Pro of a plane: it's a straight shot to your destination, no curves in the roads or traffic lights.
Cons of a plane: it's far easier to get lost. And there's no gas station to stop and ask for directions at.
So today, much to my utter dismay, weather was terrible. By the time the ceiling got to a reasonable level, the winds picked up so quickly that even the jets were having..interesting...take-offs and landings (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5X_7Xt2ga-s ok, so not that bad, but you get the idea). So, today got to be a ground school day. Todays topic: how to find your way from one place to another, with minor troubles, and how to avoid those troubles. Yay.
Every aircraft is equipped with what is called a VOR (VHF HF Omni-direction Radio Range). Basically, it's an instrument that you set based on a radio frequency and receive a signal from a ground station that allows you to find out what VOR(s) you're "talking" to, via either Morse code or now there's often a voice recording, and then sends a signal to the instrument of where it is in relation to you via a magnetic bearing. These ground stations are scattered all over and are also often stationed at airports. You can pick one if you want to go to a set point, which I'll do when I do a cross-country to Lynchburg, which has a ground station right at the airport. When I dial in the frequency, and get on the approximate heading I'll predict I need to be on to get there, the needle on my VOR instrument will hopefully line up to the center and a little flag with a forward arrow showing that I'm headed directly to the ground station/airport. Success! If I happen to get slightly off course due to wind or just too much sightseeing, the little needle isn't on center anymore and I make course corrections till it's centered again. Pretty niffy little bugger.
What to do when there's no VOR to help guide you? I get to use my two eyes nature gave me and look for landmarks. On aviation maps they list things such as railroad tracks, major roads, golf courses, manufacturing plants, tank farm (yes, apparently they grow storage tanks around here. They're like dogs, they start off all small and cute then get really big and just sit there). The points is that you plot a heading before you go, find landmarks on your course, figure how much time should pass between those points, and wing it (pun not intended). This all is called dead reckoning. Creative, I know. This is really only for short flights and day flights, obviously. If you pass too long between major landmarks, it's easy to get lost and that's bad news bears.
I'm pretty sure I can add "knowing how to read a map" to my list of good qualities now. Learning GPS is my next feat, although GPS basics are pretty easy and using a moving map GPS is a skill I've picked up from all the long trips in the car watching our good friend Ms. Smarty Pants (Nuvi). We just don't like to rely solely on GPS for obvious reasons.
Off to watch the game and power through some homework
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Weather and Computers, Oh My!
Charlottesville weather happens to be notoriously strange and unpredictable. I was supposed to fly this afternoon and everything was looking perfect when I went into class at 2pm. Re-appeared at 3:15 to find clouds everywhere, no-go for flight. I got grumpy. I can't fly below a ceiling of about 2000ft if I want to practice take-offs/landings, 3000ft is the limit for "normal" flying. This is because to fly VFR (visual flight rules) I have to be able to stay a minimum of 500 feet below clouds and 500 feet above ground. That right there is 1000ft, but you want another 500 feet minimum of maneuvering room. This past weekend there was broken (about .5-.75 covered) clouds high enough to allow me to fly, but scattered (puffies here and there) around 1000feet. Made landing rather difficult because I seemed to always line up my turns to the runway when I was going through them. Needless to say, turbulence ensues. But, once again, I realized I know how to handle those situations and kept cool and did just fine. This whole thing might actually turn me into a calm person...go figure.
Another weather aspect I've had to deal with, twice now, is wind. While wind makes an airplane fly (ok, physics nuts, not entirely, but you get my point), big winds makes flying, well...difficult. I remember the third or fourth time I went up there was a really strong crosswind and winds in general. We were *right* below the limit I can fly in, 15knots/10knot crosswind, and were checking the winds even at the end of the runway to make sure we were still legal. Back then in the olden days, my instructor would take off and nearly immediately hand over the controls. He had JUST handed over the controls when we went over a ridge and suddenly the wind was coming from every direction, including under us. We gained 100ft or so of altitude then dropped like a brick right back down. Quite possibly one of the scarier moments, but Tom pointed out that if I could survive that I could survive any turbulence. Go figure. Now, a month and a half later, I got to experience heavy winds again. I knew it was going to be a day of trouble when we watched a Lightsport plane (think glider with a mini engine) get bounced around trying to land. Now, landing a plane in winds is difficult, I've found. End up landing on one wheel at first, then the other, then nose gear. All while using rudder and ailerons (back steering with feet peddles and ailerons are the wing portions that turn, using the yolk). And my brother thought I couldn't speak and walk all at the same time...hah!
As for this weekend, apparently the computer scheduling system has hiccuped and people got bumped from schedules and some planes appear full even though their not, so I may or may not fly. DRAT. But, the good thing is that I'm first on the list according to the head-man of the place, so once they work everything out, hopefully I'll get a call.
Will be doing some research on Charlottesville's runway tonight while doing some communications (class deals with radio towers and signals and such...flight stuff and that class actually complement each other and I've learned quite a bit about radars/navigation beacons/etc). Apparently they wanted to construct the runway in a direction where crosswinds would be virtually non-existent, but some politician wanted to save some beetles and they built it the way it is. She also got blocked from flying in/out once due to crosswinds, so, paybacks are a pain. Runway post might be next...
Another weather aspect I've had to deal with, twice now, is wind. While wind makes an airplane fly (ok, physics nuts, not entirely, but you get my point), big winds makes flying, well...difficult. I remember the third or fourth time I went up there was a really strong crosswind and winds in general. We were *right* below the limit I can fly in, 15knots/10knot crosswind, and were checking the winds even at the end of the runway to make sure we were still legal. Back then in the olden days, my instructor would take off and nearly immediately hand over the controls. He had JUST handed over the controls when we went over a ridge and suddenly the wind was coming from every direction, including under us. We gained 100ft or so of altitude then dropped like a brick right back down. Quite possibly one of the scarier moments, but Tom pointed out that if I could survive that I could survive any turbulence. Go figure. Now, a month and a half later, I got to experience heavy winds again. I knew it was going to be a day of trouble when we watched a Lightsport plane (think glider with a mini engine) get bounced around trying to land. Now, landing a plane in winds is difficult, I've found. End up landing on one wheel at first, then the other, then nose gear. All while using rudder and ailerons (back steering with feet peddles and ailerons are the wing portions that turn, using the yolk). And my brother thought I couldn't speak and walk all at the same time...hah!
As for this weekend, apparently the computer scheduling system has hiccuped and people got bumped from schedules and some planes appear full even though their not, so I may or may not fly. DRAT. But, the good thing is that I'm first on the list according to the head-man of the place, so once they work everything out, hopefully I'll get a call.
Will be doing some research on Charlottesville's runway tonight while doing some communications (class deals with radio towers and signals and such...flight stuff and that class actually complement each other and I've learned quite a bit about radars/navigation beacons/etc). Apparently they wanted to construct the runway in a direction where crosswinds would be virtually non-existent, but some politician wanted to save some beetles and they built it the way it is. She also got blocked from flying in/out once due to crosswinds, so, paybacks are a pain. Runway post might be next...
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Northwest Pilots
As you may have heard, Northwest pilots overshot an airport. By 150 miles. Because they were on their laptops? We all were discussing this today and it's highly doubtful that this happened, and most likely they did fall asleep. It's nearly impossible to not hear communications from towers, even using a laptop or arguing. So, this is where everyone tells me "be safe, don't fly tired, etc". I hear the warnings and I promise, promise, promise, I'll be safe and won't fly in bad conditions, whether it's weather of physical.
Gearing up for the next phase of solo training
My next phase is to practice cross-countries and landing at other airports. My next phase is thus learning to navigate. I'll start out navigating to our two practice areas (basically giant empty airspaces you can, well, practice in). That will happen this week, then I'll start flying to those areas solo. After that, we'll begin cross-countries to nearby airports, Lynchburg and Culpeper being first. Then branch out to Richmond, Virginia Beach, and hopefully I'll get my FAA stuff in line to land at Leesburg. Then I do it all on my own. Whew...
I doubt I'll ever go to Dulles as a student simply because Dulles is big and daunting right now. With Leesburg being so close to home, I see little reason to battle 747s for airspace right now.
All in all, I need 40 hours, minimum, in a plane as a student. Of those 20 have to be with an instructor, 10 have to be on my own. I'll probably make the other 10 a balance, but most people take about 45 to finish everything, so I'm just seeing how it all works out. I'm at 15.7 hours, with about 2 of those being solo already. I also have to work in night flying and some night landings, but that's all part of the 40.
And so I march..er, fly...on
I doubt I'll ever go to Dulles as a student simply because Dulles is big and daunting right now. With Leesburg being so close to home, I see little reason to battle 747s for airspace right now.
All in all, I need 40 hours, minimum, in a plane as a student. Of those 20 have to be with an instructor, 10 have to be on my own. I'll probably make the other 10 a balance, but most people take about 45 to finish everything, so I'm just seeing how it all works out. I'm at 15.7 hours, with about 2 of those being solo already. I also have to work in night flying and some night landings, but that's all part of the 40.
And so I march..er, fly...on
Plane!! Cessna-152 that I fly mainly. It's my one non-human-best-friend. Stuck in the 70s in terms of paint though...
Solo #2!
Got handed the keys, did my pre-flight, then hoped that everything I could do the previous Thursday held through to Monday. Turns out it did, did some routine TOs/Ls. Got to experience taking off in the wake turbulence of a regional jet (RJ). Also got to experience a traffic jam on the ground. Because CHO only has three gates for jets/turbo-props from Delta/Colgan(United)/US)-scAirways, they have to move stuff in and out of the jets quickly. And because CHO is rather insignificant compared to close by IAD/Richmond/Virginia Beach, traffic will often get halted out of there. Thus, lots of Delta jets seem to sit on the taxiway or at the end of the darn runway, waiting for their clearance to department. Which means us little planes get to dodge them and will often get held up waiting for private jets to leave too. So, in a little over an hour, I only got 8 TOs/Ls in. However, I did get to fly over UVa because the sitting-Delta got to finally leave, along with two other jets, so I got to fly parallel to the runway in the opposite direction (called a "downwind leg". The approach to land consists of the downwind, then a "base", which you turn 90 from your downwind, and then a "final", which is your final approach to the runway going the right direction). This downwind path took me right over Grounds, and while I'd love to say it's pretty, which it was, it wasn't as exciting as I hoped because everything is brick and white and difficult to find anything. Ohwell.
The one thing that did go wrong: I made it all the way to the end, stopped the prop and shut down the engine, and was getting ready to get out and tell the four onlookers and my instructor that I think I did great. Now, the 152 is about the size of a stupid soda can. At 5'11", it's somewhat difficult to manuever my legs and body out and clamber over the wheel and under the wing. Well, I missed the wheel and the wing, but got a leg stuck in the airplane, and ended up basically falling out of it backwards and landed on my back. Naturally, I started laughing hoping that I didn't break anything. Tom comes bolting over to make sure I'm ok, which I am. I try to laugh it off, but everyone saw, and I basically became the resident-clown.
I can fly a plane, but can't talk, nor walk apparently. Awesome.
The one thing that did go wrong: I made it all the way to the end, stopped the prop and shut down the engine, and was getting ready to get out and tell the four onlookers and my instructor that I think I did great. Now, the 152 is about the size of a stupid soda can. At 5'11", it's somewhat difficult to manuever my legs and body out and clamber over the wheel and under the wing. Well, I missed the wheel and the wing, but got a leg stuck in the airplane, and ended up basically falling out of it backwards and landed on my back. Naturally, I started laughing hoping that I didn't break anything. Tom comes bolting over to make sure I'm ok, which I am. I try to laugh it off, but everyone saw, and I basically became the resident-clown.
I can fly a plane, but can't talk, nor walk apparently. Awesome.
First solo!!!!
In the private pilot's world, the first solo is quite possibly the biggest milestone in your training. It's the first time you get let go on your own. You have to accumulate at least 10 hours in the plane with an instructor and a certain number of landings. At CFC, they also require that you know how to get to another airport in case while you're in the air on your own, and the runway at CHO gets shut down, you know how to get down.
Last Thursday morning, I woke up at 7am to go out on my checkride flight with the head hauncho instructor. Basically, he flies with you and tests your basic skills and quizzes you with some emergency procedures (what to do if your engine dies right after take off: if you don't have enough runway left to abort, set your glide speed and find a field!). We did some practice take-offs and landings too (I graduated out of slamming-stage). Landed safely, we parted ways and I went off to class planning to return that afternoon for some practice-area time with my instructor and was told to bring an old t-shirt. Swell..
That afternoon, I spent some time practicing TO/Ls and when I was nearing the end, my instructor told me to taxi back. He then signed off my logbook, said "do 5 TO/Ls, have fun", and shut the door on his way out.
Crap. I'm on my own. This is my first solo.
So, I taxi back out to the runway. Taxied to the end. Radioed the tower, asked for departure permission. Everything's going hunky-dory. Throttle up, take-off. Follow the pattern to land again. Land, and definitely was not a slam, in fact, one of the best landings I've ever done. THEN it really hits me that I'm alone. Do a mini-freak-out as I get everything ready to take off again. But this time, it wasn't a "ohmygod-i-might-crash-this-thing"freak out. It was a purely gleeful "i-can-fly-a-plane" freak-out. From there on out, I haven't looked back. Hopped out after 5 TO/Ls, after a minorly difficult experience of being routed back out of the landing pattern and back in because too many jets/props were all coming in at once (the tower control guy from that night was EXTREMELY understanding and helpful in getting me out of the mess and back in to land, and is my hero). Got my shirt tail cut off and posted on a wall (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_solo_flight#Traditions). High-fived by a bunch of people. High-fived over the phone by Momma and Poppa Duckie. In general, best afternoon.
There's not much else I can say about my first solo. It was the most rewarding and fulfilling experience of my life. Everything else just seems trivial once you learn to land a plane by yourself...
Last Thursday morning, I woke up at 7am to go out on my checkride flight with the head hauncho instructor. Basically, he flies with you and tests your basic skills and quizzes you with some emergency procedures (what to do if your engine dies right after take off: if you don't have enough runway left to abort, set your glide speed and find a field!). We did some practice take-offs and landings too (I graduated out of slamming-stage). Landed safely, we parted ways and I went off to class planning to return that afternoon for some practice-area time with my instructor and was told to bring an old t-shirt. Swell..
That afternoon, I spent some time practicing TO/Ls and when I was nearing the end, my instructor told me to taxi back. He then signed off my logbook, said "do 5 TO/Ls, have fun", and shut the door on his way out.
Crap. I'm on my own. This is my first solo.
So, I taxi back out to the runway. Taxied to the end. Radioed the tower, asked for departure permission. Everything's going hunky-dory. Throttle up, take-off. Follow the pattern to land again. Land, and definitely was not a slam, in fact, one of the best landings I've ever done. THEN it really hits me that I'm alone. Do a mini-freak-out as I get everything ready to take off again. But this time, it wasn't a "ohmygod-i-might-crash-this-thing"freak out. It was a purely gleeful "i-can-fly-a-plane" freak-out. From there on out, I haven't looked back. Hopped out after 5 TO/Ls, after a minorly difficult experience of being routed back out of the landing pattern and back in because too many jets/props were all coming in at once (the tower control guy from that night was EXTREMELY understanding and helpful in getting me out of the mess and back in to land, and is my hero). Got my shirt tail cut off and posted on a wall (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_solo_flight#Traditions). High-fived by a bunch of people. High-fived over the phone by Momma and Poppa Duckie. In general, best afternoon.
There's not much else I can say about my first solo. It was the most rewarding and fulfilling experience of my life. Everything else just seems trivial once you learn to land a plane by yourself...
The beginnings...
For starters...
Plane: mainly a Cessna-152 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cessna_152 I flew on a C-172 for awhile because the 152 underwent it's 100-hour inspection
Where: Charlottesville Airport (CHO) Charlottesville Flight Center http://www.flycfc.net/
Who: I fly, Tom (instructor) holds on for dear life in the co-pilot seat
Starting out was pretty darn easy. I've wanted to fly my entire life, and my dad did the best thing ever for me and got me up into a plane this past summer. Right then, I knew I needed to do this for myself, but the timing of doing over the summer was terrible with my 9-5 internship and living near "Class-Stupid"/"Class-FighterJets" airspace (what everyone down here calls the no-fly zone around DC). Since this is my last year in college, and I had a friend completing his at Cville Flight Center, I decided to take the plunge. One of the better decisions of my life...
So, one beautiful Saturday afternoon, I took a trip up to Charlottesville Airport (CHO) to visit the guys/ladies at Charlottesville Flight Center, asked them about the whole plan, and set up an introductory flight. Fast forward a few days, I was hooked after the first flight. I got to fly quite a bit, and apparently I had some basic skill to me, so I set up a schedule and got all my stuff ordered to begin.
After my first flight, I got everything to start my training. Since I'm in lab/class during their ground school, I got a DVD kit for all of my ground school. I basically self-study and my instructor (Tom) goes over the stuff and answers any questions and holds mini-quizzes for me (often in the air too, makes you become a quick thinker). The first few flights were short, and it seemed like this was going to take forever. I would meet with my instructor for about two hours, but by the time he went over ground basics and we did a pre-flight inspection on the airplane, I'd only get 0.5-0.8 hours of flight time in. However, I quickly became more confident in basic flying skills and less time was spent on the ground, more time in the air practicing everything.
Much like learning how to drive, I had many mishaps and good learning experiences during my basic training days. Forgot to engage the breaks once before starting the engine, knocking my head off from lowered flaps, forgetting to put flaps at 30deg before landing, not to mention my first landings were more like slammings. And learning to land..hah, what an adventure. First time, I slammed that poor thing into the ground. Second time I nearly took the nose wheel off. Third, a bit better. I hit a nice bump though when I was just starting to learn to land, when they switched me from the 152 to the 172 due to the 152 undergoing it's 100-hour tear-apart. Now, in simple terms, if you were to compare the two machines to cars, 152=Civic 172=Corvette. The 172 is so much more smooth in flight, seemless in gliding, and quite a bit faster. However, it likes to fly...not land. Landing that thing seemed like trying to land a flying washing machine. I was yanking back on the yoke so hard my bicep hurt (you keep one hand on the throttle, one on the yoke). It seemed like I was just getting to the point of zero "slams" when I got to go back to the 152. Getting back into the 152, it was almost beautiful seeing how easy it can be to land a plane. The 152 is a piece of cake now...
The biggest obstacle in the beginning was wrapping my head around the idea of flying. Once I realized that I may make a mistake and my instructor is there to help correct them and keep me safe and sound, I began to build up the confidence and actually learned from my mistakes rather than freaking out. And trust me, when you're barreling at 70knots airspeed, headfirst into a runway (to land, you point down until about 15feet off the runway, pull back to level out, you drop speed immediately and descend while you go into the landing "flare", or nose up, landing position), for the first time, you freak out. But once I got it all down, I finally learned to REALLY enjoy flying. At the same time, my instructor began planning to let me loose on my own...wuh-oh!
Plane: mainly a Cessna-152 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cessna_152 I flew on a C-172 for awhile because the 152 underwent it's 100-hour inspection
Where: Charlottesville Airport (CHO) Charlottesville Flight Center http://www.flycfc.net/
Who: I fly, Tom (instructor) holds on for dear life in the co-pilot seat
Starting out was pretty darn easy. I've wanted to fly my entire life, and my dad did the best thing ever for me and got me up into a plane this past summer. Right then, I knew I needed to do this for myself, but the timing of doing over the summer was terrible with my 9-5 internship and living near "Class-Stupid"/"Class-FighterJets" airspace (what everyone down here calls the no-fly zone around DC). Since this is my last year in college, and I had a friend completing his at Cville Flight Center, I decided to take the plunge. One of the better decisions of my life...
So, one beautiful Saturday afternoon, I took a trip up to Charlottesville Airport (CHO) to visit the guys/ladies at Charlottesville Flight Center, asked them about the whole plan, and set up an introductory flight. Fast forward a few days, I was hooked after the first flight. I got to fly quite a bit, and apparently I had some basic skill to me, so I set up a schedule and got all my stuff ordered to begin.
After my first flight, I got everything to start my training. Since I'm in lab/class during their ground school, I got a DVD kit for all of my ground school. I basically self-study and my instructor (Tom) goes over the stuff and answers any questions and holds mini-quizzes for me (often in the air too, makes you become a quick thinker). The first few flights were short, and it seemed like this was going to take forever. I would meet with my instructor for about two hours, but by the time he went over ground basics and we did a pre-flight inspection on the airplane, I'd only get 0.5-0.8 hours of flight time in. However, I quickly became more confident in basic flying skills and less time was spent on the ground, more time in the air practicing everything.
Much like learning how to drive, I had many mishaps and good learning experiences during my basic training days. Forgot to engage the breaks once before starting the engine, knocking my head off from lowered flaps, forgetting to put flaps at 30deg before landing, not to mention my first landings were more like slammings. And learning to land..hah, what an adventure. First time, I slammed that poor thing into the ground. Second time I nearly took the nose wheel off. Third, a bit better. I hit a nice bump though when I was just starting to learn to land, when they switched me from the 152 to the 172 due to the 152 undergoing it's 100-hour tear-apart. Now, in simple terms, if you were to compare the two machines to cars, 152=Civic 172=Corvette. The 172 is so much more smooth in flight, seemless in gliding, and quite a bit faster. However, it likes to fly...not land. Landing that thing seemed like trying to land a flying washing machine. I was yanking back on the yoke so hard my bicep hurt (you keep one hand on the throttle, one on the yoke). It seemed like I was just getting to the point of zero "slams" when I got to go back to the 152. Getting back into the 152, it was almost beautiful seeing how easy it can be to land a plane. The 152 is a piece of cake now...
The biggest obstacle in the beginning was wrapping my head around the idea of flying. Once I realized that I may make a mistake and my instructor is there to help correct them and keep me safe and sound, I began to build up the confidence and actually learned from my mistakes rather than freaking out. And trust me, when you're barreling at 70knots airspeed, headfirst into a runway (to land, you point down until about 15feet off the runway, pull back to level out, you drop speed immediately and descend while you go into the landing "flare", or nose up, landing position), for the first time, you freak out. But once I got it all down, I finally learned to REALLY enjoy flying. At the same time, my instructor began planning to let me loose on my own...wuh-oh!
Why?
So I decided to start a blog, even though I swore I would never get into this type of thing, to let everyone follow my path to getting my private pilot's license. Even though I'm in the middle of everything now, it's better late than never. I'll try to start the early posts from what I can remember from my first days of hopping in a plane, but most of it is a whirlwind of learning all the basics while I'm trying not to hit anything.
Here we go...
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