Lesson Nineteen

I have managed to fall behind in keeping this up to date, so this entry is for November 20th.

I had scheduled a lesson from 8 to 10 am, as the Flight School was hosting an Open House from 10 to whenever, which I had volunteered to help with.  I got to the airport a few minutes before 8, and chatted with some pilots who were also going to volunteer, but they were going to be working with the EAA's (Experimental Aircraft Association) touring B-17 bomber "Aluminum Overcast".

Michael arrived and let me into the flight school office to get the Pilots Handbook for 69212 so I could start the pre-flight inspections.  The previous Wednesdays lesson had been called off due to a weather front coming through the area, which had produced winds gusting past 30 knots.  I got the Cessna checked out as Bob arrived, it had been parked across a slope, with one wing slightly lower that the other, which allowed fuel to run from the uphill tank to the downhill tank, so we had 10 gallons in one and 4 in the other.  As the engine fuel is supplied from the tanks by gravity, it would naturally drain more from the heavier tank at first, so we would be fine.

I got clearance from Riverside tower and taxied past the parked B-17 to the run-up area, then we were cleared for a takeoff to the southeast.

We flew up through the bumpy air, which smoothed a little by the time we reached 2,500 feet.  The wind was still too strong for our planned ground reference maneuvers, so we did some stalls and slow flight.

As I dropped the flaps down for the "dirty" slow-flight I noticed Bob peering down out of the window.  I had the plane pointed 180 degrees South, almost straight into the wind, with the airspeed indicator right at 35 knots.  Bob asked me to adjust course to the right by 20 degrees to 200, then after a minute, asked me to go back left a little to 190 degrees.

He had been trying to gauge our ground speed, he decided that we were definitely hovering, or flying at an indicated 35 knots straight into a 35 knot headwind, he had been hoping we could actually go backward, but the wind just wasn't quite strong enough.

We got the fresh weather information and turned back around to the airport when he pulled the throttle out and told me the engine had stopped.  I ran through the checklist, determined that the engine was windmilling in this simulation, and picked a field to land in.  Down we went.  The wind closer to the ground had picked up so we were really getting bumped around.  I would have successfully landed, so we performed a go-around, full power and flaps retracted as we went back up.  At this point I decided that maybe McDonalds breakfast and orange juice aren't the best combination for rough weather flying.  I wasn't nauseous, but I was more aware of my stomach than usual and was glad to reach the relatively smoother air above.

We returned to Riverside with no further incident, when we landed we had to taxi through a parking area, as the B-17 had started its 4 huge radial engines, and we didn't want to risk taxiing too closely behind it.

We got the plane tied down and I tracked down Michael to see where I would be needed for the fly-in.
The flight school had recently purchased a Diamond DA-20 Katana as a low-wing trainer, so I was fed some pertinent facts and posted next to it to answer any questions that prospective students might have.  Fortunately the DA-20 was parked out in the main fly-in area, so I got to see the B-17 start its engines and take off, as well as a P51 Mustang and F4F Wildcat that were doing some low level formation fly-by's.

After they had landed we walked back to the Flight School building where Michael was grilling some hamburgers and hot-dogs, so I helped out there where I could, got something to eat, and called it a day.

Here are some videos of the B-17 Aluminum Overcast that I shot while at the open house:


Engines Starting, with a cameo by the P51 Miracle Maker.



Take Off with the Wildcat taxiing in the foreground.


Landing and taxiing back to parking.

Lesson Eighteen, back on schedule

I got to Riverside Airport Saturday afternoon just before my scheduled 1pm lesson.  The Directional Gyro had been replaced in the 152 a day or two earlier, so we would be flying it.

I completed the pre-flight checks and we looked at the lesson plan for the day, we would be flying to the west practice area to work on slow flight, stalls, turns and emergency procedures, working to get the maneuvers closer to check-ride tolerances.

The airport was very busy, as there was a Beechcraft fly-in, I got the weather report from ATIS and received clearance to taxi to runway 1 left.  As soon as we pulled out into the taxiway, we were stuck behind a couple of pilots in Beechcraft who had pulled up to the airport's controlled area marker before calling for any clearance, which is legal but a bit thoughtless.  They eventually got finished with whatever they were doing, but we had to cancel our taxi while we waited for them.  There were so many Beechcraft calling ground control that at one point the controller called out "Beechcraft one-zero.. uh, sorry, Piper one-zero-three..."

We got a new taxi clearance, completed the run-up checklist and were assigned number four in line to take off.  We got to witness what was technically a runway incursion, as someone had rolled to a stop with the nose gear just past the runway edge markings before getting clearance from the tower, but nothing was reported.

Finally we were number one to takeoff, and Bob called for a soft field take-off, so I dropped in ten degrees of flaps, and held the controls back as I pushed the throttle to full, to keep the weight off the nose wheel.  After rotating at 50 knots, I immediately leveled off while still in the ground effect area, increased speed to 67 knots, then raised the flaps and climbed out as normal.

We were quickly given instructions to make our turn to the west so as to get us out of the way of faster planes taking off behind us.

On Saturday I had spent some time looking out the windows at the trees that were turning yellow and red for autumn, this time out there was a lot more brown visible as the leaves were starting to fall.

We climbed to 2500 feet and headed to the practice area, where I performed some stalls and slow flight, then Bob pulled the throttle to idle and we went through the emergency procedures for a failed engine and forced landing.  After deciding that we could land in the field I had picked out, we did a go-around, engine to full power and climbed back to altitude.

After some steep turns we got the fresh weather report and headed back to Riverside.  The airport was still pretty busy, so we were given a hurry-up request and cleared straight in to land.

Next lesson is Wednesday, which will be night time flying again, so probably more maneuvers and pattern work to knock the remaining rust off of my flying. 
Soon I will have to start deciding where to fly for cross country navigation lessons!

Back in the Saddle

Soon after getting the official go-ahead from the TSA, I scheduled my normal Wednesday night 6pm to 8pm lesson in the flight school's Cessna 152.  About a day later I got the news that the Directional Gyro had been steadily getting worse since the last time I flew, and it was decided that it was time for a replacement.  The gyro is still under warranty, but we have no spare while it's being rebuilt.  As a result, the 152 is down for maintenance until some time next week. 

Fortunately Michael took pity on me, and offered me a discount rate on the larger Cessna 172.  I immediately agreed.  Bob and I had talked about getting me checked out on the 172 so we could use it for the cross country lessons, as it's faster, and has better range than the 152.  Wednesday afternoon Bob called and said he had a spot open for a 4pm to 6pm lesson if I could make it, I got permission from work, and at 3:30 headed for the airfield.

I have to admit I was nervous as I really wasn't sure how much I had forgotten in the two months of bureaucratic shenanigans since my last flight. 

Michael met me at the flight school, and had a new checklist for the 172 that he wanted me to try out, so we both went out to the plane, tail number 370JA, and started through the checks.  There were a couple of corrections we found to simplify the flow a little, such as "Fuel Shut-Off In" instead of "Fuel Shut-Off Off".

As we continued around the plane, I really got a feel for how much larger than the 152 a 172 really is.

Cessna 152

Bob and I got in the plane, and we got the weather report.  Winds were light out of the North, and the temperature was about 70f on the ground.  The airport was very busy due to the nice weather, lots of pilots enjoying the last of the warmth before winter really sets in.  I got clearance to taxi from ground control, and after the run-up checklist was complete, I was number 2 to take off on runway 1 left.

Cessna 172

Bob and I had gone over all the appropriate speeds, most of which were just 5 knots faster than in the 152, rotate at 55 knots, climb at 74 knots.

We were cleared to take off, and given instructions to maintain a heading of 300 degrees, north west.

The largest flying difference between the planes is that the 172 model we were in is really sensitive to Pitch inputs, so I had some difficulty maintaining my proper altitude until I got used to it.  The other difference is the power, we were buzzing around at 120 knots, and hit 140 at one point, the 152 has to work hard to reach 100 knots straight and level.

The plan for the day was just to see how much I had retained, so we did slow flight, stalls, turns, and steep turns, then headed back to Riverside for a couple of Touch-and-Go landings before calling it a day. 

By the time we got back to Riverside it was getting dark, but the airport was still pretty busy, we completed two touch-and-go's on runway 1 right, then asked for a full stop landing on runway 1 left, so we would be closer to the flight school's parking area.

We got the plane tied down and went back inside to discuss the lesson, Bob told me I had done really well, and we could start the syllabus lesson plan on our next lesson. The whole flight had been a great confidence booster, but I can really understand the importance of staying current in your airplane, one of the requirements to carry passengers is that you have had at least 3 take off and landings within the previous 90 days.

I have another lesson scheduled in 370JA on Saturday, and 69212 should be flight-worthy again by next Wednesday.  I really enjoyed flying the 172, but I am a lot more comfortable in the 152 that I have been flying since the beginning.

More to Come!
-Gareth

Reach for the Sky!

I got an email from the TSA this morning, they have acknowledged receipt of  my fingerprints, and I am allowed to fly again!  The email from the TSA arrived in my email in-box at 6:34 AM, and at just after 7am, I got another from Bob, he had received the good news as well.  I have already scheduled a lesson for tonight from 7:00 to 9:00pm.  It's been getting dark earlier lately, so it will probably be night hours for me!

The trip to Will Rogers airport in Oklahoma City to get fingerprinted took about 2 hours by car, we had joked during ground school about just making it an unofficial cross country flight, but decided to err on the side of caution.  My wife Melodie and I both took the friday afternoon off of work to make the trip, and we arrived shortly before my appointed time of 3:00pm.

The fingerprinting location was at a jet charter company, where we met the guy that would be taking my fingerprints.  The fingerprinting machine used a pink ink and thick paper fingerprinting cards.  After all the pink prints were taken, the card was heated in the machine to cure the ink, which turned black when it was done cooking.  While we chatted, I learned that I was actually his first Alien Flight Student Program customer, and that he had purchased the fingerprinting equipment to help his charter company air crews pass their security checks.

Twenty minutes after we arrived, and with two separate sets of fingerprints completed, we were done, and so went to visit my sister, Rachel, who lives in Oklahoma City.  While we were at her house, I got a phone call letting me know that the fingerprints had been successfully uploaded.

All I had to do then, was wait for today's email.

Stay Tuned! More to come, hopefully more often that over the last couple of months!