Stage 1 behind us!

Today I had my stage 1 check, harsh instructor, but smooth flight. Besides basic instrument flying, and basic maneuvers (stalls, slow flights and steep turns) we had some partial panel, unusual attitude recovery, VOR tracking, time and distance calculations, and to finish with a gold key, engine failure in IMC conditions - something that could be really a pain in the ass if you don't have a GPS. But if you do, simply set your plane to the optimal glide speed (68 KIAS on the 172SP) and press "NRST" on your GPS, and it will give you the nearest available airport to land. Just press "direct to" and there you go - we managed to glide until Flagler airport.


As promised, here is the picture, stupid smiley face... and also another one after the flight, just landed at sunset. Beautiful view!