Weather wasn't the best, but my co-pilot definitely was. Being his first time in a single engine aircraft, I thought that he did a good job of helping me out with checklists and going over different procedures. I decided that we could take off VFR to Ramona from Palomar airport and once I got in the air, I noticed that the haze was just too constricting. We did a little maneuvering around Escondido, but nothing too intense and decided to stay in the pattern at Ramona. I completed 4 touch-n-gos and we got on our merry way. It's great to give someone their first flying experience.

Afterwards, I headed north to get out and high just under the Class Bravo airspace and decided that we would ask for flight following to Montgomery Field, but ATC offered an IFR clearance. WX was reported as skies clear with haze, so I decided that I might as well get an approach in. I love flying the mountain ranges around socal, but it definitely can be kind of scary. I was approaching rather close to a mountain waiting for my vectors inbound to intercept the final approach course and right at the last second before I was feeling uncomfortable, they turned me in. Wasn't that great of a landing, but still good. We stretched out for a while and I filed for an IFR back to KCRQ.

That entire flight went by really well and at 4000, we could see the haze layer and I thought that it was choice that I got the clearance. Got a full stop ILS 24 into KCRQ and coupled the auto-pilot for almost the entire way, but I just couldn't get the Glideslope to work properly. I disengaged it 4 miles and 1500 feet above the runway and made an AWESOME landing! I kept the noise wheel up until the next taxi way. Show-boating you might call it, but it was damn smooth.

I got to meet the aircraft owner (a doctor of course) of N440JP and spoke to him a little. I wish that I could have flown with him and learned that he pre-ordered a DA42. That's the new multi-engine aircraft from Diamond Star that just debut this past month. It would be amazing if I could fly that plane sometime soon. I might not even have to go to China to instruct anymore if I chose that path.