Sunday, December 28, 2008

Sightseeing and practice on a very windy day

Plane: Cessna 150
Route: 40I-I19-40I
Weather: Clear, 40 degrees, wind 250 degrees at 13 knots gusting to 20

The skies were finally clear after what felt like days upon days of precip, but a front was still moving through leaving behind some very gusty winds. I had hoped to fly down to Portsmouth (PMH) with Gina for a $100 lunch but we had to sit on the ground for a bit until the wind calmed down so that plan got scrubbed. Even though CFI Joe came in with a student from a lesson in the 172 and said it was pretty smooth, I went up solo for two laps around the pattern to check it out for myself before sticking anyone in the seat next to me. Aside from a few bumps it was indeed a decent day up there so I picked Gina up and we took to the sky for an hour and a half.

Seeing as how it was now about 2:30 in the afternoon (I had originally planned to take off around 1:00) there wasn't time to fly over to Portsmouth. While the strong tailwind aloft (around 30 knots) would have pushed us there in record time for the 150, we wouldn't have had time to eat and make the return trip. So in place of the XC hours I had hoped to log today, we just did some sightseeing around the local area and I got in some practice to boot. We departed Stewart and then flew over to Greene County Airport (I19) for a couple landings. I was waaay high on the second one (over-compensated for the winds and turned base too soon) so I kicked in 40 degrees of flaps and pulled the throttle to idle and showed Gina just how quickly that little 150 can descend when you want it to. I actually had to add in some throttle as we approached the threshold and I brought it in for a soft landing.

That's about 32 mph ground speed where the track is yellow!

After that we flew over top of my apartment and then over towards Caesar Creek Lake. She was curious what a stall was like so I climbed up to 3,500 and did a power-off stall. Her response was "wheeee!" which actually made my heart jump a second since I'm not used to hearing anyone say much when the nose pitches over, unless it's Dave yelling at me about something. But she thought it was fun and we did two more over the next couple of minutes along with some steep turns. I also chugged along in slow flight pointed directly into the wind for some fun - and it completely looked like we were hovering when you looked down on the ground below. Thanks to my new GPS (UPDATE: my review is here) I saw that I managed to get our ground speed down to a scorching 28 knots. Oh the things we pilots do for fun. In case you're curious, I also pulled 108 knots groundspeed in level flight flying with a direct tailwind. Not bad for a 1969 Cessna that cruises at 80 knots indicated. I then flew us back to Stewart and set up for a short field landing and had us stopped in under 300 feet once I touched down on the threshold. Chalk up another good flight - and my last of 2008. Certainly has been quite the year for me aviation-wise!

Flight Track: Google Earth KMZ File
Today's Flight: 1.5 hours
Total Time: 81.8 hours

Saturday, December 20, 2008

Cessna + Champ + Clouds = Currency

Plane: Cessna 150
Instructor: (None) / Dave
Route: 40I, Local


Cubs flying in formation with another one on final




Short final in the 150 (courtesy of Mike)




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

Sunday, December 7, 2008

First $100 hamburger

Plane: Cessna 150
Route: 40I-I74-40I
Weather: Scattered clouds, 22 degrees, wind 250 degrees at 7 knots

Yesterday morning my friend Mike (he's a student pilot - we both work at Kodak and went to the same ground school last year) and I drove down to Blue Ash Airport near Cincinnati for a seminar put on by the FAA Safety Team on glass cockpits. The plan had been to fly but it was snowing heavily and definitely not a VFR day. So I scheduled the plane for this morning in hopes of better weather. We lucked out with a beautiful winter morning for our flight up to Grimes Field in Urbana. When I arrived at Stewart, they already had pulled 338 into the hangar to melt off the snow and had the heater set up to warm the engine block. I completed my preflight inside (that was a nice treat) and then we towed her out and taxied over to the gas pump.

Flying from Waynesville to Urbana, about 35 minutes each way

Mike was excited to get up as he's put a hold on his own training and has been itching to get back into the air. He asked a lot of questions as I went through my checks and I explained everything I was doing and showed him how to fuel the plane. After re-starting the engine and allowing the oil to warm up, I asked if he was ready and heard a happy "yes" over the intercom. There were just a few wispy clouds as we climbed into the cold, smooth air. This being the first time I flew with snow on the ground, I was surprised how different (and harder to spot, had I not known where to look) the airport looked from above. We flew out over the lake and did a tiny bit of sightseeing before turning North towards Springfield.

800 feet above Caesar Creek Lake in the winter

The flight up was very smooth at 3,500 feet and I climbed up to 3,900 for a couple minutes to go over a few scattered clouds that were in the way. We flew right over Springfield-Beckley airport and the town of Springfield and I spotted Urbana when we were 20 miles out... not bad for having never been there before! With a moderate wind out of the West and a North-South runway, I knew I'd be making a landing with a direct crosswind. Entering the pattern, I extended my downwind slightly to allow me more time to stabilize on final. I transitioned from a crab to a sideslip about 50 feet above the ground and made a remarkably smooth landing with the right wing lowered into the wind. Yup, they're always like that Mike.

Mike enjoying the whole arrival-by-plane experience

I taxied us over to the transient ramp, shut down, and we hopped out and walked over to the terminal and took a seat in the Airport Cafe. This would be a good time to explain the $100 hamburger title to the non-pilots out there. Basically it's poking fun at the fact that we fly somewhere to eat and in the process spend $95 for the fuel/airplane and $5 for the actual food. It actually cost $140 for the rental today and $15 for the food (which Mike picked up - thanks!) but it was completely worth it. The other interesting new experience was how everyone in the restaurant was clearly looking at us, having seen us arrive by plane. A guy sitting behind us actually asked a bunch of questions about how to start taking lessons and we gladly provided him with plenty of information. Oh, and the food was delicious - I had an Airport Sandwich (turkey, ham, bacon, etc.) and Mike had an actual hamburger.

Ok, can't say I didn't enjoy arriving by plane either!

Happily fed and done staring at the bulletin board, we headed back outside and preflighted the 150. Nobody was in the pattern (I pulled out my handheld radio to monitor to the CTAF while preflighting) and since it was still a 90-degree crosswind that didn't favor either runway, I elected to depart on Runway 20 since we were headed South. The takeoff was smooth and the plane weathervaned into a nice 10-20 degree crab once off the ground. A few more planes were inbound as we departed and I saw one (a Cherokee, I think) pass about a mile off the left wing as they entered the pattern. A bunch of clouds had formed in the hour we were on the ground, so I ended up leveling off at 3,000 feet for the flight home. It made for some beautiful sights as we passed 500-1,000 feet below the fluffy clouds with sunlight shining through. On the way back, we also flew through some light snow showers that looked pretty cool from the air.

Flying home from Urbana beneath the clouds

Approaching the lake on the way home

I entered the pattern and saw a Cub on its takeoff roll; they passed right below us while climbing out as I crossed midfield to enter the downwind for Runway 26. Down we glided as I approached the field and I rounded out and made a very comfy landing with a short rollout thanks to the snow. Honestly, I cannot believe how soft the landings felt with the snow on the grass. While I'd love to say I just was kicking ass at landing the plane yesterday, I'm pretty sure that snow had something to do with it. Anyway, Mike said we could go have a little more fun so I took back off and flew some turns around a point over by the lake before heading back to Stewart. This time, I made a short field landing (minus any use of the brakes since the field was most definitely soft) and we dropped in nice and slow over the treeline and landed right on the threshold. Mike really liked the feel of the short field approach and I enjoyed the practice.

Champ taking off shortly after we landed

So there's my first $100 hamburger run. It was a blast and I'm glad Mike enjoyed it as much as I did. Just taking someone up is tons of fun for me but to help someone get back into flying made it even better. Grimes was a cool destination as well, with the great restaurant and all. They even have a B-17 restoration going on up there if you're in the area. I might fly up towards South Bend this weekend with Gina for a friend's birthday party so that'll make for some good cross-country time. Otherwise, I'm just going to keep finding good places to visit like Grimes as I spread my new wings!

Flight Track: Google Earth KMZ File
Today's Flight: 2.1 hours
Total Time: 78.8 hours

Saturday, November 29, 2008

Adding another plane to my resume

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sunday, November 23, 2008

First passenger!

Plane: Cessna 150
Route: 40I-MGY-40I
Weather: Clear, 44 degrees, wind 210 degrees at 8 knots

I didn't waste any time in taking my first passenger up in the sky. My girlfriend, Gina, has been reminding me that she had to be the first person I flew and I was happy to oblige this afternoon. We could not have asked for a better day, with it being slightly warmer than the past few days with a clear blue sky. She took a bunch of photos, many of which I have included below.

Gina and me up in the 150

She was quite excited and I was probably overly cautious in reminding her a few times to let me know if she felt at all queasy or otherwise uncomfortable during the flight. It wasn't her first time in a small plane (as we took a ride early this summer) but I wanted to make sure she enjoyed it and felt great. Once we got buckled up and I explained a few more things I would be doing, I started 60338 and ran through my pre-takeoff checks. Then I asked if she was ready to go and heard an excited "yes" over the intercom. So I pushed in the throttle and made a smooth crosswind takeoff and climbed into the pattern over Stewart.

Checking the fuel during the preflight

I flew us out over Caesar Creek Lake and showed her some of the sites I've become quite familiar with from the air during my training. Then I flew us North and pointed out some other places she recognized. She had been hoping to see her apartment from above so I flew there next and circled above for her to take a photo.

Gina's apartment from 1,500 feet above (the U in the middle)

The air was very smooth, to the point I trimmed and we held steady at 2,500 for a good 15 minutes without having to touch the elevator. Gina was still totally comfortable and said she wanted to do something fun, so I asked if she wanted to do a steep turn. I wouldn't do this with any other passenger on their first flight but knowing her I expected she would do just fine. So I climbed up to 3,000 and made one turn to the left. She said that was enough for now, but she felt alright. (Pilot geekiness: it was a great steep turn, I maintained speed and altitude spot on). I think she did what I did as an early student and looked more out the sides than the front, which can be a little disorienting. Anyway, she said it was fun and wants to do more in the future. It's great to know there's a non-pilot I can fly with and still practice my maneuvers to stay proficient!

Doing the pilot thing - note my GPS logger velcroed to the handle
Maneuvering complete, I descended and flew us over to Wright Brothers and made a normal landing. Not my greatest, as a gust caught me at the last second so the plane cocked left and the left wheel came down a little hard. But she didn't mind and I taxied back to depart. I asked if she wanted me to do a different sort of takeoff and my description of a short field (must be something about holding the brakes) made her ask for one of those. I was happy to oblige and made nice smooth liftoff as soon as the plane was ready to fly and sped up in ground effect until about halfway down the runway.

She had asked if she would be able to fly so I figured it would be a good time on our way back to Stewart. I flew up to 2,500 feet and let her take the controls to make some gentle turns. At first I told her to just use the ailerons and I worked the rudder. She didn't always finish off level and climbed or descended slightly at times but it was fun and I kept my eyes scanning for traffic while constantly cross-checking the airspeed indicator and altimeter. Then I had her try and make a few coordinated turns after I demonstrated adverse yaw and what happens when you use ailerons without the rudder. It took her a few tries but she got the hang of it and actually made some really smooth turns!

She made some turns with quite the death grip

Turning base on approach to Stewart
Our fun for my first passenger-toting flight complete, I took the controls and descended to enter the pattern at Stewart. I brought it in for a nice smooth landing on the grass. Gina was thoroughly amused that I just pushed down on the tail to turn the plane around and back it into the tiedown. Walking into the office, she was still smiling when everyone asked how it went.

Putting 60338 back in her tiedown

It's still kind of hard to believe I'm allowed to do what we did today. I can take anyone over to the airport, hop in a plane, and fly wherever we want to. Pure craziness and awesome freedom. Maybe you'll have (or have had) a similar feeling when you pass your checkride. I'm really glad things went so well and hopefully I can keep improving my skills and explanations so future passengers are even more comfortable up there with me.

Next weekend I'm going to get checked out in the 172 with Dave. It will be nice to have that as an option for longer cross-country flights, since it's faster and has a GPS. Then the following weekend I have 60338 reserved for a short flight down to Cincinnati Blue Ash where there's a seminar through the FAA Wings program. Gotta start making use of my certificate!

Thanks again to everyone for all the kind words and comments on me passing my checkride, too!

Today's Flight: 1.2 hours
Total Time: 75.3 hours

Saturday, November 22, 2008

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

Plane: Cessna 150
Route: (40I-) MGY-I19-MGY






Solo/PIC Time: 28.8 hours
Total Time: 74.1 hours

Friday, November 21, 2008

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Saturday, November 15, 2008

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

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

Umm, yea...

KMGY 151953Z AUTO 30014G18KT 5SM -RA BR OVC007 02/02 A2969 RMK AO2 RAE17B49UPB17E28SNB1855E1859B28E49 CIG 005V011 SLP056 P0007 T00220017
At 2:53pm the winds were from 300 degrees at 14 knots, gusting to 18. Visibility was 5 statute miles. There was light rain and mist, with an overcast layer at 700 feet above the ground. The temperature was 2 degrees C and the dewpoint was 2 degrees C with the atmospheric pressure at 29.69 inches of Mercury. Rain ended at 2:17pm and began at 2:49pm, unknown precipitation began at 2:17pm and ended at 2:29pm, snow began at 1:55pm and ended at 1:59pm, and snow began at 2:28pm and ended at 2:49pm...
I made it to Wright Brothers - by car - on time, although the delightful weather resulted in a nice big accident at a major intersection I had to drive through on the way. Good thing I left early or I would have been late to my appointment and that's not the best way to start a checkride. Upon entering the building, I walked over to the front desk and the examiner saw me, came out and introduced himself, and then we walked over to his office.

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

Below are some of the more interesting points we discussed, and pretty much everything I can remember from this afternoon...
  • The first thing we did was review the cross-country flight I had planned to Clarksburg, WV. I didn't feel great when his first reaction was, "whoah that's a lot of checkpoints!" In training, I have been placing them about every 10-15 miles and he said that's likely because instructors want to keep you looking out the windows. But a consequence of that is more time spent looking inside writing things down on the chart. Plus, a 30 second difference in time enroute over a short distance can result in large errors when extrapolated out as ground speed. He said to use points closer to 40 miles apart for calculations (so errors will be averaged out) and simply use intermediate points as visual references - don't write them down on the nav log. Not a big deal in the end, and I'll adjust my plan accordingly for next weekend.
  • I didn't call for a weather briefing today since it was clearly not a day to fly, so he pulled up a standard briefing on the computer and we discussed the elements. He asked what type of system I would expect with the weather we're having today (low pressure, which pulls air inward and upward to produce precipitation) and we looked through the METARs and TAFs. Friendly reminder to other pilots: don't forget that TAFs recently increased to a 30-hour forecast and now include the date in with the time codes, i.e. 150400 meaning the 15th day of the month at 0400Z. We didn't discuss NOTAMs much and he also didn't have me spend any time going through the antiquated weather charts we have to learn for the knowledge test. We did, however, look at some color frontal depiction charts and radar pictures on the computer.
  • On to maneuvers, he said he's not really a fan of taking initial students up for spins like we do at Stewart and was very surprised I have spun the 150. The reasoning being that it's not representative of how they usually occur in accidents. Statistics have shown the FAA's spin recognition and avoidance training have resulted in a marked decrease of such accidents. In Canada, where they still require spin entry and recovery training, their accident rate (for all pilots, not just students) as a result of spins is actually 5 times higher than here in the U.S. So the statistics point to avoidance training being much more effective, something I did not know before today. The most interesting part to me was that he said spins result from three conditions (when stalled, as you have to be stalled to spin) that occur in this order: 1) adverse yaw from aileron deflection, 2) p-factor from the propeller, and 3) rudder. We practice them by kicking in a ton of rudder, yet that's the least likely scenario in which they occur. Now, I still think they're fun and useful to have practiced but it was a very good lesson in what really causes most stall/spin accidents in the U.S.
  • On the topic of stalls, I know all the book (read: FAA) definitions about how they work, angle of attack, chord line, and other technical terminology. The examiner said that's all nice but really wanted the practical answer. Thus, he was happy when he (after some hinting) got me to say that, "in order to stall you have to pull the stick back." He went on to teach me that studies have shown most stalls actually occur when the airplane is pitched nose DOWN, which is contrary to how we usually practice them. It's easy to see how you can be in what looks to be a stable descent with plenty of airspeed and keep slowly pulling back and all of a sudden be stalled. As always, if you pull back to stall then you push forward to get out!
  • We got into airspace and weather minimums and sort of covered the entire gamut while discussing the cross-country flight plan plotted on the sectional chart. Dave had correctly cautioned me the way to answer was that there are two kinds of airspace - controlled and uncontrolled. Yes, there are different classes of controlled airspace but the important distinction is between the two types. The examiner asked if I could fly the cross-country on a day like today (legally, not safely mind you) and I said that since it's uncontrolled (Class G) up to 700 feet agl we could putz along since the ceiling was about 700 feet and the minimums are 1 mile visibility and clear of clouds. Not a smart thing to do, and it would be tricky as we would have to avoid any densely populated areas since those require that you be 1,000 feet above the nearest structure. But this is how it went overall, talking more through scenarios than a direct question-and-answer format.
  • Continuing with the visibility requirements, we talked about flights above 10,000 feet. The legal minimums are 5 miles visibility, 1 mile horizontal from clouds, and 1,000 feet above/below clouds. Why is this? I answered that it's due to faster traffic, which is the correct response. But he went further to explain that it's particularly due to the closure rates at high speeds. At 210 mph (roughly two Cessna 172s flying at each other) and 5 miles visibility you have 85 seconds to see each other and react. Speed things up to 600 mph closure (think a 150 and a jet) and you are down to 30 seconds. If the visibility drops to 3 miles, you have 18 seconds. One mile away and it's 6 seconds, barely enough time to flinch let alone avoid a collision. Quite simply, you need all that visibility to have a chance of avoiding other aircraft at such speeds.
  • Transponder usage was an intriguing part of our airspace discussion as well. He asked where we had to use them (Class B, C, above 10,000 feet, under Class B shell) and why, to which I responded, "so ATC can see us." Wrong. The reason we squawk 1200 when we're up there sightseeing is so they can click a button and REMOVE us from their radar screens. Otherwise, it would be a cluttered mess and they would have trouble working all their IFR traffic. Hence the reason we need to squawk a discrete code when on flight following; so they can actually see us! They have no responsibility to deal with VFR aircraft and don't even have to inform IFR traffic when we're close by, he told me.
  • On to navigation, we talked a bit about pilotage and dead reckoning. Pilotage is where you look out the window and use landmarks, dead reckoning is where you calculate a course factoring in the winds and fly that compass heading. Basically, he told me that dead reckoning is kind of useless since winds aloft forecasts are mostly unreliable and inaccurate and we have to make continued corrections (by referencing landmarks on the ground) to stay on course. Plus, a magnetic compass is a very imprecise instrument and is easily swayed by magnetic fields induced by electrical equipment and the magnetos in the engine. He said that the main reason for holding a compass heading is knowing what heading has kept you on course and then maintaining that heading when flying over a long stretch of relatively featureless terrain.
  • While we're on the subject of the magnetic compass, there were a couple other good points made that I hadn't ever thought of before. We were discussing instrumentation and emergencies and what would happen if the alternator died and the battery ran out. Obviously we'd lose radios, electric flaps, and the turn coordinator, I said. Right, and wrong. The magnetic compass would indicate differently now because magnetic fields from the electrical system would disappear. He also said that when flying IFR approaches, switching on the landing light has caused enough compass variation to force him off course such that he had to go missed. The remedy was to set the directional gyro (heading indicator) before turning the landing light on and then use that to fly the approach. Crazy interesting, at least to me.
  • Back to flight planning and navigation, we had a somewhat theoretical chat about wind effects. Many pilots presume it takes the same amount of time to fly a round trip on a day with no wind (which admittedly happens as often as you or I win the lottery) as it does on a day where you have a headwind one way and a tailwind the other. Not true. Say it's 100 nautical miles one-way, it takes you 2 hours total, and you land with 30 minutes of fuel remaining. That makes for 100 knots ground speed. Now assume a 40 knot wind parallel to your route. You're going 60 knots with the headwind on the way there, which is 1 hour and 40 minutes. On the way back your speed is 140 knots with the tailwind and it takes 43 minutes. Total time is 2 hours and 23 minutes, meaning you have 7 minutes of fuel remaining. Apparently many pilots have run out of gas as a result of such false assumptions so I consider this a great lesson for everyone out there!
  • So what are the required VFR minimum fuel reserves? 30 minutes for daytime and 45 minutes for night. Why longer at night? My answer was that it's harder to find a safe place to land should something happen. The examiner told me nearly everyone answers it that way, but that's not entirely accurate. We looked at the sectional chart (see the map below) and he said to assume it's nighttime and you realize near Nelsonville, the black marker on the chart, that you don't have enough fuel to reach the destination with the required reserve. Where do you divert to? Well the closest airport is Ohio University to the south but a better choice is Parkersburg to the east. Why? Well it's a busier airport, has a tower, and fuel is likely to be available 24 hours a day. And therein lies the distinction - at night, it's going to be a lot harder to find an airport that's open (we're discounting self-service pumps here) for you to refuel so you need a longer reserve. Never knew that before, but makes complete sense to me.
A portion of my route for the cross-country
  • Engine systems were another topic we spent a few minutes on and most questions related to the carburetor. I was asked the expected questions on carb ice (what it is, how to remedy it) but he also taught me some things here. He said that, contrary to what we're taught in the books, an RPM drop is not usually the first sign of carb ice. It happens gradually and the usual pilot response is to think the throttle slid out a little (as it's prone to do, especially in Cessnas) and push it in to maintain the RPM. You keep doing this until it's in all the way and still not developing full power. So what you really notice is a decrease in airspeed, as less power (throttle/RPM) results in a slower airspeed if you're maintaining altitude. He also said that it's not the venturi action that's responsible for most of the decrease in temperature in the carburetor. Instead, it's really the vaporization of the fuel. Just as alcohol on your hands evaporates quickly and feels very cold, fuel vaporizing in the carb can cool the air temperature by 50 degrees or more.
  • Lastly, and I'm sure I've butchered the order of all this by now, we talked about aeromedical factors. It's cold out now so he asked what to do if it's chilly in the plane. Turn on the cabin heat, of course. But what is one of the dangers? Carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning, since the heat is taken from air flowing around the exhaust manifold. While we can buy devices that monitor CO levels, he wanted me to be very clear on the actual symptoms you would notice if getting CO poisoning. Specifically headache, drowsiness, and dizziness - in that order. He pointed out that things in the AIM are listed like ingredients in food, the most important first and the rest in order. Good to know. See AIM 8-1-2 and 8-1-4 for reference on the symptoms. My favorite part was his description of CO poisoning vs. hypoxia, which was a comparison to a night of drinking. As he said, hypoxia is like the night of the party (feelings of euphoria, belligerence, lack of judgement) and CO poisoning is like the hangover the day after. Funny, surprisingly accurate, and an easy way to keep the two straight.
I know this post was ridiculously lengthy, but I know a bunch of fellow pilots read this and are getting ready for their own checkrides so I hope it will be useful. If nothing else, it's a record of all the things I learned today that should serve me well into the future. The examiner was great and the entire time really did feel like a conversation. Even if I slipped up here or there, he seemed to realize I knew the material and would give a hint or say "are you sure that's all?" and allow me to give the complete answer. So for those of you stressing over the oral - don't! I know all examiners are different, but I think it should be a good experience for anyone who's prepared.

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

Friday, November 14, 2008

Solo Practice 14: Run through

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Monday, November 10, 2008

1000 Words: German & Austrian Adventures

Call me a bit behind if you'd like, but a post about my post-drupa trip in June just went up on the Kodablog.
Time sure flies, as it has been nearly six months since I traveled to Germany for drupa. After the trade show I took some vacation time solo and hopped a train to Munich to immerse myself in Bavaria. Although this was my fourth time to Europe, it was my first time in both Germany and Austria. For those of you who aren't much into reading I'll sum it up succinctly - beautiful country, wonderful people, and delicious beer!

Friday, November 7, 2008

Solo Practice 13: Still not a lucky number

Plane: Cessna 150 / Champ
Route: 40I, Local







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

Friday, October 31, 2008

Checkride Scheduled

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

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

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

Thursday, October 30, 2008

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

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

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

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

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

It was another gorgeous fall day over Caesar Creek Lake

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

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

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

Monday, October 27, 2008

Knowledge Exam - Passed!




Saturday, October 25, 2008

Lesson 32: Running through everything pre-checkride

Plane: Cessna 150
Instructor: Dave
Route: 40I-MGY-40I
Weather: Broken clouds, 53 degrees, wind 230 degrees at 8 knots gusting to 15

More general practice today, as I've been a lazy ass in getting scheduled to take my written exam. I know I can pass the damn thing and Dave signed me off for it like two months ago. I've just been putting it off because I'm a perfectionist and wanted to read every book I bought on aeronautical knowledge. Now it's the only barrier between me and scheduling the checkride so I've gotta get myself in gear. Hopefully I'll be able to go take care of it on Monday.

We went up and ran through a bunch of things like I did with Joe last weekend. Steep turns, slow flight, power on and off stalls, unusual attitudes, hood work, and every type of takeoff and landing. My power on stalls did not go nearly as smooth as last time and I ended up doing three or four until they felt good. Steep turns went very good and I held my altitude at 3,500 the whole time - I just need to keep the bank angle at 45 degrees, as I tend to let it become shallower. The door randomly popped open when Dave was throwing the plane around during unusual attitudes, but it just means you feel some wind and it gets a little more noisy. I recovered the plane and then shut the door, easy enough.

Landings are still the bane of my existence, and it's frustrating to be able to grease in the Champ and feel like I'm getting worse with the 150. I smacked it in pretty good a couple times at Wright Brothers. The winds were strong and gusty but that's not an excuse, just something I should have handled better. Dave said I should add a few more knots to my approach speed as I'm getting a little too slow on final. Nothing new here, just more for me to go up and smooth out solo before the checkride. My mind's kind of been all over the place this week, so that probably didn't help matters either. Wish me no more procrastination on taking the written!

Flight Track: Google Earth KMZ File
Today's Flight: 1.8 hours
Solo/PIC Time: 20.3 hours
Total Time: 65.6 hours

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Solo Practice 11: Landings make Steve angry

Plane: Cessna 150
Route: 40I-MGY-40I
Weather: Clear, 52 degrees, wind 010 degrees at 9 knots gusting to 14

Alright, so I can fly the plane just fine - Dave tells me this all the time. I can take off, fly around wherever, and land safely back home without incident. But the perfectionist in me is coming out and I'm getting really finicky with my landings. I know what I'm doing wrong, but I have not yet figured out the perfect combination of actions to grease it in every time. Oh, this only applies to the Cessna - I've made quite a few great landings in the Champ. Whoda thunk the taildragger would be easier to fly?

Primary issues:
  • When I transition to the roundout after cutting power to idle at the end of the runway, I pull back too quickly and balloon. I need to be more gentle and slow in moving the yoke back to bleed off the remaining airspeed and let the plane settle slowly as I flare.
  • During the flare, I rarely get the yoke back all the way before the wheels hit. Sight-wise the nose should be on the horizon when the wheels touch and I am not doing that consistently.
  • Watching my yaw - it's not that often but occasionally when correcting for a crosswind with aileron I do not properly straighten out the plane so it touches pointing straight down the runway.
If I can list these things I should be able to go out and fix them, right? Not so far. And tonight was no different. One landing was quite nice but most of them resulted in the all-too-common balloon and one ended up a little crooked. Heck, I didn't even fly a good pattern tonight!

My patterns around Dayton Wright Brothers (MGY) tonight

I'll stop piling on myself, as not everything was bad. Some of the funky patterns at Wright Brothers were due to other traffic in the pattern flying farther out from the airport... I had to extend my legs to avoid cutting anyone off or following too close behind. My landing back at Stewart with a nearly direct crosswind was smooth and well done too. Overall, landing that darn 150 is still nagging on me but I'm sure it will all come together sometime soon!

Flight Track: Google Earth KMZ File
Today's Flight: 1.0 hours
Solo/PIC Time: 20.3 hours
Total Time: 63.8 hours

Sunday, October 19, 2008

Lesson 31: Checkride prep

Plane: Cessna 150
Instructor: Joe
Route: 40I-I73-40I













Flight Track: Google Earth KMZ File
Today's Flight: 1.6 hours
Solo/PIC Time: 19.3 hours
Total Time: 62.8 hours