The wind blows...
Cheq'd Flag - congrats on getting the exam done. I finally managed to get back in the skies the weekend before last after 5 weeks off due to wx etc.
Circuits at Leeds / Bradford in the mist (but still VFR of course!). It was a novelty doing the circuits at a major airport. I came unstuck and found my altitude, handling, approach and first landing all really quite poor. I was shocked at how much capability I had lost. After 5 circuits I was back in the swing of things, even had to do a land and wait on the main runway to avoid the wake of a departed 737. That was odd, sitting in the little PA28 on the runway, just passing the time ;-)
Then last Saturday I started on navigation. The wind was really blowing a gale (for a PA28) with 25kts at 2000ft over Yorkshire. The instructor had to take off and land the aircraft but once in the air we flew around the vale of York and my headings and timings were spot on. I was frankly amazed at how precise the calculations had come out. I was also finding visual navigation much easier than I had expected. I managed to get another lesson in on Sunday - more navigation to different locations. Again all covered with ease - I was getting to thinking that nav would be much more difficult than it is. At least I have the basics covered.
We did a bit of general handling - stalls, PFLs etc. and again it was shocking how much I had forgotten. But here's to the summer days with hopefully lots of opportunities to consolidate the knowledge and get licenced some time this year!!