First Flight! (again)

I'm finally back in the air after three years. I recently joined the Valley Fliers flying club located at Auburn Airport (S50) in Auburn, Washington, and today I went up with an instructor for a Bi-annual Flight Review (BFR) and to get checked-out in one of the club's Cessna 172's. Prior to the flight I had completed a written questionnaire that went over the details of operating a Cessna 172, including important things like weight and balance, density altitude, maintenance, etc., and the instructor and I spent some time reviewing aviation regulations and discussed the details of the flight. I told him that since it had been awhile since I flew, I might be a little rusty, so we decided to take things slow and see where I needed work.

I did the pre-flight inspection and then we climbed aboard and prepared to take off. Getting back into the cockpit was like coming home. As I went through the pre-take-off checklist things started coming back to me and I quickly started to feel comfortable again. We departed runway 16 and the instructor commented that it was a great take-off. We headed out to the practice area and I performed stalls, slow flight, steep turns, and other flight maneuvers. The instructor commented that if he hadn't known, he would never have guessed that I hadn't flown in three years. After a few more maneuvers, he cut the power and I went through a simulated engine-out emergency. My instincts kicked right in and I immediately trimmed for best glide speed (65 knots) and identified a suitable place to land. I then ran through the engine-out procedures in an attempt to get the engine running again. Failing to get it cranked back up, I set the transponder to squawk 7700, tuned the radio to 121.5 Mhz, and declared an emergency (all simulated of course). I set up a downwind leg for the spot I picked out and flew the rest of the pattern. On short final, once we determined we would make the field, we increased power and started heading back to Auburn. I was happy to know that, had it been a real emergency, I would have probably made a successful landing.

Upon arrival back at the airport I entered the pattern and made three decent landings. Again, the instructor commented that I was doing a great job, with no evidence of being out of the saddle for three years. I suspect that all of the time I spent flying Flight Simulator probably had a little to do with it, plus flying has always been something that seemed to come naturally to me. I've always felt at home in the air, from the time I was a kid taking my first ride in an airplane, to the four years I spent in the Army jumping out of them, to taking flying lessons back in Colorado.

After making the final landing of the day and putting the airplane back in the hangar, we reviewed the flight and my instructor signed off on my BFR and the check-out, which meant I was legal to fly, both in the eyes of the government and in the club. I had actually planned on spending a few hours with the instructor to get back into the swing of things, however the flight went so well the instructor was confident in signing me off right there.

I plan to log a few hours solo and continue to practice and tune up my skills. I'm also going to schedule some time with the instructor to get current flying at night. I could probably do this solo, but I'd feel more comfortable with an instructor. After that, I will get checked out in the club's Cessna 182 and Piper Cherokee 180. I've never flown a low-wing, so that should be interesting. As part of taking up my hobby again I'm making a commitment to fly a minimum of 100 hours per year, and try to fly at least two to four times a month. This can be hard to do in Washington , where winter weather brings low ceilings, rain, and freezing temperatures. That means getting an instrument rating is high on my list of things to do.

The rest of the week is forecast to be sunny and clear, with temperatures in the 80's, so I've scheduled the plane for the next three days in a row.

Time this flight: 1 hr