Tie down!

Just a short one this time, but that’s what currency requirements do to ya! My next flight will most likely be my biannual check, sometime in the next few months. For this flight, just Garrett & I went for a ride.  It was extremely hot, so we just did a couple of rounds up at Gainsville and came back.

It was PRETTY busy at Gainsville, and there were numerous light aircraft between KDTO and KGLE.  I think this may have been the busiest airspace I navigated outside of a Class B so far.  Garrett enjoyed himself and grabbed the yoke once (don’t do that, please).

Pretty uneventful.  After my biannual, it will be off to see Springfield at F46!

Takeoff from KDTO was uneventful, though I input the tower frequency incorrectly so it took a double check on the radio with ground to make sure things were working well.  I received a report from ground initially that I was having audio issues.  Anyway, takeoff, and hand off to regional approach.  From there, cleared into Class Bravo.

On the climb out, two things started happening that derailed us a bit.  The first was an electrical problem that caused our Garmin 430 to go on the fritz.  The backlight was not working, and it also housed our primary navigation and radio control.  I quickly switched that off and went on backups, so no real issues there.  We did have some feedback issues with the primary radio, so I completely turned it off (as opposed to keeping the mic on COM2 and listening to audio on COM1/COM2). While this felt like a short or grounding issue, it also popped the main alternator breaker which basically stopped it from charging the battery while in flight.  While the ammeter was indicating a slow drain, we had most of the electrical systems off and it wasn’t until we were doing some radio transmitting (outside of Class Bravo) and flap adjustments that I noticed how serious the issue was.

A quick pop of the breaker back in and careful monitoring of the electrical systems showed that things were at least operating within tolerances, so we left it.

The second issue was carburetor icing in my climb out, which I have experienced only once before.  Yes, icing can occur in a carburetor when the temperature is as high as 70 degrees and it is humid outside.  We had both during our climb.  So we had to halt the climb while I turned on the carb heat to melt the ice.  It melted, we resumed our climb, and didn’t have any more problems once at cruise.

The landing at KSEP was by far my smoothest landing, ever.  I call it luck more than skill, but wow.  We parked and had Hard 8 pick us up.  We had a tight timeline, so it was a quick lunch and then back in the air.  Thankfully we the engine was not too cold and we had sufficient power to crank it over.  Takeoff and the return flight was uneventful.  TOO quiet.  I even called a normally busy regional approach controller just to make sure my radio was still working—a frequency that is usually very busy was dead quiet for a good ten minutes.

Landed and had the thing turned off with a good ten minutes to spare!  Though, crippled.

Wrapping up!

Regardless, had a good time and logged three landings and .8 hours.

Next, my kick ass right seat warmer James was back in town, so we took 8348M from DTO up for a spin around down town!  The airspace was pretty congested, so this was the first time I had to hold over White Rock Lake.  Like just do circles.  WHEEEE.  That was a nice 1.1 hour flight.  Just before that, I needed to get re-current with this rental facility and logged .6 hours with an instructor.  He was VERY happy with my proficiency, and pulled an engine out on my downwind.  Stuck the landing. Total of four landings with those two flights.

I have some video from our downtown trip, so when I get some time I’ll edit that together for you guys.

Course, I won’t feel like a fighter pilot either, but oh well.

Anyway, easy quick flight.  Did a tour north of Alliance and came back to land.  We both had stuff going on that afternoon so an extended tour was not an option.  Here’s a video of me on final!

James & Brando and the DA20! from Branden Williams on Vimeo.

Diamond DA-20

Today was a quickie to get checked out on North Texas Aero’s new DA-20!  I went with an instructor to learn all about this fun little aircraft.  It’s larger than the SportStar, but smaller and faster than the Cessna 172.  It also has a center stick like the SportStar, but was much easier to fly.  It has a few quirks in the mechanics of how it flies, but nothing that was not easy to conquer.

We did the standard maneuvers, including slow flight, steep turns, stalls, and engine out procedures.  I made my field quite nicely, though traffic made us cheat a little bit.  We had to continue past where the instructor wanted to do the engine out, and wouldn’t you know he had me set up on a HUGE green field.  It’s not uncommon to find farmland, but it is uncommon to find such a large patch without any obstructions.

Then it came time to practice landings.  There was a 10kt, 20° crosswind component gusting to 19kts.  Now, those of you that have flown with me know that I do well in high wind situations. Today was no different.  SMOOTH AS GLASS BABY!  I promise you, if it was calm air I would have botched them for sure.

Odd quirk about my piloting skills.

Anyway, did a few of those, dodged all of the 172s pulling banners over the Texas Motor Speedway, a few helicopters, and headed back home.  Pretty solid showing today!

Flying with Cayce from Branden Williams on Vimeo.

At my standard ten miles out, I contacted Spinks Tower and informed them of my intentions. The controller asked me to report a left downwind for runway 34L. Right about this time, I noticed some heavy rain in the area. Nothing at the airport, but within a few miles of the runway. No thunderstorms or convective activity either. Just some spots of heavy rain.

Heavy rain looks funny from the air. When you are sitting at ground level or driving, heavy rain makes you wet and reduces your visibility. We’ve all been in those situations where you are driving down the road and come up on a heavy rain shower. We have to slow down, maybe put the wipers on high, and squint to see as much as we can.

The difference from the air, is that you can actually see rain falling at altitude (like Springfield & I did a while back) from a distance, and you can also see the areas on the ground where heavy rain affects visibility.

Or rather, you CAN’T see them.

Where trees and roads should be, just a grayed out splotch exists… even if you are below the cloud deck. It’s very strange, and while I had good visibility of the runway when I finally did reach the downwind leg of my approach, those splotchy areas were getting closer to the airport and were easily within two miles now.

The controller called me and said that there was rain in the vicinity of the airport, but nothing actually AT the airport. Based on where I was in the pattern, I was confident that I would make it down before any of that massive rain came my way.

I was correct!

As I was turning base, I heard a noise I had never heard before in the cockpit. It sounded like the “Tic-Tic-Tic” of tiny sleet on a window. I looked up and noticed little rain drops on the window. Still had great visibility, noted the rain, and turned final. Landing was uneventful, and once I was on the ground and clear of the runway, the tower had me contact ground control to taxi over to the FBO. Once we were there, and totally shut down, the rain picked up. Finally made it to the airport, but not the blinding rain that I was seeing from the air. Heavy rain for sure, but still with enough visibility to be VFR.

After the rain subsided, we picked up Uncle and did a flying tour of Mansfield. Then decided to do a couple of touch & go’s at Arlington, and finally headed back to Spinks.

After a bathroom break for the little one, it was time to head back before any more rain decided to pop up! We gave hugs, then got out of Spinks, heading to 52F. The flight back was uneventful, though I noticed that about 10 minutes after I landed, the other 172 from the flight school landed in the wrong direction with a slight tail wind. The runway at 52F is only 40 feet wide, and 3,500 feet full length.

NOT a lot of room for error. In fact, according to the NTSB, no fatalities have happened since 2004, but there are six accidents on file (one of which is that other SportStar), four of which are landing accidents. No incident occurred, but man, you gotta be careful about that stuff.

Anyway, good flight even if I didn’t climb over three thousand!

Anyway, because of the high winds, I opted to scrub the long part of our flight and just stay local. We were originally planning to hit the burger joint up at Lake Texoma State Park, but with 20+ knot winds from the south, I just didn’t feel like fighting it. So instead, we went to Addison to hit the Outer Marker. UNFORTUNATELY, they don’t open until 5pm!

DOH.

So back in the plane, and headed to do the downtown tour. One thing about towered airports with ground control, sometimes they don’t do a clean handoff. I had to go back to ground to get set up, and then they read a huge list of instructions to me, for which I was not prepared. They had to read it back again, and it took me a few minutes before I got the correct readback. Why was I not prepared? Because I was expecting the TOWER to give me those instructions, not ground control. Amateur mistake. Lesson? BE READY.

Once I got the readback right, we took off and headed toward Love. Then did our run around downtown. On the way back, we DID get to fly over D/FW (as you can see) at an altitude of 3,500 feet. By the way, it’s hard not to laugh when a controller asks you to perform an expedited climb in a 172. We were at 1,500 and had to climb to 3,500 before we could turn toward D/FW. So, I did some climbing turns to accomplish this, and then we were off.

Flew right across midfield! VERY cool. The folks visiting Founder’s Plaza were probably wondering what that wind up plane was doing flying right over the top. Course, they probably heard my voice over the speakers too!

Also had a lesson in remembering that I was Pilot In Command, and had to be vigilant. ATC lost track of us about eight miles from Northwest Regional. Somehow our intentions were not clearly communicated between controllers, and I was getting close to an area they wanted me to stay clear of. Thankfully, I was able to quickly convey our intentions, and they allowed us to descend rapidly to our airport, which was VERY BUSY.

Three planes in the pattern and a HOST of stuff going on over at Texas Motor Speedway (race weekend!) made the need for a sterile cockpit absolutely essential. We came in behind a Piper Archer, departing to the north, and had 2 planes behind us. WOH.

Landed without incident, but sure was windy! Last landing was a little rougher than I wanted, but that’s what the gusting wind can do to you.

Enjoyed it!!

Garrett was bummed that he did not get to go flying with us last time, so I got him loaded up and we went up in a 172 to go practice landings. We did all of our work at Alliance on 16L and 16R. I think this is just one of those things that if I pay attention to, it solves itself. Every landing was spot on (except the last one which I bounced a bit).

As we were executing our turnout back to 52F, the Diamond that was practicing on 16L asked the tower to light up the Christmas tree. That’s what pilots refer to the pretty lights you see in the picture (Picture credit to Ben Orloff). I never thought to ask if they could do it during the day! I’ll have to ask that if the airport is dead calm the next time I am over there.

Overall, nothing too exciting. Ceiling was at 3,000 feet, so that made for low flying. Thankfully, Alliance is only about seven miles from 52F. Quick flight-only .8 hours. But I did log six more landings and I did get to fly!

• 208 Takeoffs/Landings
• 71.1 total hours
• 6.1 night
• 3.1 Simulated Instrument
• 25.0 Cross country
• 26.8 Dual
• 45.4 Pilot in Command

The fun part with this flight was WIND. Yes, just like the last cross country I flew, we had some pretty gnarly winds. 22-25kts tail wind pushing us there, and 22-25kts head wind keeping us from returning. Everyone seemed to enjoy the BBQ, and we saw some pretty sweet aircraft parked on the ramp.

But on Friday night, we did the downtown Dallas tour in the SportStar! What a fun ride! The night was very clear thanks to a cold front that was moving through, and we were not the only group that decided the flight would be a good idea. That was the busiest I’ve ever seen it. Partially because of the north wind, we had jets on approach and landing right through our flight path.

In the future, with a north wind, I might just pass on the scenic tour.

We did our tour and headed back without incident. Only an hour of flight time, but it was a great hour spent with Chris at 1,500 feet.

We departed KDTO at about 9:30 as planned (though we were delayed slightly when I lost page N-11 of the POH for the aircraft… found it wedged between the seats), and headed south for Lake Whitney (F50).  I should mention, we were flying the same aircraft as yesterday, N8348M.  It’s a Cessna 172, but made in 1998 with GPS and fuel injected goodness.

Mmmmm, tasty….

Landing at Lake Whitney was interesting.  Why you ask?  Because it is only a 2,000 foot runway!  That’s short!  I had PLENTY of space, but when you are used to landing on nothing smaller than a 3,000 foot runway, it looks the size of a quarter.  It’s shorter than Possum Kingdom, where I did three cross-country solo flights.  Anyway… we landed and braked, then turned around to take back off… no touch and go there. (Edit: The way it read at first suggested we did not land there… we did!  And I used more than half of that 2000 feet!)

We stopped, I took a leak, and noticed that it is the hub for the Whitney RC Flying Club.  Makes me feel really comfortable taking off there.  We did it without incident, and took some pictures of the lake house from the air.  Then headed down to Llano.

Landing at Llano occurred without incident.  We called ahead and got a courtesy car ready so we could go to Cooper’s Bar-B-Que.  It’s right up there with Hard 8.  So tasty.

After parking, I noticed that big monster you see above parked!  It’s a Cessna Citation V.  Oh so sexy.  What it is doing in Llano is anyone’s guess.

So then we ate, fueled, and took off.  Headed north to Lee’s lease.  Got some shots there, then headed to the 4J.  More pictures, then headed home.

We were met with a 35-45kt headwind when we were headed south, and to maintain VFR, we had to fly below the clouds.  While not a challenge, annoying to say the least.  We did get to ride the same wind back home.  First time I have exceeded 150kts over ground!  We got back in no time.

I feel very comfortable flying in heavier winds now.  In both cases, the winds were either straight down the runway, or a 10-20 degree cross.  VERY minor cross, even though the winds were easily 20kts gusting to 25 or 30.

FUN day of flying!  I’ve got to figure out how to rig my 5D Mark II to the wing strut or something so I can take some nice high-res shots.

Didn’t get a call, so if I had not checked in, I would have been SOL tomorrow. Thank goodness I did!

So what I did today, is got set up with another flight school at Denton Municipal Airport (DTO) and did my checkride with CFI Kyle. Things were WINDY, and VFR was close to minimums, but we got it done. So it looks like there won’t be too many more stories about Northwest Regional (52F) for a while.

Cloud dodging is not fun. We did it, pulled some Gs, kept the aircraft within limits (barely), but it was definitely a great experience as I feel like my personal minimums have improved slightly.

The last landing today almost turned into a carrier landing. 20kts steady, gusting to 30, with a 20-40 degree crosswind component. We were riding one of those gusts at about 20 feet above the runway, and it abruptly stopped. No worries, add lots of power, only dropped about 15 feet, recovered nicely and set it down uber smooth.

Both landings were that way. If it is calm tomorrow, I am sure I’ll have a rough one… comes with the territory.

Anyway… Felt good after today to be back up in the air, and looking forward to the flight tomorrow!

We took up N75918 again, and when we got to the field it was FREEZING. Well, below freezing actually. Ask my passengers, spectators, and one of the best airplane mechanics at 52F. We got loaded up and went to crank the starter…. NADA. Too cold to get it moving.

So Shawn took a few minutes with the plane, hammered a few places, and got it roaring to life. That was after we spent about 10 minutes trying to hand prop it. Shawn was visibly tired.

So, off and ready to go, we roared down the runway. Mom was much better when we were up in the air, and she saw it was not as scary as it looked. I took her around the plane before we left to pre-flight it. I was hoping that if she saw some of the inner workings of the plane, that she would feel more comfortable—especially since the motorcycle she rides at similar speeds might just be more complicated than the 172.

I knew that the first flight would have to be brief. Just to give her a taste and take the edge off. So we only chalked up 0.3 hours in the plane. We took off, headed west just past TMS, and made a u-turn back to 52F. Then we landed! Mom did not like the landing part. It looks like the end is near when you are sitting in the front seat for the first time. But once we had a kissably smooth landing, she calmed down a bit.

Then we taxied off so she could head out!

She jumped out and hugged Dad, and then we said “Seeya.” We (James, Dad) had important things to accomplish.

Like flying to Stephenville to get BBQ at Hard 8!

The flight was relatively uneventful. The 10-15kt head wind turned into a 10-15kt tail wind on the way back. On the way out, we got clearance through Class Bravo airspace, then about 3 miles outside of the airspace, regional approach abruptly terminated our radar service. I had to get set up again from Ft. Worth Center.

Boy it was cold today. That golf cart ride over to Hard 8 was almost unbearable.

On the way back in, we had to fly under the Class Bravo (not surprising). One of these days when I get my instrument rating, that may change.

After that, we headed north west. I was just planning on flying around the lake; nothing big. But then we decided to go do the downtown Dallas tour. Turns out, the Adolphus Christmas Parade was going on! Got to see it from the air.

Oh, and if you are a pilot and happen to fly over a parade, watch out for stray balloons. We did not hit any, but a couple zoomed by pretty close. Felt about as scary as seeing a hawk do a dive-bomb right off your nose.

Anyway… so D/FW was too busy to let us fly over the top today (although someone else DID get routed over D/FW shortly after we were denied), so we flew on the south end, exited the Class B, and then had to transition Alliance’s Class D to get home.

On approach and landing today, we finally had the forethought to VIDEO IT! Yep, you want to see what it is like to fly a visual approach to 52F? Here it is. Enjoy!

This one was very uneventful. Flew over the parents house three times, and did a go around on the landing. The wind was coming in from the north, and I don’t like landing on the 35 end of the runway. Wanted a practice approach before setting down.

Boy that thing REALLY moves in cold air. Cruising at 95 kias, 2,500 feet, and something like 80% power. In warm air, we NEVER get that kind of performance.

So he did well. As you can see, he has flown a plane WELL before he has driven a car. He gets a little bored with straight and level (though Daddy never seems to), and eventually decided it was time to land.

Next flight may be this week down to Hard 8 BBQ in Stephenville. Just exploring it now.

And work. They keep you so busy during your 60 second free fall you don’t have a lot of time to enjoy it.

We packed up a 172 and were en-route! Due to some early delays, we were JUST IN TIME for the training class for the jumpers. This also delayed them jumping by about an hour, but they were up and going in very short order.

I put some pictures up on Facebook as well as in the gallery. Another soft field takeoff and landing to my credit, and once again, thanks to prevailing southerly winds near the major airports, we were not allowed into the Class B. Oh well.

Thanks to everyone who gave me birthday wishes! Hope to see you guys later for the party.

And, I’m going FLYING on Sunday! Going to re-do the skydive attempt, but we have a few more folks going. I’m going to be ready with the camera, and catch them as they come down. I love flying so much, it’s just a joy to be the cab driver up to the airfield.

Maybe on the way back I’ll show those folks the uphill landing at Ironhead.

Anyway, I’m testing for a couple of certifications tomorrow and will be partying later!

Overall the flight was uneventful (that’s good in case you were wondering), and I think everyone had a good time!

Today I was to be taking aerial shots of Lee’s lease. When I got about 60 miles south of Stephenville, I found a cloud line. Totally overcast. I thought I saw clearings up ahead which is why I pressed on the last 40 miles, but guess what… NOPE.

So I descended low enough to still be VFR legal and called Lee on my cell. If you think cell coverage is spotty on the ground in the country, try at 5,000 feet.

So I called Lee and told him no joy and turned around to go home. I landed in Stephenville to get gas, but didn’t stay for barbecue. Then headed home around the airshow that is going on at Alliance Airport right now.

So if time building was my mission…. ACCOMPLISHED.

Will try again later in the year.

FLIGHT,

EVER!

Tonight, a friend who is learning how to fly went with me for a night flight. I did a little research (THANK YOU KYLE!!) and learned that you can do a Downtown Dallas tour from the air. I headed over to Addison, then was instructed to fly direct to Dallas Love. When they handed me off, the controller in the tower had me fly over Love, then turn left for downtown after a SouthWest jet passed by.

After we got clearance, she let us do two big and slow circles around downtown Dallas at 1,500 feet MSL.

AWESOME.

Then I rolled the dice to see if we could do a cool flight back. From downtown, direct Dallas Love, Direct DFW Airport, direct Northwest Regional. They let us do it! I flew over Texas Stadium, and one of the towers at DFW had me fly to the east side of the airport, and when I was at midfield, fly due west DIRECTLY OVER THE AIRPORT! At 1,500 MSL!

THANK YOU, this flight was so awesome.

Once I was at the center of the airport, they handed me over to the west side of the airport and since there was no incoming traffic, they told me to go direct to Northwest Regional. Once I was clear of the Class B, they approved me to change frequency and I landed at Northwest Regional about 10 minutes later.

The weather was absolutely beautiful. Virtually zero bumps, unlimited visibility, no haze or clouds. Could not have picked a better night.

This was the coolest flight I’ve made yet, and I can’t wait to do it again. Next time I’ll take one of the 172s and we’ll load it up so others can enjoy!

BIG thank you to ATC, Dallas Love Tower operators, and DFW Tower operators for making this happen!

Had two pretty good landings though! And I’m over 50 hours!

En route, we hit some rain! You can still fly under visual flight rules (VFR) in the rain, but ATC was willing to divert us if necessary. Was pretty cool! On the way back we were DENIED access through the Class B, so we had to descend much earlier than anticipated. Doing well on the landings in the SportStar again, even on my home field with the shorter runway.

Today was also momentous because I flipped a new page in my logbook! Here are my stats.

• 184 Takeoffs/Landings (As Springfield pointed out, it is good when these numbers match.
• 49.1 total hours
• 3.4 night
• 3.1 Simulated Instrument
• 13.3 Cross country
• 26.8 Dual
• 23.4 Pilot in Command

Tomorrow we head to Skydive Dallas (via airplane!) to take some folks skydiving, and on Wednesday I am doing a night flight. Then Saturday, I am flying around the airshow to take aerial pictures of Pop’s lease!

Still no NTSB report published on the other Sport Star. Will post it when I see it.

Yep, after I had kissably smooth ones in the 172 on turf, I had a pretty rough one today. So much so that the owner of the school suggested I take an instructor up to practice!

Good idea… I don’t want to be a safety risk! So I’m going up with the chief instructor sometime next week to polish that baby.

I reflected back on my landings in the SportStar, and the ones that I did the best on were on very long runways. My problem is that I am coming in a little too fast, and after seeing the wreckage of the other Sport Star, I lost my confidence and didn’t want to stall. With enough speed, I won’t stall, but I was freaking out for no reason. The stall speed with the plane in the configuration I had it in was 38 kts. I was going 60. That’s an easy 22kt margin.

So with a long runway, I can take my time floating away to bleed off speed. On the short runway at 52F, I don’t have that luxury. I was definitely a little embarrassed, but the only thing bruised is my pride. I would much rather have an experienced pilot tell me that I need to get some help with something, than have an NTSB examiner tell me that!

I’ll spend an hour with the instructor, which should allow me to get six good landings in. Then the next time I am going up, Matt & I are taking the Sport Star to Stephenville (BBD) for barbecue.

Garrett was a hit at the hangar and was telling everyone how he got to fly the airplane. I’m so glad that I get to share this with Garrett!

Oh, and something else…. After seeing the wreckage of the Sport Star, we’re taking a look at buying a plane. Nothing against rental facilities, but I’d almost rather get a plane that has had a thorough once-over by a good mechanic, and be the only one flying it. That way, I KNOW what happens to the plane. Plus, long term I’ll save a ton of cash.

Will check back in after my flight instruction to tell you how I did!

Yep, but there are times when you are trying something new, that you want to do it with a CFI next to you instead of just by yourself.

Spins were out of the question today. The main reason for this is that I’m not going for my spin CFI endorsement. The secondary reason is that spins screw up the gyros in an airplane. Since those things cost $250/each, the mechanic does not want us doing it in any IFR certified plane. N52119 is the plane I flew today, and it is the best IFR 172 that the school has.

So here’s the plan on spins. We’re either going to wait for 5915A to be ready for flight (it has no working gyros), or I’m going to go to Marcair and do some spin training there. Either way, it’s important to me and I’m going to do it.

Today we flew up to Ironhead. The whole point of this was to get practice landing on turf. I did beautifully, logged 3 landings on turf (to a full stop), and then we headed home. Quick day of flight, but I am comfortable on turf now. Pretty easy actually, and it was not nearly as rough as I thought it was going to be. And the North end had a 25 foot slope rise on it!!

I also got a look at one of the SportStars in the hangar. Nothing special, except someone crashed it! Thankfully no one was hurt, but it was another great lesson at someone else’s expense on aviation safety. When the report from the FAA comes out, I’ll post it so you can see the official details.

About 13 miles from KADS, I picked up their ATIS and we listened. It told us to contact regional approach for any VFR traffic inbound. That was a new one for me! So we contacted regional approach, got a squawk code so they could track us, and handed us over to Alliance Tower. After the handoff, we were given the option to make left or right traffic (I always prefer left as you get better visibility of the runway), so we called out left traffic and were cleared to land.

We taxied to one of the FBOs on the field to be greeted by three VERY eager guys wanting to give us fuel. The SportStar burns 5 gals/hour, so the 30 minute flight really did not give them a reason to roll the truck. They looked a bit disappointed. Sorry guys.

We sat in the FBO for a little bit, and then packed up to leave. This was a practice run for us as I’m going to be taking some folks skydiving (not out of the plane I am flying) in October, so I wanted to have seen the layout of Addison with my eyes before asking folks to meet me there. Though, after looking more closely at the chart, in order for me to get cross country credit for the trip, it I need to take off from Alliance. That will be easy for the folks to get to (much easier than 52F).

On the way back, things were uneventful (as on the way out). 52F was much busier when we landed. Two planes departing the runway, one departing the pattern, and one doing a run up. We landed without incident and taxied back to the flight school. Off to park, and then in the car!

Now it is time to do expenses. FUN!

We just stayed local as we didn’t have a ton of time. We flew out to Lake Bridgeport and then came on back. James wanted to do a landing on the big runway at Alliance, but there was too much traffic, so we just did a touch & go on 16R.

Then we got our turn out over Texas Motor Speedway and headed back to the field. The only bummer thing is that the audio in the back seat was not working properly, and they could not hear us. We could hear them though. Mama got bored I think and Garrett almost fell asleep.

I’m going to be checking with my instructor sometime in the next couple of weeks so I can get some time to have him demonstrate spins in the 172, and then do a couple of actual soft field landing/takeoffs. 52F has grass, so hopefully I can do it there.

We had some low level clouds around the airport when we arrived, so I just did the normal preflight in anticipation of waiting around a bit. Turns out, the weather cleared for a bit, so we got gas and went! Course, we got off the runway and quickly noticed another low level bank about 20 miles to the north west that was moving our direction. We flew over to Denton, but by the time we got there (3-4 minutes) we noticed that bank getting closer.

I didn’t want to get stuck today.

So I turned around and called Flight Watch and asked for a weather update. That layer of clouds was coming our way! So I decided to run back south and this would just be a very quick (but safe flight). So we flew over Alliance so Dad could get a picture, and then entered the pattern to land. On final, I noticed that cloud bank had stalled a bit, so I decided to do a touch & go.

On our way back around, the clouds that were to the south were coming back up to the north, so I decided to make this our last one. We landed and taxied back.

Now I’m preparing for Australia!

I’ve had some people ask me about costs. I wanted to outline some of the costs you can expect if you are considering a private pilot license. Incidentally, there is a recreational pilot license that was set up a few years ago, and that is cheaper to get. Based on FAR 61.99, you can do it with less than half of the minimum flight time. There are limitations though. For example, it is daytime VFR only, limits to the number of passengers, types of planes, domestic only flights, etc. It’s a good place to start if you want to get up in the air on a budget, but just remember that you are limited.

If you decide to go the private pilot route, you will have much more flexibility and it does not cost too much more. Here are some of the minimum requirements of a private pilot (I’m going to stick with single engine fixed-wing aircraft here) under FAR 61.109 are:

• 40 hours of total flight time (at least 20 instruction and 10 solo)
• 3 hours of cross-country flight training (dual)
• 3 hours of night flight training (dual with 1 cross country and 10 takeoffs and landings to a full stop at a towered airport)
• 3 hours of flight training on maneuvers (dual)
• 3 hours of practical test flight training
• 10 hours of solo flight training (at least 5 cross country)
• 1 solo cross country flight with three stops
• 3 take offs and landings to a full stop at a towered airport
• Ground instruction

So here’s how you should figure out cost. The numbers I am using here are valid for an average Cessna 172 at a flight school. They are pretty close to what I paid at my flight school. One thing to note is whether your rates are wet or dry. Wet rates mean fuel is included. The last time I filled up at 52F, AVGas (100LL) is running $4.76/gal, and the 172′s burn about 10 gallons/hour.

• 45 hours of flight time, this rate is a wet rate so fuel is included (45 hours @ $106/hr = $4,770)
• ROUGHLY 45 hours of instruction time, though this really seems to vary (45 hours @ $35/hr = $1,575)
• Charts, you need a current sectional from where you fly (they expire every six months and cost $10), and an optional Terminal Area Chart if you are flying in a highly congested area ($5)
• An Airport/Facility Directory is something you should have in your bag as well as it contains information about all the airports in the covered area (they expire every 56 days and cost $5)
• Speaking of bags, you will need a flight bag with the appropriate instructional materials, E6B, plotter, and headset. Most pilot shops have a kit for this, and it will run you about $400 for everything, though you can go higher with an electronic E6B (HIGHLY recommended) and a better headset
• Red flashlight for night flights ($10 headlamp from Home Depot)

So, if you total all of that up, we’re looking at around $6500-$7000. Fuel makes a big difference here, but it is what it is. I ended up paying less than this because I had some dry rates in the beginning, and I also completed it in much less time.

Some optional equipment to consider…

• GPS. You cannot use this for your navigation, but it is a really nice backup. Prices vary
• Kneeboards are excellent for using your VFR flight plans and navigation logs with. They are also very handy in storage of additional things (such as light gun signals), and a nice hard surface for writing down the fast list of instructions that ATC may give you. These range from $20-$50
• Upgraded flight bag. The one that you get is nice and sturdy, but mine lacked enough pockets and zipped areas to keep things organized. I ended up upgrading to a bag that has the flexibility to store my headset. Range from $70 to $150 and up on the high end

So how about some lessons learned?

• Do your medical early. It’s not convenient, but really easy to get done.
• Memorize the written test and take it early. It’s not too hard, but the question bank is pretty large. Read the book, go through the lessons, and do the questions. Memorize if you do not understand, and you will understand later on, I promise.
• Shop flight schools. Make sure you get a seasoned instructor or at least one you are comfortable with.
• DO NOT just pull handles in an aircraft. Make sure that if you are trying to pull carb heat out for landing that you don’t accidentally lean the mixture all the way. If you do, don’t panic, just put it back in quickly.
• When I fly, I usually fly the GPS path I entered from my sectional, and validate it is correct by checking visual references and using instruments such as a VOR or ADF. Never trust any one instrument or method, always double or triple check your position.
• Better yet, USE ATC! They have one of those thankless jobs, but they are there to help you. Flight following, Flight Watch, Flight Services, and other resources are there to help you.
• Make sure you have all the correct endorsements you need in your log book before taking your FAA Written, Solo, Cross Country, Class B operations, Night operations, or landing at another airport within 50nm of your home airport.
• File and activate a flight plan! That way if you get lost, someone will come looking for you.
• CLOSE your flight plan when you have the airport in sight (or after landing) so you don’t have the search and rescue squad sent when you are safe.
• Get renter’s insurance, and get enough coverage. AOPA has good deals.
• Over plan your cross-country trips. And be sure to get weather briefings! It will go a long way to building the habit and being a safe pilot.
• Over prepare for your written and your final check ride. It will make it seem much easier when you do it.
• You will blow some landings. At the worst times (like when an FAA examiner is sitting in the right seat). Just don’t quit the day until you get a nice one.
• If you get airsick, Bonine is your friend. Even if you normally don’t (I normally don’t), hot summers or the Unusual Attitudes (google this. Essentially it’s where you can’t see out the window and the examiner pulls and pushes all kinds of levers, and then makes you recover using only instruments) can make you airsick.
• And finally, FLY EVERY DAY YOU CAN. I can’t stress this enough. If you want to do it in 40 hours, you should fly as often as you can. I started on July 7, and did my checkride on August 10. That’s 33 days. In that date range, I did not fly on 7 days due to travel and family commitments. It’s imperative that you keep your skills up (long term as well, but very important in the beginning).

Thanks to all of you guys (and gals) who kept me encouraged during this quest! Your encouragement as well as a blog to keep me honest made this a very rewarding experience! Time to go flying for real now!

I did my check ride this afternoon, and it was pretty good all around! The oral exam was about 1.5-2 hours (I lost track of time), and I logged 1.1 hours of flight time. I have my temporary license and am ready to go!

Now I am going to take a break from all things aviation and grab a beer.

No worries.

But then I had to go run back to the house to get some paperwork and hit an ATM because we could not submit the FAA stuff online.

Next is the checkride!

So I did my oral prep, and now have my study materials to do this thing tomorrow. Wish me luck!

Today was pretty light, just flew up to Denton and hung around that airport for a while. I also finished my instrument requirements, so that is now out of the way. We did a little porpoise like maneuver that put us weightless for a few seconds. Fun, but a mess for the gear in the back.

I’m traveling today, but will be back in the left seat on Saturday for my check ride prep!

So I threw down just short of a dozen, then headed back to 52F. One thing I did get to see was several helicopters taking off from Alliance. The tower has them hover taxi over to the main taxi way (Alpha) and then clears them for takeoff. Kinda weird to watch while you are in the pattern and using the main runway.

Tomorrow morning I fly the Sport Star again so I can get my five hours of dual instruction. Then I can take it when I want (after I finish).

Just 3.2 hours to go!

I had ATC following me the whole way, and I do want to say that those guys do an incredible job. I could not imagine working in that career especially after doing my flight tonight and listening to the workload they manage. Those guys do not get enough credit, and I thank them for the job they do! It’s so comforting to have a safety net helping you out.

At any rate, I am less than 5 hours from being able to qualify! Provided the weather holds out, I will be doing my check ride on Monday!

I need .4 more hours of simulated hood time. We’ll do that on my checkride prep which will probably be this Saturday morning. I just filled out my second page in the logbook, so I thought I’d list my stats to date.

• Total Hours: 33.3
• Solo (PIC) Hours: 11.5
• Dual Hours: 21.8
• Cross Country Hours: 9.4
• Night Hours: 1.3
• Hood (Simulated IFR) Hours: 2.6
• Total Landing/Take Off: 133

Tonight I am doing my night cross country in N80508. If you are in the Dallas area and want to try and follow me, you can start by tuning to 135.15 (Alliance Tower) in your trusty scanner until you hear the instruction to contact departure, and switch to 118.1. They will keep up with me as I do my trip. You will need to listen for my call sign and catch any frequency changes they call out or you will quickly lose me.

Will write some time tomorrow on my experience!

Why is it wierd?

You cannot see the horizon. So your inner ear is telling you that you are doing one thing, but your instruments are saying another. The exercise is designed to make you trust your instruments.

If I had not taken my airsick medicine, I would have probably yakked. The heat certainly contributed to that.

So I only got 1.2 hours of hood time today and I need three total hours. We’re doing more hood work tomorrow AM, and then I do my night cross country tomorrow night. I’m going to get some good hours there because of the amount of flying I have to do. 2.5 for sure, if not three.

I did all but one of my landings on 16R, the first was on 16L. The field was dead when I arrived, but was REALLY busy when I left.

Couple of important milestones today. 1) Over 30 hours! Not too far from my checkride now! 2) Met my solo hour requirement (10 hours). Now all I need are 1.7 hours of night flight (will do that Monday), and three hours of instrument training (will do that tomorrow & Monday).

Finally, I’m going to get my last 1.5 or so hours in the Sport Star that I need to go fly that thing solo next week. I think that’s the first one I’m taking Mimi up in.

Off to the circus!

I spoke with one of the other pilots there for a while and we eventually moved the plane out of the hangar. I got greens across the board and decided to just do touch & gos at the 52F.

After the third time around in the pattern, I started seeing flashes of lightning in the cell that was to the north east. It was still easily 20 miles away at that point, so I kept on it and decided to do a few more. On the 5th time around the lightning was probably 10-15 miles now, and I decided that it was probably not safe for me up there anymore.

So I hopped on down to the field and made a quick stop at the gas pumps and filled up.

So there you go. Four take offs, four landings, one go around, and .4 hours.

Going to shoot for more flight time tomorrow.

We took off around 8:30 and headed over to Propwash. NOT TO LAND! We decided to use their electricity though and fire up the runway lights. Then we did a low approach, but the wheels did not touch the ground. No $100 landing fee!

Something I was wondering after the fact was how many landing lights I tuned on when I hit the ones at Propwash. There are MANY airports that use the same frequency.

Anyway, then we headed over to AFW to meet my ten landing requirement. We did most on 16R, but then got switched over to 16L when there was a clearance issue, and I got to land on the christmas tree! No, not an actual christmas tree, but all the lights lit up like that look pretty fun (kinda like a christmas tree!).

So we did that a few times and then headed home.

I’m flying a bunch over the next several days to prepare for my checkride!

Secondly, I actually ACTIVATED my flight plans today! I’ve had issues with previous radios, and yesterday my online flight plan filing did not work. So I had two flight plans, and did flight following, and dodged birds of prey for my 1.5 hours today.

Tomorrow I do my first night flight! I’m going to fly the Sport Star again. I just need to get 5 hours total in that and I can take it solo. I’m halfway there now, so it will probably take 2-3 more flights to finish that requirement.

I’m getting pretty close! I’m not sure if I’ll make my goal of doing my checkride before I leave for Oz, but I’m certainly shooting for that!

Wait, lightning? That’s bad, right?

Yeah. Not so good. So instead of being up in the air right now, I’m back at the house. I’m going to be heads down all day to get 100% caught up, then I think I’ll head out for an afternoon flight. Weather briefers are telling me that it should be fine by the afternoon.

*sigh*

Ouch.

It did help me a bit on the return though. Not as much as if I would have been flying directly north, but I’ll take anything I can get. This was my first experience in heavy winds. It felt very strange doing 90kts and looking out the window to see the ground barely moving below me.

So I have another one tomorrow. Same trip, hopefully the winds will be more favorable and my trip won’t take as long. It has to take at least 1.3 hours so I can meet the requirements! I will be flying N5915A tomorrow, so feel free to track me!

We went from Northwest Regional to Possum Kingdom to Gainsville, then back. I filed flight plans, but we did not end up activating them because I filed them on the old aircraft. We just did flight following instead. We did that on the first two legs.

Then we landed, I drove into town to get some lunch, and headed back. The plane started right up this time so I headed over to the pumps and filled it up. Then I took off to do the same trip we just did, but SOLO! It was a real experience too. I filed flight plans for all my legs, but again, did not activate any. Why? BECAUSE MY RADIO WAS BROKEN!

I could receive just fine, but my transmissions were garbled very badly unless I was within a mile or so of the receiving station. So I was able to transition through Alliance and Denton class D airspace with clearance, but just barely. I figured I was going to be OK continuing my flight, simply because there was not a ton of VFR traffic out in the heat of the day, and I could still hear other transmissions. Since I stayed out of the Class B, I am technically not required to have two way radio comms.

I finally landed, and relayed my story.

Tomorrow I am taking my old favorite, N5915A, over to Possum Kingdom for a short flight. If you want to track me en-route, click here!

We flew from Northwest Regional to Propwash then straight over to Possum Kingdom (F35). We landed then did it in reverse. I was really enjoying using the navigational aids that 747VH had. We used the ADF to hone in on F35, and used VORs to watch our track. Plus we did the visual thing to make sure we were tracking correctly.

One fun thing we did was listen to the ticket over the ADF most of the way. God bless AM radio!

Today I got up nice and early and took the 5915A over to Propwash and did some touch & gos. There were some folks landing in the grass over there, and I want to do that at some point with my instructor. Did a few, did some turns around a point, and then called Alliance to do more touch & gos there. I logged a total of 8 landings today.

Then my time was about up, so I headed back so I could gas up the plane.

When I turned in the key and book, there was a guy that schooled me a little bit on Propwash. Apparently they have a $100 landing fee and we are not supposed to be going over there for touch & gos.

Oops.

Well, guess I’ll just be at Alliance.

Next flight is going to be on Monday when we do the long cross country! Going to go from Northwest Regional to Propowash to Possum Kingdom, to Gainsville, and back to Northwest Regional. Going to be fun! Then I will attempt a solo cross country on Monday!

Something came up, and my 4:00pm reservation got bumped about 30 minutes, but I still was able to get some flight time. My instructor happened to be there, so I took the time to show him my planning for our cross country today. We chatted for a minute and he gave me some good pointers. Then 5915A finally showed up!

After putting some 100LL into the fuel tanks, I was off for flight. While I had been waiting, the wind had picked up considerably. It did not exceed any of the crosswind maximums that are endorsed in my logbook (he does not want me to exceed an 8 knot crosswind component), but it was coming down the runway pretty zippy. After listening to Alliance’s ATIS report, I was in doubt that information Zulu was in fact totally accurate. It’s not that I don’t believe that they wanted to put accurate info in there, but the winds were not quite what I was experiencing.

I flew over to Propwash and did some touch & gos, but the winds were picking up so much I was worried that the narrow runway there was going to give me trouble. In fact, at one point, the wind came at such an angle from the left that it picked up my left wing and it took nearly full left aileron to correct it. Panic did not set in, but I was definitely concerned.

So I headed over to Alliance. The runways there are MUCH wider, and if I got into trouble, the folks in the tower could help me out. I only did a few landings there before I looked at my watch and saw that I needed to get home for dinner. I asked and received clearance for a left turnout to 52F, and headed back. I followed another Cessna from our school into the pattern and took a number 2 landing position behind him. Still very gusty at the airport at this point, so I just worked on setting it down safely (not super pretty).

When I landed, I was going to try to make the gas pumps but the runway was very hot and my tires started squealing.

Ahh F. I’ll just wait until I get to the next taxi-way and do a big turn around. There were about 5 guys standing outside of the flight school, so I didn’t want to do anything crazy.

I put 10 gallons in, taxied back, and handed the keys off. So there’s the story behind the .9 hours.

Today I am ready for my cross country! I’ve got a different plane lined up (N52119) that has working instruments (how odd is that going to be? You mean when I turn, the gyros will keep up?). I’ll grab a weather briefing later this AM and then head off!

“What, you tired of turning left?”

Sounds like something a NASCAR driver would say.

Anyway, did another one of those slip approaches. They still feel super weird, but I nailed it right down the centerline on that one. After landing, my instructor gave me an additional endorsement so that I can take the plane by myself and do maneuvers and touch & gos within twenty five miles (though he wants me to stay between 52F and Propwash).

I’m looking forward to picking up some solo time! Tomorrow we’re doing a cross country between here and Possum Kingdom lake. I am starting my planning right now!

We took off from Northwest Regional (52F) and headed over to Alliance (AFW). We entered the pattern (with clearance) and did some touch & gos and one go around with my instructor. Then we taxied over to the FBO and he hopped out (after a quick cram lesson because I had been forgetting to turn off carb heat… NOT good).

Then he hopped out, I got clearance from ground control, taxied to the runway, did my runup got clearance and went! Did three touch & gos in the pattern and then went back to the FBO. Got a congrats and a handshake, and then I got to take a tour of Alliance tower! They presented me with my solo certificate and I got to see all the neat systems they have.

Then we flew back to 52F and I left to get my haircut.

But my story does not stop there…. Later in the day I went to go take my FAA Written exam as planned. I PASSED!

Today is family day (and soon to be FOOTBALL DAY!), so no flying on Sunday. I’m back in the left seat tomorrow though!

Today we flew over by Propwash (16X) and practiced turns around a point. Finally, a maneuver that is kicking my ass. I’m having trouble with this one and need practice. We did a few, but since I am doing my solo tomorrow, my instructor wanted me to do some Touch & Gos. I did several, and the last couple of landings were quite tasty. Then departed out to Northwest Regional.

The Traffic Watch guys were coming back in when we were, and one of the guys (who was farther AWAY!) said he would be nice and let us land before him. Even though we were in the pattern before him. And were calling out our intentions miles in advance. Thanks. Was almost as nice as the controller at AFW telling the pilot of a single Cessna that maybe someday he’ll be lucky enough to be in a Twin.

Priceless.

More tomorrow!

We just stuck around 52F and did touch & gos. I am getting really good on my landings… such a light touch and able to pull out a good landing when a stall could make it really bad. We did soft field landings, and soft and short field takeoffs.

I spoke with my instructor about next steps and hopefully I will be able to solo next week. I don’t think we’ll be able to get it done this weekend, unless we can do the instructor quiz on Saturday morning. I’m not pushing hard for it, but it is a very important milestone. Hopefully next week will see me beginning to plan cross country legs and logging solo time in the plane!

One thing that is very interesting is that when the airframe is getting close to stall speed, I can hear a change in the air going past the cockpit. This helps me be situationally aware and will keep me looking out the window more and less at the airspeed indicator. Feels solid.

Then we did S-Turns, and turns around a stationary point. The first I have solid. The second just needs practice. It’s my first time to do it so my challenge was maintaining the same radius throughout the entire turn.

After that, we departed the practice area for 16X and did touch and gos. My landings are getting damn good. I got to do a slip landing today, and while it was a little rougher, it sure was a weird feeling. Man, I hope I don’t have to do that very often. Especially with passengers. I can see people getting queasy.

Then my lesson was up, and we headed back to 52F. Over the top we found some traffic. One guy leaving, and one guy coming in to land. Took us a while, but we eventually saw him and just entered the pattern behind and wide of him. By the time we were 100 feet above the ground, he was clear of the runway so we landed and did a full stop.

I fly again tomorrow, then a day off, then hopefully Friday if I can get back in time. I’m still on track to take my written test on Saturday!

I’m taking the day off tomorrow, my instructor wants a free day. I’ve been there. I fly again on Tues & Wed (thank GOODNESS for morning air again!), and then I am out of town for a couple of days. I’m going to shoot for taking the written test and flying on Saturday. Maybe a solo? Who knows!

So remember yesterday.  Hot = thermals = bouncy time.  Plus we had some wicked wind from the south today.  The new maneuver for today was S-Turns.  These are essentially tight S turns around a fixed line such as a road.  I did very well with those.  

I wanted more landing practice, so we headed over to Propwash (16X).  When we got there, my instructor wanted to show me how to do a slip.  This is essentially a method for losing altitude quickly without gaining airspeed.  You use opposite aileron & rudder inputs (think a massively uncoordinated turn) which causes you to quickly lose altitude without gaining airspeed.  The problem is it really goofs with your inner ear.  That with the heat and wind made me airsick for the first time during my flight training.

We did a couple of touch and go landings at Propwash and then I told my instructor I’d had enough.  Opened up the window and I was fine.  I also learned the importance of situation awareness up there today as another plane was coming head on while we were doing maneuvers in the practice area.  Plus, we saw a B-25 doing touch & go landings at Alliance and then doing maneuvers over the lake.  It was pretty amazing watching that massive aircraft pull 50-60 degree bank turns (in part thanks to us doing maneuvers over at Propwash).

I’ve been reading about weather so we’ll do more weather stuff in the classroom tomorrow, but I’m ready to take some Bonine and suck it up for a good day of flying tomorrow!

Anyway, we did our maneuvers and added two today. The first was an engine failure simulation. I picked a field and made it! WE LIVE! YAAAY! The other was a power on stall. Except the 172 we are flying freaking WON’T STALL. I’m not really complaining about it, but in our stall practice we gained 500 feet of altitude. That’s not so good.

So we had some fun there, and flew back over to Alliance. I got some time on the radio today and we did touch and gos from Alliance airport. Two new things that I got to do today with that. The airports I normally operate out of are non-towered airports. Alliance is a towered airport so I had to get clearance before operating there. Also, we had the PAPI glide slope indicator which is nice, though the runway is so long it is not needed. You can figure out if you will make it or not.

I did six landings today and earned 1.4 hours of flight time. PHEW!

Next flight is tomorrow at 11am!

We took off and looped around the east side of 52F and headed west to the practice area. Once we were clear of Propwash, we climbed to 3K and did some slow turns and slow flying. Then we tried a couple of power-off stalls. That 172 just does not like stalling (I’m not really complaining actually) so it takes effort to make it stall. I saved us both times though and we did not break the hard deck (like Maverick).

The new maneuver we did today was steep turns. Basically putting the airplane in a 45 degree bank and maintaining altitude. Those are pretty fun. Like Max Power, you strap yourself in and feel the Gs!

Landings today were both good. We did a soft field landing which means you float as long as you can, and hold the nose up as long as possible. I still have trouble with steering the airplane on rollout. I try to drive it like a damn car, and you have to drive it like a sled (with your feet). Then I got to fill it with gas (boy wasn’t THAT fun… $5/gal!). Then we taxied back over and there was a sport plane blocking the entryway, so we got to PUSH THE PLANE over a small rut and up a hill.

Tonight I’m studying communications, and I’m going to pore over my sectional chart to make sure I’m able to pass my written test!

Sometime after my flight yesterday (and NOT because of my landing) the magnetic compass fell off the windshield. My instructor was not sure if we were going to fly that plane today, but the mechanic got it fixed and we are back in the game.

Today we practiced slow flight maneuvers. I got a better feel for the aircraft at slow speeds (like 45kts… SLOW). We did slow turns and practiced that to help with landings. Then we did a few power off stalls. I killed us once, and then pulled out in time the second time. The reason I killed us is I went too far forward on the yoke… oops. Second one was better.

Then time for some touch & gos. I got to work the radio a bit today, and need practice. Seems like I get a little bit of overload with airspeed, altitude, and heading, that I forget the radio piece. We’ve never talked about it in the classroom, so I figure it will come up and I will get better with it.

First time to Propwash I was too high, go around. Second time was a good teeth chatterer like yesterday. Third was extra smooth. Instructor said the final landing at home field made up for the carrier landing at Propwash. As I was pulling up from my poor landing (and still remembering to steer the damn airplane with my FEET) he noticed his other student was watching.

Oh well, on the radio I heard someone else have a rough one and an on-looker said “Any landing you can walk away from is a good one.”

Practice, Practice, Practice.

Then it was out to the plane! A quick pre-flight and off I go. N5915A was built in 1956, before bells & whistles were invented. Some of the instrumentation does not work, but the important stuff does. It’s VFR anyway.

I learned today that the owner of Northwest Regional (15F) decreed that there shall be no more Touch & Go maneuvers at the field, so we have to fly over to Justin’s Propwash Airport (16X) which might just be one of the coolest named airports around. I did several Touch & Gos, and one wave-off landing because I was too high in the pattern.

So far, my biggest challenge has been maintaining instruments while flying. I’m using the trim more and that is helping me maintain attitude and altitude. I had a couple of rougher landings today, but nothing worse than some of the carrier style landings that the pilots over at AMR have been doing. You know, the ones where the pilots don’t even open the flight deck door to say “Seeya!” on the way out?

I’m working on my float while landing. I had an instructor tell me several years ago NOT to float. Just put the bird on the ground. This one is encouraging float. I still hear that other instructor in my head.

Off to study and prepare for tomorrow!

First lesson was pretty much an intro as you would expect. We went over the forty (or so) pounds of books and material that I will be reviewing. After that, we went and did the checklists for starting up. My chariot is quite the beast. She’s a 1950′s Cessna 172, and half of the instruments don’t work. VFR only. Tis OK, but will upgrade to the IFR 172 eventually.

I did two landings today. One touch and go, and one full stop since I had a little too much float. Getting the feel of the plane will take time, but I’m going to fly as much as I can.

Got my renters insurance today as well as my FAA physical. I am waiting on some paperwork for that (can’t believe they did not fax it yet) and I’ll be golden.

I’ll keep you updated! Tomorrow I fly at 7a!