Flight 3: Climbing and Descending
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PAO -> PAO
Aircraft: 2000 Cessna Skyhawk SP (Tail #: 698SP)
Flight hours: 1.2
CFI: Garrett Krosse
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Flight Summary
Evening flight with a left Dumbarten departure to practice climbing and descending turns over the coast.
Flight and Lesson Notes
An amazing sunset flight over the coast to practice climbing and descending (mostly in the context of turns).
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Walked through most of the preflight myself this time. Forgot to knock the prop to check for structural damage.
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Flew out over the mountain range that had previously blocked views of the ocean. We find a great spot over Pescadero to do some maneuvers.
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Half Moon Bay is visible and I’m looking forward to flying over there one day. The frequent MVFR and IFR conditions worry me a bit.
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On the way back to KPAO, we cross the mountain range at about 4,000 ft above the ground. We need to be at 1,500 ft. by the time we cross the Stanford campus, so I get to practice a real-life descent. I pull it off by talking through my actions.