Plans canceled
I was going to fly tonight. I reserved the plane from 9pm to 11pm to take advantage of the cheaper night rental rate. Then I was going to hop down to San Jose and do touch and goes on runway 29 which is the short runway (4600 feet instead of 11000 feet like the main runways that the jets use). Hopefully I would be able to get 7 landings in and cross another commercial license requirement off the list. Alas the plane was low on oil with only about 3.8 quarts (the minimum is 4). Usually this is no problem, just take a quart from the flying club office, add it to the engine, and go fly. However there was no extra oil to be found.
The flying club has been in a state of upheaval for the past couple months now. Back in June they started doing some construction inside the club "office" which is basically a furnished hangar on the airport. A couple weeks into the project they got tied up in trying to secure all the necessary building permits and no work has been done since. So the club now sits with the carpet torn out, naked rafters instead of a ceiling, and nobody allowed inside. There is a computer terminal pushed right up to the front door so that pilots can check airplanes out of the system and do flight planning. The desk that the computer sits on is physically blocking access to the interior of the building.
All this distraction is probably a reason why the supply of spare oil was allowed to run out. I'm looking forward to the day when I can actually hang out at the club again.
So anyway, I didn't fly tonight. I could have taken a different plane but I decided to just stay on the ground instead. First, the plane I was going to take is $23 cheaper an hour than the next cheapest one. Second, I don't "need" to fly tonight (it's not like I have a check ride tomorrow and have to meet some requirement for that). Third, I felt like it was a good excuse to type in here which is something I've been putting off for a while. I may even get a chance to post about my trips to Mono Lake and Santa Monica!
The flying club has been in a state of upheaval for the past couple months now. Back in June they started doing some construction inside the club "office" which is basically a furnished hangar on the airport. A couple weeks into the project they got tied up in trying to secure all the necessary building permits and no work has been done since. So the club now sits with the carpet torn out, naked rafters instead of a ceiling, and nobody allowed inside. There is a computer terminal pushed right up to the front door so that pilots can check airplanes out of the system and do flight planning. The desk that the computer sits on is physically blocking access to the interior of the building.
All this distraction is probably a reason why the supply of spare oil was allowed to run out. I'm looking forward to the day when I can actually hang out at the club again.
So anyway, I didn't fly tonight. I could have taken a different plane but I decided to just stay on the ground instead. First, the plane I was going to take is $23 cheaper an hour than the next cheapest one. Second, I don't "need" to fly tonight (it's not like I have a check ride tomorrow and have to meet some requirement for that). Third, I felt like it was a good excuse to type in here which is something I've been putting off for a while. I may even get a chance to post about my trips to Mono Lake and Santa Monica!