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Flying Lesson 20
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Tonight's arrival at the airport was different than every other lesson to this point. Primarily because I arrived in the dark. The sun had set about 90 minutes earlier. When I had gotten there, the wind was totally calm, air was approximately 65 degrees Farenheit, and I was excited. This felt like an excellent night for flying. Although I was apprehensive early on in the lessons about flying at night, these feeling subsided and I actually couldn't wait to try it. We spent approximately 30 minutes developing a flight plan and discussing emergency procedures when it is dark outside. We essentially planned a route which would keep us near major highways all the way down and all the way back home. I tried pre-planning this flight at home and I basically drew a straight line between our departure and our destination airport. I hadn't considered the emergency landing factor at all.
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The flight went off without a hitch. Our planned route took us throught the airspace of a towered airport to a destination at another towered airport. The first airport we passed was Wilkes-Barre (Avoca, PA). We tuned to their frequency, announced ourself, and requested flight following to Lehigh International in Allentown, PA. This is an invaluable service. I am still nervous and unsure of myself when it comes to talking with air traffic controllers so this was really the only stressful part of tonight's flight. Once we were nearing Allentown, the Wilkes-Barre controller instructed us to contact Allentown approach which of course we did by switching frequencies. The airport was quiet, it was approximately 9:30 PM when we finally had the airport in site. The runway was lit up exteremely well with a lighted centerline. I was wishing I had a camera for our final approach, the view was awesome.
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Landing went very well. I have made great strides in my ability to land an airplane.We landed and taxied off the runway, then requested a second takeoff and a second full stop landing. The entire experience of taxiing at an airport of this size was also alot to absorb for one night. It is recommended that you carry an airport taxi diagram with you for review if necessary.
We took off and returned home without incident. Along the way we had a little fun by turning on some runway lights at a nearby airport that we happened to be passing. This was done by tuning to their frequency and clicking the microphone a number of times. When I finally arrived back at my house it was after 11:00PM. It actually took me quite a while to wind down from this exciting lesson even though it had been a long night.
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