After I completed my private pilot certification and got my airplane, I stopped posting here. But now that I'm starting training for my instrument rating, I realize I should have been writing here all along. At any rate, I hope to document some of the instrument flight training as well as more information about my airplane, N639MR.

I've completed two flight lessons to start my instrument training, and am looking forward to more. It's a true brain drain to fly for an hour or an hour and a half at a time "under the hood" - but it's also a lot of fun. "The hood" is a sort of visor worn by the instrument student that blocks your peripheral vision and allows you to see only the instruments on the dash/panel inside the airplane. The idea is that you should not be seeing anything outside the plane, which simulates flying in a white-out condition such as inside the clouds. It can be interesting, and many times already I have experienced "the leans" and other disorientation where what my brain and body are telling me are in no way accurate in terms of airplane attitude (pitch and roll).

Also, I recently wrote a couple posts about installing micro vortex generators on the Warrior, which you can read all about:

• Installing Micro Vortex Generators on Piper Cherokee Warrior – Part One
• Micro vortex generators on my Piper Cherokee Warrior -- The results are in!

I'll try to post some other catch-up information here, as well.

Flying and more flying, and being an owner

With more than 35 flight hours now logged in my Warrior, I'm getting to know the airplane pretty well. I've flown solo, with one person in the seat next to me, with one passenger in the front and another in the back seat, and in one case with one in the front and two in the back (they were light/young people, so still well within the weight and balance envelope).

Aircraft ownership brings with it some things you never have to deal with as a renter. When I cracked one of the stabilator fiberglass tips pushing the plane into the T-hangar parking spot, I had to buy a new one and have it installed. When the engine worries my novice and slightly-paranoid ear and I need to learn about better engine leaning and carburetor adjustments, I pay for the shop time to check it out. When the nose gear strut needs new seals and servicing, I pay for that. I just did pay for that, in fact. :)

Renters have all that stuff taken care of. If a rental is out for service, there's probably another plane you can fly.

But this airplane is mine. I can drive down to the hangar, pull the airplane out whenever I want, and fly it wherever I want - and for as long as I like. I have to buy the oil and fuel and parts, but in exchange I can fly for $30 an hour in fuel and oil (and then pay for as-needed parts and labor, plus inspections and whatnot).

Doing the calculations, I am flying quite a bit more in my own airplane than I would in a rental. I've flown more than 30 hours in the Warrior in about two months of ownership and sustaining this rate or something close to it won't be too difficult. With that many hours per year, I'm well past the affordability threshold for making ownership worthwhile, especially when you consider the low price I paid for the plane.

I've been able to share flying with friends, too - and that is the best part for me. While flying is something I actually enjoy doing alone (most activities I prefer to do with someone else), it's even better when someone else is in the airplane. I've even been thinking it might be fun some day (after I get a lot more experience and training) to teach others to fly. Now that would be fun!