"Fly," Austin's Pilot Journey: Safety Pilot

What an interesting last 24 hrs it has been! I had been watching, waiting, hoping that the weather would agree enough for me to fly, today. For a majority of yesterday, my hopes were optimistic as the forecasts looked favorable. That is, until last night when an G-AIRMET was offered suggesting icing conditions in the NE. A G-AIRMET, for those curious, "is a concise description of weather phenomena that are occurring or may occur (forecast) along an air route that may affect aircraft safety. Compared to SIGMETs, AIRMETs cover less severe weather: moderate turbulence and icing, sustained surface winds of 30 knots or more, or widespread restricted visibility." (Wiki.)

So, last night I got pretty bummed, but I decided to "wait it out" and see if the forecast improved. This AM, I ventured up to the airport, with the icing forecast still valid. After a couple hours, however, the icing levels lifted from the surface up to 8,000'. However, the winds were beginning to pick up. I have personal minimums that I use for flying, in regards to the weather that I will fly in. Winds were below those minimums, yet, I felt like I didn't want to really risk it. Given the chance of low-level wind shear, and icing above, I did not want to fly alone. Luckily, a need came up for me to serve as a "safety pilot," for a fellow instrument pilot-trainee at the air center. I jumped at the chance!

I flew with Paul, a nice guy and great pilot. While I scanned the skies, looking for traffic, birds, drones, Paul practiced two instrument approaches "under the hood." He did a great job! It felt neat for me to fly from the right-seat, as I have plans of being a flight instructor one day soon. I could get used to it!

The approaches we "shot" included the VOR-A into KGVQ (Genesee Co.) and an RNAV into KROC (Rochester.)

The winds were rather bumpy, making accurate approaches somewhat of a chore. Yet, this is great practice. En-Route to KGVQ, as one point, our ground-speed was a mere 50kts! Regardless, the scenery was beautiful...