After completing my instrument rating back in June, I am now almost finished with my commercial rating. Last night I finally logged over 250 flight hours. I just have one more flight to make and then get the ok from the school to sign up for the checkride. It's been a pretty fun rating with multiple cross country flights and new flight maneuvers. I wanted to share a few photos I've taken over the last 6 months of training.
Getting checked out in the school's Cessna 172RG Cutlass has been one of the most exciting parts of this rating. I really enjoy flying it. It's relatively easy to fly and I find it to be a very stable aircraft. Personally, I think it's easier to land than the Skyhawk.
Below are photos from my long cross country requirement flight. I flew from central Oregon all the way up to Port Angeles in Northern Washington in the school's 2001 C-172 Skyhawk. I chose this flight because it would cover open areas, mountains, large metropolitan areas, and open bodies of water. I fly all of these places regularly in my sim and I wanted to see them in person. The route would take me across the Cascades over to the Portland/Hillsboro area. From there I would go north and fly over Olympia and the Puget Sound area. I would keep going North and hang a left in the Whidbey Island area and head west to Port Angeles. Having just received my instrument rating a few weeks prior, this was the first time I ever filed IFR on my own and it was such an adventure!
Weather for the day was VFR for most of the Northwest but there was the possibility of having to fly over some cloud layers along the route. The briefer said that none of the layers were very thick so any layers that hadn't burned off by the time I arrived would be relatively thin. Just as predicted in the briefing, once I approach the Portland area, the cloud layer started to appear. Eventually, the ground disappeared for about an hour.
As I worked my way North the cloud layer dissipated and the views the rest of the way were phenomenal. With the Seattle area off to my right and the Olympic National Park off to the left, it was definitely a great day to by flying. It was also really cool to be on an IFR flight plan and see how everything works outside of a training environment.
I made it to Port Angeles and landed at William R Fairchild International. The flight back was even better in regard to views because all of the cloud layers dissipated. Coming from an area with no water other than lakes, it was really thrilling to briefly fly over a large body of water and even see Canada in the distance. In total, I logged 6.9 hours in the Skyhawk and made landings at 3 airports that day. I was exhausted but it was a great time. Below are just a few photos going home.
Skirting the coastline on my way home just after departing Port Angeles
Looking over my shoulder to see Canada off across the water
Downtown Seattle off in the distance
Flying over Portland
Crossing the Cascades for the second time that day heading home
, why the gear down ?
