Clickity click click. Kinda....

For the last few weeks, my CFI (Certified Flight Instructor) has been telling me, "All of a sudden, it will click for you. You will see the picture you want to see and know automatically what you need to do to land the plane just like you know how to park a car, catch a baseball or cook a steak."

I told him I didn't really know how to cook a steak....

Well, today it clicked a bit and I felt great about the first 3 or 4 landings. After that, I got to deal with a 10mph crosswind that was gusting to 16mph. That meant the last 7 or so landings were a crap shoot.

Also, if you don't know the airport, Northampton is located along the Connecticut River just north of the Mount Holyoke range. The wind today was from the south.

When departing the airport in a southerly wind, you fly directly towards the mountains (hills?) and when you reach 900 feet, you get to experience the wind swirling and tumbling over the peaks. It is truly amazing how a small aircraft can be tossed around by a 15mph wind.

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Getting back to my landings, you don't really "land" a plane so much as you allow the plane to slowly fall from the sky by decreasing its speed it to the point where it begins to lose lift. You control that fall from the sky by applying flaps, decreasing or increasing the power and gliding it to the runway.

Then, just about 2 or 3 feet above the runway, you pull the plane level and force it to fly in the ground effect until it settles. As it starts to settle, you pull the nose up slightly so the main gear touches down. Once the mains are down, you allow the nose wheel to land and then you apply the brakes.

This is all done by sight and feel. Despite what you see in the movies, there is no computer voice telling you how far above the runway you are. It's all what you see and feel.

You have to know how far above the runway you are by looking at the runway and the surrounding terrain. You have to know when the plane starts to settle by feeling the sink and seeing the runway come towards you.

I'm getting better but still not quite ready to do this on my own.

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The Red Sox are still in a tie for first place in the ALEast simply because the Orioles refuse to lose.

The Orioles need to lose because it looks like the Red Sox may get rained out.

If they do get rained out and the Orioles lose, the Red Sox will be in first place by half a game. If the Orioles win, the Red Sox will be in second place, behind by half a game.

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