A mile of runway will take you anywhere.

Cessna current once again

2012-05-25T22:34:00.001-04:00

Plane: Cessna 172
Instructor: Dave
Route: 40I-I68-40I
Weather: Haze, 85 degrees, wind 220 degrees at 7 knots

A quick evening in the air with CFI Dave was a nice end to the work week and a great way to begin the long holiday weekend. Our awesome flight in Hawaii notwithstanding, I hadn't flown a Cessna since last fall so I was long-past Stewart's 90-day currency period. I want to be able to actually go someplace in an airplane again so a quick re-checkout was in order.

We mostly remained in the patterns at Stewart and Warren Co.

We departed on Runway 26 and headed straight for the pattern at Lebanon-Warren Co. Skydivers were jumping so I stayed out of their way while making two landings - a standard one and a short field approach. I smacked a bit hard but touched right on the numbers on the second one, which is the important thing. Then we did a couple stalls on the way back home, with a steep spiral facilitating a quick descent back to pattern altitude. One final short field landing on the grass and I was finally current in the 150 and 172 again!

On a sad note, my favorite airplane is out of service for a while. Apparently someone had a landing mishap this week and she's going to be in the shop for some serious repairs. I actually looked at the Hobbs meter and it's only about 0.4 hours beyond where we shut her down on Sunday, so I suspect it was literally her next flight that ended in unfortunate fashion. Looks like it's going to be harder to schedule Cub time for at least part of the summer...

Flight Track: Google Earth KMZ File
Today's Flight: 0.7 hours
Total Time: 216.4 hours

Crossing off Hawaii by flying Kauai

2012-04-12T21:55:00.000-04:00

Plane: Cessna 172
Instructor: Bruce
Route: LIH, Local
Weather: Scattered clouds, 77 degrees, wind 170 degrees at 7 knots

Whether it is a conscious thought or not, I believe that flying in all 50 states is a bucket list item for many pilots. So you can imagine what thoughts popped into my head when Gina and I decided to spend a week in Hawaii over her spring break. I researched and found out that there weren't too many options on the small island of Kauai. In fact, I only found one outfit where I could rent a fixed-wing aircraft from - Wings Over Kauai, located at Lihue Airport. We exchanged emails over a couple-week span and ultimately scheduled an afternoon flight in their 172. My thinking was simple... why pay to ride along on a sightseeing flight when I could fly the plane myself?

The video is long, but it's worth it - this place is beautiful!

They allowed me one passenger so Gina came along and took all the amazing photos you'll see in this post. Click on any of them to open up a slideshow view, by the way. We arrived a few minutes early and met the owners - Ellen, who runs the office, and Bruce, the pilot and CFI who would be in the right seat. He was an excellent tour guide, too! After the FBO fueled the plane we all climbed in and Bruce handled the radio work while I taxied out to the runway.

Lihue's smooth 6,500 foot runway was far longer than we needed in the small Skyhawk; we were off the ground quickly and I climbed to about 500 feet before a left turnout over the Pacific to head north along the shoreline. The plane is a newer 172S model (it's a former ERAU airplane, actually) so it has a bit more get-up-and-go than the older one I usually rent at Stewart. Nice panel, too. We flew along the coast for a bit then turned to the NW to cross over a ridge and head towards the North Shore.

Takeoff on Runway 17 at Lihue Airport

Kilauea Lighthouse on the North Shore

Shoreline and the Makai Golf Club in Princeville

I don't have a ton to say about the flying because - let's be honest here - it's really all about the scenery. There is a reason Kauai is known as the Garden Isle; it is lush, rugged, and just downright beautiful. Words can't even begin to describe how incredible a sight the Nā Pali Coast is. It's a sight you can only see from the air (or water) because it's so rugged there are no roads. I will note, however, that we seriously lucked out in flying on a day with such light winds that the usual turbulence off the mountains was nonexistent.

Princeville and Hanalei Bay

Hanalei - certainly not the worst place in the world to live

The beginning of the Nā Pali Coast - just stare at all the photos, it's beautiful!

Tracking equipment on the cliffs at the Pacific Missile Range Facility

Yeah... those views are amazing, aren't they? We did of course have to continue our journey and skirted the airspace around the Barking Sands Pacific Missile Range Facility while turning southeast towards Waimea Canyon. Although you would be hard-pressed to ever top the views along the Nā Pali Coast, the scenery was still spectacular as we passed over peaks and valleys and saw more waterfalls.

Next stop - Japan! (Well, technically Midway or something, but I digress...)

Passing over Waimea Canyon, a.k.a. the "Grand Canyon of the Pacific"

You might recognize this waterfall from the opening sequence of Jurassic Park

The terrain fell away as we turned back out towards the ocean. I descended down to 1,500 feet and we flew just offshore, passing by the town of Poipu and our hotel. The lighting here was just spectacular, lighting up the shoreline and flatland in vivid color against the mountain backdrop. We also saw at least one whale spout off under the right wing. I followed the coast northeast as we made our way back towards Lihue.

Turning east along the coast on the south side of the island

Our hotel, the Grand Hyatt Kauai, is the one with the green roof

I think she was having a good time!

Unfortunately, all good things eventually come to an end. We crossed over the final ridge and descended into a right downwind for Runway 21. I was in a little close to the airport so our downwind-to-final was a continuous turn, but I rolled out right on centerline. Perhaps inspired by all the amazing views of the past hour, I made a very smooth landing in the left crosswind and taxied over to the hangar. We thanked Bruce for the great tour (he shared tons of interesting information as we flew around the island) and headed back to the hotel.

Passing over Lihue, the second-largest town on the island, shortly before landing

Short final - and proof that I have indeed flown in Hawaii!

Well, time to color in my ninth state on the "where I've flown" map. I may still have a long way to go but I have made it to what is arguably the hardest one to reach! Although I've included tons of photos in this post, it still doesn't really do the island justice. So if you have the opportunity to visit (and fly!) don't pass it up - you certainly won't regret the journey.

Today's Flight: 1.1 hours
Total Time: 211.5 hours

Current!

2012-04-03T20:13:00.000-04:00

Plane: Cub, 65 hp
Instructor: Joe
Route: 40I, Local
Weather: Clear, 72 degrees, wind 130 degrees at 5 knots

I am happy to report I have finally broken a long streak - that of having gone 144 days since I last logged time in the cockpit. We got married, then the holidays came, and then there has been a bit of unemployment uncertainty. But I couldn't stay on the ground forever, especially if I want to continue my annual tradition of flying the Cub on my birthday next month! I renewed my renter's insurance yesterday and made it down to Stewart this evening to finally get current once again.

Joe and I chatted on the ground for a bit before filling the J-3's tank with 100LL and taking off into the warm evening sky. We flew north towards Dayton and pretty much just spent the first 20-30 minutes doing nothing but flying low and slow and staring out the windows. Gotta love a Cub.

After 3+ years, it's still fun to stare at the GPS tracks of my flights!

Eventually we made it back to the pattern and he asked for three landings. I was quite high on the first one and landed long although the touchdown itself was quite smooth. There was certainly some rust to knock off after such an extended period away from flying. The next two were better; I had a tad too much speed on both but slipped the plane down and made perfectly safe landings. Obviously that's something I'll try and polish up now that I'm able to fly solo again.

It was just an altogether enjoyable night at the airport. One of those evenings that always remind me why I enjoy Stewart so much - it's just vintage aviation in the best possible form. I still doubt that I'll be able to go crazy this year when it comes to flying time but it's always nice to get back into the air.

Flight Track: Google Earth KMZ File
Today's Flight: 0.9 hours
Total Time: 210.4 hours

Hood work, yadda, yadda, yadda... Stearman!!!

2011-08-12T23:35:00.024-04:00

Plane: Cessna 150 / Stearman / Cub, 85 hp
Instructor: Dave
Route: 40I, Local
Weather: Clear, 76 degrees, wind 110 degrees at 3 knots

Today was all sorts of fun - but we'll get to that. When we were at the airport last Saturday I booked time with Dave for this evening. I last completed a phase of WINGS in September 2009, so I either had to complete another or complete a full-on BFR by the end of next month. Since I already completed two out of of three of my required flight activities back in March, it made the most sense to go up with him and finish off this phase to extend my BFR currency by two more years.

Flight Tracks - Cessna 150 (red) / Stearman (green) / Cub (blue)

I had reserved the Cub but realized this afternoon that part of what I needed to do included hood work. Luckily the 150 was open, so I swapped rides and we hopped into the tiny Cessna. Hard to believe, but I haven't flown a 150 in nearly a year - that's what I used to always fly, nearly half my hours (98+) are in 150s! Anyway, after reacquainting myself with that tiny cockpit we took off and flew up to 2,500 feet over the lake.

Dave had me put the airplane into slow flight with 30 degrees of flaps, level at about 2,700 feet and hanging on the prop at 35 to 40 knots. I held the ailerons level and used the rudder pedals to turn us in a few circles. Then I pushed in the power and raised the nose until we had a nice break into a power-on stall. That went pretty well, so power to idle and two power-off stalls followed. The last one was one of the best I've ever done - a couple taps of the rudder and the nose dropped and the remained wings perfectly level at the break.

After all that, it was time to strap on the hood and do a little instrument work. The last time I went under my hood was my checkride in 2008, so needless to say I was overdue for some practice whether or not it was part of my WINGS activity. I won't say I did great, considering the lack of training and practice, but I did manage some decent turns and climbs. Obviously I've got a loooong way to go towards my IR. Dave then had me lower my head, tossed the airplane around, then had me recover for unusual attitude practice - always fun. I think he had me in a nose-low attitude once and an extremely nose-high attitude twice.

He asked for a landing just past a specific point on the runway, so I set up for a short field approach. Extended downwind, then all 40 degrees of flaps and 50 knots on final. Manage airspeed with pitch and descent with throttle. I was hanging on the prop as we crossed over the edge of the runway but we hit a tiny bit of lift and I touched probably 50-100 feet past my intended point. Still good, but I enjoy the challenge of a spot landing and would've liked to really nail that one!

Stearman + Grass = Perfection

Back in the office, Dave said he had to put the Stearman away. For those not familiar with the fine folks at Red Stewart Airfield, putting the Stearman away equates to a trip around the pattern and a free ride if you happen to be there at the right time. After over three years flying there, I was finally at the airport at the right time!

He explained how to climb in and I have to say it was easier than I expected - the cockpit was more spacious than you might think, too. The radial engine coughed to life and the smell was oh-so-vintage-airplane-good. Dave handed me the controls and had me taxi down to the other end of the runway. Needless to say, compared to a Cub, you really need to do S-Turns to see out of this thing on the ground!

I think I looked the part...

I did all the preflight checks and run-up, then taxied onto the runway. Dave was also on the controls but I managed to get us off the ground and climbed slowly at about 85 mph as we made our way around the pattern. Abeam the numbers, throttle back to about 1500 RPM and a descent at around 85 mph again. Dave said to give her a little forward slip on short final to really see where we're going, so left stick and right rudder and we lost some altitude and airspeed and I could see the grass strip out in front. With some more help on the controls, I brought the stick back all the way and we touched down somewhat softly. They really don't lie when they say it flies just like a big Cub.

So yeah, that was fun and awesome. The view was incredible - nothing like the air whipping past the wires and being able to see in every direction. No way I could come close to flying it without a CFI onboard anytime soon, but I did get to fly a Stearman this evening. 'Nuff said.

Gotta love the view from downwind - the runway's under the bottom wing

After all that fun, I still had the J-3 booked because that's what I originally was going to fly in with Dave. It really was too beautiful an evening not to fly some more. I figured I might as well take it around the patch three times for currency purposes.

A hot air balloon was launching on the field right when I took off, so I immediately side-stepped to the right of the runway to give them some room. If you watch the video below, you'll see me wave the wings to say hello a few different times as I fly past the balloon. Every landing was a monster slip power-off approach, partially because I thought they'd look cool with the fisheye lens and partially because they're just so much fun. The final landing was intentionally long to save some taxi time.

A little video fun - only at Stewart can you fit in 3 takeoffs and landings in 0.3 hours!

Between the finally-nice, fall-like flying weather and getting to fly three different airplanes there's not much else I need to say about today. Just one of those glad-to-be-a-pilot evenings. And, to be a little more specific, glad-to-be-a-taildragger-pilot. Sorry, but you'll never convince me you can have fun any cheaper or better than a Cub with the door open. Well, maybe in a Stearman - but then I'm not so sure that cheaper part applies.

Flight Tracks: Google Earth KMZ File
Today's Flight: 0.7 hours / (not logged) / 0.3 hours
Total Time: 205.1 hours

Currency and chow with the CFI

2011-04-15T16:37:00.012-04:00

Plane: Cessna 172
Instructor: Dave
Route: 40I-LUK-40I
Weather: Overcast, 68 degrees, wind 150 degrees at 10 knots gusting to 16

This was a particularly earthbound winter for me. Along with the usual weather that makes flying difficult, I have been traveling - a lot. Two weeks in Japan and South Korea back in January. Weekend trips to Michigan to take care of wedding stuff. Then I spent nearly four of the past five weeks on the road - Iowa and Wisconsin in March, then Spain and the UK the past two weeks. I love to travel and see the world so I'm not complaining, but it does make doing just about anything else difficult after a while.

The good news is the brunt of all that travel now appears to be behind me. That means I'm in catch-up mode back here at home, but at least I'll be around to take advantage of good flying days. Daylight is stretching back into the evenings and leaves are starting to grow on the trees. It finally feels like flying season again!

Since we hope to take at least one or two trips in an airplane this summer, I needed to get current in the 172. It's hard to believe but exactly six months have passed since I last flew the airplane! Instead of simply going up to knock out a few maneuvers, I thought I would add to today's mission. We'd still do the maneuvers but I also wanted to fly down to Lunken Field in Cincinnati for lunch at the Sky Galley... and CFI Dave (who had never been to the restaurant before) certainly didn't object to that proposal.

Video from today - I'm still figuring how to best use my new fisheye lens adapter

A low pressure system is barreling down on the region this weekend but I saw on the TAFs that the weather was forecast to remain clear until about 4 pm. That worked out nicely since I had booked the airplane from 11-2. I got a standard briefing about 10 am and decided all was well for the planned flight. It was going to be quite windy but the ceilings and visibility were good VFR.

We departed Runway 8 at Stewart and I climbed up to 3,000. Dave had me do a steep turn in each direction. I hit my wake on the first one to the left - it's always nice when I managed to do that. Then I configured the Skyhawk for slow flight and putzed along at about 60 mph indicated while making a descending, 360 degree turn. It struck me just how stable the airplane is (compared to smaller aircraft) while I was practicing the maneuvers. Students who learn to fly only in 172s don't know how easy they have it compared to those of us who flew 150s, Champs, and Cubs!

Even though it was a bit hazy on the horizon I spotted Lunken a good 15 miles out. After checking the ATIS, I called the Tower and they cleared us for a right downwind entry for landing Runway 3R. We were essentially already on a long, extended downwind so I continued straight ahead. In about 10 miles we reached the airport and I called Tower again and was cleared to land. My touchdown was pretty smooth but I left a little power in and, coupled with the gusty winds, that caused me to float before finally settling down for good.

Today's flight path overlaid on the Terminal Area Chart

Lunch was delicious - I had a barbeque burger and Dave had a club sandwich. This was my second meal at the Sky Galley and it's still high on my 'highly recommended' list of $100 burger destinations. You may recall that I took Joe, a coworker of mine, down there for dinner last June. The view from the restaurant/terminal is great and it's just an all-around neat airport to visit.

After a quick preflight, I started up and contacted Ground for taxi clearance. The wind shifted while we were eating and they were now taking off to the south. I was cleared to taxi to Runway 21R and called Tower for takeoff clearance after checking the engine on the runup pad. I was cleared for takeoff with a right turnout - possibly the best departure from Lunken. The view of downtown Cincinnati is incredible as you make the turn.

We had some help from the wind on the way home and I was entering the pattern at Stewart within 15-20 minutes. Nobody else was around as I crossed midfield and entered the downwind for Runway 8. The wind had picked up and was nearly a direct crosswind. My feet were dancing on the rudder pedals in coordination with my hand on the yoke to keep the nose pointed down the runway on short final. I didn't pull the yoke back as far as I should have and touched down in slightly too flat of an attitude, but I otherwise managed an acceptable landing. All that fresh, green, spring grass probably helped me out a little!

Flight Track: Google Earth KMZ File
Today's Flight: 1.2 hours
Total Time: 184.5 hours

Currency plus some new stuff in the Cub

2011-03-26T16:12:00.013-04:00

Plane: Cub, 65 hp
Instructor: Dave
Route: 40I, Local
Weather: Clear, 33 degrees, wind 040 degrees at 10 knots gusting to 17

I know, I know - this is a flying blog and I haven't had much to say about flying in what feels like forever. For that I apologize. Work and wedding planning and weather have either been taking up a lot of my time or preventing me from going up. And while I always want to fly, it's hard to justify going up for no reason when I'm trying to save money (can you say honeymoon?) and there's a chance I'll drop out of currency before I can fly again.

However, spring has mostly sprung around here. It was very cold this morning (below freezing, in fact) but the grass is rather green and it's that time of year again where there are some places I'd like to fly and people I'd like to take flying. So with that in mind - even though I was technically still current thanks to my last flight with CFI Dave in January - I decided it was a good day to go up with an instructor again.

Video from today using my new fisheye lens for my Zi8

We knocked off a couple things all at once today. I managed to get current in some slightly challenging conditions (it was quite windy, at least for a 65 hp Cub) and satisfied two different flight requirements for the FAA WINGS phase I'm currently working on. If you aren't familiar, WINGS is a pilot safety program that encourages additional, "more than required by the regulations" training. By completing a phase, you basically satisfy the FAA's flight review requirement. That means you can fly for another two calendar years before you are required to complete a Biennial Flight Review with a CFI.

I've had my Private certificate since November 2008 which means I would have needed to complete a BFR by November 30, 2010 had I not participated in the WINGS program. However, I last passed a phase in September 2009 and therefore I am legal to act as Pilot in Command until September 30, 2011. Once I complete a third flight activity - which I plan on doing with Dave in the 150 later next month - I'll have completed another phase in the program. So that will delay my BFR until mid-2013, though I expect to complete more WINGS phases before I ever reach that point.

Back to today, we ran through some usual tasks and I also had Dave teach me something new as I usually try to do when flying with an instructor. My takeoffs were all quite good (normal, short field, soft field) but the landings weren't great at first. The gusty crosswind made it more challenging but I had a slight mental lapse and set up incorrectly at first for a short field landing - forgetting I should be making the approach with power added. Once I sorted that out, my second and third short field landings were much better. I floated too much on the second landing but plopped the plane down just past my aiming point on the third and final landing.

We also ran through some maneuvers that are good practice for any pilot - steep turns, turns around a point, and s-turns. I held altitude reasonably well on the steep turns although I know I have done better in the past. That's something I'll work on solo in the near future. The strong and gusty winds made it a great day to practice ground reference maneuvers so the turns around a point (two water towers just outside Waynesville) and s-turns over a road were how we chose to tackle that portion of the flight. Considering I don't practice either nearly as frequently as I did when I was a student, I was quite satisfied with my performance on both tasks.

The new maneuver I wanted to learn with Dave today was the steep spiral. It's a requirement for the Commercial certificate, not something generally taught in Private training. However, since it's one of the primary ways to get an airplane on the ground in case of emergency like an in-flight fire, I wanted some practice!

Steep spirals are quite simple - you basically bring the throttle to idle, roll the airplane over into a 60 degree bank, and control your airspeed with back pressure on the stick/yoke. You're pulling 2 Gs at 60 degrees so you certainly feel the extra weight but that also means you're descending very quickly, about 15 or 20 seconds to lose 1,000 feet. Dave first demonstrated and then I gave it a whirl. I did reasonably well for a first-time student but, as you would expect, he was much smoother. It's definitely another maneuver we'll work on again soon, both in the Cub and the Cessna.

So there you go, I finally flew again! It's a clear start to getting back in flying shape for the year. Gina and I hope to take some smaller trips this summer, not on the scale of last summer's giant adventure around Lake Michigan but still overnight with a purpose. We'd like to fly up to Syracuse in June for a family graduation party - flying would thoroughly beat the 11-hour drive we made there last summer! My best friend Rob is also going to come down and visit soon and we'll go up and have some fun in the Cub like we usually do. I still have a crazy travel schedule for work in the upcoming weeks but hopefully I'm back to flying with more regularity!

Today's Flight: 1.2 hours
Total Time: 183.1 hours

Dual in the Cub in the snow

2011-01-14T22:51:00.017-05:00

Plane: Cub, 85 hp
Instructor: Dave

Route: 40I-MGY-40I
Weather: Overcast, 27 degrees, wind 180 degrees at 7 knots

It seems as if no matter how hard I try to avoid it, there's always a sizable gap in my logbook this time of year. Some things are certainly out of my control but it's always a busy couple of months. Even though Gina and I tried to fly the 172 last month, mechanical problems prevented that $100 burger hop. However, back from 10 days in Japan and South Korea, I took advantage of a rare Friday off to log some Dual with CFI Dave. I slept over 12 hours last night but I felt it was prudent to go up with an instructor after that big of a time change - plus, it's never a bad thing to have a CFI in the front seat to put you through the paces.

We chatted for a few minutes in the office since I haven't seen Dave in a while. That tends to happen when you haven't flown in two months. The airplane looked good and my inspection was quick (though I didn't rush it, even the frigid cold!) so I hopped in and we got the engine turning. There are no skis on the Cub right now, just the standard tires, so I managed a pretty decent soft field takeoff. In a J-3 that means you don't push the stick as far forward as in a normal takeoff so that the tail rides closer to the ground and the airplane lifts off in more of a three-point attitude.

Nothing too exciting, just some highlights from today's flight over the snow

I brought her around the pattern once to make sure I still had a good feel for the airplane and landed pretty softly on the snow-covered grass. Satisfied, I flew over to Wright Brothers to knock out some landings on pavement. You can't do that without an instructor and it's good practice!

On short final (maybe 100 AGL, probably lower) for Runway 20, Dave abruptly pushed the throttle wide open and my first reaction was, "I'm not too slow!" Then I saw him pointing - there was a twin flying straight down the runway in the opposite direction, pointed directly at us. At first I thought he was landing (opposite the current flow of traffic) but, as I sidestepped and climbed to the right of the runway, we realized he was happily flying straight and level down Runway 02 at about 500 feet AGL. Didn't seem like the smartest thing to do but we were NORDO so I obviously couldn't have heard if he was making any calls. He never budged while flying level over the length of the runway - I have no clue if he ever saw us. The lack of any maneuvering to avoid the bright yellow Cub over the numbers does seem to indicate that he did not.

It's a great lesson on both sides when you think about it. It's 100% legal to fly NORDO and we had entered the pattern properly for the runway in use. He could have been making radio calls announcing his intentions and may have assumed the field was empty since we certainly weren't announcing our position over the radio. In both cockpits, you still have to see and avoid and ultimately can't rely on anything else for collision avoidance.

I re-entered the downwind and landed uneventfully, albeit a bit hard. The visual of the edges of the pavement meeting the grass tend to make you feel like you're lower and I flared a few seconds early. Mental notes were made - I knew to expect that from prior experience but it still seems to take one time to re-calibrate my brain after all my grass landings in the Cub. We went around the pattern two more times and I did better. The last landing was a total greaser. All were definitely a lot better than the last time I took the J-3 to MGY.

Only about 0.5 hours had elapsed on the Hobbs so I asked Dave what maneuvers we should practice. We ended up doing just about everything. I climbed up to around 3,000 MSL after departing Wright Brothers (I spotted the same twin flying under us, seemingly below pattern altitude, on our way out of there - really don't know what they were doing today...) and did two power-off and two power-on stalls, doing possibly my best-ever job of keeping the wings level at the break on all of them. Then I did a few steep turns - I wasn't satisfied with the first one but I tried again and hit my wake while holding altitude much tighter.

I've never done Chandelles before so this was a prefect opportunity to request that Dave show me how to do them. He demonstrated twice and then I did three. The Cub flies (and stalls) so slow that the whole maneuver goes by very quickly. Regardless, it's nice to now know the proper way to fly this Commercial maneuver and I'll be able to practice them in other airplanes in the future. Never passing up an opportunity to have some fun in the Cub since we were now up around 4,000 MSL, I pulled back on the stick, kicked in the left rudder, and away we spun. I recovered quickly with right rudder and pulled out of the dive with only about 300-400 feet altitude loss. Spins are fun! :)

The snowy landscape below was pretty to look at and I captured a bit of it on video as I flew us to Stewart. Back in the familiar confines of the home drome, I landed three more times on the soft field. I made one approach as a simulated engine-out and, as usual, managed to land softer in that configuration than in a usual stabilized approach. For the final lap, Dave told me to touch down next to the three cones and I upped the ante - I told him I'd go for a power-off 180 accuracy approach! Abeam the three cones I pulled the throttle to idle, used a slight forward slip on final to bleed off airspeed and altitude, and touched down within 50 feet of passing the cones. Take that, Mr. CFI!

Today was literally the exact day my PIC currency expired; as of tomorrow, I would no longer have the required three takeoffs and landings in the previous 90 days. It was nice to extend my currency with a full hour of practicing most of the maneuvers in the PTS. I also made sure I did a few things you're not allowed to do in the Cub without a CFI on board - namely, landing on a paved runway and spins. All in all, a thoroughly well-rounded afternoon of flying.

Today's Flight: 1.0 hours
Total Time: 181.9 hours

Two up, two down

2010-05-29T12:58:00.003-04:00

Plane: Cessna 172
Instructor: Dave
Route: 40I, Local
Weather: Haze, 81 degrees, wind 040 degrees at 4 knots

Originally I had two hours booked tonight for a checkout in the 172 since I hadn't flown it in over 90 days. Currency requirement for Stewart and not a bad idea regardless. I'm not sure what's harder to believe - that it's been over 7 months since I last flew the 172 or that it's been almost 9 months since I last flew with Dave! Anyway, I ended up at the airport early this morning because of the Young Eagle flight and didn't really want to drive back again later. Luckily there was a little space in Dave's schedule and he told me to hang around the airport for a bit so we could go fly after he finished with a student.

He said that going up with me for a re-checkout is too easy (quite the compliment) and it shouldn't take long. I preflighted the plane while he was with his student so we were able to climb in and taxi out as soon as he finished. I've got enough time in the Skyhawk now to know to expect the heavier control forces but he still had to remind me to pull back harder on my first takeoff to get the nosewheel up. We climbed straight out over the lake to about 3,000 feet and then he had me give him a power-off and power-on stall. Both were very smooth without either wing dropping more than 10 degrees and he said I did a great job with the rudder work.

Satisfied that I knew what I was doing, he said to head back to the airport. My first landing was smooth and I held the plane off right until the stall - probably one of my best landings I've had in the 172. Per my usual attitude, I told him I had to do more than one to make sure it wasn't just luck. This next time I pulled the power to idle abeam the threshold for a simulated engine-out approach. Turning base-to-final I slowly brought in the flaps until I was sure I had the runway made and then dumped out all 40 degrees on short final, rounded out, and touched down softly near the hump on the runway. As you can see below it was a very short 'lesson' but I'm current again and can start using the bigger Cessna for some longer trips I have planned in the near future!

Today's Flight: 0.5 hours
Total Time: 151.4 hours

Slamming the Cub onto pavement

2010-03-06T22:15:00.003-05:00

Plane: Cub, 85 hp
Instructor: Joe
Route: 40I-MGY-40I
Weather: Clear, 44 degrees, wind 310 degrees at 5 knots

The good news is that the snow is almost melted around here. The bad news is that two-plus feet of melting snow result in a very soft, muddy grass runway. I originally had the 150 reserved for a solo cross-country flight this morning but Stewart called yesterday and canceled that plan. It's taildraggers-only right now and, due to the field conditions, you have to go up with an instructor. I reserved a slot with Joe and figured this would be a good opportunity to try the one thing I'd never done in a taildragger - land on a paved runway.

You may be asking how I could fly Cubs and Champs all the time and have never been trained to land on anything other than grass. The simple answer is that Stewart doesn't permit you to land them at any other airport (the only exception being Sport Pilot students on their solo cross-country; they land on the grass runway at Urbana) so I've never had a particularly strong reason to do so. On the other hand, it's good to have done it should I ever be over top of another airport and need to land in an emergency.

It's a short, 7 nm hop from Stewart to Wright Brothers

After starting up and running through my CIGAR checks, I taxied straight onto the runway without stopping and poured in the throttle for a soft field takeoff. We left the pattern and headed direct to Wright Brothers. Remember that we have no radios in the Cub so this was going to be a true see-and-avoid and right-of-way practice session. As I approached the airport for a crosswind-to-downwind pattern entry I saw one plane on base and another on downwind in front of me. The spacing worked out perfectly and I slid in behind the second plane as I turned downwind.

It felt odd to be descending through the pattern at Wright Brothers in a Cub. I've landed there probably 50+ times in the 150 and 172 but it was a whole new sight picture sitting in the back seat of the J-3. The landing was, um, let's call it firm. I kept in the throttle too long and didn't touch down with the stick all the way back; we definitely knew we were on the ground. Joe gave me some tips and we slowly taxied back to the end of the runway. The importance of S-Turns while taxiing is clear when you've got a 50 foot wide taxiway and have to stay on the centerline!

I made three more trips around the pattern - takeoffs were always decent but my last takeoff was really good, lifting the tailwheel off first then smoothly lifting off. The landings, however, were all quite terrible. Every time I brought us down with a notable thud, even when focusing on controlling my descent. One good point is that I did always handle the crosswind correctly so we touched while pointed straight down the centerline. That keeps the little wheel behind the big wheels and is not of small importance. Still, something was throwing me off because I never hit the grass that hard - early training notwithstanding.

There's a chance that the paved runway threw off my altitude perception in the flare. While the runway at Wright Brothers certainly isn't new to me, a fixed width still looks quite different than a seemingly unlimited expanse of grass. At least I now know I can get down safely on a paved surface. On the other hand, I'm not happy with any of the landings and definitely want to go up again with a CFI for more practice. I flew directly back to Stewart and landed long, touching down softly while riding out the splashing mud and water that quickly slowed us down.

It was a great day to fly and I think every aviator must have had the same feeling. In our time at Wright Brothers, there were hot air balloons, a 172, an Arrow, and what I believe was a Piaggio P.180 Avanti - a turboprop with two pusher engines and a canard - in the pattern. Not only was it cool to see so many flavors of aviation together, but it really kept my head on a swivel since we were NORDO in the Cub. I'm so excited to be able to finally say that Spring is near!

Flight Track: Google Earth KMZ File
Today's Flight: 1.0 hours
Total Time: 142.8 hours

Going skiing in the Cub

2010-02-19T21:17:00.009-05:00

Plane: Cub, 85 hp + Skis
Instructor: Emerson
Route: 40I-2OH9-40I
Weather: Clear, 23 degrees, wind 260 degrees at 6 knots

If there's one good thing to come of the crazy amount of snow on the ground here in Southwest Ohio, it's that Stewart has the Cub on skis. Last year our one big snowfall melted so quickly that I never had a chance to fly it in this configuration. I had today off work since we're headed up to Michigan for a wedding Gina's in and took the opportunity to head down to Waynesville and go flying first thing this morning.

THIS is what winter flying is all about!

Emerson cleaned the frost off the wings and windshield while I completed the preflight. Then I hopped in and he propped using the cold-start procedures. He taxied us over to the fuel pump and I waded through the 2 foot drifts (they were up to my knees or higher) to fill our tank full of 100LL. Engine running again, I ran through my full CIGAR checklist sans run-up before taxiing towards the runway.

He had instructed me that we would almost need full throttle at times to move through the heavy snow. As I brought the power up and wiggled the rudders back and forth to break the skis loose, we started to move away from the fuel pump. There's a lot less friction when you move over top of existing ski tracks in the snow, so you have to constantly adjust the throttle to keep moving. Just as in soft field procedures, you never want to stop moving of you run the risk of getting stuck.

Stewart - the only way to get in or out is on skis

Silos and houses off the end of Runway 26 at Stewart

I made a big left circle to ensure the pattern was clear and then rolled onto the runway. Full power and we started to move. As we picked up a little speed, the wings began to develop lift and you could feel the weight come off the skis. I held in back pressure to keep the tail close to the ground as you do in a soft field takeoff in the Cub. Before I knew it, we had smoothly lifted off the snow and were quickly climbing and I snapped into usual pattern mode. Turn crosswind at 1,500 feet, downwind, throttle back and level at 1,800 feet (though I ended up at 1,900 most of the time today) on downwind.

Abeam the numbers I pulled the carb heat and slowly brought the throttle back to 1,500 RPM to ensure I didn't shock cool the engine. On final I could tell I was a little high and I brought the throttle almost to idle to bleed some altitude. About 20 feet above the runway I added in a couple hundred RPM (soft field technique) and made slight corrections all the way to the ground until we touched very softly. Emerson said "good job" and I have to admit I was quite proud of the landing, too.

Snow-covered fields

The valley surrounding the Little Miami River

I made another two circuits around the pattern at Stewart, each time departing with a very smooth takeoff and a very cushioned landing where you could just feel the skis kiss the snow. Based on this flight and my last one in the 150, I'm starting to think having Emerson along is my good luck recipe! After the third landing at Stewart, he asked if I wanted to go over to the gliderport for a few landings. They're more protected by trees and the snow is deeper so I said, "sure, let's go!"

Caesar Creek Gliderport on downwind to Runway 27

It's only about 3 miles away, so I was almost in their pattern by the time I leveled off after takeoff. On downwind for Runway 27, I could see just a few ski tracks on their otherwise very smooth and snowy field. There's some large high-tension lines about 1/2 mile out on final so I ended up a little high and floated about 500 feet down the runway before touching down. It was such a smooth landing that you could actually feel the back of the skis hit first and then settle down as the weight of the plane brought them fully into contact with the snow.

Some beautiful houses nestled in the woods near the river

Taxiing in the heavier snow, I had to keep the throttle around 2,000 RPM most of the time to stay in motion. On takeoff you could actually feel the lift build on the wing as our acceleration was slow at first, then picked up quickly as the weight came off the skis - very cool. I made two trips around the pattern here as well, with an extremely smooth takeoff and two very, very smooth landings. The soft snow really cushioned the landings (it's like landing on cotton almost) but I was also doing a great job managing throttle and stick for nearly zero-descent touchdowns.

You can see the thin haze layer as you look towards the horizon

I asked Emerson to fly us back to Stewart after my third takeoff at the gliderport so I could take a few photos on the way home, which I've embedded throughout this post. He kept us around 500 feet AGL and I really enjoyed seeing all the snow from such a great vantage point. I took the controls again on downwind and brought us back for another smooth landing.

Emerson flying us back to Stewart

About to fly over US-42 between Lebanon and Waynesville

You can really see the ski tracks in this shot

Most of you know how much I love the Cub in general and how much I rave about flying around in warm weather with the door open. Well, that's all awesome but this whole skis business is the next level of awesome. Today was an absolute blast and it introduced me to yet another wonderful part of the J-3's personality. Seriously, it's nearly impossible to imagine more fun per dollar ($62/hr at Stewart) available in an airplane I can rent!

Flight Track: Google Earth KMZ File
Today's Flight: 1.0 hours
Total Time: 141.8 hours

How'd I do after 85 days off?

2010-01-30T22:39:00.004-05:00

Plane: Cessna 150
Instructor: Emerson (for 0.5)
Route: 40I, Local
Weather: Clear, 24 degrees, wind 020 degrees at 10 knots

When I passed my checkride I said to myself that I wouldn't ever go more than two weeks without flying in order to stay comfortably current. Of course, I didn't own a house then and it wasn't yet winter. Needless to say, life gets in the way sometimes and nearly three months elapsed since my last time in the left seat. So, while not specifically required by Stewart since my last flight was less than 90 days ago, I decided it would be best to err on the cautious side and have a CFI ride along.

The sun was shining and it was absolutely frigid out but that wasn't going to stop me today. Winds were blowing steady out of the North and would provide a strong 10-12 knot crosswind. Nothing like some real flying conditions to keep you on your toes!

I'd never flown with Emerson before although we have talked plenty of times at the airport. He met me out at the 150 after I had finished my thorough preflight and hopped in after I topped off the tanks. Three shots of primer, carb heat on, and the still lukewarm engine (from the last student) came to life using the cold start procedure. The field ranged from a light covering of snow and ice to slightly soft grass but was mostly hard due to the well below freezing temperatures.

I taxied on to Runway 08, pushed the carb heat off, applied full power and lifted off with one of the smoothest crosswind takeoffs I have made in the past year. Emerson and I talked a little bit as I made my way around the pattern until I added in the carb heat abeam the threshold. As I descended and turned final with 30 degrees of flaps hanging out, it took nearly full rudder at times to stay aligned with the centerline while in a sideslip. I touched down smoothly and held the nose off as I allowed the plane to slow down without using the brakes.

Emerson looked at me and said, "so why am I sitting here?" I replied, "because - and you can ask Dave - after a nice trip around the pattern like that I usually manage to do something completely stupid on the next lap." With that, he remained in the right seat and I taxied back to the end of the runway.

I made two more circuits with two more of the best takeoffs and landings I've done in quite some time. On both landings, I used 20 degrees of flaps and kept my speed up a few knots for a little more rudder authority in the crosswind. Each time, I held the plane off longer and touched down very softly. While taxiing back for my third takeoff, a family of deer ran across the end of the runway so I kept a watchful eye out for them. Emerson commented after my third landing that he really liked how I was holding the nose off the ground as long as possible. I then dropped him off (at least he got to do some aerial sightseeing!) and headed up one final time solo.

Again, the takeoff was very smooth and I scooted around the pattern quickly. It sure is hard to argue with the performance of a half-loaded 150 in below-freezing temperatures! As I began my descent, I decided to make my approach with only 10 degrees of flaps this time since I wanted to land long and shorten my taxi. Shooting down final I was able to transition from my crab into a sideslip and again touched down very softly on the left main.

I have to think the performance was due in part to a little extra focus since I had not flown in so long. Maybe there was some subconscious motivation to stay sharp since I was flying with Emerson for the first time. Those crosswinds sure required me to focus on the stick and rudder skills, too.

In the end, the fact that I was finally able to get back up was the important thing. It's always a great feeling as I pull out of Stewart on to US-42 in my car after another successful flight. Nothing like reflecting on the view from above after I return to the ground. That I was able to string together a series of the best takeoffs and landings I've made in months after such a long break is just icing on the cake.

Today's Flight: 0.7 hours
Total Time: 140.8 hours

This is what it's all about

2009-09-19T23:40:00.011-04:00

Plane: Cub, 85 hp
Instructor: Dave
Route: 40I, Local
Weather: Clear, 74 degrees, wind 040 degrees at 5 knots

Honestly, I think that this is one of those flights where I'll let the video speak for itself. Watch and enjoy...

A fun way to view spins - the orange/red indicates a -2,500 fpm descent

Well, I wish I could be that brief but a couple disclaimers are in order. I must add that, in practicing spins and "wingovers," both were of the non-aerobatic variety and that's why they are permissible maneuvers per FARs 91.303 and 91.307. Spin training is required for the CFI rating and that's something I hope to achieve in the future, and the "wingovers" were really just a demonstration of the effect of engine torque in a power-on stall configuration.

I also want to note that most of today's flight involved me practicing maneuvers with Dave as set forth by the FAA Wings Program. Specifically, I needed credit in two flight areas today (FCA and FEA) to complete my Advanced Phase. For those who aren't familiar, it's a program designed to improve safety by providing opportunities for pilots to attend seminars, take knowledge courses, and build skills in the air. I would strongly encourage every pilot to visit the website and sign up if you have not already. There are many online courses available through the FAA as well as the great online courses provided by the AOPA Air Safety Foundation - and all can count towards your Wings credits. Again, I think it's a great program and, especially for the flight areas, it provides a nice incentive to work on specific maneuvers and tasks whenever you fly with a CFI.

Flight Track: Google Earth KMZ File
Today's Flight: 1.5 hours
Total Time: 131.5 hours

Up in the night sky

2009-07-31T23:58:00.005-04:00

Plane: Cessna 172
Instructor: Dave
Route: 40I-MWO-OXD-I19-MGY-40I
Weather: Clear, 66 degrees, wind calm

Stewart has a 90-day rule on aircraft currency, basically meaning if you haven't flown an aircraft in the past three months you have to go up again with an instructor before you can fly solo. I was past that mark in the 172 and I also wanted some experience flying it near gross before I try flying it full of myself and three pax. Seeing as I had to go up with a CFI and you can't fly out of Stewart solo at night I figured what the heck, why not do both?

Night flight is one of my favorite things about General Aviation, especially when the moon's half full and the sky is completely clear as it was tonight. Air that's smooth as glass and the lights twinkling below make for a spectacular time aloft. Gina also hadn't ever flown at night so I was excited for her to come up with me and Dave. Add in a backpack I filled with 30 pounds of paper and some extra flight gear in the back seat and we had a mostly-full 172.

I ended up at work until around 7:00 so I was glad to still make it down to the airport in time to do my preflight before the sun went down. Everything checked out as Dave drove the golf cart alongside the runway to put out the lanterns. Once the sun had set, we all hopped in and I taxied over to the fuel pump to top off the tanks. He told me we'd use most of the runway so I took us to the very end of the grass before beginning my takeoff roll. I quickly noticed the most pronounced difference of flying near gross, which was the significant amount of back force I needed on the yoke to get the nose off the ground.

Soon we were climbing into the dark night sky (with me holding in a considerable amount of right rudder - another definite difference from the 150) headed West. I first took us over to Middletown, circling around to enter a right downwind for Runway 23. My landing was about as smooth as you could ever ask for, so I knew it was all downhill from there. Sure enough, it was the best landing of the night. Anyway, I taxied us back and went around the pattern again to set up for a short field landing. This time I really planted us down good, which - while acceptable in a short field situation - was more a result of me succumbing to the illusion of being lower than I realized due to the runway lights.

Turning near Middletown with the moon in full view

Then it was off to Oxford, an airport I flew past while on a solo cross-country flight last year but never had touched down at. We couldn't spot it for the longest time so I keyed the lights on the CTAF and it appeared out of thin air a few miles in front of us. Due to the complete lack of traffic and calm winds, I landed on Runway 23 and then made a 180 and departed on Runway 5. The landing was decent but my favorite thing at OXD were the houses next door with red obstruction lights on their roofs. I want that! We quickly climbed away and headed back East towards Dayton, as I used the tall television towers (they're about 1,200 feet AGL) for some easy visual navigation.

We were about 5 miles south of downtown but got a great view of the skyline and streets all lit up below. Staying just South of the radio towers kept us out of Dayton's Class Charlie airspace and I headed further East so we could land at Greene County Airport. There was some high traffic about 5 miles Northeast of us and descending so we kept an eye out until it was clear they had turned away. As I turned base for Runway 25 we could see they were racing at Kil Kare Speedway that's a mile or so from the airport and Gina and Dave got a nice view of the action below. Again, the landing was decent if not super smooth and we taxied down and I departed Runway 7 for another view of the race on the way out. Turns out someone hit someone or something, as all we saw were flashing yellow lights.

I climbed back up to 2,500 and flew off towards Wright Brothers. Gina wanted to fly over our house at night and an approach to Runway 20 provides exactly that. Headed towards the airport, I knew exactly where it should be from all the landmarks on the ground. Nonetheless, I couldn't find the damn airport for the life of me and didn't even see the beacon. I didn't let Dave tell me for a while until he finally pointed right where I was looking and somehow this time I caught the beacon. Maybe it was the old 'use your perhipheral vision at night' trick we all learned about back in our primary training.

Another plane was in the pattern and I had heard him on the radio making calls as he approached from the West. Since I wanted to use Runway 20 and he was in the pattern for Runway 2, I made a couple 360s a few miles out to give us some spacing before entering the pattern. My first landing actually had us turning base to final before the house and it was again somewhat firm. I taxied back and elected to stay in the pattern and set up for a short field this time as that would result in a longer final. We went right over the house (Gina reports our landscape lighting shining up into the trees looks very cool from above) and I set it down just past the threshold and got on the brakes for a very short landing.

A nice view of the lights shimmering underneath the wing

While it did not feel like that long since the first takeoff, we'd already been up over two hours so I took off and turned towards Stewart. I asked Dave if there were any other things I should practice before flying a full airplane and he simply pointed out the increased control forces (elevator on takeoff and right rudder when climbing) that I noted earlier and said I was doing a good job flying. I'm definitely glad I elected to first fly a full plane with an instructor on board but at this point I think I just need to get out there and fly and gain some experience.

Contrary to my experience at Wright Brothers minutes earlier, I managed to spot the lanterns lining the runway at Stewart at least five miles out. Go figure, I miss the high-intensity instrument landing lights but spot the oil lanterns. I turned base perhaps a hair too early and was quickly reminded of the illusions of Stewart at night as I ended up far too high on final. Luckily our 172 is of the older variety, so idle power and all 40 degrees of flaps gave me plenty of sink and I touched down a few hundred feet past the threshold.

Forgive the lengthy post, but even what was essentially a flight in a big circle left me with a lot of thoughts after 2 1/2 hours aloft. Gina took a few photos that I included in the post - they came out alright considering the lack of light. I'm so glad I was able to finally get in some more night hours, as it's such a wonderful time to be in the air. I know they'll let me go park a 150 at Wright Brothers overnight and fly it back to Stewart in the morning, so I really need to take advantage of that to keep up my currency. All told, tonight was one of those low-key flights that reminds you how special this whole flying thing can be.

Flight Track: Google Earth KMZ File
Today's Flight: 2.5 hours
Total Time: 114.0 hours

Checked out in the Cub

2009-03-28T16:23:00.012-04:00

Plane: Cub, 85 hp
Instructor: Dave
Route: 40I, Local
Weather: Broken clouds, 55 degrees, wind 090 degrees at 8 knots

While I flew the Cub a few times during my primary training, I've never been officially checked out in one for solo flight. So I scheduled some time with Dave to add another airplane to my list at Stewart. The same front from last night was still moving in, but it held off long enough for us to go up for about an hour.

The 85 hp Cub is about as much fun as you can have for $62/hour. Takes off and lands on a dime, but has more than enough power to quickly climb away. We launched and I climbed while circling up through a hole in the broken clouds to 3,500 feet. Ironically, there was some virga (rain that evaporates before reaching the ground) up there above the low clouds and we got a free windscreen cleaning. I wish I had my camera with me, as the view when we broke through the hole and climbed above the lower layer was spectacular.

I did some steep turns and then transitioned into slow flight and then to a power-off stall. The Cub just about flies at a standstill and the stall was very tame. Then I added in power and made two power-on stalls. The first I let a little aileron in by accident so a wing dropped and I corrected with ailerons level and opposite rudder. I paid better attention to the stick position and hung it on the prop next time. Again, it's got so much power that at full throttle it sort of just hangs there in a coordinated power-on stall. Unfortunately the clouds made it impossible to do any spins since we could have accidentally dropped into one, so those will have to wait for a future flight.

A quick descent via some left and right forward slips took us down 2,000 feet and into the pattern. I made takeoffs and landings of the short/soft field and normal variety. For the short field takeoff, we were airborne by the third cone lining the runway, or in less than 300 feet. Good times. Compared to the Champ (which will float for miles) the Cub really drops when you cut the throttle. For the soft field landings I just kept in a couple hundred RPM in the flare and she sat down ever so softly. I swear, I land the taildraggers better than the darn Cessna. Chalk up another plane on my list - I can now fly the Champ, Cubs, 150s, and 172 out of Stewart.

Flight Track: Google Earth KMZ File
Today's Flight: 0.9 hours
Total Time: 95.2 hours

Back in the 172 with Dave and Gina

2009-03-14T20:21:00.006-04:00

Plane: Cessna 172
Instructor: Dave
Route: 40I-MGY-40I
Weather: Overcast, 48 degrees, wind 070 degrees at 6 knots

Two flights in two days has reminded me just how much I love aviation. Nothing in particular, but just the freedom of it all and how relaxed and happy I am after I shut the plane down. Tonight I took the opportunity to fly the 172 with a passenger in the back (Gina) and a CFI up front. Why fly with Dave? Well, I've only flown the Skyhawk once before and it was three months ago - and I've never flown it with anyone sitting in the back. So before I start loading it up with people I wanted to at least fly heavy once with an instructor on board. Just seems like the safe and prudent thing to do. Plus, he's an awesome guy and it's been too long since we flew together. Gina hadn't flown with me since New Years Day either, so I'm glad she was finally able to get up again.

About 5 miles away from the airport on the drive there it started to drizzle but luckily the precip never got any heavier. We talked with Dave and Joe inside the office for a few before heading out to preflight the 172 in the very light drizzle. She was still warm from an earlier flight so the engine turned over quickly and smoothly and I taxied down to the end of the runway. Full power added (I love the smooth growl of the 6-cylinder engine) and we accelerated down the grass and into the sky. Visibility was decent as I climbed up to 3,000 so we could practice slow flight.

After hanging on the prop with the stall horn blaring and making 90-degree and 270-degree turns, I pulled the throttle to idle and let 2814L slow until she nosed over for a tame power-off stall. Uneventful and Gina didn't thought it was pretty boring. This would be a good time to mention the intercom in the 172 is only a two-place, so we were flying without headsets so we could (sort of over all the noise) talk. It also meant I wasn't talking over the radio, but with the crappy weather we figured Wright Brothers wouldn't have any traffic, since they seem to mostly have fair-weather flyers there. My head was on a swivel and I turned on the landing light to help other pilots see us, but the stereotype proved true as nobody else ever showed up while we were there.

On the ground after a semi-decent normal landing (the wind's always fun on short final to Runway 2) we taxied back and I made a short field takeoff. You really have to yank the plane off the ground and I didn't use enough force right away. Dave told me to pull hard and we lept off the ground, climbing away at Vx. Back around, I set up for a short field landing and made a very stable approach. Power off and the stall horn was almost instantly on as the wheels touched right on the numbers. I hit the brakes and we slowed down well in time to take the first turnoff about 900 feet past the threshold. It was definitely one of the best short field landings I've made in a long time. Gina said she didn't like this landing because she was sure I was going to hit the lights. Obviously I found that pretty funny, but it definitely reminded me of how much I used to think I was sure to run into trees on short final into Stewart when I started training. It takes a while to get a feel for the sight picture, that's for sure.

Ready to head home, Dave said I should make a F-172 takeoff. For those of you who recall my training way back in October you may recall the lesson when he showed me what he calls the F-150 takeoff. Just a way to have a little safe fun, right? So I took off and flew about 50 feet above the runway until we were about 1,000 feet from the end going around 90 knots, then pulled back and we quickly climbed a few hundred feet before I pitched down to a normal climb speed. Gina of course thought this was way too much fun sitting behind me in the back seat.

When we were taxiing at Wright Brothers she had told Dave she liked power-on stalls better so I climbed up to 3,000 again on the way home and did one. It's still surprising how tame and boring they are in the 172 compared to the 150, which is always ready to drop a wing in a heartbeat. I then made two steep turns before a quick descent down into the pattern at Stewart. Dave asked for a soft field landing and I may very well have squeaked out the best one I've ever made. The wheels softly grazed the grass as I left a little power in and held the nose wheel off as airspeed slowly bled off. Yup, I'm quite proud of it!

We've got two college friends visiting next weekend and I blocked off some time in the 150 to take them up. I might switch to the 172 if we want to go somewhere, but with the two-place intercom it might not be fun if we can't talk much. Regardless, I hope the weather cooperates and I get to have some fun with new passengers. It really is wonderful to be able to fly more regularly again... sometimes it's hard to know how much you miss it when you're away!

Flight Track: Google Earth KMZ File
Today's Flight: 1.0 hours
Total Time: 90.5 hours

True Soft Field Practice

2009-02-08T19:42:00.007-05:00

Plane: Cessna 150
Instructor: Damon
Route: 40I-I68-40I
Weather: Haze, 45 degrees, wind 320 degrees at 4 knots

What do you get when a foot of snow and ice melt in the span of three days? On asphalt, a puddle here and there. On a grass strip, lots and lots and lots of muddy turf. As you know, our airport is of the latter type so today turned out to be a great day to practice.

It was so soft that they weren't allowing solo flight, so I went up with CFI Damon for the first time today. He does a lot of IR training so there's a good chance we'll fly together again in the future. Wow, that sounds strangely sentimental... but I digress. I told him I wanted to practice the obvious (soft field) along with some emergencies and general stuff to keep current.

We climbed into trusty ol' 60338 and, with a good deal of the throttle pushed in, taxied out of her spot and over to the fuel pumps. Then it was a taxi (gotta make sure you don't stop) up to the top of the hill for my preflight checks and a turn around (don't use the brakes!) to check the pattern before we continued the taxi right onto the runway without stopping for a soft field departure. It wasn't too bad, but I climbed up a little too high to build up speed and therefore didn't do my best at taking advantage of ground effect. The skies looked clear from the ground but it was quickly obvious that the haze made the reported 7-10 miles of visibility a rather optimistic figure.

Damon suggested we fly to Lebanon Warren County Airport (I68) for some landing practice. I was happy to fly there as it's the only really close airport to Stewart (all of 6 miles away) that I had somehow managed to not yet fly to. They have right traffic for Runway 1 due to skydiving operations and I entered on a 45 to the right downwind. Numerous planes were in the pattern and the guy in front of us apparently took the scenic route so we had to extend our downwind to about 3 miles away from the airport to sequence in behind him. The PAPI at I68 seems to have a higher glideslope (like 4 degrees) because it sure as heck put me what felt like way high when I held two whites and two reds.

We first made a soft field landing and, while a little left of centerline, I touched down pretty smoothly while adding in a little throttle to hold off the nosewheel. We taxied back for takeoff and had to hold a minute for landing traffic and another plane waiting for departure. I made a short field takeoff this time but pulled up a little too steeply and Damon corrected - nothing major, just could have left ground effect a second too soon. Otherwise it was another uneventful (and extended, due to traffic) trip around the pattern. I brought it in for a short field landing but floated some because I tried to follow the PAPI too long instead of focusing enough on the threshold. We landed fine but it could have been better, so we made another lap around the pattern and I set it down just past the threshold and got on the brakes in time to take the quick turnoff onto the taxiway.

Back at the departure end, Damon asked for a normal takeoff. There's nothing like gently leaping to the sky from a smooth patch of pavement and this one was no exception as we smoothly lifted into the sky. On downwind, he pulled the power to simulate an engine-out and I brought it around great but we would have landed a little shore of the displaced threshold. He noticed I turned a little late but that was partially because another plane was on final when he pulled the power. Once I knew he was clear of the runway I headed straight for the end. In a real emergency, I'd have made it and would have turned even sooner. Anyway, in went the throttle and we executed a go-around. Good to see I'm still sharp on those emergency procedures.

We climbed up to 2,800 and did some steep turns - a 360 to the left and then two 360s to the right. On the second to the right, he watched for traffic and had me do it solely by reference to the instruments. That one was spot on and it was good to pay better attention to the attitude indicator in keeping my altitude in check. We then climbed a little more and did a smooth and uneventful power-off stall before continuing with a power-on at 2,000 RPM, which I recovered from gently. The final task was a full-power-on stall (2,600 RPM) that took forever to coax a break out of thanks to the cool temperatures. When it finally nosed over it tried to rotate towards a spin but I caught it instinctively with rudder, reduced the throttle, and pulled us out without much altitude loss. I was very happy to see I made all the right moves pretty much completely by reflex during the stall practice.

Damon said I was flying really well all day and I found it great to get some feedback from a new instructor. He pointed out that some instructors might think some of my climbing turns in the pattern are a little too steep and I'll absolutely try and be more cognizant of that in the future. Nothing unsafe, he said, but just something to take note of. At this point we were descending and a plane appeared quite suddenly less than a mile in front of us, possibly departing from Stewart. I maneuvered well clear as we were entering the pattern but it's always a good lesson on a hazy day to be reminded how fast things can appear. I brought us down for a soft field landing and touched down pretty gently (not my best ever) but didn't remember to hold aileron into the mild crosswind. Overall, there were some little hiccups here and there but it was great to see I haven't picked up all that much rust while spending the last couple of weeks on the ground.

I've got one of these in my name now...

Oh yeah, my permanent certificate arrived in the mail on Saturday - woohoo! It took 77 days from passing the checkride until I had the certificate in my hands. Wow, hard to believe it's been 77 days (well 78 now) since I got my ticket - sheesh. Anyway, it's awesome to have a piece of plastic with the Wright Brothers' portraits on the back and my name on the front!

Today's Flight: 1.3 hours
Total Time: 86.8 hours

Cessna + Champ + Clouds = Currency

2008-12-20T22:51:00.011-05:00

Plane: Cessna 150
Instructor: (None) / Dave
Route: 40I, Local
Weather: Low ceilings, overcast, 29 degrees, wind 080 degrees at 8 knots

Given the weather of late, I was more than happy simply to get airborne this afternoon. My friend Mike and I had been hoping to take a cross-country over to Columbus (TZR) or down to Portsmouth (PMH) for a bite to eat like we did last weekend. Checking the TAFs and METARs when I rolled out of bed it was obvious the skies were nowhere close to allowing for any sort of trip today. Nonetheless, I drove down to Stewart figuring I might at least be able to stay in the pattern and keep my skills as fresh as possible. The ceiling was low (between 600 and 800 agl) but high enough to stay out of the clouds while flying circles around the airport. It was actually rather similar to the weather Dave and I encountered during a lesson back in September.

Cubs flying in formation with another one on final

Cessna

We pushed the plane out of the hangar and I was about to start it up when Emerson (one of the owners of the place) knocked on the window. I had pushed us right over some gravel and he pointed out that could damage the prop if I started it there. He also had to test fly it since they had just done a 100-hour inspection. So that made me feel like a bit of a moron, although he certainly wasn't upset or anything. I wouldn't have known about the test flight part (I got the book so they thought it was ok to fly in the office) but I know better than to start over gravel. Anyway, lesson learned and I'll likely never do that again.

Mike wanted to tag along after his first lesson in the Champ and I figured an extra pair of eyes never hurts. The pattern was surprisingly busy considering the low ceilings. At one point there were 5 planes in the pattern: three Cubs, the Champ, and us in the 150. I just worked on all sorts of takeoffs and landings - short and soft field, normal, engine-out, and even a go around. All were smooth aside from my first engine-out, where I let it get a few knots slow about 20 feet up and cheated by adding power so we came in smooth instead of dropping in hard. No reason to beat up the plane for the sake of practice when there's a perfectly good engine up front. Overall though I felt quite sharp for not having flown in two weeks.

Short final in the 150 (courtesy of Mike)

Champ

When I arrived at the airport I saw that one of Dave's students had canceled so I asked if he'd mind sticking me in the slot for an hour in the Champ. If you recall, I did not feel very comfortable flying solo the last time I went an extended period without flying the taildragger. Even though I won't likely be flying the Cubs or Champ much all winter, I want to at least try and maintain a semblance of currency in them. The ceilings were still low (and lowered some more as the lesson went on) but good enough for us to make five or six laps around the pattern. I felt right at home and other than coming in slightly fast (about five knots, which translates to plenty of floating in the Champ) on about half my landings everything was smooth and coordinated. The last landing was pretty much a three-point greaser as we slowed down to around 50 mph in a short field technique.

I'm very, very glad the weather let me get up today as I don't want to go any longer than two weeks between flights if at all possible. Hopefully we have a stretch of nicer days in the weeks ahead so the time I've booked actually turns into some cross-country $100 hamburger runs. I'm even debating taking the 150 up to Michigan overnight in a couple weekends. Since I won't be up again before the holiday, let me send my sincere thanks to everyone who reads this blog and wish you all a wonderful and Merry Christmas!

Today's Flights: 0.7 hours / 0.8 hours
Total Time: 80.3 hours

Adding another plane to my resume

2008-11-29T22:38:00.002-05:00

Plane: Cessna 172
Instructor: Dave
Route: 40I-I19-40I
Weather: Clear, 43 degrees, wind 100 degrees at 5 knots

I may be an official, certificated pilot now but that doesn't mean I don't have tons to learn. Heck, they say a good pilot is always learning and I totally subscribe to that theory. There are many different ratings and courses I plan on training towards as I move forward. First on the list was getting checked out in the Cessna 172 and I did that this afternoon.

The 172 is basically a 150 with four seats instead of two. Sure, it's got a bigger engine so it cruises faster. And some of the instruments and controls look a little different or are in new locations. But when it comes down to it, they fly about the same and it's one of the easiest transitions a pilot can make. Accordingly, I became a 172 pilot in about a half hour on the ground and an hour and a half in the sky today.

Dave walked through the preflight inspection with me, noting things like the fuel strainer handle (in the cockpit) and sumps (three instead of two) that differ from the 150. Then we started her up and I made a short field takeoff. Acceleration felt slower at first but I think we actually lifted off sooner than I'm used to, probably thanks to the light load in a larger aircraft. I climbed up to around 3,000 over the usual stomping grounds, a.k.a. Caesar Creek Lake. I made two very smooth and stable steep turns and then brought us into slow flight. With the larger engine and light load, it didn't take too many RPMs to maintain speed. You do have to watch out with the carb heat because the green arc (where carb heat isn't needed) is a much smaller range than I'm used to in the 150. We then did a few power-on and power-off stalls, which were all relatively tame and easy to control.

The only screw-up occurred next, as I forgot to raise the flaps after slow flight when I descended down to 1,800 feet to enter the pattern at Greene County Airport (I19). Stupid mistake but we never went too fast and they were only at 20 degrees so I'll call it lesson learned and move on. The flap indicator in our 172 is pretty crappy, especially compared to the one on the 150. On the 172, it's a tiny round gauge on the panel - honestly, it's easier to look out the window and see where the flaps are at. Anyway, I entered the pattern and made a normal landing. The sight picture is slightly different than I've grown accustomed to so I rounded out a couple feet too high and landed firmly. We made another complete lap around the patch in short field mode. Then after another takeoff and on the third downwind leg, Dave pulled the power and I made an engine-out approach. Again I rounded out slightly high and, without any engine power, dropped it in a little hard.

Here's the GPS that's installed in the 172

That was it for the checkout. We departed I19 and headed back to Stewart. The 172 has a GPS that's an older, single-color Bendix/King model. So it's not a fancy color moving-map display but it does show a map and it'll certainly get you there. We set it to direct 40I and I flew straight back home. Nothing like flying directly into the sun near sunset and trying to see any traffic. Into the pattern and on approach, I greased it in for an intentionally long landing so we rolled right to the end of the runway for a quick taxi to parking.

What's the verdict? Well it's a larger aircraft and definitely does feel a bit more docile (and stable) in terms of control. The 150's a fun bird and I love it for tooling around in the sky but I know the 172's going to be a great option for longer trips. It'll knock 20-30 minutes off the flight whenever I fly to Michigan to visit the family, for example. And the GPS will be a nice backup in addition to looking at my charts and landmarks out the window. Check one item off my training list!

Flight Track: Google Earth KMZ File
Today's Flight: 1.4 hours
Total Time: 76.7 hours

Checkride, Part 2: I'm a Private Pilot!

2008-11-22T23:23:00.006-05:00

Plane: Cessna 150
Route: (40I-) MGY-I19-MGY
Weather: Overcast, 28 degrees, wind 200 degrees at 6 knots

With 269 landings, five months of training, nearly 75 flight hours, plenty of frustration, tons of fun, at least $6000 spent, and so many great memories behind me... I'm a Private Pilot! The weather cooperated and I went up with the examiner to complete the flying portion of my checkride, following last weekend's oral exam. Everything went well and I didn't feel any nerves aside from a little hope that I wouldn't make any boneheaded mistakes. Luckily, I did not. I am now the proud holder of a Temporary Airman Certificate, good until my plastic FAA certificate arrives in the mail.

As I did with the oral exam, I'll share the details of the checkride below. And make sure you read the end of the post, as I got to deal with some serious craziness when I went to leave Wright Brothers.

I arrived at Stewart early in order to get a weather briefing, compute my weight and balance, and make sure I had all the paperwork in order. Then I had some help in starting the plane (it takes some extra work when it's 15 degrees out at night - brr!) and I let it warm up for a couple minutes. Fuel full, I left around 12:15 and got in a few practice landings at Wright Brothers before my scheduled 1:00 appointment with the examiner. Having not practiced a no-flap landing, I made one there and it was incredibly smooth. My landings felt great last night and today, hopefully a good sign for today.

After a quick look through my papers, we walked out to the plane and he asked me to do a preflight as if it were the first flight of the day. I walked around the plane and made my usual inspection, mentioning what I was doing on a couple occasions but for the most part not saying much. It looked like the examiner was just looking over to make sure I checked everything important. He told me he was going to get into the little 150 when I was about 2/3 of the way through the inspection. Both in the plane, I went through the pre-start checklist and got the engine running. He told me that I was PIC (Pilot in Command) so I would be responsible for the flight and should call out all traffic to him. I ran through the CIGAR checklist on the ramp (minus the runup) and then taxied down to the runup area at the end of the runway. During the runup I called out as I checked the suction (which I do even when I fly solo) and mags "left, drop, both, right, drop, both..." and declared us ready to fly.

He asked me to make a normal takeoff and then proceed on course, which was about due East to our destination in Clarksburg, WV. The takeoff was very smooth and I got to pattern altitude and turned downwind. He asked what the heck I was doing. Crap, stupid move there. I should have departed on a 45 degree heading from the takeoff runway and instead flew downwind for some stupid reason. We do use that departure at Stewart sometimes, but honestly I just totally didn't have my brain connected. No big deal, he just explained to me the reasons for specific departures and I overflew the airport and then departed on the proper 155 degree heading. Phwew.

Leveling off at 3,500 feet, he said I should pitch over and build up speed before pulling back the throttle. I don't know if I was taught to throttle back while leveling off or if I just invented the habit on my own, but a good idea that I'll use in the future. We were about due South of Xenia at this point (meaning we had traveled all of 10ish miles) and he had me descend to 2,500 feet and divert to Green County Airport (I19). I know you never fly much of the cross-country you plan for the checkride, but that sure was short.

Using my sectional, I found the frequency for I19 and entered the pattern on a 45 degree entry. He asked for a normal landing so I set up for that, starting the descent abeam the numbers on downwind. I've heard from local pilots the winds are interesting on Runway 25 because it's at the edge of a 100 foot slope down to a road and gravel pit. I anticipated that on short final but I didn't feel much. The landing was smooth but as soon as I touched down he jerked the yoke and said to get the ailerons into the wind, which was about 4 knots and 20 degrees off the nose. Doesn't seem like much but he said a lot of pilots have had the wing get under their wings because they don't think a light crosswind can do anything. Point noted sir.

Short field takeoffs and landings were next. The takeoff went great and I set up for an extended downwind for the landing. He told me to name my point and I said I'd touch down on the numbers. I ended up landing within a few feet of the numbers, although it was not the smoothest touchdown in my piloting career. But I landed slow and short as required, so all was well. I departed Greene County with a soft field takeoff (went well) and we turned to the South.

I was instructed to pick a point to turn around and said I'd use a barn in a field below. He asked what the most important thing in starting a ground reference maneuver is. "Enter on the downwind side?" "No!" "Uh, avoid populated areas?" "No!" And so it went for a couple more things I muttered out, not sure what he wanted to hear. "To have an available emergency landing area!" Oh, duh. Although I guess it's never been something that was specifically discussed. Not that the first barn was in rough terrain or anything but there were other houses nearby. So I picked out a barn surrounded on all four sides by large fields and made a very smooth and otherwise uneventful turn around it. That was it for ground reference maneuvers.

"Your engine just died." Pitch to best glide... "What are you doing?" "Pitching to best glide." "No! You ALWAYS PULL THE CARB HEAT FIRST!!!" Alrighty then. I swear I was taught to always pitch down first, but his point was that the carb heat will cool down in 3-5 seconds so if you don't get it on right away there will be no heat left to help. He then proceeded to pull the power on me about 3 more times in a row to make sure I yanked that carb heat out instantly. Then he left the throttle out for good and had me descend to a field, drop the flaps to 40 degrees when clear of the barn/trees, and get down to maybe 50 feet above the ground. That's the lowest I have ever gone in a practice engine-out situation and I know I would have made a survivable landing if necessary. At this point, he took control of the plane and got us out of there while I put the hood on for instrument work.

The hood work seemed to go by very quickly. I climbed and turned to headings he assigned, pretty basic stuff. Then came brain disconnect number two. He had me punch in a frequency and fly directly to the VOR. The needle was centered on a 125 degree heading TO and asked if I was flying to the station. "Yes." "Uh, are you sure?" Took me a second to take my brain out of neutral and I looked at the heading indicator and saw we were heading 280. So obviously I had to turn to track the radial to the station. Again, a random stupid mistake that he thankfully gave me a second to think about and correctly answer. Then my head went down and he had me do two unusual attitude recoveries. I was surprised at how he put us into the unusual attitudes, as it was way smoother than with Joe or Dave. Both of them really threw the plane all over the place to screw me up before handing the controls back over. The first recovery was from nose-high and the second was from a pretty steep downward spiral. I quickly recovered on both and that was it for the hood work.

Able to look out the window again, I climbed up to 3,000 for steep turns and stalls. The turns went great, with a 360 to the left followed immediately by a 360 to the right. He covered up the altimeter but I saw I was within about 25-50 feet of my starting point when I finished the whole maneuver. I saw a plane about 500 feet above us during the turns and I called that out as I kept moving along, probably a mark in my favor since I was obviously keeping my eyes scanning. He then asked for a power on stall in a takeoff configuration so I slowed to 60 knots, added full power, and pulled back to induce the stall and recovered. However, he said I was looking too much at the sky out the front and not enough to the sides and consequently added in a little aileron without realizing. We went thru a series of power-on stalls as he demonstrated some different things and I did a few more. Then I went into the landing configuration with 40 degrees of flaps and made a couple power-off stalls. All the stalls went relatively well but he was really harping on me to make sure I only used the rudder to avoid a spin or steep spiral.

Hard to believe, but he told me to fly us back to Wright Brothers and make a soft field landing. We were out over Caesar Creek Lake at this point, so in flying the 5-10 minutes back we talked about random flying stuff for a bit. I spotted some planes over Stewart as I was descending. Then I entered the pattern at MGY and made an interesting soft field landing. I did touch town softly but I was drifting (not enough crosswind correction with the aileron) and floated a bit before finally getting the thing down. I didn't like it, but he obviously was satisfied as he told me to taxi back to parking. Once I shut 60338 shut down he hopped out and told me to meet him back inside, where he printed up my temporary certificate. We only flew for 1.3 hours (including probably 0.4 in taxi time on the ground) but I did enough to earn my wings!

Talking with some other pilots after the checkride, they were surprised how easy the examiner went on me. Easy, you ask? It didn't sound that way! Well maybe so, but even if he sounded gruff at times it was all to teach me more about flying and some points were of the nit-picky variety. I can absolutely always improve and I greatly appreciate all he taught me, but even Dave said it sounded like I did a great job flying. There's a few things I could have done better (like when my brain shorted out on the departure from MGY) but I do feel that I flew quite well.

Happy and excited to return to Stewart as a Private Pilot, I quickly preflighted the plane and started her up. I taxied down to Runway 20, did my runup, and announced my takeoff on the CTAF. "Cessna departing Wright Brothers, runway is closed!" Uhh, what? Somewhere in the couple of minutes between engine start and now a Cessna 210 landed gear-up and they closed the airport. First things first, everyone in the plane was fine unless you're counting bruised egos. I never heard them call in the traffic pattern, so I must have been looking down or checking the AWOS at just the right moment to miss them fly by. Obviously I would have yelled out "gear up, gear up!" on the radio if I had seen them. The runway has slight hump in it, so I couldn't even see the plane sitting down there until I taxied down the runway and back to the ramp.

Even though I would have been long airborne before passing the plane (it was 3,500 feet down the runway) the airport was now legally closed. I didn't think it would be wise to get my certificate revoked all of 30 minutes after receiving it by knowingly departing from a closed airport. It ended up taking a couple hours to get the proper FAA/NTSB approval for a crane to lift the plane up so they could flick the switch to lower the gear and tow the plane off the runway. By the time that was complete, it was dark out. I can legally fly at night, but Stewart doesn't allow landings at night except by CFIs. So Dave ended up driving over to pick me up and they'll send someone over in the morning to fly the plane back. Not the triumphant return flight I had hoped for post-checkride but it was quite the interesting thing to witness. Plus, I was able to talk to a few other stranded pilots while we sat around for a couple hours waiting.

I'll close with a quick thanks to all of you who have been reading this blog over the past five months and sharing in the experience with me. All your comments, thoughts, suggestions and friendship has meant a lot to me and I feel lucky to have had all your support. Now it's time for us all to hop in our planes and meet up somewhere. And just for the record, I'm going to keep writing about my flying adventures on here - now with passengers! :)

Today's Flight: 1.3 hours (+ 1.0 for flying to MGY)
Solo/PIC Time: 28.8 hours
Total Time: 74.1 hours
PP-ASEL!

Solo Practice 15: Last solo flight as a student pilot (I hope!)

2008-11-21T22:21:00.004-05:00

Plane: Cessna 150
Route: 40I, Local
Weather: Partly cloudy, 29 degrees, wind 290 degrees at 9 knots

Once again, I'll be brief since I'm about to head to bed early to get lots of rest prior to the checkride tomorrow. The weather is forecast to be quite beautiful (aside from frigid temperatures) so I should be able to go up and fly with the examiner and finish this thing!

I decided to leave work a bit early this afternoon and headed down to Waynesville for a short flight. It was certainly cold out and I had some trouble getting 60338 started, even with six shots of primer. After a short discussion with some folks, a mechanic came out and suggested I feed in more fuel through the primer as soon as the engine started to fire. Voila. Due to the extreme cold, I let the engine run for about 5-10 minutes until the oil had warmed up enough for the temperature gauge to be in the green arc.

Having lost some time while figuring out how to bring the engine to life, I elected to stay around Stewart. I alternated between normal, soft field, and short field takeoffs and all went very well including my crosswind correction. Landings also all felt (drum roll, given my performance as of late) great for the first time in forever. The strong headwind didn't hurt, but my normal and soft field landings were very smooth and I held the nose up well on rollout. The headwind really made for fun short field landings too, as I (and I measured) landed the little Cessna in under 400 feet from touchdown to turning off the runway! Gotta love a 150 with 40 degrees of flaps and a moderate headwind, it really is fun in a nerdy pilot sort of way.

Tomorrow's the (second) big day. If all goes as planned, I'll have me a temporary certificate in 24 hours. Expect a fully detailed write-up as soon as I can get all my thoughts down.

Today's Flight: 0.9 hours
Solo/PIC Time: 26.5 hours
Total Time: 71.8 hours

Checkride, Part 1: Well, I'm half a pilot now

2008-11-15T15:45:00.040-05:00

Mother Nature apparently decided today was not the proper time for me to become a Private Pilot. Thankfully half of the test is an oral exam, which I was able to complete with the examiner over the course of about two hours. Unfortunately, the flying part had to be rescheduled for next Saturday. So it'll be at least another week until I'm fully certificated. Until then you'll have to amuse and entertain yourself with my (long) play-by-play of today's oral.

Umm, yea...

KMGY 151953Z AUTO 30014G18KT 5SM -RA BR OVC007 02/02 A2969 RMK AO2 RAE17B49UPB17E28SNB1855E1859B28E49 CIG 005V011 SLP056 P0007 T00220017

Translated:
At 2:53pm the winds were from 300 degrees at 14 knots, gusting to 18. Visibility was 5 statute miles. There was light rain and mist, with an overcast layer at 700 feet above the ground. The temperature was 2 degrees C and the dewpoint was 2 degrees C with the atmospheric pressure at 29.69 inches of Mercury. Rain ended at 2:17pm and began at 2:49pm, unknown precipitation began at 2:17pm and ended at 2:29pm, snow began at 1:55pm and ended at 1:59pm, and snow began at 2:28pm and ended at 2:49pm...

I made it to Wright Brothers - by car - on time, although the delightful weather resulted in a nice big accident at a major intersection I had to drive through on the way. Good thing I left early or I would have been late to my appointment and that's not the best way to start a checkride. Upon entering the building, I walked over to the front desk and the examiner saw me, came out and introduced himself, and then we walked over to his office.

The first thing he did was ask for my paperwork, consisting of the FAA application form (8710-1) and the printed report I received for passing the knowledge exam, and photo ID. He spent some time reviewing these and entering his information where required. Then he asked to see my logbook and went over some of the flights and endorsements with me. We talked about where I flew on my cross-country flights and my experience using ATC, and also some of the maneuvers I have practiced, namely spins. I'll come back to that in a bit. The whole process was very relaxing and it felt like he spent half the time telling me flying stories and other useful tidbits of information. Dave had told me he was likely to spend a lot of the time teaching me things since I know all the regulations and other information so well and that is exactly how it went.

Below are some of the more interesting points we discussed, and pretty much everything I can remember from this afternoon...

The first thing we did was review the cross-country flight I had planned to Clarksburg, WV. I didn't feel great when his first reaction was, "whoah that's a lot of checkpoints!" In training, I have been placing them about every 10-15 miles and he said that's likely because instructors want to keep you looking out the windows. But a consequence of that is more time spent looking inside writing things down on the chart. Plus, a 30 second difference in time enroute over a short distance can result in large errors when extrapolated out as ground speed. He said to use points closer to 40 miles apart for calculations (so errors will be averaged out) and simply use intermediate points as visual references - don't write them down on the nav log. Not a big deal in the end, and I'll adjust my plan accordingly for next weekend.

I didn't call for a weather briefing today since it was clearly not a day to fly, so he pulled up a standard briefing on the computer and we discussed the elements. He asked what type of system I would expect with the weather we're having today (low pressure, which pulls air inward and upward to produce precipitation) and we looked through the METARs and TAFs. Friendly reminder to other pilots: don't forget that TAFs recently increased to a 30-hour forecast and now include the date in with the time codes, i.e. 150400 meaning the 15th day of the month at 0400Z. We didn't discuss NOTAMs much and he also didn't have me spend any time going through the antiquated weather charts we have to learn for the knowledge test. We did, however, look at some color frontal depiction charts and radar pictures on the computer.

On to maneuvers, he said he's not really a fan of taking initial students up for spins like we do at Stewart and was very surprised I have spun the 150. The reasoning being that it's not representative of how they usually occur in accidents. Statistics have shown the FAA's spin recognition and avoidance training have resulted in a marked decrease of such accidents. In Canada, where they still require spin entry and recovery training, their accident rate (for all pilots, not just students) as a result of spins is actually 5 times higher than here in the U.S. So the statistics point to avoidance training being much more effective, something I did not know before today. The most interesting part to me was that he said spins result from three conditions (when stalled, as you have to be stalled to spin) that occur in this order: 1) adverse yaw from aileron deflection, 2) p-factor from the propeller, and 3) rudder. We practice them by kicking in a ton of rudder, yet that's the least likely scenario in which they occur. Now, I still think they're fun and useful to have practiced but it was a very good lesson in what really causes most stall/spin accidents in the U.S.

On the topic of stalls, I know all the book (read: FAA) definitions about how they work, angle of attack, chord line, and other technical terminology. The examiner said that's all nice but really wanted the practical answer. Thus, he was happy when he (after some hinting) got me to say that, "in order to stall you have to pull the stick back." He went on to teach me that studies have shown most stalls actually occur when the airplane is pitched nose DOWN, which is contrary to how we usually practice them. It's easy to see how you can be in what looks to be a stable descent with plenty of airspeed and keep slowly pulling back and all of a sudden be stalled. As always, if you pull back to stall then you push forward to get out!

We got into airspace and weather minimums and sort of covered the entire gamut while discussing the cross-country flight plan plotted on the sectional chart. Dave had correctly cautioned me the way to answer was that there are two kinds of airspace - controlled and uncontrolled. Yes, there are different classes of controlled airspace but the important distinction is between the two types. The examiner asked if I could fly the cross-country on a day like today (legally, not safely mind you) and I said that since it's uncontrolled (Class G) up to 700 feet agl we could putz along since the ceiling was about 700 feet and the minimums are 1 mile visibility and clear of clouds. Not a smart thing to do, and it would be tricky as we would have to avoid any densely populated areas since those require that you be 1,000 feet above the nearest structure. But this is how it went overall, talking more through scenarios than a direct question-and-answer format.

Continuing with the visibility requirements, we talked about flights above 10,000 feet. The legal minimums are 5 miles visibility, 1 mile horizontal from clouds, and 1,000 feet above/below clouds. Why is this? I answered that it's due to faster traffic, which is the correct response. But he went further to explain that it's particularly due to the closure rates at high speeds. At 210 mph (roughly two Cessna 172s flying at each other) and 5 miles visibility you have 85 seconds to see each other and react. Speed things up to 600 mph closure (think a 150 and a jet) and you are down to 30 seconds. If the visibility drops to 3 miles, you have 18 seconds. One mile away and it's 6 seconds, barely enough time to flinch let alone avoid a collision. Quite simply, you need all that visibility to have a chance of avoiding other aircraft at such speeds.

Transponder usage was an intriguing part of our airspace discussion as well. He asked where we had to use them (Class B, C, above 10,000 feet, under Class B shell) and why, to which I responded, "so ATC can see us." Wrong. The reason we squawk 1200 when we're up there sightseeing is so they can click a button and REMOVE us from their radar screens. Otherwise, it would be a cluttered mess and they would have trouble working all their IFR traffic. Hence the reason we need to squawk a discrete code when on flight following; so they can actually see us! They have no responsibility to deal with VFR aircraft and don't even have to inform IFR traffic when we're close by, he told me.

On to navigation, we talked a bit about pilotage and dead reckoning. Pilotage is where you look out the window and use landmarks, dead reckoning is where you calculate a course factoring in the winds and fly that compass heading. Basically, he told me that dead reckoning is kind of useless since winds aloft forecasts are mostly unreliable and inaccurate and we have to make continued corrections (by referencing landmarks on the ground) to stay on course. Plus, a magnetic compass is a very imprecise instrument and is easily swayed by magnetic fields induced by electrical equipment and the magnetos in the engine. He said that the main reason for holding a compass heading is knowing what heading has kept you on course and then maintaining that heading when flying over a long stretch of relatively featureless terrain.

While we're on the subject of the magnetic compass, there were a couple other good points made that I hadn't ever thought of before. We were discussing instrumentation and emergencies and what would happen if the alternator died and the battery ran out. Obviously we'd lose radios, electric flaps, and the turn coordinator, I said. Right, and wrong. The magnetic compass would indicate differently now because magnetic fields from the electrical system would disappear. He also said that when flying IFR approaches, switching on the landing light has caused enough compass variation to force him off course such that he had to go missed. The remedy was to set the directional gyro (heading indicator) before turning the landing light on and then use that to fly the approach. Crazy interesting, at least to me.

Back to flight planning and navigation, we had a somewhat theoretical chat about wind effects. Many pilots presume it takes the same amount of time to fly a round trip on a day with no wind (which admittedly happens as often as you or I win the lottery) as it does on a day where you have a headwind one way and a tailwind the other. Not true. Say it's 100 nautical miles one-way, it takes you 2 hours total, and you land with 30 minutes of fuel remaining. That makes for 100 knots ground speed. Now assume a 40 knot wind parallel to your route. You're going 60 knots with the headwind on the way there, which is 1 hour and 40 minutes. On the way back your speed is 140 knots with the tailwind and it takes 43 minutes. Total time is 2 hours and 23 minutes, meaning you have 7 minutes of fuel remaining. Apparently many pilots have run out of gas as a result of such false assumptions so I consider this a great lesson for everyone out there!

So what are the required VFR minimum fuel reserves? 30 minutes for daytime and 45 minutes for night. Why longer at night? My answer was that it's harder to find a safe place to land should something happen. The examiner told me nearly everyone answers it that way, but that's not entirely accurate. We looked at the sectional chart (see the map below) and he said to assume it's nighttime and you realize near Nelsonville, the black marker on the chart, that you don't have enough fuel to reach the destination with the required reserve. Where do you divert to? Well the closest airport is Ohio University to the south but a better choice is Parkersburg to the east. Why? Well it's a busier airport, has a tower, and fuel is likely to be available 24 hours a day. And therein lies the distinction - at night, it's going to be a lot harder to find an airport that's open (we're discounting self-service pumps here) for you to refuel so you need a longer reserve. Never knew that before, but makes complete sense to me.

A portion of my route for the cross-country

Engine systems were another topic we spent a few minutes on and most questions related to the carburetor. I was asked the expected questions on carb ice (what it is, how to remedy it) but he also taught me some things here. He said that, contrary to what we're taught in the books, an RPM drop is not usually the first sign of carb ice. It happens gradually and the usual pilot response is to think the throttle slid out a little (as it's prone to do, especially in Cessnas) and push it in to maintain the RPM. You keep doing this until it's in all the way and still not developing full power. So what you really notice is a decrease in airspeed, as less power (throttle/RPM) results in a slower airspeed if you're maintaining altitude. He also said that it's not the venturi action that's responsible for most of the decrease in temperature in the carburetor. Instead, it's really the vaporization of the fuel. Just as alcohol on your hands evaporates quickly and feels very cold, fuel vaporizing in the carb can cool the air temperature by 50 degrees or more.

Lastly, and I'm sure I've butchered the order of all this by now, we talked about aeromedical factors. It's cold out now so he asked what to do if it's chilly in the plane. Turn on the cabin heat, of course. But what is one of the dangers? Carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning, since the heat is taken from air flowing around the exhaust manifold. While we can buy devices that monitor CO levels, he wanted me to be very clear on the actual symptoms you would notice if getting CO poisoning. Specifically headache, drowsiness, and dizziness - in that order. He pointed out that things in the AIM are listed like ingredients in food, the most important first and the rest in order. Good to know. See AIM 8-1-2 and 8-1-4 for reference on the symptoms. My favorite part was his description of CO poisoning vs. hypoxia, which was a comparison to a night of drinking. As he said, hypoxia is like the night of the party (feelings of euphoria, belligerence, lack of judgement) and CO poisoning is like the hangover the day after. Funny, surprisingly accurate, and an easy way to keep the two straight.

I know this post was ridiculously lengthy, but I know a bunch of fellow pilots read this and are getting ready for their own checkrides so I hope it will be useful. If nothing else, it's a record of all the things I learned today that should serve me well into the future. The examiner was great and the entire time really did feel like a conversation. Even if I slipped up here or there, he seemed to realize I knew the material and would give a hint or say "are you sure that's all?" and allow me to give the complete answer. So for those of you stressing over the oral - don't! I know all examiners are different, but I think it should be a good experience for anyone who's prepared.

Weather- and work-pending, I might try and take the flying portion of the checkride on Thursday or Friday. The examiner said to give him a call if the weather looks good any afternoon next week, but I'm out of town until Wednesday. Otherwise I'll be back at MGY next Saturday to hopefully conclude the long road towards my certificate.

Solo Practice 14: Run through

2008-11-14T22:37:00.004-05:00

Plane: Cessna 150
Route: 40I-MGY-MWO-40I
Weather: Overcast, 61 degrees, wind 220 degrees at 8 knots

I'm going to be brief here because I need to get to bed and rest up before the checkride tomorrow! Well, if it happens - there's a ton of rain expected so I might have to do the flying portion on Sunday. Anyway, I took the afternoon off work again and went up for a quite a while to go over everything one last time. Dave and I sat down to review some oral exam questions and the aircraft logbooks when I got to the airport and then I went out to preflight 60338.

Departing Stewart, I headed out over Caesar Creek Lake and practiced slow flight, power-on and power-off stalls, and steep turns. All went well and I'm confident that I can do all the above well within Practical Test Standards. I also got to see Dave and another student spinning the Cub a couple miles away from me, which was a cool sight from the air.

Maneuvering complete, I went over to Wright Brothers and knocked out takeoffs and landings of all sorts. Short field, soft field, and normal in all configurations. None were greasers and I dropped it in hard a couple times still, so I might have to hope for a sudden strike of luck on the checkride when it comes to wheels meeting pavement. I did manage a great soft field landing (minus the soft touchdown) where I was able to hold the nose off the pavement for a long time. Aside from those last two feet, my approaches are all spot on and stabilized and Dave even told me my flares look great. Funny how much smoother things can look from outside the airplane.

Wanting to really run the gamut, I then headed over to Middletown for more takeoff and landing work. There they have right traffic and, having not flown such a pattern in a while, I thought I should practice that in preparation as well. My landings were generally better here than at Wright Brothers but I still hit the ground too flat a few times. One one downwind leg I pulled the power for a simulated engine-out approach and made it back to the runway with plenty of room to spare. I actually had to dump in all 40 degrees of flaps on short final and still landed a few hundred feet past the threshold.

Heading back to Stewart as the sky was getting darker, I went around the patch a few more times. Here, all the landings were pretty darn good and the last was possibly the best I've had in a 150 in a month or more. Knowing by now that it's always good to end on a high note, I called it a day and tied her up. The moment's finally here and I'm honestly not feeling worried or apprehensive at all. I guess we'll see how true that rings in the morning.

Flight Track: Dead battery - sorry!
Today's Flight: 2.6 hours
Solo/PIC Time: 25.6 hours
Total Time: 70.9 hours

Solo Practice 13: Still not a lucky number

2008-11-07T16:30:00.005-05:00

Plane: Cessna 150 / Champ
Route: 40I, Local
Weather: Overcast, 56 degrees, wind 190 degrees at 7 knots

Writing this after the lesson, I now see that I was doomed from the start. Although technically the flight in the Cessna was #13 (which went well) and not-so-good Champ experience was #14. Today I took a half-day of vacation so I could go up flying during the afternoon before catching my flight to Portland where I’ll be spending the next five days.

I had 60338 scheduled but they were working on the engine and I had been switched to 3718J. This was bad for me on two levels, as it has the screwy radio (thus scratching my plans to go over to MGY) and they also had to juggle the schedule so I lost a half hour of time. So once again I just stayed local and worked around the pattern at Stewart.

There was a decent crosswind so I practiced the usual slew of takeoffs and landings. While I might not list them all in the “very good” category, my landings for the most part were soft-ish and felt stable. One time around I came in too fast and ballooned so I jammed in the throttle and went around. I brought the flaps up too quickly, however, and started to sink and lightly bounced off the grass. Gotta be more careful with my procedures! Altogether it was a good practice session but I would have preferred 60338 and more time so I could have landed on pavement and worked on stalls and steep turns.

Time up in the Cessna, I decided to take the Champ up since I was at the airport and using a half-day of vacation to be there. It’s a few weeks since I last flew the taildragger and actually had to have Dave re-endorse my logbook as solo endorsements are only good for 90 days. Judging by my performance on the first landing, I’m not so sure Dave should have signed his name. The airspeed indicator was placarded (covered up) but the Champ is pretty simple to fly by reference to the wing on the horizon, so that should not have been an issue.

Back to the landing, I’m pretty sure it was the best job I’ve done scaring the hell out of myself thus far in flying. I came in fast but without the airspeed indicator it’s hard to say just how fast. It was probably about 10 extra mph but in the Champ that means a good deal of extra lift. I held her off but touched down and bounced and ballooned, then hit again, veered a little, bounced more… it was thoroughly scary. I knew what to do (GO AROUND!) and did just that but I struggled for what felt like a long time (and was likely all of 2 seconds) to get the plane under control and safely climbing. It really felt like I was about to lose control and ground loop the thing, or worse. Words probably don’t illustrate how bad it looked and I’m quite glad it wasn’t a nice sunny day with a lot of people watching. On the flip side, I walked away unscathed and didn’t break the plane either.

That whole experience did turn out to be an aberration on the day, as I came in the next time and set her down pretty softly. And then I made a bunch more laps around the pattern with each landing certainly at least belonging in the “acceptable” category. The crosswind picked up and varied but I adjusted properly and felt back at home in the Champ. Certainly today reminded me how quickly things can get out of control, but it also showed that all this training has at least given me enough instinct and knowledge to handle a precarious landing situation.

Flight Track: Google Earth KMZ File
Today's Flight: 0.6 hours / 0.9 hours
Solo/PIC Time: 23.0 hours
Total Time: 68.3 hours

Checkride Scheduled

2008-10-31T12:42:00.010-04:00

November 15th - mark it down. I really was hoping to get it over with next week, but the examiner isn't available and then I'm going to be in Oregon for five days. The good thing is that I'll have more time to prepare by reading some books, going through the handbook for the 150, and making sure I've crossed all the t's. The bad thing is due to the time change this weekend (i.e. no more after-work flights) and the travel, I won't be flying with much regularity. I'm taking half-days of vacation the next two Fridays so I can go up to stay fresh before the big day.

I should have posted this a long time ago...

So what's the official plan? I'm going to fly over to Dayton Wright-Brothers to meet the examiner, since he has an office there. The oral should last about 2 1/2 hours and then we'll follow that with about 1 1/2 in the air. He told me to plan a XC to North Central West Virginia Airport (CKB) in Clarksburg, WV. Apparently they wanted to try and use every cardinal direction in naming the place. On a checkride you usually only fly the very beginning of the route and then the examiner starts having you demonstrate other maneuvers. The whole exercise is more to evaluate your planning and decision-making. Anyway, if all goes as planned the FAA will allow me to carry passengers in just over two weeks!

Solo Practice 12: Best. Ground Reference Maneuvers. Ever.

2008-10-30T22:43:00.005-04:00

Plane: Cessna 150
Route: 40I-MGY-40I
Weather: Clear, 53 degrees, wind 190 degrees at 4 knots

I'm still trying to figure out what day I will be taking my checkride, so I went up to try and nail down my maneuvers tonight. As you can read in the title of today's post, my ground reference maneuvers all felt pretty kick-ass. Not to get too boastful or anything, but you can see from the GPS track that I flew an awesome circle around a water tower (turns around a point) and the S-Turns looked very consistent as well. I'd put these in the ready-for-the-checkride pile and probably won't practice them much more as I prep for the ride with the examiner.

Now those are some turns around a point if I do say so myself

Steep turns weren't perfect when I was up with Dave last weekend so I did a couple sets of them over top of Caesar Creek Lake. I didn't hold my altitude perfectly but they felt coordinated and generally smooth. I still could do a better job maintaining my bank angle so a little bit more practice is in order here. There was a plane that looked to be 1,000 feet below me doing aerobatics when I was working on the steep turns too, so I was somewhat occupied with watching out to avoid any close surprises.

It was another gorgeous fall day over Caesar Creek Lake

On to my nemisis as of late, landings of every shape and form. Inbound to Wright Brothers another plane was on crosswind so I did a 360 for spacing and then he announced he was doing a 360 and would follow me in. That got me a little off kilter and I (this is something I should not have done) decided to speed and steepen up my approach in for a normal landing. He just extended his downwind so the proper thing to do would have been for me to fly a standard patern and not worry about putzing around in the slow 150 in front of him. All that aside, it was a relatively smooth landing aside from being slightly too flat in my flare when I touched down. I took off again (great short field takeoff) and came back in for a decent soft field landing - still need more practice there too. Finally, I departed with an equally great soft field takeoff and headed back to Stewart as the sun was nearly below the horizon. Landing into a setting sun is never fun and it makes the trees harder to spot, so I came in a little high but set it down for a soft landing.

Overall, things feel really good right now. I can probably use another 1-2 hours in the air to finesse my landings and practice stalls but I definitely feel that I am ready to pass my checkride. Exciting times, folks!

Flight Track: Google Earth KMZ File
Today's Flight: 1.2 hours
Solo/PIC Time: 21.5 hours
Total Time: 66.8 hours