Yucky Days

Before I start, let me tell you that I did look up the word "yucky" and it is listed on dictionary.com as a slang word and, therefore, legal for use in a blog. What got me was the definition which included such words as disgusting, foul, loathsome, repellent, revolting, wicked and, my personal favorite, skanky. I never meant all of those things. Honestly. What I was aiming for was something a little more subtle. Even the word "unpleasant" is a little too strong... the days I am talking about are fine days but, for one reason or another, are not fine for flying.

The dictionary was not helping so I pulled out the big guns: the thesaurus and the dictionary of synonyms and antonyms. After bouncing around a while trying out different words I realized that the english language is sometimes better served by slang terms and the artistic use of punctuation than it is by dictionary definitions and adherence to strict grammatic rules. I leave the title, "Yucky Days", with the understanding that an english major may find it inappropriate.

So, what do you do on days that are rainy, windy or otherwise yucky? Days like today for instance.

One thing that I sometimes do is go back and review past flights in Flight Log. If you haven't gotten a copy, you really should. Flight Log is free, it's small and it is great for keeping logs of all of your flights. You can record the location, duration, altitude, wind direction and speed, the level of turbulence, the wing used, and there's even a section called "Remarks" where you can enter free-form comments. Behind the scenes it is keeping track of how many hours you have flown a particular wing (good information to have if you are going to sell a wing), the number of flights at a particular location and the total number of all flights. Click here to review the features and download the software.

What I find most fun about reviewing entries in Flight Log is reading the Remarks and reliving the early days of learning to fly. Here are some excerpts:

Aug 18, 2001: DC's field - Tow pull
That is the whole entry. It is the first entry and reading it transports me back to DC's and I can relive the entire day. At the time I was positive that I would be learning this sport and was learning as much as possible before committing to lessons and purchasing equipment. I was hanging around the field watching when J. and C. asked if I wanted to do a tow pull. It wasn't until I was 50 feet off the ground that I realized that I had no idea what I was doing!!! What a great first entry.

October 6, 2001: Skyway Bridge (4th flight) - Good launch. Good landing but not standing.
This was my 4th flight... and it was done at the skyway! One tow pull and three earlier flights and I still hadn't landed on my feet. This was the closest... I almost had it but... not quite...

October 13, 2001: DC's Field (5th flight) - Takeoff w/ no forward movement.. All lift.. Quite bumpy.. Dragged a little on hard landing.
What is funny about this entry is that at the time I assumed that I was just a wimp and that I would get used to a few bumps. The entries in wind speeds were: Base=10, Peak=15. The entry for turbulence was 5 out of 6. Given those same conditions now, my turbulence rating would be zero... because now I rate days with winds of 10 to 15 as "yucky" and I don't leave the ground.


October 14, 2001: DC's Field (6th flight) - Perfect takeoff and landing. Standing on landing!!!! First time!!!
Boy, do I remember this flight. If you took me out to DC's I could point to the exact spot where I landed - it was that memorable. Everything had finally clicked.

There are many things that I have learned from reviewing entries in Flight Log.
1) none of my 9 flights at FoF were rated highly (conditions were always poor)
2) most of my flights were at DC's
3) my Altea wing has over 114 hours of flight time on it
4) my longest flight was over 2 hours
5) my best flights were at beach sites

One of the other benefits of Flight Log is that you can keep maintenance records in it (non-flying entries). When was the last time you changed your plug or did other maintenance? It's nice to know.

If you don't have a copy of Flight Log, I strongly suggest that you take the time to download it and keep your flights logged. If it serves no other purpose, it makes yucky days a little more tolerable.