Flying Singer reported:

Scheduling flights too, of course. I've also taken a step toward my "next stage" (thinking that the current stage will end by around April 1 and I'll pass the check ride and be a licensed pilot at long last).

I looked around the web for flying clubs in this area, and I found a good one, the Worcester Area Flying Club. This is actually a 10 member corporation that owns a 1977 Piper Warrior. They have an opening, so this morning I went to Fitchberg Airport (25 minutes north of home) and flew the airplane with Bernie, the club's CFII.

The aircraft is a real beauty. It's a 4 place low-wing with an upgraded 180 HP engine (stock is 160 HP). With additional speed modifications (better gear farings, mainly), it cruises at 130 knots, vs. 90-100 kts for the C152. It also has a wonderful panel, with two NAV/COM radios, ADF, and Loran (nearly equivalent to GPS with the computerized unit in this airplane).

In addition to all this, it flies like a dream, and Bernie demonstrated that it has great short field performance -- on his demo takeoff we were airborne in 600 feet, and on the landing, he stopped before the end of the runway numbers!

My takeoff and landing were more conventional but went well, and we zoomed up to 7000 feet to get above the scattered clouds, then had to snake our way down among them to get back to FIT and stay VFR. Very cool!

To go places, the 130 knot cruise makes a big difference vs. 100 knots, not to mention the fact that the C152 is 2-place and cramped, while the roomy Warrior has 4 seats, so you can fly a friend or two and some luggage). "