Better Than It Looks

As I've written before, I get to work early. This morning, as the light was beginning to show in the sky, I had my doubts about flying. It had rained hard over night. The sky was still threatening with low clouds. I waited as late as I could before heading to the airport, expecting to get a call cancelling my lesson.

Well, no one called, and as I drove north the weather got better. Not good, just better. Being a real novice at this flying thing, I don't know how bad is bad enough to cancel, but apparently today was not one of those days.

Rob beat me to the airport by a few minutes and had some coffee while I did the pre-flight inspection. We were in N54058 today. This is my favorite plane, it just seems easier to fly. Rob has me busy at this point, doing the pre-flight, running down the checklist and handling the radio.

"Whitted ground, Cessna 54058 at Bay air for departure to the west."

"54058, taxi to runway 7 and hold. Contact tower on 127.4"

"Taxi to 7 and hold, 54058"

A Piper Archer was on final and landed as we reached the hold line. Rob was telling me something about the radio when:

"Cessna 54058, are you ready to go?"

"Ready to go, 54058"

"54058, cleared for takeoff, left hand departure, I have another aircraft on downwind."

"Cleared for takeoff, left hand departure, 54058"

The controller was politely telling us that if we wanted to go it was now or wait for the other airplane to land, so off we went. Once airborne, I realized the weather was not as big a deal as I had imagined. The overcast sky kept the heating of the land down and no heating means no thermals and a smooth ride. Below the clouds, visibility was good. Actually, it was one of the nicest days I've had for flying.

Rob had me enter slow flight as soon as I reached altitude. It was pretty weird flying over St. Petersburg with the stall warning buzzing in my ear. I exited slow flight and practiced a power on and a power off stall. I'm getting more comfortable with those. After a couple of steep turns it was time for something new.

Emergency landing procedure. Glide Locate Identify Declare Execute, GLIDE. I believe there's a mnemonic device for everything in aviation. This one is pretty good. Glide, trim the airplane for a 65 knot descent without flaps. Locate, locate an emergency landing site. Identify, go over a brief checklist to see if you can identify the engine problem. Declare, get on the radio and let everyone know you have an emergency. Set your transponder to 7700, which will let Air Traffic Control know you are in trouble. Execute, execute the emergency landing.

That may seem like a lot, but once the plane is trimmed for the 65 knot descent, there is plenty of time for everything else. I lined up for an emergency landing on the beach at Egmont Key. Rob let me glide down to four or five hundred feet before telling me to recover. Full power and the plane climbs like a rocket. I enjoyed flying that low over Egmont Key. The beach has shifted a bit since I was a teenager. Parts of the old fort that I have climbed on and fished off of are now under water.

We practiced one more emergency landing then headed back to Albert Whitted. Rob said it was time for some touch and goes! Cool, I'm up for anything new.

"Whitted Tower, Cessna 54058 over the Don, inbound touch and go."

"54058, cleared for touch and go right hand pattern, straight in runway 7. You are number two in the pattern, I have a Piper on base."

"Touch and go, strait in runway 7. 54058"

Now, I've never done a touch and go before, so Rob explains it on our way it to land. The touch and go is easy, just apply power after you land, dump your flaps, steer with the feet and take off again. However, we were going to fly a right hand traffic pattern and go around for another landing. Today was better than my last two landings. I think I'm starting to get the feel of where I need to start my flare. Rob handled the flaps today as well as the radio calls while we were in the pattern. I had my hands full with the airplane. My left hand on the control yoke, my right hand on the throttle and my feet on the rudder pedals, so I was out of appendages and could not handle one more task. I'll be expected to do it all when I get more comfortable with the procedure. We went around and made two more landings before calling it a day.

Next lesson we will probably review more, try to start working on our ground reference maneuvers and do more pattern work. We also have some ground school work to do on airspace.

Statistics:

Dual Instruction Hours: 5.2

Landings: 7

More Stalls

Rob and I flew again today. His back was better and the weather was very nice for this time of year in Florida. I did the pre-flight checks by myself this time. N54666 was a little low on oil again, so I let Rob know and he called for a mechanic and oil. We climbed in the plane and ran through the engine start procedures. Then, I actually got to use the radio!

"Whitted Ground, Cessna 54666 at Bay Air for departure to the west"

"Cessna 54666, Taxi to runway 7 and hold. Contact tower on 127.4"

"Taxi to runway 7 and hold. Contact tower on 127.4. Cessna 54666"

Pretty cool. I'm getting a little more comfortable taxiing the aircraft. In the past it has been scary when other planes were nearby. Now, I'm looking around to make sure my wing tips hit nothing and taxiing to where I need to go. I taxi out to the runway, do my engine run-up and magneto checks then:

"Whitted Tower, Cessna 54666 ready for departure."

"Cessna 54666, cleared for departure"

"Cleared for departure, Cessna 54666"

Rob saw another plane several miles off inbound to land, so he told me not to stop on the runway, just roll into position and keep going. So, I rolled to the middle of the runway, lined up the airplane and gave it power. Taking off is getting to be pretty easy. The neutral position indicator for the elevator trim is a little off in 54666, so the nose wants to come up a little too much on climb out. No problem, adjust the trim and head for the beach.

Once over the water, we reviewed slow flight and power off stalls. Then it was time for power on stalls. Rob did the first one, and I have to admit, power on is a little more exciting than power off stalls. The plane is pointed up so much that it wants to fall to the right or left. I did several stalls and found that the problem is if you over control when it falls one way, you make it fall the other way more severely. As with everything when the plane is slow, rudder control is critical. I'm a little slow with the rudder and once I use it, I tend to over-control and then back off of it too fast. It made for some interesting stalls with the plane falling right then left. Of course a lot is going on when you are doing this, so one mistake leads to another and at one point I had us in a powered dive before I knew what was going on. Rob calmly told me to raise the nose and return to level flight.

I don't know how many stalls I did, but we practiced until I got it right. Then we practiced a little more. Rob showed me left and right steep turns and had me do a set before we headed for the airport. I found the steep turns much easier than the stalls. We were in the same area as last lesson, so the landing approach was the same. Once over the Don Cesar:

"Whitted Tower, Cessna 54666 over the Don inbound to land."

"Cessna 54666, make straight in runway 7, cleared to land."

"Straight in runway 7, Cessna 54666."

The traffic was light, so we were cleared to land immediately. I did pretty well on the landing approach as far as setting up the airplane to land.

Over the runway, I started my flare a little early and was corrected by Rob. He says not to worry about the landings, we're not even really working on them yet, so I'm doing great.

I had a blast, but I was sweat soaked and exhausted after the flight. I guess I'm concentrating on flying so much that I don't realize I'm working pretty hard during some of these maneuvers. My left arm is still sore from pulling on the yoke during stall practice. Next time, we'll review again, do more steep turns and start ground reference maneuvers. Ground reference maneuvers are things like s-turns and turns around a point. Rob would like a little wind to complicate matters.

The link at the bottom of this post will download a GPS file of our flight today. You will need to have Google Earth installed on your computer. Click on the link and it will open. Enjoy.

lesson 3 file

Statistics:

Dual Instruction Time: 4 hours

Landings: 4

Ground School

I didn't get much flying done today. I got to Bay Air a few minutes before Rob did. When he walked in, I knew there was a problem. His back had been giving him trouble and he was in a lot of pain. Initially, I was upset about not flying today, but after a little more thought I realized that with my 2.8 hours of flying experience I did not want to find myself flying the plane if he was incapacitated.

We had planned on a little ground school time today before our flight, so at least the trip to St. Pete was not completely wasted. Rob wanted me to have a good grip on aerodynamics before we went much further. Now, I'm an engineer by education. I know about thermodynamics, fluid dynamics and some other dynamics. What we went over was aerodynamics lite. In school, every time I studied something that had dynamics in it's name you could be sure there was lots of math involved. No math today, and that's just fine with me. The idea is just to have a grip on the forces acting on the plane and the principles that make it fly. Enough said.

We did talk about what was coming up next in our flight sessions. Power on stalls, steep turns, ground reference maneuvers and landings. Lots of landings getting ready to solo. I'm going to try to get a flight in Saturday. Weekends in the fall are tough for me. My youngest son plays football on Friday nights, so we are out sort of late. I usually feel the effects of that on Saturday.

How slow can you go?

I get up and out to work pretty early in the morning. When I left home today, I was thinking about flying and how nice the weather was going to be. Well that was at about 5:30 AM. By 10:30 when I was driving across the Skyway to St. Pete, things had changed. It had warmed considerably and a good breeze was coming out of the east.

Once again I met CFI Rob at Bay Air. We found our steed, N54666. Another 1981 Cessna 172 that Rob says some students won't fly because of the tail number. I did not mind the tail number, but it is a little more banged up and seemed to be a little harder to control. Of course, all trainers that have seen any service are banged up. I did most of the pre-flight inspection. The plane was a little low on oil, so Rob found a mechanic and oil while I finished the pre-flight.

In the spirit of preparing me for handling the radio next week, Rob let me tune the radio to Whitted ASOS (automated surface observation system) and get the weather report. At Albert Whitted, ASOS is sort of redundant because the tower always gives the weather report when you ask for clearance. I then tuned Whitted tower and Rob got taxi clearance. After engine runup, Rob requested take off clearance and we were on our way.

A clear September sky leads to a lot of heading midday in Florida. I found it difficult to trim the plane during our flight over Pinellas county to the Gulf of Mexico. We would fly through a thermal and gain altitude, then hit an area of sink and drop like a rock. It was a pretty bumpy trip. Once over the Gulf however, the air was calm. The water heats evenly, unlike the land, and strong thermals are not very common.

We took up where we left off Tuesday, with slow flight. I'm starting to get the idea of it. I held the nose of the plane up while reducing engine speed to about 1500 RPM. As airspeed falls, you add flaps and continue to slow. With full flaps you can get the plane down to under 40 knots, at which point you increase power to about 2000 RPM and putz around with your nose up in the air and the stall warning blaring in your ear. You can make very gentle turns in this configuration.

Coming out of slow flight, power is increased, the nose of the plane is lowered and flaps are raised as airspeed increases. We ran through this maneuver several times. Other than keeping the nose pointed up, this is the landing configuration of the airplane, and these maneuvers are designed to teach landing skills.

Rob thought I was getting the hang of slow flight, so we moved on to stalls. For non-pilots, a stall in an airplane is not like a stall in your car. The engine does not stop. The engine keeps running. It is the wing that stalls, and the plane stops flying and starts falling. Performing a stall is not quite as dramatic as it sounds. In fact, the 172 is hard to stall and easy to recover.

We started with power-off stalls. We climbed to 3500 feet and got into our landing configuration. With the plane slowed down and flaps fully extended, I pulled the nose of the plane up and bled speed until the stall horn sounded. Pull the nose up a little more and the plane stops flying. Recovery is easy. Release the pressure on the yoke, carb heat on, full power, raise flaps as speed increases. The real key is to remember that your ailerons don't work well when the plane is in slow flight and don't work at all when the plane is stalled. In fact, you can aggravate the stall with the ailerons and induce a spin.

Rob had me run though a few power off stalls and then had me perform a maneuver he called the falling leaf. Visualize a leaf falling through calm air and you have the idea. I climbed to 3500 feet and prepared for another power off stall as before. This time however, I was not to release the back pressure on the yoke as we stalled. The plane would stall, recover on it's own, stall again and so on. My job was to keep a constant heading and wings level during this maneuver using the rudder. It went pretty well, much better than I imagined when it was first explained to me. We went through 4 or 5 stalls before Rob called it a day and had me recover and head for home.

Back over the land we were in rough air again. We were getting knocked around so much that I was worried about the landing. Same procedure as the last two trips. Fly over the Don Cesar and turn toward the airport. Rob was telling me less about the landing configuration this time. I guess I got it right because he just let me keep flying. Considering the rough ride I probably did pretty well, but when he told me to flare I pulled back a little too much on the yoke and instead of leveling off over the runway we rose. Rob helped out a little here, but instead of the gentle touchdown of my last landing, we smacked the runway pretty good.

Note to self: If wife ever allows you to buy an airplane, DO NOT buy an airplane that has EVER been used as a trainer.

In retrospect, I think that I had been pulling on the yoke so much during slow flight and stalls that I just yanked on it too hard out of habit. Something to keep in mind for the next flight, which will be Wednesday. Rob wants to spend a little time going over aerodynamics before we fly. We will be going over slow flight and power off (landing) stalls again and probably get to power on (take off) stalls. I should get to talk on the radio next time. I will definitely be looking forward to it.

Another student pilot blogger, Greg P. of Huntington WV, put me on to the idea of using a GPS logger to show where I've flown. The device can also be used to review flight performance. This may be helpful when I get into pattern work. I've ordered one of these devices and hopefully will be able to share the routes we've been flying soon.

Statistics:

Dual Instruction Hours: 2.8

Landings: 3

Lesson Numero Uno

Today was the big day, officially my first lesson. I must say, it went pretty well. I also parted with a few dollars today by prepaying for some instructional time. My wife would like the discount I got, but dislike the amount of money that was spent. Well, you can't have it all.


I arrived at Bay Air about 15 minutes early because I knew we had a little paperwork to do. I had my passport, driver's license and medical certificate in hand along with a flying club membership application and an aircraft rental agreement. Paperwork complete, CFI Rob and I headed out on the tarmac to find our ride for the day.


N54058 is not one of the new glass panel jobs we flew on the discovery flight. It's old school, a 1981 Cessna 172. That's it in the photo at the top. We preflighted the plane. Rob spent a little more time going over the details of the preflight inspection. He'll go over it one more time with me, then I will be expected to do the preflight. Thank goodness for the checklist!


After the engine run-ups, Rob contacted Whitted tower and got clearance to take off. Bay Air is at the end of runway 7, and since we were cleared for runway 7 we did not need much of a taxi clearance. Probably during the lesson after next, I'll start doing the radio work. I taxied onto the runway, steered straight down the runway with my feet, added full power and took off. I'm learning that you have to apply a little right rudder under full power or in a nose up attitude to keep the Cessna straight. We were cleared for a left hand departure to the west.


The worst thing about flying, or at least training, out of Albert Whitted is that you can't enjoy the scenery. I'm paying attention to Rob. Doing what he says. Concentrating on flying the airplane. Meanwhile, we're flying over some of the best scenery on the west coast of Florida. We pretty much flew from back and forth between Egmont Key and Treasure Island with me practicing climbing, descending and level flight. I got to work the trim wheel this time, that was new.


Actually, climbing, descending and leveling off were easier in a real plane than on the simulator. FSX has been a real help, but now that I'm actually flying and need to get the "feel" of an airplane, I don't know how much more I'll be using it.


Rob was happy with my ability to climb and descend so he decided to introduce me to slow flight. Honestly, this was the only time today that he flew the plane. He slowed the plane, lowered flaps and got us down to 38 knots. I then took the controls to get a feel for how much right rudder is necessary to keep the plane flying straight in this configuration. Rob had me make a gentle right turn before he took the controls again and got us out of slow flight.


It's funny, but time flys when you are flying. Before I knew it an hour was nearly up. Rob told me to fly over a famous St. Pete Beach landmark, the Don Cesar Hotel. This big pink hotel on the beach can be seen for miles and just happens to line up with runway 7/25 at Albert Whitted airport.

It was a little hazy, so I could not see the runway as we passed over the Don, but Albert Whitted is just south of downtown St. Pete so it's easy to find. As we crossed over I275, about 3 miles from the airport, Rob had me start reducing engine power while holding the nose of the airplane up to reduce our speed. As we neared the airport I lowered the flaps and let the nose fall so that I could see the big 7 on the runway. Rob talked me through getting the flaps all the way down while keeping the nose on the runway. As we crossed the end of the runway he had me pull back on the yoke and then some more as we got closer to the ground and the plane gently settled down on the runway. I kid you not, I landed it all by myself!! Well, I had verbal help.

What a day. I was pleased to say the least. After taxiing back to Bay Air we went inside. I prepaid for their solo package which includes 15 hours of dual time in the 172 and 5 hours of ground school time with the instructor. It also included the SoftComm C-40 headset and a logbook. I probably would not have bought this headset on my own, but the package deal was too good to pass up. I also paid for a membership in the flying club. That will save me some money once the solo package time is up. Rob made entries in my logbook for today and the discovery flight I took. Call me silly, but it was a cool feeling to see my time and landings recorded. Rob gave me credit for the landing on my discovery flight.

I also picked up the FAA's Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge and have some reading to do before our next lesson, which will be Friday, weather permitting. I can't wait.

Statistics:

Dual Instruction Hours: 1.6

Landings: 2

Medical Flight Test Update

I've done no flying this week due to weather, so I thought I would post a brief update on my medical certification. I've been in contact with a doctor in the FAA's Aerospace Medical Division since the beginning of this process. I received an email from him today about the medical flight test that I may have to take. His office will review all my medical reports and make a determination if the test is necessary. If so, they will order it.

I would strongly encourage anyone with medical conditions seeking a pilot's license to educate themselves before beginning the process. I have subscribed to several aviation message boards and read horror stories of delays in dealing with the FAA on medical issues. In my experience, if you are prepared, know what is likely to be an issue and have the necessary medical reports in hand the process is not that bad. You need to be proactive in dealing with the FAA.

I've scheduled two flight sessions next week. Hopefully, the weather will be cooperative for at least one.

Ike

As I had feared, Hurricane Ike spoiled any flying for today. The combination of gusty winds, low clouds and scattered showers was too much. My CFI called and asked me to reschedule, which I have done for next Tuesday. The good news is that Ike is not coming here. He's headed to Texas and our thoughts and prayers will be with those in his path and those he has already effected. September 10th is the statistical peak of the Atlantic hurricane season, so the tropical activity should be slowing down in the next few weeks. Also, fall is my favorite time of year in Florida. The weather is generally good and should start cooling a bit in two or three weeks.

Medical Exam Passed....almost

Yesterday when I left the medical examiner's office I was pretty upset. He refused to grant a medical certificate because of a condition that should not have caused a big problem, amblopia or lazy eye. I emailed the doctor the relevant sections of the FAA's Aviation Medical Examiner's Guide and hoped he would come through for me. Well... Today I'm much happier. The doctor called, apologized for the delay and thanked me for the information I sent. I have in my grimy hands one signed Medical Certificate Third Class and Student Pilot Certificate.

Actually the amblyopia still places one limitation on me. I have to have a medical flight test at the end of my training when I have my regular FAA flight test. No big deal. I can proceed with my training without any problems. Which is exactly what I will do tomorrow morning if the weather (can you say Hurricane Ike) permits.

Aviation Medical Exam

I had my aviation medical exam today. I'm not real happy. I should have known something was wrong when the Doctor said he had never seen the FAA form for eye evaluation before(and the robot says "Danger Will Robinson, Danger!). Honestly, I should have gotten up and walked out at that point. I had communicated with the Aerospace Medical Division of the FAA before I started this process to make sure my amblyopia was not a big deal. I took a copy of the email from the doctor at the FAA and a copy of the eye evaluation from my opthamologist in with me. I think these just confused the medical examiner. Everything else was fine, I just have amblyopia, which I already knew about and have dealt with.



At any rate, I have sent the local medical examiner a link the FAA web site concerning aviation medical exams and amblyopia. Hopefully, this guy will read it and follow the instructions. I will have to follow up with him tomorrow because I have little confidence in his ability to figure it out.




I've made a decision on where to take flying lessons. I had an appointment for a discovery flight at Sarasota International and cancelled it. Several pilot friends have told me that I probably would not want to train at Sarasota. It's a pretty busy airport and most likely I would spend a fair amount of time on the ground waiting for jets to take off or land. If I'm paying a little over two dollars a minute for training, I don't want the clock running while sitting on a taxi way.


I'll be training at Albert Whitted airport in St. Petersburg. It's an easy drive from my work. The rental rates are the best in the area. They have a pretty good fleet of rental aircraft and a number of instructors. I like the idea of flying out of a controlled airport that's not too busy. They have an online scheduling system and I've scheduled some time for Wednesday morning, weather permitting.

Albert Whitted

Wow! I drove across the Skyway Bridge and took a discovery flight out of Albert Whitted airport (SPG) today. What a cool place. The airport is just south of downtown St. Petersburg on Tampa Bay. It is a big change from little Airport Manatee, and only a 30 minute drive from my work.


Bay Air Flying Service operates an flying club there. When I arrived CFI Rob was waiting on me and we were promptly on the flight line pre-flighting a Cessna 172 G1000. That's right, one of the new jobs with all the fancy electronics and flat panel displays. Rob went over the pre-flight with me, we climbed into the plane, did some more pre-flight and then I started the engine. Rob had me do the engine run-ups. Everything was good and we were ready to go.


Rob called Whitted tower and got takeoff clearance. Then he had me taxi onto runway 7, which is conveniently right next to parking at Bay Air. He had me steer down the runway and add power to the engine, and guess what. I took off!

We turned south over Tampa Bay and eventually southwest toward the Skyway. We flew over Fort Desoto Park, which is an old Spanish-American War fort that has become a popular and beautiful destination in the St. Pete area. Anyhow, we ended up over St. Pete Beach where I got to practice turning the plane left and right, climbing, descending and avoiding clouds. The weather was a little bumpy today with a lot of small puffy clouds that we were not supposed to fly through or near, oops.

After an half hour or so, I pointed the plane east and Rob radioed for landing clearance. There was another Cessna in the pattern ahead of us, but the haze was thick enough that we never saw him. I kept the plane lined up on the runway and reduced power when Rob directed. He worked the flaps at first and then had me work them. He came this close (if you could see my fingers they would be about a half inch apart) to having me land the plane! Needless to say, I had a blast. It took all my will power not to sign up for lessons on the spot!

I've got a lot to think about, and am going to have a tough decision to make in the near future. There were many things I liked about Albert Whitted. The nice paved runways sure were a lot easier to taxi on. It is a controlled airport but not busy. Bay Air has a lot of planes and instructors available and has the look of a professional operation, but with a casual feel. I think if I wanted to rent a plane after I had my license, I would probably come back to Bay Air. Their prices are certainly competitive. The only downside, mostly psychological on my part, is that I would be learning from someone who is my son's age. I can get over that.

I'm not going to get much else done this week. Next week I have my medical exam and have an appointment at Sarasota International (SRQ).