Checkride prep

With all the required hours met, the only thing left to do is prepare for the checkride. I have to say, when I started my pilot training, I never thought I would actually make it to the end...but here I am. Flying has pretty much been the only thing on my brain since I started, and I am looking forward to having the checkride behind me so I can stop thinking about it 24/7. I am looking forward to being able to read something that is not related to flying.

As far as preparing for the big day, I have been studying the airplanes POH, focusing on the airplanes systems, emergency procedures, and limitations. Up until this point all of my knowledge about the FARs has been from the King videos, so I thought it would be wise to actually study the FAR book itself, in case I have to dig into it during my oral exam. I also bought the ASA guide to the oral exam, which is filled with virtually every question and answer the examiner would think to ask...a great book to leave next to the toilet. I took what I thought were the questions I would most likely be asked from the book, and created flash cards with them, then when I had time, I had my fiance quiz me using them. The flash cards have been a big help I think. Things seem to stick better when you nervously have to say them out loud to another person. I also watched a video online of an oral exam, and although people say it is much more intense than a normal oral exam, it is still valuable to watch. In addition, King School has a video of an oral and practical exam that are worth watching as well.

Once I began to feel somewhat confident that I could squirm my way through an oral exam, I scheduled some time with my instructor for a mock oral exam. I have to say, this took much longer than I anticipated. I scheduled a three hour session with my instructor, which I thought would be plenty of time, and we only got through the FARs. My instructor told me that we would finish up the oral when we met again for the practical portion. He gave me a destination to flight plan to as homework. The next weekend I met with my instructor to finish up the mock checkride. We went over the airplanes log books, my flight plan, finished up the mock oral exam, which was all questions from the POH...all of this took about two hours, longer than I had anticipated yet again. I was pretty beat by this time, and it was starting to get late. I was hoping he would say we would have to reschedule the practical portion, but he didn't, so I was off to preflight.

With the airplane ready to go, we were off. We started with a short field take off, and then I followed the flight plan I had created. Around my first check point we did a simulated diversion. I was told that there was bad weather up ahead and we would need to divert to Ramona airport. I used my plotter and a compass rose on the sectional to determine a magnetic heading to fly. I turned to that heading, and estimated the time it would take to get there. I cheated when I did this, I knew Ramona airport was 15nm away, so I looked at my flight plan to see if I had any legs of similar distance, and used that to estimate the en route time. This whole diversion scenario isn't particularly difficult, but trying to do it while maintaining altitude and heading is.

We were about to start our steep turns, but it was getting dark fast. We decided we would have to postpone the rest of the checkride for another day.Well a day or two after, the plane went in for its 100 hour maintenance  and because it was Thanksgiving week, things are going slow. Its been almost two weeks since my last flight, but I hope to finish up this weekend...we'll see. If there is one thing I have learned through this experience, its that things are going to take a lot longer than you expect. My original goal was to have my certificate when my parents came to visit in Sept, then it was before Thanksgiving, and now I am shooting for before Christmas. Wish me luck!

Lesson 21: Night XC

After close to two months of scheduling my night cross country, and having to cancel last minute due to weather, or a broke plane...I finally got it done! After having to cancel my night XC several times due to low ceilings, I was relieved to see that we were forecasted to have unlimited visibility, and clear skies...however with Santa Ana winds blowing, some airports near my destination were reporting gusts up to 25 knots, and others were reporting around 5 knots. I decided that if I was going to have to cancel this flight due to winds, then it was going to be at the last minute...I was not ready to cancel this flight again.

The weather was perfect for flying on this night. Sure there was a little turbulence in the air for about 5 minutes on our way home, but besides that, the winds were calm, the sky was clear, visibility was unlimited and the moon was shining bright! A beautiful night to fly! I had made this trip before on one of my dual cross countries, except last time Big Bear was out destination airport, but Redlands was where we ended up after some poor engine performance. I found navigating the route at night pretty easy. I used airports and a VOR as my checkpoints, and found the airports really easy to see from quite a far distance away. The airports beacons could easily be seen from far out, and by cross checking the lighted areas near the airport with the populated areas depicted on the sectional, it was easy to determine if I had the right airport in sight. The flight went off without a hitch, and I felt like I navigated and flew the airplane very well.

With the night XC finally complete, all that stands between me and being eligible for my check ride is .1 hours of instrument time. The check ride is the only thing on my mind right now!

Just passed the 40 hour mark!

Well the check ride is becoming real. I have to be honest, when I started I never thought I would actually finish my training...but now I can see the finish line. I still need to get my night XC in, but in the meantime I have been trying to brush up on my performance takeoffs and landings, and in doing so I have passed the 40 hour mark in my training. To be honest I don't feel ready for the check ride. I need to do more studying for the oral portion, and need some more practice for the practical portion as well. I am getting excited thinking about becoming a pilot though. I cant help but day dream about what I am going to do once I am a pilot.

Second solo XC...the long one.

One of the requirements to get your Private Pilot Certificate is that you must fly 150 nautical miles, landing at three different airports or more, and your first stop has to be at least 50nm away from your departure point. They call this the long cross country. For my long cross country I decided to head back to Torrence airport, flying right up the coast through some busy class C airpsace, and near the even busier class B airspace. From Torrance I would fly east over the mountains, and land at Hemet-Ryan airport...an uncontrolled airport in the middle of nowhere.

Once I had my route planned, and had chosen my checkpoints there was nothing more I could do until the day of the flight. When I woke up the morning of the flight, I poured myself some coffee and got right to finishing up my flight plan. The first step is to call the weather briefer and get the weather information for my route of flight. With the weather in hand, I could now calculate what heading I needed to point my airplane to compensate for the wind, and also how fast I would actually be flying with the wind either speeding me up, or slowing me down. With your airplanes ground speed figured out, you can now figure out how much fuel you are going to burn up over the length of the trip.

With the flight plan finished, I was off the the airport. My instructor reviewed my flight plan, and signed off in my logbook so I could legally make this flight. Next I called the weather briefer back up, and read him my flight plan. Once you are up in the air, you call up a specific frequency and tell them to activate your flight plan. If they don't hear back from you, in the amount of time you told them it would take you to fly the trip, then they will send out search and rescue to look for you, using your flight plan to determine where they should look. After filing my flight plane with the briefer, I was finally ready to fly!

I headed outside and pre-flighted the airplane, making sure it had full fuel tanks, and nothing was broke. Finally all the prep work was over, and I was taxing to the runway for takeoff. Once in the air, I set course for Torrance and wrote down my time of departure, I would use this time to determine if I was arrive at my checkpoints in the time I estimated in my planning. Now that I was cruising along, I called up San Diego Radio and activated my flight plan. Next I called up SoCal Approach and requested flight following. Flight following is a nice little tool to have, especially when flying near busy airspace. My route of flight has my flying past John Wayne airport, Long Beach airport, and pretty close to LAX, so having someone watch me on radar and informing me of other planes nearby is very helpful, and helps ease the nerves.

I landed at Torrance airport easily enough, and taxied around back to the runway for takeoff. After takeoff, my plan was to climb to 7,500'...once I got around 7,000' however, I heard someone on the radio yelling at me that I just entered class B airspace, a big no-no unless you have permission. Turns out I screwed up my flight plan, overlooking this particular section of class B airspace, and sure enough my plan had be busting right through it. The controller on the radio cut me a break, and didn't yell at me too bad, and more importantly didn't write me up. This ordeal got me second guessing myself now...I was certain my flight plan had me avoiding class B airspace...so where the heck was I? It wasn't until later that night, that I took a closer look and discovered just what I had done.

I was now heading away from the coast, and the busy airspace that surrounded it, and headed over the mountains to the sparsely populated inland areas. Flying over the mountains had me a bit concerned. I wasn't sure what to expect exactly. The flight training videos warn of wind shear, and turbulence when flying near mountains...this had me concerned. Sure enough, the turbulence definitely picked up as I flew over, but it was nothing I couldn't handle. With the mountains behind me, my next obstacle was avoiding the parachuting, and gliding activity that goes on in the area. Luckily for me, the person at Approach giving me flight following gave me a lot of help avoiding this activity, and directing me straight towards my next stop. Not being familiar with an area, and never have flown into this particular airport is a bit of a challenge. You don't want to  start descending until you know for sure that you have the correct airport in sight. Thanks to flight following, I was certain I had the right airport. Since this airport doesn't have an operating control tower, it is up the pilots to sequence themselves for landing and departing, and not crashing into each other. This is done by announcing intentions on a common frequency that all pilots should be using when flying into or out of this particular airport. I announced my intentions on the radio at each turn I made, but it seemed that on this day I was the only airplane around.

After landing at my second airport, Hemet-Ryan, I was feeling good...the hard part was over. The only thing left to do was to fly a short trip back to my home airport. The final leg of the trip went smoothly, and I landed back at Palomar airport in Carlsbad in one piece. To meet my solo XC requirements I need to have 2.9 hours logged on this trip...when I parked the airplane and recorded my time I was relieved to see that I had indeed logged exactly 2.9 hours! Thank god, because I did not want to have to do this again...not until after I get my certificate at least.

Not my exact route of flight, but you get the idea. 

The red circle is the restricted area over Disney Land.

Lesson 20: Night Operations

Well it finally happened, after a month of cancelled flights, I finally got a night lesson in...and just by the skin of my teeth too!

The first thing I noticed during this lesson was just how dimly lit the instrument panel was. I was expecting each individual instrument to have some sort of back lighting, but to my surprise, they are all lit by a red overhead light in the airplane. It made it quite difficult to read the numbers on the airspeed indicator, instead I relied on knowing where the numbers should be on the gauge.

My instructor had me taxi most of the way without my landing light on, he wanted me to use my beacon lights to determine if I was centered on the taxi way. It is shocking just how invisible the taxiways look without a landing light on. I wasn't allowed to turn my landing light back on until we were cleared for takeoff. When we departed, we flew straight out over the ocean. Once we got away from the city lights, and were surrounded by water, it was quite obvious how different night flying can be. I had to pay attention to my instruments to make sure I was staying straight and level... similar to flying in the clouds I would imagine.

After my instructor was done trying to freak me out, we headed back to the airports traffic pattern to make our first landing. I realized that my usual visual cues I used to determine how to fly each leg of the traffic pattern were gone, and that the runway was really hard to find. Once I did find the runway though, it was easy enough to keep track of it...its finding it initially that was tricky. Trying to judge the landing flare was interesting. When I flared I felt the plane floating, I tried to keep just the right amount of back pressure on the yoke to prevent ballooning, but also preventing hitting the runway too hard. I remember feeling moments when I wasn't exactly sure just how high off the runway the plane was, and just waiting for the plane to SMACK the runway.

After the first landing my instructor upped the difficulty on me. The rest of the landings were done without the landing light on, and one landing was done without the landing light or instrument panel lights...leaving me to land with my flashlight in my mouth so I could read the instruments...uncomfortable, but totally doable. After getting eight landings in we called it a night, and just in time too, because twenty minutes later and the overcast had rolled in pretty thick.

I enjoyed the challenge of night flying. It felt a lot different than the flying I have done thus far, even though it really is the same techniques. Once I get my ticket I don't see myself doing a lot of night flying...you never know though.

So frustrated!

I need to vent. It is late September now, and I have gotten zero flying done this month. Its not like I haven't tried though, that's for damn sure! I have had two of my long solo XC flights, and one night lesson canceled on me last minute due to the plane having something wrong with it, and last night another night lesson was canceled on me due to weather. Since luck hasn't been on my side lately, I have gotten more aggressive with my scheduling. Unfortunately it looks like the other two flights I have scheduled this week have a good chance of being canceled due to weather again. I was really hoping to have my license to learn by the time my parents come out in mid October, but I am really cutting it close now. Bummer!

First solo XC

I woke up the morning of my first solo XC and immediately looked out the window to see if the overcast that had covered our skies the past few days had cleared up. What I saw looked promising, but I wasn't totally convinced I would be able to fly. I called for a weather briefing, hoping he would tell me it would be blue skies in a couple hours, but he didn't, instead I got a briefing that described exactly what I saw out my window.

I went ahead and finished up my XC planning, even though I told myself that if the weather wasn't near perfect that I would postpone. The coast here in San Diego can be pretty stubborn when it comes to that overcast burning away, and my XC route was directly up the coastline to Torrance. I finished my planning, ate breakfast, showered, and headed off to the airport.

When I arrived at the airport the skies had significantly cleared up, this was confirmed by a CFI who was just out flying and said it was a beautiful day out there. My CFI wasn't at the school today, so I had another CFI check my flight planning and endorse my logbook...whoops...where is my logbook? Where is my headset bag? Doh! I forgot two of the most important things at home. Luckily my wonderful fiance drove them up to me, and I was able to get the endorsement I needed not but two minutes before his next lesson walked through the door.

With everything in order, and legal I was off to preflight the airplane. Once the preflight inspection was complete, I was soon off into the skies. The first order of business was to trim the airplane to the best rate of climb speed, and wait until I reached my cruising altitude of 4,500. Once I reached 4,500 I estimated the time en-route to my next check point. Now that I was on my way, it was time to activate my flight plane. I called up the frequency I had wrote down, but no response. Dammit! I must have written a bad frequency down. I was nervous about flying for too long without flight following, so I called them up. Apparently I was well outside there area, but they stayed with me. Now back to the flight plan...wait, I am with SoCal Approach now, I cant change frequencies...no flight plan this time I guess.

With the rough start behind me, the rest of the leg went smoothly. SoCal approach pretty much let me fly through class C just as I had planned, and once flight following was terminated, Torrance tower let me make a straight in approach for landing. Easy! My landing at KTOA was one of my best landings in recent memory...a much needed confidence boost at this point. I taxied back for takeoff, and was soon climbing to my cruising altitude of 5,500.

I made another attempt to activate my flight plan, but again no response at the frequency I was trying to contact. I decided to contact Flight Watch and see if they could help. Flight Watch was nice enough to give me a frequency I could call up, and a minute later my flight plan was active. Next it was time to contact SoCal approach again for flight following. The leg home went smoothly, but I did have one intense moment when SoCal told me to look for traffic at my 10 o'clock. I saw a jetliner off in the distance taking off, and reported I had the traffic in sight. A second later I saw another jetliner climbing right at me off my right wing. I radioed again, saying that I had the wrong traffic before, but now I have the correct traffic. SoCal had the jetliner make a turn to their left, and it ended up flying under me by what seemed like 500 feet. Pretty intense!

The rest of the trip home was uneventful and calm, although my nerves were on high alert, as I constantly scanned for traffic. Once I was near Palomar I was once again immediately cleared to land, with another Cessna right behind me. The landing went smooth, and I taxied back to my flight school with a sense of accomplishment. I just flew this plane...for real. Not just around the traffic pattern, but I went somewhere. I talked to people. I followed directions. And I did it safely.

On a side note: I recently purchased a Nexus 7 tablet with the intention of using it as an in flight GPS. I brought it along with me on this flight, mounted it to my yoke, and ran Naviator as my moving map. Everything worked great and really made my workload much lighter. Although I plan on using this once I get my ticket, I think next solo XC I will leave it at home, so I can be more prepared when it comes time to the check ride.

Suzy Q

San Diego coastline, north of Camp Pendelton

the waters near the Queen Mary

my Nexus 7 running Naviator

just gotta follow the magenta line

Lesson 19: Dual XC through LAX

This is attempt number two at taking the "new" C152 on a cross country through Bravo airspace. The plane has been out for maintenance since I joined the flight school, and is finally back in action...so its new to me. Last time I tried to fly it though, the left magneto was acting up, and the flight has to be aborted before we ever left the ground. This time though, the plane passed the run-up check.

Once we departed KCRQ, I climbed to my cruising altitude of 4,500 and opened my flight plan with San Diego Radio. Upon reaching my first checkpoint, the San Onofre power plant, I contacted SoCal approach for flight following. Not only did I want flight following, but my route had me going through class C airspace, so I needed to get in contact with them anyway, to allow me to continue my planned path. This time they allowed me to continue as planned through the class C airspace, where I had a Southwest Jet fly under me at about 1000 feet. 

We continued up the coast passing the checkpoints I had chosen, such as Dana Point, Newport Bay, and the Huntington Pier. Once we reached Huntington Pier it was time to intercept the SMO VOR 132 degree radial, which according to the LAX special VFR corridor, located on the LA Terminal Area Chart, would allow us to fly right over LAX.

Once through the VFR corridor, there was little time to contact SMO tower and begin our descent for landing. We had to overfly SMO and make a descending turn for right hand traffic. This was probably the most hectic portion of the XC, which resulted in me overlooking my checklist. We landed without incident however, and taxied back for takeoff. 

Taking off from SMO requires you follow their noise abatement procedures by over flying a gold course, and not making any turns until you reach the coastline. We needed to be at 3,500 feet to be able to fly back through the LAX VFR corridor, so we made a right climbing turn which had us overflying SMO at around 3,00 feet. We got to 3,500 just in time and overflew LAX again. Once through the corridor I contacted LGB tower and requested runway 25L. I have never been at this airport, but I knew it was complex, and they use LAHSO (land and hold short operations), which is exactly why my instructor had me landing here. The tower was very helpful, and I followed another airplane in for landing, which made finding my runway much easier. 

After taking off from LGB we were headed back home. I contacted SoCal approach again for flight following and clearance through class C, but this time they vectored me off my course. Once they told me to resume normal navigation, I made the mistake of not immediately getting back on my course that I had planned. It wasn't until my instructor yelled at me, that I intercepted my course, and was on track again. The rest of the flight went without incident, and we landed safely back at CRQ. 

The entire flight was 3.2 hours, which in dollars is $450. JEEZ! Flying is expensive isn't it? Next step for me is a solo cross country...stayed tuned for that.

the magenta line is my route to SMO, and the pink away from SMO

the view flying over LAX

KSMO - Santa Monica Airport

KLGB - Long Beach Airport

KCRQ - home sweet home

The written exam

Well today was the day I had been dreading since I started my training...well one of the days. Today was the day where I had to prove I knew something about flying, and being a pilot. Today was the day of the written exam.

I chose to skip the standard ground school, and instead used this syllabus (DOWNLOAD) and read the appropriate materials which related to whichever lesson I was currently on. Once I was serious about getting ready for the written exam, I started watching the King Flight School DVD's. I wish I had watched these DVD's earlier though, because they would have been a big help with the pre-solo exam. Along with the King Flight School DVD's I also checked out the Jeppesen DVD's, and the Sportys DVD, but I found the information from the King DVD's really stuck with me...I HIGHLY recommend them.

After watching the King Flight School DVD course. I purchased the ASA Private Pilot Test Prep book and answered all 1000 questions. It took about a week to accomplish, but I felt it was very valuable to be able to get a sneak peak at the actual questions and answers that would be asked on the test. Once the book was completed I felt confident to take the test  The only thing left to do, was to go into the flight school and prove to my instructor I was ready for the test. I did this by taking a few practice tests on their computer and showing him the results.

The day of the test went as follows: I showed up with my E6B, a protractor, my logbook, my ID and MONEY. The proctor had me fill out two forms with my personal information, then I showed him my logbook endorsement. The proctor had to call someone and relay my information to them, and once that was done it was time for me to sit down at the computer and take the test. The test looked very similar to the ASA computer practice test I had taken on the flight school's computer the week before. It was 60 questions and seemed to cover a little bit of everything...unlike the practice tests which could focus on one subject and leave out others. I used 90 of the 150 minutes allotted for the test. When I was done, I was shown my results, the questions I got wrong, and received a nice little letter proving I passed the test.

All I can say is...WHAT A RELIEF.

I passed!

An update

Well since my last post I have taken another lesson (lesson 17) with my instructor where I flew under the hood, doing VOR tracking, and unusual attitude recovery...pretty fun stuff actually. I had planned a dual XC with my instructor to fly into Santa Monica Airport (KSMO), which is in class B airspace, and then into Long Beach Airport (KLGB) which has 10 runways. The flight had to be delayed though when we discovered during the run up that the airplanes left magneto was running really rough. Unfortunately the soonest I can get on the schedule for another attempt at this XC is in two weeks, until then, there wont be much to write about.

Lesson 16: VOR tracking under the hood

Today we killed two birds with one stone, that is we went over how to track different radials on a VOR, which will be useful for my next cross country into Bravo airspace, and I did it while flying under the hood to build instrument time. I have another lesson tomorrow to try and finish up the remainder of my instrument time.

I am starting to feel like I am nearing the end of this journey. I have been studying like crazy for the written exam, which I hope to take next week, and also I have started thinking about getting the hours I need to meet the FAA requirements. So far this is where I am at:

So, it looks like all that is left is my dual XC (which is next weekend), a couple solo XC's, and some night flying...then it will be time to start preparing for the check ride I guess? 

Lesson 15: First Dual XC

Wow! According to my logbook, my last dual flight was 6/20/12, almost a month ago! After a couple reschedules, the day has finally come!

The preparation for the XC started weeks ago. The first step was to meet with my instructor and discuss what he expected from my planning. The second step was to plot my course, and draw it on my sectional map. We were heading from KCRQ to L36, and I would be using a series of airports as my checkpoints along the way. 

Once I had my course planned, my checkpoints chosen, and the weight and balance done, there really wasn't much more that I could do without having weather information, so I waited. I woke up early the morning of the cross country and tried to finish my planning before leaving for my lesson. I got the weather information, and with it, calculated for wind correction, got my ground speed, estimated time en route to each checkpoint, and fuel used. This all took longer then I thought, and I was only able to finish the first leg before I had to leave for the flight school. The second leg would have to be completed when I arrived at the school, which kind of made me feel like a slacker since I had weeks to prepare this.

Once I had both flight plans filled out, I called 1-800-WX-BRIEF for a weather briefing, just to make sure it would be safe for a VFR flight, and that I wasn't flying into anything I shouldn't be. I was in such a rush to finish my planning and get in the air, that I wasn't even nervous to call...which I know I would have been if I had the luxury of time to ponder what I was going to say to these people. The person on the phone was very friendly, and the briefing was pretty easy to understand...more importantly it was reassuring. 

With the flight planning complete, I gave it to my instructor to review. With his approval we were good to go. After so many delays, I had a sinking feeling in my stomach that something would come up, and we wouldn't be able to fly, but nope, not today. I called 1-800-WX-BRIEF again to file a flight plan, and then headed to preflight the airplane. Two hours after my scheduled lesson started, we were finally taxing for takeoff. 

Cross country flying is pretty stressful. You have to maintain heading and altitude, monitor the radio, keep track of time between checkpoints, stare out the window, and constantly look at your map and flight plan. I found it quite difficult to do all these things at once, without finding the plane heading off course, or deviating from my altitude. After a few checkpoints things became a little easier, but right when I was getting somewhat comfortable is when the engine started running rough. We decided to cancel out trip to Big Bear, and divert to the closest airport. This added a whole new level of stress!

The airport we chose to divert to was Redlands, which is right next to San Bernadino, a class D airport. To land at Redlands we first needed to circle over it to try and determine which runway to land at, and which way the traffic pattern went. Next I would need to circle and lose altitude, while staying out of the nearby class D airspace, and staying clear of the mountain ridge. While circling I monitored the CTAF, and declared my intentions on the radio. I came in high and fast for my landing, it was quite embarrassing to land like this in front of my instructor after not flying with him for so long. Diverting to REI was an eye opener. I realized that it was quite confusing, and difficult to land at an unfamiliar airport that you hadn't planned on landing at. 

Once we were safely on the ground, we did a runup and checked to see how the airplane was running. We decided it was safe to fly it back to KCRQ. Before heading home, we took a bathroom break to stretch our legs. It was about 20+ degrees hotter here than it was at KCRQ, which really made it feel like we were far from home...I loved it!

The trip home went a little smoother, since now I knew what my checkpoints looked like. We stayed pretty much on course with my line, but my instructor still constantly made me confirm that I knew we were in the right place, by having me list other landmarks surrounding the main checkpoint. 

Finally I could see our home airport! After another terrible landing we were back at the school. I don't know why I choke with him next to me, but I do...I guess he makes me nervous? The flight was a total of 2.4 hours, and I was charged an additional our of ground time from my instructor...a grand total of $369. I am so happy to have this milestone in the log book, and to finally fly with my instruct again after a month of short, solo flights. The next lesson will be some simulated instrument time, and then after that, another cross country...this time into class B airspace using VFR corridors. Exciting stuff! 

my planned course, which ended up  being diverted to REI

the old 152 sitting in the hot sun at REI

Caught on camera

Well I had to reschedule my cross county flight due to plane maintenance, and I have had to cancel multiple night lessons due to weather...I did get a chance to get some pattern practice in, while my brother was visiting from out of town. He was nice enough to put this video together for me. 

Hopefully I will have some more interesting content next week, when I am schedule to take my cross country flight. 

Just a little update

Hi everyone! Just an update, so you all know I am still alive. 

I have been back from vacation for about two weeks now, and in that two weeks I have only been able to fly once! The weather in San Diego is very overcast in June, but by July its typically cleared up. In addition to the weather working against me, the schools schedule has filled up big time! They have done some of those Groupon, and Living Social promotions, so it has been hard to get a plane. Pretty damn annoying! I also took the SDPD written exam earlier this week, in  hopes of being hired as a police officer, so that was a distraction. I am now fully focused on flying again though, and I am in the process of planning my first cross country flight, as well as studying to take the written exam...plenty of flying related things to do, even if I am not actually flying. 

Hopefully I will have a real update for you Thursday, when I take my cross country flight from KCRQ to L35.

Solo: First journey to the practice area/ first scare in the clouds

Well I am going to be in Mass on vacation next week, so I am trying to get as much flying in as I can before I leave.

Yesterday I took the plane and headed out to the practice area for the first time solo. It was pretty nerve racking. I spent the entire time scanning for other traffic, and only did two maneuvers before heading back. It feels good to know that I can leave the airport, and re-enter the traffic pattern alone...but I definitely need to get more familiar with the area.

Today I took the plane in hopes of getting at least 5 landings in the logbook. The haze from the marine layer was pretty bad off the departing end of the runway, and I actually lost my orientation when on my crosswind leg. I decided it was too sketchy for me and made my second landing a full stop. I was hoping to get some landing practice, but I am actually kind of happy that I had a scare in the clouds.

Well I only racked up 1.3 hours in the last two days, but that's better than nothing...especially considering I logged them while on my lunch break from work. I spent $117 to get those hours, and now I am off on vacation. I wish I could log the 6 hours from this Jet Blue flight I am about to take...wouldn't that be nice?

Lesson 14: Ground reference maneuvers, hood flying

Well I should be flying solo more, but its very difficult with my work schedule. Up until this point I had reserved a plane and instructor from 4:30-6:30 and flew after work. The problem I am facing now is that the school closes at 5:00, so if I don't have an instructor with me than no one is at the school...thus, I cant fly that late. With this predicament I decided just to book another lesson with Kam...its not solo time, but its better than not flying at all.

The lesson was real quick. I did some flying under the hood, and then some ground reference maneuvers. It felt like ages since I had last had to do these maneuvers, but somehow, against all odds, I managed to nail them.

And just like that the lesson was over, 1.0 on the hobbs. Kam wants me to go fly solo a few times before we have another lesson. I guess I will have to try to sneak out of work at lunch, or maybe leave an hour early to get some flying time in before I have to leave on my vacation back to Boston in June. Wish me luck.

P.S. Sorry if the blog is getting boring, the lessons at the moment are just about repetition, review, and building confidence. Once I get past this stage its on to some night flying, and cross countries...then I will have something to write about!

Lesson 13: VOR navigation

It seems like all i have been doing lately is flying in the pattern, and practicing takeoffs and landings, so it was nice to get away from the airport and head to the practice area for some review. We reviewed steep turns, and some stalls. It seems like its been forever since I last did these maneuvers.

After some review, Kam taught me how to use VOR to navigate. It was actually a great day to use it too, since the sky was very hazy, and visibility was not too good. I found the explanation on how to use the VOR a little confusing, but once you actually go through the process, its quite simple. We followed the VOR to the coast, and then called the tower for permission to enter back into class D airspace. Kam landed the airplane, since there was a pretty large jet on our tail.

For my next time out, Kam wants me to take the plane to the practice area solo, but I think I will have Kam show me one more time how to get there properly, since I am a little unsure about what altitudes I should be at when practicing maneuvers out there. Kam also wants me to get the written test out of the way as soon as possible. I have been trying to read along according to the Jeppesen syllabus to prepare myself for this, but I still feel completely unprepared. I guess for the next couple of weeks I will be watching my Sporty's DVD until my eyes bleed, and taking online practice tests. In addition to flying, I have been studying for the police officers exam, which I will be taking in June. There is a lot of information going into this head, but I am not sure how much is actually sticking.

I have friends from out of town staying with me this Memorial day weekend, and then I am flying back to Boston the week after, so I am going to have to try and squeeze in some flying wherever I can these next two weeks...cant let myself get rusty now!

Today's lesson was 1.3 hours on the hobbs, and 1.4 ours of instruction...a total of $180.

I can't stop laughing!

My cousin who is an experienced skydiver posted this picture, and now I cant stop laughing.

Solo: I think the tower is messing with me?

So today was my first day entirely on my own. It was such a weird feeling getting into that plane, and not having someone next to me while I checked the ATIS, or did my runup...but it was nice too...I felt comfortable.

The plan today was to practice my landings. I have the flair down pretty well, but my approaches are all over the place...very frustrating! When I asked tower for permission to takeoff, I added that I was a student pilot...I am not sure if this helped me or hurt me, and you'll see why.

I only made 4 landings today, and in these 4 landings the tower made me:

• Extend downwind to follow traffic twice
• Extend my departure leg
• Fly a left traffic pattern twice (at a right pattern airport)
• Perform a go around to allow a helicopter to land

So, the question is...did the tower do this to mess with me because I am a student? I doubt it, but it was definitely odd. I am glad it happened though, because it was great practice. Now I have no what ifs to worry about for the next time I solo in the traffic pattern, because I have just about done it all now. Oh, and my approaches are starting to click. I made the point to focus outside the airplane more, and not so much at the instruments...this made my landings much easier, and more consistent. It was a great day!

I only got to spend 0.8 hours in the airplane, which cost me $72...much more affordable then my typical lessons with an instructor. I think I am going to like this!

And with that, the first page of my logbook is filled out

Lesson 12: Soft/ short field takeoffs and landings

Today we practiced short field takeoffs and landings, soft field takeoffs and landings, and even gave precision landings a try.

Both the short field, and soft field takeoffs were pretty fun. The short field takeoff requires you to put the throttle all the way in, while you hold on the brakes. Once the engine is at full power you can let go of the brakes. The goal is to have the plane get up to climbing speed as soon as possible. Soft field takeoffs require that you do not stop between taxing and taking off...you want to keep the plane rolling. Also required in soft field takeoffs is that you keep the nose wheel off the ground until the plane lifts off the ground, and once the plane lifts off the ground you want to keep it in ground effect until you have enough airspeed to start your climb.

The landings on the other hand were not as fun. My landings need a lot of work as it is, so adding more rules to the mix didn't help. Soft field landings require that you can nail your glide path and airspeed, something I cant do very well yet. Soft field landings are a little more forgiving however, all you need to do different here is keep the nose wheel off the ground, and add a little power once the main wheels touch down...this prevents your airplane from sinking into a soft runway.

We also squeezed in a precision landing today...and boy was it a disaster. The goal here is that you set power to idle, and set the perfect glide path once abeam your touch down spot. You are suppose to be able to land your airplane perfectly without having to add any power. Obviously I failed miserable at this. I came up well short of the runway and had to add power. Once over the runway I dropped my power, and with it my airplane. We dropped about ten feet onto the runway....ouch!

Well that was it for the day. Now I have more things I can practice in the pattern...although for now I think I will just work on normal landings, and takeoffs. I booked the plane for my first full solo flight on Wednesday...if you don't see any updates after this, than that means I am probably dead...but don't let my death discourage you from continuing your training...you'll probably be fine!

Today we spent 1.4 hours in the plane for a total of $198 for the rental and instruction.

Don't you just feel like this some days?

Lesson 11: Solo!

Well today was the day...today I soloed!

The day started with my preflight inspection. The plane had just come back from its 100 hour maintenance and it had a new propeller, new tires, new brakes and rotors...sweet!

The winds were calm today, and there wasn't a lot of traffic in the area...the only thing I had going against me was some overcast off the departing end of the runway. All in all the conditions were good.

I did three takeoffs and landings with my instructor before he asked me how I felt about soloing the plane right now...this time I said I was ready. We pulled over to the transient parking, he endorsed my logbook and my student certificate, and told me to make three full stop landings, and then meet him back at the flight school.

Upon taking off, I noticed that the airplane really wanted to climb! I had to keep the airplane from climbing too steep by pressing forward on the controls...I thought about adjusting the trim, but I had it right where I wanted it for my glide speed when landing. I had to make my crosswind turn earlier than normal in order to stay out of the overcast. The visibility on departure and crosswind was pretty bad, and a little nerve wracking...but once I turned downwind it was clear skies. On my first approach I was way too high, I considered a go around, but decided against it since I had plenty of runway. I probably landed just after the first 1/3 of the runway...not how I wanted my first solo landing to go. While taxing off the runway I put my flaps up, and then discovered I never turned the carb heat on. Whoops! I told myself I couldn't make that mistake again!

My second landing was similar to my first, although this time I remembered my carb heat. I tried to make sure I didn't turn base so soon, but somehow I still ended up high, with a short final. There was traffic on my third landing, and I was forced to extend my downwind, this was probably a good thing since I was coming in high and short on my other landings. My approach looked good until I got about 20-30 feet from my runway and realized I needed power if I was going to make it. I added a little power, and had a pretty decent landing...except for one thing...CARB HEAT! I forgot to turn it on again. I was so mad at myself for making the same mistake, and not following the check list. I was so focused on the checklist while on the ground, but once I got in the air, and things were happening I totally forgot about it!

With my final landing complete, I taxied back to the flight school where I was greeted by my instructor and a pair of scissors. He shook my hand, and clipped a good chunk of my shirt off...then, out of nowhere, the school's office guy came out with a bucket of water and dumped it on my head...an old Navy tradition I guess? (former school owner was in the Navy). My CFI and I took a picture in front of the plane, and then we signed, and dated my patch of shirt...both will be hanging on the schools wall along with everyone else they have soloed. What a great moment!

Today's lesson was 1.4 hours, for a total of $189.

Lesson ten: Solo?

Well I spent the week filling out my presolo exam, which started off easy, but by the end I was beginning to struggle a bit. A lot of the questions on the test I hadn't had any real exposure to. Had I watched more of the King Flight School videos that I have, I would have had a much easier time with the test, unfortunately I didn't realize this until after passing in the exam.

After spending the week working on my test, and keeping myself awake at night thinking about having to solo, Saturday finally came. I slept in as late as I could so I wouldn't have to think too much about what was going to happen, unfortunately it didn't work...I just did my thinking in bed.

I arrived at the airport, and my instructor went over my exam as I looked on. A couple of times he stopped and would give his opinion on some of the answers the FAA wants to hear, and a couple times he stopped to ask me a question directly from the test. My instructor said I did well on the exam, and so it was off to fly. We were running behind schedule at this point, so my instructor helped me with the preflight, something he hasn't done since the first couple of lessons. We preflighted quickly, and were off in the pattern doing touch and goes.

My flare out, and landings are actually pretty good, but I am having a bit of trouble doing things consistently in the pattern, which makes each landing a guessing game for me. I don't know until the last 10 seconds if I am in a good position to land or not, but I manage to touch down pretty smoothly regardless it seems.

After a few landings my instructor asked me how I felt about flying the airplane alone, and all I could answer was "I don't know". I knew I could fly the airplane myself, but I don't think I really wanted to. There was a tiny bit of turbulence in the air, and ATC had made me extend my downwind twice, and made me fly a left traffic pattern (typically right at my airport) already. Had it been a perfectly calm day, with no other traffic, I think I would have been ready, but today I just didn't feel it.

We did a couple more landings until making a full stop. At this point I still wasn't sure if this was the moment he was going to get out and tell me "good luck". That moment never came though, and I am fine with that. I had put too much pressure on myself about soloing today, and my nerves were off the charts. Now that today is over, and I didn't solo, my nerves are gone. I know I will be soloing soon, but for some reason the nerves have disappeared.

Today's lesson was a quick one, with just 0.9 hours on the hobbs ($81.00), and an additional 0.6 hours of ground instruction from my CFI ($67.50 for 1.5 hours).

Lesson nine: Good and bad news...

We continued practicing takeoffs and landings during today's lesson. The airport seemed like a ghost town today compared to Saturday's madness...we virtually had the place to ourselves to practice touch and go's.

We did a total of eight landings, and most of them felt great, I even got a "good landing" from my instructor. The hardest part of landing for me is flying the pattern, and keeping the right distance and altitude...the actually landing and flaring seems to clicking okay. After seven landings my instructor asked me if I wanted to make the next one a full stop, I said "sure, might as well quit while we are ahead". Sure enough, I overshot my next landing. Although we touched down pretty smoothly, we landed well after the first one third of the runway, and missed our taxi exit. Oh well I guess.

After the lesson my instructor said "I have some good and bad news. The good news is your close to your solo, the bad news is that if you wear a nice shirt, its going to get ruined". He sent me away with a smile on my face, butterflies in my stomach, and a presolo exam to complete. I have a feeling I wont be sleeping very well this week, knowing that I am most likely going to be soloing on Saturday. I am not sure how ready I feel. I know I can land the airplane, but I am worried about messing up on the radio, or screwing up if the tower makes me do something unusual in the pattern. I guess I gotta just go for it.

Today's lesson lasted 1.3 hours, a cost of $117 for the airplane, and $58.50 for instruction.

Lesson eight: More takeoffs and landings

When I arrived at the airport today for my lesson, I was informed that my airplane had no right wheel, that the mechanic was installing a new one, and would be finishing up any minute now. After waiting about 30 minutes for the mechanic to finish, I decided to go outside and see if he wouldn't mind if I preflighted the airplane while he worked. He told me to go for it, and assured me I wouldn't be in his way. As I preflighted the airplane, the mechanic told me several stories of his past, of people he met throughout his life, and then we got into talking about movies. I reckon that by me going out and preflighting while the mechanic was working, I added another 30 minutes to the time it took him to finish. The good news is that the mechanic was a good guy, and had some interesting stories...so whats waiting a little longer matter?

Once the mechanic was finished, we taxied to the runway to begin our lesson. There was a special event going  on at my local airport today, which meant there was a lot more traffic than usual. Once it was our turn to take off, we flew the pattern, landed, and were told to make a full stop and taxi for takeoff again. My instructor wasn't about to deal with this all day, so we flew to another local airport...an uncontrolled airport.

The uncontrolled airport we did most of today's lesson in had a much narrower, and shorter runway than the one I am used to. It was also next to a military base, and over a neighborhood with noise abatement procedures in effect...it made for an interesting experience, and I really enjoyed it.

We made a total of eight landings today. One of them felt great, and I think I actually flew it all by myself. Another landing was okay, and the rest were not so good.

Today's lesson ran for a total of 1.9 hours on the hobbs, mostly due to waiting to taxi, and being forced to make a full stop after our first lesson I am sure. The costs were $171 for the airplane rental, and $85.50 for instruction...a grand total of $256.50...my most expensive lesson to date I believe.

My instructor informed me that all the lessons from here on our will be to practice landings until I am ready to solo. Things are getting exciting!

Medical exam

Since I have begun practicing landings, I figure I am probably not too far along from having to solo, which means I am going to need my medical. My school refered me to a doctor, and I was able to make an appointment immediately...no three month wait for an available appointment, unlike my regular doctor.

The medical exam was easy. The doctor specialized in aviation, and had picture of airplanes all over the wall, and the magazine rack was full of AOPA magazines. They had me pee in a cup, checked my eyes, checked my blood pressure, and poked at me a bit. That was it. I was out of there 40 minutes after I walked through the door, and my bank account was $85 lighter.

Lesson Seven: Departures and landings

Today was a milestone in my training I would say. Today is the day we started practicing takeoffs and landings. After I preflighted the airplane, taxied, and did the run up, I did something I haven't yet done...I asked Tower for permission to do touch and go's.

Once Tower gave us permission, we made our first departure down the runway. My instructor Kam had the controls, and demonstrated what I would be doing the next time we flew the pattern. Kam departed the runway, made a climbing turn 90 degrees right to crosswind, and another climbing turn 90 degrees to downwind. We were now parallel to the runway. Once we were abeam our landing spot, we started our descent at 80 knots. We continued descending, and made a 90 degree turn to the base leg. Once on the base leg, we reduced speed to 70 knots. We kept descending, and made out last turn onto final approach. One on final we reduced speed to 65 knots. Now all that was left to do was to stay lined up with the runway, and keep descending at the right speed and angle...not an easy task I found out. Once over the runway, Kam was able to make the airplane float just a foot or two over the runway. While floating over the runway, he pulled back slightly on the controls to raise the noise, forcing the place to slow down, and help it settle onto the runway...this is called flaring.

With Kam's demonstration over, it was now my turn. I followed his instructions, making the turns when he told me to, and reducing power when he instructed. My landings were much harder than Kam's. I seemed to struggle with every aspect of landing, from staying lined up with the center-line, to floating the airplane over the runway, to flaring correctly. Multiple times I found the nose of the airplane facing towards the side of the runway, or flaring the airplane too fast, and ballooning off the runway. Landing is not an easy task, but it is not impossible. I was surprised just how awkwardly you could control the airplane, and still land it in one peice.

We made a total of seven landings, and although I don't feel like I did a very good job, Kam says I did good for a student, and that we can progress to landings with flaps on the next lesson. After the lesson I went home and made myself a few Jack and gingers, because I knew my heart, and mind would be racing all night thinking about today's lesson. The three drinks I had helped, but I still had a horrible nights sleep.

Today's lesson totaled $171. The airplane rental was $108 (1.2 hours x $90), and instruction was $63 (1.4 hours x $45).

Right hand traffic patterns, like at Palomar, are not typical.

Lesson Six: Ground reference maneuvers

When I arrived at the airport today, my instructor Kam hadn't arrived yet. The guy running the office told me to go ahead at pre-flight the plane, and that Kam would be right along. This was my first time pre-flighting the plane without Kam watching over me, and it was kind of nice not having that pressure. Once I was finished with the pre-flight, I went back into the office and Kam was there waiting. Kam gave me a quick lesson on the white board, showing me what the ground reference maneuvers we were doing today would look like, and when he was finished we headed out to the plane.

I worked the radio, taxied, and took off into the sky. We headed to the practice area, and found a long road, and intersection that we would use for the ground reference maneuvers lesson. Kam demonstrated the rectangular course maneuver first. Its as easy as looking out of the planes windows, and keeping a set distance away from your target...in this case, a series of roads. You do this around a rectangular path, and its not as easy as it sounds, especially when you have windy conditions like we had today. Next came the turn around a point maneuver, this consisted of making circles around an intersection while keeping a consistent distance from it. Around  this time in the lesson, I was starting to feel a little nauseous from all the turbulence. I tried not to panic, and took a deep breath and continued on. The final  maneuver we practiced was the s-turn. This is similar to the turn around the point maneuver, but you switch direction halfway through the turn, making an "S' shape instead of a full circle.

The reason these maneuvers are tricky, is because of the wind. When you are heading down wind, your speed is faster than if you were heading into the wind. How much you need to turn is directly related to how fast you are going, so you are constantly making adjustments to maintain a consistent distance from your target. These maneuvers are also practiced, because you are forced to look outside the plane, and not stare at your instruments, but quickly reference them.

Kam said that our lesson today is usually split into two lessons, but he felt that I was doing really, and decided we could get it all done in one lesson. He informed me that we will start practicing takeoffs and landings on the next lesson, and that I am progressing really well. He told me most people don't start practicing takeoffs and landing until around 10 hours, and I am starting them at 7.7 hours. I was very glad to hear I was doing well, but I am extremely nervous about practicing takeoffs and landings, these have been the parts of our lessons where my palms are the sweatiest, and my knuckles the whitest...and I'm not even the one landing the plane!

Today we put 1.5 hours on the planes hobbs ($135), and Kam charged for 1.7 hours of instruction ($76.50), totaling $211.50 for today's lesson.

s-turns, from www.sportpilot.org

Fifth Lesson: Departure and approach stalls, engine out procedure

Today's lesson started like all the others: I pre-flighted the airplane, taxied to the holding area, did the engine run-up check, and took off! Everything up to this point seems to be getting a little easier, and a little less intimidating. 

Once in the air, we were forced to fly under the clouds. Up until today I have been flying in clear skies, so this was a new experience for me. When Kam spotted an opening in the clouds, he instructed me to climb through it and get us above them. From here we found an area clear of clouds, and used it as our practice area. It felt like we were in some sort of cloud arena. It was pretty cool!

When we found our practice area we did a few departure stalls, which simulate taking off from the airport and stalling the airplane. We have been doing a lot of stalls lately, and I am finding myself a lot less nervous of them, in fact I felt like I was in pretty good control when it came to recovering from the stall. Kam even said I did a really good job, and seemed genuinely happy, which is something I have yet to experience up until this point. After the departure stalls we did approach stalls, which simulate stalling the airplane as you are coming in for a landing. Again, I felt like I recovered very well from the stall, and Kam once again seemed happy with me. 

After a few departure stalls, and a few approach stalls, we did the engine out procedure. First thing I had to do was put the airplane at the preferred gliding speed, and then trim to maintain that speed. Once the plane was trimmed, I didn't have to worry about the plane gliding at the correct speed, it was doing it on its own. Now I could find a good emergency landing site, and take out my checklist. This is a fun scenario, but I hope to never have to do it for real. 

And with that, our time was up. We headed back to the airport. Usually our approach to the runway is straight ahead, but today we were perpendicular to the runway, and had to make a right turn while descending. I lined up the airplane with the runway, and continued to descend. Once we got real low, Kam jumped on the controls with me, and landed the plane. 

Today's lesson went by real quick, and I was surprised that we put 1.3 hours on the Hobbs, it definitely didn't feel that long. The cost of today's lesson was $117 for the airplane, and $67.50 for instruction...a grand total of $184.50. Before I left, Kam actually gave me a little homework assignment, and told me we would have some ground instruction before the next lesson. Until now, I have been reading on my own, following a syllabus I had found online. It will be interesting to see how his ground lesson goes.

Fourth Lesson: Stalls, stalls, stalls, stalls, stalls...

Today started with me doing the pre-flight checklist on my own, as my instructor Kam looked on. The check list went smooth...I am starting to feel like I am getting the hang of this. Once the pre-flight check was done, we started the engine, and I got on the radio and requested permission to taxi. I have the asking for permission part down, but I am getting tripped up on how to respond to the directions given by ground control.

While taxiing to the holding spot, I felt like I was doing a much better job controlling the plane than I had previously. We did our pre-takeoff check, and then I requested permission to takeoff from the tower...something I was too afraid to do last time, and you know what...it wasn't so bad. I am making an effort to do as much as possible when Kam gives me the option...no fear!

Kam once again had me controlling the plane during take off. I found myself more nervous doing it this time around though...now that I know about stalls. When we reached the practice area, we did some more instrument practice under the hood. Its difficult, but I felt like I was finally doing okay by the end. 

Next Kam showed me a bunch of different stalls. We did accelerated stalls, trim stalls, cross controlled stalls, departure stalls, and approach to landing stalls. Thankfully none of them were as scary as the power off stalls that we did last week, although the accelerated stall was pretty intense...I could feel the skin of my face being pushed back by the G force as Kam tried to stall the airplane. Not to scary, although, Kam never did get the plane to actually stall...he said he didn't want to push it anymore than he had.

After stalls we did another engine out procedure, which is kind of fun. Kam put the throttle at idle, and said "the engine is out, what do you do?". I followed the check list, and then looked for a spot that I would want to land at. Its interesting...

That was it for today, so we headed back to the airport. I requested permission to land from the tower, and headed towards the airport. Kam let me control the airplane during final approach to the runway, and then took the controls for landing. The idea of landing a plane on my own scares the crap out of me! I wont worry about that yet though...I got enough of my plate. 

Today's lesson cost me $202.50: 1.4 hours on the Hobbs meter, equaling $126 for the airplane, and 1.7 hours of instruction equaling $76.50, well worth the price of admission as far as I am concerned. I may find myself nervously anticipating/ dreading each upcoming lesson, but I always leave the airport with a huge smile on my face. 

Photo by another KCRQ pilot

http://earthboundmisfitt.blogspot.com/

Power on stall video

If you have read my previous post than you how much power on stalls freaked me out on my last lesson. I wanted to share a video with you so you could get an idea of what I experienced.

Fast forward to about 1:00

Third Lesson: Power on/ off stalls, and IR maneuvers

Today's lesson started with me handling the checklist. I went through the preflight checklist while describing to my instructor what I was doing. Doing the preflight on my own is something I had a little anxiety about, but it went smoothly. I also got a chance to speak on the radio to ask for permission to taxi, again this was pretty easy, but when we were ready to ask for permission to take off I declined the opportunity to handle the radio since there was a bit more information I would be required to say. The radios intimidate me.

Once we were granted permission for takeoff, I was surprised when my instructor let me handle the controls. I gave the plane full power, waited until we reached 50 knots, and pulled back on the controls. Piece of cake.

Once we were in the air, he told me to put the hood on for some IR maneuvers. A hood is just a plastic shield you wear on your head that prevents you from seeing anything in the airplane except the instruments. With the hood on, I was instructed to perform several maneuvers, such as: maintaining straight and level flight, turns, climbs, and descents. All in all I think I did okay, although it is definitively tricky! I found myself over compensating to correct errors, or I would focus too long on one instrument, and go off course on another.

Here is when things started getting sketchy...STALLS! The power off stalls were a breeze! We would pull the throttle all the way out to reduce power, and then pitch the nose up until the wings couldn't produce lift anymore. Once you stall you feel the plane rumble a bit, and to correct it you just need to reduce pitch...no big deal. The real scare was doing power on stalls. Power on stalls involve putting the throttle in to full power, and then pitch the nose up until you stall. It takes a lot of pulling on the yoke to get enough pitch to stall, but when it does the plane violently jerks down and to the side. You see, when you are climbing the plane has a tendency to yaw to the left, you have to correct this by stepping on the right rudder. If you do a full power stall, and the plane is yawing left because you aren't giving it enough rudder, you will experience what I experienced, which was the sensation that the plane was about to go upside down and plummet to the ground! Seriously, power on stalls scare me.

After doing a couple more power on stalls (not my idea!), we did a scenario where I lost engine power. The checklist has a section for such an emergency, so we just followed that. Kind of fun, but not too involved in this lesson. With that complete, we headed back to the airport...another lesson complete.

Today's lesson was the longest I have had to far, we logged 1.4 hours in the airplane for a total of $126, and my instructor charged me an additional half hour of ground time for a total of $85.50...a grand total of $211.50 to get the crap scared out of me. Good times!

Grey Eagle Flight Academy in Carlsbad, CA

Ask Captain Scott, such a great resource!!!

I just wanted to share this website, askcaptainscott.com

I have been watching his videos for a while, but now that I am actually taking lessons I am finding his videos very beneficial to use as a post lesson review. Check him out!

Second Lesson: Steep Turns, and Slow Flight Glides

When I arrived for today's lesson the first thing I noticed was that my plane wasn't in its usual spot, sure enough someone had it out. No problem though, I was a bit early anyway. Once the plane came back I filled out I was given a binder which contained the checklist for the plane, the keys, and a log of who had the plane and what the planes tach and hobbs meter read.

With the check list in hand, I made my way around the plane visually inspecting the plane according to my CFI's input. Last lesson I followed him around while he told me what I was looking for, but today he followed me around and helped me find what I was looking for. The plane needed fuel, so we made the call and waited for the truck to arrive. 

Once we were fueled up, we started up the plane, taxi'd to the runway, and eventually took off...each of these steps had its own checklist which needed to be followed. I also learned the basics of how to talk on the radio. You want to first state who you are calling (tower), who you are (plane number), where you are, and why you are calling...so that's how it works!

Once in the air it was time for today's lesson: steep turns. The turns I practiced were made at 45 degrees of bank, which felt a lot different then the turns we made at 30 degrees of bank. I found these a little more difficult to control, and they felt a lot sketchier, as I could feel the g force while doing these turns...although I did catch myself going closer to 60 degrees of bank instead of 45 at times. Some turns went better than others. I did notice that when I would glance down at my instruments to make sure I wasn't losing altitude, I would look up to find the planes pitch not where I wanted it to me. 

After a few steep turns we practiced slow flight glides, these were difficult too. Man, I didn't think flying was going to be tough until I was in a few lessons, but sure enough its lesson 2 and I am finding it difficult. The slow flight glides were tricky because when your at such a slow speed your controls react differently. For example I was using throttle to maintain altitude, and pitch to maintain airspeed...the opposite of how you would control the plane at normal speeds. 

And with a couple slow flight glides under my belt we were headed back. That flight went by fast! I made the final approach to the runway, and my CFI made the landing. I was in control of taxing the plane once we landed though, and even maintained control once we got near other planes and buildings...this was definitely the sketchiest part of the day. The last thing I wanted was to bump into another airplane...that reminds me, I am going to sign up for renters insurance as soon as I post this blog entry.

Well that's it, another 1.1 hours added to the log book! Paid my CFI for 1.6 hours of his time, and paid 1.1 hours for the plane rental, a grand total of $171. Next lesson is Monday. 

Checklist for the Cessna 152

My rental

Another entry to the logbook

First Lesson: Straight and Level / Turns / Climbing and Descending

Well I went through with it...I had my first lesson. It took me 5 minutes to commute from my office cubicle to the flight schools office. Upon arriving I was greeted by Kam, who would be my instructor. My first impression of my him was that he would be too old, and his personality too rigid for me to be able to relate too, but that wasn't the case at all. I found him to be funny, personable, and a great teacher. I felt like he really enjoys teaching, and wants me to learn...and isn't there for any other reasons besides that.

We started the lesson by going through the pre-flight checklist on the Cessna 152 I was renting. He showed me what I was looking for, and had me check the fuel levels on my own. After that we taxi'd for take off. Kam had me get a feel for the rudders while taxing to see how the plane reacted. We waited for a small jet plane and another Cessna to take off, and then it was our turn.

Once in the air Kam had me fly the plane straight and level. He then had me make 30 degree turns to the right and the left. After that we climbed, and then climbed while turning. We then descended by pulling the throttle all the way out, and he told me about when to use the carburetor heat. We made some turns while descending, and then headed back to the airport. He had me control the plane for the final approach to the runway, and then took over for landing. 

On the ground he once again had me control the rudders while taxiing. He took over the controls once we got near some parked airplanes...man what a tight squeeze... that's going to be a bit tricky for me to handle I think. We tied down the airplane, and went inside. Kam filled out my logbook, which I purchased there...my first entree...how exciting! We put exactly one hour on the hobbs meter, and Kam only charged me 1.5 hours of instruction, even though he spent over 2.5 hours with me this day. Awesome! The cost was definitely not as high as I thought it was going to be, a grand total of $172.04 (includes logbook), and the experience was better than I had expected. All in all a fantastic experience.

The plane I rented, a Cessna 152

Inside the Cessna 152

My brand new pilot logbook

First entry into the logbook, how exciting!