For the first time ... ever, I'm flying planes near sea level. In the cold, and in the drizzle. So things are a bit different here. Here's a list of the things I noticed today, during my first flight out at Crest Airpark.
- Check the weather reports. For the first time ever, I had a flight cancelled due to weather. This was pretty much unheard-of when I flew in NM. My flight on Wednesday was cancelled because cloud cover was at 1,500ft., which is enough to fly VFR at exactly one altitude (1,000 ft.)
- Power, power, power. I didn't think 1,500 ft/min of climb was possible in a 172. My instructor mentioned that a 172 at sea level feels like a 182 at 5,000 ft.
- The weather is better in the afternoon than in the morning. I tried to schedule my flights in NM as early as possible because the air would be cool (helping performance) and the turbulence would be minimal. Plus, the skies would be nearly empty. Here in WA, the afternoons are better because the clouds have had a chance to burn off and it's warmed up a bit, meaning there's less humidity in the air.
- Drizzle happens. I hit a patch during my flight. Weird.
- Trees suck. Trees are neat in NM because they're like little oases. Out here, they're everywhere and damned annoying. This is doubly true at Crest, which looks sortof like a lonely shaving accident in a scalp made of evergreens.
- Airstrips everywhere. Civilization. Hot.
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