Finally Learning to Fly

I celebrated by birthday today by flying, which was a pretty good way to spend it, if you ask me!  Nothing major, just four touch-and-goes with Jim followed by five solo take-offs and landings.  There was a crosswind, maybe five knots or so (maybe a bit higher), directly across the runway, right-to-left, which added a bit of a challenge, but I’m happy to report that my side slips are getting much better and I wasn’t much bothered by the wind at all.  I’m still over-flaring a bit and porposing the plane a bit, but then I’m able to re-flare it and settle it down nicely.  I’m not sure why the second flares are so much better than the first, but my guess is that it’s because I’ve shed some airspeed.   Regardless, all five of my solo landings today were better than all three of my solo landings last week, which is good progress, right?  Of course, they’re not yet as good as I’d like them, but that’s why I’ll continue to practice!

For my next lesson, we’ll go out to the practice area and repeat some stalls, steep turns, and slow flight.  Then I’ll get some more solo landings and after that Jim expects to be able to clear me for the practice area solo.  After that, we’ll revisit some area airports after which I’ll get cleared for them solo as well.  That will be very cool.

Flight time: 1.0
Total time: 23.5
Landings: 140

I did it!  I flew my first solo today!

I hadn’t flown in about three weeks, so I was feeling rusty when we started.  The weather wasn’t fantastic either, thanks to Tropical Storm Fay, which is still spinning around just northeast of us.  There were dark grey clouds shooting across the sky at about 1,200-1,500 feet (just above our pattern altitude of 1,000 feet) and steady winds at about 20-25 knots (or about 25-30 miles per hour).  Fortunately, the wind direction was pretty close to runway heading, so we had a strong headwind but not much crosswind.

My instructor Jim and I went around the pattern doing touch-and-goes.  We had to stop after the first couple to let me adjust my seat, because I had set it too low and couldn’t see over the engine cowling properly.  My first few landings were pretty rough, but they got better and we ended up doing about 10 of them.

After that, we stopped and he signed my log book and stepped out of the airplane.  It felt weird to have an empty space next to me where the instructor is supposed to be!  As I took off for the first of three take-offs and landings, I realized that I was committed: once the plane was in the air, I would have to land it, no matter what.

My first landing was a bit rough.  I was worried about flaring too much and ballooning the plane up over the runway (something I have a tendency to do), and I didn’t flare enough, resulting in all three landing gear pancaking on the ground pretty hard.  The plane bounced up and I got the flare corrected and it settled back onto the runway softly.

On the second landing, I tried so hard not to pancake it again, that I did balloon it a bit, but I brought it back down gently and it was probably my best of the three landings.

On my third landing, the wind shifted as I was on short final and I had to fight a crosswind.  I overcorrected a bit and had to wrestle the plane back on to the centerline of the runway, but it touched down smoothly.

Afterwards I had my picture taken (they do this now rather than cutting your shirt tail) and as you can see I'm pretty sweaty.  This was less from the heat and humidity, of which there was plenty, and more from my nerves.

But I did it! I feel now less like a "guy who is learning to fly" and more like a "student pilot".

On short final for my first landing:

First landing:

Flight time: 1.5
Total time: 22.5
Landings: 131

This morning's lesson consisted of what has become our usual route: Tampa North (X39) to Vandenberg (KVDF) to Plant City (KPCM) to Lakeland (KLAL) to Zephyrhills (KZPH) and then back to Tampa North.  It all went very smoothly, including talking to the tower at Lakeland and dealing with a very busy Zephyrhills.  Some little ultralight jumped into the pattern at Zephyrhills right in front of us and I had to extend my downwind to give it room to land.

We had an interesting landing back at Tampa North at the end of the flight.  The narrow runway there is bordered by grass on both sides (in fact, it's bordered on one side by the back yards of the people who live next door) and one of the airport guys was out there mowing the grass.  On our earlier take-off, he was on a rider mower near the runway and we joked about knocking his cap off with our prop wash, but I noted that he had headphones on (the big noise muffing kind) over his hat, so knocking it off would have been difficult.

On our return, the guy was edging the grass next to the runway and was standing on the runway to do it.  This runway is only 50 feet wide, so there wasn't much room to land without being too close to him, and of course should he stumble or trip, he could wind up right in front of us.  When we got over the runway threshold I could see the situation was even worse, because the guy was facing the other direction and therefore could not hear us (with the headphones on) or see us.  So I hit the throttle, pulled up on the yoke, and started a go around.

Just as I did that, my instructor Jim took the controls, popped the plane up into the air to clear the guy, then cut the power and did a forward-slip to descend again quickly.  In fact, we ended up descending quickly at that point that Jim had to add some power back to have the plane touch down on the runway softly. I took the controls back at that point and had to do a lot of braking to stop us as we landed quite a bit faster than usual.

It was a pretty slick maneuver and it was one for which I'm definitely not yet ready.

After the flight Jim noted that my landings have gotten very good and more importantly, he believes that they are "safe" and "under control", which was good to hear.  He also noted that my radio work was very good.

I'm not sure yet when my next flight will be.  For budget reasons, it may not be for a couple of weeks.

Flight time: 1.3
Total time: 21.0
Landings: 116

It’s been awhile since I've updated here and that's mostly because it had been awhile since I was in the air.  I finally did fly on Sunday, but first an update on my wait for my medical certificate...

As I've said before, I have a couple of health issues which require my first medical certificate to come from the FAA office in Oklahoma City rather than my local AME, although renewals can come from the local doc.  Despite my careful review of the requirements and my own situation and despite the local doc noting that there "should be no problem at all" getting the certificate, I got a letter from the FAA noting that two of the medicines I'm on are not allowed to be taken together.  It sure would have been nice for them to document that somewhere so I could have had them changed months ago!  But I had to go back to my doctor and have them changed and now I'm in the middle of a required 14-day waiting period before my doctor can attest that I'm just fine with the different meds and I can re-submit my application for the certificate.  What a pain!

In the meantime I had a chance on Sunday to do something very cool.  My dad happens to be a flight instructor, but he trains airline pilots to fly the big jets, currently 737s.  He lives in California but has been conducting some training down in Miami so this weekend he drove up and I got to bring him along on one of my lessons.  Of course, he had to sit in the back seat, but it was still very cool to have him onboard.  He first learned to fly in Cessna 172s but that was about 40 years ago and he hasn't even ridden in one in about 25 years.

We left Tampa North (X39) and got permission from Tampa Approach to transition the Class B airspace over Tampa and the bay and over to St. Petersburg-Clearwater International (KPIE).  The controllers seemed to forget about us a couple of times and we ended up getting routed out over Clearwater Beach, but that was OK because the view there is very scenic with the Intercoastal waterway and the Gulf of Mexico's bright blue water.

I did three touch-and-goes at PIE and they all went fairly well.  Afterwards, we requested and received permission to cross back over Tampa via the East-West runway crossing at Tampa International (KTPA).  For those unfamiliar with this, it means we crossed directly over the airport at 3,000 feet, going directly over runway 9/27.  We had a great view of the airport below us as well as Raymond James Stadium, home of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

From there we were routed back up to Tampa North and my landing there was not so hot.  The word "wheelbarrow" was used to describe the order in which my gear touched down.  My instructor Jim also joked that he didn't know whether to count the landing as one or two what with the bouncing we did...

I asked my dad to just pretend that one didn't happen.  Overall, I think he was pleased with my flying, mostly.  I can't wait until I have my certificate and can take him up in the front seat!

Flight time: 1.1
Total time: 19.7
Landings: 110

Well, I still don’t have my medical certificate from the FAA, despite eagerly checking my mail daily.  We did finally get our stimulus check from the IRS this week, so at least we got some good mail from the government…  So, for today’s lesson, we kept it simple.  We also kept it pretty short because the plane we were flying was just about due for its 100 hour inspection and at least one more person needed to fly it before it went in, so we had to leave a bit of time left on the tach before it was officially due and had to be pulled off the line.

We decided to fly down to Vandenberg (KVDF) and practice some soft field and short field take-offs and landings.  The plane I usually fly, the older 172P, was not available, so I was in one of the newer 172SPs, which I have flown in before, but never flown myself.  What a nice place!  I love the GPS and the auto-pilot and wish I could afford the extra $25/hour it costs to rent it and take it on every lesson. That and the clear still air this morning made the flight really nice.  The air was like glass and this was, by far, the smoothest flight I’ve ever had in a small plane.

My landings and take-offs were OK, for the most part.  I did skid a bit, trying to stop the plane on a short-field landing and hit the first turn-off from the runway.  Other than that, though, no real problems, including on a power-off landing that has been difficult for me before.  Clearly, I’m getting better at this!

We did do one very fun take-off.  We simulated taking off from a very high altitude, by setting 10 degrees of flaps and only using 1700 RPMs from the engine.  We were on Runway 5 at Vandenberg, which is 5000 feet long, and believe me, we needed every inch of it!  The interstate at the end of the runway was looming very large in front of us as we crawled along trying to build up enough speed to rotate.  I don’t envy the folks who have to take off and land at that sort of altitudes regularly.  I guess we’re pretty spoiled being very near sea level.

I've also been working on spreading out my pattern a bit so that I'm not making so many steep turns at low speeds as we turn to base and final.  My instructor, Jim, has had me keeping very close to the field on my patterns, which has meant some steeper turns than I'd like, but I've found -- with practice, like today's -- that I can glide in without power from a decent distance, so I'm now trying that and making shallower turns as a result.  Jim agreed with this idea noting that when I go to take my practical exam, "The DPE doesn't like things that are steep and spirally."  Neither do I.

I don't have my next lesson scheduled yet.  The extra cost of the SP wiped out my flying budget for this week at least, and possibly next week.  Unless I get my medical in the mail, in which case I will scrape up whatever cash (including loose change) I can find to get my first solo done.

Flight time: 1.0
Total time: 18.6
Landings: 106

As planned, my instructor Jim and I went airport-hopping this morning.  After the lousy weather all weekend (rain and thunderstorms) I was worried about the weather on Monday morning, but it turned out to be beautiful, sunny and hot and clear (although it was starting to cloud up when we were finishing up our flight).  We did change our itinerary a bit.  Originally, we planned to fly from Tampa North (X39) to Vandenberg (KVDF), the Plant City (KPCM), Lakeland (KLAL), and finally Bartow (KBOW) before returning to Tampa North.  However, as it turns out, Bartow is located on the Miami sectional chart, whereas the others are all on the Jacksonville sectional, so in order to same me a couple of bucks, since I didn't yet own any sectionals and the current charts expire in August, we skipped Bartow so I'd only need the one.  Instead, we went to Winter Haven (KGIF) and Zephyrhills (KZPH).

So, armed with the sectional and a cheat-sheet I had made with several of the airports on it, we left Tampa North with no difficulties, and headed down to Vandenberg for our first landing.  Winds were calm so we brought it down on Runway 5 and my landing was nice and smooth, although a little left of the centerline (something I have a tendency to do).  I went around the pattern once more and told Jim I was going to try to get closer to the centerline this time.  I did get closer, but still missed it just to the left.  After the two touch-and-goes we set off for Plant City, however at that point I had a bit of a problem – I had no idea how to get to Plant City!  So, out came the sectional which, along with Jim’s knowledge of the area (there’s a blue water tower just north of the field), made finding it pretty easy.  As it turns out, much like I use Interstate 75 to find both Tampa North and Vandenberg, Interstate 4 is very useful for finding Plant City.

My first landing at Plant City was not good.  I got low and slow and was adding power, but not enough, and we came down a bit hard.  Jim suggested I go around the pattern and try again “to redeem” myself.  So I did, and my second landing was much better.

We had already listened to the ATIS from Lakeland before landing at Plant City, upon departure we picked it up once more briefly to get the latest information code and then I called up Lakeland tower.  I had never spoken to a tower before, at least not while flying the plane myself, so I was a bit unsure of what to say, but Jim coached me through it.  I told them we had just departed Plant City and were inbound for touch-and-goes with information Oscar (and we know how important it is to get the ATIS first and let them know we have it).  They instructed me to turn right base for Runway 23, but did not tell me to report again, which was a bit odd, because they were telling everyone else that.  So we continued our approach, which takes no time at all from Plant City as the airports are only 7.7 nm apart, and when I turned right base, I waited for a call from tower, but when I didn’t hear anything, I went ahead and reported my position.  They gave me clearance for my touch-and-go and instructed me to turn right after departure for a right-hand pattern to Runway 27.  I guess they were changing active runways just then.

My touch-and-go was fine as was my second one on Runway 27 and this time they had me turn left to remain in the traffic pattern.  We were ready to move on, so I request and received, clearance for an eastbound departure to Winter Haven.

My first landing at Winter Haven wasn’t too good.  I got a little flat just above the runway.  So once again, we went around so I could redeem myself.  My second landing was also a little rough in the flare, and I porposed a bit, but I held it off and the actual touch down was nice and smooth.

From Winter Haven, we headed north on the longest leg of our trip, up to Zephyrhills.  It was uneventful and we made use of pilotage and landmarks (mostly a huge sulfer mine near the airport) for navigation.  My landing there was also just fine, so we headed back to Tampa North.

My last landing of the day wasn’t my best, but it wasn’t my worst either, so I guess it was OK.  More importantly, at no time in the entire flight, did Jim need to take the controls for any reason.  That felt pretty good!

In fact, Jim was disappointed that my medical clearance hadn’t arrived yet and said that as soon as it does, I’m soloing.  I’m still pretty nervous about that, but am really looking forward to it.

My next lesson is next Monday morning and if I have the medical, I’ll solo, otherwise we’ll do something else I’ve wanted to learn, which is to cross the Tampa Class B airspace over to the St. Pete side of the bay.  I understand that there are specific procedures to follow to transition Class B, but that it is very scenic and pretty cool.  Jim had asked me where I might want to go for my cross-country flights and that was number one on my list.  Number two was a flight up to Leesburg (KLEE) because my mother-in-law lives where and I am sure I’ll be flying there once I get my ticket.

Here is a look at the sectional of our flight this week, from Skyvector.com.  Unfortunately, Winter Haven is on another page, so it appears beyond the right edge of this chart:

Flight time: 1.5
Total time: 17.6
Landings: 98

“Where have you been?”  That was how my instructor Jim greeted me today when I showed up for my lesson.  It was a fair question; it had been three weeks since I had flown with him, although I did fly a little over a week ago with another instructor, Ryan.

As we have done for the last several lessons, today was more landing practice.  I think I mentioned in my last post that at the end of my lesson I started to understand why I was having the problems flaring that I was having and on my last landing on that day, I started to put it together.  With this lesson, I applied that from the start and I’m happy to say that almost all of my landings were pretty decent!

A couple of them were a bit hard, and Jim had to help me on one as I got on the left side of the runway and couldn’t quite pull it back over on my own.  And I did have one go around as we came in high and I could not force the plane down, even when using a forward slip; it would just not descend at all!

Speaking of the forward slip, this was my first time trying it on a few landings and it is pretty fun (when it works)…

I did most of my landings at Tampa North (X39), as usual, but then we headed down to Vandenberg (KVDF) for a few more, including one short field landing, required because I business jet had just taken off in front of us and we wanted to make sure we came in underneath his wake turbulence.  We also did a power-off landing, which wasn’t all that good; I needed a fair amount of help getting it set up properly.

Jim is booked up all next week, but we’re flying again on Monday the 23rd, and he wants us to go airport hopping.  He told me to make sure I’m familiar with Vandenberg, which of course I am, and also Plant City (KPCM), Lakeland (KLAL), and Bartow (KBOW).  Should be fun!

I saw the FAA medical examiner yesterday and because of some existing medical conditions I have, he had to defer the certification to the FAA office (I knew this going in), but he reviewed all of my paperwork and doesn't see any reason why they'd turn me down, so I should have my medical certificate in about three to four weeks.  By then I should also be about ready to solo!

I did hand in my pre-solo written exam to Jim who corrected the few questions I missed.  I really can't wait to solo, although I do want at least one more good lesson under my belt, like today's.  In my mind, when I solo is when I go from "some guy learning to fly" to a genuine "student pilot".

Flight time: 1.5
Total time: 16.1
Landings: 88

I got to fly a bit on Sunday, despite originally thinking I would have to cancel my lesson.  Instead, I was able to get in a quick lesson between my son's swim class and a birthday party I took my daughter to.  It was a busy day!

I flew with a new (to me) instructor, name Ryan.  No, I haven't lost another instructor, in fact Jim was there and we chatted, but he was booked up with other students all day.  Ryan is a commercial pilot during the week and gives lessons on weekends.  I knew that I didn't have a lot of time to fly, so I asked that we just stay in the pattern and let me practice some landings.

I was rusty, not having flown in over a week, and it showed.  We had a crosswind at almost 90 degrees from runway 14, which we were using, and most of my landings were pretty rough.  But I did learn a couple of things, which I think will help me going forward.

The first thing was a little memory trick to help me remember the things I need to do to set up the approach on the downwind.  Specifically, I have a problem remembering the carb heat on the older C-172 I'm flying, but the simple trick of remembering "left-to-right" means I'll get the carb heat, then throttle, then mixture, if necessary, and finally 10 degrees of flaps.  On a touch-and-go, I'll use the opposite and go "right-to-left" to take out the flaps, put in full power, and take off the carb heat, in that order.  It's a very simple thing, but it should help me.

Secondly, and perhaps more useful, I learned how much I am still over controlling on the flare at landing.  I think it comes from very early on in my training where I didn't use enough back pressure to flare properly and the instructors would yell, "More back pressure!  More back pressure!"  Now, as soon as I start the flare, I yank back on the yoke and porpoise the airplane.  On my last landing on Sunday, I got to the point where I was using much less pressure, and much more smoothly, and I avoided porpoising and had a much better landing.  Hopefully, I'll continue to remember that and my landings will improve.

So far they've gone from "unsurvivable" to merely "uncomfortable", so there's been improvement, but still a ways to go.

Flight time: 0.8
Total time: 14.6
Landings: 73

I didn't fly this week as planned.  Budget and work issues are keeping me grounded for at least another week or so.

So, does anyone know much about the Cessna 350/400?  They look a lot like the Cirrus SR22/SR22 Turbo.  Anyone have a good comparison of the two?  Not that I'm in the market; they're all well out of my price range, but I'm curious.

Last Thursday I got more practice landings, which I clearly still need.  Mostly, we went around the pattern, as usual at Tampa North (X39), but then we left and headed south to Vandenberg (KVDF), my old stomping grounds.  We did some touch-and-goes down there, and I forgot how bumpy it can be there with all the canals and ponds surrounding the field and the thermals you get above them.

At one point we had an Air Force C-5 (one of the largest planes in the world) fly directly over us about 500 feet above us.  He must have been heading in to MacDill AFB and it was very cool!

I was a bit sloppy in my pattern at Vandenberg and was on my downwind leg, but well south of runway 23 when Jim pulled the power to idle and told me I'd had an engine failure and would have to glide it in.  I was aware that I was farther than I should have been and was trying my best not give up any altitude.  Trying so hard, that is, that I came in way too high and could not push the plane on to the ground and keep my airspeed down.  We ended up having to go around and later my buddy Alex said, "Why didn't you forward slip?"  Honestly, because I hadn't thought of that at the time!  Darn it, now I want another chance...  On my second power off landing I did better.  The landing wasn't pretty, but I got us down.

We also attempted some short field landings and my first one was way off.  I landed a good hundred yards (or more) farther down the runway than I had wanted to, but those also got better with a couple of repetitions.

I think I'm getting close to soloing.  I've got most of the endorsements in my log book that I'll need and have the pre-solo written test to take before my next lesson on Wednesday.  I've also got to go get my medical, which I've been putting off.  I'm seeing my doctor on Monday and the FAA doc on Thursday.  Wish me luck with this; this is my biggest concern at the moment.

Flight time: 1.4
Total time: 13.8
Landings: 65