First Flight/Lesson 1/August 10, 1999-Went
through the pre-flight routine and reluctantly hopped into the left seat.
I did the taxiing to the runway. Trying to learn how to steer
with my feet. Not pretty. Tommy handled the takeoff and gave
it to me after we reached altitude (3000 feet or 1000 feet above ground
level). Did some straight and level flying. A few turns and
learning how to maintain speed. Confidence level is high. This
is easy! (1.1 hours)
Flight 2/August 12, 1999-Actually handled
the takeoff! Not willingly, but Tommy just said to push the throttle
in and keep going. I thought this was just gonna be a taxi lesson.
Sheesh! OK...Wow. I got the plane in the air and we headed south
to the practice area. (Some farmland south of town. Gotta scare
some cows!) Did more straight and level, climbing, descending.
Followed a few farm section lines and tried to turn and hold altitude.
(1.0 hrs)
Flight 3/August 21, 1999-After a week
at the lake reviewing my flying techniques with my instructor, (serious
discussions on the hot beach with very cold adult beverages), we take to
the air again. I found my first downdraft and my headset flew off.
(I knew I was in trouble when all he said was, "gee that was fun.")
Kinda windy with some thunderstorms to the southwest and we ran into a
little rain. We flew over the wildfire scene about a mile west of
our house where the aerial water tankers were dumping the day before.
Practiced doing stalls. Yuck. It takes everything I have to
hold the yoke back hard enough to make the plane stop flying. Interesting
procedure. (1.1 hrs)
Flight 4/August 29, 1999-Time to learn
how to land with touch and go's. Also learn about landing patterns.
I have a hard time judging how high I am over the runway. I also
have a tendency to be flat (not a good thing) when landing. Main
(rear) wheels are supposed to touch down first. This lesson brings
the phrase, "Al....I won't let you bend my nose gear!" Tommy has
to help land at the very last second to keep the afore-mentioned damage
from occurring. (0.9 hrs-Tommy is tired. I can't imagine.)
Flight 5/September 1, 1999-More
touch and go landing attempts. So so on the flare (where you point
the nose up to stall the aircraft prior to touchdown). This flight
introduces the phrase, "Al...there's two fat guys in the front of this
plane. It's gonna be nose heavy!" I am doing ok on the taxi
and radio work. (1.0 hrs)
Flight 6/September 8, 1999-More landing
attempts. Of course the best one is when Tommy reaches over and pulls
the throttle out during final approach and says, "now what?"
I make a couple of ok ones, plus an emergency go around. Still moderately
flare challenged. (1.1 hrs)
Flight 7/September 15, 1999-Time to get
away
from the pattern for awhile. We go north and do some stalls, work
with the flaps (all landings to this point were flapless), and slow flight.
We also do some steep (60 degree bank) turns. They make me dizzy
if we do a left then a right. Back to the runway for touch
and go's. Working on em. (1.2 hrs)
Flight 8/September 23, 1999-A breezy day
with cross-winds. Did much better on landings with four good ones
and a successful go-around. I'm getting better. Good practice
for tomorrow's first cross country trip. (0.8 hrs)
Flight 9/September 24, 1999-Cross country!
We take off on this Friday morning at about 9:00am, bound for Pullman,
WA about 55 nautical miles to the south. I spent the prior evening
planning the flight with all my headings, wind, fuel, time, weight and
balance. It's kinda cool actually having somewhere to go. When
we get closer to Pullman, I can't see the airport...plus, there's no control
tower here. Yikes! I hope we don't run into a scheduled airline
flight. Finally spot it on the other side of the hill. Holy
!@#$ there's planes everywhere! It must be lesson day. We cross
mid field to get into the pattern and I make a good landing. There's
a couple thousand more feet of runway here too. An easy touch and
go and we get the heck out of Pullman. Next destination, Ritzville,
WA. We zip across the skies to the northwest and I try to spot landmarks.
I've lived around here all my life but have a heck of a time picking out
the towns from the air. We get closer to Ritzville and again, I can't
find the airport. No control tower here either. I spot the
runway on the west side of town. Turn to final approach and before
me lies a very narrow runway. It doesn't seem wide enough for the
plane. There's also a displaced threshold due to a house at the end
of the field. I still make a good landing and have to work real hard
to keep the plane off the grass to the sides. Not enough room for
a touch and go here. We taxi around to take off again to return to
Spokane. Back up to an altitude of 4,000 feet. Whoa!
Did you see that! There was a hawk that just missed us! What
is he doing up here. Did he get a clearance? We contact Spokane
approach and they give us a transponder code and tell us to maintain 4000
feet. I had planned the trip around the Spokane International and Fairchild
AFB, Class C, but we were within 20 nm so a good idea to call.
I do better at holding altitude now that someone is watching. The
floor of the Class C airspace is 4200 in this part of the area, so I need
to keep it right. Another so so landing but all in all a good flight.
Feeling confident. (2.5 hours)
Flight 10/October 3, 1999-Sunday morning...the
flight from Hell. Everything is off today. A cold morning so
we review some cold weather starting stuff. Then, the altimeter seems
a little off on the ground but Tommys says it should be OK. Then
during the run up I check the landing lights...nothing. Should have
stopped right there, but Tommy says let's go. On climb out I'm watching
for my turning altitudes when Tommy asks if I'm ever going to turn.
I say, "We've only climbed 150 feet according to the altimeter."
Well, we were already at pattern altitude plus some. The altimeter
is toast. It finally catches up with our altitude halfway into the downwind
leg. I can't seem to do anything right. After a few sloppy
landings we return to the hanger and Tommy makes an appointment with the
airplane fixit guy. We stop at the coffee shop for a cup and I receive
an hour of sympathy, "let me tell you about my crummy flying," stories
from Tommy's other pilot buddies. I am depressed. (0.9 hrs)
Flight 11/October 16, 1999-More touch
and go's. Tommy had spent the morning doing some photo work of the
old Decathalon. Tight formation flying all morning so he relaxes
in the right seat while I do some more sloppy touch and go's in the cross
winds. Still moderately flare challenged. (1.1 hrs)
Flight 12/October 24, 1999-Late in the
afternoon on a Sunday. Sun in my eyes. I can't see a thing.
But I can't miss either. Did five great touch and go's with one go-around.
The last landing was perfect! I must have flared about one inch above
the runway. The answer: Tommy has me put both hands on the
yoke after I have reduced the throttle to idle on final. That was
it. I can land! Tommy had wanted to leave the pattern and do
some air work, (he's getting bored with touch and go's) but I wanted to
stick with landing and get it down. This is the best! Tommy
says he had used up all of his tricks he knew after 20 years as a CFI,
trying to get me to land level, but he says he saw this in last month's
Flying Magazine and decided to give it a shot. Good plan. (1.0
hrs)
Flight 13/November 1, 1999-Another late
afternoon flight. Left the pattern to do some stalls, steep turns,
slow flight, and straight and level. It's been a while since we just
flew around. Did a touch and go, went around the pattern, lined up
for another one. Just before the flare, Tommy commanded a go-around.
I pushed in the throttle, pulled back on the controls, and retracted the
flaps in one motion without looking. (I think he wanted to make sure that
I knew where the throttle was since I had both hands on the yoke.)
I got the trim set on the next action. Whee! Came back around
the pattern for a full stop and Tommy did the "lost your engine trick."
Made the runway with another greaser! Good flying! Tommy says
I'm ready for solo anytime. I think I need just a little more practice.
(1.0 hrs)
November 13, 1999-Time Out...Tommy headed back to MSP for his
757 checkride last weekend and the weather around here has sucked for two
weeks anyway. The weather is finally good today, but Tommy had to work.
So, Shawn (youngest son, 15) and I went out to the airport to watch other
people fly. Saw some interesting landing attempts (I don't feel so
bad) and listened to the tower controller try to keep track of everyone
(how did Dad ever do it!). It was a perfect VFR day and everybody,
(but me) was out flying around.
Flight 14/November 22, 1999-A quick
touch and go session during lunch hour. It was cloudy and a little
breezy with some crosswinds. My landings were a little sloppy since
I hadn't been flying for 3 weeks. I kept trying to level out just
before touchdown and the crosswind blew me sideways off the centerline.
Rats! Did everything right except for that. Had a little trouble
on the pre-flight and missed some little foam gizmos Tommy put on the left
aileron to keep it from hitting his motorhome windshield. Shoot!
It was cute to see Tommy jump out of the plane in the run-up area to retrieve
them. Major screw-up on my part! They would have just popped
off when we accelerated on take-off, but would have scared the crap out
of the next guy on the runway when they would have hit them.. Learned
a big lesson today. (0.9 hrs)
Flight 15/November 28, 1999-It's
a whole new ballgame. With Tommy's surgery and my need to find a
rentable aircraft for solo, it was time to work with another instructor.
I decided to go with Custom Aviation at Felts Field because they offer
a "pay as you go" renter's insurance. The operation has a couple
of Cessna 172's and a couple 150's. These are definitely used aircraft.
They set me up with a CFI named Ms. X. Very businesslike and by the
book. Did a weight and balance to make sure we were within limits.
We spent a half hour on the pre-flight going over the procedure she likes
to use. Very different. Hopped in and did the pre-start checklist.
Different again. Taxied to the Runway 3 Left Runup area and did the
pre-takeoff checklist. Different again. Waited for someone
to land then taxied onto the runway to hold. Then took off.
Went north of town for air work and I did reasonably OK. She has
a few different ideas on stall training and I lost too much altitude on
my steep turns, but that is just lack of practice. She also stressed
emergency landing procedures and had me set up for a landing in a field.
Came down to within a 1,000 feet or so of putting it down. Back for
some touch and goes and everything she does in the pattern is different.
She wants 10 degrees of flaps on the downwind leg, another 10 degrees on
the base leg, then full flaps on final. I had been landing with 10
degrees of flaps unless I needed more to lose altitude. It looks
like I'll have to do some practice to get this together. Plus, my
two-handed landing concept is outta here. Not in her book.
It looks like I'll need to do some studying and some very expensive dual
instruction. It was also a different airplane, with different radios
and a few different buttons and gizmos. It's a couple of years older,
but at least it is still calibrated in miles per hour instead of knots.
Whoopee.....One less thing to re-learn. Hopefully I'll get this figured
out so I can solo soon. She wants me to review emergency landing
checklists before the next lesson in a week. Low confidence in student
at this point. (1.3 hours)
Flight 16/December 4, 1999-Second
flight with Ms. X. We had to wait for the aircraft to return from
another flight. No problem. She did discover that there was
a set of checklist cards in the plane. I did the preflight myself.
We took off and heading north toward Deer Park and set up for touch and
goes at the Deer Park Airport. This was my first touch and goes at
a non-towered airport so I didn't have the radio lingo down. Ms.
X said she'd handle it while I did the pattern work. There was a
little crosswind, so this was a perfect opportunity for me to get some
needed cross wind landing work. Good in theory except for one little
problem. MS. X WILL NOT TAKE HER HANDS AND FEET OFF THE CONTROLS!
As I come into the approach and try to do my corrections, she has her feet
on the rudder pedals and her hand on the yoke correcting for me.
I end up fighting with her movements. I may not be correcting exactly
as she might, but I gotta be able to try. So it was 3 pretty useless
touch and goes, although it was nice to check out another field.
We then did some slow flight, stalls, turns, etc. Last week she asks
me to study up on emergency procedures, I did, and promptly forgot the
emergency landing checklist when she pulled the power. Back to Felts
Field and I ALMOST get to land the plane by myself. Sheesh.
To top it off, when we turn off the runway, the tower controller informs
use that we had the wrong radio on transmit and when Ms. X was doing her
bit at Deer Park she was transmitting on the Felts tower frequencies.
Low confidence in instructor today. (1.4 hours)
December 11, 1999-Scheduled to go up at 8:00 a.m. this morning.
Weather sucks! The cloud ceiling is way to low. Ms. X calls
and cancels due to weather. This will give me time to toss her for
someone who will let me fly the plane. If want someone to fly it
for me (including landing) I'll go with Southwest. Then I can get
beverage service. There's a new guy at Custom named Ted that Tommy
told me about. We'll schedule with him for next time.
December 15, 1999-OK, change of heart. Why start over
with yet another instructor. I decide to stick with Ms. X.
I'm already into her procedures for 2.5 hours and I'd probably have to
spend another couple of hours with someone else. We chatted on the
phone and I whined about not progressing and her mitts on the controls.
She's gonna have to do. I schedule an hour for Saturday.
December 18, 1999-Lesson scheduled for 1:00. The wind
is screaming across the runway at 14 knots, (ok for me, 14 knots is screaming).
At pattern altitude it's 30 knots and at 6,000 feet it's 50 knots.
I wimp out. Let's not pay good money for bad flying.
Maybe tomorrow.
Flight 17/December 19, 1999-The
Custom Aviation X-mas party was last night. I win a coffee cup, mini
flashlight, and V-Speed mini charts. Ms X was chosen as Employee
of the Year. Yikes! I'll have to be nice. Scheduled to
fly at 11 a.m. but the instructor who had the plane the previous hour decided
to "extend" his lesson. I cool my heels until 1 p.m. Weather
OK but a 10 knot crosswind. We finally get the plane about 12:15.
Up in the air trying to learn Ms. X's pattern procedure. Two so-so
touch and goes. Up into the air for the third go try, it starts to
snow. More traffic shows up in the pattern and the tower asks us
to extend our downwind leg. Ceiling comes down, it's getting foggy
with heavy snow. The heck with it. I give up for the day and
advise the tower that this will be a full-stop landing. (0.3
hours)
Flight 18/December 26, 1999-Ms.
X is on vacation. I decide to give Ted a try. I arrive at 10:30am.
Although it was clear at my house, Felts Field is slightly foggy.
The tower beacon is on, indicating IFR conditions. No one is around
and there's a sign on the door that says they're closed. Ted finally
shows up at 10:45 just as I'm thinking about leaving. Weather has
improved. I head out to do the pre-flight. The plane is totally
covered in frost. After brushing off frost and letting the sun work
on it, we're off. I do the engine start, pre taxi checklists, and
get taxi clearance. All is good. Missed carb heat on the runup,
Ted catches it. Good take-off to do touch and goes. All in
all, I make several sloppy landings. Hard ones, high flares, Etc.
I try to standardize my pattern routine. I've now learned how to
do it three different ways, but Ted's routine is much closer to Tommy's.
The big news: TED DOES NOT HOLD ONTO THE CONTROLS WHILE I ATTEMPT
TO LAND! He did do a couple of hard landing saves. I come to
the conclusion that I have not landed unassisted since November 22nd.
I am rusty. The bottom line: I scheduled another session with
Ted for Tuesday. (1.0 hours)
December 28, 1999 & January 2, & 9, 2000-Flying weather
sucks. Scheduled to fly but weather does not cooperate.
January 14, 2000-Scheduled to fly. It's raining, ceilings
are only enough to work in the airport pattern. I give up.
I decide to postpone the flying game until the weather is a little more
consistent. All I'm doing now is flying, then having to re-learn.
Too expensive of a hobby just to play. I need to fly at least twice
a week to stay sharp. I talk to Ted and we decide that late February
or early March is it. I'll play flight sim and continue my reading.
Perhaps Tommy will get back on the line and I can build some time.
I sit now with a total of 20 hours of dual instruction.
Flight 19/February 9, 2000-Back
in the air! Tommy got his FAA clearance to fly yesterday. The
weather is spectacular today. No wind, clear skies. I take
a couple hours off work and hit the airport at 3:00pm. No Tommy yet.
I check the fuel levels and plug in my new headset. I also remember
to remove the little foam pieces that keep the ailerons from hitting the
motorhome window, (that I forgot to take off in November). Tommy
shows up and I let him pull it out of the hanger. (It keeps his wingtips
intact and his blood pressure down.) Normal checklists (including
the horizontal stabilizer), taxi, runup, and takeoff. I have at least
remembered something. Head north towards Mt. Spokane just northeast
of the field about 10 miles. We do slow flight, stalls, turns around
a point, S-turns, and rectangular patterns. Back to the airport for
a few touch and go landings. THIS TURNS UGLY. Not for the squeamish
passenger. It has been 45 days since I landed a plane and it really
shows. I could blame it on the sun in my eyes, but I have previously
made some decent landings when I was totally blind. Nope, this is
a lost talent problem. I'm too high, too fast, too low, too slow,
nose down, not enough power, too much power, not enough flaps, too much
power when going to full flaps, landing short, or off the center line.
You name it, I did it. The bad news: I am again flare-challenged
and cannot judge the altitude above the runway. The good news:
A Cessna 172 can crash on the main gear from an altitude of four feet and
continue down the runway to do it again. Landing number 6 was the
last and best, with just a little bump. That was enough for today.
Let's not burn out Tommy on his first day. Need more practice.
Hopefully Tommy will have the opportunity for a few more sessions before
I hook up with Ted for advance to solo. Yes, I know I have more hours
than most folks before they solo but that's the way it goes. (1.3
hours)
Flight 20/February 19,2000-A perfect day! Clear skies
and visibility unlimited. It's re-learn how to land day. Tommy
and I zip to the airport at 9:30am. We manage to get going before
the crowd, (we hope). Today the lesson is: how do we know how
high off the runway we are so we don't run out of airspeed at 5 feet above
the pavement. I get a couple more tips on where to look and up we
go. To make a long story short: Eight nearly perfect landings
in a row. Whew! I think I have finally unlearned my other two
instructors and remember how to do this. From now on, I'm doing it
my (and Tommy's) way. It seems to result in a successful maneuver.
A new challenge in this lesson: Slips to a landing. This is
a little trick if the flaps fail to lose some altitude on final approach.
It's a little weird! In essence, you fly the plane sideways.
Yes, it can be done. You step on the rudder to turn the nose off
to the right or left then dip the wing in the opposite direction.
It works just like flaps. One must remember to straighten out before
landing. I do it twice. Uh, oh. Everybody else in town
realized that the sun was out. Both runways are busy and there's
three planes sitting in the 21R runup. We're outta here. Confidence
is back. (1.0 hours)
Flight 21/March 3, 2000-A good day to tell the boss that you've
been working too much overtime and need to take the afternoon off to defy
the law of gravity. Crosswinds were listed at 9 knots across the
runway around 10am so it seemed like a good idea to really try some crosswind
landings. Found Tommy by 2pm. Crosswinds down to 6 knots.
We'll try a few at Felts Field and if we need a better challenge we'll
go to Deer Park about 10 miles north. Off we go for a couple touch
and goes. Tommy says he's just going to ride along and not do or
say anything unless I try to kill him. I fly the pattern and line
up to the runway. Dip the wing into the wind and step on the rudder
to stay lined up. Wow! My first decent crosswind landing....on
one wheel. We decide to stay here and do some more. All is
good for the following six attempts. And of course, my trustworthy
instructor, who said he would stay quiet unless I tried to kill him, proceeds
to try and finish both of us off. I couldn't keep his mits off the
controls. He pulled the throttle off on one landing, wouldn't let
me put down any flaps on another, and finally (after I wouldn't let him
pull the throttle out again), had the nerve to just shut down the engine
altogether. Jeez! After meeting all of these challenges, he
finally gets me...he pulls the throttle off on takeoff. Oops!
Fifty feet off the ground and I blow the maneuver. Should have put
the nose down and put the plane back on the runway (or what was left of
it). A good lesson for today. The final challenge: on
base leg for our final landing, just as I turned toward runway 21 Right,
the tower calls us and changes us to runway 21 Left. Hmmmm.
Two-One Left is the short runway, by 1,500 feet. It's also half as
wide. I have never landed on two-one left. Today is the day.
I stop turning final for 21R and extend over to 21L and turn final.
I aim for the numbers because there's not a whole lot of room. A
perfect landing! I could have even made the first taxiway if I had
leaned on the brakes. I just coast up to the end of the runway, turn
off, and we're done. Other than blowing that engine out scenario,
the only other problem was a couple of too-slow approaches that I corrected.
The end of today's story: Tommy signed me off for solo in the pattern.
Wowee! All I need to do now is find someone that will rent me a plane.
(1.0 hrs today for a total of 23.3 hrs. dual)
Flight 22/Friday, March 10, 2000/FIRST SOLO-So off I
go with Ted (CFI #2) this morning from Spokane/Felts Field (SFF) for a
run. The real reason: I need to get signed off by an instructor
at Custom Aviation so I can rent one of there aircraft for solo work.
We did some stalls and a touch and go at Deer Park (DEW). It was
a little hazy/foggy so I determined that more touch and goes up there was
not one of my favorites ideas. We head back to SFF. He pulls
the power for a simulated engine out and I pick a landing spot and head
for it. That's OK. So I turn back to the airport. All
goes well into the pattern for 3L. Just before I turn to base, the
tower changes my runway to 3R. OK...no problem, except 3R is 1,500
feet shorter and 75 feet narrower. This will only be my second landing
on it. Oh, well. No time like the present. I make a good
greaser and taxi to the FBO.
It's 9:15. Ted has another student at 9:30. Shoot.
No solo today, I think. As we come up to the FBO, I tell Ted I'd
like to make one turn around the pattern by myself, if it's OK by him.
He thinks for a moment and says OK. Yikes! Now I've done it!
Ted calls the tower and advises them that he is sending me up solo for
once around the pattern and hops out. They call me back with a change
from runway 3 to runway 21 and that it's OK to taxi. I do a 180 on
the taxiway and head off for the runup of 21 Right. Another plane
is in the runup. I do the pre-takeoff checklist and am ready.
Then a MedStar air ambulance twin is cleared for takeoff ahead of both
of us. He passes and I wait for the other plane in the runup to call
in for takeoff. Hearing nothing, I give it a shot and am cleared
to taxi into position and hold on 21R and wait for the twin. They
zip off and I am cleared for takeoff.
I taxi onto the runway, reset the compass and push in the throttle.
Off I go. I've read a lot about how the plane just leaps off the
runway without the instructor and I guess I notice a little of that.
Otherwise, I'm just doing the same pattern that I've done a few dozen times
and it seems to be no different. I call tower on the downwind, reduce
power, re-trim, slow down, add some flaps, lose some altitude, turn base,
lose some more, turn final, go to idle, and it all seems to be right.
I'm right on the VASI so I've have done my stabilized approach that had
been giving me so much trouble. Over the numbers and getting closer
to the runway. I start my flare and whadda ya know, A perfect greaser
on the centerline! Yahoo!
I turn off the runway as directed by ATC at the next intersection, then
the tower advises me that there's someone in the runup for 3R, right in
front of me (why are they there if 21L/R are the active runways?).
They advise that "they think there's enough room for me to squeeze by him
to taxi." I get bold and say that this is my first solo, I'd really
like to avoid hitting anyone today and that I could wait at the hold line
for them to leave. Tower then advises me to back taxi down 3R to
the next intersection and turn off. I comply and pull into the FBO,
hop out, turn the plane around and am done. It was a short solo,
but who cares! (1.1 Hrs. of which 0.2 hr. was solo-24.4 total).
Flight 23/March 24, 2000-It's been a week and a half.
Tommy wants to be sure that I can still know how to fly, and especially
land. I do the pre-flight check. Hmmmm. The flaps will
not extend. Checked the breakers-all good. Tommy decides that
this is a good time to perfect the "no-flaps" landing technique.
I did four landings with no flaps. The only problem is that I am
a little too fast on the approach and it takes a lot of runway to land.
Good practice on "slips to a landing." (See flight 19). A good lesson.
Confidence level is high. Tommy assures me that I can solo in the
pattern anytime. (0.6 hrs./25 hours total)
Flight 24/April 7, 2000-A short flight with Tommy to see how
my skills are holding up after two weeks. Shawn (15 yr. old son)
rides along with a camera to snap a couple of shots. Hmm. The
plane sure climbs poorly with another body in the back. There are
light and variable winds and we are using runway 3 left. Yikes!
Major balloon job and high flare on landing number one. Blammo!
Is Shawn still back there or did he bail out? The next landings are
so-so with a tail wind, but remember, we are still in the flapless bird.
The fixit guy hasn't gotten to it yet . Tommy still thinks it's a
good practice concept. My normal pattern work is off because
of the change in routine, but it's something I need to learn. Another
touch and go which is OK, then a full stop. We taxi over to the Custom
Aviation fuel ramp and Tommy drops off Shawn and I next to Nancy (the wife)
who has been taking pictures. (0.3 hrs. dual/25.3 total) We
then wander over to Custom Aviation for the next part of the day.........
Flight 25/April 7, 2000 (five minutes later)-Because soloing
in Tommy's plane would send his insurance agent to Tahiti for a month thanks
to higher premiums, I head over to Custom Aviation to check out N59AM,
a 1974 Cessna 172. It's time for a real solo flight of more than
just one trip around the pattern. Nancy and Shawn snap some photos
as I pre-flight the plane. It obviously wasn't serviced when it came
back because it's only got half a tank. Not that I'll need all that
fuel, but sheesh! The guy tops it off for me and I climb in.
After a short hunt for the seat belt, which had fallen out of the door.
I do the engine start checklist, fire her up, call the ground controller
and taxi out. The tower has realized that the wind had changed so
they have turned around to runway 21. OK...I'm sweating. I
do the pre-takeoff checklist, call the tower for clearance, and zip!
I'm off. It's a little bumpy and I do realize that the plane takes
off a lot quicker. I do my usual pattern work and plop this little
puppy down just to the right of the center line. Up with the flaps,
off with the carb heat, push in the throttle and away we go! This
time I get a little confused and end up a couple hundred feet above pattern
altitude. OK, I can save this...I hit the carb heat and pull the
throttle to idle a little early, go to the flaps (wheee, we have some)
and lose some altitude. I get back into the groove and all seems
well. Oh, oh. Watch that cross wind. Yuck! I miss
the cross wind correction and squeek sideways a little on this landing.
Do the routine and back in the air. Two more uneventful (and survivable)
touch and goes. The pattern is getting busy. There's a Maule
out there shooting for 21 left that I haven't found yet. I call for
a full stop landing. Another good one, and I taxi over to the ramp
where the gang is waiting. Big smile. A real solo flight!
(0.6 Pilot In Command on this flight! 0.8 total PIC/25.9 total hours)
Flight 26/April 8, 2000-My first totally unsupervised solo!
Shawn (son) and I head to the airport about 10am. We get there and
I don't see 59AM in it's usual spot on the ramp. I check at the office,
they've got the keys, so off we go to find the plane. It's parked
on the inside row. I do the pre-flight and send Shawn over to the
fueling station with the video cam and the scanner. I fire up the
engine and call for the taxi clearance. I'm cleared to roll but need
to hold short of the "A" taxiway to let a Stinson by. It's a tight
squeeze for me to get the plane out to the taxiway, but a very good lesson
for me. I don't hit anything. I'm cleared to runway 3 left
and roll on down to it. Do the run-up and cleared for takeoff.
All is good. Everything works on the first circuit, the landing is
pretty good. The second circuit is fine with a so-so landing.
I'm a little off the center line and kinda sloppy on the flare. Number
three is OK. Then there is landing number 4. Icky. I
get a little high on the downwind leg. No problem. Carb heat,
throttle back a little more than usual, trim, slow down, flaps, turn base,
more flaps, turn final. Too high, too fast. More flaps, trim,
slow down, need to lose some more altitude. OK, it looks good now,
I'm on the VASI glide slope, all should be fine. Wrong! Still
too fast, bad flare, bouncy, bouncy, bouncy. Oh goodie...three landings
for the price of one. Then I'm all over the runway as I raise the
flaps, push in the heat, and hit the throttle. Back in the air.
Whew! Lots of traffic. Tower advises me that the plane that
just left 3 right will turn north also, plus there is another plane in
the pattern in front of me. I've been following them for a couple
of circuits. I have all the traffic in sight. This is a good
circuit. I call for a full stop. Good landing (best of the
day). I taxi back to the ramp without smacking any of the other planes.
All in all, a very good day! (0.6 Pilot in Command again on this
flight. 1.4 total PIC/26.5 Total Hours)
Flight 27/April 21, 2000-The weather didn't cooperate last weekend
so no flying. C59AM was not available for today so I booked the other
C172. It's a little older (G-model) and has slightly different instrumentation.
The biggest change was a digital tachometer. After I finally found
it in a hanger, rather than on the ramp, I spent about 20 minutes just
looking it over, and checking out what was where, then did the preflight.
I pulled it out of the hanger and started the engine then taxied to runway
3L. Normal takeoff and pattern. I lined up for landing and
put it down on the runway. I did move slightly off the centerline
from the crosswind. I did three more good landings. On my last
circuit there was another aircraft that seemed to be having trouble understanding
where she should be. On the downwind, tower cleared me for the
option on 3L, and I advised of a full stop. They then asked if
I had some traffic doing a right turn, I said I had the traffic and turned
my base leg. As I was on final tower asked me to go around as another
aircraft that was cleared for 3R ended up under me for 3L. I pushed
in the throttle, pushed in carb heat, raised the flaps and started to climb.
I did then see the shadow of the other aircraft. I advised the tower
then turned an early crosswind. and continued the pattern back to final
approach. This landing was crappy. I bounced several times.
Perhaps I was a little rattled. Taxied back to the hanger and put
her away. But who was that other plane? I'll never know.
In retrospect, I need to work on better awareness of the traffic so I could
tell when that other plane could have possibly been coming into my pattern.
Good lesson. (0.7 solo this flight/2.1 Total-Pilot in Command/27.2
Total Hours)
Flight 28/April 26, 2000-A nice day. I kept an eye on
the wind and called for a plane appointment for 4:30pm. Winds were
variable at 5 knots which is good for me. I use N94CA again.
I think I like it because it's windshield is a lot clearer than 59AM.
Unfortunately, it was in the hanger again so there's an extra 5 minutes
to get it out and ready to go for more touch and go landings. Good
pre-flight and I noticed that the plane had not flown since I used it last
Friday. Normal taxi and run-up, then take off on runway 3L.
This plane wants to climb faster so I trimmed the nose down a little bit
on takeoff. No one else is in the pattern doing touch and goes for
3L or 3R today, so I have it pretty much to myself. This is good.
I do 4 real nice landings, no bounces, no dive-bombing, just good stabilized
approaches. Then it's time for landing number 5 to a full stop.
I hear an inbound from the north and he's cleared for 3L, same as me.
Then I hear them cleared for 3R and the tower asks me if I have the traffic
and to extend my downwind. I don't have him yet. Still don't
have him. Oh, oh...now I have him! He's right off my right
wing about 200 feet below me. The tower cleared this guy to fly under
me! Yikes. I add a little power to stop my descent and he clears
me. I call to turn base and get cleared. I'm now about a mile
further away from the field and high so I hit more flaps and reduce power.
I end up fairly high so need more flaps to make the runway. It's
a so-so landing, but survivable. I think I'll only do 4 touch and
goes from now on, the fifth always has a calamity of some sort. But,
I'm learning and once I land and taxi off the runway, I realize how much
fun I had. Except my shirt is always wet. Go figure.
(0.6 solo this flight/2.7 Total Solo/27.8 total hours)
Flight 29/April 29, 2000-I'm working on the swimming pool and
get a call from Tommy: "Lets go out to International. Spokane Airways
is having an open house and they'll check my prop balance for free!"
OK, we're off. We're in a hurry so Tommy flies the leg from Felts
Field to Spokane International (GEG). It's a ten minute flight into
Class C airspace, clearance required, transponder code (squawk) required,
so it's a good exercise for the Captain. We fly directly over downtown
Spokane en route to GEG runway 21 and land. We taxi over to Spokane
Airways and are second in line for the free deal. It's done, he pays
a few $ and they do the actual balance after they discover it's slightly
off. Now it's my turn. I climb into the left seat. It's
harder to get out of here. First I call Clearance Delivery.
They give us our transponder code. We have to wait for other traffic,
both on the radio and on the ground. It takes a while before we can
get a word in edgewise. I finally call Ground Control.
They let us taxi. Then I call the tower and they let us go.
It's a littler bit longer runway then I'm used to. At 9,000 feet
long, I don't think I'll need it all. I take off well before mid-field
and turn left even before I'm to the end of the runway. I turn back
toward Felts Field and we change the radio to departure control.
They advise us of other traffic in the area. "Yes, we see the other
traffic, the 727 that is crossing in front of us." I don't think
we'll catch him. We get passed from Departure to the Felts tower
radio frequency. We were a little late calling them and they were
looking for us. Cleared to land on 21 Left. This is my first
time in the pattern on this side of the field and I miss my cues, descend
to early and end up to low on my base leg. I keep the power on then
end up too high on final. I give up. I do good if I do a nice
stabilized approach, but if it's different, I get screwy. I save
the landing with a forward slip, (remember, the flaps are still busted).
Taxi to parking, and tuck her away. (0.7 dual/28.5 total hours)
Flight 30/April 30, 2000-My first solo flight out of the pattern!
I hop into 59AM and get it fired up at about 12:20pm and taxi to 3R.
For the first time I tell the tower something other than "in the pattern
for touch and goes." I turn to the south and head over our house
and past the hills to farm country. This was the first area that
Tommy took me to practice. It's a little bumpy with thermals here and there.
I work on straight and level flight, some turns and just generally fly
around. I'm also practicing looking for other aircraft. I do
see one about 5 miles to the southeast but he wanders off. I'm still
working at keeping altitude. One problem, this windshield is so glazed,
it's hard to see. I make a note to check out the other 172 until
this windshield is replaced. Fly around for awhile, over the major
towns of Rockford, Latah, and Fairfield. I see Coeur d'Alene Lake
and the Casino in Worley just off to the east. This is good practice
for me. I putz around for about a half hour and decide that it's
time to head back. I turn north, fly over the Mica Gap checkpoint,
call the tower, fly back over the house, (no, I didn't do a turn around
a point over the home front. I've heard to many stories of students
biting the dust on that one), and work my way into the downwind for runway
3R. I come over the threshold to fast and too high. This is
the short runway so no room to try to save this landing. In with
the throttle, up with the flaps, and tell the tower that I'm going around.
The controller, sensing my lack of talent today, asks if I would like 3L.
I reply that it might be a good idea. I climb around, get set on
the downwind and go to 10 degrees of flaps, or so I thought. Airplane
gets mushy, stall horn comes on. Sheesh! I forgot! This
plane does not have the spring on the flap switch and they went to 30 degrees.
Not a good thing! Up with the flaps, more throttle to keep flying.
Re-trim. Back to my pattern. Turn base and final and land!
Whew. So-so landing, but I'm back. That was fun and learned
a lot. Needs lots of practice but I can do it! Park the plane
at about 1:20pm. (1.0 pilot in command/3.7 total solo/29.5 total
hours)
Flight 31/May 6, 2000-I had originally scheduled N94CA for some
more out-of-the-pattern work today, however Custom Aviation called on Tuesday
and advised me it was in the shop and they set me up with 59AM. This
morning dawned with spectacular weather so I thought it would be a good
day to get Mom up in the air for her 82nd birthday flight present.
I called Tommy to see if he was up for it, then called Mom, then called
Custom and canceled 59AM. Besides, last week I decided not to fly
59AM until it gets a new windshield. I grabbed Mom and we arrived
at Felts Field and finalized the pre-flight.
Remember, Mom is one of the reasons I'm into this. She took her
flight instruction in 1941 and 1942. However, although we tried,
mother declined the opportunity to sit in the right seat and take a turn
at piloting the aircraft. She said, "it's been to long." We tried
to explain it was like riding a bike, but to no avail. Since I am
still a lowly student pilot, the instructor still needs to sit upfront
when passengers are aboard, so I took the left seat, he took the right,
mom and Chris were in back.
We took off to the southwest and turned south over the valley and our
house and out of Spokane International airspace. Near Rockford we
turned to the east and flew to the south end of Coeur d'Alene Lake.
We flew over Harrison and Chatcolet Lake the turned back to the west and
followed the lake toward the town of Coeur d'Alene. We passed CDA
turned to the west and skirted around the Coeur d'Alene airport approaches
flying north toward Silverwood. Just short of that airstrip we turned
back, following the BNSF RR tracks back to Spokane flying north of Post
Falls, Liberty Lake, etc.
All through the flight mom was looking out the windows, checking things
out. We did meet some light chop here and there, but she didn't seem
to mind, although Chris did say that there was one bump that did get her
attention.
Because Tommy's plane is currently flapless, I requested runway 21 right
rather than the left runway that ATC assigned us. I made a long approach
to the runway with a nice float and touched down smoothly with my instructor
commenting that I was "showing off" since he has been recently concerned
about my "crash landings" from 5 feet above the pavement. (Hey there's
no flaps, it's bound to get interesting) Anyway, we taxied back to
the hanger, took some photos, and that was it. Mom seemed to be thrilled
with the experience and ready to go again.
All in all, a good flight. Maybe Chris will get the bug.
(1.2 hours dual/30.7 total hours)
Flight 32/May 13, 2000-Another solo flight out of the pattern.
Pretty much a repeat of Flight 30. Same area, same manuevers.
Different plane, however. I did fly 94CA and I like it better.
The only problem with 94CA is that they have been keeping it in the hanger
and that adds a little time to the process. It is also somewhat difficult
to get back into the hanger as there is only about 3 inches to spare on
each side for the wings to clear the doors. But, I can see out the
windshield and that's good. Unfortunately, even a clear windshield
doesn't help some things. Returning toward the airport, I still have
trouble spotting other traffic. The landing on this flight was so-so.
When I chatted with the tower they said the wind was 9 kts at 030.
It other words, a direct headwind right down the runway. But the
winds had been variable all day and I think some of that variable hit just
as I was on final approach. The little plane took a little scoot
across the runway at the last minute. Oops! But I got it down..On
Runway 3 Right at that! (0.9 solo-4.6 total solo/31.6 total hours)
Flight 33/May 20, 2000-Had 94CA scheduled for 10:00 a.m.
Winds were reported at 10 kts from 180 degrees. I got to the airport
a little early and watched the wind sock. When I heard the tower
advise traffic that winds were now 15 kts., I decided that was too
much for me. I didn't have a lot of cross wind landing training and
didn't think I should be out by myself. I went to Custom Aviation
to cancel and told them that it was more wind then my personal minimums
and I was staying on the ground. Another instructor (Dennis) was
there and we got to talking. His student didn't show up so I said
how about coming with me for some cross wind instruction. Good idea
on my part. We did 5 touch and goes. Of course, another instructor
and another landing method. Now I have four ways to land! My
cross wind practice was ok. Not great, but survivable. He said
my approach wor was good and my flying was fine. Dennis asked if
he could handle landing number 6. I said OK. The wind and the
bouncing had made me tired and I was done for the day. Dennis was
high on final, went to 40 degrees of flaps and ended up low. I thought
we were going to take out the runway end lights. He ended up slow,
dropped it onto the runway, bounced twice, and went about 10 feet
off the centerline. Big ego boost for me. I made better landings
than the instructor today! (0.8 dual/32.4 total)
Flight 34/May 26, 2000-More dual instruction! At 9am met
Tommy and another pilot. Tom was doing the other pilot's biennial
Instrument review and I was ok'ed to ride along. The other pilot
went under the hood, (a view limiting device so the pilot can only see
the instrument panel), then Tom put him through a series of maneuvers.
I sat in back and observed and also looked for other traffic. The
review took about an hour. Tom had him remove the hood on short final
approach to the runway. Then it was my turn. We dropped off
the other guy and I took the left seat. We took off to the north
proactice area by Mt. Spokane and under the hood went I. Tom had
me do straight and level flying, turns, climbing turns, slow flight, etc.
In essence, all the basic stuff without being able to look outside.
I did reasonably well, although I had some problems with altitude control.
Tom did not try to mess me up with unusual attitudes and have me try to
recover. I guess that's next time. He said on our
long dual cross-country, a good portion will be done under the hood.
Good landing, even got diverted to 21 Left again with no problem.
(0.7 dual-instrument/33.1 total)
Flight 35/June 2, 2000-Needed some solo time. It's been
three weeks since I was out by myself. I checked out 94CA and after
I had them put a quart of oil in her, I was ready to go. Something
new: I decided to ask for radar service in the south practice area where
I've been flying. When I called ground to taxi. I advised them of
this and they did the rest. I got my transponder code while I was
in the runup area, then cleared to takeoff. I turned to the south
and the tower advised me that my transponder was showing both 1200 (the
VFR code) and 0353 (the code I was assigned. I cycled the unit on
and off and they said it seemed to be fine and to contact Spokane Approach
Control, which I did. When I reached the practice area, approach
called me and advised me that my transponder was not showing an altitude.
After playing with it for awhile the controller and I gave up. I
advised them that I was at 3,400 feet and that was where I was going to
be. I also told him that "when I returned this rental equipment to
its rightful owners I would advise them of the problem." He replied,
"that explains everything." Floated around doing steep turns, 360's,
following some section lines, but most of all, holding 3,400 feet, because
that's where I told them I would be. A very good lesson in altitude
control. Headed back to the field and even spotted some traffic for
a change. In the pattern for 3 Right (yes, my favorite short, narrow
runway). Lined up OK, a little fast, tacky flare, but nice, gentle
touchdown once I got it settled down. Sloppy landing, but survivable.
Good flight. I had fun. (1.0 solo-5.6 total solo/34.1 total
hours)
Flight 36/June 17, 2000-A dual cross-country lesson. Since
my last trip out of the area was in September, it was time for some dual
cross-country work to prep for solo cross country. I spent several
hours figuring out the route, time, headings, fuel, etc. for a trip from
Spokane to Pasco, then Lewiston, Idaho. Tom and I took 457BC out
at 11:00 am with youngest son Shawn in the back. I still had some
altitude challenges and need to pick better landmarks for checkpoints,
but my headings were OK. We worked with the VOR a little. Finally
spotted the Tri-Cities airport (PSC) and called for a touch and go.
Nice long, wide runway. It's hot though, and my landing was not pretty.
About an hour flight. Turn to the east for Lewiston. This leg
we'll track the VOR all the way. My intended altitude was a little
low so we climb another 1,000 feet to 4,500. All the checkpoints
are good. About 10 miles out from Lewiston, we attempt to contact
the tower...the radios are not doing well. Tommy pulls out his handheld
and we make contact. This was going to be another quickee touch and
go, but we pull in to the FBO to play with the radios. About 30 minutes
on the ground and we take off for Spokane. We need a lot of time
to climb out of the canyon so we fly down river for several minutes.
We then turn north, fly over Pullman and return to familiar territory,
landing at Felts Field at 2:30pm. All in all, an OK flight.
I learned a lot. I need to work on my cockpit management having the
right airport diagrams ready and anticipate what comes next. Plus
every landing was challenged with the hot weather. However, Tommy
says I'm ready to be signed off for solo cross-country. Yikes.
(3.4 hours dual/37.5 total)
Flight 37/June 26, 2000-My landings last week were so tacky,
I needed some practice. Went for some touch and go's at Felts Field
in Cessna 94CA. Completed six landings and all were survivable (obviously,
since you are reading this!). Some variable crosswinds up to 10 knots
complicated the efforts, but I made the runway every time, not necessarily
on the centerline, but fairly close. OK, there was one bouncer, but
I have an excuse! Another aircraft was on two mile final and the
tower told me to make it quick! So I did. All in all, six landings.
A good flight with no major screw-ups. (0.7 solo-6.3 total pilot in command/38.2
total hours)
Flight 38/July 16, 2000-A beautiful day! I was originally
scheduled for 94CA, but the transponder has still not been fixed!
I wanted radar service so I switched over to 59AM which now has a new windshield
and I can see out of it. Went to the south practice area and just
flew straight and level with work on maintaining airspeed and altitude.
I did pretty good. Also tried playing with the VOR. So, so
on that. Good radio communications with approach and tower.
I like the flight following concept for the practice area so I know where
to look. Of course, there was no traffic to really see. Solo
cross-country scheduled for Wednesday! (1.0 hours on this flight/7.3
total solo/39.2 total hours)
Flight 39/July 19, 2000-
A repeat, (but backwards) of my dual cross-country. I spent several
hours figuring out the trip from Spokane to Lewiston to Pasco and back
to Spokane. Not much sleep so I went to the airport early and hung
out. Off the ground at 8:23 a.m. to Lewiston. Picked up ATC
flight following. Nice and smooth. Crossed over the Pullman
airport at mid-field at 5,500 feet then found the Snake River and Lewiston
about 15 minutes later. Tower gave me runway 8 which had a little
tail wind. It's bumpy in this valley! Good landing. Quick
break and back in the air to Pasco/Tri-Cities. Next challenge:
A Horizon airlines turbo took off right after me and was overtaking me
as I was climbing, I was fiddling with the VOR to get my Pasco (PSC) heading
in, and I was connecting with Seattle Center for flight following.
The result: where the heck am I? There are not a lot of major landmarks
in southeast Washington State. OK, the Blue Mountains were on the
left and the Snake River canyon was somewhere to the right so I was going
in the general direction. Whew! I finally found beautiful downtown
Dayton, WA., Waitsburg, and Walla Walla! I also found Ice Harbor
Dam (yes, one of the ones that the environmental wackos want to tear down).
Smooth air except for around Lewiston. Pasco Tower helped me find
runway 21 Left. Sheesh, it's the same color as the sand and sagebrush.
I could see 21 Right. It's wider and longer. OK, there it is!
Good landing and taxied over to the terminal. Went through the fence
gate to find the facilties and then back at it. Took off behind a
United Express turboprop. Gave a couple minutes for his wash to clear
then up from an intersection takeoff on 21 Right. The Tri-Cities
is in the desert and it's hot. Around 80 to 90. Therefore it
was very bumpy until I was able to get some altitude. It's easy to
find Spokane from the Tri-Cities (PSC). You just fly IFR (I Follow
Roads) US 395 and Interstate 90 are in sight the whole way, as you
follow the VOR airway. Arrive in Spokane airspace, connect with Spokane
Approach and putter through the Spokane International Airport airspace
just to the north of me. Over the city and my home port is in sight.
OK, there had to be one bad landing. It was a 2+2+2 landing!
Too high, too fast, two bounces. All in all, a great flight!
Confidence level is high! (3.6 hours this flight/10.9 total solo/42.8
total hours)
Flight 40/July 28, 2000--Ya
gotta have 5 hours of solo cross country to complete your training.
So, off I go into the wild blue yonder again. My destination:
Grand Coulee Dam. No, not the dam. It may be long enough, but
there's just not enough room on the top for a Cessna. Yep,
Grand Coulee Dam Airport in wonderful Electric City, WA. It's a 4,200
foot paved runway about 3 miles south of the dam along the banks of Banks
Lake (catchy, don't you think?). I took off at about 8:35am from
Felts Field runway 21 left. They were painting on 21 right this morning.
Asked for flight following and connected with Spokane Departure on my way
over the Spokane north side residential area and over my office where all
of my co-workers were hopefully working while I played. (Hee-Hee).
In essence, for the entire filight, I flew to the south of the Spokane
River until it met the Columbia then to the south of that until I reached
the Dam airport. It was kinda tough to spot because it lies inside
a canyon (called the Grand Coulee) with 900 foot cliffs on each side.
When I spotted the field, I alerted Seattle Center to terminate my flight
following. OK...a minor problem. And did I feel stupid!
Grand Coulee Dam is an uncontrolled field, so I called my intentions as
I crossed the field, turned downwind, and final approach. The folks
at Seattle Center were not impressed. I forgot to flip the transmit
switch to the second radio. Oops. I apologized and then
proceeded to make a very poor landing. A quick stop. I watched
a twin take off and and ultralight do some pattern work. Then I took
off and turned to the east and home. I decided against flight following
and relied on my eyes. (Alright, I didn't want the people at Seattle
Center to say, "oh it's you again!") Everything was just the reverse
of the trip over. Just a little bumpier from the heat coming up.
I did a little sightseeing, looking for boats on the Columbia River beaches.
Contacted Spokane Approach about 20 miles out. Headed straight in
for a downwind on Felts Field runway 21 Right. Number 2 to land on
the newly painted pavement. Another so-so landing, but survivable,
of course. My solo requirements are now met! Yippee!!
(2.0 hours this flight/12.9 total solo/44.8 total hours)
Flight 41/July 31, 2000--It
seemed pretty silly to me, taking an airplane into the sky when it's dark,
but ya gotta do it. I planned a cross-country trip to Pullman, WA,
about 56 nuatical miles to the south, therefore fulfilling the requirement
of a 100 nm trip. Tommy and I get to Spokane International (where
the plane is hanging out temporarily) at about 8:30 and do the pre-flight,
get our clearance with a transponder code, contact ground to taxi and head
for runway 21. No airliners are in the way so in with the throttle
and up well before mid-point on the 9,000+ foot strip. We turn back
over town to Felts Field to fuel up with cheaper gas (50 cents less).
I make a nice smooth landing for my first night attempt and taxi over to
the pump. Off I go now into the wild dark yonder and turn to the
south toward Pullman at 4,500 feet. Set the VOR and try to spot the
lights of a few small towns on the way. I do goot at altitude and
heading control. We pass Steptoe Butte (3,612 feet) and Colfax and
I can see the lights of Pullman. But can I see the green and white
airport beacon? Not! We get a little closer and Tommy points
it out. I'm glad I'm not doing this solo! I enter the pattern,
but I sure can't make out the runway. Tom points out the runway end
lights. Sheesh! I turn final and now I can see what i'm supposed
to do. I make a normal approach, level off, flare.......SMACK!
I'm a trifle high on this one. OK. That's two night landings
(sort of). I take off again and turn to the north and begin the search
again for the VOR track. I just can't get the hang of it, plus the
wind keeps blowing me to the west and my correction is lacking. I
finally figure out where I am as we pass Rosalia and I see Cheney, sort
of. As we get closer to Spokane, it's search for the airport again.
One would think this would be an easy target to find. There's two
long runways, a big terminal, and hugh parking garage. Can I find
the green and white beacon? Not! Finally, there it is.
I set up in the pattern and learn another airline pilot trick: Follow
the other guy to the runway. I get my clearance as number 2 to land
and follow the number one guy to the airport. A reasonable landing.
After all, the runway is 9,000+ feet long and 300 feet wide. I should
be able to make it. Alright, that's three night landings. I slow
up the plane and get ready to taxi to parking. Can I find the taxiway
off the runway? Not! Oh...there it is. No....don't turn
before the sign. Look for the little, teeny, weeny, dim, next to
the ground, unobtrusive blue lights. OK, I got it. I park it,
lock it, and that's it. Whew! (1.8 hours of night flight/46.6
total)
Flight 42/August 1, 2000--
If you can't do it right the first time-try, try again. We hit Spokane
International for night number two of the dark flight experience.
Still have some landings to make and some night time to build. Some
added duties again such as calling clearance delivery for a squawk before
ground to taxi. Have to make way for a couple of Southwest 737's,
then off to Felts Field across town. Felts tower is closed so it's
"call your own action" tonight. It's also a chance to play with the
runway lights. It's easy to find my way there since I've lived here
forever. Finding the field is also easy since it's where I've taken
all my instruction. But there's that unfamiliar, very dark runway.
What follows it not for the squeamish. I'm too high, too low, too
fast, too slow. I try high intensity runway lights, medium, low.
Landing lights on. Landing lights off. It's not pretty.
Yep, you guessed it. Flare too high and smack-o. For the first
time in months, my ever so patient instructor has to save some real crap
landings. I cannot judge the height above the pavement. After
7 full-stop (or full smack) landings, I've had enough. Besides, the
baseball game underway below the pattern has called a rain delay.
All of the sweat rolling off my brow was getting the players wet.
We pull out of the pattern and head north for some hood time. I do
just fine. Time to head home. Call approach, tower and set
up for an 8 mile straight in final to Spokane International. Nice
set-up, good glide, and the night's only greaser. The secret?
Gotta be those center line lights. I even find the taxiway.
Whew! I'm gald that's over. The moral of the story? If God
had wanted me to fly at night, I should have been born a bat with built
in radar. I think I will get tons more dual before I venture out
in the wee hours again. (1.2 dual night/3.0 night total/11 total
night full-stop landings/47.8 total hours)
Flight 43/August 5, 2000-Because my night landing work was so
poor, I needed some practice and confidence-building. I took 94CA
up for touch and go's at Felts Field and proceeded to do five of some of
the most sloppy cross-wind landings possible. I'm certainly glad
that the runway is 150 feet wide. I needed it. The last one
was reasonable but would never pass an examiner's scrutiny. More
practice needed on this concept! (0.6 solo/13.5 total solo/48.4
total hours)
Flight 44/August 19, 2000-It's now been one year since my flight
training began. Hopefully I have learned alot. So it's time
to review some of the things I learned earlier. Tom and I start out
at Spokane International (GEG) and head for the southwest practice area.
I attempt my first short field takeoff. It's new, and I don't catch
on to this yet. First on the list, turns around a point. A
360 degree, steep turn, keeping the reference point off the end of the
wing. First one good. The rest were not good with major altitude
control problems. Up 100 feet, down 200 feet. Dang! Ya
gotta be able to hold it. Then, "S" turns across a road. These
were moderately OK although the guy on the wheat combine below was probably
wondering what the heck we were doing. Now, time for stalls.
We remember these. It's where we intentionally try to make the aircraft
stop flying! A very illogical concept, but it can happen and
one must learn how to make it un-happen prior to coming into contact with
any solid objects. We worked with power-on and off stalls with no
flaps. These were fine. Now power off, turning stalls, no flaps.
Fair attempts, but not the best recovery. Now, let's do some with
flaps. I reach over for the flap switch and.....no flaps come down.
The limit switch stuck again! Enough for today, turn for home.
All is fine. I do hear another aircraft about 5 miles out inbound
for landing. Tower gives me runway 21 left and I ask for 21 right
since this is a no-flaps landing. That's OK. All is well.
I start slowing down and losing altitude. Oops! Big mistake.
The other guy is screaming in to 21 left, I'm on base for 21 right.
This is not good. Tower sees problem, we turn right, the other guy
screams in front of me (OK not THAT close, but he must have a good dentist)
and I turn into my final leg for landing. I make a reasonable soft-field
landing with only a moderate scoot across the runway from the crosswind.
Taxi back and park it in the hanger. Busy, but good lesson with just
a little frustration on my part. (1.4 hours dual/49.8 total)
Flight 45/August 28, 2000-Now here's something you'll really
like! Short and soft field takeoff and landing lessons. Yes,
some runways aren't as long or solid as we might like so one must learn
some new tactics. Soft field taxi and takeoffs-keep the little plane's
nose very light. Ditto on the landing-don't let the nose down.
On the first soft landing try, I would have had a face full of mud.
Not good. The next two were passable. On my soft field takeoffs,
I got the nose up, off the ground, hold in ground effect until it accelerates,
and presto! Uh oh. The short field landing. Eeek!
Pretend there's a 50 foot tree on the runway numbers, clear it, then put
the plane on the ground and stop before the first intersection. Try
number one: Student tries to land plane in top limbs of 50 foot tree.
Instructor saves aircraft from certain destruction at the hands of the
student. Attempt number two: Student clears imaginary tree
and does a little better, only smacking the runway with the force of a
small earthquake. Final attempt: Student clears tree and sets
little airplane down gently on dotted line in middle of runway and makes
turn at first intersection without screeching the tires. The instructor
is pleased and the little airplane lives to fly another day. (1.0
hrs dual/50.8 total)
Flight 46/August 29, 2000-More short and soft field takeoff
and landing work with Tommy. Some good, some are so so. But
it's good practice. Oh oh. Tom pulls the power on landing number
5. It's been awhile. Oops! Go too far on down wind.
Turn base. Will we make it to the runway. Glide little plane,
glide! Please, glide! Nope! Would have come down about
200 feet short of the threshold in the grass. Of course, we would
have survived but plowed into the end of the concrete and turned the little
plane into Pepsi can material. Shoot! Luckily, the engine amazingly
came back on just before that very moment and I was able to save us from
disaster. I make a perfect landing and power us back up into the
sky. Good lesson for me and need to work on that concept really hard.
OK, back to the landing stuff. I had been having trouble with the
short field landings. Line up for another one. This time, no
imaginary tree. The goal is to put the little plane down right on
the end of the runway. (You remember the spot, it's just right after
that concrete lip we would have crashed into on the previous attempt.)
Go to 30 degrees of flaps. 70 mph. Good so far. And....touchdown.
Right on the threshold stripes! Yeah! Turn into the first taxiway
with hardly any brakes. It's getting better, (except for that crumpled
up airplane possibility, but we'll get that too). Great lesson.
(0.6 hours dual/51.4 total)
Flight 47/August 30, 2000-Skipped out of work for lunch a little
early and snuck over to the airport for a few touch and go's. Checked
out 59AM. Started the preflight and there's minimal fuel in the tanks,
no fuel testing cup, and no one in the shop. Swipe a sump cup from
94CA parked in the next spot. Finish the pre-flight, get some gas
and up I go. I'm a lttle late because of the extra time spent wandering
around looking for stuff and people. Up for the first circuit, on
the downwind, slow down the plane, go to 10 degrees of flaps. All
is good. Wait a sec. I'm slowing down and going down to much.
What the heck? Doh! The @#$%& flap switch with no return
spring does it again! I just set my finger on the top of it to bring
the flaps down, then release, like the other planes I fly. No return
spring so 40 degrees of flaps. Not good. More power, flaps
up, and back to normal. Well, not so normal, I'm a little low and
it's a sloppy landing. Back up and around again. All OK.
Some bumps and gusty winds. Shoot, another sloppy one. Third
time's a charm. Call for a full stop, (gotta go back to work).
Good speed, touch down on the threshold stripes and make the first taxiway.
Gotta get consistent! (0.5 hours solo/14 hours total solo/51.9 total hours)
Flight 48/September 11, 2000-Left work a little early for some
touch and go's. Checked out 59AM. The wind was a little gusty
and my landings were a little rusty. Did 5 sloppy smack and go's.
I did remember the non-spring loaded flap switch every time, however.
At least something went right. I did four so-so landings. My
fifth landing was a drop onto the runway from sub-orbital altitude.
I'm sure glad these little Cessna's are strong, but I wish I wasn't always
testing the integrity of the undercarriage. I lived to try another
day. I must practice more! (0.5 solo/14.5 hours total solo/52.4
total hours)
Flight 49/September 13, 2000-I gotta practice more, so another
round of touch and go landings in 59AM. No wind and the sun was behind
some clouds. Still some slop and ballooning. On #5 a Metroliner
was sitting on the end of runway 21R while the tower was trying to get
his instrument instructions to Portland. I ended up following another
Cessna 172 on the world's longest downwind leg. Did a long final
approach to the runway with a relatively smooth landing. Number 6
was different story. Too high, too fast, then too high, too slow,
leveled off too high, flared too high, ran out of airspeed, and.........smacko!!!
Having a major altitude judgement problem. Back to the instructor
for me, pronto, before those smacko landings turn into crash-o landings!
(0.7 solo/15.2 total solo/53.1 total hours)
Flight 50/September 18, 2000-Remedial Landings 101 class.
Tom and I zip up for touch and go's to solve my landing problems.
It's a crosswind day with gusts up to 18 knots about 30 degrees off the
runway. And heeeeeere we go. Of course, the first two landings
were reasonable and Tom says, 'what's yer problem?" Then number 3...a
classic Al Smacko. Ah ha! So that's the problem. Not
enough flare follow thru. I was not continuing to increase the angle
of attack so the plane would nose up farther and settle in. Ahhhh.
The next five landings were fine. I worked on cross wind landing.
Tom pulled the power twice and I made two real short steep ones.
Also the tower called for me to go around once on final to help out the
spacing for the three aircraft in the pattern. Whew! Good lesson.
Now on with the other stuff! (0.9 hours dual/54 total hours)
Flight 51/October 1, 2000-Last weekend my practice was interrupted
by Mom's trip to the hospital, so it's been 12 days since my last anti-gravity
exercise. The sun is out but it's a little breezy. Oh...why
not! I'm doing household chores. Tom is doing household chores.
We're outta here for the wild blue yonder. We lift off of runway
21 Right and I barely turn out of the pattern and it's on with the hood
for instrument practice. Up to altitude, turn to various headings
that Tom calls out. Maintain altitude. Then he takes the controls
and screws the plane around. He then gives it back to me to return
to straight and level flight. I did OK several times. Then
he has me find and track the Spokane VOR. Got it. All without
looking outside. Off with the hood and on to turns around a points,
S-turns across the road, power off stalls, power on stalls, approach stalls,
and a simulated emergency engine failure. I set up for a nice wheat
field, best glide speed, flaps. I'm there. "Oh, by the way
Al, look 10 degrees to your right." Tom says. Crap! A perfectly
good private runway! I knew it was around here somewhere and I even
thought about it but never looked for it! We did some steep turns
and that was enough. Back to the barn. We did darn near everything
on the test except specialty landings. Oh..the landing. It
was OK. Winds popped up to around 20 knots about 15 degrees off the
runway. I balooned a little but touched down without damage to the
plane or the instructor. Tom (a former FAA designated examiner) says
that all of my work would have passed in a test situation. (1.3 hours
dual/55.3 total)
Flight 52/October 6, 2000-Another test prep flight. Went through
the manouevers. Had a little trouble on one of the climbing stalls.
OK....I almost turned the plane over. Just a little thing.
Sheesh! Today's favorite intructor comment: "Watch yer rudder, watch
yer rudder!" Did some hood time to finish that off. Came back
to the field and did a short field landing, short field takeoff, soft field
landing, and a no flaps landing. I'm done with everything!
Tucked the plane in and my instructor said, "ya wanna go meet Jim (the
Designated Examiner)? We stopped in to say hi and I said I would
call him for a checkride time. "Nope," he said. "Let's schedule
it right now." I'm on for Sunday, October 15th. Better start
cramming. (1.5 hours dual/56.8 total)
Flight 53/October 8, 2000-More practice! I checked out
94CA for some touch and go's. Did a soft field take off to start.
Three out of six normal landings were acceptable, one was ok, and two were
crappy. All in all, it was an OK flight. I still need to work
one more time with Tom on the short and soft landings before next Sunday.
Yep, 8 days until checkride. Need to study my oral stuff some more
and plan my cross-country. (0.8 hours solo/16 hours total solo/57.6
total hours)
Flight 54/October 9, 2000-More specialty takeoff and landing
practice. I asked Tom for one more shot at some dual instruction
on these. I had called him earlier in the day to get the procedures
down in my head and on paper. Then to the field. Arggh!
We did several short field landings that were so so and several soft field
landings that were so so. He says my number one problem: I'm
reading way too much into these. Just relax, do a normal approach
and then adjust accordingly for the type of landing I need. It's
sounds so darn simple. Oh well, even after today's performance he
says I'll pass. The weather is going downhill for the next few days
so we'll see if I get any more practice in. Time to hit the books
some more for the oral and get the cross country done. Whew!
(0.9 hours dual/58.5 total hours)
Flight 55/October 15, 2000-
I spent all day yesterday working my cross country numbers for today's
event. I got up at 5:30 am and called Flight Service for the weather
and the winds aloft had changed. Re-worked my numbers and made it
out the door a little after 7:15 a.m. spokane weather: Foggy,
with the ceiling just above my kneecaps. I hit the door at Felts
Field Aviation right on time to meet the Designated Examiner, Jim Bening.
We chat for a few minutes then he starts with the questions. Aircraft
logbooks, (take my advice, get 'em early, and study them closely).
Then on to the general knowledge. Now, I got a 97 on the written
test and over the last year, I have studied this stuff to the max.
I have read every book on this subject in the Spokane library. When
I got through all their books, I cleaned out the Aviator Store at Boeing
Field every time I was in Seattle on Business. I have an aviation
library to die for. I know this stuff cold. Do any of these
books present the information the same way Jim asks the questions?
NOT! He is everywhere. A seemingly innocent story from him
turns into a grueling question. After 45 minutes, I'm worn out and
depressed. The receptionist leans in and tells Jim that there's a
call on the Unicom for him. He looks puzzled but heads out.
I lean back in the chair for a brief respite. He comes back in.
"That was your instructor, Tom, checking in to ask how you were doing."
I must be one of the first PP candidates to have their instructor check
in from a Northwest Airlines 757, SEA to MSP flight. OK, a lighter
moment, now back to the torture. We do my X/C numbers. I'm
off a few degrees here and there, and Jim shows me a nifty trick or two
to do this better. Now airspace: I know this stuff. Not
so fast little student. He pulls out the chart and gives me a quick
flight scenario with the question: "Is it legal?" Low ceiling and
visibility flight, from Class G, Class E (or is it?) into a non-controlled
Class E airport. What can you do? Who can you call for Special
VFR clearance? Another 20 minutes of him drawing out my knowledge
and imparting some of his. on this topic. I'm a wreck. Time
for a break. Back at it. Chart symbols. Alright, something
I finally know. No problem, can't fool me. To make a long story
short, this was three hours of sheer mental gymnastics and he's got me
wrapped around the parallel bars with no net. Again, he's a nice
guy, but this is brutal. A few more questions and it seems that this
little portion is coming to a close. I figure that I am toast.
Jim asks how I think I have done. I'm honest. I'm not impressed
by me. He goes over my performance and gives me a C+. Yep,
I pass the oral. It was a three-hour ordeal! Whew! However,
we peek outside and the fog is still there. The ceiling is a little
higher but still way below pattern altitude. It's 11:00 a.m. and
the bottom line: If there's no improvement by 1:00 p.m., it'll be
another day. Take a break, get some lunch and check in a little later.
First I go to the quickee stop for a Diet Pepsi, then I wander over to
the hanger and optimistically put my stuff in the plane and putter around
for a few minutes. I step back outside and the flying gods have smiled!
The fog is gone, ceiling at 2,000. Back I go, grab Jim, and we're
on for the flying stuff! I do the pre-flight ,and all is well.
I taxi, and all is well. A short field take off, and all is well.
I head for my first heading on my cross country, and all goes to hell.
"Al, pull out your chart and let's see your first checkpoint. Where's
my chart? Carefully tucked in the bag that I had for all the oral
stuff. When I fly, I just carry my little bag with my headset and
those flying things. My chart is always in my flight bag.....until
today. I have all my x/c calculations on my sheet on my kneeboard,
but the chart witrh the little lines on it is in the car. Whatcha
gonna do? Am I finished? Not yet. There's always a chart
in the plane, it just doesn't have my little lines on it. It's good
enought for Jim. I know where I'm going, my courses are on my sheet.
I'm back on. But that's just the start. If I thought he was
tough on the oral, I wasn't ready for this! We hit my first checkpoint
and oh no! Bad weather, divert to the nearest paved airport to the
east. I pick it, and turn to it. (It helps to study the charts
and to have lived here forever.) To St. Maries, Idaho, we go.
I make the heading and it's on with the hood. We do some turns, descents,
and climbs. I have a little trouble with my altitude but correct
it. Then turn to the Spokane VOR. No problem. Unusual
attitudes. No problem. Off with the hood. Slow flight.
So so. Steep turns. OK. Now stalls. A power on
stall first. OK. Power off stall, with flaps. Flaps?
What flaps. The flaps are toast. They are stuck in the up position.
We play for a while, (and I still fly the plane). Oh, well.
Do some S turns across a road. I do them, but sloppy. Now, turns
around a point. Trouble. I can't get set up. Too high,
too low. It takes a couple of tries to get it right . I do
a couple. Emergency landing, we need an emergency descent, no flaps.
I try a slip. Not good, don't get it right. Sloppy. I make
the field, (it's a harvested wheat field). We, of course, do not
land but drop to a couple hundred feet. Climb out and it's time to
head home. I'm not impressed with my performance. I've blown
altitude several times and I think he has to give me too much advice on
some of my manuevers. Now the flap thing. Jim says that we
may have to reschedule because we still have some landings to do that require
flaps. I putter back to Felts Field and make a nice no flaps landing.
We tuck 457BC back into the hanger and Jim says, "let's go rent a plane
and knock off those remaining landings." Hmmm. Does that mean
that all the crap I've been doing is acceptable? Hmmmm. We
check out a C-172 from Felts Field Aviation. I do the pre-flight.
Oh, oh. Trouble. In the last 14 months, every plane I have
flown has an airspeed indicator with miles per hour. This puppy is
in knots. I'm screwed. OK, I'll give it a shot. Different
plane. Different airspeed indicator. Different instrument locations.
What the heck. What else could go wrong? I taxi to runway 21R.
A soft field takeoff. It's good. My pattern sucks though.
I forgot about the knots thing. I get set up on down wind.
It's a soft field landing. A good touchdown, keep the nose up.
I make it and take off again. I set up for a short field landing
over a 50 foot obstacle. Watch the airspeed. Watch it....watch
it..watch it....over the threshold at 50 feet, power off. Settle
down. A little fast with some float. Touch down. A little
slow on the brakes, but I make the first turnoff. "Good landings,
Al, " he says. Whew! Taxi to parking. I chat with
Jim. How do I think I did. I relate all my faults over the
day. I'm depressed. I could have done this better, that better.
Yada yada yada. I figure, a few more sessions with Tom and I can
give it another try. Jim reminds me that he would have never gotten
the second plane if I hadn't done OK. Hmmmm. He's right.
And the landings were good in plane number 2. Hmmmmm. He's
right! "Tie it down," he says. "I've got some paperwork to
do." Hmmmm. He's right. I passed. (1.5 hours/60
hours total) Private Pilot Certificate Issued.
I guess that should be the end of this learn
to fly story, but as they say...it's only a license to learn.
So....there's more in my Private
Pilot Logbook.
15th Pilot In Command Logbook (2015 Flights)
14th Pilot In
Command Logbook (2014 Flights)
13th Pilot In
Command Logbook (2013 Flights)
12th Pilot In
Command Logbook (2012 Flights)
11th Pilot In Command Logbook (2011 Flights)
Tenth Pilot In
Command Logbook (2010 Flights)
Ninth Pilot In Command Logbook (2009 Flights)
Eighth Pilot In
Command Logbook (2008 Flights)
Seventh Pilot In
Command Logbook (2007 Flights)
Sixth Pilot In
Command Logbook (2006 Flights)
Fifth Pilot In
Command Logbook (2005 Flights)
Fourth Pilot In
Command Logbook (2004 Flights)
Third Pilot In Command Logbook (2003
Flights)
Second Pilot In Command Logbook (2002
Flights)
First Pilot In Command Logbook
(October 2000 to February 2002)
Student Pilot Logbook
(June 1999 to October 15, 2000)
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