Mary and I have developed what we call our "Perfect Proficiency Flight," (or
"PPF") and I was wondering if anyone else has done the same?

You know what I mean. Maybe you haven't flown for a while, and you need to
get back up to speed, but the thought of working the pattern after all these
years just isn't your cup of tea. But you want to get your edge back,
preferably without taking all day or spending a zillion dollars.

Our goals in a PPF a

- Experience the full regime of flight at a fairly high degree of intensity
- Enter controlled airspace and work with ATC.
- Land at an uncontrolled airfield.
- Land on a short runway.
- Do it all in less than 1 hour of flight time.

Our solution? The Amana Colonies (Iowa's biggest tourist attraction See
http://www.amanacolonies.com/welcome/index.html if you're curious) has a
small grass strip, located in the town of Amana. It is 2400 feet long, 75
feet wide, charges a voluntary $5 landing fee (there's just a box with
envelopes), and is within easy walking distance of many great restaurants,
shops, a working woolen mill (the last one in the Midwest), and a terrific
microbrewery.

It's a 17 mile flight. When the people in the shops ask us where we flew in
from, they always (and I mean ALWAYS) laugh when we tell them that we came
from Iowa City. To them (and to many pilots, frankly) it's hilarious that
we would bother to fly such a short distance for (what they see as) a visit
to the shops -- but it works out great for us.

In that 0.3 hour flight, we do EVERYTHING that we need to do on any flight,
from getting a weather/TFR briefing, to pre-flight, to interacting with
traffic in our local pattern, to navigating, to setting up the radios and
transponder, to talking with ATC (Amana is under the Class C airspace of
Cedar Rapids), to landing on a short field. On the way out, it's the
reverse, plus we get to practice short field/soft field departures. And,
back when I was actively practicing IFR flight, I could shoot an approach
back into Iowa City, too.

Total time? 0.6 hours. Flight intensity due to short duration/high work
load? Moderate. Fun factor: Priceless!

What do you guys do to stay sharp?
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"