Stepping it up a notch

Over the last few days I have been preparing for the Checkride part II. I've been going through the Practical Test Standards to see exactly which maneuvers I need to know, and also going through my Flight Maneuvers book to see exactly, step by step, how to do them. And you know what? There is no 'Departure Stall' or 'Approach Stall' on the PTS! I had seen 'Power-On-Stalls' and 'Power-Off Stalls' and assumed these to be what Ashley Pardue (the DE) meant when he asked for a 'Departure Stall' or 'Approach Stall'. But I looked them up in my Flight Maneuvers book and they are similar, but different. He asked for a 'Departure Stall' and I gave him a Power-On-Stall, which means I did not start by slowing to departure speed. So then he griped at me. Sorry dude, but if you want it by the book, I've got a book for you: Private Pilot Practical Test Standards for Airplane!

Then he wanted me to do the 'Approach Stall'. By then my confidence was shaken, and what's worse, I hadn't heard of an 'Approach Stall'. This is the test taker's version of vertigo. Up is down, black is white. Nothing makes sense anymore. So I flubbed the 'Approach Stall'. I was so nervous I didn't even remember to recover with full throttle afterwards. SHIT! I know better!

Well what can you do? I write out the procedures for each maneuver like a checklist, including the ones for 'Departure Stall' and 'Approach Stall' that certain DEs take it upon themselves to add to the practical test standards. Then I attempt to learn to do these by practicing them in MS Flight Sim over and over until I can do it in my sleep. Well I found out some more about MS Flight Sim's limitations. I did a power off stall on the sim in my virtual Cessna 150, and found myself falling like a rock. I dropped 1000' in about 5 seconds with the attitude at about 20 degrees above the horizon. (BTW, for those who are not mathematically inclined, this is works out to a falling acceleration rate of 80 ft/sec^2... way faster than free fall. With the nose above the horizon?! How is this even remotely possible??) Nothing like this ever happens in the real plane. I try a couple of other things, and find it's pointless to use MS Flight Sim for serious practice.

So this morning I went on a solo flight that I had scheduled in the 150. Even though I can practice stalls anywhere, I went to Galveston just to make everything as much like the checkride will be as possible. Especially when practicing emergency engine out procedures, it will help to know the island well. When I get to Galveston, I do my clearing turns, and then start all my stall maneuvers, and do them until there are no errors. They went well. I can fly the plane, I just needed to know the step-by-step procedures a lot better. But of course doing it solo, and doing it with the DE right next to you are two different things. Perhaps I should fly with a homicidal maniac in the right seat while practicing my flight maneuvers. Then the DE won't seem so bad! I practiced an engine out procedure. I still need to read up on that one. Finding a place to land isn't that hard. Again, it's procedures, i.e. trying to restart the engine, making a mayday call, etc. I saw a nice long neighborhood road that wasn't busy. Upon careful inspection I noticed it had telephone poles or something along it. Fields are not big at all on Galveston island. I think the only sure thing is an empty beach, which is what I ended up aiming for. There were a couple of people there who got an interesting show lol. Then I did some ground reference maneuvers on the way back. And when I got back to the airport I practice short field landings & take-offs, and soft field landings and take-offs. Those also went well IMHO. After that I called it a day. It's amazing what a balked checkride and actual clearly specified procedures for flight maneuvers can do for your practice solo flights. It was the most productive yet. This weekend I'll go flying again with my CFI to make sure I'm ready for the checkride.

BTW... I need to get a dog ;)

Flight maneuvers

The checkride was scheduled for Wednesday, but I had to reschedule to Friday in order to get the maintenance logs for the airplane. So, on Friday, I got up early to fly to GLX, cram some more, and then meet the DE.

He started off asking me to show the aircraft was legal. So I showed all the required documents, including the maintenance logs. Luckily I spent some time going through those logs since he wanted me to show him everything was in order. Then we went over the flight plan. He chose a route that went through a wide variety of scenarios, and I seem to have accounted for everything to his satisfaction. Just a couple of little things though: I didn't catch the fact that the destination airport didn't have refueling services, but I found an airport nearby to get fuel at. And he wanted to know why I was flying under a MOA. He says he's gone through that MOA hundreds of times and never saw a military aircraft. I just told him I've never been in one, and know what the hazards could be, so I chose to fly under it. Then we talked about air space, and then he had me work on a runway length problem with all kinds of conditions for take-off length, and take-off length with a 50' object. The problem required two interpolations, one for altitude, and one for headwind speed. I came up with the answers and showed it to him. He says "You mean the 50' length is about twice the regular take-off length?" "Yes - that's about what it shows for the other altitudes." He smiled and said I got it right lol.

So I passed the oral... Yes! Then we went on to the flying portion. That did not go so well actually. He started off with stalls, and of course I knew stalls in general. But he called for a 'departure stall'. I heard that term once in my practice checkride. Otherwise known as a full power stall. So I went full power, brought the nose up, and stalled the plane while controlling with rudder. No, I am told. I need to slow down to departure speed first. Ugh, in the practice checkride I didn't have a full lesson on them and my CFI didn't cover this with me! After explaining all he expected, then I did it. Then he asked for an 'approach stall'. Crap! Now this one I have not heard of. But I deduced that I needed to slow to approach speed first since I had to slow to departure speed in the other one. I did a horribly sloppy stall as I was trying to guess what the steps were for an approach stall. That was it for the checkride. The DE was dumbfounded that I didn't know these, and I was rather pissed and embarrassed that I hadn't been taught these specific stalls that show up on a damn checkride. Yes my CFI did go over stalls. But they were slow flight stalls, which would also be called an approach stall by some DEs. My CFI did not go over the textbook step by step execution of an approach stall that the DE wanted to see.

When we got back the DE said he knows I can fly, but I have to know the procedures. He wanted to know when I wanted to reschedule. I said I would get with my CFI and make sure I am ready first, then schedule a ride with him again. I do NOT want to go through that embarrassment again. I got a book called Flight Maneuvers. I'm going to go over that, with a list of required maneuvers for the checkride. Then do it on MS Flight Sim where I can practice doing procedures, then do solo flight(s) to practice more, and then go up with my CFI until he says I'm ready. And try the checkride again.

Next stop.... Checkride!!!

My checkride is scheduled for tomorrow! I'll be meeting the DE at KGLS, I've been there a few times, but it is not my home airport. So yesterday I went flying with my CFI to KGLS to get a little more familiar with the airport. I went ahead and used my GPS, although I think I'll leave it behind for my checkride. I don't want the DE thinking he has to drill me on "old fashioned" procedures because I have a GPS.

It was pretty straight forward. GLS is a class D airport, so 10 miles out, I made my call, gave my position, and was told to proceed to final, and to call in 2 miles out. Which I did. I'm used to landing from a pattern, so it felt odd just coming straight in. I asked my CFI for any tips, i.e. when to pull back on power, when to start the descent, etc... He said "Just do what feels natural". er, not too helpful, lol. Then he pointed out the PAPIs, and I used those for the first time. He said I came in fast at first, so I'll have to watch out for that next time. We landed, and were directed to the FBO to park. I wanted to look inside where the DE would be waiting. Some one from the ground crew came and put blocks around the landing gear, and gave us a ride to the FBO. Nice place. I think FBOs are so cool. They really cater to pilots, which I suppose is obvious since that is their sole purpose, but still... they do it well.

So then we got in the plane again, and I contacted ground so I could taxi to the runway.
Ground: "Mmmrfff wbble --way 13 rmffbl echo echo bschmrg"
Me: "Uh taxi to runway 13, roger"

Seriously... why do they sound like the worst drive-through speaker from the 70s you've ever heard? Don't they ever listen to see if they're coming through ok? Even my CFI had a hard time translating.

We took off and started off on my cross country for the checkride (which btw will be to Winnsboro, LA). I am sure the DE chose that destination because the route between KGLS and there are full of things I have not dealt with before. Such as MOA's in particular. I will also have to plan a refueling stop halfway there, at the destination, and halfway back. Although I will only be asked to fly the beginning of it tomorrow. (OMG... I still can't believe it's tomorrow!)

After a few minutes my CFI asked if I needed help with any maneuvers for the checkride. I opted for stalls, especially powered stalls because of my near spiral experience in the practice checkride. This time I managed the rudders much better and it was a non-event. Then we headed over to Wolfe airport for a grass strip landing, and a grass strip take off, then headed back home. It's an exciting feeling to think you've covered everything about as much as you can, and that all that's left to do is to show the DE.

We went back to the clubhouse and double checked that I had everything I needed to take with me to the checkride. The DE wanted me to bring a headset for him. Doesn't he have one?? Or does he want me to act like he's a passenger and that I should bring one for him? The CFI was nice enough to loan me his, as well as his foggles. I told him I'm not going to know what to do with myself once I have my license. I've got all these plans in my head, but I haven't really focused on them because I've been trying to stay focused with just getting my license.

I still have a lot of work to do tonight. I need to get my cross-country plans ready to use inflight, and still want to go over some things for the oral - and manage to get lots of sleep tonight.

I'd rather be flying

On the way to work this morning, I was running errands, and just happened to be near the airport. As usual when there's nice weather, like this morning, I'm thinking "I'd rather be flying". So I did. I stopped over at the clubhouse, and checked the schedule. No one had the plane, so I booked it for an hour for a short flight. I just cruised around and got above a light layer of stratocumulus clouds. It was a beautiful sight, and certainly much better scenery than the drive to work LOL. Chalk up 0.6 on the hobbs.

Practice Checkride

My CFI suggested I take a practice checkride with another club instructor. So I went flying with CFI2 today. I prepared for it as I would the real checkride. And I realized if it had been an actual checkride, the DE would have me plot a trip somewhere before the checkride. So I called the CFI2 and mentioned that. He asked where I had been before, and said to plot a trip to Lufkin.

So I reserved last night to cram and plot the trip. I decided to use Trinity VOR and then head up north to Daisetta VOR and on up to LFK. I can't fly straight to it because of the big-ass class B airspace in my way over HOU. But my route was even more out of the way because I had grown accustomed to using VORs, and due to inexperience with towered airfields, chose not to fly over Ellington airfield. In retrospect, I could have done that fine because I have already solo'd to other controlled fields. But still... I tended to avoid them. Also, if I was sticking to VORs, Daisetta was about 60 nm away. I wasn't sure I could pick it up right off, so I thought using Trinity (which was about 23 nm away) was a good backup. I planned an altitude of 1500 ft because I have seen daily cumulus clouds and cumulonimbus clouds everywhere, and I doubted I could fly much higher than that. Also he mentioned his weight, so I was sure to work out a weight & balance table for the C150.

Today I went to the airport early to continue cramming, and to get the plane ready. At noon the CFI2 arrived and some small talk we got to it. He first looked at my flight plan. And right away, questioned my out-of-the-way jog over to the Trinity VOR, saying I should have flown over Ellington with their permission, then fly to Baytown, which would have been easy to spot, and then pick up the Daisetta VOR. This would save me a lot of time and gas. He says my route is fine, but you want to take the straight path whenever you can, and the DE would point that out as well. Lesson learned... Then he asked why I was flying at 1500 ft. After checking the weather previously, I said "because the ceiling is at 3000 ft, and I need to be at least 1000 ft below them". Huh? He said. After telling him the 500-1000-2000ft cloud clearances he realized I had it bass-ackwards. I interpreted what I read wrong. I need to be 500 ft BELOW the clouds or 1000 ft above. Duh! So I could fly the route at 2500'. Those were the only 2 gotchas on the oral. The rest of what he asked I did well on. Overall the oral seemed pretty short. I hope the DE does it like that.

Then we went to go fly the flight plan. Or at least he said so before we took off. In the pre-take off I was to set up my radios. He asked what the Trinity VOR frequency was. I said 113.6 from memory, and set it on the nav. I taxied to the run-up area, and he wanted me to point the plane into the wind while I finalized my pre-takeoff procedures. I had never heard of this. I couldn't see people doing this at a busy airport. I could see the reason for this if there were significant winds, but we only had 5 knots. Doing this for the DE would feel strange since I've never heard of it, but what if he expects it? Safety wise, it's probably the thing to do, and that's what he's going to be most concerned with.

So then I turned back towards the runway made my take-off radio call, and took off. "What airspeed do you need to climb out at?" "75". "Good". At 500 ft he put the hood on me. I expected him to have me go towards Trinity, but going over the flight plan and dialing the nav to 113.6 was the extent of my cross country flight. We did some instrument maneuvers under the hood. He didn't want me banking at more than 15 degrees with the hood on. My other CFI had me doing 45 degree banks with the foggles. He said my instrument flying was very good, and we went off to the practice area. We started off with slow flight. I used a procedure that I just sorta came up with when my CFI asked me to do them before. Pull back the throttle, and raise the nose. I balance the two actions as the plane slowed to slow-flight speed while maintaining altitude. He said that was ok, but here's how you really do it: Pull out the carb heat. Pull back the throttle. Roll back the trim. Pull the nose up. Add power back in as necessary to maintain altitude. It's a more pro-active method and works very well. You can let go of the yoke and the plane will happily putt along at 49 knots maintaining altitude and attitude. Then we did some stalls. I did fine on those, except for a powered stall. My CFI never asked me to do those before. So I got a quick lesson in those. The main thing with those are to steer and control roll with the rudder NOT the aileron. I had tried using rudder to do this, but my ingrained training took over when the plane started to roll to the right. I corrected with ailerons and the plane banked way left very quickly. CFI2 helped me out of that predicament reminding me to use only rudders. I tried again and did fine.

Then... uh oh.. I lost power (with CFI2's help). "What do you do?" "Set up for ideal glide at 70 mph, and look for a landing spot". I looked out my left window and saw good ol' Wolfe Airfield. The grass strip I landed at a couple times before. "No that's too easy pick another" LOL. So I picked a field. He reminded me once I make a choice to stick with it. So I spiraled down and used flaps to get my altitude down enough and about 25 ft from actually landing there, he said ok. I put the throttle back in (need to remember to just shove it in, and not be slow about it), and milked the flaps back up. He said well done, but to make it great, find a spot near a road (to save us walking time and make the plane more accessible) and land in the direction of the furrows in the field.

Then I did some ground reference maneuvers, S-turns, and turns around a point. They went well. We headed back to the airport and did short & soft field landings, and short field takeoffs. And then... Uh oh... lost power again. This time on down wind in the pattern. I shortened my downwind, turned base, added about 20 degrees of flaps and landed on the runway. This concluded the flight portion. He said we went through probably more than a DE would and that I did fine. There wasn't anything I did that would have blown it. But even though I flew ok, he had plenty of helpful advice throughout the flight to help me do better. I consider this lesson very beneficial. CFI2's assessment of my performance and the extra advice he gave gives me more confidence as I go do my checkride.

Due to DE availability, I have at least 7 days before I can get with one. I will fly again this coming week (maybe solo, maybe with my CFI, we'll see...) to make sure all these new tricks are ingrained in my head. Till next time...

Did I actually go anywhere pt II

This flight gave me an even bigger sense of "Did I actually go anywhere?" than the last one. The reason is that it was almost a 100% instrument flight, and I hardly saw a thing the whole time. To complete the last of my requirements, I needed 1.2 hrs more of instrument flying, and I planned on getting it all in this flight. To do that, my CFI suggested a flight to LBX (Brazoria County Airport), and make an instrument approach landing. To do that I would have to learn to use the instrument approach diagrams.

The CFI explained the basics of instrument approach flying and said "let's go". I said wait, don't I need to fill out my flight planner spreadsheet first? He said, sure go ahead. I found out later that it would be completely unnecessary. He could have told me... So I preflighted the C150, and then we taxi'd to the runway. He asked if I wanted to do an instrument takeoff. Yikes! I couldn't think of any circumstance where you wouldn't be able to see the runway at all when taking off. But if that's the sort of crazy thing pilots do, I can give it a shot. I lined up down the runway, set my compass, put on my foggles, and punched in the throttle. I kept the direction indicator pegged on 320 as well as I could. I got a little too preoccupied looking at the direction indicator that I almost forgot to pull back. But I remembered before the CFI said anything.

To get to LBX I had to intercept the VOR from Hobby airport. Which I did. Then fly down that until I reached the intersecion of the LBX localizer VOR with the Houston Hobby VOR. Then fly down the localizer line as I descended 500 fpm. When I got to 400 ft elevation the CFI told me to remove my foggles. There was the runway right in front of me. I did a touch and go, and then put the foggles back on. Then we did some basic maneuvers. And once he tried disorienting me, but I got it flying right again. Then we did some stalls. And he had me flying one course after another until he said to remove the foggles.

"Can you figure out where you are?". I looked out the left window and saw my home airport right there. We were lined up on the downwind leg LOL. As I landed I was thinking "this is the end of my last lesson before my pilot's license". Man, what a feeling! But I also felt nervous because it felt like the hardest thing was ahead of me: The Checkride.