Weather: KBJC 302153Z 27018G27KT 60SM SCT080 SCT150 23/M07 A2994
I'm going to try flying out of the Airport in Boulder, CO (BDU) for a while. My flight school just opened a new FBO there and they operate one of the older 172s out of there so it's perfect for me. It is nearly the same distance from my house to the airport, but the distance that matters more is the distance from the airplane parking area to the end of the runway. This distance matters because airplane rental time is determined by how long you have the engine running in an airplane. So the time it takes to taxi from the end of the parking spot to the end of the runway is time spent not flying, but still paying. The taxi time at Metro is a lot more than Boulder so I'm hoping that will help.
That is not the only reason I'm flying out of Boulder for now. One, I've always wanted to try flying out of there. Also, I want to get some experience flying out of an uncontrolled airport. Rocky Mountain Metro Airport, where I have been flying recently, is class D airspace and has a control tower. This means the radio calls are different and the flying is different. So this will be good experience for me. I don't think I'll be flying exclusively out of Boulder, but I'll try a few flights out of there.
So I have made one flight out of Boulder so far. The weather was perfect but it made for some interesting flying since I was doing touch and goes and there were a decent number of planes in the pattern. I was learning how to do short field and soft field takeoffs and landings. Short field means short runway. Practicing short field takeoffs means practicing getting the plane in the air quickly. Short field landings are the exact opposite, trying to get the plane on the runway and stopped as quickly as possible. They are used to land or take off on a short runway or one where you might have to clear some sort of obstacle at either end of the runway.
Just the same as short field, soft field means soft runway. Maybe landing on grass, dirt or a potentially rough surface. The point of these is to keep the plane moving at all times in case the wheels might sink, and to land gently and keep the nose wheel raised as much as possible to prevent damage to the landing gear.
So nothing too special on this past flight but landing at Boulder means you have to make a call on the radios announcing each action that you take to keep all other aircraft informed of your location and intentions. This wasn't difficult but did take some discipline in remembering to announce everything.
Otherwise, Boulder is another beautiful airport to fly out of. The town of Boulder is known for it's beauty and flying there is no exception. Seeing the mountains and flatirons below is spectacular, in addition to all the fall color this time of year it's nothing short of amazing.
Labels: flying
