Brief Description: X-Country and Pattern work weekend Hobbs 14.1
Went flying Saturday around 11:00 am and flew to Harvey’s Lake, which is about 20 miles NW of Wilkes Barre (AVP). The crosswinds at altitude, 4,500 ft. were at 45 kts. The ride was a bit bumpy on the way down due to the Blue Ridge Mountains and the way back it got worse because I flew back at 3,500 ft. On the way back my ground speed was 175 kts. It took me about 1:30 flight time with total time being 1:45 on the tach.
Sunday late afternoon I did two rounds in the pattern around 6:00 pm. Winds were 280@7kts. The first takeoff I forgot to latch the canopy and had to fly out and put the airplane on autopilot to get it closed. The amount of low pressure on the canopy really makes it difficult to close while in flight and I had to use two hands to pull it down and latch. Not a big deal but I did not want to land with the canopy hovering open in the back about 8 inches during the landing. This has made an impression on me to remember to do the checklist every time before you take the active. I was distracted by another airplane behind me waiting to go and it interrupted my thought process and checklist completion. Lesson learned here is to complete the checklist in entirety and not be interrupted by anything until it is complete.
