Good to hear Bunkie. My flight school had so many 172's, some days I was flying three different planes in the same day. As soon as I would begin to get acclimated with a planes panel, they'd stick me in a different plane. Fortunately, the differences in the panel (avionics) weren't too bad.,
Floatsflyer,
When I did my solo, I was at the end of my available time in Florida. I was between jobs at the time and my new job was starting in a few days. I would have done the traditional 3 circuits except that the weather was closing in. It had been lovely and clear for over a week and during my solo, it was actually starting to rain. The next couple of days were full of nothing but Florida thunderstorms, so I never got a chance to do any more solo time. Since then, I've been trying various means to get back to doing solo work but I just can't seem to get that magic combination of sharpness of skills and time in the airplane to get signoff.
My current job will end within the next two months and I'm going to carve out a block to go back to Florida and fly every day rather than the average of twice per month that I've been managing lately. I'm hoping that will do it.
Originally Posted by Bunkie
Thanks for the info and insight into your long affair with the air. You are spot on--flying twice/2 hours a month ain't gonna cut it to put you where you need to be. If you do as you say, you will save a ton of money and an enormous amount of aggravation and self-doubt. Go get that licence and then enjoy the privileges and specialness it grants you. All the best and good luck.
Well, last week's lesson was much better. We flew from KMPO to KABE to do pattern work at a towered field. I was sharper and my instructors comments were for different things than last time. This time I was climbing out at a higher airspeed than Vy, once he mentioned it, I fixed that. The other issue was that I need to be sharper on the rudder pedals right at touchdown to improve my directional control.
While on downwind, the tower spoke up: "Cessna, could you fly a tight pattern? We have an A320 on eight mile final."
On the next downwind leg, I watched the A320 touch down. It was a very unique perspective and one I very much enjoyed.
Just wanted to let everyone know I'm still at it. I've taken this week off to get some concentrated time in the club 150, but the weather hasn't been all that cooperative. I flew yesterday and will do so tomorrow provided the predicted thunderstorms happen at some other time than my lesson.
On another note, I came close to buying my first airplane. One of the club members has a 150M that was going for a nice price. I lined up the money and had a friend of mine (an A&P with IA) do a pre-buy on it only to discover that it had a bad cylinder. the owner is having that one replaced. Given that the compression on the other cylinders wasn't all that great, I've decided to pass. It was an important lesson is the economics of owning an airplane. My budget really didn't allow for these sort of gotchas at this point. My plan was to use my own airplane to make it easier to complete my training and to build time. The club airplanes are often fully booked on weekends. Instead, I'll take another week off from work later this month to try to get it all done when the airplanes are easier to book. One thing at a time...
Well, another update. I did take that week off but a combination of issues with the club airplanes and weather roulette, I only got to fly once. That was incredibly frustrating.
However, this past holiday weekend, things turned around. I *finally* got to do a proper solo, three times arounds the pattern, full-stop. My rudder control has improved and there was a bit of a crosswind, so I got to demonstrate crabbing and landing on the upwind wheel. My instructor said that I had done a fine job. Next on the agenda is my solo cross-country flying.
Good for you, I would try to get some more solo time soon so you can keep your confidence up.
I'm *slowly* getting there. Weather has improved and with it, access to the airplane. This past weekend, I go some more solo time in and even made a break from the pattern. My instructor said "take off, leave the pattern, fly to Camelback (a ski resort a few miles south of KMPO), circle back and do three landings. That will give me time to hit the restroom". We both had a laugh at that one.
Time for a bit of reflection...
Like so many aspiring pilots, at the beginning I focused on time and cost. That's to be expected, one is spending a lot of money and trying to meet some high standards with real risk. At this point, I have a little under 75 hours in my log book. It has taken longer than I had hoped. But a funny thing happened on the way to the (still-to-be-completed) check ride: I've discovered that the journey itself is the reward. I'm lucky that I have a good relationship with my instructor, we get along really well and I view our relationship as teamwork with goal of making me a safe pilot.
Advice that I would give prospective and beginning student pilots is this: relax and enjoy it. Even with the instructor in the right seat, you are still flying. At times it will be scary, hard, frustrating or even a bit boring. But it's important to remember to have fun. When I was let loose to solo, my instructor told me to have fun. He knew that I was ready that this was both a reward and a chance to demonstrate my skills. I learned that the 150 gets off the runway a whole lot quicker without a second person. And that's the second takeaway: no matter how many hours I accumulate or how many ratings I might earn I will always be learning. That, to me, is the single most important thing about flying: *never* stop learning.
This upcoming weekend, I'm visiting my son in Ohio who just turned 21. I got him a discovery flight and it will be interesting to see if he enjoys it. I'm planning to get some time with an instructor and shoot some landings to stay sharp. If we have time and the inclination, we'll head off to the Dayton Airshow to see the Blue Angels. It should be fun!
Well, my son had his discovery flight. He loved flying the airplane but was not so enamored of getting airsick. I was listening on my handheld radio and when I heard the instructor request a direct approach because "I have an airsick passenger", I knew he wasn't having the best time. The instructor had him perform a stall which brought on the queazy feeling when the nose dropped. Since he needed something to calm his stomach, I skipped the flying lesson.
It didn't really matter because I had a great day today. I flew my last dual cross country from KMPO to N89 and it went well. The outbound leg was all pilotage and dead reckoning and on the return leg, I tracked to the Hugeunot VOR then from it to KMPO, all of the time under the hood. My instructor had me fly the approach to 200 feet and than had me land the airplane visually which went well. My confidence is growing, I'm getting better at maintaining heading, altitude and pitch and my landings are more consistent.
Next week I do my short solo cross country, I'm planning a flight to either Reading (KRDG) or Smoketown (S37).
Congrats, dude!
Feels good, don't it?
Soon, you won't be the one cutting, you'll be the pile it!
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