At Last....

So I went up with my instructor on Friday and did a mock checkride. It wasn't the greatest flying I have done, but all the maneuvers were within standards and my instructor said that I was ready for the checkride. I was going to go practice Saturday but decided to go to the lake with some friends instead to decompress a little, and so it begins....

The best way to start this tale is mention that I was absolutely worn out after getting back from the lake. In retrospect, it may not have been the wisest move to go to the lake the day prior to a checkride, given that I am always so tired and fatigued afterwards (could it be the constant 100 degree heat?!?). So, we got back and settled in about 9 last night and glanced over a little stuff for the checkride and went to bed. You are betting I got a good night's sleep, aren't you? Yeah, not so much. At about 1 in the morning I woke up and my mind started spinning. The bad thing is I was awfully tired but when my mind starts going, there isn't really any shutting it down. So for the next 4 hours, I mentally quizzed myself on everything under the sun about flying. I finally got up about 5 and started planning the cross country portion. Sometime in the night, the examiner sent an e-mail that he had flown late Saturday night and wouldn't make it to the airport until about 9:30 or so. Great, so now I had MORE time to kill AND my examiner was going to be tired! At about 7, I headed out to the airport to kill a little time and on the way, the examiner called and said the visibility looked too bad and would be showing up a little later. A little later it was....almost 11 in the morning. When he showed up, I was just about to fall on my face from exhaustion and the "butterflies" that had lasted for a good 10 hours. After some good 'ole fashion bullshitting, we started the oral portion. I was really surprised at how easy it seemed and I only had to look up one thing. Either it was pretty darn easy or I was throughly prepared...hard to say, I guess. After the oral, I headed out to start preflighting the airplane...the fun was really about to start.

The last couple of weeks have been fairly pleasant to fly wind-wise. Really, no winds more that about 10 knots...but that was over today. From the moment I left the house, the winds were howling pretty good. What luck, huh? As a matter of fact, I really hadn't flown the new airplane in any winds to speak of...yep, this will be fun. So we get the plane all ready to go and I give him the best passenger briefing that has ever been given, until he asked if he should close the door as we taxi onto the runway! D'Oh...what a way to start out! We take off and head towards the first point on my flight plan. He asks a couple of questions about my speed, altitudes and such and then gives me a "diversion" to another airport. After I get us turned towards there and get a groundspeed, he says "that's good, now track the VOR" and I do that for about 5 seconds then he says, "That's good, let's do some maneuvering." So I transition to slow flight followed by power on and power off stalls. The power on wasn't the prettiest and I redo it...I may not have had to, but I did it anyway. We then head to another airport for the soft field and "slip to landing" approaches. The soft field wasn't the softest and the first slip was UGLY! The winds were being called variable 15 gusting to 24, so I imagine the airplane (and myself) was at the crosswind limit. I had read about "running out of rudder" but hadn't experienced it until today. The second slip to landing was much better and made me grin a little since I had heard through the grapevine that the "slip was one of the examiner's favorite". After that, we went and did a turn around a point which I NAILED even with the strong winds. We started climbing out and then the fun-filled "forced landing" was executed, again...really without flaw. At that point, he said, "OK, let's head back" to which we did and I did a short field landing. Truth be told, that was the first time I had EVER done that. I was a little worried about it since I knew I hadn't done it and the winds were blowing me all over hell's half acre. Coming over the trees on final, I ballooned up about 200 feet and thought I was going to have to do a go around, but instead, I transitioned into a "slip to landing" (Sorry, I don't think I explained a "slip"...basically, it's positioning the airplane in such a way that it looses altitude quite quickly.) that got me back on the correct approach and put the airplane right where I wanted it, DAMN, I even impressed myself with that one! As I taxied off the runway, he told me to take us back to parking. As I stopped the plane and pulled the mixture to "Idle Cut Off" and the prop came to a smooth stop, he said "Congratulations, you passed." He offered a couple points of advice on the cross winds and told me that I was a damn good pilot. In my life, that is by far one of the best things I have ever heard. As he went inside to get the paperwork, I pushed the airplane into it's spot and I had the biggest grin on my face I have had in very long time. I then went inside and BS'ed with the examiner a little bit more and started making phone calls. So it took my just shy of about 5 months to realize my dream of flight...and yes, it IS all that I thought it would be AND MORE. So now, it's time to relax for a week before my LAST master's class begins (Thank GOD!!!) and I will start getting the cross country time to start the instrument stuff because there is no rest for the weary!

On a side note, I created this journal to chronicle my private pilot training and so I will sign off for now. I say for now, because I will also chronicle my instrument training when that begin. Until then, fly safe!!!

Written: PASSED!!!

Well I procrastinated long enough and finally took my written exam. I knew I wouldn't score perfect since I pretty much ignored the information on ADFs (a navigation radio that isn't used too awful much anymore and something that isn't installed on my plane). You are wondering about the end result? Well, I scored a 92, meaning I missed 5. From what I can tell I missed one on ADFs and the rest were assorted stuff that I am not really sure why I missed. A few of the cross country problems had answers that were "really close" to each other so I imagine a couple of those were missed.

So as it stands, I am flying one more time this Friday with my instructor for a last dry run before the checkride that is scheduled on Sunday. So, just some studying for the oral and brushing up on the maneuver stuff. OK, that's all for now!

A Lot Has Happened...

So I was reviewing my last post and realized a lot has happened in just a week. I will try to make it fairly short even though a lot has happened. I guess the first thing I should bring up is that the maintenance folks rock at my airport. What I thought was going to take at least a week took only 3 days. Man, that is awesome. I was bummed out since they weren't giving me a good ETIC (estimated time in commission) and I just assumed the worst. I still don't know how much it is going to cost me, they said they are a couple of months behind in the billing department. OK, whatever.

OK, with that out of the way, let's get on to the flying. My new instructor actually kept his word and we were able to get the night cross-country requirement done. It was nice to fly when it wasn't so damn hot and bumpy. We cruised out about 50 miles, did a full stop landing, and came back. Just a little BS'ing on the way with the XM radio playing in the background (which will soon be Sirius..woohoo!!!). Anyway, I have done my FAIR SHARE of flying at night with the Air Force, so this wasn't anything new to me. If there was a non-event, this would be it. The only concern was deer on the runway (the airport is in the wood with LOTS of wildlife) when we got back, but we only saw one on the edge of the taxiway after we landed. I have seen my fair share of "deer strikes" on airplanes and they tend to tear up a lot of expensive stuff. With that out of the way, the only requirements remaining were:

1. A long solo cross country (at least 150 miles with 3 stops and one leg at least 50 miles).
2. A total of 5 hours of solo cross country time.
3. 3 hours of flight preparation for the practical test (checkride) within 60 days (or often called "3 in 60").

In the last couple of days, I have met all the requirements by flying two cross countries. The long one actually met all the requirements (solo cross country requirement) but I took the "extra one" to see the field I have been asked to "plan on flying to" by the examiner. With that all I am lacking is the "3 in 60" which I started today. I have taken a couple of days off (to preclude the scheduler calling last minute requiring me to cancel a flight) to do the "checkride practice" on Thurs, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I have also schedule next Friday and Saturday just to be on the safe side.

Today's practice was pretty simple; a couple of steep turns and stalls and some "soft field" take off and landings. I really haven't done very many of the "soft fields" and I thought I was really sucking at them, by my instructor said I was fine. As a matter of fact, he thinks I am ready for the checkride now, but I tend to disagree. I might be within the standards according to the FAA, but my standards are a little higher, so I want to continue practicing some. I do not want any doubt as to the results of the checkride (not only to mention that it's $350 a pop...you fail, you pay again!). Besides, is he really going to turn down the business?

Lastly, this has been a very busy last couple of weeks. I am cramming for the written (I take it in 2 days) and wrapping up the couple of classes for my master's degree. I am happy that I get a two week break before I start my LAST CLASS!!! WOOOOO HOOOO!!!!

After that, I will have my private pilot done (I hope, anyway), school will be over and I am going to "veg out" for a while. I want to get the instrument rating done (so you can fly in the weather but after the pain the PPL has been, I will do an accelerated program which will require more self-study and about 50 hours of cross country time, so I am not worrying about that until early next year. I am ready for a break, that is for sure!

So some stats:
Total Time: 52.7
Total Solo: 17.3
Total In MY plane: 16.4 Total (11.2 Solo)
Total Spend: Oh Shit!!! Don't look at that number!!!

So now you are caught up. The plan is keep cramming for written, study for the oral and fly with my instructor at least two more times (scheduled for 4).

Airplane Ownership

So there is a disadvantage to owning your own airplane. When you rent a plane and there is a maintenance issue, you simply "write it up" or tell the maintenance folks and that's it. When you own your plane, you have to get it fixed on your own. So I have had my plane for a week, and it's already down for maintenance. I sure hope this isn't a sign of things to come!!!

Well, I headed to the airport on Tuesday to go and get some solo stuff done. I am hoping to take my checkride in a few weeks, so it's getting down to the wire. As I started the preflight, I saw that the fuel indicator for the right wing showed empty. I knew it wasn't empty since I had fueled up after I flew last time. Just to make sure I didn't have a leak or that it was stolen, I opened the tank and verified that there was indeed fuel in the tank. Bummer. I rocked the wing a bit, tapped the gauge, turned it on and off a couple of times and even taxied the airplane around to see if I could "fix" it. Well, nothing helped. So, I wandered to the maintenance hanger and come to find out the guy who schedules the stuff was out. I was assured he would be back the following day. So, the following day I came down to talk to "the man" but he was off running errands. I did talk to someone else who at least took my keys, wrote down my info and told me that "the guy" would call. Well, it's now Thursday afternoon and I haven't heard from him. I tried to call, but the number goes to a fax machine. Ughhhhhh!!!! This is a little annoying. I have a good reason to believe that it is the sending unit which requires tank removal, shipping, rebuilding, reshipping and reinstalling the tank. In my estimation, a week at the very best. So this really sucks. I contacted the examiner and am trying to get the check done in mid-August, so this is all cutting it awfully close. I had also scheduled a few days off next week so I would 3 good days of "checkride practice" with my instructor...now that is in jeopardy. I went ahead and reserved another "rental" plane to at least get the night cross country done Friday (if the hurricane stuff is gone!). This will be the "last" of the requirements for the checkride and will be able to just focus on the checkride.

Well, I am throughly depressed now, so that's all for today.

A Little Solo Action

This morning I got up nice and early (well, 0930 is early to me) to head to the airport and get a little flying in before it got too hot and bumpy. I would actually prefer to fly earlier, but here in South Texas, the ceilings are always around 1500-2000 feet until about 11 in the morning. Then, the clouds lift/burn off and the wind kicks up. Today was no exception to this rule. By the time I got to the airport, preflighted the plane and was ready to go...the weather was great. My "new" field is home to a lot of gliders, so I went south a little bit to my first airport to get gas (much cheaper there, too) and practice a couple landings. They went OK, but the wind was trying to get the best of me. Without the instructor weighing the plane down, there is a little more float and *a little* bit more challenging. After playing in the pattern, I went out west and just cruised around some and then do some "turns around a point". This is an exercise about 800 feet off the ground where you have to manage the airplane with the given wind conditions. Since it was fairly windy, today was a good day for that. After about 8 or so laps around the "point" I headed back up to my primary field and wrapped it up for the day. It was a fun way to enjoy an early Saturday afternoon. I am looking forward to having my checkride so I can explore a little more than right around home...so many airports and so little time!!!

Long Time, No Fly

So as you can see, I hadn't flown in quite a while. I could ramble on for pages about why, but it boils down to scheduling issues. Basically, my instructor was busy doing other things and I was having a tough time getting my night cross country scheduled. Also, the school had a rule that I couldn't solo unless he was physically at the school which also created scheduling issues. The school is really catering to international students, and the "pay-as-you-go" students get the short end of the stick.

OK, so here's what has happened. I have wanted to get an airplane for a really long time and after lots of contemplation and using Microsoft Excel for WAY too many hours (building rent vs own spreadsheets) I decided to buy an airplane. Most people think that I am crazy, and maybe I am, but you know what? I don't care!!! The numbers really paint the picture that for the flying I want to do (1000+ hours in 5 years) it is much cheaper to own. Now, ask me again if I have to sink an incredibly large amount of money for something that tears up!!!



OK, so I was waiting for the plane to get here (was down South) before I started flying again. My intention was/is do all the training in the plane so I KNOW what I will be using for my checkride. I even had an instructor lined up, but Murphy's law was in effect and he now has a medical issue that will keep him grounded for a couple of months. Well, he recommended a guy who might be able to help me out. He did "warn" me that he doesn't really "plan" anything and he thought that wasn't the best thing. I am of the mindset that it is my training, and I would like to do it "kinda" the way I want to do it as long as I am learning something....so he seems like the kind of instructor I want/need. I met him and he is a younger guy, but very laid back. I thought that he would fit the bill, and I scheduled the first few lessons.

Fast forward to yesterday...FIRST FLIGHT IN MY AIRPLANE!!!!

So, it was a little different preflighting my own airplane. Very surreal feeling, really. Anyway, we taxied out and took off. The plane is awfully quiet and the first thing I noticed was that flying it was VERY easy. I always felt like I was "fighting" the Cessnas and it was annoying. This plane flew VERY easy...it was kinda weird. So why fly out and so some maneuvers. Again, they were all very simple. So, we come back and I do the first landing and it was a 9 out a 10!!! In my opinion, the best landing I have had. I asked the instructor if he helped out some and he said, "Nope, it was all you." Go figure...I thought it was a fluke. We flew a couple more patterns and those landings were just as good. What a great first flight.

Alright, today we went back up and flew to a new field and did some power-off 180s (engine out landings), some stalls and slow flight. The crosswinds came around to try and "throw me off" and create issues, but no way man! The first landing was a bit off of centerline, so on the next one, I did a "practice approach" where I flew about 10 feet off the ground to get a good feel of the crosswinds on the plane. That worked out well and the next couple of landings were spot on. Crosswinds? Not even an issue! We then did a short field take off and that too went well. We wrapped up there and cruised back to the field and do a couple more power off landings and called it a day. The highlight was getting the solo endorsement to go fly my new toy...very cool in my opinion. After all the issues with the Cessna, I thought it would take a few more lessons, but in only 2.3 hours I am legal to fly it all alone. We have scheduled my night cross country for next Friday...which is what was holding me up with the last instructor. He told me that I *appear* to be ready for my checkride, so as it stands, I will go fly the next few days enjoying my new acquisition before my cross country. I have also taken 3 days off the last week of July for "checkride" practice. Hopefully, I will take my checkride the first part of August...but we know how that works!

Well, you are now up to speed on my progress. Hopefully, there will more entries in a relatively short period of time. OK, time for bed...

Initial Cross Country

So yesterday was scheduled to be a solo. I had all these grand plans to go and work on my short/soft field landings. Everything else is pretty good, at least within the PTS standards (PTS is practical test standards). So, right before I head out, my instructor gives me a call and asks if he can bum a ride to another airport. Well, I guess I can't really so no, so I give him the enthusiastic "Of course!!!" Well, when I get to the airport, I see one of the DPE (designated pilot examiner) is there with his plane sitting on the ramp. I didn't think any checkrides were scheduled, but what do I know. As I walk from my truck to the office, I notice two cars in the lot that belong to the "feds". This is much out of the ordinary for this little airport. As I go in, I see my instructor coming out of his office and there is an FAA party going on in there. There were at least 5 people digging through stuff. My Instructor said that somone missed a checkride, so they were scrubbing records of the school. My instructor just wanted to GET OUT!!! I can't say as I blame him. So, we go off and do a couple maneuvers that are required of the commercial license. Sure, I don't need to know them now, but I have no issues with learning a little extra. So, after that we go on to the other airport and hang around there for about an hour then head back to my primary airport. What happens at 5 PM on a Friday? That's right...all the Feds were gone.

So today was my initial cross country. It was the exact same route as I did on the dual flight, so nothing cosmic there. I enjoyed the first leg and actually got to listen to some tunes on the way. Once I landed, I was looking forward to a burger at the airfield diner, but they had closed early for a "special event". What a bunch of punks! It turned out that the diner being closed was a good thing. As I took off and was heading back, I noticed a good bit of weather building along the way. All the forecasts made mention of a "slight risk" of thunderstorms, but all the "scientific forecaster discussions" made it sound like it was HIGHLY unlikely to amount to anything. So with this information and the fact that it hadn't rained in MONTHS I had no qualms to doing the cross country. Anyway, a while back, I had purchased a GPS for when I finish my private training. I have/had no intention of using it until I was done with training or if I got myself into a pickle. When I bought it, there was a model with and a model without XM weather. The model with the weather was a bit more expensive, but figured that since I plan on doing ALOT of cross country flying it would be handy to have. OK, so back to the story...so I was on my way back and I am seeing quite a bit of buildup and rain, so I break out my new GPS/weather toy and fire it up. Wow...I am glad I bought the thing!!! The weather was considerably worse than I thought and it showed stuff that my plain vision couldn't detect. So, I flew around the storms and the heavier rain and elected to do a straight in approach to the field. (It is preferred that you would fly past the field and come back at a 45 degree angle to enter the traffic pattern but I wanted to beat the weather that was about 5 miles from the field.) I taxied in and got the plane tied down about the same time my instructor was coming back from flying with another student. He asked how it was and commended my "aeronautical decision making" for making the straight in approach. I told him I had been in a few storms in the C-5 and it was NO FUN at all!!! So, after clocking in the airplane, I headed to the house. About 2 minutes after leaving the airport, the weather hit. I called the automated weather station at the airport and it was reporting lighting, thunderstorms and winds 18 gusting to 39 knots. So after than...I am GLAD I spent the extra money for the XM weather, and I am GLAD that I did the straight in or I am pretty sure I would have gone somewhere else to hang out and wait for the weather to pass.

Well, nothing is on the plate right now flying wise. The next thing we want to do is the night dual cross country, but my instructor is going off on vacation for a while, so guess it's about time to study, study, study for the written exam. I appreciate the time to get it done, but hate not knowing when I will fly again.

One last thing...This is nothing on the subject of flying, just a random thought. So a couple of months ago, I bought a ski boat. Nothing fancy, nothing new, just something to tinker with. Anyway, the guy I bought it from had a new cover for it and had forgotten to give me the straps for it. He had called while I was on vacation to tell me that he had them but in all honesty, I forgot all about them. Anyway, so when I get back from flying, there is a voice mail from his wife telling me that she still has them and apologized for not being in touch because her husband had died 3 weeks ago. The guy was MAYBE 40-45 years old with 5 kids and really seemed to have the world by the tail. It just goes to show that you NEVER know when your time is up. OK, that's it....

First Night

So tonight went of without a hitch. The only odd thing was when I showed up, winds were about 8 knots. After preflighting the airplane and fuelin' it up, a windstorm from hell came around. It was now gusting to about 26 knots!!! No weather for 500 miles, and it was clear and a million, but lots of wind! I think my instructor ordered it just for me...I don't EVER fly in calm winds.

So the flying part wasn't anything new (most of the C-5 missions are at night, so used to that) and the landings were pretty easy too. There aren't any VASIs (glide slope indicators) at my field, so it took me a couple times around the pattern to get the sight picture right, but after that it was all "gravy".

We were scheduled to do some more instruction Friday, but we changed it to some solo work. My crosswind landings have come a long way, so I guess we I don't need anymore instruction on that. Things are still clipping along. So far, I need one more dual cross country (at night) and 3 solo cross countries (the first is scheduled for Saturday). After that, I will have what is called "3 in 60" which is an FAA requirement to have 3 hours of "checkride prep" within 60 days. One of those will be a "stage check" with another instructor to make sure I am ready for the checkride. I do think that mid-July is probable, at least if I can get my instructor to schedule the night cross country (he is not a big fan of working at night) and if I can get the examiner scheduled. I would probably actually be done SOONER than that, but my instructor wants to take vacation at the end of the month. Geez, what is the deal with that?

Totals so Far: Total Time: 33.5
Solo Time: 4.3
Total Landings: 120 (8 at night)
Total Cost: Holy Crap!!! I can't add that high!!!

Update

So not a whole lot going on right now. I am busy studying for the written exam and am going out this evening to do my night stuff. If everything goes as planned, I'll get 8 landings in then I'll just have 2 left (required training for the checkride) that I will get on my night cross country. I flew solo a couple of days ago and just stayed in the local pattern doing touch and goes. Some were damn nice, and others were "not so nice". Everything was great until my headset took a crap and started doing a very annoying loud squealing noise. I did the full stop and taxied in. I guess the 1.5 hours of sweating like a dog zapped my headset. They still weren't working later that evening but after a couple of days, they seem to be working OK.

I am still on for my solo cross country this Saturday, so if all goes well...I will do the night cross country, a couple more solo cross countries and then it will be checkride prep time. It really looks like I might actually get this done by mid-July. Oh yes, then the REAL fun begins...instrument training!!! Woohoo!!!

First Cross Country...

Well, since my last post, I have flown twice and the last flight was fairly uneventful so thus the lack of a post. That flight was a little work with my instructor at a controlled field followed up with 3 full stop landings to complete my requirements for solo work at a controlled field. There really was nothing to write home about except my first solo landing was horrible!!! I am pretty sure I readjusted the field elevation! The last two were much better and the airplane was still in one piece when I was done.

So today, I did my first cross country. I did most of the planning last night and I guess I did OK as my instructor had no critiques about it (and he critiques EVERYTHING!!!). So, we head out to the plane and off we go. I really thought I would get behind the airplane since the first part is assholes and elbows, but it went fairly smooth. All my calculations were pretty darn right on, although we couldn't get to the planned cruising altitude because of clouds. So, anyway...we get up to Fredericksburg and I grease the landing...hot damn!!! That made my day especially the number of "spectators" there were once we got to the ramp. I would have LOVED to see those 20+ people's expression if had "pranged" it on!!! So, we had a nice lunch, checked out the sites on the airport (quite a few REALLY nice airplanes!!!), talked about how much an idiot Obama is and then jumped in to head back. The first leg was a mix of dead reckoning, pilotage (looking out the window) and VOR work. The second leg was nothing but looking out the window. Everything was great until my instructor kep having me change my course about 10-15 degrees from my plan. I'm not sure why he was doing this, but before too long, the field was off by about...can you guess? Yeah, about 15 degrees!!! He never explained what the rationale was, but I guess it's kinda my fault too for not asking "what are we doing again?" Anyway, we got back to the airport and that landing was not that pretty...I think a good gust got me, but hey, that's OK. I am kinda curious about one thing...my CFI keeps telling me I am not lined up, so when I "line up", the nose is always off by about 5 degrees from the runway. If I feel like I am lined up, he says I am crabbed but when he says I am lined up, I feel like we are crabbed the other way. I'm not sure what the issue is there...one of our sets of eyes ain't workin' quite right I believe!

So, all in all the cross country went well. I didn't get behind the airplane and besides fighting the power (kept creeping up and down) I think it went real well. The plan for next week is as follows: Tuesday, a little solo work in the pattern. Thursday; night pattern work. Saturday; solo cross country. So it seems to REALLY be moving along quite well. Since the end does appear to be in sight, it is time to really start studying for the written exam. My CFI told me when I score over 90 on 3 practice tests, he will sign me off to test. So, hopefully I'll get that done in the next week or so too.

More Solo Work

Well, I was really beginning to think that I wasn't going to any solo work today. The winds have been strong over the last few days and I really expected it to continue. It seems to work out like this: To fly solo, I have to have 3,000 ceilings and 7 miles of visibility. I am allowed 15 knots of wind...so if it's not windy, the ceilings are low. If the ceilings are high, so are the winds. So anyway, as it worked out, ceilings were good and winds were about 10G14 and 15 on occasion. So, I got airborne and took the plane to the practice area...this was a first solo. I have to admit that I was enjoying the flying more than anything and didn't practice too many maneuvers. Some turns around a point and some s-turns which were not looking real good. I could hear my instructor squawking in my ear "more bank!!! NO too MUCH!!! Dammit...NO!!! MORE....NO LESS!!!!" but oddly enough he wasn't there. So after some of that, I cruised back to the pattern to join 3 other planes (which then was 4 other planes...that is the busiest I have seen it yet at my primary field). I did 5 touch and goes that were "not too bad" and then a full stop when the winds started kicking pretty good. All in all, a fun time and quite enjoyable.

My next flight is going to be at the towered field down the road. I have flown there a couple times, but I guess it is time to get in the three take offs and landings at a controlled field that are required for the checkride. Also, looking at the syllabus, I will start the cross-countries real quick. As scheduled, I have Thursdays flight, then a night flight then the two cross country with my instructor. After that (if I haven't sucked royally) I have 3 solo cross countries and then start my checkride prep. That should be 3 or 4 rides....again, as scheduled. I am getting pretty excited as the end seems to be coming in sight. Perhaps having my PPL in hand by 31 July is not an unrealistic goal!!! Of course, this is BEFORE I try to get my CFI to schedule the night flights!!!

OK, time fora quick nap before my venture across town for school. Man, I am beat!!!

Another Loss...

Well real quick, I was scheduled to fly yesterday, but we canceled for weather. We covered some cross country stuff and started to plan the first cross country that will happen in a week or so (hopefully).

On another note, in the world of aviation, it is often said that you will soon learn of someone you knew that has died in a plane. Well this week, I learned of two deaths. The first was a Delta pilot that I read about but didn't put the name with the person until Friday. Come to find out, he was also a reserve pilot out of Ohio that had just finished up the aerial refueling training down here not too long ago. Once I was reminded, I knew exactly who it was. He was a good stick and a super nice guy. He was so well liked that at his funeral, he had a fly-over of a C-130, a C-5 and a T-38. It's pretty special to have ONE military airplane do a fly-over, but THREE is unheard of.

Well, just a little while ago, I saw that Shaun Lunt had died Friday while flying in Alaska. Although I didn't personally meet Shaun, I had chatted with him via e-mail a few times and he was an incredibly nice guy. His story was quite remarkable; A 30 years old anesthesiologist who lived in California. He went out and bought a Super Cub which he took to Alaska for several site seeing trips. He truly had a passion for life and lived unlike anyone I have ever known. It appears that while up in Alaska circling around a whale, the airplane stalled and it spun in. A friend was with him (in his own Super Cub) and landed next to the wreckage. The Alaska State Police airplane overflew the accident but was unable to land due to winds. They asked his friend to wait until their return. He waited for two hours and then left saying he couldn't watch his friend burn up anymore. What a horrible story...I feel very bad for his friend.

Here is his website...take a look at some of Shaun's work, it is quite remarkable.

http://shaunlunt.typepad.com/shootings/

I have too many reminders lately that aviation is a wonderful thing, but it can be dangerous too...

A Little More Solo Action

So toady went pretty well. I showed up and we went straight to the plane. We covered a little more of the same as yesterday....basic VOR tracking, stalls and slow flight in simulated instrument conditions and a some pattern work. Well, after I didn't kill my CFI after a few patterns, he had me drop him off and go do a few patterns solo. The first one was pretty bad, a little bounce action but I saved it. The second one was WAY bad and I ended up going around. It was obvious that the winds were starting to kick up and some weather was coming in so my last approach (I originally was going to do a couple more) I did a partial flap and it was a damn nice landing. I thought to myself "Hey, let's end this on a good note..." so I brought it in for a full stop. So went back to the office and my CFI agreed with my self-critique and plan for me to go do some solo work Saturday morning. Hopefully, the weather will be OK and I can actually get it done. If it is questionable, I guess we'll go do some more practicing of my instrument work. My training record has areas that are graded. The grades are 1: Really Good 2: Above Average 3: Average 4: Not so Good 5: You SURE you want to fly? Well, my last few flights were graded 2.5 and today was graded a 2...woohoo!!! Guess I don't suck too bad, after all!!! OK, I need to go study some stuff (navigation stuff, systems stuff and more emergency procedures stuff) in addition to school work for my master's. Oh, what fun!!!

Moving on along....

So today was supposed to the second supervised solo, but the winds were quite erratic so we changed up the plan a little bit. The only "new" thing today was VOR navigation and simulated radar vectors while in the weather. I think it all went fairly well and the VOR stuff is pretty simple. I guess I thought there would be more to it, but not really. Of course, there is wind corrections, but you learn early on that there is wind corrections of some sort during all phases of flight...so it all is relative (to the wind, of course...HA!!!). I did about half an hour of simulated IFR and that went well too including slow flight and the stalls. The crosswind landings still need a little work, but that comes with time. I couldn't help but laugh at one thing, though. When my first landing was "not picture perfect", my CFI took it around the pattern to "illustrate" what I should do. HA!!!! is landing was just as bad as mine!!! So, he gave it back to me and the next few landings got progressively better. The next couple of days are also supposed to be gusty, so we are going to do more instrument work and getting ready for the cross-country. So, the way I *think* it might go is like this: Friday and Saturday will be instrument work and some pattern work. Then hopefully next week we will get the night stuff done and then onto the cross country. The CFI has given me route that we will fly, so this weekend I will start to "pre-plan" the pre-planning plan. Things are progressing very quickly now, much faster than I thought it would. The first month seemed like I wouldn't ever finish, now I am starting to figure out when the checkride will be scheduled. I still think mid-July will be the time frame, but we will see.

Oh yeah, the rental rate went up $10 an hour today. I knew it was just a matter of time.

Well, it's about time for me to go to work and fly big airplanes now. I gotta say...my life is pretty good. Got up, flew a little plane for a little over an hour, came home, had lunch, and now I get to go to my "job" and fly a big plane. I watched a show last night about coal miners in West Virgina. Those folks work and work HARD!!! I told Kelly that if I EVER complain about my job, just remind me about the folks in the mines.

Glad It Wasn't Me!!!

This was supposed to be a pretty busy week. I had scheduled myself to fly Tues, Thurs, Fri and Saturday. Well, you know what they say about best laid plans, right? So on Tuesday I had to cancel because of an appointment for the Air Force that went long. I could have perhaps made it, but I was tired, hot and just not feeling very well, so I think it was a wise idea to cancel. So, today rolls along and I am hyped up ready to fly. I took the day off, so I was well rested, well prepared and all in all, ready to rock and roll. I get to the airport and we review what we are going to cover...short field stuff. I have been looking forward to this since I know after this lesson, I will most likely be cut loose to go practice on my own (OK, within 25 nautical miles, but that's good enough for me!!!). So, after our pre-brief, I head out to preflight the airplane. All appears to be in good order. Fuel is good, windows are clean and winds are light and variable. Too good to be true, right? Yep, you guessed right. As I was waiting for my instructor to come out, I was watching a Cessna 152 come in on approach. As it turns out, this was his first solo...oh yes, I remember that. It seems so long ago!!! Anyway, there was another airplane on final (albeit a long straight-in) and the solo student essentially cut him off (not sure how to explain it real well...but he turned base and final too early and jumped in front of the airplane). Anyway, the "cut-off" airplane executed a go-around and flew to the right of the field. The instructor then radioed the solo student and told him what he did and to "go ahead and land and taxi back to the ramp." OK, so I know that there could be a lot of conjecture here, so I will let you decide if what the instructor did was in the best interest of his student. So the plane was coming in on a fairly stabilized approach, at first anyway. He drove it down a little fast and nose down and attempted to pull it out only to bounce the airplane...it wasn't a bad bounce, but he nosed it back down and it bounced again, this time pretty bad. Well, perhaps this would have been a good time to execute a go-around but instead he nosed it over and tried again, but this time, he hit the nose gear and it collapsed. Well as you can probably guess, collapsing any gear is a bad thing, but the nose is really bad. When you collapse the nose gear, the prop hits the ground bringing the engine to a rapid stop, usually with significant damage to the engine. I see plane come to rest and I start to run over towards the mishap. My instructor is just now coming out the door seeing me and the solo-guy's instructor running over to the scene. Well, I could really stretch out this story, but I told you the most interesting part. The student was fine, although a lot shaken up. To be honest, I think I would have shit my drawers if that had been me. The plane was banged up pretty good and there was a nice 100 foot ground scar from the prop and gear across the runway into the grass. We decided that we weren't going to move the airplane until the FAA got out there so my flight was canceled. The lesson was complete though...it is never a bad idea to execute a go-around whenever there is a doubt in your mind. I was going to post pictures, but my phone camera likes to add a nice green tint to pictures when it's nice and sunny out, so sorry, no pictures.

I am scheduled to fly Friday and Saturday, so hopefully that will go off without a hitch. Looking at the syllabus, I might be ready for my checkride by the end of June. Of course this is if EVERYTHING go just right, and well, I can almost guarantee that isn't going to happen. At this point, if I am done by mid-July, I will be pretty happy. If my no-good instructor wasn't going to be on vacation the last couple weeks of June, I'd have this thing wrapped up pretty quick. Hmmm...perhaps if we get all the cross country and night stuff done, then I can get with another instructor to get the practice stuff done...Well, I guess I will cross that bridge when I get to it!

Stage Check---PASSED!!!

So after my flight yesterday, I was told that I would have at least one more flight and then my stage check. For those who aren't aware, the stage check is a pseudo "checkride" to make sure you are progressing normally. It is a check of normal take-offs and landings, stalls, slow flight, all the ground reference maneuvers (turns around a point and s-turns across a road), radio procedures, pattern procedures and a emergency procedure or two. Anyway, it is quite a bit of stuff, but I figured since I'd have one more flight to practice, I didn't sweat it too much. OK, with that said, here's what happened: Stage check was today. It started with about an hour of oral questions on all sorts of crap...I didn't realize how much I have already learned. So, after that, we go on and do the flight portion of the check. It was a little different because my CFI didn't say a word (about airplane stuff, anyway) he let me do all the planning, the maneuvers, and the entire profile (including finding another airport and then coming back). The only thing he did was "fail" my engine for the simulated emergency with simulated emergency landing. Other than that, it was like he wasn't there. I think I did OK, and I passed. The only thing I need to work on is the crosswind landings. They weren't bad, just not the nicest landings. OK, so I get to move on. The next couple of lessons will be on short field landings and takeoffs and soft field landings and takeoffs as well as some crosswind landing practice. If that goes OK, then I will be signed of for solo flight within 25nm of the airport then onto the cross-country and night stuff. It actually looks like I am on track to finish up hopefully mid-July. I originally hoping that I would be done around the end of June, but my instructor feels the need to take a vacation at the end of June...what nerve!!! OK, I am not flying again until next Tuesday, so have a good weekend!!!

Oh yes, and for those curious. I have logged 21.2 hours, 67 landings and spent $3,316.00 so far.

It's ABOUT Freaking Time!!!

Well, sorry I haven't written lately. I was on vacation for the 1st couple of weeks in May, so flying wise, there just wasn't too much to write about. I really enjoyed the vacation...I had an absolute blast!!! Eventually my family will read this, but right now I am keeping it hush-hush just in case I can't finish up the training I am doing. I really don't see that being a factor, but I don't want the constant "are you done yet?" questions when things are so fluid. As it stands, the scheduling has worked out GREAT, but there is a possibility that I am going to have to go back to ground school for the AF to get certified in the glass cockpit version of the C-5. I really have no desire to do so, but eventually the training is going to move here, and since I am the subject matter expert for the course ware, simulators and ground school, I will have to do it sooner or later....I would just prefer to do it after I finish the private pilot stuff. After that, I am all about it. Dover has a great aeroclub and the rates are REALLY good, so that would be a bonus. I just would prefer to keep the continuity of training I have now.

OK, now the "little plane" flying stuff. I flew the day I left for vacation and I sucked REALLY bad. What a way to go out! OK, so I come back from vacation and I have flown and additional 3 lessons...I was really getting bummed out since it seemed like I couldn't knock off the rust and I was still f*ing up the landings. The "Gods of Aviation" must have thought that I have my pockets LINED with cash...but I really don't. OK, so we take off today and do a few ground reference maneuvers which were "OK" but nothing that would water your eyes. After that, we cruised to my primary airport (we flew out of another controlled field because of my instructor's schedule) and did a few around the pattern. Again, nothing REALLY bad, just not great....Then, what I wasn't expecting happened. My CFI told me to full stop and taxi over to the terminal...holy crap, he's not about to do what I think he is going to do is he?!? I haven't had my stage check yet and well, I still suck!!! Well, he actually opens his door and says what I have wanted to hear for MANY MANY MANY YEARS...."Go ahead and give me three take off and landings...and don't bend my airplane!!!" My God, has he gone mad!?!? By all accounts, almost all students think this, and I figure "na...I won't think this....I'll know when I am ready." Well, I did think that I still think he is crazy! I taxied to the runway and saw that his door was unlocked and promptly locked it...that would have been lots of fun on the 1st solo. So, I took the runway and off I went. Is was all what I expected...a little scary, much faster and yes, one of the most exciting things I have ever done in my life. I know now that I am seriously bitten by the flying bug...oh man this hobby is going to cost me A LOT of money!!! OK, back to the solo. It has also been said that everything is quite automatic and you'll hear the CFI's voice in your head yelling and smacking you around...well, that happened too and I had to chuckle when I "heard" the voices. As I was cruising along downwind, 3 more airplanes decided to decent on my little airport in West Texas. What the hell man?!? It's 100 degrees out here?!?! Who wants to fly in this heat?!? Well, I worked the 1st landing pretty good, but kinda messed up a Mooney that was inbound on the GPS approach. He had to abandon the approach and I felt a "little" guilty, but he didn't call in until he was 5 miles out. So, forget him. The second pattern was a little "different" as I wound up flying about a 5 mile downwind to let the Mooney get his approach in. When I turned base and then final, it looked like I was 50 miles from the runway!!! My instructor said that was the best landing he saw yet (from me) and I told him that I had LOTS of time to set up a nice approach. I bet if all my finals were 5 miles long, I'd do better too! The last one floated a little, but I put it down not too far from the numbers and RIGHT ON center line. I was fairly proud of myself. So, I taxied back, got my instructor and cruised back to the other airport. We debriefed and he told me a did really well. I think that is the first "that a boy" that I have gotten in a long time that I have really valued. We are scheduled to go back up tomorrow and again next Tuesday and Thursday. We will work a little more on the maneuvers stuff and I'll get a stage check from another instructor and then move along on my training. Hopefully after our lesson tomorrow, I'll get a little more solo time. It was quite fun, I must say. Oh yes...so total time to solo: 18.9 hours and 60 landings (good God man...that is a lot of landings!!!) OK, so I have rambled WAY to much, but I have one last thought for a few people in my life....perhaps a little bit of a regret:

Mom, Dad and Mommy...I am sorry you couldn't be there to see my mediocre landings. All of you have known how much I loved aviation from so long ago, and I would have loved to have you be part of this milestone. I have my crazy reasons for keeping you in the dark about all of this, but one day you will know all about it. Dad...I can see why you are a little envious about the things I do...I truly have a great life, I really, really do. I love all of you more than you will ever, ever, ever know!!!

An Update...

OK, since my last posting, I have flown 3 more times. I am up to 13.8 hours with 38 landings. With that being said, I am not the happiest aviator right now. I understand that you shouldn't get wrapped up with "time until you solo" but I am getting just a little perturbed with myself. In the last 3 flights, I have had pretty much the same scenario...take off, go do some stalls, ground reference stuff and then back to beat up the pattern. So, with 3.1 hours in the last few flights, I feel like I am regressing. Most of the maneuvers are "OK" with the exception of the power-on stall. I am trying to put the airplane in a spin, which in a Decathlon would be pretty fun, but not as much in a C-172. My landings are also sucking ass...for whatever reason, I am coming in crabbed. I feel like I am going down the centerline, but apparently not. I was really hoping to have soloed before going on vacation, but that is not going to happen. As it stands, I am flying on Saturday (the day I leave for vacation) and then will be gone for a couple of weeks. If all goes well (not holding my breath at this point) I will have a last "practice flight" on Saturday, then when I get back perhaps have a stage check. I am not sure if I will get the stage check right after I get back, since it will have been a couple of weeks since I last flew, but I guess we'll see. For all I know, I will need 100 more landings to get them down without crabbing it in. Oh yeah, maybe I will stop trying to spin the airplane too. We all have our bad days, right? Well, how about 3 in a row?!? Grrrrrr.....not very happy right now. OK, I am off to watch some of the Sporty's videos.

Finally!!!

Well after what seemed like an eternity, I finally got to fly again. Let's see...about 2 weeks, huh? Yeah, and I wanted to fly 3 or 4 times a week. The best laid plans, right? Anyway, it looked like they were going to bring in the other -172 from the other school but low and behold they got the broke one fixed this morning. You know what REALLY sucks? They didn't even need a part, it had simply come loose. Well, I can see the advantage of having an A&P now...I would have had that fixed LONG ago. Anyway, after a small snafu during preflight which was a non-event, I was back in the air. Oh man, I think the C-5 has spoiled me with it's great air conditioning. The -172's A/C? Yeah, nonexistent. So even though it is only April, it is Texas and it was a nice cool 93 degrees with about 2000% humidity! Maybe it wouldn't have been so bad, but between the heat, the crosswinds (8G16 knots and variable through 180 degrees!!!) and fighting my tendency to make the approach high, I was sweating my ass off by the time we were done. Anyway, as for the flight...

Well, we took off and went straight into the foggles. We did unusual attitudes which was fun and I hammered right on. Then, did some steep turns under the hood which also was fun and I did very well. Attitude was +/- about 2 feet!!! HA!!! OK, maybe not quite THAT good, but definitely to the standards required. After a little work on ground reference stuff, we came back for some pattern work. We did 5 touch and goes and they were OK. I wasn't really impressed, but by the last one, I finally had the approach picture down pretty good and the high C-5 flare wasn't as bad. I am still fighting the crosswinds, so a couple touch and bounces, but nothing really bad.

So, as it stands now, I fly again Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday. I am hoping against hope that I will get to solo on Saturday. Next week is my last week for flying before a long break and vacation, so I REALLY want to have the solo under my belt before I head out. I hate the idea of going on vacation and thinking about nothing but trying to get the solo down.

OK, so total time now is: 9.8 hours in 7 flights. Cost so far: 1574.50...man this ain't a cheap endeavor!!!

Still Grounded

Ughhhh!!!! This is getting old. So I get to the airport expecting to fly in some nice gusty winds...but oh no. It seems as though the plane is STILL out of commission. It's been like this for a week and a half. To say that I am a little bummed out is an understatement. I have been doing lots of studying and chair flying to get ready for today, but I am denied again. I am scheduled to fly next Tuesday, so hopefully that will actually happen. I am going on vacation in May, so I really hope that I am able to solo and take my stage I check before I go. I am really beginning to have my doubts though. PPL by the end of June? I am really beginning to doubt that too. If everything went to plan (yeah, right!) I would be done in June and off doing an accelerated instrument rating around the end of the year, but now I am wondering about that. The one thing that is solidified in my mind is that I AM doing my IR in an accelerated fashion. I know that there is a lot of instruction required if I do it through my current school and I know it would take FOREVER!!!! Ideally, I would like to be able to fly about the country at will without having to worry too much about the weather.

I guess the good side to this is I can work on some of my school stuff for my master's degree. Did I mention that I am doing that too? I am taking two classes now and have three left after I wrap these up. I also hope to be done with that madness in September. My master's stuff is incredibly boring, so I will save you the details. Besides, flying is much more exciting!!! This will probably result in me NOT graduation this fall with honors! HA!!!

Here we go...

Greetings All!!!!

So I have done the blog thing before, but quit early on. This is my attempt to "keep it going"...I guess we'll see how that goes. Well, long story short, as you saw, I am an FE in the Air Force. I love the job and really am lucky to get paid doing such an awesome job. What's so bad you ask? Well, this job is going away outside the AF, so as much as I would enjoy it, I know I need to do something else when my gig with Uncle Sam is over. OK, so my plan now is to go get the training and experience to do part 135 freight when I finish up in the AF. For those who are unaware, part 135 is usually single-pilot airplanes flying at night to small towns picking up boxes to bring back to the larger cities. So, if you live in po-dunk and send a package via Fed-Ex, instead of sending a big 'ole 767 to pick-up a handful of boxes, the job is contracted out. These smaller companies are part 135 (which refers to the aviation regulation section 135) carriers and operate under different rules than Fed-Ex or an airline. If you are curious about these kind of carriers, you can Google "Airnet" and see a good outfit and where they are and what they do.

OK, now with that over, I need to summarize where I am. I have been involved in aviation for many years, so the basics of airplanes I really understand. I REALLY understand airplane systems and have a "general" idea of instrument flight....it's the actual flying part I am working on. So, to get everyone up to speed, I have started my primary training (private pilot) training and have a whopping 8.3 hours and 6 lessons under my belt. So far, things have been OK. I think I am doing very well with my maneuvers (stalls, ground reference stuff) and such, but my landings suck. Since I have been flying on the C-5 for over 10 years, my sight picture of the runway is way messed up. I tend to come in way high and flare about 50 feet over the numbers...well, that doesn't work out too well. In my last couple of lessons, I have only had a couple touch and go's and I told my instructor that I would REALLY like to practice the landings, and he said the next couple of rides we will do that. I am trying to fast track this as much as possible so I can start building time. If I had the time available, I would go to one of the accelerated places and get it knocked out, but that would mean giving up vacation time, which I am not ready to do. The only REAL complaint I have now is the scheduling. I have availability to fly 3 or 4 times a week, but so far it is working out to just once or twice a week. I am hopeful that if I can get the landings figured out then I can go practice the ground reference stuff solo. Really, if it wasn't for scheduling issues with the instructor, I would be flying 5 or 6 times a week!!! But, until then I am stuck dealing with scheduling issues.

OK, guess that is a fairly good introduction. I am scheduled to fly tomorrow and 3 times next week, so I will let you know how that goes!!!

Oh yes, one other thing. The title "Into the distance" is from the Pink Floyd song...you know about learning to fly.