Odyssey Pilot Hours–Flight Time

I arrived in Erie Colorado on Thursday, July 18. On Friday morning, I attended orientation at Odyssey Pilot Hours (OPH). I was scheduled to get checked out in the two plane types afterwards, but the weather was not cooperating.

During orientation, the owner of OPH went through all of the rules and regulations. After each section, we signed and dated the document. With the paperwork out of the way, we moved on to flight details. There were four columns of notes on the whiteboard covering things like logging flight time, airplane-specific details like airspeeds, local area airports and air spaces, and pilot pressures and how to cope with them.

After orientation, I was nervous. I wasn't sure if I was ready to be the responsible pilot in command in this new, complicated environment. I told myself that I'd insist that my first partner be the flying pilot on my first flight. That way, I could sit in the right seat and observe everything.

JMB VL-3 at the OPH hangar in Erie

Saturday, July 19

Saturday was checkout day. I first flew the Harmony for nearly two hours. My instructor had me demonstrate slow flight, steep turns, and stalls before heading back to the pattern for touch and goes. I did four laps around the pattern before doing a full stop landing. Later that day, my instructor and I repeated the process in the VL-3.

After flying both planes, one after the other, I was convinced that I wanted to spend all of my time in the Harmony. The main reason was the seating position. You sit higher in the Harmony, so forward visibility is better. Also, the Harmony has a solid roof panel that blocks out most of the sun. Finally, the Harmony is a little easier to land. The VL-3, on the other hand, is very sporty. Some say it is like driving a go-cart. It is very slippery in the air and requires a lot of focus and tiny inputs to the stick to make a smooth landing.

Evektor Harmony at OPH in Erie

Sunday, July 20

For my first flight, I was paired with Lee to fly the VL-3, and we flew to Limon, Colorado. Lee had been flying at OPH for a long time and lives in the area, so he had a lot of knowledge for me to tap into. I flew as safety pilot and observed everything that he did and spoke. To make things even more interesting, two of my house mates were paired up and they also flew to Limon. This was very unusual at OPH. Most pilots choose to fly at night and they rarely, if ever, land anywhere. But the four of us preferred to fly during the day.

VL-3 in Limon

Monday, July 21

On Monday, Lee and I flew to Scottsbluff, Nebraska. After the flight on Sunday, I was fully confident that I could manage the flight, so I was the flying pilot on this trip.

VL-3 in Scottsbluff

Tuesday, July 22

On Tuesday, Lee and I flew to Pine Bluffs, Wyoming. I was the safety pilot. This flight was extra special to me. At first, I didn't put it together, but as we flew along, I realized that I'd been to Pine Bluffs before. Back in 2014, during our vacation to Jackson, Wyoming and Yellowstone National Park, we were driving west from Omaha, Nebraska along I-80. I remember Nebraska being such a wide state with very little variation in scenery. I was thinking, "When will we see trees again?". And then we entered Wyoming. The first rest area was in Pine Bluffs. I remember a hill covered with pine trees and large rocks in the rest area. I thought, "Finally, we have trees and elevation changes. We must be getting close now." Little did I know how long and tiring the drive ahead to Jackson was going to be.

VL-3 in Pine Bluffs

Wednesday, July 23

On Wednesday, Lee and I flew to Akron, Colorado. I was the flying pilot. It felt odd flying to Akron, given that I went to school at the University of Akron (Ohio). Inside the FBO, I mentioned to the guy running the place that I was from Ohio. He said that he had once spent some time in Akron, Ohio. How strange is that?

VL-3 at sunrise

VL-3 in Akron

Thursday, July 24

On Thursday, Lee and I flew to Oshkosh, Nebraska. I was the safety pilot. This destination was a pleasant surprise to me, given that 1) Oshkosh, Wisconsin was currently hosting AirVenture and 2) I didn't know there was an Oshkosh, Nebraska.

VL-3 at sunrise

VL-3 in Oshkosh

David in Oshkosh

Friday, July 25

On Friday, Lee and I flew to La Junta, Colorado. I was the flying pilot. For this flight, I wanted to break the mold. All previous flights departed Erie and flew northeast around the Denver Class B airspace. For this flight, I wanted to depart to the south, along the mountains towards Colorado Springs. The trickiest part was finding a route that went above and below various airspace altitudes. To make that easier, we requested permission and flew through Rocky Mountain Metro's Class D airspace and the Colorado Springs Class C airspace. Once clear of those, we headed for La Junta. I was expecting to have the airspace to myself, but then about eight planes appeared on our traffic screen. They were all from a flight school in Pueblo. Half of them went to La Junta and the other half went to Melon Field. With four planes in the pattern, I went ahead and shot my approach as planned. With the other pilot's help, I was able to join the flow and land. I rolled to the end of the runway because the taxiways were all a mess. The runway wasn't in very good shape either. That was the roughest airport I can remember flying into.

VL-3 at sunrise

VL-3 in La Junta

Saturday, July 26

On Saturday, I flew with my house mate Iven to Lusk, Wyoming. I was the flying pilot. Our route took us right over Cheyenne, Wyoming. Earlier in the week, I had heard a Thunderbird pilot on the radio. My curiosity overtook me, and I called Cheyenne Tower to ask about the Thunderbirds and the Temporary Flight Restriction that I saw on the chart. He told me that they were flying Saturday and Sunday afternoon. As we flew near the airport, I peeked out and saw a line of small white jets on the far side of the field. I was tempted to take the following day off and drive up to see them fly.

VL-3 in Lusk

Sunday, July 27

On Sunday, I flew with my house mate Daniel to Sterling, Colorado. I was the flying pilot. 

VL-3 in Sterling

Monday, July 28

On Monday, Daniel and I flew to Sidney, Nebraska. I was the flying pilot.

VL-3 in Sidney

Tuesday, July 29

On Tuesday, the weather was too lousy to fly, so I did a trial run to the Denver airport on the train. After my experience dealing with traffic and parking at the airport when I dropped off my mom, I thought it would be easier to just park and ride the train when picking up Andrew later this week. The train went from a parking lot in Eastlake to Union Station in downtown Denver. Then another train went to the airport.

Wednesday, July 30

On Wednesday, Daniel and I flew to Limon, Colorado. I was the flying pilot. On the trip out, we noticed that the cylinder head temperature was running a bit high. Out of an abundance of caution, we returned to Erie to have it looked at. A mechanic quickly fixed the issue, and we were on our way again. On our return to Erie, we noticed an area building over the mountains on the NEXRAD weather screen. I decided to make a bee line straight back to Erie. As we got closer, Erie became covered by green, and then yellow. We were considering finding an alternate to wait out the storm, while still flying towards Erie. As we got within 20 miles, we could still hear other pilots flying in the area. We flew back to Erie and had no rain and no gusts. I don't know what the NEXRAD was seeing, but it wasn't making it to the ground.

Thursday, July 31

Today was my last day at OPH. I still had time on my account, so I needed one more flight. The flight could be either a dual 1.6-hour flight or a solo 0.8-hour flight. I chose to fly the VL-3 solo over Boulder and along the mountains. It felt nice to complete my hours, but sad to know that my time at OPH was over. I find it ironic that I wanted to fly the Harmony but ended up flying exclusively in the VL-3.

Flight Time: 50.4 hours
Total Time: 796 hours