Happy Thanksgiving!

Hopefully everyone is wrapping up a great day of cooking and family.  One thing I've learned about flying is that stuff will always go wrong, even with the best of plan, but in the end, it's very rewarding.  So, even if there were glitches, Thanksgiving is meant to be all-around great, and I hope everyones turned out that way.  I saw many of my best fans tonight and it was awesome sharing my joys of my journeys.

So, what is a good pilot/engineer like me thankful for?
1. physics: it lets me fly =D
2. The Wright brothers: they overcame/adapted to #1 to build a machine to let me fly
3. days of good weather
4. happy dogs
5. my family and friends, who have supported me through this journey and who are looking forward to seeing me succeed.  It's also awesome knowing that I have many readers out there rooting for me too, I thank you all.  I hope that everyone finds a journey in their life, whether it's getting new knees and a new lease on life to supporting the breast cancer cause, that they can find other's support in and succeed in their journey better than ever expected due to the love and support around them.  It's been an awesome "flight" and I couldn't be more thankful for this opportunity.

Now, on to the fun stuff, and the stuff you guys come to find out about: flying!
Since I was long overdue for a nice, semi-long break (and since it will be dismal weather in Cville tomorrow) I won't be returning to Cville until Saturday.  I may be putting in some solo time in the 172s Saturday morning, but most likely, I will be continuing my break and going to my *GASP* last home football game as an undergrad!  I love flying, but pretty soon, I will have my license and a lifetime to fly.  I do not have a lifetime left as an undergrad, so I'm going to enjoy it!
Sunday, however, I will be making another cross-country.  I need a total of 5 hours of solo cross-country, minimum.  My last trip was 2.2 hours.  But I need, as well, a trip with a minimum of 150 nautical miles, with three stops.  So, my next one will either be a long one, accomplishing this, or I'll venture out to other VA airports.  I'll be looking at maps tomorrow night and debating a few options.

I'm in the home stretch now =D  I need to reallly start studying for my written test, a few more solo flights, get 1.8 more hours under the hood, and then my checkride.  I'll also be trying to swing a trip up to Leesburg area with my instructor to figure out Class-Stupid/Class-FighterJet airspace, but I might leave that for after my license.  Get some instrument time =D

Quote of the day: "If you're ever in trouble, land the damn plane please"

Best Life Experience #2

Flying an airplane by myself was hands down the most rewarding experience I'll probably ever have.  However, what's the point of flying an airplane by yourself if you can't leave your home airport or its close vicinity?  Today began the best part, second to my first solo: solo cross-countries.

Everything I learned up to today came into full effect today.  I had to judge the weather, plan my route, and control the airplane, all while being outside of the comfort zone of Cville airport.  I did the same route as my first cross country, flying to Lynchburg, landing, then flying to Farmville, landing, then back to Cville.  Everything en-route, from finding my heading, setting up VOR, and contacting different approaches and towers, all while just trying to fly and land the darn flying machine safely, was up to me.

So, how'd it go?  Pretty darn well!  I only had a couple of minor blips that I was able to correct quickly and all of my communication with the various controllers, which I was most nervous about, went smoothly.  I realized that the various controllers and all the systems aren't actually complex, and they tell you anything and everything you need to do, and as long as I'm prepared for whatever they're telling me, it goes swimmingly.  Winds were all over the place though, which made for a slightly bumpy ride..poo!
When I landed, I found out my instructor had been tracking my flight (if a plane has flight following, it can be tracked at http://flightaware.com/live/ .  When a plane is in the air, you can search by the tail number, type, and origin/destination airport).  Slightly comforting...

I also got the chance to be cleared to solo in the 172s.  For every aircraft type I want to fly I have to be cleared by an instructor to fly it, which means at least 5 solid take offs and landings.  Since I flew the older 172 awhile back and learned to land it, and have flown the newer 172 a few times recently, knocking out the review was easy.  My instructor signed me off to solo in the 172s, so bigger and better solo cross countries can commence.

All in all, amazing experience.  It was both rewarding and liberating, and is one more notch in the confidence levels.  Tuggin on the leash a bit more everyday!

Planning a Flight

Going somewhere in an airplane isn't just about hopping in and taking off.  A lot of planning has to take place before launching.  
First things first, I find out the airport I'm going to and from (duh).  I use my airport information manual to find out all of the radio frequencies I'll need at each airport and in between and record them so I'll them readily accessible in the air.
Then, I find the two on the map and play connect the dots, but here's the tricky part.  Going from one airport to the next in a straight line isn't always the best option.  Instead, most of the time, I don't have a direct path and instead have zig-zag lines.  This is either to cross radials of VORs, or if I'm using dead-reckoning, it's to fly over landmarks that are easily seen from the air.  It adds on time, but it costs me even more time if I get lost due to poor path planning.
Next, I find out the winds along my path.  I use these to find my true headings and to calculate my ground speed, and thus the time elapsed for each leg of the trip and in total.  Using all of this, I can find out how much fuel I need.
Lastly, I find out anything along my route that might affect my flight, such as non-working VOR stations or closed runways.
At the end of this, right now, I have to have my plan reviewed by an instructor before I leave.

And, right before I leave, I call up a Virginia Flight Service Station (FSS) and file my flight plan.  Unless I'm just sightseeing, I will never make a flight without a flight plan.  You tell them who you are, where you're going, contact info, your plane info, and when you're expected to return.  If you don't call to close your flight plan by that time, they send the search dogs out after you.  As dismal as it sounds, if something ever went wrong, I'm glad to know that someone will always know where to look for me.  Trying to avoid ever having to use this though =D

To Richmond and Beyond!

My parents used to think I would only not listen to them.  Tonight, I would like to proclaim that I have finally proved them wrong.  Despite the warnings from my doctor about the effects of pressure on my poor sinuses, I couldn't wait to get back in a plane.  And since my night cross-country has been delayed for nearly two weeks now, I decided that if I didn't do it as scheduled tonight, it was never going to happen.

So, off I went into the darkness to Richmond International Airport.  I flew the big bad super plane, the new C-172.  Used VOR to get there, GPS back.  Was pretty nerve-wrecking at some points, totally calm in others.

Nerve-wrecking parts
-never flown to this airport, much less a major city
-never flown to an airport in major city with lots of lights...at night
      -because of above, the runway is EXTREMELY hard to find
-lots of frequencies to chat up with, can't understand any of them
-did I mention it's a night flight?
-Richmond control had us fly wayy around to line up for a landing

Calm/cool parts
-my take offs and landings were near perfect
-we flew over a high school football field and saw a marching band practicing
-night flying is really peaceful
-I found my way around pretty easily
-the approach controls (who I talk to in between airports) are really, really helpful.  They give you headings to fly on and if I'm ever lost, I can ask them to give me a heading to the nearest airport

Things I learned
-having all of your frequencies, VOR frequencies and headings, and other info ready/written down before the flight makes it all easier
-red/blue flashlights in a cockpit are smart
-cross-country flying isn't that difficult, just keep the talking straight and stay on-course
-flying into Class-C airspace to a medium-sized international airport isn't as difficult/nerve-wrecking as I excepted...quite easy in fact, just the runways are soo confusing and there's soo many of them
-a runway's lights at night seem dimmer than the lights surrounding the runway...go figure

All in all, cool flight.  Glad I did it, and my sinuses weren't very painful (thank you gum!) and opened up entirely on the return trip at 4500 ft.  They feel pretty stellar right now in fact!

Next flight: Thursday.  This one is a BIG one too.  I solo again, only I solo a cross-country flight.  I'll fly CHO to Lynchburg to Farmville and back to CHO.  All by myself.  I'm pretty nervous, but I was before my first solo too, and I did just fine, so I keep telling myself I'm good.  I'll plan it out and make sure the weather is ok, then my instructor will sign me off to do the trip, make last minute preps, and I'm off.  My instructor believes I'm ready and I think I am too.  Should make for an interesting post Thursday night for sure...

Fun fact: the "911" frequency of the skies is 121.5  I was told to memorize that, ASAP.
Fun fact #2: the transponder has three emergency "squawks", or codes to signal emergencies as well
          1) 7500 = hijacking
          2) 7600 = no communication
          3) 7700 = emergency
Fun fact #3: CHO is a military refueling post, so lots of military aircraft hang around.  Tonight I got to watch a cargo plane do touch-and-gos.  Very cool, but turned up a lot of wake turbulence for me.  Thanks dudes!

Lingo!

I drop a lot of names and letters and ect, so here's a cheatsheet:

CHO: the airport I fly in/out of, Charlottesville Airport.  FAA letters at KCHO, but who's counting
FAA: .....duh....
CFC: Charlottesville Flight Center, the kind instructing facility that puts up with me and my antics
Tom: the guy who holds on for dear life while talking me through how not to be dumb/my instructor
Dick: runs CFC/head-hauncho.  He says when I can/can't fly and does my official license stuff
43H/"Soda Can": "Four-three-Alpha".  C-152.  My friend...
Ramp: the place where planes are parked, tied down, and tucked in at night
Pattern: the airspace that planes enter if they're landing
-Downwind: flying parallel to landing runway but in opposite direction of landing direction
-Base: after your downwind, you do a right turn to get closer to the middle of the runway
-Final: right turn after your base, it's your final approach to the runway to land
Tower: tower controller, focus on the air traffic
Ground: ground controller, monitors planes bouncing around on the ground to and from the runways
3: one of CHO's runways, pointed 30 off north
21: "same" runway as 3, just in opposite direction, 210 degrees off north
VOR: old-school navigational unit, but like transistors, still works extremely well today
Cross-country: flight that is at least 50mi in length and you traverse outside your originating airport
Cross-state: what most people call my cross-countries because I don't really leave VA
508/10A: C-172s
Hood/"cone of shame": simulates flying only by instrument, but not really because that's instrument-rated
Instrument Rating: when you really can fly only by instrument and in low visibilities
Solo: yes, I fly by myself when I solo
ADIZ/DC-No-Fly-Zone/Class-Stupid/Class-Fighter-Jet-Airspace:  why I don't fly home yet
Private Pilot's Certificate/PPC: nope, not a license!
Run-up: before every flight, at the runway I run-up the engine to make sure it's still kickin'
Duckie #2: me!  Momma duck gave us three kids these nicknames in an attempt to not lose us on a hike in Montana some time ago...stuck since and we don't mind

Question from the readers: #2

Everyone knows I love to talk, so..what exactly do I chat up to the air traffic controllers about?

Ground control: At any airport, you have to get permission to taxi to a runway.  Some airports, you have to ask someone else, before you even move, if you can move.  When I contact ground control, I say
1) who I'm trying to talk to and who I am ("C'ville ground control, this is Cessna 4843H.." or whatever tail number of the plane I'm in)
2) I tell them if I have the weather information for the airport.  Before contacting ground, I listened to a special frequency of a automatic recording that tells me the temp/dew point, barometric pressure (for altimeter setting), wind speed/direction, visibility, what runway is in use, and any other critical info.  Then, the information is assigned a phonetic alphabet sign.  Alpha is to start, then every time it's update, it rolls to the next letter, so Bravo, Charlie, Echo, etc.  ("...with Alpha...")
3) What I want to do now ("...request taxi to the active...").  Active = runway in use
4) What I want to do after take-off.  I can stay in the pattern to practice take-offs or landings or depart in a certain direction ("...for a south-east departure")
Now, they give me clearance and tell me to "Taxi to Runway 3 via Foxtrot-Alpha".  Runway 3 is one of the runways, Foxtrot is the taxiway that I use to get onto the main taxiway, Alpha, that will take me to the end of the runway.  All those cool lit up signs around runways tell you all of this.

Now, on to the fun guys, the Tower.  These guys run the show of assigning take-offs and landings and keep people from bumping others in the skies around the airport.

1) Who I'm contacting and who I am ("C'ville Tower this is Cessna 4843H...")
2) What I want to do ("...ready for take-off on Runway 3")
3) They either tell me to "hold short" if there's landing or departing traffic or "Cessna 4843H cleared for take-off on Runway 3, proceed on course".  Proceed on course means fly the heading I requested, so SE.  Then I take-off.

Landing:
I contact them either at least 5mi out from the airport if I venture out of the pattern and say "4843H inbound for landing, with Bravo" or whatever the current weather is.  They then will tell me how to enter the pattern (I can't just fly wherever and land whenever) and will ask me to contact them when I enter or will contact me first and give me clearance to land ("4843H cleared to land" or #2).  If I'm in the pattern, I just say "4843H downwind" when I'm flying parallel, but opposite direction of the runway.  Once I land, they tell me either go back to the runway (if I requested to) or will give me directions back to the ramp, or parking area

At all times, the airport's tower will keep an eye out for traffic and will alert you when traffic is nearby or if you should watch out for other landing traffic and follow them in.
When I'm not near an airport, that's when the regional control comes in and they do about the same thing.  They will ask for your heading and altitude and make sure no one else will cross your path.

It's funny, I used to not be able to remember what to say or what frequencies to use, but I know it like the back of my hand now.  Good news for me!

Question from the readers: #1

First question: How much does it all cost?

A LOT!  However, due to the arrangements at Charlottesville Flight Center, less than it could be.

There's three planes at CFC, a C-152 and two C-172s.  The C-152 is the cheapest ($110), followed by the older 172 ($135), then the newest, spiffiest 172 ($150) is the most expensive.  I mainly fly the 152 simply because it's pretty easy to fly, I only need two seats, and obviously, it's the cheapest.  However, I had to fly the older 172 for a week while the 152 underwent it's 100 hour inspection (every plane, every 100 hours, it torn down to nothing but its fuselage and wings, inspected, and put back together).  Now that I'm doing cross-countries, I'll start flying the 172 more for two reasons.  1) it's easier simply because the 172s are easier/smoother to fly, go faster, and the more instruments makes navigation easier   2) it's safer, especially on my own, and especially at night, as the extra navigation instruments can act as back-ups so I won't get lost.

Now, hourly does not mean if I rent the airplane from 4-6, I pay 2 x rate.  Instead, every airplane has a Hobbes time recorded, which is the time that the plane's engine is on.  So, while I may have the plane for 2 hours, I usually only get about 1.7 hours of Hobbes time, or engine-running time, so it's 1.7 x rate.  The extra time is allowed for preflight inspection and parking the plane post-flying.

Each of these planes is privately owned.  However, the owners lease the planes out to CFC.  So, the owners are covering costs, or at least attempting to, of maintaining the planes, while I'm not paying a ridiculous amount.  Everyone benefits from this arrangement, although sometimes the owner doesn't get to fly as much =P but his bills are being paid!  Also, CFC has an arrangement with Landmark Aviation, the people who run the fuel/aircraft maintenance show at CHO airport, so I don't pay for fuel =)  Also, if I refuel at another airport, I simply bring back a receipt and they refund my payment.  Woo!

In the end, how much will this cost me?  About $7,500, in the very end.  Plus another ~$800 which accounts for my written test and check ride.  And the $100 it took to get a flight physical.
Expected, general total of pilot's license: $8,000-$10,000.
Time length: I've been at it since the first weekend of Sepetember.  A lot of bad weather, winds, and sickness later, I'm about 3-4 weeks of being done.  My goal was Thanksgiving, which I won't make by a couple of weeks.  But, judging how much bad weather we've had down here and now this sinus setback, I'll actually be surprised if I finish it before the end of the semester, but I won't be coming home for winter break until it's done!  Ahhh I can't wait for that day either =D

Blog is looking dull, reader input needed!

Nor'easter/Ida is over, we got near 5" of rain in total from this bad girl.  Sinuses are doing somewhat better, just a lot of pressure, but I don't feel nearly as miserable as I did yesterday (10 hours of sleep, a lot of water, and two rounds of antibiotics are heaven!) so I got outside today with Momma Duckie who came to visit and got lunch and went to an apple orchard.  Bea-u-tiful day too, upper 60s and perfectly sunny, and getting some fresh air and sun has also put some skip back into my step.

Since when my next flight is totally up in the air (hehe, puns galore!) I'm asking for topic suggestions.  Any and all suggestions will be taken, from more details about my planes, their differences, communication with tower controls, planes in general, air traffic in general, navigation stuff, whatever!  It's just depressing to let my little baby blog go and remind me of my no-flying status and Rika's Mom needs something to read!

A nose in need, needs Puffs indeed!

Well, the earache I was complaining about before has turned into a full-blown, antibiotic-demanding, teary-phone-calls-to-mom, miserable sinus infection.  I am off flying for at least 48 hours or until the swelling of the glands/tonsils/sinuses subsides.  I'll find some other plane-worthy topics to post about in the meantime...

Ida/nor'easter continues...

This has ended up being the worst weather week Charlottesville has seen in awhile.  Yesterday we had 2" of rain reported, on top of the .75" Tuesday night, and it's supposed to continue right through to tomorrow.  When all is said and done, 4-5" of rain total is what C'ville is expected to receive, lovingly, from Ida and her remnants.  Currently, the storm is no longer tropical and simply a nor'easter, which is bad news bears for everyone.  It obviously has the moisture of a tropical storms, but the winds and cold weather that accompanies nor'easters have reared their ugly faces.  And, by it sitting off the coast, it's gathering even more moisture.  The winds here are hovering around 20mph nearly constantly, with gusts being reported up to 40mph, which is due to the tight gradients between multiple pressure systems.  We lost power a few times yesterday and this morning as well.  And, to top it off, apparently we're due for freezing rain tonight.  Awesome.  The storm looked like it was going to move off of us today, but it seems to be either backtracking or growing right over us again, so this all continues through tomorrow night apparently.
Despite us having it by, Richmond looks even worse, and areas south east of us have received even more rain.  DC, by looking at the radar, has also taken a giant hit.  So, there is a hiatus in wing-flapping until Saturday, when it's supposed to be 68 and sunny and beautiful.  Hopefully the planes are faring well and getting a nice bath.

To the rest of VA/NC: hold on kids, it should be over by tomorrow night!
To anyone on the Gulf Coast: be glad that, for once, a storm has pummeled someone else more than you.

Iz official!

Friday night has promising weather, so I'll be making the trek out to Richmond.  Saturday afternoon is another cross-country with Tom (and Momma Duck may be joining?).  Sunday may be my first cross-country solo, depending on how much work I have assigned this week.

EXCITED!
I also tallied up all of my hours I've accumulated in the last 2.5 months, as of today:
31 hours in a single engine, and of that:
7.9 hours solo
2.3 cross country
2.2 night
1.4 simulated instrument (cone of shame/hood)
90 day landings, 10 night landings

Lovely weather outside right now too, we're expected to get 3-5" of rain.  Awesome...

*Bleeping* Hurricane!

Enough said.  Why, on earth, does the ONE hurricane of the season that will affect us come around in November on this day and decide to hit us tonight?

Thanks, thanks a heapload Ida.  I hope you dwindle away into nothing but a low pressure system!

Flying the Ferrari

My ears and sinuses continued to hold up and the weather cleared, so I got some night flying in.  I need a total of 3 hours of night flying, including a cross-country trip of 100 nautical miles or more and at least 10 take-offs/landings.

Night flying, however, is not to be taken lightly.  It's as close to instrument flying I can get right now, and I've found that I'm heavily dependent on my instruments during night flying, including directional gyro, altimeter, and the instruments that tell me my rate of climb, pitch of wings, and pitch of nose.  When you have proper instruments, it makes night flying far less daunting and actually enjoyable, and safe.  I found this out because I got to fly the Ferrari of the plane fleet tonight, N5210A...  =D

One-Zero-Alpha is a C-172, and only 7 years old.  It costs more than your average car.  The thing is packed with every instrument needed, placed right in front of you and large in size, perfectly lit.  Not to mention the large GPS moving map screen, and two VORs, and a navigation system linked to both the VOR and the GPS.  The navigation capabilities of the plane are unmatched, as you can enter your flight path and it will show up on the GPS screen as you follow it, as well as find other aviation landmarks and VORs.  It also has two radios, so I can have up to four frequencies (each radio has one active, one standby), which is going to make cross-countries soo much easier.  A weather map is being installed in the next couple of weeks as well.  It also flies faster and handles far better than the C-152 (43H), and makes flying really, really enjoyable.  It's been awhile since I was in a 172, and although I love, dearly, 43H, I do miss the 172s.  I pretty much learned to land in them, which is a feat of itself because these things really want to keep flying, and the enjoyability of flying them is incredible.  On the ground, its very impressive and in the air, especially at night, its very calm flying.  All in all, fabulous flying machine, on the ground and in the air.  The only thing it doesn't do is come when called and roll over and such, but I'm going to see if I can train it...

I've just about got the 3 hours in, and I got in the 7 more TOs/Ls I needed to hit 10.  I had a few that were great and Tom got to keep quiet during them, I had a couple that were ok but needed some direction to set them up perfectly, but my first one was pretty shaky.  I like the variation of my "skillz", makes for easier counting!  I'm much, much, much more comfortable landing and flying at night now.  I think now I need to focus on getting back into the 172 occasionally and practicing TOs/Ls because I don't think I'll ever, ever fly at night in anything other than the 172s.  I also doubt I will make a cross-country alone except for this plane, simply because of the navigation capabilities.

So, what's next?  My night cross country =D  After tonight, I'm actually extremely excited for doing it.  I was nervous thinking about a night flight, to an unfamiliar airport, and to a *gasp* international airport (Richmond).  But, with my night TOs/Ls doing well and the fact that I'm comfortable with the plane at night, and knowing I really can't get lost, and having Tom there as backup support, I'm stoked!  It may or may not happen tomorrow night, due to possible weather and the condition of my ears, so we're playing it by ear (pun intended).  If I don't go tomorrow night, I won't go until next week because of needing to devote nights this week to my capstone project/homework.  Just something else to look forward to =D

Annnddd, my first solo cross-country will be coming up, maybe Friday afternoon?  This will be nearly as rewarding as my first solo, for sure.  I'll go to Lynchburg and back, so it'll be familiar but still a lot to think about.

Ahhhh SO EXCITED!  

A thought for land lubbers and sky lovers, from a fellow pilot: flying or driving, a swivel of the neck can save your neck, it's crowded up there

As promised, PICTURES! woo!

43H/soda can and knucklehead #1

CHO right after take off

VOR/best friend #2

see, everyone just leaves their jets wherever.  urg

Bret's landing..tad high, but we made it

Note the giant mountain in the back:

best visual reference to land on 21, ever

Also, the 3 means it's in direction of 30degrees from north

Sunset =D

Yours truely trying to keep the airplane from moving

while waiting for fuel, for too long

Today was one of those days that reminds me why I love this..

76.  Sunny.  No clouds.  Winds perfectly down the runway.  Smooth air.  Perfect sunset setup.  That's what I got to fly in today =D
Started the day out with one of my friends, Bret, who started his license over the summer and finished about 6 weeks ago.  He hadn't been in a plane since and I've never ridden shotgun, so it was an experience for both of us.  He also had Tom as an instructor, so he was wondering if the two of us knuckleheads would be able to get the darn plane off the ground together.  After a super lengthy delay on trying to get fuel, a long hunt for a transponder switch that was MIA, and waiting to get into contact with the tower, we finally took off.  He helped teach me some VOR stuff and it was nice for me because hearing it from someone my age who just learned it all was a much better approach for me.  Got the VOR nailed down now and got to test it out later.  I managed to take some pictures, and I helped him get re-accustomed to flying the plane and logistics of communication with the tower and such.  All in all, it was a great flight and fun to catch up with him and share stories.  We managed to get the plane on the ground and Tom met us on the ramp, laughing his head off as we got out rambling to each other about stuff (we're both talkers and full of questions/ideas/etc.  interesting combo, especially in a plane).
He shipped off and I got to practice my VOR skills and flew out to Louisa airport, a small, un-towered airport about 15min away in a plane.  Bret showed me where exactly the VOR station is so I spent some time circling it, pretty interesting little thing on the ground.  I also spent some time trying to read the GPS, so between the VOR, GPS, and dead-reckoning, I'm really learning how to get around in the sky.  VOR worked great, great flight, and despite some logistical problems at the second airport, it was an awesome flight.  Perfect approach and landing upon return, looks like I've got flying in/out of C'ville down pat!

Next up: more night flying.  Woo.  I need some more TO/L practice at night and then I'll be making a night cross country to Richmond Int'l.  Nerves are a little wrecked over this but it's with Tom, so I should be fine.  Should be interesting too...

I'm having a current problem with my sinuses/ears.  Allergies have been bad down here recently so I think my head is full, despite a lack of a runny nose.  It's making clearing my ears difficult and it's becoming painful, so hopefully sudafed will help, but if not, flying might end for awhile.  The last thing I need is a busted eardrum or even just a sinus headache.  Rats...

Pictures coming!!

BIG milestone #2: First cross country!

Flew Charlottesville > Lynchburg > Farmville > Charlottesville today!  2.3 hour flight in total, lengthy flight but so much fun!  Weather was absolutely perfect and despite some minor winds, the winds gods were very nice to me today!  Didn't crash land at the two unfamiliar airports, didn't get lost, didn't freak out my instructor, so all in all, great day!
All the logistics behind it is really the big deal of it all.  I planned my course, took into account winds, found my true course, found out all the airports' info before leaving, and filed a flight plan with the FAA.  Once in the air, I contacted the FAA to tell them I began my trip, contacted Potomac Approach (monitors all traffic in the VA/MD/DC area) to get a transponder code (when you see a blip on the radar, the tail number of the plane is shown, as well as altitude), file a heading, then contacted both a tower-ed and un-towered airport traffic.  Also flew via VOR instrument and dead-reckoning.  Oh, and I crossed 25 hours of flight time =D

All in all, thumbs up!

Next: my next cross-country with the instructor is a night time solo to Richmond.  Then, I'll solo cross country to Lynchburg.  Then...who knows.  Spending the rest of the day studying for my written because it looks like that'll definitely be over Thanksgiving break.  Tomorrow I'm out to a local airport and I'm flying with a friend who got his license about a month ago.  It'll be good for both of us and he's showing me a few tricks and I'll be there to help him with some of the nitty-gritty stuff, like talking to the tower.  We'll see if boys fly better than girls =P

Upcoming Tuesdays!!

I'm trying to keep this flight centered, but we have two happenings over the next two weeks that I feel as if it's my duty to alert any and all of:
1) "Up" DVD is released this Tuesday.  Any and all dog loves should see it, as well as any normal human being.  Momma Duck, that means you (slash, care package for duckie#2?). And, you'll find out why I call the plane hood the "cone of shame".  By far my most favorite animated movie, besides Madagascar.  Ice Age is even beat out by Up!  If you need anymore convincing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtDlKzGdOwo

2) Meteors!  The Leonids are peaking late next Tuesday (11/17) night into Wednesday morning, 11pm-4am.  This year is supposed to be great  spectacular!  More than 500 an hour is what's predicted, possibly more, which equates to nearly 9 a minute.  Theoretically, you should be able to stare at a small section of the sky for less than 5 min and at least see one.  As second-ranked nerd of the family, I'm pretty darn excited for this.  And with no class until noon wednesday, I will be up!

Sorry 43H and Mr.Caddeyshack Gopher...

Blame it on the wind!

I got to do short/soft field take-off/landing practice today.  Quite fun, but crosswinds, once again, made it really difficult

(By the way, 43H is the plane's call number.  When I communicate with the tower/ground control, I say "Cessna 4-8-4-3-Hotel" but once you declare your plane type/full code, it goes by 4-3-Hotel.  So, 43H is le plane)

Short field take off:  FUN!  You line up on the very end of the runway (in the stripes, for those who fly often), apply breaks, throttle to full power, giggle in awe of the power shaking the frame, and then let the breaks go and take off at a lower speed and higher climb.  Tom would always say "Let her rip", and boy, she did.  Easily one of the most fun lessons I've had.

Short field landing: imagine a short runway.  Now imagine a 50 foot tree at the beginning and ending.  I have to know how to land in that situation.  It's actually pretty easy and I was pretty good at them.  You come in high (which I'm excellent at apparently from last night) and then cut power to just "float" down.  Speed is pretty slow too, and since most of my early landings I was slow, I mastered it pretty quickly.  To sum it up, you do all the stuff you're not really supposed to do for landings but I'm a pro at because my early landings were, well, interesting.  Score.  However, you have to slam on the breaks quickly to get stopped in the short period.  Here's where the first part of the title comes from: I skidded the wheels once, and one wheel sustained some visible damage.  Nothing requiring immediate care, but I took a few weeks off its poor life.  Sorry tire, sorry 43H

Soft field take-off: due to the runway being "soft", holes and rocks and other stuff that is common on grass fields need to be avoided.  The nose wheel has to be kept up the entire time and I ended up leaving the runway earlier than normal and much slower than normal.  At this point, I was literally "floating" across the runway, about 10-15 feet off of it, to which we refer to that as "air-hockey-pucking".  Once proper ground speed is obtained, the climb out begins.

Soft field landings: "think soft".  Gee, thanks Tom.  He also reminds me about the holes that may be on the field and to not, do not, let my nose gear down hard.  "Think of the Caddeyshack gopher in his hole, don't hit his hole, don't hit him hard on the head with your nose gear!".  Ok, gopher, I'll see what I can do for you.  Generally, my landings are pretty soft these days.  Occasionally I have a baby-slam but nothing terrible.  However, crosswinds are still tricky to me.  Add in learning a new field approach, and it's tough.  But, "soft" was my goal.  The first landing was actually very soft, smooth, and I kept the nose gear up until the point where I slowed down enough that if I did hit a field obstacle, I wouldn't flip the plane.  Success!  The second one..well.  Crosswind changed directions suddenly on me and I hit pretty darn hard.  Sorry Mr. Caddeyshack gopher, my nose wheel probably crushed your underground mansion and you probably have a concussion.  My bad..


Tomorrow is next BIG milestone: first cross-country!  Woo!  Tom flies with me on this one, so there's no feasible way of me getting totally lost, but we'll see.
Sunday is some time on my own, probably a trip out to a local, smaller airplane.  Wuh-oh, venturing off the leash...
Beautiful weekend to fly too =D  And, my capstone project circuit board won't be in until next week, my thesis is in a stall-moment waiting for my prospectus to come back on Tuesday, and this upcoming week is pretty easy in school.  Phew, I need an easy week!

Finally Got (Slightly) Scared

Got to fly again today.  Went in expecting to do short/soft landings/take-offs.  These are practiced for a few reasons, the big ones being a) if I ever had to emergency land/"ditch" into a field, I could make it  b) some runways, especially in VA, are short and/or not paved.  Buuttttt, the winds were too..windy.  Big surprise.  So, my flight instructor launches on me that he wants to do some demo-ing of the VOR.  Ok, cool.  Then he throws at me: under the hood.  The hood is basically a cone for a dog cut in half and you put it over your head so you can only see the instruments and not much else..it's a cone of shame! (if you haven't seen "Up"...see "Up").  Ooook, I can deal with this too.  Then, we realize it's getting late and dark, so basically I can't see a whole lot in the cockpit.  We're getting difficult!  At the conclusion of all of this, we'll do night landings/take-offs.  Uh-oh.  AND, lastly, just to shake things up, we print out the wind reports and realize that there are some pretty windy winds aloft and a nice solid crosswind on the runway.  Gee, why don't you make it easier on me.
So I taxi on out and embark on the mission at hand.  Get about 100 feet vertical and suddenly we hit wind shear and shoot back downwards, Tom freaks out, we recover, keep going.  I put on the hood and not only am I fighting the learning curve of the VOR, but it's windy as anything and keeping level control of the plane is pretty much not happening and it's one of those "just ride with the winds and plane" days.  Urg.  Then it starts getting dark.  Awesome.  Suddenly, my stomach starts to get tested.  We're bouncing around in the sky in a soda can, I have no visual reference, we're doing doughnuts and turns in the sky, and out of the corner of my eye all I can see is semi-darkness which I think is the sky when actually it's the ground.  I actually considered ending the hood session early thinking I'd lose my cookies, but I either got used to it or it just got dark enough I didn't care anymore.
All in all, the VOR went well.  Got some more practice to do, but I'm starting to get it.

Now...night landings.
Remember that bike example I used last post?  Throw that out the window when you put it all at night.  No ground reference, all you have is a lot of lights, a compass, and an altimeter, and your adrenaline.  Oh, and a crosswind!  My first landing was hard, but did ok.  Second, I lined up to go in and TOTALLY overshot the runway.  It's difficult to depend on your altimeter when you've gotten used to landing via visuals, so next time I'm alone I'm definitely taking note of altitudes at different points in my approach legs.  My third was pretty decent, but I came in high nearly everytime, so I'm coming in fast as well, which leads to hard landings.

Needless to say, this finally was something that began to scare me.  It was tough, but I remember my first landings and how nervous I was, not to mention the first time in a plane.  I'm sure soon enough, I'll be fine, but until then, I'm glad biology gave us adrenaline.

Tomorrow I get to do the soft/short landings.  Yay for daylight.  Saturday, 10am, is my first cross-country =D  Lynchburg, then Danville, then back.  Sunday I get to fly by myself again and land at a local, small airport.  Then I probably won't fly much again next week, but we'll see.

On another note, I finished my first big milestone for my engineering thesis today.  It's been a mentally-overwhelming week, to say the least, I'm looking forward to tomorrow's fun landings and a weekend of rest (sort of).

What I Learned Today

1) Starting a blog will cause someone around you to do the same (*cough* http://biker4bcwalks.blogspot.com/)

2) Landing a plane is like riding a bike, once you know how, even if you go awhile (in my case, almost a week) without doing it, you're still golden.  In fact, you can get better... =D

3) When you walk out on to the ramp (plane parking-lot) and hop in a plane by yourself, guys, of all ages, will stand and gawk watch.  Todays count: 6.

4) When you land your plane, and hop out, those same guys will still stare.  Then ask if you need help pushing your plane back into its parking space (to which I replied: "I figure if I can fly it, I can park it")

5) Now, there's sunsets.  There's sunsets over mountains.  And, there's pretty moons.  But, until you see a perfect sunset over the Blue Ridges, with a perfect moon on the other side of the sky, round and bright, all from 3000 feet above ground, you haven't seen a sunset.

6) Don't piss off the control tower.  I was approaching to land, heard a Cessna request a take-off.  Tower said hold for incoming landing traffic.  Jet in front of me landed, then a Delta RJ took off, and I was in line to land.  Cessna asked again, since about 5-10min had elapsed.  Long story short, the tower jumped down his throat and kept him grounded for another 10min.  I chuckled...

7) If you know a tower controller, shake their hand and thank them.  Their job kinda stinks, they deal with jumpy people above and people like me who are still new to the game all while wrestling with regional jets and what seems like constant ground holds at Charlotte and Atlanta.  The guys at CHO deserve cake, and lots of it

8) Don't drink a diet mountain dew right before jumping in a plane.  Bad news bears

9) This week has a terrible amount of work going on, so once again, flight time is limited till Thursday afternoon.  But, I have 3 hours Saturday and 3 Sunday, and it's supposed to be perfect weather.  WOO

10) Flying by yourself is awesome.

Done my thesis stuff due this week, done my communications homework, and now done this post.  Bedtime for this duckling

PS- i'll try to get some pictures soon...