Flight Bag: Part 2

The aviation gods were probably sitting back, pointing there fingers at me and giggling. Everything was set for a flight on Saturday afternoon and the stars seemed aligned. Reality came crashing back when I received an automated email on Friday afternoon from the flight school cancelling my flight with the reason simply being "Equipment Failure".

Don't get me wrong, this is a great reason for the flight to get cancelled. According to the online booking system the aircraft was out of commission for an undetermined length of time, or as they appear to say in this world "UFN". I5 was available most of the day and since it was a Saturday there was an opportunity to simply book him and another aircraft. Alas - it was not to be. The remaining two DA20's were booked solid all day. Knowing that things change on a regular basis, I put in a "standby" request for I5 and ANY aircraft (DA20C1's) between 1230 and 630 PM. I checked on a regular basis including this morning at 6AM when my kids ran into the room to wake me up (gotta love early sunrises).

Somehow, somewhere between 6AM and 8AM, the bookings all changed. To make a long story short, there were a bunch of jumbles that happened, and of course the "standby" requests either didn't work or were completely ignored. I5 was available at one time but no aircraft was, and conversely an aircraft was available at a time when I5 wasn't. I was too frustrated to call in and ask them WTF the deal was with the standby requests and decided it simply wasn't going to be my day to fly.

I had to come into the office to complete some work but decided to treat myself on the way. I stopped at a local "camping" or "outdoor recreation lifestyle" type of store. Knowing full well that I'm soon going to be flying alone and embarking on some cross country action - it's time to put together a true flight bag.

As a starting point I purchased the following:

Small Mag Lite with extra AA batteries.
Leatherman "Wave" multi-tool
Small First Aid Kit (yes there is one on board all aircraft)
Personal survival kit (lots of cool stuff)
Small shoulder bag
Larger shoulder bag

The small shoulder bag is the key. It holds my David Clark headset perfectly in its large pouch. In other various compartments I was able to fit the leatherman, first aid kit, survival kit, and my kneeboard. There was ample room to fit my E6B, a protractor, ruler, pens, pencils, an eraser, a pencil sharpener, some sticky pads, two highlight pens, two extra maps, my spare glasses (I wear contacts), my wallet, my crackberry, a fuel tester, my documentation, and two energy bars.

It's truly amazing how much you can fit in a tiny bag - and there is lots of room to spare. With the headset out I could easily fit an additional few litres of water in the bag. I plan on weighing it prior to my next flight but it will surely accompany to the aircraft for future flights.

The larger shoulder bag (replacing one I had been using which I constantly swap with work stuff including my laptop) had ample room to fit my POH, two large training books (From the ground up and the FTM), my notebook where I write stuff down during briefings, and my binder where I keep various checklists, school regulations, aviation related receipts, and all other documentation.

I've been following an interesting thread here about what various people carry in their flight bags, starting with a bush pilot suggestion that the most important item you could carry is "A roll of duct tape". I would love to hear more suggestions from people with any personal experiences.

Next potential solo is Thursday afternoon.