Evan Youngblood

In February 2007, I walked onto a cold, windy ramp at Williamson County Airport and climbed into a somewhat abused Piper Warrior, 20 minutes later I was flying it, albeit badly, but I was doing it. I remember, in May 2007, when I did my first-ever solo flight, just how relaxing it was to be alone in the plane. I remember, in June 2007, how cool it felt to be alone at an airport I’d just flown myself to, as part of my solo cross-country requirement. I remember looking at the Warrior, alone on the ramp, and looking around the airport, being the only person there, and realizing I’d just actually flown myself somewhere. (continue reading…)

My instructor and I completed an actual IFR trip last weekend. It was a short 2-hour round-trip from my base in Marion (KMWA) to Effingham (1H2) and back. We decided to fly the airways instead of going GPS direct. This was a great opportunity to utilize SkyCharts on the iPad for enroute charts, which I really hadn’t done in-flight until now. (continue reading…)

To further expand my post from yesterday, today was the first day for new approach plates since I’ve been playing with SkyCharts. I have my iPad configured to download and save 8 en-route charts (which includes plates for all airports within those charts). VFR data was not up for refresh, so this update only applies to IFR plates and en-route charts. (continue reading…)

Updates noted in italic. Last update: 12/30/2010.

Apple’s new iPad has made a big splash on news outlets. Some seem to be touting the device as the best thing since Dropbox, and others think it might possibly be as evil as Norton Internet Security. But all kidding aside, what I set out to find out was whether or not the iPad has any place in the cockpit with me. (continue reading…)