Arizona Flight Training

October 2010: Back to North-Aire in Prescott, AZ for some Garmin-1000 glass panel/Instrument refresher training in a newish C-172. I was able to fly with my old instructor, Marilyn, which was great fun, while Paul was watching Coal back in Anchorage. Probably my last solo trip for quite a while.

Marilyn in the right seat.There's a few round dial instruments in case everything goes bad....but not many!The last day I was in AZ, I was able to sneak in a helicopter lesson on my own time. Fun and super interesting. We did auto-rotations, hovers, off-airport landings, steep turns, etc. Real nice instructor who was willing to turn me loose at the helm. I definitely see a helicopter rating in my future after getting a taste of them. What a blast...so tight on the controls compared to a fixed wing, although kind of weird to see your airspeed go to zero and not be stalled.One of the highlights of the trip was staying with my cousin Debbie and her husband George, getting to celebrate her grandson's birthday with the family, and spend a day with my aunt Joie touring Jerome and Sedona; two beautiful towns east of Prescott.