Return on Investment

Yesterday I worked my first full commercial pilot shift at Harris Hill.  I was scheduled last month but we were weathered out with a no-fly day.

Yesterday was different - a cool morning with river fog gave way to a sunny and spectacular Fall day at Harris Hill.  When I arrived, there were three passenger rides waiting and after a slight delay to allow the fog to burn off, I started giving rides.  Taking a glider ride was apparently a popular idea as we steadily built up a queue of people waiting for rides.  By the time I landed with the second passenger, we had three gliders in passenger operation and kept them all busy until 5pm.

I gave 8 rides that day and passed the magic number of 12 passenger rides which is the point that the personal cost of getting my commercial license is exceeded by the cost of flying 12 times.  So, now I'm on the plus side of the ledger and every flight I make with a paying passenger is gravy on top.

I like introducing people to soaring and although the weather was quite good, I really liked flying steadily for a period of 4 or 5 hours because I got to experience the changing conditions from smooth and calm to thermal activity.  The East-Southeast wind we had was very, very light on the surface but caused some turbulence and a decent crosswind on takeoff and landing.  It was quite different in the sky than on the ground and it was interesting to experience it evolving.

Even though it was a light wind, there was a good deal of sink on final approach, but I had anticipated it and making 8 landings gave me a good feel for what it looks like under those conditions.  The other thing that is nice is that you aren't trying to stay up for a long time.  Twenty minutes or so is the length of the ride, so if you find a single thermal you can easily make 20.  You stay near the field and simply fly wherever you want with no particular destination or task necessary.  You pass a few minutes of pleasant conversation with passengers and then return for landing.  Nice.  And of course, you get more experience with flying the ASK-21.

All in all, a great decision to get my commercial rating this year!