Lesson 18-2.24.12 Fashion Faux Pas for Flying

After a long and I mean long week in Wichita we finally got home and settled.  We got back Friday around five and then it was laundry, laundry, and more laundry.  I also had to clean the house and prep for some senior pics I was taking the next morning.  After a whirlwind Saturday for both Shane and I we decided to add a little flying to the mix.  He texted me around five and I headed straight out to the airport.  My attire was the last thing I was thinking about when I left the house.  I guess I was more concerned about how flying would go after having a week off.

Shane and I briefed once I got out to the airport.  He told me we were going to go to 2,000 ft level off, descend to 1,700 feet, and then enter the pattern to practice take-offs and landings.  We went through the procedure for entering/flying the pattern as well as landing.  We headed outside and preflighted the airplane emphasis on Shane preflighting.  Once the preflight was complete we jumped in the plane, and I got working on going through the checklist.  Checklist's are in place for the safety of both the pilot and airplane.  The checklist is just the procedure in list form and the four basics are take-off, flight, before landing, and after landing.  To learn more about the history of the aviation checklist go to http://www.atchistory.org/History/checklst.htm

I finished the checklists, taxied to the runway, worked through the before take-off checklist, and we were ready to go.  I turned myself around, lined up on the runway, and gave the airplane full power in a timely manner (I use to string the full power task out too long), and started to give it the right rudder needed to keep the airplane straight.  I pushed with all my strength but was really struggling to give the rudder pedal the power I needed, and then it hit me.  I knew exactly why I was struggling, enter exhibit A (my adorable but not functional shoes).

Gasp, aren't they BEAUTIFUL?  I love these shoes for a number of reasons, but they didn't work so well when I needed to give the rudder pedal all I had.  I think the problem is that they are far to narrow. I needed a wider shoe that distributes the force on the pedal more evenly.  Wow, I feel like I'm teaching a science lesson.

I shared my theory with Shane right away, and after another take-off he agreed.  We did a total of four take-offs and landings, but those darn take-offs were a bit of a struggle.  I guess this lesson was just another challenge for me, a challenge to find beautiful but functional pair of flying shoes.  On a side note there used to be a pilot that rented Shane's airplanes, and when he'd come in he'd say "I've got my pilot's license and my flying shoes."  It always made me chuckle when Shane would say that he'd been out, but now I TOTALLY understand the importance of a good pair of flying shoes.