Thursday, October 22, 2009

High performance endorsement

I took another ride with CFI Pete today to finish my high performance endorsement and G1000 checkout. For you non-pilots, additional training is required before a pilot can legally fly an airplane, as pilot in command, with an engine of more than 200 HP. Those airplanes are called high performance and the training is noted with an instructor's endorsement in the pilot's log book. One good thing is that the G1000 checkout will let me fly any of the G1000 172s at Bay Air in addition to the 182.


Pete and I flew out over the Gulf first, where I put the autopilot through it's paces. I had a few questions that the G1000 trainer software did not answer, silly things, like how to make it fly the GPS heading. Pete got me squared away on that and we headed back to Whitted for some landings.


Pete worked me hard. We did short field, soft field, no flaps and short approach (power off or simulated engine failure) landings. I was a lot more comfortable with the 182 today. It's bigger, faster and heavier on the controls, but in the end it flies pretty much like the trusty 172. The things to remember are: Don't let it get too slow, below 70 knots it's gonna sink like a rock. Don't land on the nose wheel. That big engine wants to pull the nose down, but keep it up and make the stall horn squeal before landing on the main gear. It's more complicated than a 172, so live by the checklist. Other than that, no problem.


I don't know what's next. The wife and I will probably head out for breakfast one weekend, or a lunch run to Sharky's in Venice, mmmm that sounds good. We're going back to Cedar Key for an overnight stay, and I'm thinking about a stone crab run to Everglades City. One good thing about living in Florida is that there's lots of places to go.

Saturday, October 17, 2009

The G1000 C182, wow, what a step up.


I took my first flight in the left seat of a 182 on Thursday. What a big step up from the older "steam gauge" 172s I've been flying. This 182 is a 2007 model with the G1000 avionics package. The only dials and gauges on the panel are backups in case of a complete electrical failure. I have to say it is a lot different, but still a lot of fun. Of course, I think flying just about anything would be fun.

All the fancy avionics aside, the real big difference in the 182 is the bigger engine in the nose. The plane is heavier, faster and requires a bit more attention to fly, or I should say to land. The 182 has a constant speed propeller. Which means the pilot no longer controls the speed of the propeller with engine RPM, he now controls the engine power and RPM with manifold pressure and propeller pitch. So, the pilot has picked up one more control to worry about. Actually, I broke even on the control knobs. This 182 is fuel injected, so I lost the carburetor heat control. Nope, forgot about the cowl flaps, I did pick up one more control knob. Pre-flight and engine run-up are more complex because of the G1000 and constant speed prop. There's simply more things to check, so I'm really going to have to pay attention to the check list any time I fly this plane.


I took off from Whitted with CFI Pete and we flew out over the Gulf to play with the G1000 and the autopilot. This is the first time I've flow a plane equipped with an autopilot. We went through all the maneuvers to get me familiar with the flight characteristics of the 182, slow flight, stalls and steep turns. We did not do a power-on stall. Pete told me that the 235 HP engine in the 182 will let you pull the nose up so steep that you could enter a spin. I don't need any more of those. After that it was autopilot time. The autopilot with track the heading bug, the gps or the nav radios. It will climb or descend at a rate set by the pilot. The G1000 includes a flight director and the autopilot will follow that. Pretty much after take off, you can fly it just by pushing buttons until you're ready to land.

Once done playing with the autopilot, we headed to St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport (PIE) for some touch-and-goes. Runway 25 was in use at Whitted, and since that puts your departure over downtown St. Pete, touch-and-goes are not allowed on 25. PIE wasn't too busy. A Coast Guard C-13o was doing some pattern work on runway 17L, so the tower put us on 22, and we had that runway to ourselves. The tower would switch me from right to left traffic, keeping me out of the C-130's way, I guess. The 182 looks pretty much like a 172, but the increase in weight, power and speed makes landing more interesting. First off, it doesn't slow down quickly as power is reduced. You have to plan your descent further ahead. It really doesn't want to slow down until you start lowering the flaps, but be careful one you do get it slow. Below 70 knots, it starts dropping out of the sky. You can't chop your throttle and glide in on final, like you can in a 172. It's necessary to maintain power until over the runway threshold and then slowly reduce engine power.

On the way back to Whitted, Pete asked me if I thought I was good with the 182. I think I need another hour or so with an instructor to nail those landings, then I'll be good. After the high-performance endorsement , I'll be able to rent any plane at Bay Air, except the Piper Arrow. That will give me more flexibility if something comes up last minute. Also, the 182 will let two couples take a dinner trip or something.

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Spins

A few folks have asked me what it's like to perform a spin. This link won't give you the sensation of pulling positive g's then being weightless before more positive g's that you get inside the aircraft, but it will give you some idea of the disorientation one might experience.

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Long overdue update...

Sorry about the long hiatus in my blogging. I could list a whole bunch of excuses, but no one wants to read that, so I'll just catch everyone up on what I've been doing.

We finally got moved and settled down a bit. After the moving expenses slowed some, I got back to flying more often. I've wanted to get a tail wheel endorsement for some time, because a number of pilots have told me that would help improve my skills. After getting the endorsement, they were correct. For you non-pilots, a tail wheel or conventional airplane is just what it sounds like. It has two wheels on the front, and one on the tail. A pilot needs a log book endorsement from an instructor, stating that you have received instruction in the operation on a tail wheel airplane before you can legally fly one. Now, a tail wheel airplane flys just like any other. It's taking off, landing and ground handling that are different. I think of it this way: You don't quit flying a tail dragger until you step out of it.

I went to Airport Manatee (48X) for tail wheel instruction. Bill, the CFI there, has a 1948 Aeronca Champ. What a blast the Champ is to fly. I would not want to go any great distance in it, cruise speed is a whopping 80 MPH. But flying around at 80 MPH with the window open is a lot of fun. Took me about 5 hours to get the endorsement. Flying a 172 had ingrained some habits that were not compatible with landing a tail wheel airplane. I've flown an additional hour with Bill after finishing the endorsement during which time he introduced me to spins, chandelles and lazy 8's. The spins were exciting to say the least. The first one scared the poop out of me. I was sure we were going to rip the wings off the airplane. I did two after Bill demonstrated the first, and they were still exciting.

Last weekend, Alice and I flew to Sebring (SEF), yes that's the place with the race trace, for breakfast. The wife is warming up to flying. She says she wants to go here and there with another couple. That's fine with me. Any destination I have to fly to is a good destination. Unfortunately, four grown adults don't fit into a 172 that well. They really don't fit if two of the adults are women toting baggage for an overnight trip. Well, I'll have to remedy that. I talked to one of the instructors at Bay Air about getting a high performance endorsement so that I could rent the club's G1000 182. Yea, that's right. I'll be flying in style.

I hope to be better about blogging in the future. Next week I should get started on the high performance training and I'll let everyone know how that's going.

Sunday, July 19, 2009

License to learn

A couple of posts ago I wrote that we were moving. Well, the big day is nearly here and things have gotten busy, but I did get a chance to fly a bit on Thursday. Don't know when I'll get in the air again. We close on one house this Thursday, move Saturday, close on the other Tuesday and leave for a short cruise a few days later. I know, it's kinda busy.

So, I took a friend and went for a short flight around the Tampa Bay area. Beautiful weather that morning, but the transponder in N54666 was not working and we had to wait while the avionics tech swapped it out. We headed east from Albert Whitted, around the McDill AFB class D airspace. Even though it's class D, you can't enter it since 911. Then we flew north along the east side of Tampa Bay to Peter O. Knight (TPF) airport.

I've flow into TPF before, so I didn't check the NOTAMs (Notice to Airmen), the AFD (Airport Facility Directory) or anything. Mistake. I tuned the AWOS for Peter O. Knight and got the weather numbers and a message saying that runway 3-21 is closed and they have a new UNICOM frequency. Ok, I've got it and start thinking about which runway to use as I tune the CTAF (common traffic advisory frequency). About 10 miles out, I start announcing my intentions. I don't hear anyone else announcing anything for Peter O., but don't think too much about it because I don't see any other planes on my traffic information system. At any rate, I'm about to enter the pattern as someone from Peter O. comes on the radio and tells me they have a new CTAF. Ok, I tune the correct radio frequency and spot construction off the end of one of the runways. The wind is calm, so I'll just land on the other runway, except the one I'm planning on landing on is the one that is closed. There was construction off of 17-35, but they were actually working on 3-21! I was really confused by this point, so I circled the field before entering the downwind for 17. Next time I check NOTAMs before I go anywhere.

I don't know when I'll be flying again. Hopefully it won't be too long. I'm supposed to go to Tampa with a friend to look at a partnership in a 182. That would suit the kind of flying I would like to do. It's kind of hard to go somewhere for the weekend if you're renting, and the longer legs and higher speed of the 182 would let me get away a bit faster. Of course, I'll need permission from the boss lady on this one.

Sunday, July 5, 2009

Mountain Flying

The wife and I have been on a nice and well deserved vacation for the last week. We visited some family and did some fun things on our own. I even managed to get in some flying, as I had hoped.

Before leaving Bradenton, I contacted Brandon at Knoxville Flight Training, and arranged a mountain flying lesson. It turned out to be just the ticket. Knoxville Flight Training had been recommended to me through the AOPA forums, a valuable resource from time to time. For a low-time flat lander like me, the training was very helpful. Some day I hope to be able to fly to my favorite vacation spots in the North Carolina mountains without endangering anyone (especially me).

We did about 45 minutes of ground instruction before heading out to the plane, and talked about topics like wind direction and speed over mountain ridges, updrafts and downdrafts, route planning, emergency landings and survival planning when flying over remote areas. After that it was out the plane and away we went.

My brother, Benny, went along and took the photos. Brandon did the navigating, which freed me to fly the plane and have fun. We took off from Knoxville Downtown Island Airport (DKX) and flew south to the Calderwood dam. The photo at top is downtown Knoxville. The University of Tennessee football stadium is at the top left of the photo. To the left is a photo of the dam where a scene in the movie "The Fugitive" with Harrison Ford was filmed. We followed the river along the southern border of the Smokey Mountain National Park to Sylva, N.C. and the Jackson County airport (24A), where I performed my first mountain landing.

Yep, that's the airport running down the top of that ridge. We had some pretty good winds aloft that day, and were getting bounce around during the flight, but when we flew over the field, the windsock was hanging limp. The landing was uneventful, and with calm winds on the field, we taxied to far end of the runway, spun the plane around, opened the throttle for full power, leaned the engine for altitude and took off opposite of how we landed. With no wind on the field we took advantage of the topography as best we could. Brandon explained that it's not a good idea to take off uphill or into a mountain if it can be avoided. The photo below is us departing Jackson County.

As I mentioned, it was kinda bumpy at altitude. After taking off my photographer started feeling a bit sick, so the picture taking came to a quick halt. We didn't have an on board emergency, but you won't see photos of most of the rest of the trip. We flew to Franklin, N.C. and the Macon County airport (1A5) for another landing, where we got out of the plane for a few minutes. Benny took my picture with the plane in Franklin. After that it was back to Knoxville.

I did have my GPS logger with me, so I have a good track of the flight. Just click on the link and it will open, but you will need google earth installed. Brandon was great, and I would highly recommend a bit of mountain training to any Florida pilots thinking about flying into the hills.



Friday, June 12, 2009

Rain outs and practice time.

I haven't had much luck flying for the past few weeks. One practice session got rained out, and a planned trip with my wife to Sebring (SEF) for breakfast was cancelled because of thunderstorms along the route. I did get back into the air on Tuesday. Performed my stalls and slow flight for the first time in a while. The maneuvers felt strange, but everything else was good. The pattern at Whitted was busy and my landings were good, so I taxied back to the ramp happy.


Now for the fun news. We're driving to Tennessee the end of this month to visit my mother and brother. While there I though I might get in a little bit of flying, so I called the Knoxville Flight Training Center at Knoxville Downtown Island airport (DKX) to arrange things. I spoke to Brandon, who was very helpful and have schedule a mountain flying lesson during my vacation. I can't wait. We plan on flying to Jackson County (24A) and getting some landings in there. Check out this airport:
That's just too cool to pass up. Hopefully, we'll have good weather. My brother is going along and he should have some pics for the report.

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Been a long time...

Sorry about not posting for some time. Usual excuse, I've been busy. March, April, May is the busy season for my business, and my wife and I are trying to sell our house and move. No need to tell me about the real estate market... At any rate, I've been flying a little, but just enough to keep the rust off.

The move is cutting into my flying budget, at least until I know where I stand. I had planned on getting a tail wheel endorsement this summer, but that may have to wait a bit. I'm flying every other week, and that seems to keep me comfortable in the left seat.

I did get in one cross country flight to Wauchula (CHN) and Avon Park (AVO). Other than that, I've just been taking friends sightseeing. It is more fun taking pax than flying alone. Who knows, I might get in a few more adventures this summer!

Thursday, March 26, 2009

Cedar Key (CDK)

My wife and I took a day trip to Cedar Key, an old fishing village on the "nature" coast of west Florida. It's sort of a peaceful, tranquil, quiet, less crowded version of Key West. Most likely being located in the middle of no-where helps with that atmosphere. The place is known for good seafood, wildlife, fishing, arts, and relaxation. It's not a beach community. The coastline is saw-grass marsh in that area of Florida, hence all the wildlife. There was only one thing wrong with the trip, and that was the traffic jam we got into on the Skyway bridge getting to the airport. Otherwise, a perfect day.

Cedar Key has a paved 2355 foot runway that is orientated 5/23. I'm guessing that's usually a good orientation with the morning land breeze/afternoon sea breeze we have on this side of Florida. However, I picked a day with the wind directly out of the south. So I landed with about a 10 knot crosswind. I didn't do poorly for a guy used to airports with multiple runways. Sorry that the runway pic is not better. The sun was in front of us as we landed. There is a small apron at the west end of the runway with tie downs.



The only other airports my wife has landed at have been controlled fields. We get out of the plane and she says "Where's the airport?" I don't really understand and reply that this is it, after all didn't we just land on yonder strip of pavement? "No, I mean the terminal building." Now I get it, and while trying to suppress a huge grin I explain that not all airports have the facilities she has become accustomed to.

I called ahead and reserved a golf cart for the day. Cedar Key is made up of several small islands. The place is not too big, but you need some type of transportation to see all of it. There is a cabby on the island who monitors the CTAF and will be happy to drive you into town for a small fee. The cabby will also give you her idea of the wind conditions prior to landing. Somehow, letting the cabby select my runway seems risky. I can't find that section in the FAR, but I think pilots are supposed to make their own decisions. The golf cart worked out well. The owner drove the cart to the airport to meet us, and when we were done for the day, we left it at the airport as instructed.

After the obligatory tourist photos, Alice and I headed out on the cart to explore. Our first stop was the island's school, where I had my picture taken with the school's mascot. Yep, they're the sharks. Alice is a teacher and just loves schools. I guess if they had a car wash on the island, I would have had to take a look at that. Next it was on to the museum. Cedar Key has a history that pre-dates the Civil War, kinda rare in Florida, and the museum has historic and natural history exhibits. We skipped the trail because we were getting hungry.


We checked out some of the restaurants along the waterfront and decided on the Dockside Depot. It was not the fanciest place, but the prices were reasonable and we could sit by the water. Both Alice and I had the blackened grouper sandwich, a Florida staple. My sandwich was good with a generous portion of grouper. There's a good half dozen restaurants to choose from and I would try something different next time, just to be adventurous. We did a bit of shopping after lunch. I bought a cap, and Alice got a shirt and we found a nice water color print that now graces the foyer in our house. My wallet was a bit lighter when we flew home.
We rode around the islands looking at old houses and wildlife for a bit. This osprey has taken up residence by the airport and pelicans are all over the place.

This would be my Cedar Key dream home. Guys, you're gonna love this:

Backyard: Gulf of Mexico
Front yard: Private taxiway to the airstrip
Top Floor: Residence
Bottom Floor: Hanger
I don't need to know any more.

So much for the dream home, this is what I probably could afford:

As we departed, Alice was able to get a shot of the light house, which is accessible only by water.
I was able to log 2.5 hours of PIC cross country time. I'll try to make most of my flights cross-country so that they build toward that instrument rating. The ride home was bumpier than the trip north. I followed the coast, and I guess there was some convection working. Next time I would take life jackets and fly direct, climb more and probably have a smooth ride. My landing back at Whitted was horrible. The wind was splitting the runways, so I had another cross wind to deal with, but I was barely crabbed on approach so I thought it was no big deal. About the time I crossed the threshold I started drifting left, a lot. Left rudder, right aileron to correct. I landed straight, but I had drifted to the left half of the runway before I had it under control.

Saturday, March 14, 2009

1st $100 hamburger.


In keeping with the theme of important personal aviation firsts, I performed a pilot's ritual for the first time today, the $100 hamburger. Actually, it was an omelet, and it cost more than $100, but there were three of us, so that brought the unit cost down below $100.



My daughter is home for Spring break, and today just happens to be her birthday. I thought it would be nice to take the girls out for breakfast, and since I have a pilot's license, why not fly somewhere? We flew to Bunky's Barnstormin Restaurant at the Bartow Municipal Airport (BOW). If you look at the flight track, it's kinda goofy. We did a bit of sightseeing on the way over and back. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. I flew the pattern at Bartow a bit low. Someone in a Cessna flew into the class D airspace at pattern altitude and announced himself, apologizing, as he crossed the field! I went low and he went high as we crossed paths.

The Bartow airport is an old WWII and Korean War Army air force training base. So, the runways are wide and long. They have a brand new terminal building that houses the restaurant and an aviation museum, among other things. Bunky's was good and reasonably priced. My wife says she would go back, so it can't be bad.

I had planned on flying to Lake Wales (X07) after departing Bartow, but a quick walk around after breakfast revealed a low strut on the right main gear. Not wanting to bang the plane up at Lake Wales, I headed home to Albert Whitted. My cross-country time building will have to wait for the next trip. Today was fairly warm for March, even in Florida, and the trip home was sort of bumpy. I planned on cruising at about 2500 feet, but the base of the clouds was right there and I flew home below the clouds in the rough air. Alice said it wasn't too bad and that she definitely like the Archer better than the 172. I think it feels more solid. The door closes and latches more securely and the cabin is quieter. All things that make the wife feel better about flying. Landing at Whitted, I made the stall horn growl good before I set down, thinking about that left strut. When I got back to Bay Air, the strut was down, so it went on the squawk sheet.

My next cross-county trip will be to Cedar Key with my wife. Cedar Key is an old fishing village on the nature coast of west Florida. We'll make a day of that trip. I probably will get some practice in before hand.

Oh, this was parked on the tarmac outside the terminal. Alice said I need to learn to fly something like it because that is how she would prefer to travel. If I win the powerball... but I don't gamble, so it's kinda unlikely.





You'll need google earth to open and view the Bartow flight track.


















Monday, March 9, 2009

2nd Pax

Pax, that's passenger(s) in pilot lingo... I think. I didn't get to fly last week. The Archer had a leaky exhaust system. That's a bigger deal in airplanes than automobiles. The cabin heat in an airplane works by warming outside air with the engine exhaust system, hence a leaky exhaust system can mean exhaust gasses in the cabin. Don't want that.

I got back into the air today by taking a friend along for a bit of a practice flight. Out to the beach to run through some maneuvers and back to Whitted for some touch-and-goes. The sky was crystal clear with very little haze, perfect day for flying and keeping my skills sharp. I'm planning on taking my wife and daughter to Bartow (BOW) for breakfast Saturday. After breakfast we'll fly on to Lake Wales (X07) for a touch-and-go before returning to Whitted. I'm thinking ahead about the cross country time needed for an instrument rating and the extra few miles to Lake Wales is needed for the 50nm cross country minimum.


You'll need google earth to view the Archer 1 file.

Statistics:

Total Time: 53.7 Hours
Cross Country: 12.0 Hours

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Checked out on the Archer.

I've been signed off to fly the club's/FBO's Piper Archer. It was a pretty simple process. Rob spent about 30 minutes with me on the ground going over the important differences between the Archer and the 172s I've been flying. Other than the wing being lower the big one is having to monitor fuel usage and switch fuel tanks.

The speeds are different. The stall speeds, Vs0 and Vs1 are higher. Pretty much all the V numbers are a bit higher. I picked up a POH, Pilot's Operating Handbook, which I will have to read. The flaps are operated like a parking brake in many cars. That's nice because an electrical failure has no effect on the flaps. Other than that, it's just little things like the trim wheel is in a different place, and it has rudder trim.

Rob and I flew out over the beach and ran through the maneuvers. Slow flight was no problem. I was surprised when I got to the stalls. I had expected stalls to be as exciting as in the 172, but they were very docile. Power-on and power-off stalls were mild. A few steep turns and we headed home for some pattern work.

Landing was no problem. I just have to remember that all my pattern speeds are 5 knots higher than in the 172, and when you cut the power in the Archer, she comes down quick. It will float a bit more than the Cessna. I'm guessing that's because of the low wing and more ground effect.

It will take a bit of getting used to, but it does have more room in the cabin which will be good for Alice and I. Getting in and out might take some practice. The visibility out of the airplane is good, especially on the ground. I might take a buddy along next week while I practice a bit, just to get more familiar with the airplane. Then, I'm taking Alice for an out of town breakfast.

Monday, February 16, 2009

1st Passenger


As the title aludes to, I put my freshly printed Private Pilot Temporary Certificate to good use today by carrying my first passenger. My somewhat reluctant wife was bribed into flying with me. It only cost me a lunch on the pier in St. Pete and was well worth it.

Now, my wife is not real fond of any mode of transportation that does not fall into the "everyday" category. Automobiles, airliners and cruise liners are her preferred modes of transport. Motorcycles, boats and Cessnas are to be avoided. So, I was on my best piloting behavior today, for today was the day I was to find out if I would be looking for an Archer or a Cub in the future, a 177 or a 152, you get the idea.

We did a bit of sightseeing around the Tampa Bay area. I flew south from Albert Whitted to the Skyway Bridge, then out to Egmont Key and south to Anna Maria Island. I could tell that Alice was pretty tense at first. She just about refused to say anything over the intercom. I let her use my headset rather than the nasty rental unit, which turned out to be a wise move on my part. But once we got to something she was interested in photographing, she loosened up a bit. Yep guys, she loves to take pictures. I think all women do. Heck, by the time we flew over our house, she had me doing steep turns around it so she could get the shot she wanted.

We flew east following the Manatee river, then back to the Skyway and Whitted. Alice was surprised at how smooth the landing was. Actually, a last second gust had me a little crooked on the runway and although smooth, I didn't think it was my best.

We followed up the flight with lunch on the pier, where this guy, a great blue heron was posing for photographers. He probably was expecting some compensation in the form of fish bits.

The judgement was in and if I want my wife to fly with me again I will need to purchase another headset. Not bad. I certainly don't want to use the rental unit again. Oh, and I have permission to get checked out on the Archer or get my complex in the Arrow. Once Alice found out there was more room in those, she indicated that's what we should fly in in the future.









Thursday, February 12, 2009

My scud running check-ride.

KSPG 121853Z 28006KT 10SM OVC011 22/19 A3015 RMK AO2

Yep, that's as good as the weather got for my check-ride. Honestly, overcast at 1100 feet was optimistic. When I took off, I was in the clouds at 900 feet and had to drop down out of them, but I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's start at the beginning, or earlier. Yesterday would be good.

I mentioned in my last post that a fraternity brother was flying in. We had lunch at the Columbia restaurant on the pier in St. Petersburg. Good spanish food, if you're ever in Tampa/St. Pete, and only a few blocks from Albert Whitted. After lunch, I got to fly his Piper Lance out over the beach for a bit. Nice plane, the Lance/Saratoga. Plenty of room after you've been in a 172. This one had an new interior and a very much updated panel, so it was nice on the eyes and body to fly. My buddy is instrument rated and I was impressed by how methodical he was when it came to flying and using the checklist. That's my good flying story, now for the check-ride.

So, I head across the airport to the club/FBO to pull the maintenance records for N54666 and pick up a new sectional. Every so often, I get a bit OC about something, and it went into high gear at that point. I bookmarked all the pages in the airframe/engine log that the DPE might want to see and put the log away for safe keeping. I had a brand new sectional chart in my hand and headed home to plot my cross-country, which I had already done on the old sectional. This is where I got a little whacky. I spent the rest of the afternoon and evening working out the navigation log, filling in the flight plan info, checking and double checking my required materials for the check-ride. My flight bag was packed and unpacked about four times, just to make sure I had everything.

Morning rolls around and I'm up early to get some work done before I head to the airport. Of course, the weather must be checked and while not too bad, its not all good either. A weak cold front is supposed to push through the area later in the day, but it should be OK for most of the morning. An hour at work and I'm driving across the Skyway to St. Pete. It's dark and I can't see everything, but no fog. I can see Tampa across the bay, so the visibility is good. Upon arrival at the airport, I get my material organized and pull up the latest winds aloft info to finish my flight plan. I'm working on fuel consumption when one of the FBO guys walks in and says: "Man, that's some nasty weather outside." It's light out by now, so I walk to the window and can barely see my truck in the parking lot. Crap.

Well, at least I can get the oral portion of the test out of the way today. Just about the time I finish the math for my navigation log, the examiner shows up. Very nice gentleman. We pretty much just had a conversation about flying. I did screw up by forgetting how often the ELT had to be inspected, but no big deal. Considering the state of mind I was in by this time, I think I did great. Dave, the examiner, looked over my chart and flight plan, which I had spent hours on, for about 2 minutes. I guess I had spent way too much time on it. The oral must have lasted about an hour, but it seemed like 15 minutes. We walked outside to take a look at the weather and it was still bad. We check the TAF (Terminal Aerodrome Forecast for you landlubbers) and it was calling for clearing within the hour. Well, we'll just hang out at the airport for a bit and see if we can get the check-ride accomplished. Dave looked into filing IFR and flying some place where the weather was better for the check-ride, but all of west central Florida was fogged in. We waited.

After an hour or so, Dave tells me that he would really like to get the check-ride completed today because his schedule gets goofy after today. He's headed to Alaska for his airline gig this weekend, and if we don't get the flight in today, it might be a few days before we can get together again. He lives a few blocks from Peter O. Knight airport, and the plan is if the weather clears, I'm to fly the Peter O. Knight, pick him up and fly the check-ride. Good thing Rob and I went to Peter O. Knight on Tuesday.

Dave headed back to Tampa, while I found something to eat and waited. And waited. And waited. The FBO has a contract with the Florida Wildlife Commission to fly wildlife biologists around the Tampa Bay area conducting manatee surveys. They were attempting to conduct some sort of intensive survey yesterday, and at about 1:00 they got special VFR clearance and took off. Within 2 minutes they were on the radio requesting landing clearance. They got back to the FBO and called it a day, but by 1:30 the ceiling had risen to 1100 feet and Whitted had gone VFR. I called Dave, who said he had blue sky at Peter O. Knight, and if I thought I could make it, come over and pick him up. I was on my way.


The check-ride was sort of mundane compared to the flights to and from Peter O. Knight. The ceiling was 1100 feet, maybe, and I was flying between cloud layers much of the way. Finding the airport was no problem, thank you Mr. Garmin, and as Dave had said the sky was blue at Peter O. Knight. It was the only blue sky I saw. I landed and taxied to the FBO. Dave jumped into the plane and started to put on his seat belt. Wait, I'm supposed to tell you how to do that, OK you have. Now you're supposed to wear it during take-, Yea OK lets get moving. I'm taxiing to runway 17 and have to cross 21 on the way, so I'm stopping at the hold short line and about ready to make a radio call when: There's nobody flying, lets go. This is not the check-ride I had expected or prepared for. It was the Reader's Digest condensed version.


I made a soft field take off and put on the foggles about the time I took out the flaps. Really, I didn't need them. It was IFR all the way from Whitted. A few minutes of simulated IFR with one unusual attitude recovery and it was time for maneuvers. The things I had spent hours practicing took about 5 minutes. Slow flight, one straight power-off stall and one turning power-on stall with a simulated emergency landing and a turn around a barn thrown in for fun. Back to Peter O. Knight for a short field and a soft field landing. Dave said I had obviously made a normal takeoff and landing since I got to Peter O. Knight in the first place. We might have spent 30 minutes in the air.


Inside the FBO at Knight, Dave critiqued a few things. He thought I landed too much on the nose wheel. As whacky as I was yesterday, I was glad just to have landed, but I will make the stall horn squeel before I land next time. He also talked about another technique for setting up the emergency landing. Sounded good, so I'll look into that. Then he presented my temporary certificate. Man, I'm glad to have that thing. I didn't hang around long because with it getting later in the afternoon, I knew the fog would be coming back to Whitted. The flight back was much the same as the flight over. The 10 mile visibility in the METAR is an outright lie. I couldn't see downtown St. Pete until I was within about 5 miles. However, I could see a massive fog bank rolling across St. Petersburg toward the airport. The tower had me circle off the end of 25 while he got IFR clearance for one of our CFIs who was departing with a charter for Key West. I landed and within 5 minutes the beacon was on and Whitted was IFR. In hindsight, I guess Dave wanted me to get back to Whitted early just for such reason. Returning to the club/FBO was very anti-climatic. The crowd that was there in the morning for the manatee survey was gone. All the CFIs were gone. Just the girl behind the counter. That was OK, I was a pilot.

About the title of this post: Scud Running - This occurs when a pilot tries to maintain visual contact with the ground while instrument conditions exits. From the FAA handbook. I won't be doing it again.

I'm a PP-ASEL

This is going to be the shortest post I've ever made. I passed my check-ride today and I'll fill everyone in on it with my next post. What should have been done by noon took all day, and I'm in a bit of a hurry now, so the low-down will have to wait. It's worth it, however.

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Last flight as a student pilot, hopefully.

With any luck, I have taken my last flight as a student pilot. If I revise that statement on Thursday, it will be with a huge frown on my face.

Rob and I took a quick flight today. I had spent a good deal of my last two practice sessions working on stalls, and it seems to have paid off. I went through slow flight, power-on and power-off stalls, both straight and banked. All went well, as did my short field landing at Whitted. My examiner's home airport is Peter O. Knight (TPF), and Rob says he loves to divert pilots there. So, we flew across the bay to TPF where I did a touch-and-go to get a feel for the place. That's TPF in the photo at the top. Once again, I borrowed the photo from AirNav.

Back at Whitted, we went to the maintenance hangar to take a look at the engine and airframe log book for N54666. I'm headed back to Whitted tomorrow to "check out" the log book and move it over to the FBO office where I'll have easy access to it Thursday. I'm gonna bookmark the pages for the annual, 100 hour, transponder and ELT inspections. That should impress the examiner, I hope. An old fraternity brother, and former college roommate is flying into Whitted tomorrow, so the trip to the airport is fortuitous. I'm gonna buy him lunch, and he's gonna let me fly his Lance. I get the better part of that bargain.


You'll need google earth to open the lesson 31 file.

Statistics:
Total Time: 49.4 Hours
Flight Training: 27.1 Hours
Simulated Instrument: 3.0 Hours
Solo/PIC: 21.1 Hours
Cross Country: 12.0 Hours
Night: 3.1 Hours
Landings: 146

Sunday, February 8, 2009

Gettin kinda lazy

I've had two solo practice flights over the past few days and I'm finally getting around to posting. Truth is, I've been using every spare waking moment in preparation for my oral exam/check-ride and I'm starting to get sort of burnt out. I've reached the point where I feel that if I'm not ready now, I'll never be ready.

Rob and I are flying tomorrow. I have a list of questions in preparation for the oral, and he needs to show me where the maintenance records are kept. He'll look over my flight plan as well. Truth is, I wish I could take the test tomorrow and get it over with.

lesson 31


You'll need google earth to view the lesson 31 file.


Statistics:
Total Time: 47.4 Hours
Flight Training: 25.7 Hours
Simulated Instrument: 3.0 Hours
Solo/PIC: 21.1 Hours
Cross Country: 12.0 Hours
Night: 3.1 Hours
Landings: 142

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Check-ride scheduled

I talked to the DPE (designated pilot examiner) this morning and scheduled my check-ride for Thursday, the 12th. I need to plan a one way cross-country flight to Marathon and work out the weight and balance calculations in preparation. I have two solo practice sessions scheduled between now and the check-ride, and I'm feeling pretty confident. Hopefully, the weather will hold and all will go as scheduled.

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Check-ride prep

Rob and I flew for about an hour and a half today in preparation for my upcoming check-ride. Slow flight, stalls, ground reference maneuvers, performance take-off and landings, power-off and emergency landings, we covered it all. While in slow flight, I turned the plane into the wind and the Garmin 430 GPS unit indicated that our ground speed was only 20 knots. We were practically hovering over St. Petersburg. Rob thought that was fun, but I was fighting the plane in the gusts and did not enjoy it as much. The only part I felt uncomfortable with was the stalls. Of course, that's never been my strong suit.

We had some excitement as I was practicing a short field landing. The wind was running 14 knots gusting to 20. Now, you pilots know that can be interesting in a Cessna, especially when low and slow as in a short field landing. We caught a gust or some wind shear that rolled the plane about 30 degrees to the right just as I was crossing the runway threshold. I landed fine, after almost wetting my pants. Honestly, if we had not been practicing short field technique, I would have landed with 20 degrees of flaps and at about 70-75 knots under the wind conditions.

Rob told me to set up my check-ride appointment with the examiner. I'll call him tomorrow and I'm gonna practice a bit more on Thursday morning, after which, Rob will endorse my log book to take the practical test. I picked up a guide for the oral exam and am reading that and my manual for the 172P. If all goes well, I'll be a pilot next week.


You'll need google earth to view the lesson 30 file.

Statistics (a bit more detailed this time):
Total Time: 44.7 Hours
Flight Training: 25.7 Hours
Simulated Instrument: 3.0 Hours
Solo/PIC: 18.4 Hours
Cross Country: 12.0 Hours
Night: 3.1 Hours
Landings: 132

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Internet Difficulties

I've been having a lot of Internet problems the last few days. BrightHouse says it will be almost a week before they can get a service tech out, a stunning testimonial, so I'm gonna get a quick post in while the getting is good.

I finished my simulated instrument time on Tuesday. Rob took a pic of me with the IFR goggles on. Don't know who was looking for traffic while he was taking the pic. All I need is a few hours of prep for the checkride and the big event itself. Next time I fly, Rob will run me through a mock checkride. I'll probably practice a bit after that to brush up on my weak points and I might take another mock checkride with a different instructor. If the weather cooperates, which it is not doing at the present time, I should finish up within a couple of weeks.

Friday, January 23, 2009

Medical Flight Test... Passed!!

Today was the big day for my medical flight test, and I can say with a smile on my face that I am now in possession of a new medical certificate with no restrictions and a SODA, statement of demonstrated ability. The actual test was a piece of cake, however after bringing an FAA inspector to my FBO, I may not be welcome there any longer.

The inspector was friendly and complimentary of my flying and complimentary of Rob, my instructor. He was very knowledgeable and told Rob and I about a couple areas we could work on, and some ideas of how to work on those things. He did find a couple of faults with the airplane, no... two airplanes, and gave the maintenance shop a fit. The folks at Bay Air were real good about getting me another airplane after 54666 was found to be questionable. Mind you, winter in Florida is the busy season for nearly everything and aviation is no exception. I think they found another plane so fast because maintenance wanted to get rid of the two of us. The didn't want this guy coming back another day.

The flight test lasted about a half hour. We flew out to the beach, spotted some inbound traffic and some birds, performed a simulated emergency landing and flew back to the airport. Piece of cake, well I did fly low enough on the simulated emergency that I thought he was actually going to have me land at the beach. Rob never had me get that low, about 100 feet. The sky was very clear and I could see the VASI from the beach, about 6 miles out. That and a nice landing sealed the deal. On landing we found that the nose wheel shimmy dampener on 9400L was in bad shape, so my friend paid another visit to the maintenance shop. He sat down with Rob and I after that went over what he liked about my training and where he thought I could improve, more right rudder.

I'm glad its over. I need one hour of instrument time and three hours of checkride prep. It won't be long and my wife will be riding with me. She can't wait.

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Quick Update

I don't want to bore anyone with my exploits on another practice day, but that's just what I'm doing. I got in a little time today doing pattern work and maneuvers that are likely to come up during my medical flight test on Friday. I think I'm in good shape. Wish me luck, and I'll let you know how it goes.

Saturday, January 17, 2009

Strange Day

I had one of those days again. Nothing went as planned. It was my intention to finish my simulated instrument time today, but that hope was dashed when Rob called and told me he couldn't make it today. No problem, I still need some more solo time, and I wanted to work on my maneuvers. So, I preflighted N54159, not my favorite plane, and off I went.

I had the standard drill in mind. Slow flight, stalls, steep turns, emergency landings and ground reference maneuvers. Well, the slow flight and stalls were sort of weird. It was very cool this morning with a 14 knot breeze out of the northeast. The altimeter setting was 30.45, the highest I can recall. I'm hoping it was these conditions that screwed up my stalls, or lack thereof. The plane didn't want to stall at all today. I preformed a power-on stall, the more violent kind, where the plane mushed through a very gentle stall. Tried it again with the same result. For slow flight, I had the plane under 40 knots and the stall horn barely whined. Did I mention that the plane climbed like rocket. Trimmed for a 76 knot climb, the plane was pitched so high it scared me and the VSI was pegged out. I went to an 85 knot climb which felt a lot more comfortable.

Too strange for me, so I moved on to maneuvers. Those went well. I went through several simulated emergency landing with no problems. The high winds made it an ideal day for ground reference. I flew low over Fort Desoto Park and flew turns around the water tower. Once again I forgot to turn on my GPS logger, so I can't check to see that I made nice circles, but they looked good from the sky. After a few steep turns it was time to head back to Whitted for some pattern work.

At Bay Air, students aren't allowed to do touch and goes, so I land and taxi back for take off and the controller tells me that I'm cleared to take off, runway 7, left traffic??? We always fly right traffic from runway 7, so I asked ATC to repeat the instructions. Left traffic. There's a reason for the right traffic pattern on 7. Left traffic would take me over downtown St. Petersburg, where there's nothing in the way of emergency landing sites and plenty of tall buildings. Someone in a helicopter was practicing something south of runway 36, hence the left traffic. I make one trip around the pattern and felt uncomfortable enough to call it a day. When I got back to Bay Air, even the CFIs said they didn't much care for the left traffic patten.

My medical flight test is definitely scheduled for Friday the 23rd. I'll be glad to get that behind me. The FAA inspector that is going with me sounds like a nice guy. I can't imagine that I will have trouble with it, but because it could put an end to my flying days, I am a bit nervous about it. I plan on practicing again early next week, especially the emergency landing procedure and pattern work that will comprise the flight test.

Statistics:

Dual Instruction Time: 23.3 Hours

Solo/PIC Time: 17.0 Hours

Landings: 132

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Cross Country Requirement...complete!

I finished my cross country requirements today with a flight lasting nearly 3 hours. The route was Albert Whitted (SPG) to Lake Wales (X07) to Leesburg (LEE) to Brooksville (BKV) and home. It was fun, uneventful and not overly exciting. Uneventful is the best kind of flying. My photos are not too good. My wife had the camera, so I'm back to cell phone pics.

Prior to the flight, Rob checked my flight plan and signed my logbook authorizing the trip. I filed a VFR flight plan. Rob says it will probably be the only one I ever file. The briefer at Flight Services was none too friendly, so Rob might be right. After departing Whitted, I tried to contact the St. Petersburg Flight Service Station with no success. I wanted to open my flight plan before asking Tampa for permission to enter their airspace. Possibly, I was too low to get the FSS on the radio, and after contacting Tampa Approach and receiving flight following and permission to transit the Class B airspace, I dropped the idea of opening my flight plan. Tampa had me on radar almost all the way to Lake Wales, where they terminated radar service.

Lake Wales is a scenic town in the hill and lake country of central Florida. I could clearly see Bok Tower, an old time Florida attraction. However, I have learned my lesson about taking photos near the airport or in the traffic pattern and did not get a pic of the tower. I flew north to Winter Haven, the city of my birth, and set course for Leesburg. Leesburg is the first towered field I've landed at by myself. It was pretty busy, but the controllers kept everything moving and I got in and out without any problems. From Leesburg I was off to Brooksville.

Brooksville, or Hernando County, sounded busy on the radio, but I think most pilots were doing instrument approaches and never put wheels on asphalt. I got a bit confused about which runway to use. The winds were light and variable, so I went with the flow and landed on 9. The FBO seemed to be about 5 miles from the runway, but nature was calling and I had to stop. This was the first time that I have gotten out of the airplane at an airport other than Whitted. Someone was at the plane before I could exit to see if I needed fuel or anything. Nice to see that kind of service, but I just wanted the restroom and vending machine. The photo is trusty old N54666 on the ramp at Brooksville.

The GPS came in handy today. I missed two checkpoints. There was enough haze to make spotting landmarks difficult. Couple that with a bad forecast of the winds aloft and I got off course a bit, particularly on the legs from Leesburg to Brooksville and from Brooksville to the coast. Now its hard to miss the Gulf of Mexico, but without the GPS, I don't think I would have found the Brooksville airport. One of my checkpoints was a small private airfield, which I never saw. I would have gotten home with little problem. Like I said, its hard to miss the Gulf and once there a left turn would take me home. Over the Florida peninsula, you can't get very lost.

I plan on putting in some pattern work and maneuver practice this weekend. My medical flight test is tentatively scheduled for next Friday. The FAA inspector has to talk to someone in Washington first. I didn't realize this required an act of congress. He tells me that he can't be the PIC for the flight and I can't be the PIC with a passenger. Sounds like a catch 22 situation. I'm starting to think that Rob may have to go along, or that I'll be taking my checkride with a FAA inspector rather than a designated pilot examiner (DPE). As my wife says, we'll see.



You will need google earth to open and view the lesson 26 flight track.

Statistics:

Dual Instruction Time: 23.3 Hours

Solo/PIC Time: 15.8 Hours

Landings: 130

Saturday, January 10, 2009

Unusual Attitudes

I had my second round of simulated instrument flying today. I might not have explained that well enough last time for my non-pilot readers, so here goes. We fly VFR, that means good weather, but to practice instrument flight, I put on a hood that limits my vision to the instrument panel of the airplane. The instructor gives directions on which way to turn, climb or descent, and keeps a look out for other airplanes.

Rob threw me a few curves today, literally. After a few minutes of basic instrument flight, we got into unusual attitude recovery. For this fun event, I close my eyes while Rob flies the plane and tries to get me disorientated. He then puts the plane in an unusual attitude (hence the name) and has me recover. The plane may be climbing, diving and most likely banked at the same time. I have to quickly, by looking at the airspeed and turn coordinator, access the situation and take steps to return to straight and level flight. It went pretty well. Rob never was able to get me thoroughly disorientated, and I recovered quickly. I over controlled on the recoveries, but I got things back to straight and level pretty quick. If the GPS track looks like we were drinking, its because Rob played this game for a good while.


I can't tell you that I saw anything interesting, because I didn't see much of anything at all. I had the hood on all the way back to Whitted, where we did a few short field landings and called it a day. Don't worry, I took the hood off for the landings. Next week I'm going to try to finish my cross country requirement with a flight to Lake Wales (X07), Leesburg (LEE) and Brooksville (BVK) before returning to Whitted. Rob endorsed my logbook for solo flights within Tampa's class B, so I'll be able to request flight following. I may file a VFR flight plan for one leg of the trip, just to have done it. I will try to get some good photos on that flight.





You will need google earth to view the lesson 25 file.

Statistics:

Dual Instruction Time: 23.3 Hours

Solo/PIC Time: 13.0 Hours

Landings: 126

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Aeronautical Knowledge Test

Just a quick note. I took and passed my FAA Private Pilot Aeronautical Knowledge Test today with a score of 95%. They got me with one trick question, one math error and one I simply didn't know. I'm glad it's over with, I got real tired of studying for it. Next up will be my medical flight test, then the big one.

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Hood Time

It was my intention to snap a photo of the instrument panel of N54666 first thing this morning, but like so many intentions, it got away from me. So, the panel to the left is from another Cessna 172P found on the Internet, but happens to look amazingly similar to the one I stared at for an hour this morning. Oh, did I forget to mention, I was wearing a hood, or blinders, that kept me from seeing anything else.


First things first. Rob went over my log book to make sure that we had not missed anything in the course of my training. I don't have much left: One solo cross country, a few hours of instrument time and a few hours of test preparation. Presuming I pass the test, I would then be free to terrorize the skies with passengers, as we were terrorized this morning. More on that later. After the log book review, Rob went over the instrument scan, a technique for flying and managing the plane without outside visual reference. Ten minutes of ground instruction then time to give it a shot.


I put on the hood as soon as we hit 400 feet and didn't take it off until we were on final at about 400 feet. We flew east, over Tampa Bay to Ruskin, where I practiced some simple maneuvers. Climbs, descents, standard rate turns, climbing turns and descending turns. That's pretty simple stuff, but made difficult when you only have instruments to look at. Now, I have only 1.1 hours of instrument time, so I'm not claiming to be an great instrument pilot, but I think I did pretty well. I didn't get disorientated or confused. Lost maybe, but not confused. I sort of liked it. It took a good deal of concentration, and if I had to do it for hours, I'm sure it would be exhausting. Actually, I think Rob was just trying to sell me the instrument course after I finish my PPL.


Rob kept me under the hood and gave me headings to get us back to Whitted. As I mentioned above, instrument flying takes concentration, but as we were approaching the airport I hear half of a conversation between Whitted's Air Traffic Control and another of the rental planes. Someone is having trouble finding his way around the airport. He finally takes off and turns left when ATC told him to go right. Bad news, we're on the left. About this time, I'm guessing the other renter changes radio frequency because the tower can no longer contact him. The tower calls us to warn us to avoid this guy. Rob yanks the hood off, the other guy climbs above our approach path and I land in a stiff cross wind. Pretty exciting. The controller didn't want the guys name, but did want him warned not to change radio frequency until clear of the class D airspace. Now the really funny part. We walk in the office and Rob asks "Who's in 54159?" We're told, oh, that was so-and-so, you know the (insert name of major air carrier here) pilot. Honest.

Tomorrow I take the FAA Private Pilot's Knowledge Exam. I'll be glad to be done with it. I'll fly some more later this week, but I haven't decided what I want to do just yet. I get to choose my own route for my next cross country, so I might just do that.


You'll need google earth to view the lesson 24 flight track.

Statistics

Dual Instruction Time: 22.0 Hours

Solo/PIC Time: 13.0 Hours

Landings: 122