A couple of weeks ago I learned that I would be going to Florida on business. The trip would be the last week of November. Naturally, as a newly minted pilot I started wondering how long it would take to make the trip in a 152 - 8 hrs. Then I wondered how long it would take to make the trip in a 172 - 6.5 hrs. Interesting. Because of the faster speed of a 172, it turns out it's actually cheaper to fly the 172 when flying the 700+ miles to Florida. Also, flying over the Gulf from Houston to Florida is something I would rather avoid if I didn't have to, especially at my experience level. So I measured the distance along the coastline. It turns out that increases the distance from 732nm to 785nm. I considered the extra 50 miles well worth the peace of mind. This worked out to a little more than a $1000 trip. Yikes!
Well I kept thinking about it. I would just be responsible for the price of the 172 rental beyond the airfare ticket. This was still going to be pretty expensive, and I thought about it for a while. The advantages of this would be a large step towards the 50 hrs of cross country time required for an instrument rating, which I have my eye on. So I could look at this as a large expense, or since I am aiming for the Instrument rating anyway, I can look at it as a savings. But even more important, the planning required, and the actual flight would be a great experience. A couple of problems though... I had to make this trip. What if there were bad weather? My solution would be plan on flying 24 hrs before I had to go to give myself flexibility. Otherwise I would feel pressured to go when conditions may or may not be safe. And also my Plan B would be to get a refundable airline ticket. That way if there was bad weather, I would just fly the ol boring way. The other problem was, even if I looked at this as a savings for an Instrument rating, it's still expensive. Then I realized with the timing of it, and when payment would actually be due, I would have 3 months to pay for it. That made it doable. As long as I had permission from my company - which I received, thank you very much :)
So I went on to the planning phase, which I really enjoy. I used www.skyvector.com to sketch out my route in the past. The problem with it was that the distances were not always accurate, and I couldn't save my route. So I wanted to see what else was out there. I found GoldenEagle at www.flightprep.com. This is a very impressive program. The more I used it, the more great features I found - up to a point. Then it turned out it did have even more great features, but only if you paid for them. The free version had plenty to keep me happy though. I did buy digital VFR sectional maps for the route to Florida. With it, I can plot routes, check for TFRs, get wind data, and connect to DUATs and download a slew of weather maps and briefings. GoldenEagle also shows a profile view which graphically shows your altitude with respect to terrain, weather, and air spaces. And then it will also print out a number of charts for you to bring along on your trip, such as maps and your flight plan. And you can file your flight plan through GoldenEagle as well. With the weather information this program displays from DUATs over my route, I felt confident I could predict if I could make the trip or not, and if necessary, fly around the weather or time my departure time to miss any bad weather. Also, if necessary I felt that I could safely divert one of the multitudes of runways along the way. How ever it turns out, I think it will be an adventure and I am looking forward to it.
As for the route, it turns out there are a bunch of MOAs and restricted areas around Mobile AL. I was starting to think that I would have to go over 100 miles even further out of my way. But after looking at the sectionals, I found that the MOAs were M-F (I'm flying saturday), and the restricted areas allow you to fly through along airways. Thank goodness. Also, if I had to spend the night somewhere, I hoped I could bring my tent, and pitch it wherever necessary. I looked up www.adventurepilot.com, which will tell you which airports have campsites, restaurants, or whatever you're looking for nearby. Unfortunately I could not find any airports with a campsite nearby. But I was wondering... if it really became a necessity, could I land at a small airport, and pitch my tent nearby? I hope I will not have to find out. Well I decided to refuel at the halfway point. This would have been at Mobile Regional, but according to airnav their fuel prices are a whopping $5.24. I saw that KPQL nearby had fuel prices of "only" $4.88, but now they are also at $5.24. That's ridiculous! I'll have to keep looking. It looks like they raise prices near the coast to get people like me who are trying to avoid the gulf, because further inland I can find prices below $4.
I pretty much have my trip plotted out. I am just waiting a couple more days so I can see the 72 hour forecast before finalizing my plan. For the last few weeks the weather has been pretty good. Sometimes even great. I have tried not to get too hopeful because of this trend because I might jinx myself. Well it seems to be happening anyway. We've had a lot of fog, rain and low ceilings the last few days. The route to Florida shows lots of rain, and there's a front going through Thursday. Hopefully it will clear out the bad weather.
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Friday, October 26, 2007
Fun with a Pilot's License
I haven't written in a while, but I have gone flying since I got my license. I have been enjoying taking my kids for a ride. They loved it. It was such a good feeling being able to share that with them. I wondered if my son (who is 6) would like it as much. When he was younger he seemed to be afraid of heights. But he seemed to like it the most.
My wife is a nervous flyer though. She's flown on a commercial jet twice in her life, and never in a small plane. She chickened out the day that I took my kids. Which was a shame because the weather was nice and the air was smooth. But then she built up her nerve later in the week and wanted to go. And on that day the air was really turbulent and the visibility wasn't that great. I have yet to be able to predict how turbulent the air will be. I was worried that she was not going to like it. But she said it was fine. She thinks it's always like that though. I can't wait to take her up again when the weather is better. She'll be pleasantly surprised.
Last weekend I flew again with my parents. That was also pretty cool. My mom's dad was in the air force and practically lived in the plane. He liked to show off though with some aerobatics which she didn't like. I'm a newbie, so I'm fine with keeping it straight and level for her. She was nostalgic about it all. It seemed to bring back a lot of good memories for her. And my dad also liked the experience. We went up to 7000' and the view was great. He had a couple of lessons when he was younger so I let him fly a bit. It was a great day.
This week the weather is fantastic and crystal clear. I had to get up again, so I called my CFI to go flying yesterday. I wanted to get checked out in the Piper PA-28 so I could get some more variety. The PA-28 is a pretty cool plane. It's a bit more beefier than the 172, and I found myself having to trim it a lot as I flew. It climbed better too. By the time I got into the downwind leg, the plane was almost at pattern altitude. Usually it gets there just before I'm abeam of the numbers where I start my descent. The clarity of the air from the ground was nothing compared to being in the air. I wish I had my camera. I had never imagined it could be that clear. It was windy and turbulent though. As I went around the pattern to do my first landing in the PA-28 I turned on final and saw downtown Houston in the distance - clear as a bell. It shocked me. But I was able to concentrate on the task at hand and landed the plane pretty well. We did another landing, and then did some stalls and turns to get the feel of the plane. The plane was pretty responsive, but just required more back pressure, or trimming, to do the maneuvers. On my last landing my CFI complimented me on all my good landings in the plane.
It was fun, and now I can fly all the planes in the club. I am looking forward to getting more experience with the PA-28 Cherokee.
Now that I have my license I have to slow it down though. I need to replenish our savings account after all those lessons. But still I can't wait until I take a real trip. I am keeping my eye out for opportunities.
My wife is a nervous flyer though. She's flown on a commercial jet twice in her life, and never in a small plane. She chickened out the day that I took my kids. Which was a shame because the weather was nice and the air was smooth. But then she built up her nerve later in the week and wanted to go. And on that day the air was really turbulent and the visibility wasn't that great. I have yet to be able to predict how turbulent the air will be. I was worried that she was not going to like it. But she said it was fine. She thinks it's always like that though. I can't wait to take her up again when the weather is better. She'll be pleasantly surprised.
Last weekend I flew again with my parents. That was also pretty cool. My mom's dad was in the air force and practically lived in the plane. He liked to show off though with some aerobatics which she didn't like. I'm a newbie, so I'm fine with keeping it straight and level for her. She was nostalgic about it all. It seemed to bring back a lot of good memories for her. And my dad also liked the experience. We went up to 7000' and the view was great. He had a couple of lessons when he was younger so I let him fly a bit. It was a great day.
This week the weather is fantastic and crystal clear. I had to get up again, so I called my CFI to go flying yesterday. I wanted to get checked out in the Piper PA-28 so I could get some more variety. The PA-28 is a pretty cool plane. It's a bit more beefier than the 172, and I found myself having to trim it a lot as I flew. It climbed better too. By the time I got into the downwind leg, the plane was almost at pattern altitude. Usually it gets there just before I'm abeam of the numbers where I start my descent. The clarity of the air from the ground was nothing compared to being in the air. I wish I had my camera. I had never imagined it could be that clear. It was windy and turbulent though. As I went around the pattern to do my first landing in the PA-28 I turned on final and saw downtown Houston in the distance - clear as a bell. It shocked me. But I was able to concentrate on the task at hand and landed the plane pretty well. We did another landing, and then did some stalls and turns to get the feel of the plane. The plane was pretty responsive, but just required more back pressure, or trimming, to do the maneuvers. On my last landing my CFI complimented me on all my good landings in the plane.
It was fun, and now I can fly all the planes in the club. I am looking forward to getting more experience with the PA-28 Cherokee.
Now that I have my license I have to slow it down though. I need to replenish our savings account after all those lessons. But still I can't wait until I take a real trip. I am keeping my eye out for opportunities.
Thursday, October 4, 2007
The Checkride
Yesterday I went to take my checkride. I went and picked up the logbooks, prepped the plane, and flew the short trip to Laporte. I was a couple hours early to allow me time to get there, get relaxed and do some more studying. The time finally came, and I met the DE - a very impressive woman who is the current national champion in the U.S. Unlimited aerobatics contest, an airline pilot, and a flight school owner. Talk about immersing yourself into flying!
After some snafus with the IACRA system on the FAA website we started the oral and started talking about the cross country flight. That all went well including all the question & answers about airspaces and other map features to which she said "It looks like you know all this", and moved on. We also talked about weather, requirements for the airplane & the pilot, airplane logbooks, FAA regs, and airplane systems. She was nice and if I didn't get something right away, she rephrased the question. The part that stumped me were the specific systems of the C150 I was flying. I wound up getting a lesson in alternators and magnetos. The oral lasted about an hour (though I heard later that her orals usually last at least 2... whew!).
Then came the flying part. I gave her the passenger briefing, and we took off and started the cross country. I was supposed to fly NE for about 3 miles and intercept the Galveston VOR to fly NNW. I should have practiced the start of this cross country... I had the VOR set up for the bearing I was looking for, but I wasn't prepared for how fast I would get there, and as I then remembered, the Galveston VOR often seems to be off. What's up with that!!? So I backtracked and tried to find the VOR again. Looking at the map, I could see that I was over the ground track I was looking for, but the VOR wasn't showing that I was. I played with it, and found that it was about 15 degrees off. Piece of crap. So I used pilotage to continue on my cross country. After about 5-10 mins she said ok, divert to RWJ. I knew where it was on the map, so I pointed the plane to that direction. Then I entered RWJ in my GPS. It couldn't find it. So I tried KRWJ. Still couldn't find it. What the hell? So, again I had to use pilotage to find the airport. Turns out the ID for the is 54T, and the name is actually RWJ. What kind of name for an airport is that? I thought it was the ID.
After that things went much better. We went on to stalls and flight maneuvers. She asked for a 'Power On Stall'. Ahhh it's so nice to have a DE who's familiar with the PTS. Just to make sure, I asked if she wanted me to slow down to departure speed first? "However you want to do it" she said. Sweet! So I slowed down to departure speed (like I had been practicing recently) and did the power on stall and recovery fine. Then did the power off stall in a turn. And... uh oh... lost my engine. Dang thing keeps going out. I set up for glide speed, found a landing spot which was about half dirt, half weeds or something, went through the procedures to restart the engine, and set up for a landing. She said ok before I got below 200', and we were on to ground reference maneuvers, and instrument flying. With her being an aerobatics pilot I was wondering if I would learn a whole new definition of 'unusual attitudes'. I closed my eyes while she screwed around with the plane. It wasn't all that unusual though. About 30 degrees down & banked to the left. I backed off the throttle, righted the wings and raised the nose. Then we went back to Laporte for soft/short field takeoffs & landings. On the way over she asked me how I thought I was doing. "Fine" I hoped. It did seem to be going well except for that initial part of the cross country, but I recovered from that. She smiled & nodded. I did the landings, and before a no-flaps landing she said I could stop after that.
Drum roll....
I passed!!!!
I'm a frickin PILOT!!!!
We talked a little more, and then she handed me my temporary license. The real deal should come within 90 days. I made all my calls to tell my wife, parents and CFI that I passed, and then took a leisurely flight back to my airport which included flyovers of Nasa, my house and Galveston Bay. This weekend I will celebrate by going to the Wings Over Houston airshow.
Perma-grin time :D
p.s.
Total Flying Time (including 19 year break): 59 hrs
Dual Time: 41 hrs
After some snafus with the IACRA system on the FAA website we started the oral and started talking about the cross country flight. That all went well including all the question & answers about airspaces and other map features to which she said "It looks like you know all this", and moved on. We also talked about weather, requirements for the airplane & the pilot, airplane logbooks, FAA regs, and airplane systems. She was nice and if I didn't get something right away, she rephrased the question. The part that stumped me were the specific systems of the C150 I was flying. I wound up getting a lesson in alternators and magnetos. The oral lasted about an hour (though I heard later that her orals usually last at least 2... whew!).
Then came the flying part. I gave her the passenger briefing, and we took off and started the cross country. I was supposed to fly NE for about 3 miles and intercept the Galveston VOR to fly NNW. I should have practiced the start of this cross country... I had the VOR set up for the bearing I was looking for, but I wasn't prepared for how fast I would get there, and as I then remembered, the Galveston VOR often seems to be off. What's up with that!!? So I backtracked and tried to find the VOR again. Looking at the map, I could see that I was over the ground track I was looking for, but the VOR wasn't showing that I was. I played with it, and found that it was about 15 degrees off. Piece of crap. So I used pilotage to continue on my cross country. After about 5-10 mins she said ok, divert to RWJ. I knew where it was on the map, so I pointed the plane to that direction. Then I entered RWJ in my GPS. It couldn't find it. So I tried KRWJ. Still couldn't find it. What the hell? So, again I had to use pilotage to find the airport. Turns out the ID for the is 54T, and the name is actually RWJ. What kind of name for an airport is that? I thought it was the ID.
After that things went much better. We went on to stalls and flight maneuvers. She asked for a 'Power On Stall'. Ahhh it's so nice to have a DE who's familiar with the PTS. Just to make sure, I asked if she wanted me to slow down to departure speed first? "However you want to do it" she said. Sweet! So I slowed down to departure speed (like I had been practicing recently) and did the power on stall and recovery fine. Then did the power off stall in a turn. And... uh oh... lost my engine. Dang thing keeps going out. I set up for glide speed, found a landing spot which was about half dirt, half weeds or something, went through the procedures to restart the engine, and set up for a landing. She said ok before I got below 200', and we were on to ground reference maneuvers, and instrument flying. With her being an aerobatics pilot I was wondering if I would learn a whole new definition of 'unusual attitudes'. I closed my eyes while she screwed around with the plane. It wasn't all that unusual though. About 30 degrees down & banked to the left. I backed off the throttle, righted the wings and raised the nose. Then we went back to Laporte for soft/short field takeoffs & landings. On the way over she asked me how I thought I was doing. "Fine" I hoped. It did seem to be going well except for that initial part of the cross country, but I recovered from that. She smiled & nodded. I did the landings, and before a no-flaps landing she said I could stop after that.
Drum roll....
I passed!!!!
I'm a frickin PILOT!!!!
We talked a little more, and then she handed me my temporary license. The real deal should come within 90 days. I made all my calls to tell my wife, parents and CFI that I passed, and then took a leisurely flight back to my airport which included flyovers of Nasa, my house and Galveston Bay. This weekend I will celebrate by going to the Wings Over Houston airshow.
Perma-grin time :D
p.s.
Total Flying Time (including 19 year break): 59 hrs
Dual Time: 41 hrs
Monday, October 1, 2007
More flight maneuver practice
Yesterday I met with my CFI to make sure I had my maneuvers down. We talked about the steps one would take to do each of the flight maneuvers, which is pretty much what I had already been doing. Then I pre-flighted and we took off with a simulated soft field take-off.
Ashley Pardue is the DE I flew with, and I will be changing DEs for reasons beyond what I've already discussed in my previous entry. If he has some alternate set of standards in his head that he rates people by, then whatever... I planned on learning all the maneuvers cold and going to him again. Then I had a discussion with a CFI (not mine). He says he would never send anyone to Ashley for their checkride because he's heard Ashley say he would not pass anyone who trained at our airport. WTH? Yeah... he had some student from a CFI who isn't even around anymore, and apparently it went bad. So he's not going to pass anyone from our airport. Now, I know that he did pass at least a couple of our students and they were both using the same CFI. So if you're not with the "right" CFI you've already got a huge strike against you with this guy. I don't need this crap. I'm just trying to get my fricken license. At that point, I didn't care if I already passed my oral with him. He's already robbed me of $400 if he didn't intend on passing me. I don't need to deal with CFI/DE politics. So now I'm trying to get with a DE from either Ellington or La Porte. My CFI and I flew over Ellington to La Porte.
It was pretty hazy out. I did all my maneuvers to my CFI's satisfaction, except for turns about a point. This flight was the first one I've had with significant winds and I didn't flatten out my bank as much as I needed to on the wind side. We also did an engine out at just 800 or 1000 ft. I forget which, but it didn't leave much time. That went ok though. He asked what else, I said short/soft field landings/take-offs. So we went to Bayport airport and practiced on the grass field there.
I was thinking for soft field I had to come it at full flaps & 60 mph. When I did this it was pretty precarious with the 9kt crosswinds. The CFI suggested 30 degree flaps and add more power just before the flare. I tried that on the next go-around and it was one of my smoothest landings yet. "Great job" he said. I was impressed too, but felt it was more luck.
We headed back to the airport, and again flew over Ellington. On the way back the weather started to deteriorate. It looked like we were in 1 big low density cloud. By the time we flew over Ellington I had to descend to 1000'. At Clover I wanted to do a short field landing. That was also tricky with the added crosswind. Then I did a short field takeoff. By the time I went around the pattern again, it was pouring rain as well. The CFI suggested a 700' pattern altitude so I would be in G airspace where I only needed 1 mile visibility to stay legal. I just did a normal landing - no need to make this anymore complicated than it was already becoming.
Ashley Pardue is the DE I flew with, and I will be changing DEs for reasons beyond what I've already discussed in my previous entry. If he has some alternate set of standards in his head that he rates people by, then whatever... I planned on learning all the maneuvers cold and going to him again. Then I had a discussion with a CFI (not mine). He says he would never send anyone to Ashley for their checkride because he's heard Ashley say he would not pass anyone who trained at our airport. WTH? Yeah... he had some student from a CFI who isn't even around anymore, and apparently it went bad. So he's not going to pass anyone from our airport. Now, I know that he did pass at least a couple of our students and they were both using the same CFI. So if you're not with the "right" CFI you've already got a huge strike against you with this guy. I don't need this crap. I'm just trying to get my fricken license. At that point, I didn't care if I already passed my oral with him. He's already robbed me of $400 if he didn't intend on passing me. I don't need to deal with CFI/DE politics. So now I'm trying to get with a DE from either Ellington or La Porte. My CFI and I flew over Ellington to La Porte.
It was pretty hazy out. I did all my maneuvers to my CFI's satisfaction, except for turns about a point. This flight was the first one I've had with significant winds and I didn't flatten out my bank as much as I needed to on the wind side. We also did an engine out at just 800 or 1000 ft. I forget which, but it didn't leave much time. That went ok though. He asked what else, I said short/soft field landings/take-offs. So we went to Bayport airport and practiced on the grass field there.
I was thinking for soft field I had to come it at full flaps & 60 mph. When I did this it was pretty precarious with the 9kt crosswinds. The CFI suggested 30 degree flaps and add more power just before the flare. I tried that on the next go-around and it was one of my smoothest landings yet. "Great job" he said. I was impressed too, but felt it was more luck.
We headed back to the airport, and again flew over Ellington. On the way back the weather started to deteriorate. It looked like we were in 1 big low density cloud. By the time we flew over Ellington I had to descend to 1000'. At Clover I wanted to do a short field landing. That was also tricky with the added crosswind. Then I did a short field takeoff. By the time I went around the pattern again, it was pouring rain as well. The CFI suggested a 700' pattern altitude so I would be in G airspace where I only needed 1 mile visibility to stay legal. I just did a normal landing - no need to make this anymore complicated than it was already becoming.
Thursday, September 27, 2007
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 ;)
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 ;)
Sunday, September 23, 2007
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.
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.
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
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.
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.
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