I awoke this morning to greater visibility and higher ceilings than forecast, and a quick call to the club reservation line confirmed that she was available until 10. A quick cup of coffee and shower, and I was at the field by 8:30 to practice performance takeoffs and landings.
In the cool morning air, with the sun just a few degrees above the Cascade Mountains on the eastern horizon, she really wanted to climb. My first practice takeoff was a short-field takeoff, where the pilot climbs in the shortest lateral distance possible, in order to avoid that (imaginary) obstacle at the end of the (imaginarily short) runway. The vertical speed indicator was pegged and all I could see ahead was sky. As the common expression goes, she was like a homesick angel...I had barely turned crosswind and she was at pattern altitude (1000' feet above the ground).
After an hour in the air, I landed so she could make her 10 am appointment with fellow club member Bruce. As they taxied out together and took off, I captured the scene on video.
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