Weather has a big impact on aviation. That sounds pretty self evident after reading it back but it is sometimes under appreciated. I have been trying to finish my Mooney M20J checkout and complete my Duel Day Commercial X-ctry at the same time but weather was not cooperating. However, my flying club annual was nearing expiration so I am up against that deadline.
Deadlines and aviation don’t mix well with each other. It leads to hazardous attitudes and poor aeronautical decision making in order to complete whatever mission/deadline that you have in your plans. So the best course of action is to remove said deadline and thus removing the need to take risks to accomplish the task. So that is what I did… err sort of.
I removed the pressure of completing the checkout/flying club annual from my mission to complete the Duel Day Commercial X-ctry. Weather was looking good recently but when I woke up, the ceilings were not lifting all that fast. So I talked to my instructor and we agreed to drive to the airport and see if we could get in the 3 landings that I needed to complete the checkout. After about an hour of chatting, the ceilings lifted to just above pattern altitude so I proceeded with the preflight.
I just needed short field and soft field takeoffs and landings. I was able to finish with just 3 t/o and landings. 1 short, 1 soft and 1 regular. I impressed my instructor with my proficiency or else I would have had to do more. In true fashion, he boosted my ego a bit by saying how good I make him look as an instructor. It really is just ego boosting but it does feel good to have some encouragement.
I strive to fly safe and honor what I have learned from my past and current instructors. I feel fortunate to have such great mentorship in my aviation life. So that is it, my final flight of the Mooney M20j checkout. Overall, it was a fun checkout and I do enjoy flying the Mooney. It is a little spending for hour building but should be a decent family cross country aircraft.