A good weekend

Two IFR cross-countries and 6.3 hours later, I'm feeling pretty good. Yesterday, we went out to Stephenville and I got to shoot my first "Alpha" approach, where the final approach course is more than 30 degrees off the runway. Hard 8 Barbecue at Stephenville, by the way, is highly recommended. It's a five minute walk from the FBO, or if you call them they'll pick you up. It's one of those barbecue places where you order at the pit. Get the jalepeno sausage. Just trust me.

Partial-panel most of the way back into Waco, and a GPS approach back into McGregor.

Today, we did a cross-country to Brenham. This was my first GPS approach where the initial approach fix isn't also an airway waypoint, so I got some good practice transitioning from the airway to GPS-direct navigation. Did the hold as published on the approach, and it went really well. Did another hold as published on the way back into McGregor, and this time it was partial panel. Tim seemed pretty pleased with it.

Today involved food as well. The Southern Flyer diner on the field there at Brenham has great food (I liked the chicken fried steak sandwhich) and a great ramp-side view. Brenham is a great example of a small town that treats its airport right and reaps the rewards. Very busy pattern there today.

All in all, a great weekend of flying. And, I'm at about 26 hours of IFR training now. Scary...it's been less than a month and I'm within 15 hours of a checkride. But, I'm feeling confident about it and coming along with my studying for the written.

On another note, I got to meet N19NS today. I'll put some pictures of her up soon. She's the Mooney I've been talking about. We went up this evening with Parker. Really, really nice controls. It's like flying a sportscar. I'm going to enjoy getting to know her.

Six a.m. show time tomorrow, so time to unwind for a while!