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I
have always wanted to pick up my Private Pilots license. (I
know, its a Private Pilots Certificate, but still....) I've
just never had the time/money/opportunity combination. Until
now. So...I signed up for lessons at the Yokota Air Force
Base Flight Center. Here is the Cessna 172M that I flew on
Monday, the 19th of October.
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After
take off my instructor Chiaki Hara and I headed south towards
the ocean. The city of Tokyo on the Kanto Plains would be
to my left, and to my right would be the mountains surrounding
Mt. Fuji.
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Heading
south we passed several bases...US Army and US Navy.
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It
was a great flight..there was a bit of haze, but virtually
no clouds. The chop was slight, and turbulence was rare...
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Looking
to the north east of my flight at Atsugi Naval Air Station.
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To
my right the mountains that lie beneath Mount Fuji. Mt. Takao
is in this shot also.
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I
flew first by magnetic compass, shown here. But the electronic
compass was easier and closer to my main vision...so I used
that for the rest of the flight...
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Looking
out the right wing at Mount Fuji.
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Mount
Fuji again after a few more miles....
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I
made a few circles and flew a few patterns over the coast.
Tokyo is to the north of this shot...further up the coast.
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Looking
south, at the bottom of those mountains is Yokohama, and Yokuska
Naval Base.
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Heading
north...Mount Fuji is the dark mountain closest to the right
edge of this photo.
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Pilot
In Command....Sean Harris!
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All
too soon it was time to start flying back to the base from
our practice area.
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After
landing in front of a 747, and then taxing to the fueling
area, we could then finish up the trip at the Aero Club
hanger, where I did the post-flight check list and secured
the aircraft.
Cessna-One-Eight-Four-Zero-Victor and myself have many more
hours ahead of us together!
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