Today was washing the plane in the pattern day.
After the preflight, at 6pm, we went up and started off of Runway 9L. A light rain was going and the airport was unusually quiet. Lots of rain and IFR conditions since Thursday will do that, and it opened up enough to get to VFR with sufficient cloud separation for this evening's flight.
A Piper Cub started on the ground NORDO (no radio) and got a talking to from ground that if he wanted to fly the pattern at Pontiac he needed a radio considering that we and a helicopter would also be flying it.
He got a radio and then was ok to join in the fun. His takeoff run was minuscule indeed.
Once the helicopter really started getting into it, the tower switched us to 9R, the really big runway with a right hand pattern and kept the Piper off to himself on 9L.
I did soft field, short field and no flap slip to lands and a couple reasonably nice soft field takeoffs. The soft field landings were pretty good, the short fields ok and the no flaps got better. Overall, I'd say things are getting better and found out that on the no flap slip to lands I need more trim and to hold the slip in longer than I think I need to, so by the third one it was decent enough.
Flying through the light rain was kinda interesting, and the plane ended up freshly washed.
That's 1.1 and 8 more landings.
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