Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Who took the Cessna from the Cessna Jar?

Didn't get to fly last evening. 

I was worried the weather would be too dicey, but it actually turned out to be nearly perfect. There was just one pretty big thing missing...

Instructor and I walk out to the hangar.

Quote:
Instructor: Huh. Where's the plane? Hmm. Maybe it's in the maintenance hangar...
We step through the doorway to the maintenance hangar. It's not there.
Quote:
Instructor: What the...? Well, maybe it's outside.
We step out the door to the ramp. No plane in sight. We walk back inside so he can check the schedule (after all, we were 15 min early, wanting to go ahead and go up in case the nearby storms headed our way). Both of us think we just heard a plane coming in, so we step back outside. Still no plane in sight. He opens his iPad and checks the schedule. I was the only one that had it booked that evening. 
Quote:
Instructor: Where the hell is the damn plane?
Back inside we go...

He calls the other instructor, whose first words are "Did you have the plane tonight?" Turns out yesterday was the bi-annual inspection of the pitot system. The other instructor flew down for inspection and expected to fly right back, but the altimeter didn't pass. So the old girl is stuck at the other airport getting a new altimeter installed.

Such is life. I would much rather fly safely next week with a new altimeter than have flown with a questionable one yesterday.