Provo City Center Temple Progress

 It has been a while since I have taken any pictures of the Provo City Center Temple construction. The work is starting to take shape with noticible changes. The work is still categorized as demolition as the builing is still being taken down to the point where the reconstruction will start. The most interesting part is a time-lapse video of the northwest corner roof being removed. A comparison of the picture from January to August not only shows the change in the temple but also the change in the skyline as the NuSkin building is constructed.

Aug 8, 2012

Jan 12, 2012

This time-lapse is of the roof being removed. Thanks to Kirt for showing me the app for time lapse photography.

Testing

The last thing that I wrote about was my first solo flight. It is amazing how quickly time passes and soon it is several months. Learning to fly and getting my pilots license has been if not a lifelong dream, it certainly has been something I have wanted to do for as long as I can remember. My first solo occurred after 10 hours of flying with my instructor from December 17, 2011, to February 16, 2012, and my previous blog went into more detail.

After my first solo many more hours of instruction were received. First, we left the area of the Spanish Fork airport for new airports. On February 18th we flew to Nephi and then Provo. As many times I had been to the Provo airport as a police officer the new views and routines left me tongue tied. Suddenly, I had to negotiate new airspace and talk to towers, and still keep fly. I felt like a new driver in heavy traffic, and my systems were over loaded. My instructor laughed and rescued me by doing the talking for me.

 On March 7th, I made my first flight up Provo canyon to Hebert in the evening light. What a gorgeous sight, to see and fly over Timpanogos in the twilight (still had snow on top). There was a huge moon rising out of this purple lavender horizon. It was spectacular. On April 3rd I made my first solo venture to the Nephi airport, and then on April 21st my first solo flight to Provo. I could talk to the tower, fly and land all by myself, but the heavy traffic made me nervous without my instructor by my side.

On April 28th my first venture an hour away, Delta, with my instructor. It is amazing how many places have these long strips of asphalt out in the middle of nowhere. It makes you realize the investment each of these communities have made in aviation, even if it is only for smaller aircraft and not commercial flight. On May 8th my first solo cross country to Delta. I realized how small the little Sahara was, I looked over to the west as I was approaching Delta, and saw this little pile of sand. I thought that sand went on for ever, when I was on the ground, standing in it, but it is not very big from the air.

On May 30th I went with my instructor through Salt Lake City to Logan then Morgan and Heber. On June 6th, the same plan only this time by myself. Suddenly I am at 35 hours of flying, and my instructor is telling me it's time for the written exam. On June 26, I took the Airman Knowledge Test at the testing center at UVU, and received a score of 93%, missed 4 out of 60.

Yesterday, I took the practical flying portion with an FAA examiner. I passed, I don't think with flying colors, nervousness again, but I passed and now hold my Airman Certificate with a Private Pilot rating in single engine aircraft for land based operations and 43.5 hours of flying time. What does all this mean? I can now share flying with passengers of my choosing. Whitney has accepted to be the first to go with me. Will I write about flying again? I suppose I might, but hopefully you will get good reports from my friends. That will be the best news of all.

Solo never sounded so good!

I have been continuing with my flight instruction. Mostly more of what I have already written about. Like piano lessons only more interesting. Several more day flights and night flights. Finally my instructor gave me a pre-solo written test, which consisted of the rules and regulations I would be violating if I do something wrong. Then an endorsement in my log book saying that I'm ready.

 So, today Feb 16, 2012, at 5:05PM I met Jay at the Spanish Fork airport. He had me do three take off's and two landings ,touch and go's, with him setting next to me in the co-pilots seat, practicing an aborted landing and making me do another go round and finally come to a full stop. He then had me taxi to where LuAnn was parked watching. He then told me I was on my own. He wanted me to do three touch and go's on my own. He looked me in the eye and said "are you ready?". I guess I said yes because he gave me a thumbs up and walked away.

I closed the canopy and was on my own. I have taxied by myself to fuel the plane, but never to the end of the runway. He told me to treat it like an initial flight, going through the full run up. Good practice anyway, running through the checklist on my own for the first time. I get the plane in takeoff configuration, and make the call "Katana 986 charlie tango departing runway 3-0", throttle to full and begin to roll.

The rest is history, three laps around the track, and a fourth for good measure. I thought Jay meant thee touch and go's and he meant three takeoffs and landings. I'm sure he thought I wasn't coming back. Total time 1.1 hours, .5 hours as pilot in command, boo yeah!!!

 To say that everything was perfect would be a gross overstatement. My takeoffs were fine and my landings were ok. But, then again that's why I'm taking instruction. I can begin to see why you never want to own an aircraft that was used for instruction. Students learning to land on their own can be hard on aircraft. I don't think I was too hard, but I have a lot of room to improve. Now that was good day.

Provo Travelodge Raised

LuAnn and I left for Disneyland on January 5th, to see the Christmas lights. It was a wonderful trip and an opportunity to enjoy some great weather and celebrate her birthday. When I went back to work on January 9th the Travelodge was a pile of rubble. From talking to others around the office the demolition started on Friday but was completed over the weekend. Now all that is left to do is to haul off the piles of debris. If you compare them to the pictures below you can see the progress.

It only gets better

Last night was my first nighttime flight as a student pilot. I have always loved flying at night, on commercial planes, and seeing the carpet of lights below, but getting to pilot the plane was a treat. It can be a little disorienting at first, but with some reassurances from my instructor and properly timed comments it went well. The first thing that I noticed is that it is easier to over-bank the airplane in turns. The horizon wasn't visible which is a valuable tool during the daytime. I had to glance at the artificial horizon a little more often to make sure my turns weren't too steep. I can't wait to fly during the day again as I feel the night flying will help me get better during daylight conditions.

After that we did several touch and go's. I need 10 take-offs and landings at night and we did at least 4. My instructor said that the best flying is with a few fluffy clouds on a moonlit night. That will be a treat.

Passion for Flying

As my children have grown, and moved out of the house, I have finally been able to find the time and resources to work on getting my pilot's license. One of the guys that I work with is an instructor at a local aviation program, and I have started on the path to reach my goal. I have been training with the Diamond Flight Center, out of Spanish Fork Airport (U77) http://www.dfcflyer.com/content/blogsection/5/27/ . The training consist of ground school (class room) and flight time with an instructor. The more I get involved with it the more I realize how much I enjoy it.

The first flight time was on December 17, 2011. The aircraft was a Katana DA20. I was so tense that when I was done I was sweaty and famished. I might have even had a little knee shaking when it was all over (a common problem with too much adrenalin). It was over all too soon, but I had practiced climbs, turns, decents, and combinations of those. I also got in two take offs and two landings. Unfortunately it was all a blur, with lots happening all of the time. I can only equate it to the first time that I went skydiving. It wasn't as intense but it all happens so fast that it was hard to really enjoy.

My second flight was still filled with lots to do, but I was much more relaxed and could really enjoy what was going on. We practiced the same maneuvers, with the addition of safety drills on loss of power. While I wish that this photo was of me, it is of the kind of aircraft and it gives a good idea of size.

I will continue with dual instruction until I have enough time under my belt for a solo flight, somewhere between five and ten hours of flight time. The great thing about learning to fly in Utah is that it is all high altitude and mountain flying. My next goal is the solo flight and I will post a note when it happens.

New Provo Temple Construction

My office sits across the street from the old Provo Tabernacle. Preparation for construction has been underway for the last few weeks. Fencing has been installed around the old Travelodge and Los 3 Amigos properties. The demolition of the buildings started on the day after Christmas. I will have a birds eye view of the progress.

I will post images from time to time to share my view of the progress.