Aviate::Navigate::Communicate

Moved

2008-04-28T21:20:00.000-05:00

This blog has moved to blog.chetweb.com.

Grounded

2007-03-17T19:04:00.000-05:00

I haven't been doing any flying lately and I probably won't for quite a while. It's not a medical problem ... instead it's all about money. Perhaps in another month or two we'll be in a position to do more flying. But for now I'm grounded. In the meantime I'm paying attention to the fight over FAA funding. There's no way to tell how this is going to turn out. But I'm worried that by next year flying will be out of my price range.

Landing at McKinney (KTKI)

2007-01-28T18:41:00.000-06:00

G and I made a local flight around the Dallas area today. This time we took the video camera and here's a short video of the landing at Collin County Regional Airport (KTKI).

We were flying a Cessna 152.

checkride passed

2006-09-10T16:09:00.000-05:00

I passed the flight portion of my checkride this morning. It was a beautiful morning for flying, there's high pressure in the area so practically no wind, only high cirrus clouds, and the obligitory haze.

Norm, the DPE, had me plan a flight from Addison (KADS) to Guthrie, OK (KGOK). We left Addison and flew over the first two checkpoints making my planned time within half a minute. Along the way we determined that the GPS was broken and so we turned it off. After the second checkpoint Norm had me tune in a VOR and identify our location, then we started following a radial while he asked me questions about VORs. At that point Norm asked me if he could look at my chart. I handed it over and he folded it up and stuck it up between the glareshield and the window. "Oh I'm a bad passenger, I opened the window and your only chart just flew out. Good thing we tuned in the Bonham VOR."

LOL

Once we got to the VOR and the flag flipped over Norm asked me if I've ever been to the Bonham Municipal Airport (F00). I hadn't so he suggested we go there and do a short field landing over a 50' "tree". He asked me a couple of times whether I thought the traffic pattern was right or left. I finally got the hint and dug out my AFD and confirmed that it was a left pattern. We then entered the pattern and I performed a short field landing. We got down and stopped within 1000' which made Norm very happy (he said so). =;-)

We taxied back and then he had me do a short field takeoff. Next stop was Sherman Municipal (SWI) where I did a soft field landing and takeoff. Next Norm had me put on the hood and he led me on a tour of North Texas with me flying on instruments alone. We did quite a few heading changes and climbs and descents (with and without turns) until he tuned in another VOR and asked me to identify our position relative to it and then fly along a radial toward the VOR.

Once he was satisfied with my performance it was time for unusual attitudes. The first one was a real stomach churner and we ended up in a climbing turn. I leveled the wings, added some power and got us straight and level. The next one was much more subtle. I could hardly tell what Norm was doing but when he turned over the controls were were in a diving turn. So this time I leveled the wings and pulled the power until we were flying straight and level again.

Norm asked me to descend to 2500' and pointed in a direction just off our nose ... "we're over Celina and that was is Prosper. Take us that way and we'll go back to Addison." So I did. I called up the Addison ATIS and got the info, then contacted regional approach (who was really busy today) to get cleared back to Addison. We were passed off to Addison Tower pretty quickly and then we hit a glitch. I had the tower and ground frequencies tuned into radio one and though the display showed I was transmitting I never heard a response. We both fiddled with the radio a bit before tuning in the tower on radio two. Now they are coming in loud and clear. There wasn't too much traffic so hopefully we didn't step on anyone's toes. We were cleared for a straight in approach to runway 15.

This time Norm wanted a normal crosswind landing, and we actually did have a slight crosswind to deal. I managed to get on the glide path correctly this time (I'm usually too high on straight in approaches) though on short final I was too low and had aggressively add some power to get back on the path. Then I managed to do a half-decent crosswind landing with only a little bit of bounce. While turning off the runway and onto taxiway foxtrot Norm sticks out his hand and says "congratulations pilot". I wish you could have seen the grin on my face!

I knew the hard part was over when I finished the oral exam but this flight really was not that hard at all. Not to say that Norm let me off easy, it's more that I have the confidence to fly the way I've been taught and I know that I should pass because I've been taught well. This flight was a test, and I was nervous, but Norm completely put me at ease and let me perform at my own pace. In the end this checkride was just a darn pleasurable flight.

A couple of things Norm said really pleased me. First was that he doesn't always get to take examinees into Bonham and Sherman airports because they have narrow 4000' runways. Plus, Sherman's runway is on a slope ... and from our perspective today went downhill. Most of the examinees need more runway than that. He mentioned that at Bonham it might as well have been a 2000' runway because that's all I would have needed.

Then he also complimented me on my rudder skills. I've always thought I had a bit of a clubfoot when it came to the rudder pedals so I was surprised by this. But Norm said I made excellent use of the pedals and that sometimes he couldn't even feel me giving the plane more rudder during turns and takeoffs. That really made me feel good!

So now what? I've got a Skyhawk at Monarch reserved for most of next Sunday. The wife and I are going to Llano, TX, I think, to get some of that excellent Cooper's BBQ. But today I'm also contacting the North Texas Flying Club (based at KTKI) to sign up. So hopefully next Saturday I'll be doing a checkout with them.

This flight: 1.7 hours (simulated instruments @ 0.4 hours)
Landings: 3
Total : 65.7 hours (started training in December 2004)

Checkride Oral Exam Completed

2006-08-27T22:30:00.000-05:00

My checkride was scheduled for today. I completed the oral examination but the weather was just too unstable to do the flight. So that has been postponed until 10 September.

Solo Practice Flight #3

2006-07-01T19:44:00.000-05:00

So my instructor, Y, told me to schedule 3 hours for our next flight so we could do a mock checkride. I did that and later he revised the schedule to book the plane for just 2 hours.

I was a little surprised but figured he had commitments and could only spare two hours. I showed up today and was dispatched the aircraft. By the time I finished the preflight Y was still not there so I called his cell phone. I got voicemail.

I tied up the airplane, locked it and went back inside. The guy behind the counter hadn't heard from Y either so he tried giving him a call. And this time Y answered. Turns out, he meant to cancel the lesson altogether. And he thought he'd called me. So we decided to make the best of it and I would do another solo flight. Fine by me!

The weather, according to the briefer, was marginally unstable. There were thunderstorms popping up south of Dallas and Fort Worth but they were generally falling apart before they got too far north. The clouds were roughly at 5500' and above so we agreed that I could go but I should monitor Addison's ATIS in case things started to go bad.

The takeoff went fine and soon I was following Preston Road north out of Dallas. And it was bumpy! When I reached the practice area and was out from under the Class Bravo airspace I climbed to 3500' thinking I'd escape some of the thermal activity. No!! It seemed worse. Holding my heading wasn't hard, but holding altitude was really tough. I would often find myself in a 500-feet-per-minute climb even though the Skyhawk's pitch hadn't changed.

I started off with some steep turns. Um, let's just say that they were hard ... really hard to get right. I did four sets and by the end I was able to keep my altitude within the limits, but just barely.

After that I decided to descend and try some ground reference maneuvers. I picked out a good spot to do turns-around-a-point. I managed to get two good turns in before giving up. I had no problem picking my four points and maneuvering the Skyhawk over them but again the altitude holding was a problem.

Finally, I'd had enough so I climbed back up to 2500' and turned toward Addison. I was given a course to fly so that I would parallel the runway centerline. This would allow an incoming Challenger Business Jet overtake me and land. I was cleared to follow him. But then I was asked to keep my speed up since there was a King Air turbo-prop coming in behind me. So I kept up my cruise speed almost all the way to the runway and then pulled the throttle to idle in order to slow down, descend and land.

It went great until I actually flared for landing. A gust pushed my left wing up and I got turned a little sideways and didnt' land aligned with the runway. Poor Skyhawk! The abuse those planes have to put up with!

This flight: 1.2 hours
Landings: 1
Total: 58.9 hours

Solo Practice Flight #2

2006-06-25T18:49:00.000-05:00

I finished my tasks that I started with my last solo flight last week. This morning was perfect flying weather, though it was a little hazy.

KADS 251147Z 35004KT 13SM SKC 23/19 A3008

Which translates to: winds from the north at 4 knots (5 mph), clear skies, temperature 73-degrees Fahrenheit, dewpoint 66-degrees Fahrenheit, and the barometric pressure was 30.08 inches of mercury.

Sounds a little warm for 7am doesn't it? Well, this is Texas!

During my preflight my instructor, Y, came out to tell me that there was an FAA inspector doing ramp checks. I assured him that I had all my paperwork in my bag and that I wasn't planning on landing anywhere but Addison (only airwork for today's flight!). He seemed happy with that so I continued with my preflight. I finished up and pulled the Skyhawk out to the line and hopped in. I never did see the inspector ... which is too bad, because I've been curious about what a ramp check is like.

Anyway, I started up and finished my checklist, then called up ground control and got clearance to taxi to runway 33.

By the time I got out there the winds were coming right down the runway so the takeoff was easy. I elected to do a normal takeoff instead of a short or soft. Y told me that I should maximize my lessons by always practicing anything I could, but I wanted to concentrate on airwork today. Besides, maybe my normal takeoffs need practice!? lol

The air was smooth as silk today! I climbed out to 2000' and headed north. Once under the last ring of the Class Bravo airspace I climbed to 3000' and continued until I was over the eastern shore of Lake Ray Roberts. After doing some clearing turns I started off with some steep turns. First to the left, then to the right. The first set were ok, within the PTS standards. The next set I had to abort. I let the nose drop too much and I picked up a lot of speed and lost too much altitude. I climbed back to 3000' and did some more clearing turns. The third set of steep turns went much much better. I easily held the nose on the horizon and kept my speed, altitude and headings within the limits.

Next came slow flight. I slowed to about 48 kias and held my altitude at 3000'. I made two 90-degree turns, like clearing turns and kept the speed and altitude within limits. Feeling pretty confident, and considering I had the flaps out I went straight into a power-off stall. The first one went ok, so I tried another. Uh oh ... like when I flew with Y the last time I pushed the nose down and ended up in a dive. I quickly pulled the power to idle and recovered. I climbed back to 3000' and tried again. Same result.

So I climbed to 3000' and tried it again, ahhh much better this time. Just let the yoke in a little and let the nose drop, add full power and we're flying again!

Next up was a power-on stall. This one went ok except I never really got into a full stall. Y makes it look so easy. He just puts the airplane into a 20-degree nose-up attitude and holds it until the speed bleeds off and it stalls. I do that and it just keeps climbing!

Eventually I got it on the edge of a stall, which was enough for me and so I recovered. I found that you can easily alternate the two types of stalls. Power-off with the flaps down and descending ... recover, retract the flaps, climb back to 3000' then slow down till 55 kias, add full power and climb until you stall ... recover, start a descent, extend the flaps ... do a power-off stall ... rinse and repeat ... lol

I think I ended up doing about five repetitions like this.

Next I needed to relax a little so I flew across the practice area and back just to relax. Once I returned to the Ray Roberts shore line I descended to 1600' and picked out a road to do s-turns along. That was fun!! The wind was blowing pretty strongly at that altitude so it was a challenge to get them right. After about 20 s-turns I decided I'd had enough and climbed back to 2500' to return to Addison.

At Addison I was cleared to land while still on the downwind and I ended up not paying enough attention to my pattern. I hardly did a base leg and nearly did a circle to land kind of approach. The controller was probably thinking ... "this guy's obviously a student".

But the actual touchdown was on the centerline and main wheels first so I was happy!

Next up is a mock checkride with Y.

This flight: 1.7 hours
Landings: 1
Total: 57.7 hours

Solo Practice Flight #1

2006-06-21T20:30:00.000-05:00

On Sunday I flew solo for the first time since my cross country flights. My lesson plan was to go to Denton (KDTO) and practice some short and soft takeoffs and landings. Then I was to go out to the practice area and practice a ground reference maneuver, slow flight, and steep turns. If I felt comfortable I could also try a stall or two.

So I met my instructor, Y, at Monarch and we checked the weather to make sure everything was OK. Then we discussed my flight plan and he gave me the necessary endorsements. Soon I was on my way. Departure from Addison was uneventful and within minutes I was arriving in the Denton pattern. There was only one other aircraft in the pattern.

I was cleared for touch and goes and I decided to start with some soft field landings and takeoffs. The third time around the pattern I asked for a full stop and taxi back so I could do a short field landing and takeoff. I was determined to make the first turnoff on runway 17.

The first attempt wasn't any good at all. The trick with short field landings is controlling your speed on final approach. If you don't nail the correct speed, in this case 62 kias, then you'll end up floating down the runway right past the spot where you wanted to touch down. And that's exactly what happened on my first attempt.

I taxied back to the end of 17 and got clearance to take off for another try. The short field takeoff was a success and so this time around the pattern I concentrated on managing my speed. This time I knew on short final that I had it nailed. Sure enough, I crossed the runway threshold at 62 kias and touched down nearly exactly where I wanted and I was able to make the first turn off without unduly use of the brakes!

I taxied back to 17 again and requested permission to depart to the Northeast. Time for some airwork. After I passed the north end of Lake Lewisville I climbed up to 3000'. Once in the practice area I made some clearing turns to make sure no one else was in the area. My first maneuver was steep turns.

Here the idea is to first make a 360-degree turn to the left with the airplane at a 45-degree angle, which feels like the plane is on its side. Once you come 360-degrees to your original heading you roll the plane into a right bank of 45-degrees and go around again. The trick (and the standards I have to meet) is to do all of this while keeping your altitude within plus or minus 100 feet ... keep your speed withing plus or minus 10 knots (not to exceed the aircraft's maneuvering speed) ... keep your bank angle within plus or minus 5-degrees of a 45-degree bank ... and turn out on your original heading plus or minus 10 degrees.

That sounds like a lot to pay attention to but its not really. It is hard to deal with the freak-out factor of being in such a steep bank but mostly what's hard is maintaining the altitude. The nose of the airplane naturally wants to drop, and to hold it steady on the horizon you have to put increasing back pressure on the yoke. Or use the trim wheel to relieve some of that pressure.

If you can manage to keep the nose level and the altitude under control then all the rest will come naturally. My first time around was terrible. I was all over the place. So I did it again. The second time around was much better.

Next I did some more clearing turns to make sure I was still by myself and then I did some slow flight. This is pretty easy. Just pull back the power so the plane slows down and then put some power back in to maintain altitude. Then you just make some turns to various headings while keeping the airplane on the verge of a stall.

I felt so comfortable with this that I decided to try a stall. Which one? The one that makes me the most nervous, of course! The power-on kind. So first I did some more clearing turns and then pulled the power back to slow to 55 kias. When I reached that speed I pushed in full power and pulled the nose up so the airplane was climbing. All of sudden the power quit and the engine backfired twice, then the power came back to full. With my heart racing a little I levelled out and turned toward Addison.

The flight back to Addison was uneventful. The engine RPM remained constant and before too long I was back on the ground and taxiing to Monarch. I filled out a squawk sheet to let them know what had happened.

Later, Y told me that a mechanic checked out the airplane and didn't find anything wrong. Oh well, I guess it was just one of those things. But on my next solo flight I think I'll take a different Skyhawk.

This flight: 1.6 hours
Landings: 5
Total: 56 hours

Demonstrating air work for my instructor

2006-06-17T18:44:00.000-05:00

I really thought I wouldn't get to fly today. Last night thunderstorms rolled through North Texas and the forecast for this entire weekend is for thunderstorms. But as luck would have it, by the time 2:30 rolled around the clouds had moved East and the sky was mostly clear.

So I met my instructor, Y, at 2:30 and we agreed to go ahead and fly and check out my airwork ... things like slow flight, stalls and ground-reference maneuvers.

I pre-flighted and everything looked good except some hangar rash on the vertical stabilizer and the rudder. I showed it to Y and he agreed that we should squawk it but it wouldn't keep us on the ground. We taxied out and took off, turning out toward Denton to follow the first part of my Addison to Lubbock flight plan.

Once we were over Lake Lewisville, Y had me divert toward a large tower between Lake Lewisville and Lake Ray Hubbard. So I turned toward the general direction of the tower and reset our timer. Once I was straight and level again I found our location on my sectional chart and determined the distance to the tower, about 13 miles. Then I whipped out my e6b computer and determined how long it would take us to get there.

We ended up arriving about half a minute later than I calculated, that's well within the PTS limits. PTS stands for Practical Test Standards, which is what I'll be judged against during my checkride.

Once we passed the tower Y had me climb to 3000' where we started some slow flight. That's pretty easy. After some clearing turns, I pulled back the power to about 1500 RPM and let the airplane slow until we were at about 48 knots with full flaps. By that time you have to put starting power back in just to maintain altitude. That's called flying behind the power curve ... meaning that once you slow to a certain point it takes more and more power to maintain that slow, nose-high attitude. Once I was established at 48 knots and 3000' Y had me turn to some specific headings. All the while the stall horn is blaring away.

Then we did some stalls. First were power-off stalls. These simulate a stall while coming in for a landing. At 3000' you pull the power back and begin a typical landing approach descent and speed at full flaps. Then at a pre-determined altitude you pull the nose up until the wings stall. Immediately you let the nose fall and put in power to recover, then you climb back to 3000'. Once you have a positive rate of climb and a speed over 60 knots you pull the flaps back in. Those went pretty well.

Next were power-on stalls. These simulate a stall while climbing after take-off. At 3000' you slow the 55 knots (which is a Skyhawk's takeoff rotation speed). You push in full power and start climbing and you keep pulling the nose up until the wings stall. Immediately you let the nose drop so the wings start flying again. Then since you're already at full power you just keep the power there and put the airplane in a slight ascent so your speed increases until you're climbing back to 3000' at 74 knots.

During my first stall we ended up in a dive. We recovered and Y asked me to demonstrate the stall again. This time he watched my hands and sure enough we ended up in a dive again. He said that instead of just release pressure on the yoke to let the nose fall off I was actually pushing the nose down which put us in the dive. So we did it two more times with me being very concious of not pushing the nose down. It went much better! Next we did a couple of engine-out emergency simulations.

Y pulled the power all the way to idle and asked me what I should do next. So I went through the steps .. trimmed to fly at 68 knots, looked for an appropriate field to land in and then ran through the steps to restart the engine. We did this a couple of times and then while down low Y had me pick a spot and do a turn-around-a-point. After one and half turns Y was satisfied that I could do this within the PTS standards.

So I climbed to 2500' and flew us back into Addison. Probably the highlight of the trip was watching a B-17 land after us. Y was gracious enough to take the controls and taxi us while I watched.

I'm on the schedule for tomorrow so with a little more luck the weather will cooperate and I'll be making a solo flight into the practice area.

This flight: 1.4 hours
Total: 54.4

First flight in 141 days!!

2006-06-12T23:02:00.000-05:00

That's right, today I flew for the first time since 21 January. I've been doing ground school the past few weeks with my new instructor, Y. We've finally finished all the material we need to cover and it was time to knock some of that rust off and get back in the air.

The plan was to follow a flight plan from Addison (KADS) to Lubbock (KLBB) and divert somewhere to do some practice takeoffs and landings. After a couple of delays kept us from getting off the ground when we wanted the plan changed to just going straight to Denton (KDTO) to do the practice takeoffs and landings.

The only time I get on the schedule was for 1 to 3 pm on a 100-degree Fahrenheit day so as you could imagine it was pretty bumpy up there. But despite the heat and bumpy air I managed to do OK. I felt pretty comfortable in the cockpit and remembered to use my checklists. I got the radio calls mostly right.

But the rust was definitely there. I had some trouble maintaining my altitude (though I could blame a little of that on the bumpiness) and my turns to final were consistently late and low. Despite that Y was pretty happy with my performance. He suggested that we do another flight to do the airwork .. ground reference maneuvers, slow flight, stalls, steep turns, etc ... and then a mock checkride flight.

After that he'll likely endorse me to do some solo flights before scheduling the real checkride. I'm almost there!!

This flight: 1.2 hours
Takeoffs and Landings: 5
Total: 53 hours

Solo Flight and New Instructor

2006-01-21T19:52:00.000-06:00

I have been trying for the past few weeks to fly a local solo flight. But North Texas has been plagued by gusty winds almost every day. Or, at least, every day on which I had time to go flying.

Today I finally made it. The plan was to go to Denton or McKinney airport and practice short field and soft field takeoffs and landings as well as regular takeoffs and landings and go-arounds.

I opted to go to Denton and I think it was the right choice. Other than a helicopter and a couple of airplanes practicing IFR approaches I had the pattern to myself. A couple of other aircraft came and went ... including a pretty Luscombe and a Navion ... but I never felt pressured that someone else was waiting on me to get out of the way.

In 1.8 hours of flying I managed to get in two regular touch-and-goes, two short field landings, two short field takeoffs, two soft field landings, two soft field takeoffs and one go-around.

All of the landings and takeoffs went pretty well. I'm pretty sure that I stayed within the parameters that the FAA Examiner will expect me to meet (when it comes time for my checkride). The only bad landing I made was the one back at Addison. Because of the wind the active was runway 33 which means a right-pattern approach over some tall buildings. All those buildings make the wind do goofy things and I was all over the place on my final approach. I'm pretty sure the tower controller got a good laugh over my landing too!

Other than that I felt comfortable with the aircraft and myself. Next up is a ground session with my new instructor, Y. That's right ... new instructor.

C got hired by a regional airlines and is now in training to fly an Embreaer RJ145 ... lucky dog! He was a great instructor and I know he'll make a great airline pilot.

Y is actually a friend of his and so I feel like he has left me in extremely capable hands. Y was behind the desk when I returned so we chatted for a few minutes and he said we should get together so he can quiz me and see exactly where I'm at. Then we'll do a dual flight where I get to demonstrate my skills.

This flight: 1.8 hours
7 landings
Total: 51.8

Long Solo Cross-Country

2005-12-30T22:14:00.000-06:00

Long Solo Cross-Country

Finally! After numerous weather-related cancellations I finally got to make my long solo cross-country today. Weather did keep me from making the flight I planned ... Addison (KADS) to Paris (KPRX) to Tyler (KTYR) and back to Addison because Tyler was one of only two or three airports in the entire freakin' state that was IFR. I'm just not destined to fly to Tyler.

So, instead I hurriedly rewrote my flight plans to go to Paris, then Ardmore, OK (KADM) and then back to Addison. As I'm sure you've heard on the news it's very dry and very windy here and big grass fires are cropping up every day. Well today was windy but not enough to keep me on the ground. My instructor, C, happened to be at Monarch this morning when I arrived so he helped me check the weather and go over my new flight plan. He told me that since the winds were blowing right down the runway he'd let me go as long as the gusts were under 25 knots. I had to hang out an hour later than I originally planned to depart but that was enough to see the wind slow down.

The ATIS when I departed runway 33 was winds 340 at 18, vis 13 miles, clear skies, temp 15, dewpoint 0 and altimeter 2988.

Lift-off and departure went smoothly. I was soon cleared into the Class B and climbed to 5500'. The ride was slightly bumpy until I passed through 3000' and then the air became really smooth. This time I vowed not to use the autopilot or GPS for the entire trip and the smooth air made it easy. I hardly touched the yoke the entire time; instead I used the rudder pedals to keep the wings level. I had no trouble at all holding my heading this way.

The flight to Paris passed rather quickly. There's not a lot of scenery out that way but that's ok because I busy recalculating my ground speed and adjusting my flight plan. The winds were not as forecasted so my planned 121 knot ground speed turned out to be 98 knots. That's OK, the journey is the whole point so the longer it takes the happier I am.

I landed on runway 32 at Paris because the AWOS said the wind was coming from 310 at 12 knots. Oddly enough, other people there were taking off and landing on runway 35. 35 is much closer to the ramp so the taxi time is much less. My landing was OK. I ballooned a bit during the flare and dropped it in from about a foot off the ground. Ouch!

My instructor, C, had told me to fill up with fuel at both airports so that my receipts could be used as proof that I made the trip. So I pulled up to the self-serve pump ... the first time I have used one of these things. How odd, once you swipe your credit card it wants you to choose $-s or gallons. WTF? So I chose $ and then it wants to know how much I expect to purchase. Since there is no indication what the price per gallon is I'm stuck. I punch in a number (100) I think ... that should cover it. Then it authorizes the card ... THEN it tells me it's out of printer paper and I won't get a receipt. Now I wanted to kick the thing! Well, I didn't need fuel but I wanted the experience of doing the selve-serve so I went ahead and hoisted the nozzle up to the top of the wing and filled both tanks with a couple of gallons. There were no ladders around so I was climbing like a monkey with this nozzle and hose hanging around my neck. I remembered to attach the ground wire to the exhaust stack so I didn't start a Skyhawk-sized grass fire of my own!

Instead of a receipt I did get out and take pictures of the Skyhawk sitting next to the fuel pumps. That'll have to be proof enough!

Back in the air I tuned in the Texoma VOR and started tracking it inbound toward the Oklahoma border. The past few days have been pretty hazy (and smokey) but a cold front came through this morning and blew a lot of that away. The view today was spectacular. I had Lake Texoma in sight almost as soon as I left Paris. I climbed at Vy all the way up to my cruising altitude, 6500' and within half an hour I was crossing over the Red River into Oklahoma. For the first time I started to notice smoke columns and large ... very large ... areas of blackened ground. Far to the north of me was a very large column of white smoke rising up. I passed over one area just a few miles south of Durant where a previous fire was starting to flare up again. I found out later that a fire-fighting Chinook had been dispatched to douse that fire. I probably missed it by 20 minutes or so. That would have been pretty cool to see from my altitude.

To navigate to Ardmore I was following radials of the Texoma VOR. But I misread my own handwriting on the chart because I ended up about 5 miles north of Ardmore. I was in touch with the Tower after being passed off by regional control and I had descended to 2000' but after a long while of droning along in the bumpy air at 2000' I realized that something was wrong. I was getting close to the town of Ardmore and knowing where the airport is in relation to the town I guessed that I was north so I turned south and sure enough, over the next hill, there it was. The controller there was very polite about it. But I still felt like a dope.

The wind here was from 320 at 9 knots gusting to 16 knots. Fun. The runway is 31. I did a better job of managing the power and the descent and I landing close to my aiming point. But again I ballooned in the flare and dropped it in a bit, not as bad as before ... and I _was_ on the centerline ... but still not pretty.

They're still doing construction here. I found out from the FBO manager that runway 17-35 is being completely rebuilt. They have completely ripped it up and are now laying down the foundation. Instead of using lime he said that they're putting down powdered concrete which they then will till into the soil. They'll water that and let it set up for six days. When it's done they'll have a concrete base on which to put 9-inches of asphalt. The plan is to be done by February, but he said it'll probably be March. It was sorely needed. The old runway, I swear, had potholes in it.

He also mentioned that the forestry service is setting up a tanker base this weekend to help combat the grass fires. This Sunday is expected to be really bad ... 80-degrees F and 30+ mph winds.

Departing Ardmore it was an almost straight south flight back to Addison. Regional control was very busy and it was tough to get their attention. But almost before I could think about it I was being sequenced into Addison. I picked out the Tollway and just followed it in. I was determined that this landing would be better than the others and I didn't disappoint myself. The winds were only 310 at 10 knots as I landed on runway 33. Again I handled the power management and descent well as well as tracking the centerline. This time the flare was much better though maybe a tad late. But I didn't balloon much and I added just a touch of power when I did so the wheels settled down on the runway nicely. Yeah!

A funny thing happened when I was taxying back to Monarch. I was cleared to "taxi to uniform". So I went down taxiway alpha until I got to uniform and then I stopped. The controller asked me if I could see someone coming down uniform. I told her no, that I stopped because she cleared me "to" uniform and not "to" Monarch. She told me that that was implied and that I could continue on my way. She also thanked me for asking. I'm not so sure it was implied. Or at least, I'm not going to take it as implied. I recently went through the AOPA's online runway safety course and there were a couple of instances where a pilot took a clearance as implied and there were accidents. I think I'd rather hold short and ask just to be sure. Besides, taxiway uniform is too narrow to do a 180! heh

Next up is a solo flight to practice short/soft/regular takeoffs and landings. That's going to be fun!!!

KADS to KPRX ... 1.3 hours
KPRX to KADM ... 1.7 hours
KADM to KADS ... 1.2 hours
Total to date 50 hours

Pictures
Logbook

When to not go flying

2005-12-18T17:58:00.000-06:00

I was scheduled to fly my long solo cross-country today. But I didn't.

Today was one of those days where the weather is just marginal enough that you could successfully argue in favor of going and also in not going. I had the Skyhawk scheduled for 8 to 1. I started checking and re-checking the forecasts yesterday. We've had several days of clouds and this weekend is forecast for more. The air is pretty stable, just cloudy. So the trick for today is how low will the clouds be hanging out.

I got up at 6 this morning and checked the weather. Addison was reporting ...

KADS 181147Z 00000KT 13SM OVC030 07/02 A3045

But Tyler, my first destination was reporting ...

KTYR 181153Z AUTO 00000KT 10SM CLR 00/M03 RMK A02 SLPNO T00001028 10028 21006$

And my second destination, Paris was reporting ...

KPRX 181155Z AUTO 05006KT 10SM CLR 02/M06 A3046 RMK A01 10060 20010 52014

So, clouds at Addison and a couple of the surrounding airports but clear at my outlying destinations. Muddying the picture was a forecast for Tyler predicting clouds at 4000' around the time I would be there. So I called up Monarch once they opened and asked if, since no one had the Skyhawk reserved after me, could I postpone my reservation by two hours. "Sure". Great!

I pulled a winds forecast and set about filling out the blank spots in my flight plans. Filling out three took longer than I expected so I was running late. I called Monarch at about 15 till 10am and my instructor, C, picked up! I told him what was up and he sounded pretty optimistic about the weather so told me to go ahead and drive in and review the weather again with whomever was at the desk.

I gathered my stuff and drove over. The guy behind the desk wasn't quite so optimistic. He had just come back from a flight in the practice area and the clouds were lower than expected there (North of Addison). So we agreed to postpone another hour and check the weather at 11.

I went upstairs and planted myself in front of a computer. Wow! Waiting for metars to update is like watching paint dry!! :p

Finally, 11 rolls around and the new reports look like this ...

KADS 181647Z 00000KT 13SM BKN037 OVC150 09/01 A3055
KTYR 181653Z 05004KT 10SM CLR 08/M02 RMK A02 SLPNO T00781017$
KPRX 181655Z AUTO 12005KT 10SM FEW039 SCT049 BKN070 08/M03 A3056 RMK A01

Other airports were reporting no real significant changes. So Addison looked to be clearing up a bit but now there were multiple cloud layers at Paris. And the FA still predicted broken or overcast layers around 4000'. If Tyler and Paris stayed clear and Addison reported rising clouds I would have gone. But since Paris was clouding up I just got an uneasy feeling about everything. And my weather rule for now is ...

If it's obviously good weather then go.

If it's obviously bad weather then don't go.

If it's marginal weather and you can't discern a definite trend then don't go.

So I cancelled. I'm not in a hurry to finish my training, I'm just enjoying myself as it goes along. And besides, I have the week after Christmas off from work so there will be 6 opportunities in a row to go flying!

Stage check flight

2005-12-03T22:32:00.000-06:00

Lesson 27 - Stage check

Stage check time. In the Cessna curriculum this check is over cross-country flight planning, weather info, cockpit management and then various x-country flying tasks ... course interception, vor navigation, pilotage, estimating groundspeed, diversions, lost procedures, emergency operations, etc.

My instructor, C, told me to prepare a flight plan from Addison to Bowie (0F2) and calculate takeoff and landing distances as well as aircraft weight and balance. I met one of the chief instructors, S, at 7 this morning for an hour of ground school ... we would go over my flight plan.

I fully expected that we wouldn't be able to fly today. The forecast last night called for gusty winds most of the day, 21 knots gusting to 28, if I recall correctly. And sure enough when I drove to Monarch this morning it was already getting windy though not nearly as bad as forecast.

S and I grabbed a table upstairs in the planning room and started going through my flight plan. Bowie is Northwest of Addison and I could almost draw a straight direct-to course from one to the other but it would cut through a Class B corner where the floor is 2000'. Plus a direct course would take us through Denton's Class D airspace.

Saturday morning being a busy time I decided to avoid the Class D and so I planned to head North out of Addison until I intersected the 285-degree radial from the UKW VOR. This VOR sits about four miles from Bowie. My plan followed that radial almost all the way in, but at my last checkpoint I veer off and head direct to the airport.

S had a few comments about the route. Mainly my choice of checkpoints could have been better. I picked a point on my route where the town of Sanger would be right off my right wingtip. A better point would have been a mile back where my course crossed the interstate highway. And then between that checkpoint and my next one there was a another road crossing that I could have used.

Also, he wants me to use the top of climb point as a line item on my plan. C and I had discussed this when he first introduced me to flight planning. He told me that it was really a personal preference thing .. you could make top-of-climb and top-of-descent checkpoints on your plan or you could integrate the climb and descent into your checkpoints. I chose the latter method.

However, S, suggested that I use the former method as it can be more accurate. Mainly that is because I was using the "Time, Fuel and Distance to Climb" chart figures for the full climb. That chart is based on making a Vy speed climb (best rate of climb speed). And in reality you don't do Vy all the way up to your cruising altitude. You generally climb at Vy until you reach pattern altitude and then you transition into a cruise climb until you reach your cruising altitude. This gives you better visibility over the nose and it increases airflow into the engine.

That makes a lot of sense to me so from now on I will use that "Time, Fuel and Distance to Climb" chart to compute the liftoff to pattern altitude climb and then interpolate from the "Cruise Performance" chart to get the numbers for a cruise climb.

Also, I was computing the aircraft's fuel endurance (for the FAA flight Plan) using total fuel and my cruise fuel burn. But what I actually should be doing is using the "Endurance Profile" chart in the POH because it takes into account the reserve amount, and the fuel used for engine start, taxi, takeoff and climb. During the takeoff and climb especially you are going to use more fuel than the cruise fuel burn.

This kind of feedback is fantastic. I'm looking forward to working on my next flight plan ... which is coming up soon because I'm on the schedule for this Thursday!

Other than those things my planning looked good. We spent the rest of the hour with S asking me questions about the airport I was going to and airports along the route and other things about the flight. He was looking to see that I know how to use the Airport/Facility Directory and that I can read the sectional chart correctly. He also watched while I calculated the takeoff and landing distances for Addison and Bowie. I would have done them before I got there but the METAR for Addison hadn't come out by the time I left the house so there was no time.

After all that, S had me check the weather again and though it was windy out conditions weren't matching the forecast so we decided to go ahead and fly. I went out to preflight the Skyhawk. S told me to expect to time our flight between two checkpoints and calculate our ground speed and then predict our time to the next checkpoint.

The aircraft checked out (except the landing light was out so we labeled it "inop" above the switch) so we hopped in and I started up the engine, radios, etc. The right side of my headset wasn't working. We tried his headset and both speakers worked but the mic was intermittent when we wiggled the plug so hopefully it's not my headset. Since I could hear well out of the left speaker and my mic worked we decided it was OK.

After setting the radios and getting the latest ATIS report we taxied to runway 15. It was pretty quiet this morning, looks like the gusty forecast is keeping a lot of people grounded.

The crosswind take off went really well. S complimented me on it! We were cleared for a right turnout as soon as we hit 2000' it became quiet obvious that the gusty winds were there, just not at the surface yet. We had quiet a crab going as we headed North-Northwest.

We used the timer function built into the NAV radio to time ourselves from the VOR interception until we got to the interstate south of Sanger. It took us 7 minutes to cover 10nm so our groundspeed worked out to 85.7 knots. I told him that we should cross our next checkpoint in 8 minutes. Then I proceeded to keep flying off-course to the left! We actually made our next checkpoint almost 2 minutes late which he attributed to me not staying on course.

Then S told me to divert to Decatur (which was to the South). I noted the time and our position on my sectional. I picked a rough heading which would take us to Decatur and then measured the distance and figured our heading and groundspeed using the E6B and our ETA. Then I pointed out that according to the sectional the nice big very prominant road underneath us would take us right to the airport so I asked it I could just follow that. "Sure, that's fine". So that's what I did. I noticed along the way that our heading was off what I had computed. It seems like some of that stronger wind was starting to arrive and we were having to crab even more.

At Decatur we overflew the field and S asked me to determine which runway I wanted to land on and do an approach (Decatur is uncontrolled). I knew that Decatur had one runway running 17-35 so considering what the wind was doing we needed to land on runway 17. So I turned around and began a teardrop descent to intercept the 45-degree entry to the downwind. S was nice enough to manage the radios for me while I did the approach checklist and fought the wind. We entered the downwind (which was really short because of the wind), turned base and then final. We had a huge crab coming into 17 and I was getting behind the airplane. I mis-judged how much I need to crab into the wind and so it wasn't till I was on short final that I got aligned with the centerline. Just as I as about to change the crab into a slipping approach S called for a go-around.

He chided me on not getting stabalized in the approach early enough, but on the other hand he said I handled the go-around very well.

At this point I think I was starting to get a little overloaded. He started throwing various emergency scenarios at me and I wasn't coming up with the procedures quickly enough. I was a little unhinged by that approach into Decatur and how strong the wind was. But we did do an engine out simulation and I was able to pick my field and circle it while I went through the checklist items. We would have made my field but we tried to get to another field just to see if the strong wind would help us along ... no joy, wouldn't have made it. The original field I picked would have been best.

Now, S handed me the foggles and asked me to intercept and track a radial to the Bonham VOR. I looked up the frequency on my sectional and tuned it in and listened for the ident. It was extremely faint (plus I only had one ear working). After listening intently for a while S said that he could hear it and it was correct. But truthfully, I never heard it. I rotated the OBS until I determined which radial we were on and then S gave me another radial to intercept and track inbound. Easy enough.

While flying along S asked me about the lost procedures. The five C's ... climb, circle, conserve, communicate and comply. We talked about how to do all of that and then he took the controls and had me lower my head and close my eyes. When I regained the controls and the foggles came off I climbed us back up to 3500' and started circling to have a look around. We were already at 95 kias so I didn't change the power setting.

As we swung around to the South a lake appeared. Oh this is too easy ... in front of us was a town sitting between two arms of the lake. A prominent road ran North-South through the town and over the water. To our left was an extremely tall radio tower and beyond the lake (to the South) I could just make out another lake. I told S, well before I communicate with ATC I would try to use the available landmarks to identify my position. And that town, the lake arms, the tower and the other lake in the distance tell me that we're at the top end of the practice area over the town of Tioga. Bingo!

"Take me to Addison", he says. "By the way what heading should we fly?"

I look down at the HSI and since we were already pointed at Addison I said, "Well, we'll fly down along the shore here and that is pretty much a heading of 150." And I pointed at the heading we were currently flying.

"Which heading?" he says.

At that point I realized something was up. Glancing at the compass I realized that the HSI was not aligned. So I was just reading the numbers and not really thinking about what they meant, what they were telling me. And I was not taking into account that the HSI could fail. I was just assuming that it was telling me the truth. Doh! That's bad.

However, I was navigating based on what I saw outside the window and I was oriented correctly and headed in the right direction, so that is good.

I went ahead and dropped down to 2500' and listened to Addison's ATIS before calling up regional approach. Unlike during my solo cross country there was very little chatter on the radio. Regional responded immediately to my call up and cleared us for a straight in approach to runway 15.

It was starting to get a little gusty on the way back and the strong wind had started to descend so we had quite a healthy crab going all the way down to final. I didn't do a very good job of managing the descent and we landed long but not long enough for a go-around. The landing itself was aligned properly and I had the controls set for the cross-wind but I was a few feet off the centerline. C and I need to do some cross-wind practice!

All in all S was happy with my performance and my planning. He did give me a list of things to focus on going forward ...

- checklist use (actually I was doing them in my head but I wasn't always verbalizing it to him)
- coordination, keep the ball centered
- emergency procedures
- always be mindful of what direction the wind is coming from
- keep my head up and looking outside (especially during the calculations I was keeping my head down too long)
- work on energy management on final, if not down by the end of the touchdown zone do a go-around

This is great. There's always room for improvement and I definitely have things I can improve. But I'm also keeping pace with the curriculum and in general my handling of the aircraft is good. Now I'm really jazzed about the long cross-country. Also, though this Skyhawk has an autopilot I never turned it on. And also it has no multi-function display. The GPS has one of those little tiny screens which makes it easy to ignore ... and it has two OBS displays. So I'm going to fly it on my long cross-country. No gps (or autopilot), just pilotage and some vor tracking.

This flight: 1.9 hours
Total: 45.8 hours

Lesson 26 - First Solo X-Country Flight

2005-11-30T22:28:00.000-06:00

On 11/29 I flew my first solo cross-country. I had the 172SP reserved from 9am to 1pm and I planned to fly to Ardmore, OK and back.

That morning I arrived at Monarch about an hour and half early and used a computer to sign into duats.com and get a standard route briefing. I then updated my flight plan with the latest winds aloft information. It was a beautiful day. That Addison metar at my departure time was:

KADS 291547Z 33010G15KT 13SM SKC 07/M04 A3019

After my instructor reviewed my flight plan and the weather with me I got the dispatch bag and headed out to preflight. The Skyhawk was in great shape and soon I was strapped in and starting everything up. Then something weird happened.

I was tuning the radios and I dialed 133.40 for the atis. There was nothing. No biggie, this happened on my last flight and since it was 10 minutes till the hour I reasoned that the tape was being updated. But I did re-check the frequency and that the radio was working.

So then I dialed in 119.55, the clearance delivery frequency. Again, nothing. I gave it a minute and then I hit the PTT and called in my flight following request. The next thing I hear is the ground controller directing ground traffic, a lot of it. After a few minutes of this with no breaks I hear another aircraft ask for flight following and get it. Hmmm so he must not have heard me. This time I say "Skyhawk xxx at Monarch with request." The response I get is "xxx continue taxi to runway 33 give way to helicopter coming your way." Huh!?

He's busy with a couple of other folks and then there's a break. I call in again and he comes back and asks me to switch to 121.6 which is the ground control frequency. I do that and call again. This time I get to give him my flight following request and after a few he gives me the clearance and permission to taxi to 33.

Weird. My guess is that maybe someone had a stuck mic on 121.6 so the ground controller switched everyone over to 119.55 until it got sorted out and I happened to tune in to the middle of the mess.

Well, now I'm on my way. I taxi to runway 33 and do my flight control checks and runup. Everything is hunky dory so I call up the tower and tell them I ready to go.

By the time I got to 33 most of the other traffic was gone except for a Cirrus in front of me. After they depart I'm cleared for take off. The climb out is fun. The Skyhawk is rather sprightly with just me on board.

I'm switched over to regional control and they clear me into the Class B and up to 3500'. WooHoo I'm on my way.

At this point I let george fly the plane while I calculate my checkpoint ETA times and keep an eye out for traffic. I see one or two other aircraft off in the distance but the only contact I have with ATC is to change frequencies. Looks like no one else is headed my way.

I planned my route to take me North parallel to the shores of Lake Lewisville and Lake Ray Roberts and over a couple of towns that I used as checkpoints ... Tioga and Whitesboro. The forecasted winds didn't match up to reality. I was getting pushed to the East so I had to make heading adjustments for that.

The view was spectacular. Occassionally, I'd pick up my camera and point it out the window, but most of the time I was busy watching for traffic and keeping an eye out on my track. It was pretty easy to spot all the various towers and other landmarks along the way. After Whitesboro I turned a little Eastward and headed for Cedar Mills Airport on the shore of Lake Texoma. Texoma is a huge lake that straddles the border between Texas and Oklahoma. Cedar Mills is quite a destination I've heard. A medium length turf field that ends at the shore line. As a matter of fact, as I was crossing overhead I watch a plane land. Looked like a good one from 4500' up.

After crossing the border I turned toward Madill, OK and Madill Airport. About the time I got there ATC cancelled my flight following and turned me over to the Ardmore tower. I listened to the awos first (KADM 291555Z 32013 10SM SKC 06/M07 A3017) and then called up the tower. He cleared me for a straight in landing on runway 31.

When I turned toward Ardmore I saw why. I was perfectly lined up with 31. I was still 17nm away but it was clear as day. That 17nm seemed to take forever. When I got close enough to get cleared to land he asked me to land long since the only exit was at the very end of the runway. It's a 7000' runway so I went as far down it as I dared but I still had a long way to taxi to exit. Unfortunately, a military tanker had to go around because I was too slow. Sorry guys.

If you look on airnav or in the airfield directory you'll see two runways listed, 13-31 and 17-35. But 17-35 is closed and is in the process of being dug up. I meant to ask why when I was there but I forgot, though I can guess. When I flew up here with my instructor, C, we landed on 17 and I swear there were potholes in that runway. It was pretty rough.

Anyway, the tower controller had me dodging dump trucks on the way to the FBO, Lakeland Aviation. There I got out and went in to check the winds aloft forecast again. Sure enough, it had changed so I redid my flight plan going back to Addison.

It had taken me an hour and one minute to get there. But I didn't get out of Addison until 1011 local so I didn't have much time to dawdle in Ardmore. I paid for a top up and admired some of the pictures on the wall. Then I poked my head into the new bbq cafe next door (what is it with airports and bbq?). Looked good, I'll have to come back when I have time to eat.

After revising my flight plan I went back out and preflighted the plane again (well, a light pre-flight, mostly checking the fuel and quick once over on the exterior). Another military jet that had been practicing approaches had pulled up next to me and the fuel truck was there filling them up. So I couldn't just fire up and pull out of my spot (it's a huge ramp with no one around except me and two other aircraft parked wing to wing). Instead I got out and pushed back and turned perpendicular to the line. Then I fired it up and got my radios set up. The tower cleared me to taxi to runway 31 but I had to clarify with him that the taxiway was still open. The layout there is so big I couldn't see the taxiway or the signs all the way across the empty ramp! Taxiway D is basically the long way around and it took me a good 10 to 15 minutes just to get out there.

After my runup I was cleared to depart. The tower controller gave me a squawk code and frequency for Fort Worth Center but once I was able to change frequencies they had no idea who I was. There was a bit of back and forth with the controller. Him asking me questions about my destination, aircraft type, squawk code, etc until he finally just gave me another code and had me ident. Then he found me. I was given discretion on my altitude and told to change frequencies. I switched over and called in "Skyhawk xxx at 3000' climbing 5500'." I had no further radio problems after that.

The flight back into Addison seems a blur now. The winds were more in my favor so it took only about 50 minutes to get there. Returning there was more traffic to watch for, a Skylane going the same direction but about a mile off my right wing and then a King Air passing in front from my left to land at Addison before me. Other than that there was a lot of traffic on the radio but not much in my immediate area.

I took the same path back but once I got near Tioga I programmed the gps to take me direct to Addison as I was running a little late. I was on the ground at 1308 local. Luckily, no one had reserved the airplane after me so no one mentioned it at Monarch. The landing at Addison was rather ugly but nothing got bent so ... whew.

All in all a really enjoyable day. Great weather. Radio calls went well. My flight matched up pretty well with my flight plans. But I did encounter one goof. I had planned to use two VOR radial intersections as waypoints on the way up to Ardmore. These matched locations where the floor of the Class B airspace stepped up. However, the aircraft I was flying only had one OBS so I had to toggle between the two VORs to see if I was getting close. I was trying to avoid using the gps too much, just the VOR points and pilotage. But considering that I got cleared into the Class B it didn't matter too much how exact I got locations marked since I didn't need to worry about busting airspace. Still, I should get to know the aircraft a little better. Or maybe just pick one and stick with it throughout the rest of my training.

Next up is a stage check to test me on diversions and soft/short field takeoffs and landings. I'm on the schedule for Saturday for that one. Then I get to do the long cross-country. YeeeHawww!

BTW: 11.4 gallons of 100LL at Lakeland was $41.95 ($3.68 a gallon). Welcome to aviation! ha

This flight: 2.5 hours
Total: 43.9 hours

Lesson 25 - Back in the Saddle

2005-11-19T23:31:00.000-06:00

Today is 11/19. My last flight was on 9/1. What have I been doing?? Well, first I was studying for the FAA written knowledge test. I finally went and took it on 10/29 and made a 90%. Between then and now I've been dodging my job and weather until ... finally ... tonight I took to the air again.

My last flight was my first night cross-country and my instructor, C, and I went from Addison (KADS) to Paris (KPRX). It was such a blast that I couldn't help being pleased that the only way to get a plane and my instructor at the same time today was to schedule a flight from 4 pm to 8 pm. This time we're going to Tyler (KTYR) where there's good BBQ to be had at Rudy's.

I got up this morning and checked the weather. It's cloudy out but the weather's stable. The clouds should stay above 6000' AGL and there's practically no chance of percipitation or storms developing. I pulled a DUATS report around 1:15 pm and started doing my flight planning. It's pretty much a straight shot from Addison to Tyler; 83nm on a true course of 117.

I picked out the East shore of Lake Ray Hubbard, Terrell Airport (KTRL), and the town of Canton as my checkpoints. Flight time to each was 11.5 minutes, 10 minutes, 12 minutes and finally 14 minutes from Canton to Tyler. Cruise ground speed should be 113.

I got to Monarch about 3:45 and both C and my plane were still out (turns out C was flying the aircraft we would take to Tyler) so I went upstairs to check if the forecast had changed. It had. Winds for 6000' were now forecasted as 250 at 8 knots instead of 220 at 10 knots. So I pulled out both flight plans (there and back) and re-calculated everything.

Cameron arrived and I went down to pre-flight the Skyhawk. The plane looked to be in good shape except for some ripples in the skin just above the exhast pipe. Cameron didn't know what caused them but they didn't compromise the structural integrity of the plane so we could still fly. The school has, for some reason, switched out all the convenient small spiral-bound checklists with one large laminated checklist card. And it sucks. Before, you could conveniently clip the checklist to the yoke while you flew. Now this thing (8" x 10") is too big to clip to the yoke, you can't get to the PTT switch anymore. And it won't easily fit into the little document pocket down next to my left leg. And it won't quite fit into the plastic drink holder thing on the floor between me and my instructor. I think I'm just going to go buy a checklist like they used to have. It had more comprehensive checklists anyway.

The fuel truck finally showed up and after a final siphoning of the tanks we were ready to go. I had trouble getting the engine started. We tried twice priming it but then had to use the flooded-engine method. Finally it fired up. Then the ATIS wasn't broadcasting. Weird. I thought maybe the radio was having problems but we could talk to ground control just fine. So we got clearance and taxied out and planned to try again later for the ATIS. Turns out we had plenty of time because there were several aircraft waiting to take off.

We finally were wheels off at 5:21 pm local time. As we passed under the Class B inverted wedding cake we step climbed until eventually we reached our cruising altitude of 5500' ... about 500' to 700' under the clouds. What was thin and whispy over the Metroplex became more solid the further East we went. But their altitude stayed constant.

The winds were not quite as forecasted. We got pushed to the South and had to adjust once to get back on course. And for a short while we ran ahead of schedule but by the time we reached Tyler we were on the ground 2 minutes behind my planned arrival.

We parked at Jet Center of Tyler and borrowed their courtesy car to go to Rudy's BBQ. C navigated and I drove until we pulled up in front of a restaurant/gas station that was surrounded by firetrucks!! Ummm so this is it, eh?

Turns out it was just a fuel spill. But what a site. C had been bragging about this restaurant for months and we finally get there and the parking lot is full of firetrucks and firemen. Sure, I feel confident. =;-)

The food was excellent. Rudy's is a chain but the bbq is very good. And their creamed corn is excellent ... the best I've ever eaten.

Returning to the airport was an adventure too. C and I were so busy chatting that we missed a turn and didn't realize we were lost until we saw a sign saying "Welcome to Chandler". Hey, isn't the airport in Tyler?

So we turned around and headed back until we found the intersection we missed. We got back to Jet Center only 10 minutes before closing. Whew!

While we were preflighting another Monarch Skyhawk lands and taxies over to Jet Center. They're just doing a quick turn and return flight so they follow us to the runway. I set up the GPS for direct to Addison and slave the autopilot to the GPS and set our altitude as 4500'. Departing from TYR we are cleared for a right turn out to the West and I intercept our course before turning the controls over to George. =;-)

What a great flight back. Our ground speed matches what I planned for and though I didn't keep up with the checkpoints on the way back the overall timing matched up. We also chatted with the other Skyhawk on 123.45 until we got close to the Class B.

The clouds had lifted and I could see stars out along with a brilliant near-full moon that climbed into the sky behind our right wing. Just beautiful!!

Coming into the Metroplex I had trouble again finding Addison but I did manage to spot it much sooner than I did last time. The problem is that coming from the East the beacon blends in with some bright lights at a gas station behind the airport. Plus, Addison is in the middle of a really built up area so there are LOTS of lights. And there's not much black space around the airport like others have. Soon enough though, we were cleared for right base to runway 33 and I made a pretty decent landing. Winds were light and variable. =;-)

All in all this was a really good flight. I was nervous because it had been so long since the last flight. But I handled most things well, set up the GPS and autopilot myself. I did flub some calls on the radio (like saying we were departing West when we were departing East). But both landings were good (despite an upward slope to the Tyler runway) and I felt ahead of the plane all the time.

And the BBQ was good!

So next up, I'll meet with C for an hour with a prepared flight plan to review. And then I'll take yet another quiz. If all goes well he'll endorse me to do my first solo cross-country!

2 night landings
2.4 hours this flight
41.4 total hours

Patience - skill #213

2005-11-11T12:23:00.000-06:00

When learning to fly there are many many skills you have to learn. One of the most important is patience. Especially when you are a VFR (visual flight rules) pilot.

I was scheduled last Sunday for a cross-country flight with my instructor to Tyler, TX. I cancelled it because my wife's birthday was that weekend and the family wanted to have a luncheon. I felt like the timing was just too tight for me to eat, visit, get my flight planning done and get to the airport on time.

So I rescheduled for today, Friday. But, alas, though it looks beautiful outside my window there are low clouds hanging around near my destination. And in between me and my destination. So, though the flight might have been possible I took the safe route and cancelled again.

Unfortunately, with my work schedule my next opportunity is not until next weekend. (And people ask my why it's taking so long to get my license!).

All too often you hear about accidents where a pilot (or the passengers) have got a serious case of get-there-itis and they push their luck until it breaks. I don't think I have that much luck stored up so I'm taking the safe route and choosing instead to deal with my disappointment instead of dealing with flying in a cloud.

If you're in that much of a hurry, book a seat on a Southwest flight and let the pros do all the work.

I can check the Knowledge Test off my list

2005-10-29T13:46:00.000-05:00

I went and took the written Knowledge Test this morning and scored a 90%.

That means that I can now fly my solo cross-country flights ... well, once I regain currency by doing another dual cross-country with my instructor. It's been over 20 days since my last flight.

Lesson 23 - First night flight

2005-08-20T01:17:00.000-05:00

This was my first night flight. A local flight through the Class B over KDFW to Alliance Airport (KAFW) for some stop-and-goes.

KADS 200147Z 15005KT 13SM SCT250 32/23 A2995

I couldn't have picked a better night. Not many clouds, no haze, and a full moon!

However, I started off the preflight by splitting the seam of my pants when climbing up to check the fuel!!! I went ahead and finished the outside preflight since there were no spectators about but I ruled out conducting the flight half-dressed. The breeze felt nice though. Luckily I live close to the airport so I drove home and changed. I know some day I'll look back at this and laugh. OK, I already am!

Now wearing shorts and a tshirt I finish the preflight and C and I sit down to go over the game plan. We're going to request Class B clearance when we call Addison ground and it went something like this ... "Nxxx at Monarch request class bravo direct over dfw to alliance with foxtrot and we're ready to taxi." We'll go to Alliance and do the required landings, w/landing lights, w/o landing lights, w/o panel lights and flaps, w/distractions, and then some regular landings on both runways. Alliance has parallel runways, one with center lights and one without. Then we'll go out to the practice area and do stalls and unusual attitudes. And C also takes a good look at all my flashlights (3) and backup batteries.

... I also got one of those no-battery flashlights. You just shake it vigorously and it charges itself. Definitely not bright enough for a primary use flashlight but it's a fantastic backup light ...

We go out and pull the Skyhawk out to the line and start up the engine. After running the inside checklist C shows me how to operate all the lights. I thought there was only one dimmer for the panel and one for the glareshield, but in the Skyhawk SP you can dim the main instruments and radios separately (including the compass). And then there's the glareshield lights and separate pedestal lights. For safety I wore a red LED light around my neck on a lanyard.

I didn't notice this before but a new heading indicator was installed and it isn't lit like the other instruments. So even with the lights on I can't see it. At first I just tried keeping my red light on and shining it on the HI every now and then. But eventually what we did was turn on my map light under the yoke and that reflected off my kneeboard enough that I could read the numbers.

Ground control cleared us to taxi to runway 15 and told us to standby on the class b clearance. But while we were taxying they came back with it ... "fly runway heading at or below 2000', expect a climb, control frequency 124.3 and squawk 4640." I read everything back while C set the transponder and standby radio frequency.

Climbing out of Addison we were told to contact regional, which we did. And we were instructed to turn to 250 and climb to 3500'. I read back the instructions and started my turn. Before you knew it we were over DFW. C took the controls for a few minutes so I could gawk at the airport. It was pretty quiet. Not many jets at the terminals and only a couple of takeoffs while we passed over. I was surprised to see that the runways and taxiway lights didn't stand out more. Really, all you could make out was the terminal area with those giant powerful orange lights (sodium vapor, I think?). Still, it was impressive.

Dallas at night is spectacular! The lights just stretch forever (otherwise known as sprawl). Alliance seems like it's out in the middle of nowhere when you drive there but from the air it's surrounded by lots of lights and was rather difficult to pick out. I told the controller we had the airport in sight and we were cleared to change frequency and start our descent. The tower cleared us for a left downwind to runway 16L (that's the one with the center lights). Just as we were turning base the tower asked us to switch to 16R (no center lights) and then make right closed traffic for our stop and goes. Turns out there were a string of four or five military trainers coming in to land. T-6, I believe they were.

So I made my first landing at night. Not too bad. I had no trouble with depth perception but the wind gusts got me squirrely during the flare. The next couple we did with the lights on. The pattern was done pretty well except on final were were paralleling the T-6's that were landing on 16L. So I had a habit of turning way early on final and then having to slowly lining up. I really didn't want to get in the way of those other guys. The more we did it the more comfortable it felt though.

The no-landing-light and the no-lights-no-flaps landings were, arguably, my best ever. I couldn't necessarily tell exactly how close to the ground I was but I could tell when I got in ground effect so I just slowly pulled out the power and kept adding back pressure until the wheels touched.

Next, C took the controls and did a low approach down 16L so I could watch the runway lights and see how they change toward the end of the runway.

We left Alliance and headed out to the practice area just north of Lake Lewisville. On the way we spotted three police cars with lights going hauling butt through a residential area. As we passed over they pulled up to a house killing all their lights except those directional beams which they used to light up the front of the house. I felt like I was on an episode of Cops!

Since we were now squawking VFR C took the controls while I consulted the chart to see what our altitude allowance was. Over the lake the Class B floor is at 3000' so we kept going until it went up to 4000'. Then we climbed to 3000', cleared the area and then C gave me the controls and said, "show me a power-on stall". I got confused between power-on and power-off and put the flaps down so C made me do it over. Then I did a power-off stall (only took one try to get it right =;-).

C took the controls again and had me close my eyes and put my head down while he bounced us around. My controls ... we were just slightly nose up and in a left turn and the airspeed was in the green so I just pushed the nose down and trimmed us back to level flight. Next time we ended up in a descending right turn, so I chopped the power and leveled the wings before bringing the nose up. Pretty easy.

C said "take us home" so the first thing I did was turn on my red light and compare the HI and the compass, I only had to make a slight adjustment. C laughed and said something about me checking that right away. I reminded him about when he got me lost during the VOR tracking excercise ... I followed a heading that wasn't really taking me where I wanted to go. So now I know to check the alignment before making any decisions about our position.

Since I knew where the lake was it was pretty easy to figure out where we were. I turned toward Addison and we called up the ATIS and then contacted regional control. Ever had this happen you to? You dial in a radio frequency and listen for a minute to hear what's going on. No one is talking. Mmmm maybe I got the frequency wrong? But it looks right so you transmit, "Regional Approach, Skyhawk XXX is 15 miles north of Addison at two thousand five hundred inbound for full stop with hotel." For a second there's no response and then suddenly the controller comes on and gives this endless string of commands to what seems like 80 other aircraft except you. I don't know what it is? This seems to have happened a couple of times to me. I guess it's just the timing, I happen to tune in during a quiet moment but get lost in everything that follows.

So we call regional approach again and this time they respond with a squawk code and after identifying us they turn us over to Addison Tower. We're cleared for a straight in approach to runway 15. C says "let's do a fast approach" so we share the controls but I'm in charge of the throttle ... keep it just under the redline. We tune in the 15 ILS and follow it to the runway. On close final we chop the power and slow down and I manage to make a pretty decent landing! On the way back C shows me some things to know about the taxiway lighting and markings, like the lead off lines from the runway to the taxiway and the white light at the edge of the turnoff.

What a great flight! The wind was mostly smooth though strong. The view was fantastic. Landings were really no problem at all, that peripheral vision trick works great. Stalls were no problem. The cops probably got their man. But that area beyond the city lights does look awefully dark ... I'll find out about that on my next flight, a night cross-country to Paris, TX.

I can't wait to do this again.

This flight: 2.0 hours
Landings: 9 night
Total: 36.7 hours

Lesson 22

2005-08-13T16:32:00.000-05:00

... cue Aerosmith's "Back in the Saddle" ...

My last training flight was on 22 June. Since then there's been hmmm 1) weather, 2) family in town, 3) stress at work, 4) 10-day long driving vacation from Texas to Arizona and back, and 5) weather. I could look at it as it's only been a month and a half since my last flight. But I really look at it as it's been 51-freaking-days!!!! since my last lesson.

It felt like a year.

Now, you may be thinking, "Ahh but I'm sure Chester was studying his FARs and the AIM, and taking the Gleim knowledge practice tests and memorizing the information manual for the Skyhawk during that time." But you'd be wrong. Well, mostly wrong. I have been reading and studying this and that. But I haven't hitting the books nearly as hard as I should!

But I will now. I was pretty nervous getting prepared for today's flight. There's a lot of rust on me. But over the last couple of days I've been reviewing my V speeds, the emergency procedures, the diversion procedure (which is the point of this flight), etc. By the time I got out to Monarch and had the dispatch bag in my hand I felt pretty good. Actually, pretty darn excited. It's a pretty day (a bit windy) and not to hot (for August in Texas).

As usual, performing the pre-flight gives me the chance to get familiar with the airplane again and get my nerves under control. I took my time and made darn sure to use the checklists. By the time I was done I'd probably pre-flighted that plane three times.

C had asked me to plan a flight from Addison (KADS) to Bowie Municipal (0F2). BTW, around here that's pronounced boo-wee, not bow-wee. Nearly half the flight would be under the Class B cake so we won't get much higher than 3000' probably before C diverts the flight. My flight log showed that it would take us 42 minutes to get to Bowie (if we actually went).

The ATIS at Addison was reporting 18004KT 10SM FEW075 33/21 A2995. We got our clearance and taxied to runway 15 where the Cavanaugh Museum's Stearman was doing its runup. What a beautiful plan to watch! The takeoff went well ... I stayed on the centerline and nailed the climbout speed. About 500' up I started a turn to the right to take us toward the Lake Lewisville dam and then Denton Municipal. I was feeling pretty good at this point.

We climbed to 2000' and using the checklist I trimmed up the plane and set my throttle and mixture. We made the first checkpoint right on time. Getting close to Denton I made a mistake that I shouldn't have. During my flight planning I realized that I was going to cross the Denton airspace well within the Class D altitude so I needed to notify the tower there of my intentions. But did I write down the frequency? No. And could I find it on the sectional? No. I could find the airport just fine, especially since I had drawn my course line through it, but the frequency I just couldn't make out on the map. So C had to dial them up and notify them of our position and intentions. He wasn't too happy with that. Even if an airport isn't towered and in controled airspace I should still listen to their ATIS or AWOS and get the local altimeter setting and make position reports. I'll be sure to remember this from now on.

After crossing over Denton I turned to head to the town of Decatur and the Decatur Airport (KLUD) but the winds weren't as forecasted and we ended up a few miles south of my course. And we were four minutes off the schedule! Mistake #2. C told me that I can't just blindly fly the heading I noted in my log. I must be completely familiar with the course I have mapped out and stick to it. And if my groundspeed is faster or slower than planned I need to adjust the ETA on my flight log to compensate. Right now that seems like a lot to do when I'm also trying to keep the wings level and watch for other traffic. But, I know I'll get better at multitasking the more comfortable I become in the cockpit, plus I could always use the autopilot to keep those wings horizontal.

It was getting pretty bumpy up there. Clouds were starting to build above us and to the West there was a rather large line of clouds building. So C took the opportunity to say, "hey, those could be thunderstorms, let's divert to Alliance."

So, I noted the time and found Alliance on the sectional and turned us in the general direction. C asked me about the Class B space since we were heading back to it. We were at 3000' which should be a problem unless we go past Alliance, then the ceiling drops to 3000'.

I measured the distance on the sectional from our current location to Alliance (KAFW) and figured out that it would take us 10 minutes to get there from when we turned. So we were coming up on it pretty quick. C asked me how far away we were and I said 6 to 7 miles. He turned on the GPS display and punched in KAFW ... 8.3 miles. So, I tuned in their ATIS and got the altimeter and wind real quick before we called the tower and asked to do touch and goes. No problem ... come on in! Such hospitality! =;-)

Alliance sits on the North side of Fort Worth and houses a large Fedex facility. Besides the light aircraft used for training there are a lot of Fedex heavies coming and going ... except while we were there. We were alone in the pattern for our three touch and goes.

There was a bit of a crosswind and so my landings were rather squirrely. But I didn't reduce C to tears or laughter so I guess they weren't *that* bad. I knocked off a lot of rust but there's still work to do!

After three we headed back to Addison picking up flight following from Alliance. Despite not being happy about my landings I was pretty comfortable by now and I was able to maintain my assigned heading and altitude and handle the radios while getting handed off from controller to controller until we got to Addison. That felt pretty good.

So, of course, I made a few mistakes, but I also had a good flight and I really feel like I'm back in the game now. The next lesson is a local night flight (back to Alliance!) that will include a lot of touch and goes and some unusual attitudes so I'm going to schedule it for during this next week while I'm still fresh.

This flight 1.5 hours
4 landings
Total 34.7 hours

First Post

2005-08-10T16:40:00.000-05:00

And ...... go!

Here it is, the new blog. Aviate :: Navigate :: Communicate ... a good rule of thumb for flying and for other situations. Mostly I'll be posting about my flying lessons and, once I have my license, my weekend adventures.

Viva General Aviation!

Lesson 21 -- First cross-country flight

2005-06-22T10:39:00.000-05:00

First X-Country!!!

Addison, TX (KADS) to Ardmore, OK (KADM)
The plan going up is pure pilotage, no navaids. Coming back we'll use GPS.

Checkpoint -- Planned ETA -- Actual ETA
KADS -- xx -- 2013Z (departure)
Lake Ray Roberts Dam -- 2022Z -- 2024Z
Lake Ray Roberts North Tip -- 2028Z -- 2030Z
Gainsville, TX crossing Highway 82 -- 2034Z -- 2034Z
Marietta, OK cluster of towers -- 2045Z -- 2040Z
Lake Murray State Park Airport -- 2050Z -- 2050Z
KADM -- 2059Z -- 2103Z

Planned ETE: 0:44:00
Actual ETE: 0:50:00

I made my plan for an altitude of 4500' but we ended up climbing to 6500' in an attempt to get out of the horrible haze that was sitting on North Texas. We didn't make it ... we needed to go at least another 1000' up but that's also where the clouds started.

The flight up went pretty well. I arrived at Monarch well over an hour ahead of time to do my flight plan and preflight. But we got delayed leaving because of a King Air blocking the ramp. I did file a flight plan when I called to get my weather briefing but both C and I forgot to open it once we were airborne. We requested flight following before we left Addison and the airspace around Addison and DFW was so busy that we both were pretty busy keeping up with the radio. Leaving Dallas we got vectored around a little until we were clear of the Class B.

C mentioned that earlier in the day he was doing a flight in the practice area at 3500' and a Southwest Airlines 737 arrived at their same altitude! C had to take the controls and do an emergency descent to get out of his way. Glad it wasn't me. We didn't see any other aircraft on our flight though we did get vectored around some traffic at one point. But we never made visual contact with it.

I was pretty busy during the flight watching for other traffic and noting my times on my flight plan. I didn't really get much time to look at the scenery below not that I could see that much for the haze. C also showed me how to use the autopilot so that helped take some of the pressure off. Especially since I was juggling paper what with the flight plan, my usual ATIS/airport info sheet, sectional chart, and eventually the airport diagram for Ardmore. We weren't using GPS on the way up so I had to "steer" using the heading bug to keep us on course.

Ardmore is a neat little airport. It's towered as it use to be an army/air force base a long time ago. Now it only has two active runways left with a couple of 200' wide taxiways. And lots of space on the apron. There were some planes near hangars but only one other aircraft on the apron while we were there. No arrivals or departures while we were there. The runway and the taxiways all are pretty beat up. I was really surprised there weren't potholes. Are a lot of airports like that?

We pulled up to Lakeland Aviation (the only FBO) and the woman managing the place actually came out and waved us in. I was surprised that with a mile of apron and only one other aircraft that she would bother waving someone in. I mean, it's not like there's anything for me to hit.

We got the fuel topped off and checked out Lakeland (I signed the guest log). What a neat place. Lots of cool pictures on the walls, a nice selection of books and charts and knick-knacks. I picked up a copy of The Oklahoma Aviator ... the two front page stories are about new light sport aircraft ... the Flight Design CT and the Legend Cub.

Borrowing the Lakeland golf cart we drove down the road leading to the FBO and three blocks away is a great hole-in-the-wall burger joint. Big T's Express. We had just enough time for a couple of burgers and fries before returning to Dallas. It was great getting a chance to talk to C about things other than my lessons.

Back at the airport we did a quick preflight and fired up the engine for the flight back. Originally, the plan was to do a diversion on the way back. I had my little checklist card written out and ready on my clipboard. But, with the delay getting out of Addison and us enjoying our burgers we needed to make best time on the return trip. So no diversion, just set up the GPS for guidance and follow the magenta line.

We were cleared for taxi and then takeoff on runway 17 and were asked to contact Ft Worth Center on 128.10 to get flight following. That done I followed C's prompts to set up a direct course to ADS. Then I did my best to keep us on that course and climbed to 7500'.

At 7500' on the way back we *almost* got out of the haze, but the further into Texas we went the higher up the haze went. Oh well. Of couse, the flight back seemed to go in the blink of an eye. Two ATC handoffs later we were on approach into Addison. Regional Approach was very very very busy. The controller was speaking so fast (plus there was at least one other aircraft with a callsign similar to ours) that even concentrating on him calling out callsigns I still missed it when he talked to me. Eventually C had to help out with the radios because I just couldn't keep up. When we were handed off to Addison Tower I was met by a constant barrage of monologue coming from the controller so I was waiting for a chance to announce myself when all of sudden he started giving us clearances and commands. Again, I totally missed it. I know they know we're coming but I was expecting that I would have to start the dialogue. Lesson learned.

C showed me what a fast approach is like. Wow! Fun! Groundspeed was around 130 knots until nearly short final when he finally had me pull the power and pull the nose up slightly to slow down. I was surprised by how quickly we slowed. I expected to have to really struggle to get the Skyhawk slowed but that wasn't really the case. Just a little nose up and no power quickly got us under 110 so we could start putting flaps down. The wind was 110-degrees at 7 so we had just a little bit of crosswind but the landing went really well. Good thing too because Monarch's owner was waiting to take off in his King Air!! No pressure there.

Lessons Learned:

1) Filed a flight plan, great. But doesn't do any good if I don't open it. And for god's sake don't forget to close it.
2) Radios! I must keep up with the radio. If the radios are causing stress use the autopilot to lessen the work load. There's no problem with letting George drive for a while.
3) Learned how to use the instruments to get True Airspeed.
4) Learned how to use the autopilot.
5) Got a good introduction to the GPS. Still a lot to learn there.
6) When stopping at an airport, if you're making use of an FBO then buy some gas. Even if you only need a few gallons, it's their bread and butter.
7) Flight Following ... be ready to read back the instructions ... CRAFT ... ?, Route, Altitude, Frequency, Transponder. I can't remember what C stands for.
8) I need less paper on my kneeboard. I think, ditch the pad of paper. Just carry the AOPA kneeboard sheet for my destination, airport diagram, flight log and sectional. All the other little communication cheat sheets, etc are just getting in the way.

Great flight! Great fun! Finally, this is what flying is all about (except when Marco and Aerobat are doing loops, hammerheads, barrel rolls, etc)!

This flight: 2.3 hours
Landings: 2
Total: 33.2 hours

Lesson 20

2005-06-07T10:38:00.000-05:00

My progress check flight last Saturday was postponed due to weather ... clouds that simply will not go away. They've been hanging around for days. Anyway, I rescheduled for today at 1800 local time and until early afternoon it was starting to look like another wash. But then the ceilings started to lift and wind began to pick up. Yeeehaw we're on!

The ATIS report for my flight was: KADS 072247Z 19008KT 13SM FEW070 35/20 A2976.

This flight was with a different senior instructor than the last time, but his initial is also S. Turns out S got his PPL from Monarch and then left for college. After graduation last year he returned to Dallas and went to work at Monarch as a CFI. Now he's one of the senior instructors.

The plan today is to cover as much as we can of ... stalls under the hood, recovery from unusual attitudes under the hood, intercepting and tracking a VOR under the hood, short field takeoffs and landings and soft field takeoffs and landings. A full load.

The curriculum also calls for tracking to an NDB. However, S said that even though the plane I rented had one the majority of Monarch's Skyhawks don't so unless I really wanted to track an NDB we were going to skip that. I told him I had a pretty good grasp on how it worked (and the pitfalls involved) so we agreed to dispense with that part of the lesson.

I preflighted N432SP and we hopped in and taxied out to runway 15. We were first to arrive there but two biz jets showed up while we were doing our runup and the tower asked if we minded letting the Hawker go before us. Suuuuuuure, go ahead. It was cool watching him take off. Then it was our turn. I was a little nervous as 1) this was a prog check and 2) it had been a couple of weeks since I flew. S asked me to do a soft field takeoff at first but there was someone on final to land so once we got on the runway we expidited by doing a regular takeoff.

Turning North and departing Addison at 2000' it wasn't long before S took the controls and handed me the hood. How about you intercept and track the 010-degree radial from Cowboy. Conveniently, he had already tuned it into the Nav radio. So I listened to the morse code and checked my sectional ... it's a match. Then I rotated the OBS on the HSI (oh yeah, this plane has an HSI ... sweet) so that the flag showed from and the arrow pointed to 1. I entered a shallow turn to the left until I was on a 330-degree heading. Then it seemed to take forever before the needle started to move. After a while I started double-checking everything becuase I thought maybe I had missed something. But finally, thankfully, the needle started to move and I entered a shallow right bank until I was on the radial and following it.

Then S gave me some various headings to turn to and had me climb to 3000' ... and then 3500' because I was having trouble holding my altitude down. Besides, it was cooler up there. =;-)

Then he had me tune in the Bonham VOR and figure out which radial I was on from the VOR and then follow it to the VOR. So after identifying Bonham on the radio (hard because a voice kept talking over the morse code) I rotated the OBS until the needle centered and the flag read "from" then I rotated the OBS until the flag read "to" and turned to follow the radial.

S then had me demonstrate a power off stall. "Since you're under the hood you can initiate recovery when you feel the buffet or when you hear the stall horn. You don't have to wait until we're in the full stall." OK, that ought to be pretty easy then. As a matter of fact, it was. Almost a non-event, except that I really had to think hard to remember all the steps to follow. These Skyhawks sure stall a lot easier in summer than they do in winter. After the power off I did a power on and in both I recovered when I heard the horn blowing. On the power on I did get slightly uncoordinated but I fixed it quickly.

Then S asked me if I got queasy easily. Ha! No, not really. Good, we'll do the unusual attitudes now. He took the controls and I closed my eyes and he bounced and twisted us around he had me recover ... we were very nose down and gaining speed fast. The left wing was down so I yanked the power out and leveled the wings and then slowly started pulling the nose up. I think I should have pulled the nose up more aggressively but S seemed happy with it. We did another where we ended up in a climb. These were pretty benign really, next to the faux-aerobatics my regular instructor did when we did this lesson.

S had me pull off the hood and said "take us to Denton for some short and softs." It was really easy to figure out where we were because off our right wing was the 2700' tower at the North end of the practice area. There's nothing else like it out there so it's a great landmark. In front of us was Lake Ray Roberts. The lake looked beautiful today. I just followed the shoreline until we were over the dam and then I called up Denton. The tower asked us to report 3 miles out.

At 3 miles I was slowing and put down 10-degrees of flaps. S asked me to do a soft field landing and then a soft field takeoff. After a trip around the pattern I would do a soft landing and takeoff. So I just kept repeating to myself in my head ... normal landing but just keep the nose wheel up. No one else was in the pattern so I had no pressure from other aircraft. I slowed to 62 kias and full flaps and flared a little too fast. I ballooned a few feet up but I kept the back pressure and added a little power and we came down on the mains. I think we bounced just a little but I easily kept the nose up. Without coming to a full stop, S pulled the laps up to 10-degrees and I pushed in the power while pulling back on the yoke. This time it seemed pretty easy to get the balance right. Before I pulled the nose up too fast and was scared of striking the tail but today it just seemed right. We lifted off pretty quickly and I put the nose down until we accelerated to 62 kias where we started climbing. 75 feet up or so the flaps came in and we accelerated to 74 kias.

Next was the short field landing. When I did this with my regular instructor we didn't really talk about having an obstacle on short final, we mainly worked on touching down on one spot consistently. But S said let's pretend there's a 50' obstacle at the end of the runway. You need to come over it at about 75'. Turning final I was hitting my speeds but I felt like I was too high and I said something about it. But I was already at full flaps so I didn't want to slip. I just pulled the power to idle and put the nose down. Luckily for me the wind was 10 knots so I ended up crossing the end of the runway at just about 75' like S wanted. I was a little faster than I wanted but I kept the nose down anyway ... getting closer .. getting closer ... slowly pull back on the yoke and flare, nose high, mains touch down with a pretty solid thunk. Nose comes down and I'm on the brakes. Wow, that was exactly the way the book describes it. I really surprised myself.

S handled the flaps for me (10-degrees) and I stood on the brakes while I pushed the power in full. Gauges in the green, over 2200 RPM, I come off the brakes and we bolt forward. I have a little left and right wobble as I push on the right rudder a little too strongly. But soon enough I'm pulling back on the yoke and we're climbing right on 57 kias. Up and over our other imaginary obstacle and then I put the nose down and as the speed climbs I pull in the flaps.

Not as good as the landing but not bad either. On the way back S tells me that I did everything very well and that the touch and goes especially were "good flying". Wow! I'm so psyched now. What a boost. Here I was a little down because again the weather was making me wait and I thought I was getting rusty. But no, everything just comes together!

So that's it. I'm cleared to start cross-countries. And it's a great feeling!!!

This lesson: 1.4 hours
landings: 3
Total: 30.9 hours

Lesson 19

2005-05-22T10:37:00.000-05:00

What a fun lesson today! I was scheduled to take N358TW out at 0800 with my instructor, C, to practice VOR tracking. I was really looking forward to this new addition to the school's fleet because today's temp was to be in the low 90s and this plane has air conditioning! For the same rental charge as the other non-air conditioned Skyhawks.

(In Texas you would think they could charge extra for that)

But it wasn't to be. This beautiful, shiny 300-hour aircraft has an inoperative right fuel gauge. Doh!! I tried recycling the power a couple of times. I tapped on the gauge. I even tried tapping on the bottom of the wing. Nothing. Not even a flicker off the needle.

So I wrote up a squawk sheet and got dispatched with N21760 instead. 760 is a nice plane too. It's got about 1100 hours on the hobbs ... but it doesn't have AC. And when you're not going to get above 3000' on a 93-degree day, it sure would be nice to have that cool breeze.

I joked with C about it when he joined me during my preflight and he just laughed and said, "It doesn't matter. The AC on 8TW is broken."

Doh!

I show C my sectional where I had marked out the radials to take us to the Bonham VOR and then over to Grayson County Airport (KGYI). "That's nice, but I'm going to have you flight out here East of Addison and identify where we are and then track to Bonham." Oh, ok, sure that sounds easy.

So I finish the preflight and we hop in and taxi to runway 15 ahead of a Cirrus SR20 giving demonstration rides. And right behind a Liberty XL giving demonstration rides. Damnit! How do you find out about these things, I'd love to demo a Liberty.

After a normal takeoff and climb we depart to the Northeast and C asks me to locate what radial we're on. I already have BYP tuned into Nav 1 so I just turn up the volume and listen for the morse code. I have no idea what the morse code is really saying but what I hear matches what is printed on my sectional so I say, "yep, that's BYP." Then I start spinning the OBS until I have a TO indication and the needle centered.

"OK, just follow that radial until we cross the VOR." C tells me. Along the way he has me put on the hood and just use the instruments for reference. It's ok, the haze is unbelievable bad today so the view sucks. Unlike the CDI in MS Flight Simulator, in real life the CDI moves more like it has a mind of it's own. I quickly got into the situation of chasing the needle rather than flying headings and correcting for deviation. So this was a great lesson and I learned it's not as easy as the simulator makes it out to be.

Once we crossed BYP, C took the controls and circled and had me pick out the VOR on the ground. It was actually really hard to spot ... it's such a little thing out! I wonder if the people living around it have any idea what it is?

Then C twisted the OBS and said follow this radial. It looked strange but I didn't pick up quickly enough on why it didn't seem right and we ended up in a turn while I followed the needle away from the radial ... reverse sensing. Another Doh! We had talked about this but I still didn't recognize it when it happened.

Then we followed the 290-degree radial from BYP to Grayson County Airport. Arriving we had keep an eye out for a group of three Bonanzas practicing formation flying. We finally spot them heading the opposite direction to us and we all agree to use the one East-West highway running through Sherman to keep us separated. Then on the South side and us on the North. Once we get to Grayson C asks me to show him some soft field landings and takeoffs. The first one goes ok but the second one is sloppy. It's pretty bumpy down at pattern altitude and I don't do a good job of holding my speeds. Then he asks for a couple of short field landings and takeoffs. The first is OK and the second one is better but just a few feet short of the target. But I do a much better job of holding the correct speeds in the pattern and through to final. And I do a better job of flaring this time. I suppose it helps that the wind was straight down the runway at 8 knots.

The bonanzas return and do a break pattern from the North. Thanks to the discussion here I knew what they were planning. But we were on the upwind after taking off when they came in so I didn't actually get to see it.

We started heading back to Addison and C tells me that we're going to do recoverery from unusual attitudes. Oh boy! This ought to be fun. At first he says I can do them with the hood off, but then I'll have to put it on and just use instruments to recover. So he has me put my head down and close my eyes while he maneuvers. Yikes ... the unusual attitude I think refers more to my stomach than the plane! What a roller coaster ride. "OK, you're controls". I open my eyes and I'm staring at a lot of green pastures. Easy, power back ... level the wings ... start pulling the nose up and establish a climb .. then level off and bring the power back to cruise.

We do it again. This time we're nose high and quickly losing airspeed. I hesitate for a second and then push the nose down while putting in more power and re-trimming. C didn't like me hesitating ... "did you feel the buffet? We were close to stalling. Don't hesitate, immediately start your correction."

I go under the hood and we do it again. This time I get to do two of the nose up attitudes to make sure that I'm quick on the correction and it goes well. Whew!

Now C turns off the GPS and says, "take us to Addison". Well, as you can imagine after all the climbing, diving and turning I am thoroughly turned around. So I trim us out in level flight and look around outside. I don't see anything I recognize. So I pull out my chart and tune in the Cowboy VOR near Addison and DFW. I identify it and then figure out which radial we're on. And I turn to start tracking it. While I'm doing this I look out the window and see a railroad track running under us. I mention to C, "That looks like the track that runs from Addison through Sherman but it's heading in the wrong direction. Too bad". Mind you, I'm comparing the ground to my heading indicator.

So I'm trying to track the Cowboy VOR and I can't keep the needle centered. And C meanwhile is poking at me, "wow, this is some lesson you're learning. I wonder what could be wrong. What, you haven't figured it out yet?"

I finally throw in the towel. Something's wrong but I don't know what it is. C reaches up and taps on the magnetic compass. We're heading East! I look at my heading indicator ... it says South.

Doh!

Now it all makes sense. That railroad track WAS running in the right direction. I could have just followed it all the way home.

The rest of the flight went well. I called up regional approach and got my squawk code. And was cleared to left base for runway 15 at Addison, right ahead of the Stearman from the Cavanaugh Flight Museum. C asks for a short field landing, the top of the numbers is your target. I come in just a little too fast and float a few feet past my target, but only by a few feet. We easily make the turn off for Golf.

All in all a good lesson. I learned a lot about VORs and heading indicators and got some more good landing practice in, not to mention the recovery practice. Next up is another progress check.

Landings: 5
This lesson: 2 hours
Total: 29.5 hours

PS: The heat wasn't that bad. C opened his window while we flew patterns at Grayson County and that helped cool us off. Of course, we weren't really flying during the hottest part of the day though.

Lessons 17 & 18

2005-05-15T10:36:00.000-05:00

Lesson 17

Beautiful weather for flying this weekend. A front came through Friday night and we had some typical Texas thunderstorms. Loud! Lots of lightening and thunder, buckets of rain. Then Saturday morning everything moved East and we were left with a few scattered clouds here and there but otherwise a beautiful clear sky. And by clear I mean that all the crap was washed out by the storms. You could see forever up there!

My lesson on Saturday was at 0800 and was an introduction to short field takeoffs and landings and soft field takeoffs and landings. After the preflight we strapped in taxied out to runway 33. The ATIS was reporting winds from 350 at 8 knots. I asked C about what happened during my solo flight, when the active runway was 15 even though the winds were coming from 040 giving me a slight tailwind. He said that since regional approach is involved with routing traffic into and out of Addison sometimes this happens where they don't switch runways until the wind is decisively favoring the other runway. He said that I can bring it to their attention but I have to pretty much use the runway they specify. So my option becomes whether I continue the flight or not based on that.

No problems with wind today. We take off into the clear sky and head Northwest toward Denton. Once we're cruising and I finish the cruise checklist C says "take me to Denton, I'll sight see." So getting close to Lake Lewisville I tune in Denton's AWOS and get the info and then when I'm over Lakeview Airport (30F) I call up Denton Tower and report my position and intentions. Then I run through the approach checklist and pull back the power to descend to pattern altitude, 1500'. The only other aircraft in the pattern is a helicopter doing circuits. I report base and the tower clears me for a stop and go.

The first one C does to demonstrate a short field landing. Then I do a short field takeoff. Pretty easy, though I let us creep forward when standing on the brakes. Full power ... check for gauges in the green and 2250 RPM ... release the brakes and put in some right rudder to hold us on the line ... pull back on the yoke at 51 kias and we're climbing at 62 kias. Over the imaginary 50' obstacle I allow the nose to drop and we're climbing at 74 kias. Once we're over 65 kias I also remove the 10-degrees of flaps we had.

Then C asks me to do a short field landing. I don't have a problem holding the speed down to 65-ish kias but at the end it all goes to hell. Runway 35 at Denton has a tree filled creek running perpendicular to the runway at the end of the runway. And everytime I cross it the plane bobs and yaws and that smooth final just isn't that smooth anymore. So I add to much power and we start floating and then I pull the power out to fast and we drop like a rock. Hard landing. No damage though. Ugh.

I do another short field takeoff (goes ok) and try the landing again. This time is a little better but I'm still floating and landing long. Basically, this was the whole lesson. I did 7 landings and C did a couple demonstration landings. Mine got better as we went along, but it's definitely trickier than I expected. But fun!

After trying everything but a soft field takeoff we decide to head back home. Clouds have formed at 2000' which keeps us down at 1500' most of the way back (the usual approach to Addison is at 2500'). Another lesson learned, over Lake Lewisville C asks me where I'd go if the engine quite. "Hmmmmm probably right over there," I say pointing to the nearest land. "Good choice, too bad you won't make it."

Then he tells me how to ditch in water. Float it just above the water getting as slow as possible and let it stall and drop in. The less forward momentum you have the less chance you'll injure yourself or your passengers. Or ... the other lesson ... always remain within glide distance of solid land!

Tomorrow, more short and soft work.

Lesson 18

I'm back for more. After a day of yard work I head to Addison for my 1600 flight with C. I get there early and my plane is available so I go out to do the preflight. The planes in great shape. Eventually, C arrives from his last lesson and we go over the plan for today. More short and soft work, but this time we'll go to McKinney Regional Airport.

Things are really "on" today. I'm quick with the radio calls. My taxiing is good .. not too fast, not too slow, and on the centerline. We go to taxiway Charlie and do the runup. Everything looks good. "OK, give me a soft field takeoff," C says. I get clearance from the tower and start out onto the runway. I keep it moving so we won't get bogged down in the "mud" and slowly push in full power. Before I could blink we were off the runway and floating in ground effect. You REALLY have to push hard to keep the nose down. I was worried about pushing the nose back down the runway but that just doesn't seem possible. Once the airspeed is in the 60's we start climbing and I retract the 10-degrees of flaps. Then I just do a normal 74 kias climb to 2000' and we're off to McKinney.

Again, C tells me to take him to McKinney and leaves all the work to me. I get the AWOS info and set the instruments and call the tower. Pretty good if I say so myself, I remembered all the checklists ... dialed up the aiport on the GPS and got our distance, radioed the tower and got approach clearance. I was pretty proud of myself. C didn't seem to notice. =;-)

Today we knocked out 11 landings ... all either short or soft though we did switch to doing regular takeoffs toward the end. That was because C wanted me to work on my short field landing accuracy. So no distractions after landing, just do a normal touch and go.

I did OK today, enough that C signed off on that lesson and we'll move on to VOR navigation next time. But I do have a couple of things to work on. One is maintaining the centerline. I can't believe I had trouble with that today. I think it might be a case of having just one too many things to concentrate on so one thing gets dropped. And today, maintaining the centerline was the thing that got dropped. And C also need to work harder at keeping the nose up on the soft field landings. I was still letting it come down too fast.

After today I felt great! It was fun lesson, I really felt in tune with the airplane and flying in the pattern. At one point we had six other planes in the pattern. As a matter of fact, at one point the tower had me and another guy fly left traffic while everyone else flew left traffic. Unfortunately, the guy in front of me was in a C150 so I got to practice slow flight too. =;-)

I'm so jazzed that the next lesson is going to be VOR navigation. It's just one step closer to actual cross-country flight! C told me to prepare for it. We're going to track to the Bonham VOR, cross it and track the radial on the opposite side and then turn to intercept a radial that'll take us to Grayson County Airport (KGRY). There'll we'll knock out some more soft and short takeoffs and landings.

This is going to be so much fun!!!

Saturday 1.6 hours (7 landings)
Sunday 1.6 hours (11 landings)
Total 27.5 hours

Lesson 16 -- First solo in the practice area

2005-04-24T10:34:00.000-05:00

Great flight today even though I made one major mistake (more on that later). Today I scheduled to take N5359K out for my first solo into the practice area. I tried this yesterday but the winds were over both my overall and crosswind limits. Today's winds were forecasted to be light and sure enough the 0547 metar from Addison reported winds as calm.

So I got my standard briefing from Duats (there's a lot of stuff there, 25 printed pages worth!) and there was no Addison metar for the 0600 hour but the other area airports were reporting calm winds (Love field, McKinney, Mesquite) or 360/300-degrees at 4kts (DFW, Redbird).

Preflight was uneventful even though this was my first time with 59K. My first lookover, though, I did find a full quart of oil in the baggage area so I made sure to triple-check the oil level reading when I got around to the nose. I got in and strapped in ... hey it's so roomy in here all by my lonesome. Got the engine started on the first try. I tuned in the Addison ATIS and there was a new report ... 0747L winds 040 7kts 15sm vis sky clear altimeter 3014 . Well now there's a little wind but I can handle that.

So I finish the checklist, call up ground control and are cleared to runway 15. Can you see my mistake yet? I didn't.

Takeoff was great, lifted off around 65-knots and instantly weathervaned into the crosswind. But I hit my 74 kias climbout speed, made my left turns and was soon at 2000' and following Preston Road to the North.

There was another Monarch student soloing ahead of me and I couldn't see him but after the "good day" from the tower I switched to the Aero Country frequency and heard him giving position reports. Aero Country is a small uncontrolled airport in the middle of the practice area that (now that Spring is here) is really busy on the weekends. I made one position report and then after just listened to everyone else and kept my eyes outside the plane. I saw the other Monarch student once but other than that didn't see a soul the whole time I was in the area.

Despite not having C in the right seat the plane didn't feel as unusually light as it did when I did my solo in the pattern. I had no problem trimming and maintaining my altitude and heading on the way outbound. The air was very smooth and clear for about 10 miles or so, then you could see the usual smoggy haze.

I went to a rural area south of where the other student was practicing and did a lot of s-turns and turns around a point. They sucked at first, but I quickly got the hang of it and managed to keep everything within standards. After doing that I climbed back up to 2500' and did a couple of forward slips following a road. In the past I get nervous entering and exiting from this maneuver. I still need to do more but these are beginning to feel more comfortable.

Then I decided to have some fun and climbed up to 3000' to do steep turns. On my last progress check flight I did these pretty well, but today .... umm not so good. I had a hard time controlling my speed and my altitude. So it's obvious that I need to practice this more, which is great because I love doing them! It reminds me of that old amusement park ride where you'd get in this spinning barrel-like contraption that spins and pins you against the wall. Like a NASA centrifugal trainer but without all the safety features and operated by a guy named Bubba. OK OK so steep turns aren't quite like that but this is all new to me.

I gave myself a good half-hour to get back in to Addison and I needed it because the regional controller was super busy. I put myself into a holding pattern about 15 to 16 miles from the airport while I tried to get his attention. I was very careful to wait for a gap in the flow (that was the hard part) and then I'd call "Skyhawk 5359K with you." After three attempts he responded with a "standby". After a looooooong silence he gave someone else some instructions and then gave me a squawk code and asked me to ident. I did that and read it back but I finally had to prompt again because I got lost in the flow. He had me ident again, told me to hold altitude and head straight in and contact the tower. So I did.

The tower cleared me to a straight in landing on runway 15. The winds now were 050 at 8 kts but I was ready for the challenge. The other student ended up behind me because he had traveled over to McKinney Airport; I think he was doing his short cross country. The landing was pretty uneventful though I was rather nervous about it. A biz jet took off before me and the tower warned me of wake turbulence and I took note of where he rotated (a long way down the runway). I easily landed before that point, though I did float a bit. The landing was decent, on the centerline, nose pointed forward, left wing down a bit though both mains plunked down at the same time with the nose wheel following quickly. Not a flat landing but a bit close. At least my speed was in the correct range.

I made the taxi back, secured the plane and handed over the paperwork at 1005. 5 minutes late, but I didn't notice anyone waiting and pacing.

So what did I do wrong? Well there were some little things ... I need to get more comfortable with the chart and giving position reports. I always knew generally where I was but I couldn't always put my finger on the map and say "I'm here". Also, I need to learn how use the GPS. Not as a replacement for pilotage, but because if I do get turned around I will know how to use it to get myself oriented. After all, it is there blinking at me.

The big thing? Awareness of the wind and get-there-itis. Now, if you had asked me when I was climbing into the plane if I was determined to do this flight I would have said no. But, subconsciously I obviously was determined to make the flight because even when I set the heading bug on the HSI to the reported wind direction (and saw that it was a 110-degree crosswind) I didn't stop and check the crosswind table. The crosswind was 7 kts and my limit is 5 kts. I absolutely should not have made this flight.

And again, returning to Addison I wrote the ATIS report (040-degrees at 8 kts which is an 8 kts crosswind) down on my lapboard but it never entered my mind to check the crosswind table. Not that it would have made a difference, all the local airports that I could divert to have runways oriented in basically the same direction (except DFW but that's not an option).

Now, I could say this is no big deal because the 5 kts limit is an artificial limit set by the school, it's not a limitation of the aircraft. And I've landed in an 8 kts crosswind before with my instructor in the right seat. But I consider it a big "head up my ass" moment because as much as I'm absorbing .. studying, flying the simulator, reading every magazine and training article I can get my hands on, every freaking waking moment, cd-rom lessons, watching dvd programs on safety ... I still had my head up my ass. And this flight could have easily turned out worse.

The more I write this and think about this the angrier I'm getting at myself. I think it's time to step back and take a hard look at my commitment to the training. Though I only plan to fly recreationally I cannot take a "recreational" attitude to the training. It's not enough to just say I'll do better next time. I really need to talk to my instructor about this flight. I'll let you know what happens.

This flight 1.5 hours
Total time 24.3 hours

Lesson 15

2005-04-16T10:32:00.000-05:00

Finally!!!!! After 39 days I get to fly again! The wind was finally in my favor today. I met the Assistant Chief Instructor, S, at Monarch a little for a 1 pm progress check flight.

Today the winds were from 190 at 5 knots, broken clouds at 4500', 24-degrees centigrade and an altimeter of 3030. So on the ground it seemed like a great day for flying. But in reality under those clouds it was really choppy.

So, I was pretty nervous about today. It has been over a month since my last flight (8 March), not counting the trip around the pattern I made a couple of weeks ago. I feel pretty rusty, so I spent the last couple of days immersing myself in the Skyhawk information manual and my maneuvers book. And I think it paid off.

The pre-flight went pretty smoothly. This was my first flight in N72675, a 2001 172S. S came out when I was about halfway through the pre-flight and started asking me questions about the plane. How are the flight controls actuated? What kind of engine does it have? What's this thing (pointing to the pitot tube)? All pretty easy to answer and so I start to focus and relax.

We hop in and get settled and I start the plane on the first try ... =;-) ... I explain to S that I had never really used the GPS. Cameron had set it up sometimes to give me position information but mostly I just use the chart. And so I wasn't planning on using it today. He said that was fine.

We taxied out to the active and were just in time to see a gorgeous Cabin Waco landing. At least, it sure looked like a Cabin Waco. Unfortunately, I didn't get the reg number.

Take off was OK, I hit the target of 74 kias on climbout until we got into the chop. From here on our everything I did was "-ish". So that 74 kias became 74-ish kias. Two turns to the left and I was following Preston Road heading North to the practice area. On the way S asked me some questions about what altitudes where allowed when and where ... Addison is under a Class B. Once we got past highway 121 S asked me to climb to 2500'.

Once we were S asked me to make a couple of turns. First one 90-degrees to the left and then one 90-degrees to the right. OK, let's do some slow flight. "So I should consider those last turns my clearing turns?" That's right, he says. OK, so power out and the speed starts to drop off but so does our altitude. I have a lot of trouble holding 2500'. S recommends that we climb to 3000', so we do and try slow flight again. The air is a little smoother up here so I can actually get down to 45 knots without the stall warning horn going off like Morse code. If I was able to read Morse code it was probably saying something like, "hang in there chester". =;-0

Once stabilized at 45-50ish kias S had me do some turns and some climbs and descents. All went pretty well. Once we were stabilized the plane was pretty easy to handle. It was just getting there that was hard. Then S asked me a power-off stall. Yikes ... is it me or is it really hot and dry in here all of a sudden? It's just me. I'm already going slow so I say, let's use 2700' as the floor so I start pulling back on the yoke around 2800'. Pretty quickly there's the stall horn and the nose drops. I let the pressure on the yoke off and add in power and we're climbing again. S seemed pretty happy with it but I think we got down to at least 2600' so that's not good. But I did handle the rudder pedals correctly and had the wings level so I'm happy with that.

Next was a power-on stall. We climb back to 3000' and then I slow down to 55 kias which is our usual rotation speed. Now, the last time I did this my instructor, C, told me that all I needed to do was watch the attitude indicator and put the dot on 20-degrees and eventually the plane will stall. So that's what I did. Well, we just kept climbing and climbing. I was getting a lot of practice keeping the controls coordinated but finally I saw S reach for the yoke and start to gently pull it back. Finally, I felt the buffet and felt the bottom drop out. I never really did feel like the nose was falling, it was more like we had become an elevator instead of an airplane. So I initiated recovery and returned to 2500'. S seemed pretty happy with those.

Then S pulled the power out to simulate and engine failure. I got all the big stuff right, trim for 68 kias, look for a field to land in. But he started prompting me for the other steps. I know what they are and I know what to do but I felt like he was rushing me. We were about 2000' AGL so I had plenty of time to go through the checklist. And C had always told me to fly the plane first and do the un bolded checklist items when time allowed. Later, in the debriefing that was one of the things S mentioned, that I need to review the emergency procedures and act on them faster.

Next, S took the controls and handed me a hood. Oh boy, this is going to be an adventure. Once I had the controls back he had me do some turns, climbs, descents, climbing turns, and descending turns. I remembered from the last time I did this that all I needed to make were small inputs and I would get the results I wanted. Well, that is really really hard to do when the wind is bashing you around. I would start a shallow turn and then the wind seemed to bash us from underneath and I was all of sudden in a 30-degree bank. This seemed to go on forever, about 20 minutes only, though. But I was very relieved when he asked me to take off the hood.

So I got a good look around and realized I had no idea where we were. And of course, S says "Let's go to McKinney and do some touch and goes." Oy!

Well, I know our general position in relation to McKinney so I turn to the West and start comparing my chart to what's sliding by outside. Eventually, I come across a town with a really straight rail line running through it ... aahaa! We're over Celina. Next step is to find the interstate highway. Before I expected it we were there and I was having to hurry and set up the radio to call McKinney Tower (I should have done that earlier). Now I was getting rushed, there was some other traffic coming into and out of McKinney and so it wasn't until we were on base that I realized I hadn't done the approach checklist! Doh, so I quickly did the gumps check and made sure our lights were on. Then we were on final and I did a fairly decent touch and go. Taking off again I realized I wasn't sure which way the pattern was. The other traffic was either departing or was inbound so there had been no radio calls about it. So I got on the radio and asked "confirm left traffic" and they answered "affirmative". S commended me for that ... "if you're not sure about something always ask."

But then I went and made a 40-degree turn and S immediately told me to shallow out the turn. "Never made more than a 30-degree turn in the pattern!" We had to extend our downwind for an Aztec that was inbound. We didn't spot it until the tower mentioned it was on short final. Another mistake. I turned base and then quickly on final and S asked me to come in high and do a slip. I started to do the slip to the left and he suggested I do it to the right. When we straightened up on short final a gust hit us and everything went to hell. The nose yawed way over to the right and I tried to get it back straight and overcompensated and so we started yawing left. Just as I was thinking it S said go around. Whew, I really didn't want to make that landing. S said it was a wind shear. Whatever it was it wasn't fun.

We did one more pattern and this time S pulled the power out when we were abeam the numbers. This is no problem. I put the nose down a little to keep the speed up and turned base. Almost immediately S prompted me to turn more toward the runway so we really made more of a circling approach. I put the flaps down 10-degrees and then 20 degrees when it became obvious I was too high, imagine that. So I did a small slip to lose a little height and made a decent landing.

Leaving McKinney, S asked me to take us back to Addison and then he started looking out the window and singing to himself. Well, McKinney to Addison is actually pretty easy, stay 2500' or under and follow the highway. But watch out for that 1500' tower just to the west of McKinney. I tuned in the Addison ATIS and got the charlie information, winds were now 180 at 6 knots and the altimeter 3028. I then tuned in regional control and called them up. They asked me to turn to 170-degrees and maintain 2500'. That put us on course direct to Lake Lewisville. So we cruised along for a while and finally S asked me where Addison was. "Oh, it's right over there at our 10 o'clock." "Good, glad you know where we are."

Now S started asking me about different scenarios. What would you do if ... Some I got right some I didn't. Some were things I had never considered before.

After what seemed ages of this regional control calls us and hands us off to the tower. The tower gives us clearance for a straight in landing on runway 15. But while on final the tower asks us if we wouldn't mind stopping and picked up a piece of black plastic that was blowing on the runway! HA! S jumps on the radio and says sure we will. So I land and then S takes the controls and steers us over to the plastic ... it's hung up on one of the edgeway lights ... and he hops out and grabs it.

Then it's back to Monarch for a debriefing.

S gives me a few things to pay attention to ... never never bank over 30-degrees in the pattern ... memorize the emergency procedures ... and pay attention to holding altitude better. He said I was rusty but not that rusty and that overall I did a good job. Whew!

That's it. I'm cleared to make my first solo flight into the practice area, probably next weekend.

This lesson 1.7 hours
Under the hood 0.4 hours
Total 22.8 hours

Lesson 14 -- Solo!

2005-03-08T10:23:00.000-06:00

This is something I haven't done before ... taken a picture during a lesson. There's so much to concentrate on that messin' with a camera just seems silly. But today I really had the urge to bring my camera.

That's Denton Airport (KDTO) down there after just turning downwind for runway 35.

What's special about this photo is that the only person in the plane when I took it was me!

Last Sunday I did a ground session with my instructor, C. He gave me the pre-solo written test and we spent some time going over the couple of things I missed ... Special VFR and light gun signals. Then he briefed me on how the solo will be conducted ... three full-stop landings with taxi back to the beginning of the runway ... and on the things the controller might ask me to do if space is needed in the pattern. Things like performing a standard-rate 360-degree turn or s-turns on final. Since my last attempt at landings had been not so good we decided to schedule a three-hour block for the plane and go do some touch and goes. If C feels like I'm performing up to snuff then he'd bail out. Preferably when we're parked on the tarmac.

The weather gods are on my side today:

Addison - KADS 081247Z 32004KT 13SM SKC 06/02 A3009 (that's 0647 local time)
and
Denton - KDTO 081253Z AUTO 33004KT 10SM CLR 02/M01 A3009 (that's 0653 local time)

By the time we got to Denton around 7:30 am the tower controller was calling the wind as calm. =;-)

The lift-off at Addison and the climb to 2000' were right on the numbers an uneventful. I was paying special attention to my checklists today (since I forgot one last time) and so as soon as I reached 2000' and trimmed for level flight I went through the cruise checklist. It's only 22.9 nm to Denton so pretty quickly I was doing the approach checklist and calling up Denton Tower on the radio. We were asked to announce right downwind for runway 35 and we had to swing out over the town to get into position (because I slightly mis-stated our position ... "over Lake Lewisville" doesn't mean so much when the lake is that big).

We entered the pattern and set up for approach and dang if I wasn't coming in too fast again. But the landing was decent if a little long. I added in full power and we launched into the pattern. This time around I again came in too high and fast so C helped out with a slip to get us down.

This time, as we turned onto the downwind C told me ... "try this, get your speed established at 85 and when you turn base grab the trim wheel at the very top and turn it all the way down until you can't turn it any further. This will help get your speed under control. Don't not use back pressure but don't let the nose go up too far." Hmmm ok.

On the latter end of the downwind I pull power back and put in the first notch of flaps (all I'm allowed) and establish a nose-down pitch at 85 kias. Turning base I twirl the trim wheel and when the wings are level again I glance down and .... we're doing 75 kias.

So I turn final and twirl the trim wheel again and though the nose wants to rise I put pressure on the controls to keep it down and when we we're on final I glance down ... we're doing about 65 kias. Final is smooth, straight, just over the numbers I flare and gently we land, mains first.

Well I'll be damned!

So we did it again. And again I'm stabilized on final doing about 65 kias and the flare and touchdown are no problem at all. On the next one C pulls the power back just as we're abeam the numbers. So I put in the first notch of flaps and pause a beat or two before turning base. About halfway down I put in another notch of flaps and turn final. Then just as I'm about to reach for the flap lever C says "more flaps" ... Eureka, we're in sync. We easily make the runway and land, nose up, mains touch down first followed by the nose wheel.

On the next downwind C asks the tower for a full stop. We do a taxi back so I can see what's going on. We go around the pattern again. Another good landing and C asks me to pull up by the base of the control tower. I ask him if he'll be listening in on the radio and he tells me "naw, my batteries ran low. Ask the tower controller if you have any questions, he's pretty friendly. And don't hesitate to go around if you're not happy with the way things look on final." And with that I'm on my own.

I ask for clearance to taxi to the runway, which is given and I'm on my way. Denton is a pretty small airport so it doesn't take long. I go through my final check ... Lights, Trim, Flaps, Radios, GUMPS. Then the tower radios me, "are you ready?" Ha! This guy is friendly. "I'm ready. Request takeoff and would like to stay in the pattern for full-stop. Skyhawk 760." Like I'm going to ask for anything else.

He clears me and off I go. Now, C told me that the plane would fly different without him in it. And I'd read that in the various books and magazines I've been devouring lately. But that Skyhawk really flew differently without him there. I was at pattern altitude before I got to my crosswind turn! So of course, the first time around the pattern I didn't adjust quickly enough and it was hard to bleed off the speed at first. By the time I got on final it was ok and the landing was just fine.

The second time around I came in two high and I had to side slip it in. That went ok though my entry and exit from the slip need some work, but I managed to get lined up with the runway and do a decent nose up landing on the centerline.

The third time around I pulled out my camera and took the picture I posted at the beginning of this account and that was enough distraction that I came in too high again. I didn't want to do another slip so I went around. On the last pattern I really concentrated on getting my speed just right and everything looked great until short final. On runway 35 there's a wooded creek running just past the end of the runway. And all morning each passage over that creek was getting bumpier and bumpier. And so on short final I got to bouncing a little and yawing a little and it looked ugly, but in the flare everything got straightened out and the touchdown was on the mains first with the nose pointed forward and somewhat on the centerline.

I taxied over and picked up C. He shook my hand and congratulated me and then told me to sit back and relax and he took the controls. He did a "victory lap" of sorts ... a soft-field lift off then stayed in ground effect until the end of the runway (and about 115 kias) and then nearly straight up and over to the right. Better than any rollercoaster in the world!

And then C flew us back to Addison. I got to sight see and look for traffic ... and there were a lot of heavies going into DFW above us this morning.

Next up is another prog check with a senior instructor and then I'll have to do a solo flight into the practice area. This is going to be fun!

This lesson: 2.3 hours
Solo time: 0.6 hours
Landings: 9
Total: 20.7 hours

Lesson 13

2005-03-01T10:17:00.000-06:00

Hmmmm unlucky lesson 13? Maybe.

This one just didn't go well at all. Tuesday morning at 7 a.m. I met my instructor, C, to go and do more touch-and-goes in preparation for solo. I'll skip the preliminaries ... we headed over to Collin County Airport (KTKI) and everything went well until we actually started doing landings. There was no one else in the pattern and the controller in the tower was being super friendly and helpful (saying things like "make that next base turn inside of that last one and it'll be perfect").

The winds were calm at the surface, but just at pattern altitude the winds were about 9-10 knots from the NorthEast and it was pretty bumpy. I think it was the bumpiest day yet that I've been up. I don't want to blame my lack of skill on the weather but it was a factor.

I was just all over the place. The first approach was too low and the landing flat. Plus the wind pushed me and I overshot the turn to final. The next two or three were too high and I had to slip to get down to the runway. On the next one C took the controls and did one circuit for me to remind how it's suppose to look.

He said, "You saw what the wind did the first time around. Now keep that in mind and adjust for it."

So I would crab on downwind and my turns to base and final were ok as far as keeping the pattern rectangle a rectangle. But I was still coming in too high and too fast.

In the flare I seemed to be getting more of a feel for it, but since I was not getting my speed down on base and final I was either floating for a long time or touching down too fast.

We did about eleven landings or so and instead of getting into the groove it seemed like I was getting more and more rattled as we went along. The last three were engine out exercises. The first one we didn't make the runway, but the next two we did. However, I wasn't sure we would until we were on final. C would pull the throttle out and then say you can do whatever you feel is necessary, even use full flaps. Then he'd say, "why don't you go ahead and put in a notch of flaps." I did, but I was thinking to myself "you're crazy, we'll never make it. Flaps = drag." But, of course, he was right and we actually needed full flaps to slow down enough to make a decent landing.

Later I went and did some more reading about flaps and I read that (at least with the Skyhawk) 10 and 20-degrees of flap provide more lift than they do drag. It's only the 30-degree setting where you get more drag than you're getting lift.

Plus there were several times where I was concentrating so much on wrestling the plane that I didn't hear the tower talking. A couple of times they were calling me and once they were talking to another plane doing a straight-in approach and C had to remind me to extend my downwind leg to accomodate them. Sheesh, too much going on.

On the trip back to Addison, C covered the GPS to make look up our position on my chart before calling regional approach. That was easy enough but then approach was really busy and asked us to remain beyond 10 miles out from Addison so we circled. All this got me distracted again and I forgot to do the approach checklist.

Then once we're cleared to Addison and I'm turning final the winds decide to pick up and I ... well, the only thing I can say is ... I got flat out completely turned around about the wind. I was moving the controls to counter a left-quartering crosswind when we actually had a right-quarting crosswind and I let the plane get to slow. We were drifting off the centerline and everything I did just made it worse. I started to say "let's go around" when C took the controls and finished the landing. Sheesh! I wasn't shaking but I was close to it.

Mainly I was just mad at myself ... for getting confused, for letting us get slow, for not (how should I say this) "being" a pilot.

C didn't seem angry, but he did give me a stern talking-to. He suggested I write down the things I did wrong so that I can study how to change them and then review that before the next flight. So here goes. Things I was doing wrong:

1) Not paying attention to the wind ... know where it's coming from, watch how you're drifting and correct for it.
2) Not being aggressive with the power and controls ... if I'm too low then push in the throttle and get back to the glidepath. Don't second guess, just do it.
3) Not paying attention to the radio ... yeah, there's a lot to do, but you got to learn to deal with it all. And I have to respond quickly when the controller calls.
4) Coming in too high and too fast ... don't be afraid to pull the throttle out, you're not going to drop like a rock and you can always use power to regain altitude if you get too low.
5) Don't land flat ... pull that nose up during the flare, keep it coming so that you hear a definite delay between the mains and the nosewheel hitting the runway.
6) Don't ever push forward on the yoke during the flare ... I did this when I felt a balloon coming on and C pointed it out. I can release the backpressure, but never actually push the yoke forward. Instead release back pressure and use the throttle to catch the balloon and let the plane back down easy.

The thing is ... I know all of this in my head ... it's just hard turning it into action when I'm in the cockpit. I wish I could take a couple of days off from work and go do several lessons in a row because I think this would be easier if I was able to keep a regular schedule. Lately, with all the weather and my job keeping me busy and stressed to the gills I go 10 to 14 days or more between lessons.

Well, at the very least I now have my list and I can review it every day, several times a day, until my next lesson. And the next time in the left seat I'm going to do everything perfectly.

This lesson: 1.7 hours
Landings: 11
Total: 18.4 hours

Lesson 12

2005-02-13T10:16:00.000-06:00

This morning the predicted low clouds were hanging around outside. Though if you looked to the north you could see the dry line coming but it wasn't close enough yet. I checked the online metars for Addison, Denton, Collin County, and Grayson County and then called the local FSS. She echoed a lot of what I'd already learned ... most airports were reporting multiple cloud layers between 1700' and 2600', broken to overcast. Then she told me something I didn't know ... that the winds at 3000' were reported as from 230 at 47 knots. Yikes.

I tried calling my instructor but he didn't answer so I drove out to Addison. When I got to the parking lot I didn't see his truck there so I thought he might be running late so I tried calling him again while I sat in my car. He answered his cell this time so we talked about the weather and agreed that we should do a ground session later at 10 am. He is going to see if another student wants to join us. So I drive home to have a little breakfast.

When I get back to Monarch at 10, C asks me if I drove out there this morning. I admitted I had and said I didn't see his white truck. "Oh no, I drive the maroon truck. Peter drives the white truck." Doh! Now I feel like a dumbass. He thought it was funny though.

By this time the clouds were nearly all gone and the sky looked beautiful so C asked me if I was sure I didn't want to go flying instead. Hmm well maybe. C does a weather check and then dials up Denton's AWOS on the radio and they've got a 60-degree crosswind going. Woohoo! Crosswinds ... let's go.

I go out and preflight 364GW (the streaks of graphite are still there ... after a night of rain). We hop in and do the pre-engine checklist, start up, and tune in Addison's ATIS. Winds are from 230 at 9 knots. The runway here is 15-33. So I remember to move the controls while we taxi to account for the wind (dive away as we're paralleling 15 headed for the runup area). We're the only aircraft in the runup area today. After the pre-takeoff checklist is complete we get clearance for immediate takeoff and a turnout to the right to head to Denton. We line up on the centerline and I move the controls all the way to the right against the right quartering headwind we have. Full power and as we lift off the controls come back to nearly level but we've got the right wing down a little and I put in a little more right rudder to swing into the wind and we crab our way up to pattern altitude.

During the short flight to Denton C goes over the steps I need to do during a crosswind approach and landing ... turn onto final and establish a crab and track the center line, then transition into a wing down cross control so we line up with the centerline and control the drift with the ailerons. All the time keeping that right wing low (since we have a crosswind from the right). When we arrive, after getting the AWOS info and contacting the tower, we find one very quiet airport.

BTW, last night's rain had washed all the junk out of the air and the view today was spectacular!

So my mission today is to improve on yesterday's mistakes (not keeping backpressure in the turns and coming in too low on final and landing flat) while learning how a crosswind feels. Mission sort of accomplished. I did 5 touch and goes today with another go-around when I bounced and couldn't get back on the centerline.

I felt more controlled in the pattern. I was remembering to reduce power and put in the first notch of flaps at midfield. Then pitching for 85 knots, turning base (using backpressure in the turn) and pitching for 75 knots. Then turning final I would stay at around 70 knots and C also allowed me to use 20-degrees of flaps when I felt I needed to slow down more.

Tracking the centerline was fairly easy all the way down until the flare. But then things started to fall apart. Generally, my problem was that I was not using the ailerons enough to keep centered. So when we touched down I would have the controls level instead of turned to the right. Reflecting on it later I'm thinking that my brain is still making the automobile steering wheel association with the yoke even though I KNOW that's not the case. I have to drill it into my head that having the controls turned to the right is not going to make the plane turn to the right during the flare. The rudder is for that.

During the last two landings when we touched down C would say "look at where your controls are" and sure enough, the yoke was level!

Like I mentioned, I did 5 touch-and-goes and while they weren't pretty they were better than yesterday. And I learned that crosswinds aren't as scarry as I thought they may be but you definitely cannot be complacent during the landing. I have to be hyper-alert to what the plane is doing and correctly correct for drift while keeping that nose straight. Again, I have to remind myself to be aggressive with the controls ... to not be so timid.

The ride back was unevenful and quick .. now with a steady tailwind. The gusts seemed to have picked up while we were doing touch and goes and sure enough when we got back to Addison they were reporting winds from 240 at 16 knots with gusts in the 20s (I can't remember exactly).

The approach was a straight-in to runway 15 and I double-checked that Nav one was tuned to the ILS. So I used it to guide me in. I did this partly because I noticed before that I have trouble judging when to start letting down when on that long approach. I end up arriving at the airport well above the glideslope, though I suppose that's better than arriving too low!

On short final the tower told us that the winds gusts had really picked up and were becoming more varied. On short final she reported winds at 5 knots then at 17 knots. At that point C took the controls and said that was too gusty for me on my first day of crosswinds. So I got a front row seat to a perfect crosswind landing. It really was perfect, right wing low, hardly a sound out of the tires and directly on the centerline. Sigh, I've got a lot to learn yet.

Today: 1.4 hours
Landings: 5
Total: 16.7 hours

Lesson 11

2005-02-12T10:15:00.000-06:00

My last flight was on 1-23 and so I was really looking forward to today's lesson. Last weekend I was sick and cancelled and the weekend before the weather kept us on the ground. The outlook for today was looking pretty bad ... rain and low clouds. So this morning I got up and checked the NOAA Aviation Weather website and got the following:

Addison ADS
1247Z
temp 50F/dew point 39F
a3015
wind from 180 at 5 knots
visibility 15 miles
cloud cover info "missing"

Grayson County GYI
1245Z
temp 46F/dew point 36F
a3013
wind from 200 at 9 kts
visibility 10+ miles
scattered clouds at 4300
scattered clouds at 12000

I also looked up the latest TAF for Love Field (KDAL) and they were predicting that ceiling wouldn't come down until around noon (they predicted 4000'). My lesson was scheduled for 8am so things were looking up. I called the Fort Worth FSS and talked to a briefer who told me there was light rain reported at Grayson moving to the east at 30 knots and that the ceiling at Addison was reported as FL250. He also said that the winds at 3000' were reported as 24 knots from 230-degrees.

So the lesson is on!! I packed my stuff in the car and drove to Addison. I was a little apprehensive about today because I really felt rusty. And I haven't been studying as hard as I should be. But I just kept telling myself that I could handle anything my instructor threw at me and that the plan was to do a bunch of touch and goes so the worst that could happen would be a simulated engine out in the pattern.

C gave me the keys to the plane and asked me to preflight and then come back in the building, and then he asked for my logbook. Hmmm, ok. So I preflight the plane, everything on it looked great except the nose had a wash of what I first thought was oil streaked down one side. But it started right at the front edge of the cowling which would be a difficult place for oil to come out (we're talking Skyhawk here). So I stuck my finger in it and it definitely didn't feel like oil. Later, C said that it was some kind of graphite powder (maybe) that was used around the cowling as a fire retardant (maybe). It wasn't something that we needed to worry about.

Finishing the preflight I walked back in the building and C and I went upstairs to brief. He asked if I was ready to solo!? Umm, no, not really. We talked about where we left off last time and that I hadn't been to an uncontrolled airport yet. "Oh, OK, I thought we'd gotten further than that." Whew, no solo today. While I feel that in general I'm up to it. Having taken three weeks off from flying I definitely wanted some more practice before trying that.

So we took off for Grayson County to learn the uncontrolled airport pattern and do a bunch of touch and goes. The taxi and runup and takeoff went fine. I managed to do the flow during the runup and not rely on the checklist. I handled the radio and got all our clearances, etc. The takeoff was straight down the centerline and at 60 knots I gently pulled back the yoke and we started a 75 knot climb. And I managed to keep the speed pretty close to 75 all the way up to 2000'. After leveling off and turning north I did the cruise checklist ... checked fuel, brought the power down a little, pulled out the mixture, and trimmed for level flight. But I didn't SAY that I did this until finally I realized and said something to C. He laughed and said that he was about to pull out the POH and point to the section on checklists. Doh! I really got to remember to verbalize what I'm doing and thinking. Though, I'm sure he did see me doing the checklist items.

The flight up to Grayson only took about 18 minutes. Our southerly tailwind helped tremendously. The GPS said our groundspeed was around 143 knots. When we arrived we found one plane, another Skyhawk, in the pattern doing touch and goes. We had been monitoring the CTAF but hadn't heard anyone but once we got there we saw him. So we announced our intentions. The first couple of times around this guy kept silent. And I could tell that C was getting more and more angry about it. Then a twin arrived and announced a full stop (I can't remember the make and model). With three of us in the pattern this guy finally started making radio calls. But that was limited to once per pattern, generally when he was turning downwind.

Anyway, the first couple of times around C handled the radio so I could concentrate on flying and good thing he did because I was all over the place! Those three weeks really hurt! What was happening was that I was getting behind where I should be doing things. So intead of dropping my first notch of flaps at midfield on downwind I would do it when I was abeam the numbers. My speed was all messed up and I would lose too much altitude and come over the runway really flat. So when I pulled the power back to idle and flare the bottom would drop out and we'd smack down on the runway. Or I'd pull too hard on the yoke and we'd float. Once (ok maybe twice) we bounced pretty hard.

Finally, C took the controls and demonstrated the pattern and approach. After that it started getting better, but then he had me start to make the radio calls. The radio bit was easy, but I was getting distracted and would let the altitude drop too much in the turns and so was still coming in flat.

C did pull the power for a simulated engine out once. We would not have made the runway, I completely mismanaged the situation. I didn't trim for best glide quickly enough and we lost a lot of altitude before turning final. We did a go-around and C pointed out what I was doing wrong. That was an eye-opener. There's no fooling around here, I have got to get this right. Finally, it all started to come together and I started to do better. The last three were ok. On one my final approach was a mess but salvaged it and managed a decent landing. For the next two I was more controlled all the way around and managed a good approach and a good landing. All in all I did 11 touch-and-goes and all of them were great learning experiences, especially the really ugly ones.

For the flight back our lovely tailwind turned into a vicious headwind that at times made seem to be barely moving at all. The ceiling was most definitely dropping though the Addison ATIS was still reporting a ceiling around 8000'. Sure enough, we passed under some low clouds and got rained on but then it opened up and was remarkably clear near the airport. This was the first time for me to fly in the rain and it was much less of an experience than I thought it would be. It was a light rain though but it did give the plane a nice washing ... except that graphite stuff. It's incredibly stubborn.

I'm on the schedule for a lesson tomorrow but we're going to play it by ear. If we get a good crosswind then we'll go do some crosswind landings. Otherwise we're going to do a ground school session.

This flight: 2.1 hours
Total: 15.3 hours

Lesson 10

2005-01-24T10:00:00.000-06:00

After yesterday's no-go because of high winds today I had two lessons scheduled. The first was just a ground school lesson. C had me use page flags and highlighters to mark all the relevant sections of the 2005 FAR/AIM. He was pretty thrilled that I had already done it so we spent a little time looking through the sections. The only thing specific that he wants me to focus on at the moment is 91.155 Basic VFR Weather Minimums. As for the rest of it ... "well just start memorizing it". Oy!

C had me pull out the Dallas Terminal Area Chart and he pointed at things on the chart and I had to tell him what they are. Not too hard, though I missed a few. Some I just blanked on but some I just flat didn't know. We also did this with the Dallas Sectional to cover things that were not represented on the other chart. Then C gave me a few minutes alone to absorb the weather minimums. When he came back he would point at a spot on the map and say, "we're at 3000', what are the weather minimums?"

What was easy for me to visualize reading the grid in the book was not so easy to visualize on the sectional. The minimums don't change that much for most of the controlled airspace, but the Class G rules really tripped me up. From now on when I study the minimums at home I'm going to do it with a sectional in front of me.

One interesting thing I learned was that the little yellow blocks denoting cities and towns are the actual dimensions of the towns lights when see from altitude at night. Now that's handy!

I also didn't realize until C told me that the victor airways, even when running through Class G airspace, are considered Class E controlled airspace.

Then we spent a half hour or so talking about emergencies, about the ABC flow (airspeed -- best field -- checklists) and stepping through some of the scenarios.

C mentioned again that he wants me to start studying for the written test. He said the sooner I get it out of the way the better as then I'll be able to concentrate on the cross-country training. So I picked up the Gleim study guide.

Later in the afternoon I returned for a flying lesson. While C was there at the desk when I arrived the plane wasn't back yet. So we went into the hangar to see if there was a Skyhawk to look at ... sure enough there was. One of the recent 172 SPs had the prop and cowling removed so that the entire engine and firewall was exposed. C pointed out the cylinders, magnetos, vacuum pump, fuel injector, spark plugs, etc. Some parts were removed so not everything was there. I did get a good look at the nose wheel and I was surprised to see how it's just bolted on to the bottom of the firewall. It didn't exactly look flimsy, but I expected something a little more robust. All in all the engine looks pretty straightfoward, like the one in my old Honda hatchback ... just minus the giant radiator.

About the time we were finished gawking P, one of the senior instructors, came out and we asked what the plane was in for. He showed us where the bottom of the firewall, just above the nose gear attachement points was wrinkled and bent. Someone had done a seriously hard nose landing in this plane! He told us that there's still an evaluation going on but at a bare minimum everything from the firewall forward would need to be replaced. I'm not sure if he meant the entire engine as well or just the structural parts. As far as the insurance company was concerned the plane was a total write off. Ouch!

Finally, N729SP returned from the previous lesson and I went out to preflight. It has been a week since my last flight and it really felt nice to get out there move around her .. flipping switches, looking for dents and dings, moving the control surfaces. Everything looked great and we had full fuel. So when C arrived I pulled out the towbar and we pulled her out to the line.

For the first time I tried to use my new flow to go through the start procedure without referring to the checklist line by line. It went pretty well ... started on the first try and I remembered to look at the oil gauges quickly. We got our clearance and taxied out to hold at alpha where we were subsequently cleared to taxi to runway 15. Again, for the runup I tried to do my flow and not go line-by-line through the checklist. I was so intent on the runup part that I did it before I did the controls check, which normally comes first. Regardless, I got them all done. I radioed the tower and we were cleared for takeoff.

The conditions were wonderful, winds 150 at 6 knots, skies clear, temp 6-degrees C, visibility 13 miles and altimeter 3044. We reached Vr pretty darn quick and I was able to trim out at a 75 kias climb. At 1300' I turned to the left and departed the pattern following Arapaho Road to the intersection with Preston where we turned left again and headed north to the practice area at 2000'.

Once in the practice area C had me climb to 3000' where he took the controls and asked me to pull the power to idle whenever I wanted. I did and he demonstrated an engine out emergency and landing. As a bonus, since we were surrounded by lovely flat fields, he picked one rather close and spiraled down over the approach end until we were at the right altitude to land. During the go around we only climbed to about 1500' where he had me pull the power again and he demonstrated an abbreviated version of the engine out emergency.

Now it was my turn. Back up to 2000' we went. No sooner had I trimmed for level flight C pulled back the power. OK, first bring the nose up to trade speed for altitude and then trim for 68 kias. I look out the window ... hey! where'd all those beautiful flat fields go!? Now everything looks hilly and covered in trees and surrounded by power lines. So I switch my attention back inside ... fuel selector both, cut-off valve in, mixture full rich, fuel pump on ... no engine restart ... ok, let's see cut-off valve out ...

"Where are you going to land?" C asks me.

Oh yeah, now I'm looking back outside. Everything still looks hilly except for one spot. There .. I point ... that's where we'll land. I start a turn toward the field.

"Watch your airspeed."

Where was I, oh yeah, mixture pulled out, fuel pump off, mag switch off, open the doors.

"OK, let's go around."

So I put in full power and we climb out. C walks me through it again. Let's see, do I have enough fingers to count the things I forgot? NO.

We did a couple more of these and with the last one I seemed to get the hang of it. I was able to pick out my field and get us down to the right height and attitude to successfully land. And I remembered to do most of the checklist steps.

Then we did one more where I picked a road to land on. The road was nice and straight and had no poles, power lines, etc near it. But instead of circling and landing on the beautiful bit right below me I just followed the road and did the checklist. By the time we got low enough to land on the road it had power lines running along one side. Doh!

Then we simulated a wing fire. It really took me a few seconds to remember what I needed to turn off ... oh yeah, lights, pitot heat. And we put the nose into a shallow dive and slip away from the flames to hopefully put the out.

After that we headed back in. I was so flustered over how I had done that I totally munged the radio calls to Regional Control and Addison Tower. We got clearance for a straight in landing to runway 15 and though I rode the glideslope white-over-white the whole way down I managed to pull off a good landing ... just the right amount of flare to touch down on the mains and just had to use moderate braking to stop us at the desired turnoff.

So, C said I did ok but I really wasn't happy with myself this time. I thought I was way too timid with the controls during the emergency simulations though I did do a good job holding the speed to around 68 kias. But I've got to work on the checklists and on setting up for landing. I think I was partly visualizing my landings in the context of the pattern at an airport. Cow pastures don't have patterns! If the field is to the right then turn right and go there. If it's to the left then turn left and go there. I don't need to waste time and altitude trying to conform to an imaginary traffic pattern.

I think the next lesson will be better. We agreed to only go on Saturday if the winds are giving us a healthy crosswind to play with. Otherwise, next Sunday we're going to do a longer flight to go up to Grayson County airport (GYI) where there's very little traffic to compete with and we're just going to do touch-and-goes and emergency drills.

This flight: 1.1 hours
Total: 13.2

Lesson No Go

2005-01-23T09:59:00.000-06:00

I was scheduled for a lesson at noon today but awoke to strengthening winds out of the north. Other than that it was a beautiful sunny day, light jacket weather.

I didn't hear from my instructor and I knew he had a lesson just before mine so I went ahead and collected my things and drove out to the airport. Parking I could see most of the planes tied down including 729SP, mine for today. Sure enough, when I opened the door C was sitting behind the desk leaving me a voice mail on my cell phone.

Well, my old cell phone. Two days ago I got a new one, a shiny Motorola flip phone ... I finally get to retire the Ericsson brick I've been carrying around.

Anyway, back to the story, C just shrugs his shoulders and says, "I don't know. You tell me if the wind is too strong."

Well, twice this morning I had checked the METAR reports online and the winds had gone from 10 kts sustained/20 kts gusting to 18 kts sustained/32 kts gusting. And driving up I noticed the flags all flying very stiffly straight out. So, yeah, if it was me alone I'd cancel.

"What about the winds aloft", he asks.

Ummmm I don't know.

"Why don't you call and get a local weather briefing and be sure to ask if there have been any pilot reports for North Dallas."

OK, so I have to admit something here. A couple of lessons back C had mentioned in passing, "Oh I want you to start getting a briefing before each flight. We'll talk about the weather." But then he'd never mentioned it again.

So, I all I had been checking the weather reports on the NWS - Aviation Weather Center web site, but I had not been calling the FSS for this area. I'm not clear yet on how all that works. And I hadn't gotten around to asking C about it. But I did know the phone number -- I'd programmed it into my shiny new cell phone. Did I mention I got a new cell phone? Ahhh gadgets.

Anyway, I wondered off into a corner and called. First up was a recording telling me all about the Prohibited area P-49 (otherwise known as Crawford, TX) and that I should check for the latest NOTAMS. Then I press the option for a briefer. She answers and asks for my registration number.

My mind goes blank ... oh yeah, 729SP.

"What time is your departure?"

Noon.

Then there's an uncomfortable silence. So I throw out, "I'd like a local weather briefing for the North Dallas area. I'm at Addison Airport, ADS."

"OK" she says. I can hear her typing for a second and then she starts talking a mile a minute! And here I am without a pencil or paper. Doh! But having been outside I already know what the general weather is like so I just concentrate on listening for wind speeds. She basically read me the latest METAR for Addison (which is same one I got on the computer before I left the house) and then gives me some winds aloft readings of which the only one I really catch is 3000' and 20 kts.

When she's done she asks me if there's anything else I'd like to know and I ask her about PIREPS. She says there hasn't been anything new today but that earlier this morning there was a PIREP for moderate turbulence under 5000'.

Thank you!

Wow, that wasn't so bad. But next time I'm going to be prepared and have something to write on.

I go back over to C and tell him what I found out and he tells me that a couple of instructors that went up this morning reported back turbulence as well. About this time Addison updated the weather report and the winds had strengthened a little. So we have a definite no go decision. That wasn't so hard.

I'm already on the schedule for Sunday at 4, but C also schedules me for 9 am. We're going to have a ground school session and talk about the written test, the FARs, the AIM (I'm to bring my book and a bunch of page flags, I already did this actually), and we're also going to go out in the maintenance hangar and meet the folks there and hopefully poke around the engine of a Skyhawk. I know that 729SP is scheduled for some maintenance in the morning tomorrow. Oh, and we're going to take a look at the Dallas sectional and terminal area charts so I'm to review the legend. This is easy ... I'm a bit of a map nut and when I started playing around with MS Flight Simulator a couple of years ago I went out and bought a set of sectionals to use.

So, no flying today but I still got a lesson!

Lesson 9

2005-01-16T09:57:00.000-06:00

This morning's lesson was to be about steep turns and forward slips and touch and goes. But it also turned into a lesson on frost.

I got to Monarch a little early for my 8 am appointment and since it was the first flight of the day the plane was ready for me to preflight. I noticed that the plane was covered in frost but I figured I'd go ahead and do my preflight to get it out of the way and then find out from my instructor, C, what they normally do about the frost. There were a few other students preflighting as well. And pretty soon the hangar doors opened and the instructors filed out to their students and had us pull the planes in.

We managed to fit three Skyhawks in what seemed like an already crowded hangar. Mine was just a whisker away from a Citation with the engine nacelles and the radome removed. When I stopped drooling I continued with my preflight. In the meantime the instructors got out the engine warmer ... essentially a small fire-breathing dragon on wheels ... and used it heat up the surface of the planes.

It really didn't take long at all, probably 15-20 minutes in all to get them clear. There was a solo student who's plane didn't make it into the hangar. So one of the instructors decided to hose it off with water ... I seem to remember my dad doing this with the car window when I was young. Mind you, the temperature was hovering right around freezing though the sun was starting to warm things up. He was hosing this plane in the shadow of the hangar though. So even though it was clear when he finished, by the time the student was doing her preflight she discovered icecycles hanging from the wings! Doh! I think they gave her a different plane.

Anyway, fun over and preflight done we hopped in and to save time C got the plane started and handled the radio getting clearances. I taxied us out to runway 33 (winds 340 at 10 knots) and we launched into the crisp morning air. With temperatures so low the Skyhawk climbed like a scalded cat! With hardly a blink we were level at 2000' and leaving the area.

We went into the North practice area and C demonstrated a 45-degree banking turn. He warned me that he was actually a bit rusty on these so I shouldn't expect much. But, of course, he performed it well within the PTS standards. Then it was my turn. I think I did six or eight full turns, first left and then right. I actually found the right turning ones easier as I could just line the left corner of the cowling up with the horizon. But I did have two consistent problems:

1) I initiated the turn with too little back pressure so the nose would start to drop. Though I generally kept the altitude variations with the test standards it was difficult to keep the nose from bobbing up and down across the horizon.

2) For the last 45 degrees of the turn I kept letting the bank angle degrade to around 30-degrees. I think I was over-anticipating the roll out. Well, that and for most of the turn I kept looking outside but then C would remind me to glance at my instruments and I'd do that and start letting the bank out. I need to practice glancing in and out of the cockpit without letting it affect what I'm doing to the controls.

Those were pretty fun!

Next we turned toward Denton to return to KDTO and do some more touch and goes. I had less of a problem finding the airport this time and again we were cleared to enter base from the right and then continue with a standard left pattern. I did five touch-and-goes with C helping me out on a couple of them. The runway is oriented toward 350 and the wind was from 340 at 10 knots so I had more to deal with than yesterday. I mostly had trouble with keeping aligned with the center line at the flare. I'd be ok coming in, maybe a tad too fast, then I'd start to flare and have to hold it off to let the speed go and I'd start drifting. I would use the rudder to get back over the center line but now that I think about it I'm not sure that's a good idea.

So I'm flaring and I'm just a few feet above the concrete and dropping. I start to drift off the centerline, if the runway is wide (say 100' or more) then wouldn't it be better on the landing gear to just get the plane aligned with its groundtrack when I touch down instead of trying to get back over the centerline? I'm thinking that in the process of trying to get back over the centerline if I touch down then I'm putting a side load on the landing gear. Right?

I should ask my instructor about this. I guess this is where my judgement as pic comes in, right? I should recognize that I'm drifting and get back over center quickly. But if I'm drifting too much or I don't recognize it early enough then perhaps I should go around!?

This time C let me do some of the radio work as well. All in all, I felt like I had a good enough workload but I did get behind the airplane a couple of times. For the next lesson C says we're going to go to an uncontrolled airport and do a boatload of landings. I'm really looking forward to that.

On the way back to Addison we had to stay under some clouds that were forming at 2600'. Believe it or not that's the first time I've seen low clouds during a lesson! Most of the time the ceiling is way up there or there's no clouds at all. It was neat ... they were kind of thin and whispy and were going full throttle so they went by in a hurry.

Coming in on downwind we were asked to watch for a plane on final and follow him. C radioed that we were looking and I spotted him first, he was down low on short final. C radioed that we had him in site and had me turn base. Once the guy was down and turning toward a taxiway I turned final. C helped me out in the flare again because I was a bit fast but it was an OK landing.

Even with all the excitement about the frost we still managed to fly 1.3 hours so it was a good lesson. Learned to do a steep turn and got some more landing practice in. During the week I plan on doing some chair flying and also trying out something I read in a magazine. A glider instructor has his students actually walk a pattern on the ground calling out the tasks they have to do. I think that sounds like a good way to visualize the whole process while also making your neighbors think you're crazy. Well, maybe I shouldn't hold my arms out like wings and make engine noises!

This flight: 1.3 hours
Total: 12.1 hours

Lesson 8

2005-01-15T09:56:00.000-06:00

My last lesson was a progress check and a flight-by-instruments lesson that went pretty well. Afterwards my instructor told me that my next lessons would focus on flying the pattern and landing.

So this afternoon, I arrived at Monarch about 20 minutes early to find that my plane was available. So I got the key and did a leisurely-paced preflight. This really helped to calm my before-lesson nerves. Today I was flying 2160Q, which is the plane I used for my first three or four lessons. I didn't find any squawks but I did notice that at one point it had one of the cowling fasteners and the surrounding metal repaired.

My instructor, C, arrived and did a quick preflight of his own before we hopped in. He told me we'd fly up to Denton Airport to do some pattern work and that today would really just be an introduction to landings, nothing too strenuous.

Before C got there and after my preflight was done I sat in the cockpit and walked through the steps to start the plane. And so when we were ready to go and I started the engine it went like a piece of cake. The practicing had helped. I might do that again ... maybe before a morning flight when I know no one else is going to have the plane ... get there early and do some "dry" runs with the checklist, etc. I had tried "chair flying" before but this was one step better! ha

Today the weather was beautiful ... temp 12-degrees C, winds 350 at 9 knots, clear skies, no clouds below 12,000'. We've got an area of high pressure sitting on us, the altimeter was 3052.

So, I taxied us out to runway 33 and we took off and turned to a heading around 320 to go to Denton, which is not far. I was pretty proud of myself on the way out there. I was able to get to altitude, level off, trim the plane and hold the heading without thinking about it all too much. The hardest part was when C asked me to point out the Denton airport. I really had a hard time spotting it. Considering that I haven't done much airport spotting from 2000' before I shouldn't be too hard on myself. Eventually I got it and we called the tower and got permission for touch and goes.

We were instructed to enter the base leg from the right. C took the controls and demonstrated a landing and takeoff and the pattern. When we were turning final for the second touch he trimmed the plane for the descent and handing over the controls. I wasn't too nervous because C kept his fingers on the control wheel just in case. It went pretty well though it all seems a blur now. After touchdown I put in full power and we went back up.

From then on we just went around the pattern (standard pattern) about 7 or 8 times (we put 7 in the logbook). To tell you the truth it all went pretty easy. The runway at Denton (KDTO) is oriented 17-35 so the wind was coming right down the runway at first. Toward the end it started to change a bit because I was having to move the controls more to keep the centerline. I guess the weather was cooperating to give me a good day to learn landings.

Instead of listing what all I did ... as you know there's a lot going on in a short amount of time ... let me tell you about the things that I need to work on.

1) Adding right rudder when doing the takeoff. I mention this because (to me) I was not getting this right consistently. Just about the time I rotated we'd be drifting to the left off the centerline.

2) Keep an eye on the vasi. I would notice it when I turned onto final, but then I wouldn't pay any more attention to it. Instead I would keep my eyes glued on the runway itself to see if it was changing shape or if my "spot" was moving up or down (or sideways).

3) Scan for traffic, don't depend on the tower. I was looking but usually it was after C made the comment "clear of traffic on the 45", etc. Perhaps I was just too absorbed with everything else since it was new. I guess like scanning for traffic during the straight-and-level portion of the flight it'll get easier and feel more natural the more comfortable I become.

You may recall that one of my earlier lessons was with another instructor who took me to McKinney Airport (KTKI) where we flew the pattern and did two touch-and-goes. At the time it wasn't really to teach me how to do it but just to introduce me to the pattern. I just remember that it seemed like everything happened really fast and my brain couldn't process it all.

This time, however, everything just seemed to happen at the right pace. I suppose it was a combination of there being little crosswind, little other traffic, and my having time to do a leisurely preflight so I was comfortable and ready to go by the time my instructor arrived.

On the way back, C told me that he was surprised that I did so well the first time. He really only meant for me to do a couple of touch-and-goes because that's normally how the first time goes. But since I seemed to have the hang of it we kept going until the sun was going down. The fun really begins when we get a healthy crosswind to work with, he told me.

C did show me a short approach landing (which the tower asked us to do to clear traffic) and on our last run he took the controls to demonstrate ground effect. This was a blast. C came down on a low approach, picking up speed until we were in the yellow arc and we flew down the entire length of the runway sitting on top of the ground effect cushion. I was a bit surprised to find that I really could feel it ... and it really did feel like a cushion. At the end of the runway he pulled up into a banking turn out of the pattern and back toward Addison. Not something that I intend to do myself but it was fun.

My next lesson is tomorrow morning at 8 am and the forecast is for clear skies, lots of sun and no clouds and the wind stays out of the North. However, it's going to be a bit colder and the wind a bit stronger. So I probably still won't have a crosswind but it'll be a perfect day for a beginner like me.

BTW, I picked up a copy of "Stick and Rudder" by Wolfgang Langewiesche and it is fascinating. I highly recommend it.

This flight: 1.5 hours
Total: 10.8 hours

Lesson 7

2005-01-09T09:55:00.000-06:00

Progress check time. Actually, in the Cessna curriculum flight 6 is a flight with a chief instructor who introduces you to instrument flying and then might ask you to do a couple of things you've learned to see how you're progressing.

I had my last lesson just this morning so I went home to decompress. I'm really working myself up about this prog check and I don't know why. The little movie that keeps playing in my head is of an old guy pointing me out and saying, "hey you, you're not a pilot. You're just pretending. Get out of here." I know it sounds silly but I suppose after what I went through to get the medical I just keep expecting something to happen that would keep me from flying. And the idea of flying with someone who is suppose to be judging my performance is a little intimidating.

So I eat a bowl of soup and I lay down on the floor and try to empty my mind. The zen of flying. =;-)

Soon enough it's time and I hop back in the car and drive over to Monarch. There are three chief instructors and my lesson is with P whom I've seen around there before, I just didn't know who he was. We chit chat for a bit and then he checks out the plane and sends me on my way to preflight.

As I walk out I notice that there are two other planes being preflighted. I walk down the flight line and when I get to the end I realize that my plane isn't there. What the .... ! I make the walk again double-checking the tail numbers until I realize that one of the planes being preflighted is mine.

I walk over and politely ask the guy to check which plane he's suppose to be in. He looks at his paper and realizes he has the wrong plane (even though the key fit the lock!) so he moves down the line to another plane. I start getting my stuff settled and I realize that I left my fuel tester in the plane I flew this morning. Doh! So I lock up everything and turn to go in and ask if that plane's here when I realize that the guy who had the wrong plane is preflighting the plane I drove this morning. So I walk over and ask him if he minds if I look inside. I could tell from the look on this face when I walked up he was thinking ... "now what!?".

Sure enough, there's my fuel tester. Whew! But before I leave the guy starts asking me questions. Here's the deal ... he wanted to fly the plane that got checked out to me. That actually was the plane he scheduled. And I had originally scheduled the plane the he's preflighting because I wanted to fly the same plane for both lessons today. Confused? Somehow the planes we scheduled got switched and this guy thinks the rate on both planes is different. So he asks if it's ok with me to switch? Sure, I don't have a problem with that. So he takes off with the paper work for both planes and I gather my stuff and move to 729SP and start another preflight.

After a while P comes out and meets me and he's got the corrected paperwork. We have a good laugh about the whole thing and I start to feel more relaxed. P seems like a really nice guy and not intimidating at all. And the ridiculousness of the swapped planes just makes me want to giggle. So we hop in the plane and get the engine fired up.

It's noon on a beautiful Sunday and again everyone and their grandmother wants to go flying. So it takes us nearly ten minutes until there's a break in the ground traffic to get clearance to taxi. When we get out to runway 15 there must be about six other aircraft out there ... everything from another Cirrus, to a twin Seminole, to a Boeing Stearman.

Finally, our turn comes and I lift off and we start following Preston Road north to the practice area. P says, "I hate to spoil the view for you but I need you to put these on." And he hands me a pair of frosted safety glasses.

I put them on and P gives me the finer points of flying by instruments alone. The main two instruments to watch is airspeed and attitude. As long as I keep the little ball centered on the horizon line then I'm going to stay level and I can tell because my airspeed stays constant. If you let it rise or fall even just a little then you see a definite change in airspeed and then you can see your altitude changing. Same goes for keeping the wings level using the attitude indicator.

Seems pretty simple. P has me do an ascent and a descent and then some turns to various headings. And I think we did a climbing turn in there too. All in all, it is pretty simple. As long as I keep the changes small then the plane doesn't get away from me.

This is where I think all those hours flying the Microsoft Flight Simulator have paid off!

Finally I get to take the glasses off and then P asks me to show him a turn-around-a-point. So I descended to 1700' and slowed to 100 kias and picked out a spot pretty quickly that had some good obvious key points around it and I managed to do a pretty good turn. We went around the point twice and then he asked for an s-turn. There was a road right ahead of us so I just headed straight toward it and did one s-turn and I managed to cross the road perpendicular and wings level both times! Not perfect, mind you, but much better than any I have done yet.

Afterwards we climbed back up to 2500' and I turned to the south because we were getting to the northern boundary of the practice area. P asked me, what would you do if the engine quit right now. Hmmmm well, first I'd drop the nose and trim for best glide which is 65 kias in this plane. And then I'd find a place to land. "OK", he says, "where"?

Well, how about that field I suggest. "It looks like a good field but do you think we'd make it that far?" he asks. I don't really know, I can't really visualize from here how far we'd get. So with that he pulls back the power and we start a 65 kias glide. Oh! I quickly realize that the field I picked out is too far. From 2000' we're not going to get far.

P points out that I should pick a field that I can see out my left window because anything I pick out of the right window will disappear when I turn. And if I happen to have a field right under me that's perfect because we've already made the field ... we just need to descend in a spiral to land in it.

He asks me what else I would do and we discuss changing the transponder code and making a call on the emergency radio frequency and opening the doors to prevent them getting stuck if we have a hard landing. I mention all kinds of things except "following the engine-out checklist". Doh! Lesson learned.

With that he says let's head back in and we turn toward Addison. After landing and taxiing back in we de-brief and he tells me that I don't need to be nervous about flying with him because his job isn't to fail people. That's what the FAA Examiner is for. The worst that I would hear from P is that my instructor and I need to do some more work on something. He was pretty encouraging and said that I handled the plane well and am progressing satisfactorily. So my next lessons will focus on landings. Yeah!

I showed up today nervous about missing three weeks of flying and nervous about being "tested" but everything went pretty darn well. I'm doing the right things and I'm cleared to continue to the next big task.

So next weekend C and I will go to either Collin County (TKI) or Denton Airport (DTO) to start learning how to land. Even better news is that my boss gave me clearance to begin taking a morning lesson during the week and come in to work late. So soon I'll be taking three lessons a week.

This flight: 1.3 hours
Total: 9.3 hours

Lesson 6

2005-01-09T09:54:00.000-06:00

I schedule this and my next lesson on the same day because my next lesson is to be a progress check. Today's flight was really just a review of the things I've already been exposed to. It has been nearly three weeks since my last lesson and though I've been reading about flying and visualizing maneuvers in my head I'm a little worried about being rusty.

The ATIS report this morning (around 8 am) at Addison was 6-degrees C and dewpoint 6-degrees C. Wind from 140 at 6 knots which I'll find out later is only at the surface. Altimeter is 3022.

So I preflight the Skyhawk, this is my first flight in N729SP, and I actually find a couple of minor things this time. The taxi light is out, the nose wheel is a wearing more on one side than the other, and the mixture control is really really stiff. Other than that it looks good to go. When my instructor, C, joins me I learn that the left tire blew out during a landing the day before. Hmmm I thought that tire looked pretty good ... turns out ... it's new!

After we get the ATIS and I'm finishing the before taxi checklist we hear a Cirrus ask to taxi for departure. Turns out he's just down the way from us. As a matter of fact there's four or five nice new Cirrus' sitting down there. C says he thinks they're giving demonstration rides. As a matter of fact the one that is departing is owned by a student pilot and he's made a deal with the Cirrus dealer here to use it as a demonstration model. So I'm guessing that C knows all of this because the guy is getting his instruction at Monarch.

Today, C tells me that since this flight is really just a review he's going to sit back and let me run the show and he'll only give me help if I ask for it or I miss something. Sounds like fun. I get clearance and we taxi out to runway 15 and do the runup. Everything checks out and we lift off and follow the Cirrus out to the North. Dang that's a beautiful plane, awefully expensive, but beautiful.

Once we're trimmed out at 2000' and going North we talk a little more about the Cirrus. C likes the idea of having a BRS parachute but not on training aircraft. He says that he heard about a student pilot who recently pulled the chute when his battery gave out. That's a waste because the plane was perfectly flyable, he said. The guy should have declared an emergency and landed as quickly as possible. The best use for the BRS is when you get into an unrecoverable spin, for example.

This was interesting to hear because I've recently read several articles in magazines and online about the controversy around BRS parachutes. Sounds like this is shaping up to be another one of those "discussion" points like should you crab or side slip to the runway in a crosswind.

C did indeed sit back and just let me fly. First he asked me to do a turn-about-a-point. So I went into the spiel and got set up. The wind up at 1700' was out of 210 or 220 and it was much stronger than 6 knots. Going to the practice area we were doing around 145 kts ground speed. I say I got set up to start the maneuver but actually I had to abandon my first point and pick another because by the time I got turned to come at it downwind I was practically over it.

The first turn was more of an amoeba than a circle. So I set up to do it again and dang it felt like I was flying pretty far away from it but the wind was so strong that by the time I got turned around I was practically on top of the target. This time I did more of an oval than an amoeba so ... progress.

C mentioned that I wasn't verbalizing my key points. Oh, maybe that's because I wasn't picking out key points. Doh! The next try I did just that, I pick my four key points and flew over them instead of looking at my central point. Bing bong! That did the trick. I still didn't do a circle but it was very much closer. This time we circled the target a couple of times and by the last time I was making a pretty good circle.

Even though the circle got better I wasn't doing a good job of keeping my altitude constant. At least, I was recognizing that I was low and I would correct it, but it would degrade to just the practical test limits before I noticed. I really need to watch for that.

Next he asked to see S-turns across a road. Coming out of the last turn there was a road right ahead of us so I picked that as my target. Usually an s-turn is just two turns ... enter on downwind, turn, cross the road, turn the other direction, cross the road, exit the maneuver.

Today I did s-turns up and down the road. As soon as I would finish the maneuver I would turn the opposite way and do it again. It seemed like we did dozens but it actually was only about four. They weren't too hard this time. I did come out flat ahead of the road once and I another time I wasn't perpendicular to the road when I crossed it but all in all they went pretty well.

At the end of the last one C noticed a flock of birds flying very low. It was a flock of maybe 200-300 small white birds, maybe cranes(?) and they were flying back and forth across the empty fields. The birds stood out well against the green and brown background but then you could also see their shadows on the ground so it looked like two flocks of birds flying together. Utterly beautiful!

They were keeping really low to the ground so we followed them for a bit and I tried to do a turn-around-a-flock but it didn't work to well. They moved on, so I ended up with a turn-around-an-empty-field.

After that bit of revelry C suggested we go up to 3000' to do a departure stall. Weeeeeee I've been waiting for this. Got stablized at 3000' ... pulled the power back to idle and slowed to 55 kias before putting in full power and pulling the nose up. Damned if I didn't get the plane uncoordinated again! The ball was swinging left to right.

C suggested that I was pulling up the nose to high like I was trying to stand the plane on its tail. He took over and demonstrated a departure stall keeping the nose at about 20-degrees up (on the attitude indicator). Then I took control and performed another one the way he showed me. This time it went much better! I kept the ball (mostly) centered and recovered quickly.

Then he asked for a power-off stall. No problem. Back up to 3000' and then slow and pitch for a 75 kias descent until we got to 2700' and then I started the flare. Pulled the nose way up, we stalled and the nose dropped, I put in full power and right rudder and back up we went. Piece of cake!

That's it for today, let's head back in ... but first something new. North Dallas has an inversion layer sitting over it. If you're on the ground the sky looks bright blue with some thin clouds waaaaaay up there. And when you're in a Skyhawk at 2500' it looks the same if you look up. But if you look ahead or to the sides it looks like you're flying inside a smokestack. The visibility was about 7 or 8 miles. So, C looks at me and asks, "what lake is that over there?" Ummm, maybe it's Lake Lewisville, maybe it's Lake Ray Roberts, I'm not really sure. So he suggests asking Approach Control for a vector to Addison. And before I can key the mike he adds, "be sure to announce yourself and your intentions first."

Me: "Approach Control, Skyhawk 729 Sierra Papa is two-zero miles north of Addison inbound for full stop."
AC: "Skyhawk 29 Sierra Papa, squawk 3676."
Me: "Squawk 3676, 729 Sierra Papa."
C: Pointing at my lapboard where I wrote down the ATIS info. "You forgot to tell them you had Bravo."
Me: "Should I tell them now?"
C: "No, it's ok, they'll ask if they want to know. Put in the squawk code."
Me: I'm reaching my finger out to the buttons on the transponder when I realize my mind is a blank!
Me: "Ummm do you remember the code?"
C: "ahhhh, you could ask them again."
Me: "yeah, I guess I'll have to."
C: "Maybe next time. This time just remember to be ready to type the code in as soon as they say it. The code is 3676."
Me: punching in the code and kicking myself

He probably would have made me ask again but Approach was getting pretty busy.

I drove until we were on final and then C took over to land the plane. We taxied back and de-briefed. C told me to not sweat about the progress check, to just consider it another lesson.

So then I drove home. I have two hours until my next lesson and I'm starting to feel a little anxious about it.

This flight: 1.6 hours
Total: 8 hours

Lesson 5

2004-12-21T09:52:00.000-06:00

After my last lesson my instructor, C, mentioned that I should check out some of the other Skyhawks so I wouldn't get too used to just one aircraft. So this time out we used N432SP which is a 1999 Skyhawk 172S with 4000 hours on the Hobbs. Preflighting this plane was just what I expected ... everything is a little looser, a little noisier, a little faded. And little things are different. Like the headset plugs are near the armrest and have little metal flaps over them. In N2160Q they were on the panel.

It took two tries to get the engine started this time. But I wasn't blanking on what to do this time. The mixture control on this plane feels like it's rusted so you really have to put some muscle behind it to move the thing. So the first starting attempt I couldn't get the mixture rich fast enough to keep the engine alive. But the second time went great.

I called up ground control and taxied us out to a hold position at taxiway A, which is the main taxiway paralleling the runway. There we had to let a Citation X go by first before we were cleared on A in front of a helicopter. I'm not sure the make but it looked sort of like a Bell Agusta. In the runup area we were second in line behind a Mooney. But behind us was a King Air, then a Pilatus, then a couple more Cessna piston singles. I suppose that we had clear skies, 60-degrees Fahrenheit, and bad weather projected for tomorrow had something to do with it.

Soon we were cleared to take off on runway 15 and so I taxied out following the short S-turn from the runup area onto the runway, kept it moving and lined up and let her rip. C told me to hold a constant 75 kias climb out and I had a little trouble with that. Instead we were mostly between 80 and 85 kias. Later, C told me that since there's a lot of buildings south of the airport when he says hold 75 he means 75, not about 75. Point taken.

Today we went to the far northern edge of the north practice area where we had the fewest homes and we did turns about a point on the ground and s-turns over a road. C did the first turn-about-a-point and ran me through the whole process, which involves a lot more than just turning. In the future, if an instructor asks me to show a turn-about-a-point I am to ...

1) Decide what altitude I will do the maneuver (approximately 1000' AGL) and announce it
2) Pick out a spot on the ground and announce it
3) Determine the wind direction and announce it
4) Clear the area and descend to my target altitude, noting any obstructions in the area, such as towers
5) Announce where you'll go if the engine quits (this is Texas cattle country, there's lots of level open space ... just watch out for the cattle)
6) Reduce speed to 100 kias and trim for level flight
7) Enter the maneuver on the downwind ... I can take as much time as I want for this because it is important that I enter the maneuver in stable level flight with a tailwind
8) Maneuver so that the chosen point is 3/4 the way up my left spar
9) Begin a turn to the left and look for my first target point
10) Fly arcs from one target point to another keeping an even distance from the chosen center spot
11) Exit on downwind

Once C flew the circumference of the first circle he turned the controls over to me and I continued the circle around the point two more times. Then I exited on downwind and started the whole process over again looking for my own spot.

You know, it was really hard picking out a spot! I finally chose a road that made three 90-degree bends with the center bend being my target. Of course, I didn't make a perfect circle but I at least got halfway around before my circle turned into an oval. At least it was a parallelagram!

Next we went and found a pretty decent road and did S-turns. C did a couple and then turned the controls over to me. I managed to do a couple of decent turns and then a couple of bad ones. For two of them my wings were just not quite lined up with the road. On the last one I flattened out waaaay before I got to the road. But by that time we realized that the wind had swung around from South to North! No wonder I flattened out!

After that we climbed up to 3000' and C asked me to demonstrate a power-off stall. I managed to do it correctly but I fumbled my way through it. C has switched teaching tactics on me. During the last lesson he talked me through the steps but this time he just said "show me" and sat there and watched. Ohhhh the silence!

I climbed back up to 3000' and he said, "show me a power-on stall". So I set it up but, again, I was slow bleeding off my airspeed and wasn't forceful enough on the controls and ended up uncoordinated during the stall. After recovery, C walked through the steps again and then had me demonstrate it and I got it right ... mostly. I still didn't get the airspeed down quickly enough, but I did do a better job of using the rudder to keep the ball centered and the wings level.

And it wasn't nearly as stomach-churning as the last time.

Then, alas, our time was up and we had to book it back into Addison. It was just as busy as when we left and the traffic was just as interesting. On the way back in we passed the Cavanaugh Museum's T6 out giving a joy ride and holding at runway 33 was their bright yellow Stearman. What a beautiful plane.

Sure enough, Addison had switched from using runway 15 to runway 33. Entering the pattern C demonstrated a forward slip to get us down from 2500' to pattern altitude of 1600'.

So, my big lesson I learned today ... besides how to make turns-about-a-point and s-turns over a road ... was that I need to be more forceful about flying the plane. C isn't going to talk me through stuff I've already practiced. I know the steps, I just need to do them and stop looking to him for hints or approval. I need to start acting like PIC ... this is my plane because I'm flying it.

C suggested I have one more lesson where we practice more maneuvers using ground reference (and stalls I added) and also have a talk about spins. Then after that one I need to schedule a progress check ride with one of the senior instructors.

This flight: 1.7 hours
Total time: 6.4 hours

Lesson 4

2004-12-19T09:49:00.000-06:00

Today's weather is beautiful (Sunday). Clear skies, high of 56-degrees Fahrenheit, calm wind from the north/northwest. Monarch is super busy because everyone and their grandmother wants to go flying. I show up early and before my ride has come back from the previous lesson, so I hang out in the pilot store looking at the books.

I'm both excited and anxious about today's lesson because I know we're going to cover stalls.

I have experienced a stall in a small plane before. For my last birthday my wife and her sister bought me a ride in a Stearman Biplane at Addison's Cavanaugh Air Museum (http://www.cavanaughflightmuseum.com/CFMMain.html) and during that ride the pilot did two stalls, some lazy eights and a chandelle. But I was along for the ride and not at the controls.

The plane arrives and I get checked out and start the preflight. There are three other planes getting preflighted at the same time. Plus one is leaving just as I walk out there. I have to call the fuel truck because the tanks are half full (or half empty? =;-0) and C arrives after I've finished everything but sumping the tanks. We talk while we wait for the truck. He asks me how it went with M. I didn't tell him about how rattled I was during the whole thing but I do tell him about the crosswind touch-and-goes. He says not to worry because we won't be doing any landings today ... well, ok, just one.

The truck arrives and we get fueled. The engine start goes much better than the day before, though I push in the mixture too early. I just can't quite the timing of it right! My new headset works great and so I call ground control and request to taxi. I then move us out to the runup area of runway 33. The runup goes OK and I request clearence for takeoff. We get it and I move us out on the runway and we take off. After we pass through 1100' MSL I make a small turn to the right so we're heading due North at 2000'.

Since there's so much traffic out there we spend quite a bit of time clearing the area once we get to the practice area. Then C asks me to show him slow flight. So I pull back power to 1500 RPM and pull the nose up to maintain my altitude (which I actually manage to do!). Then I add in some power to maintain 45 kias ... actually it was more like 48. Then C asks me to make some turns and I do that, using a 10-degree bank. "Ok, that's good". Now comes the fun part.

I do a cruise climb to 3000' and then C takes over and shows me a power off stall. Power back ... nose up ... under 110 kias put in first step of flaps ... in the white arc put in full flaps ... hold speed at 65 kias ... put the nose down like we're landing. "Let's pretend that 2700' is the ground. At 2800' I'll power back to idle and start my flare," C says. Then when flaring he pulls the nose way up and we stall. Nose down, full power, right rudder, but don't let the nose drop too far, try to stay above 2700'. We pick up speed and then start climbing, pull in the flaps one step then wait three seconds and do it again. Then once we're over 65 kias and have positive rate of climb we pull in the last bit of flaps. And we're climbing back to 3000'. "That's it, any questions? Now you do it."

Hmmm this isn't too bad. I can feel the plane buffet just like books say and the nose drops like a rock, just like the books says. This is kinda like riding a roller coaster. So we three or four power off stalls.

Then C says, now let's do a power on stall. We clear the area again and he pulls the power back and slows to 65 kias. Then he both pushes in full power and pushes on the right rudder and we start climbing at this absurd angle until the speed falls off and we stall. Wooooooooooaaaaaaaaahhhhh I think I'm gonna hurl!

It's not the nose drop so much as it is the wing drop that is making my stomach heave.

"The important thing here is to keep the plane coordinated up to and during the stall and don't turn the control wheel. It's a natural reaction when a wing drops but it'll just make it worse. The first thing you will always do is drop the nose. Now you do it."

Well, I'm still a little timid at the controls so when I put in full power and started the climb I wasn't pulling back on the yoke fast enough and so we'd just climb and climb and climb until finally I'd feel the buffet and the nose would drop. The problem is that cold air out there and the fact we're in a Skyhawk which is built to climb. It just doesn't want to stall. So the longer we're in the climb trying to drain off airspeed the more time I have to get the plane uncoordinated which is exactly what I did one time.

I'd feel the buffet and then I'd drop the nose just enough that we'd pull back from the stall and so C would say, "pull the nose up". I think in all we did four or five power on stalls before we had to head back.

For the first time I thought, "Chester, wtf are you doing out here?" But I know that this is really important. I need to master this so that I never put myself in a position where I can unintentionally stall. And I need to master it because I can't be afraid of it. If I'm afraid of it then I'm going to get myself killed some day. So during the debriefing I asked C if we could do more stalls during the next lesson. "Don't worry," he said. "There'll be lots more stalls." !!

He told me that he thinks there are two things that you really must learn inside and out ... stalls and landing. If you've got them mastered then you'll have no problems with everything else. And he mentioned that I won't be working on landings for another three or four lessons, so for now I can just focus on stalls and slow flight.

Good! Now I'm actually looking forward to the next lesson (2 days from now) and doing some more stalls.

This flight: 1.2 hours
Total time: 4.7 hours

Lesson 3

2004-12-18T09:46:00.000-06:00

It's Saturday morning, 0800 local (1400Z), and the sun has risen to crystal clear skies above and to the south and high clouds and colder air coming from the north. My instructor, C, has arranged for another instructor (let's call him M) to take me up when C has the day off, which he often does on the weekends.

So I arrive early and start preflighting the plane, 2160Q again, and it goes fine. M arrives and asks me what C and I did during the last lesson and then he asks me some questions about the plane, which I get right and wrong. He asks me how the control services are connected to the flight controls and I say the rudder and elevators are by cable and the ailerons are by push rod. Wrong! They're all connected by cable in a Skyhawk. Doh. Now, remember that it has been a full week since my first two lessons and now I'm a little rattled.

We get in and do the before engine start checklist and then I try to fire up the engine. My brain farts and I have my right hand on the throttle instead of the mixture so the engine dies. M reaches up and pushes in the mixture quick but it's too late. So we try again and this time I get the timing right. So now I'm a little more rattled.

Then I use the radio communication cheatsheet that C gave me last week to request permission to taxi. M is giving me this funny look and the ground controller asks me to repeat my request. I thought I sounded funny in my borrowed headset but what I didn't realize is that the microphone is cutting out so only 1 of 3 words is getting out. We discuss shutting down and swapping them out, but M suggests we keep going and I just focus on flying and he'll handle the radio (though I'm suppose to write down what I hear). That's fine by me. So we get clearance and start taxiing. Dang, I just can't find the right amount of nosewheel pressure to hold a straight line so we're all over the place. Now I'm even more rattled.

During the runup we discover that the left magneto is fouled again. I discover that M's technique is different from C's in that he does the steps in a different order. With the engine at 1800 RPM he leans the mixture until we get an RPM drop and then we run the engine up to 2200 RPM. C does it the other way around. Of course, it works and the next test shows a minimal RPM drop on the left magneto.

After we get clearance I taxi out onto the runway and manage to perform a decent takeoff. We turn to the East and climb to 2000' and cruise out to the East practice area which is over and beyond Lake Lavon. The view is spectacular of the Dallas skyline and I can easily see all the major landmarks ... Lake Lavon, Downtown Dallas, the tollway corridor (tall buildings that mark where Addison Airport is located), Lake Lewisville to the north, and Lake Ray Hubbard, which is south of Lake Lavon.

Now I'm starting to calm down and I feel more comfortable. I trim the plane to fly straight and level at 2000' and now we're, sort of, chatting about what we're going to cover in the lesson and sightseeing while we scan for traffic. I notice that I've got a bit of a breeze hitting me in the face so I reach over to roll the air vent away from me and the little vent ball pops out and into my hand! Now I've got a blast of air hitting me in the face! All I can do is look at M and say, "ummm sorry." He says, "don't worry about it" and takes the ball from me.

After passing over Lake Lavon we do some clearing turns and then we practice more slow flight. Power back ... raise the nose ... maintain altitude ... put more power back in once we pass 50 kias. Then we try some gentle turns, a 180-degree turn and then 90-degree back to the right. This is pretty easy except I have trouble keeping my altitude, though I don't think we lost more than 200-300'. And I don't think I consistently held the speed down to 45 kias like M wanted, I think the airspeed hovered around 50 mostly.

Then M had me to some constant-speed ascents and descents. All pretty easy. So then we decide to head over to Collin County Regional Airport (KTKI) to fly around the pattern. We descend to pattern altitude and are given clearance to enter on right base for runway 35. We enter the base leg and slow under 110 kias and drop the first 10-degrees of flaps. At 80 kias we turn final and I get introduced to crosswind landings! I can't remember the wind speed but it was strong and coming from 330 degrees. So M talked me through doing a touch-and-go and I had a really hard time keeping the plane centered on the runway. M never stated that he had the controls so we both kept our hands and feet in the right places and guided the plane down, but I could tell that he really did have control of the plane. Which is fine, because though I've read about this a million times it's not anything like experiencing it for the first time.

We've got all three wheels down and we're rolling and M states that I have control and says "give it full power and let's go around." So I do just that. Flying the pattern turns out to be pretty easy. I raise the flaps and push the throttle all the way in and give it some right rudder. We lift off and ascend to 500' above the ground before turning to the right (yep, non-standard pattern) on crosswind. After a few seconds, because we've now got a healthy tail wind, we turn to the right again and line up parallel to the runway. We reach 1600' MSL and I level off, trim and pull the power back so we stay at around 90 kias.

I can hear over the radio that there's another Cessna on final so we look for it and spot it by the time it's on short final. Then the tower clears us to land so we turn base when the runway is at a 45-degree angle from our tail. I pull back the power and put the flaps down 10-degrees. We start to descend and I turn final after a few seconds. I leave the plane crabbed into the wind until we're about 500' AGL and then I push in the right rudder to point the nose down the runway and then start dancing with the ailerons to keep the plane headed the right direction. Well, dancing isn't the right word. It feels more like I'm flapping my wings like a goony bird. So M steps in and helps me keep the center line. About 100' above the runway we start the flare and just as we're about to touch down a bird appears out of no where flies across our nose. We're both startled and so we balloon a little before touching down.

I know that bird was small but at the time it looked HUGE. Like a condor. =;-)

I raise the flaps and put in the power and we're off again. At some point there M requests clearance to depart the pattern and we turn to the left to return to Addison. By now the cold front is getting closer and it feels like the clouds are just looming over Dallas. All too soon we're back at Addison and landing. This landing goes much smoother as the runway is oriented towards 330 degrees and again I'm not actually doing the landing but I've got my hands and feet on the controls to feel what's going on.

I taxi us back to Monarch and secure the plane.

During the debriefing M tells me not to sweat the touch-and-goes at TKI. He said that crosswinds aren't even introduced into the training until much later and so it really wasn't fair to throw me into that situation. But then, on the other hand it was realistic and I still managed to fly a good pattern even though I needed a lot of his help on the actual landing phase. By the time I got home I needed to lay down for a while to decompress!

Overall, this was still a lot of fun. Overwhelming, but fun. As I laid there running over the lesson in my mind and trying to relax I had a huge grin on my face.

But the really good news of the day was that my new headset arrived later that afternoon, so no more borrowed headsets!

This flight: 1.3 hours
Total time: 3.5 hours

Lesson 2

2004-12-12T09:44:00.000-06:00

Wooohooo! This is a blast!

Had my second lesson this morning. It went great. Like I mentioned yesterday the weather is perfect, clear sky, only a slight southern wind and temperature in the mid 50s (Fahrenheit). I was the first lesson of the day and got there just before sunrise. C had me go out and start the preflight. I was a little nervous doing this the first time alone and I probably checked everything three times. I had to call the fuel company to get a truck sent over. C came out about the time the truck showed up and followed me while I finished the check. I noticed that he also checked some things like the fuel and oil.

We tugged the plane out onto the line, got in and I ran through the startup checklist. Note to self ... gotta remember throttle in = more power, throttle out = less power. I keep pushing it in when I mean to pull it out.

Starting with the taxi C had me do everything from then on. He only took over control when we were on short final to land. Today was a repeat of what I learned yesterday except this time C would call out and altitude and then I had to ascend or descend and trim out the plane to straight and level. We did a couple of those, then he threw some ascending and descending turns in there. We also pretended like he was ATC and was giving me vectors to fly, so I had to repeat his commands to him with our callsign. We also did slow flight and a go-around at 3000'. Man, during the go-around you really have to put some muscle into it to keep the nose of the plane up ... at least, until I could trim some of that out.

It was surprising to me just how much noise full flaps produce. C mentioned that when I start practicing landings I'll be restricted to just 10-degrees of flaps.

We basically just flew around the practice area so that I could get a feel for the boundaries.

I know I'm getting a better feel for how the plane responds to the controls. I had less of a problem getting to and holding an altitude or a heading, but I had to think real hard to perform the steps in the right order, or not skip something. I know that'll get easier with practice.

I need to get my own headset now. So far they've loaned me different headsets and they've all been OK until today. The cheapy pair I wore really pinched my head and by the end of the flight it was a huge relief to take them off. I'm sold on getting an ANR set but now I gotta shop for the lowest price. Comfort-wise I really like the David Clarks and the Flightcom Denali. I have a Sporty's rebate on the Telex Stratus 50-D model but when I tried them on at Monarch I didn't like the feel at all. The holes in the padding for your ears is too small so the padding actually sits on my ears. I'd have to fold my ears to fit them inside the padding. Ick!

The hardest part about the lessons so far is that now I have to wait five whole days before my next lesson!!! At least I've got MS Flight Simulator to sorta fill the gap.

My First Lesson

2004-12-11T09:42:00.000-06:00

I now have 1 hour in my logbook.

It's been over two hours since I returned from the airport and I'm still grinning ear to ear. My instructor, I'll call him C, and I went through a detailed preflight of Cessna 172S N2160Q. This went pretty much as I expected and he said that I would be responsible for this from now on. He didn't introduce me to any of the mechanics but he told me they are all approachable and that I shouldn't hesitate to ask him or them questions if I found anything during a preflight.

60Q was manufactured in 2003 so it's in pretty good shape with 879 hours on the hobbs.

We followed two other Monarch planes up and to the practice area north of Dallas. Of course, C had me taxi the plane part of the way and then handed over control on the runway so I could perform the takeoff. This time it didn't seem as much of a blur as during my last discovery flight. We departed runway 15 (no flaps) with a slight wind coming from 160-degrees. I did raise the nose a bit too much at one point but quickly brought it back down. At 500 feet AGL we made a moderate 90-degree turn to the left and then leveled off at 2000' MSL. We turned left again to follow Preston Road (a six-lane thoroughfare) north out of Dallas.

C showed me and then had me practice straight and level flight, turns, ascents and descents. And he also gave me pointers on how to scan for traffic and how to visualize straight and level. A couple of times we did ascents and then he'd cover the altimeter and attitude indicator and have me put the plane in straight and level flight. I did ok, though I usually ended up slightly nose down.

Then we returned to Addison just in time for a georgeous sunset. Not that it was better than any other sunset, just that it seemed more beautiful seeing it from 2500'.

Highlights:

- A FedEx DC-10 crossed our path about 2000' above us. I guess he was headed to DFW.
- During the runup the left magneto was running really rough so we ran up the engine to 2200 RPM and pulled the mixture out to heat up the cylinder for about a minute. That did the trick, C said that the last person to fly probably never took the mixture out of full rich and so a lot of carbon had built up.
- Takeoff ... what a rush!
- C said I did a good job and he was impressed that I got a grasp on trimming so quickly. He said some students take until the third or fourth lesson to get the hang of it.

Next lesson, tomorrow morning at 7 am local time.