everyone to review. I was actually surprised that I flew as much as I did this year when I summed up all of my flights. We had a couple of big trips and really were able to use the capability of N111RW – our 1981 Piper Saratoga. I really learned a lot about our new airplane and have become more proficient in it. N111RW was also grounded for about 3 months (Aug-Oct) as well due to it needing its engine inspected after the prop was struck by a tug at the airport while it was tied down. Nothing significant was found and the FBO took care of all of it including an overhaul of the propeller and a new lower cowling. During this time they also gave me access to one of their Cirrus SR22’s which was a great experience learning to fly. On top of our vacations we also flew 5 rescue missions for Pilots N Paws. Of course I didn’t have nearly enough hours but I am grateful that I have the resources and support from my family to be able to fly such an excellent airplane! I look forward to 2016 to be able to continue to fly many more exciting trips.
Here is a summary of 2015:
2015 Hours: 76.2
Total Hours: 834.1
2015 Approximate Mileage: >8,000 miles.
New Airports: 9 – KCHS, N87, KGNV, KSRQ, KOFP, KFKN, KFDK, KFLD, KLYH
Map of all the flights made in 2015:
New States: No new states added in 2015. This map shows all the states I’ve landed a GA airplane to date.
Year in review: In January I only had one local flight with a quick stop in Wakefield to get fuel with my friend Mark. We had some decent weather in February so the family and I spent a weekend in Charleston, SC. I took the week off of work and assisted with the annual inspection for N111RW the first week of March and met up with some good friends Gary and Bob in Georgetown, DE the weekend after it was complete. Later in March the family completed our first Pilots N Paws mission where we helped “Lady” and her 11 puppies get from North Carolina up to Rhode Island. We flew the 2nd leg from Richmond, VA to Trenton, NJ. We had a lot of flying hours in April when we went to Florida for Spring Break. On our way down we stopped in Wilmington, NC for a night and picked up “Jack the Border Collie” who flew with us to Sarasota, FL on our 2nd Pilots N Paws rescue of the year. In May I had a bunch of flights but they were all relatively local to Richmond. I was able to fly with a few friends including a flight with my Kevin to Franklin for an EAA breakfast. Gary came down to Richmond at the end of the month and we took turns flying in each other’s airplanes and practiced a few approaches to update our currency. In June Bryan and I flew with Jake to the AOPA Homecoming Fly-In in Frederick, MD and surprisingly this was my only flight that month. July I would make up for it though with a flight to Michigan to spend the week with Lori’s family. Bryan and I flew over to Oshkosh, WI to spend a couple of nights camping and meeting up with our friends Frank and Bev. N111RW was grounded after we returned from Michigan so August I spent a few hours learning how to fly N544CD – A Cirrus SR22. Bryan and I flew with Kevin and his son Ben to Wildwood NAS for lunch and to see the museum in the Cirrus. Also in August we flew the Cirrus to Myrtle Beach,SC for a long weekend. September was a quiet month as I waited for the repairs to N111RW to be completed and then October & early November were just been local flights testing and working through a few issues with the shop after the maintenance work. In November I completed 2 additional Pilots N Paws missions. The first was with Jake where we flew the SR22 to Charlotte, NC to pickup Taco & Betsy. After Thanksgiving, Bob, Hannah & I flew back to Charlotte in our plane to meet the same people to pickup Snowflake, Butterfly & Smoki. On both of these missions we met other pilots here in Richmond for them to take the next legs. December has not been an active month for my flying this year either. On multiple occasions I had plans to fly but I was either sick or the weather got in the way. That’s okay though, in looking back I had a great year of flying! I look forward to 2016 where I already have my first flight planned for January 1st to go with Bryan, Kevin & Ben to Washington Dulles to go to the Air & Space Museum.
Here is more data for my pilot friends (2015/Total):
Cross-country: 61.7/569.9
Night: 2.5/62.4
IMC: 6.7/54.6
Approaches: 24/214
Landings: 53/1047 (Ask me how many of these were good….)
Click here to review prior years updates: 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010
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Comments
Sounds like a good year to me! The downtime on your airplane must have been frustrating, but I have to imagine that the Cirrus was an interesting distraction. Would love to hear your thoughts on it as another Piper pilot. Hope your trip to Dulles goes well…I love the museum (I was just there earlier in 2015), but would be particularly interested in your experience with Dulles. Happy new year!
Great write up!
On the landings…..they were all good, the plane still flys! 😉