Flight 8
2009-07-24 09:00
Temp 22C, Wind calm
This flight was all about steep turns and landings (not at the same time). We headed out NE to the training area that we always go to. I was pretty nervous about doing a steep turn, which is at about 45 degrees of bank as opposed to the 20 in a standard rate turn. You do a full 360 in each direction, one after the other, very quickly. Jory did a couple first so I could get a feel for how it looked out the window and such. The first one sent my stomach for a loop. Flying is awesome because it's like a roller coaster whenever you want it to be.
Then I did a couple. Surprisingly, they actually went really really well. I did a couple where I rolled into it slowly, and then a couple where I went into it more quickly. On the 3rd one, I actually felt the bump where you catch your own turbulence because you flew a perfect circle. Needless to say, I was quite proud...
But each flight must end with a landing. On the first one, we came in plenty high so that we could practice a go-around, which went quite well. The second time, we did a touch and go. I will tell you that landing is by far the most difficult part of flying, and I assume any pilot will agree. The problem seems to be that I am making a good approach, but then flaring (pulling up to set the rear wheels down first) either too early, or too much. I still can't completely tell which it is. But the result is that instead of floating above the runway and gently setting down, I'm actually gaining a bit of altitude, then slowing so much (because the throttle is pulled all the way idle at this point) that the plane falls back down and hits the runway too hard.
So basically, instead of that final drop being about 1 ft, it's becoming about 5, and it's quite uncomfortable. Makes it harder to control once it's on the ground, too. So, hopefully there will be a lot more work on that, because I feel like it's really the only thing standing between me and a great first solo in a week's time.
Oh yeah, I only have two more lessons, then I have to do this by myself. Sure wish I could have learned to drive in 4 weeks...
Next flight was supposed to be today, but weather got in the way. Rescheduled for Wednesday at 17:30, so we'll see how that pans out.
2009-07-27
2009-07-22
Flight 7
Flight 7
2009-07-20 15:00
Temp: 31C Wind: Cross at 5 kts, occasionally
Went for my first afternoon flight. We had to go to Denver in the morning to get Laura's green card, and I figured some afternoon choppiness would be the final test to see if my stomach can handle flying. It can. We're good to go. In fact, I might even be able to read in the car now.
Flew a different plane for this one because someone else already took the one I usually go up in. Identical plane except 3 years older and no autopilot. Wasn't an issue. Started off with a series of touch and go's in the pattern. Not quite the crosswind we were hoping for, but enough to kind of get the idea. The first landing was a little flat, but the main gear went down first, so that's still a victory in my book.
Went around to try it again. Second landing was somewhat better than the first. Not sure if it's the years of flight simulating or what, but something always makes me come in too shallow. It's getting better, though.
Went around for a third one and then flew out of the pattern to do some other stuff. Got under the visor again for more of the "simulated instrument" stuff. Only for 18 minutes, and wasn't really that difficult. The hardest part is by far holding altitude. Went back for the turns around a point and S-turns like we did earlier. This one went MUCH better than before. Even with a decent wind, I was able to hit all the checkpoints pretty well.
After that, we flew back to the airport for a couple more landings. The first one went pretty well, but I decided we should do another one just to solidify it. That turned out to be a mistake, as the next approach actually had a crosswind component to it, and that ended up being our practice for "faulty approach and go-around". So on the last try, it went pretty well. Didn't come in quite so shallow this time.
So that was it. Pretty basic stuff. I believe the next flight is supposed to contain steep turns, so that'll be fun :)
2009-07-20 15:00
Temp: 31C Wind: Cross at 5 kts, occasionally
Went for my first afternoon flight. We had to go to Denver in the morning to get Laura's green card, and I figured some afternoon choppiness would be the final test to see if my stomach can handle flying. It can. We're good to go. In fact, I might even be able to read in the car now.
Flew a different plane for this one because someone else already took the one I usually go up in. Identical plane except 3 years older and no autopilot. Wasn't an issue. Started off with a series of touch and go's in the pattern. Not quite the crosswind we were hoping for, but enough to kind of get the idea. The first landing was a little flat, but the main gear went down first, so that's still a victory in my book.
Went around to try it again. Second landing was somewhat better than the first. Not sure if it's the years of flight simulating or what, but something always makes me come in too shallow. It's getting better, though.
Went around for a third one and then flew out of the pattern to do some other stuff. Got under the visor again for more of the "simulated instrument" stuff. Only for 18 minutes, and wasn't really that difficult. The hardest part is by far holding altitude. Went back for the turns around a point and S-turns like we did earlier. This one went MUCH better than before. Even with a decent wind, I was able to hit all the checkpoints pretty well.
After that, we flew back to the airport for a couple more landings. The first one went pretty well, but I decided we should do another one just to solidify it. That turned out to be a mistake, as the next approach actually had a crosswind component to it, and that ended up being our practice for "faulty approach and go-around". So on the last try, it went pretty well. Didn't come in quite so shallow this time.
So that was it. Pretty basic stuff. I believe the next flight is supposed to contain steep turns, so that'll be fun :)
2009-07-17
Flight 6
Flight 6
2009-07-17 09:20
Temp: 22C Wind: Calm
Today I waited for Jory to come in from a flight he was doing in the morning, and went out and did the preflight while he was sorting some stuff out inside. Ordered some gas, got in the plane, and taxied out to 33. Only had to wait for 2 planes to land before taking off today.
Did a short-field takeoff, just to simulate it. The runway is 8200 ft long but we got off in 1500. Flaps at 10, full throttle before you let off the brakes (good brakes, by the way). Plane lifted off at 55 kts. Climbed a couple hundred feet and then brought in the flaps and took it to 75 kts for a climb.
Did straight and level out to the training area to the NE of Fort Collins, then just did a few turns to see how that's coming along. I'd say I'm getting quite good at this coordination thing. Perhaps Jory will disagree, but it's certainly better than it was before.
Then came the "simulated instrument" time, which basically amounts to putting on a visor that only allows you to see the instrument panel and nothing else. So, using only the instruments, I did some standard climbs and turns. Then Jory decided to screw with me and try and make me sick. Since I couldn't see out the window, he casually directed us toward the mountains, which my meteorology friends will quickly realize leads to some turbulence. So that was incredibly choppy, yet I still didn't get sick :)
After he let me take the hood off and I realized where we were (N of Livermore, about 15 miles from the Wyoming line), we turned back to the SE. We practiced a few stalls, which went quite well. Then we headed back toward the airport. The approach went beautifully. Flew an extended downwind to get some spacing from a plane before us, and everything went great...until the last 2 seconds.
Came down to the surface, floated off the ground for a bit, came to flare, and guess I gave it too much right rudder, so the plane touched down turned a bit to the right. Took a second to straighten out, but everything was fine. I'm happy with the approach.
The next lesson is supposed to be crosswind stuff, so hopefully there will be a crosswind. Aiming for Tuesday morning.
2009-07-17 09:20
Temp: 22C Wind: Calm
Today I waited for Jory to come in from a flight he was doing in the morning, and went out and did the preflight while he was sorting some stuff out inside. Ordered some gas, got in the plane, and taxied out to 33. Only had to wait for 2 planes to land before taking off today.
Did a short-field takeoff, just to simulate it. The runway is 8200 ft long but we got off in 1500. Flaps at 10, full throttle before you let off the brakes (good brakes, by the way). Plane lifted off at 55 kts. Climbed a couple hundred feet and then brought in the flaps and took it to 75 kts for a climb.
Did straight and level out to the training area to the NE of Fort Collins, then just did a few turns to see how that's coming along. I'd say I'm getting quite good at this coordination thing. Perhaps Jory will disagree, but it's certainly better than it was before.
Then came the "simulated instrument" time, which basically amounts to putting on a visor that only allows you to see the instrument panel and nothing else. So, using only the instruments, I did some standard climbs and turns. Then Jory decided to screw with me and try and make me sick. Since I couldn't see out the window, he casually directed us toward the mountains, which my meteorology friends will quickly realize leads to some turbulence. So that was incredibly choppy, yet I still didn't get sick :)
After he let me take the hood off and I realized where we were (N of Livermore, about 15 miles from the Wyoming line), we turned back to the SE. We practiced a few stalls, which went quite well. Then we headed back toward the airport. The approach went beautifully. Flew an extended downwind to get some spacing from a plane before us, and everything went great...until the last 2 seconds.
Came down to the surface, floated off the ground for a bit, came to flare, and guess I gave it too much right rudder, so the plane touched down turned a bit to the right. Took a second to straighten out, but everything was fine. I'm happy with the approach.
The next lesson is supposed to be crosswind stuff, so hopefully there will be a crosswind. Aiming for Tuesday morning.
2009-07-14
Flight 5
Flight 5
2009-07-14 09:00 MDT
Weather: 24C, clear skies, Wind 5 kts, slightly cross
I've begun doing the entire preflight check by myself now. My instructor, Jory, comes out toward the end and just makes sure that everything went well.
I taxied us out to runway 15. Doing corrections for the wind while taxiing is something that I assume will become more natural with time, but for the moment it requires some extra thought that tends to take my mind off of keeping the airplane straight on the taxiways.
We had to wait about 10 minutes for the pattern to clear up and some airplanes to land before we could get up.
On takeoff, I noticed that my rudder coordination has improved a lot as far as giving the plane plenty of right rudder on takeoff. I was able to keep the plane straight down the runway heading long enough to get up to pattern altitude and turn crosswind.
After that, we headed out to the training area, where the focus today was on manipulating the plane to account for wind drift.
First, we performed (with the auto pilot) a drift circle, where you basically turn a constant circle around a point to establish how much you drift in 2 minutes, thus giving you an idea of the wind if you can't get it another way.
Then we practiced a rectangular course, to simulate a pattern, while making corrections for the wind. We had about a 12 kt wind to work with, so I was able to see the effects of the wind on the ground track.
That went relatively well, so we moved on to turns around a point. We picked a point (a water tank) on the ground, and tried to make a constant radius turn around it. This proves challenging as you must literally change your bank every second of the turn to account for the constantly changing wind direction relative to the plane. Not ready for the checkride on that one, but went reasonably well.
We then did S-turns about a road, which are basically the same thing, but making alternating semi-circles on either side of a straight line, in this case a dirt road. Each turn was better than the last as I got better at using the ground for reference instead of the turn coordinator in the plane.
That left slips. A slip is basically pointing the aircraft one direction while flying another. You can use it to correct for wind on landing, or to descend very quickly (the off center track causes wind resistance against the side of the plane). That actually went a lot better than I thought it would, both technically and for my stomach.
After that, we headed back to the airport for a couple of approaches. The first one went relatively well. I had to pull power as I came in a bit high and didn't start to descend quickly enough. The landing was my best yet, right on the centerline, but came in a bit flat rather than tail first. We did a touch and go for one more pass around the airport.
The second went much better, the descent was more controlled and I lined up perfectly on final. Had to add a bit of power at the end, but flared at the right time and set it down beautifully. After that, just a quick taxi back to the line and we were done!
By the time we got back, the wind had picked up to about 12 kts, lined up pretty well with the runway, so it made the base leg an exercise in wind correction. Fort Collins from the air certainly is pretty. Looking forward to going south someday to see what the Denver area looks like.
Flight 6 is going to be some instrument stuff, so that should be exciting!
2009-07-14 09:00 MDT
Weather: 24C, clear skies, Wind 5 kts, slightly cross
I've begun doing the entire preflight check by myself now. My instructor, Jory, comes out toward the end and just makes sure that everything went well.
I taxied us out to runway 15. Doing corrections for the wind while taxiing is something that I assume will become more natural with time, but for the moment it requires some extra thought that tends to take my mind off of keeping the airplane straight on the taxiways.
We had to wait about 10 minutes for the pattern to clear up and some airplanes to land before we could get up.
On takeoff, I noticed that my rudder coordination has improved a lot as far as giving the plane plenty of right rudder on takeoff. I was able to keep the plane straight down the runway heading long enough to get up to pattern altitude and turn crosswind.
After that, we headed out to the training area, where the focus today was on manipulating the plane to account for wind drift.
First, we performed (with the auto pilot) a drift circle, where you basically turn a constant circle around a point to establish how much you drift in 2 minutes, thus giving you an idea of the wind if you can't get it another way.
Then we practiced a rectangular course, to simulate a pattern, while making corrections for the wind. We had about a 12 kt wind to work with, so I was able to see the effects of the wind on the ground track.
That went relatively well, so we moved on to turns around a point. We picked a point (a water tank) on the ground, and tried to make a constant radius turn around it. This proves challenging as you must literally change your bank every second of the turn to account for the constantly changing wind direction relative to the plane. Not ready for the checkride on that one, but went reasonably well.
We then did S-turns about a road, which are basically the same thing, but making alternating semi-circles on either side of a straight line, in this case a dirt road. Each turn was better than the last as I got better at using the ground for reference instead of the turn coordinator in the plane.
That left slips. A slip is basically pointing the aircraft one direction while flying another. You can use it to correct for wind on landing, or to descend very quickly (the off center track causes wind resistance against the side of the plane). That actually went a lot better than I thought it would, both technically and for my stomach.
After that, we headed back to the airport for a couple of approaches. The first one went relatively well. I had to pull power as I came in a bit high and didn't start to descend quickly enough. The landing was my best yet, right on the centerline, but came in a bit flat rather than tail first. We did a touch and go for one more pass around the airport.
The second went much better, the descent was more controlled and I lined up perfectly on final. Had to add a bit of power at the end, but flared at the right time and set it down beautifully. After that, just a quick taxi back to the line and we were done!
By the time we got back, the wind had picked up to about 12 kts, lined up pretty well with the runway, so it made the base leg an exercise in wind correction. Fort Collins from the air certainly is pretty. Looking forward to going south someday to see what the Denver area looks like.
Flight 6 is going to be some instrument stuff, so that should be exciting!
Recap of Flights 1-4
Since I've just started doing this today, after Flight number 5 of about 20, I'll quickly recap what I've learned in my first several flights, and how it all went.
Flight 1:
I took flight 1 at 12:00 on a sunny, but slightly choppy day. It was very basic maneuvers, straight and level flight at about 6500 ft MSL (field elevation is 5016 ft). Simply went over the basics like climb speed, trim, rudder coordination, descent pattern, etc. I got slightly queasy toward the end so didn't really absorb much of the approach lecture.
Flight 2:
Pushed flight 2 back to 10:00 to take advantage of the fact that the air is often calmer in the morning. It worked. I wasn't nearly as sick at the end of that one. A lot of review of things from the first flight, and added on slow flight (with the flaps extended and all that).
Flight 3:
Laura came with us on this one to take pictures of the scenery. As a result, we took it easy and didn't do anything too extreme. Worked on sharp 90 degree turns out in the training area and some simulated approaches to work on the speed references and stuff.
Flight 4:
Stalls. I feel like that covers it. Did stalls with both the power on and off, to go over the procedure to come out of it. Made me just a little sick, but still got about 5 of them in there.
That's a very brief recap of everything before today. The next post will cover Flight 5, which happened this morning.
Flight 1:
I took flight 1 at 12:00 on a sunny, but slightly choppy day. It was very basic maneuvers, straight and level flight at about 6500 ft MSL (field elevation is 5016 ft). Simply went over the basics like climb speed, trim, rudder coordination, descent pattern, etc. I got slightly queasy toward the end so didn't really absorb much of the approach lecture.
Flight 2:
Pushed flight 2 back to 10:00 to take advantage of the fact that the air is often calmer in the morning. It worked. I wasn't nearly as sick at the end of that one. A lot of review of things from the first flight, and added on slow flight (with the flaps extended and all that).
Flight 3:
Laura came with us on this one to take pictures of the scenery. As a result, we took it easy and didn't do anything too extreme. Worked on sharp 90 degree turns out in the training area and some simulated approaches to work on the speed references and stuff.
Flight 4:
Stalls. I feel like that covers it. Did stalls with both the power on and off, to go over the procedure to come out of it. Made me just a little sick, but still got about 5 of them in there.
That's a very brief recap of everything before today. The next post will cover Flight 5, which happened this morning.
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