Whose wife loves him?

 
 

Model plane

 
Spent a little bit of the snow day shopping at the airplane store, and building this little model.

Lesson 12 12/18/08

Lesson 12

1.1hrs - Navigation, pattern work, crosswinds, clouds, snow, and my head not quite in it.

Why the pictures from the yard, and not from the air? I've not had a camera along for the past few lessons, and much of what we flew over during lesson 12 was snow covered.

The weather around here had been poor in the morning with a mix of snow, rain, freezing rain, or sleet, but fortunately by lesson time, had improved.

We departed Twin Oaks and climbed to clear a small band of low clouds hugging a ridge. From there is was a clear shot below the high overcast to McMinnville.

My calls on the radio and navigation work seemed to have slipped, and was already beginning to feel a little behind.

We arrived at McMinnville with wind at 10kts from 200, and entered the pattern for 22. Snow and limited visibility was forecast to move into the area in the next hour, so or time at here would not be long.

My first landing at McMinnville was okay, but I just didn’t feel on top of it. I flared a bit high, struggled a little with the small crosswind component, and touched down at bit hard. The subsequent takeoff was good, and in the cold air I was able to climb out at about 1400fpm (nice).

About mid field on downwind, my instructor pulled the throttle “you just lost your engine, what are you going to do?”. I needed a hint or two during the descent, and flared a little flat, but pulled off a decent landing.

The last trip around at MMV went okay, but I began to flare high, could feel us begin to drop in, added some power, and brought it down with no more than a squeak. I was happy with my ability to correct for a poor short final and flare, but not so happy with my performance that led to the need for it.

Now it was time to head for Twin Oaks. Many areas are still covered in snow (unusual for this part of Oregon), so the view was really something, and we passed through a few light snow showers along the way. Pretty cool.

About 10 miles south of Twin Oaks, it was IMC (instrument conditions) ahead . We turned around, and headed a little farther east, and then north. It was clear at Hillsboro, so we planned to head there and wait, or leave the airplane overnight and get a ride back to Twin Oaks. Soon we found a clear opening to the west between to storm fronts, could see Twin Oaks in the clear on the back side, and headed for home.

Back at Twin Oaks the wind favored 20 (over the trees to the down sloping runway), so I entered the pattern for 20.

I had it pretty well set up on final, but started to lock up on the rudder on short final. A wiggle on the rudder from my CFI and a reminder to be aggressive loosend me up again, ending landing number 4 of the day nicely.

Everything seemed to have slipped since my last lesson, but it did turn out to be a really good lesson in how physical condition can affect my performance (I’ve had a sore lower back this week and have not slept as well as normal), and how non-flying related issues in the day or week can affect my mental preparedness.

My CFI sent me off after some encouraging discussion of plateaus, and pre-solo struggles of his own.

I may be able to get one more lesson in on the 23rd, but if not I’ll be on the ground until early next month. Oh well, many things to stay busy with anyway!

Lesson 11 12/11/08

Lesson 11 1.3hrs - Basic navigation, pattern, and landing practice.

My assignment after last lesson was to study the sectional, airport directory, and any other sources I wanted to use, to plan a trip from 7S3 (Twin Oaks) to 4S9 (Mulino), including heading, frequency, pattern direction, calm wind runway, etc.

It's only a distance of approx 20 nautical miles, but a first step for me.We departed 7S3 and followed the heading I'd determined, with a little correction added for the slight crosswind. At about 5 miles out, I realized that I had over corrected a little for the wind, and was a little farther north than I'd planned, but it did make the descent to pattern altitude, and entry into the pattern for runway 22 easy.

I made a total of 5 landings, all really very nice, but still am consistently high on final and touch down left of the centerline. It seems to go back to needing work on judging my descent on base. The left of center I think comes from seeing all the runway width in front of me. At Twin Oaks, which is a half to a third the width of the UAO, MMV, or 4S9, I consistently touch down on the center.

I also need to use the trim more. My CFI did one trip around to demonstrate that the whole pattern, from takeoff to the beginning of the flare can be flown with a light two fingers and thumb, if you use the trim well. He actually was able it complete the flare as well without adding fingers.

We departed the pattern at 4S9, which during the time we were there had not one other aircraft around, and followed my heading right back to 7S3.

I made my way around the pattern, came out of the turn to final a bit high, but was able to correct for a nice landing to end the evening. Now with a total of 15.3 hours logged.

My CFI feels that I'm getting very close to solo, and will soon spend a lesson with one of the other instructors as kind of a stage check. With each lesson, I feel more confident.

So another very good day!

Lesson 12 will be to somewhere else new, so I have a couple of possible destinations to plan for. One possibility is TMK, near the coast, which would be very cool, but would require unseasonably good weather. We'll see, it looks like the weather is going to really go down hill here for several days, but I have the pre-solo test to study for to keep me busy while waiting to go up again.

Lesson 10 12/08/08

1.5hrs – Making the position calls, pattern work, steep turns, and intro to the sectional, airport/facility directory, online resources, and navigation.

Prior to takeoff, we spent a few minutes looking over and discussing the sectional, airnav, and the weather reports. It was my task (in addition to flying of course) to navigate from 7S3 to MMV, make the position calls, and determine how to enter the pattern based on our arrival direction and the active runway. One minor slip on the first call to McMinnville, but pretty smooth thereafter. I’ve been practicing by running through the calls in my head.

We worked on a couple of steep turns (45 degree bank angle). My altitude and bank angle varied some, but on the second time around to the left, I did manage to hit my own wake, which means that I ended at the same altitude that I began. Steep turns to the right seem a little more difficult.

I managed to navigate our way to McMinnville (It’s not far from Twin Oaks, so no huge feat, but a start) and overflew midfield for a descending right turn to enter the 45 for left traffic.

The first two approaches I started the base to final turn a little early, and was high on final (both I have tendency to do), but got back on track for some very respectable landings.

The third trip around, My CFI covered the altimeter. The pattern went well, was again a little high on final, but arrived smoothly.

The next pattern was without the airspeed indicator. I was a little nervous about this, but my CFI reminded me that the nose attitude, sound, and feel, will tell me what I need to know. This time we arrived with a little bump, but still better than most in previous lessons.

The fifth pattern was with no instruments (my CFI covered the whole panel with his coat). “You’re a VFR pilot, not IFR. Eyes need to be outside, only peeking inside to compare the instruments to what your eyes are telling you”. Okay I say, and around the pattern for a normal approach and landing. Not too bad. After cleaning everything up (so I thought) to make it a touch-and-go, I go to full throttle and my CFI pulls the mixture. “We’re not ready to take off. What did you miss?”. I’m looking around not seeing anything. “Trim?” He asks. Doh!! He had reminded me on the previous touch-and-go. The trim is used to releave pressure on the yoke, and correctly trimmed, you can maintain altitude, climbs, descents, and airspeed with hands off the yoke. The trim is a wheel that you roll up for nose down, and down for nose up. In the pattern in a 172, it works well to run one wheel of nose up (from top to bottom) as you begin the descent, and two wheels you are on final. If you don't retrim before the takeoff roll, the aircraft will pitch up quite high, and you'll need a lot of forward pressure on the yoke during climbout.

The next time around, trim was remembered.

Back to Twin Oaks. A little low by the downwind to base turn and had to add some power, then a tad high on final, but not too bad. I began to flare a little too early and started to drop in, but added a little power to help smooth the landing. It ended with a little bump, but since my CFI didn’t need to coach me through it, I happy with it.

After we shut down, my CFI was pointing out how my learning curve has steadily been increasing over the past several lessons, and the S word (solo) was spoken. He's thinking somewhere around the 20hr point based on my progress. Seems soon, especially since my first few lessons, at least, were spent in large part just getting comfortable with flying, but I do feel very satisfied with my progress as of late.

My next lesson will include a mini cross-country to Mulino (4S9), to practice a little navigation and reading the sectional, as well as visit somewhere new.

New Headset

Audrey is modeling Steve's new headset, designed here and sold by the local airpark.

Lesson 9 12/04/08

Lesson 9
1.5hrs – Power-on and power-off stalls, accelerated stalls, simulated engine out, power off landing, crosswind landings, and turbulence.

Lesson 9 began with a nice departure into a beautiful clear sky, and great view of the Cascade Range and Willamette valley in route to MMV for crosswind landing practice (my first).

In route to MMV we practiced a several more stalls in various configurations, which by the end, were much quicker and better coordinated.

My instructor demonstrated some accelerated stalls, which are stalls at higher air speeds due to excessive maneuvering loads created by steep turns, pull-ups, or other abrupt changes in flightpath, and we discussed the situations that could lead to these abrupt changes.

We simulated engine out emergency in the practice area, which went well. I quickly pulled the carb heat on, and pitched for best glide, found a nice large field with no obstructions, and began to circle the end of the field as we lost altitude. Once we were down to around 200 ft, and a safe landing was assured, I was able restored power from idle.

At MMV, there was a left crosswind (my first crosswind landing experience). In the pattern I was able to correct for the wind with a crab angle (turning the nose into the wind) with no problem. On final my CFI took over to demonstrate how to use a slip for crosswind. A slip for crosswind correction is called a sideslip, and is accomplished by lowering the wing into the wind, and using the rudder to keep the airplanes longitudinal axis aligned with the runway.

We took another trip around the pattern, and he demonstrated a second time.

Next up, my turn. Slipping to correct for a crosswind is difficult! On my first I had either too little right rudder, or too much left aileron, because we drifted pretty far to the left side of the runway before touching down (fortunately for me MMV is wide).

The next trip around was a little better.

We then did a power off landing, in which thankfully the crosswind died off for, making it achievable.

Departing MMV for 7S3 and happily passing 800 AGL at out over 1000 fpm, my power drops to idle...
My CFI: Where are we going to go?
Me: That nice big field about 20 degrees off our nose.
CFI: You’re not going to return to the runway?
Me: No, we’re too low.
CFI: Good, you have your power back.

Unless you are at least 1000 AGL, a turn back to the runway after an engine out is a bad idea. The rate of descent, the distance required to turn, and the low airspeed make a return to the airport very difficult, if not impossible, and the maneuver is known as The Impossible Turn. Therefore its best at low altitude to pick a spot straight ahead to 90 degrees in each direction, depending on wind direction and current altitude.

I also handled much of the communications during this lesson. It was pretty choppy, and at one point I looked at my instructor and mentioned that everyone listening must be thinking “student pilot…”. “Yes, but its okay. You’ll get better”. I’d start to make a good call, then stop and think “cr@#, what was the runway?” Fortunately I’ve managed to censor myself, and finally spit the number out. I think I need a pad to write the runway number and other key notes down on, or some other memory aid.

On the trip back to 7S3 we had some time to review, and enjoy the view, then came the turbulence….

Much more turbulence than I’ve experienced in my short number of hours.

The closer to 7S3 we got, the bumpier it got, and I was getting a workout maintaining attitude and heading.

A wing would drop, I’d bring it back up and the other side would drop, or the tail would lift, or some combination everything. As a result, my turns in the pattern weren’t real smooth, and by the time we turned final I was high fast and tense, so around we went for another try.

My next attempt was better, but in the turn to final I had difficulty coming out of the turn, and as a result turned too far. At this point I think I was hoping he would take over, and my CFI must have picked up on my mumbled cursing and says “This is your machine. You control it, it does not control you, so make it do what you want it to do.” I think I managed to squeak out an okay, but it was enough to get back on track for a good landing, and thankful he hadn’t taken over.

Now after lesson 9, I've completed the first page of my log book (which included my intro flight) with 12.5 hrs and 41 landings, an amazing experience so far with much to look forward to, a brand new ANR headset of my very own, and feeling like I'm making some solid progress.

A Mentor Pilot

I now have a mentor pilot through the AOPA (Aircraft Owners and Pilot's Assn).

A mentor is an experienced pilot volunteers to coach, and offer encouragement, and assistance while you progress through flight training. They are also available to help with questions or issues that you're not comfortable discussing with your flight instructor, as well as help you understand the challenges of learning to fly, or just simple suggestions like what to look for in a headset. According to AOPA, a student with a mentor is three times more likely to finish training. Maybe true, but even increasing the odds a little is worth it, plus its nice to have someone to talk flying with. Here's a link to the AOPA mentor page -http://flighttraining.aopa.org/projectpilot/students/pilot_mentor/

My mentor was kind enough to offer after I had posted a question regarding the mentor program on the AOPA pilot's forum. He began his training about 2 years ago at the on-campus airport at UC Davis, where he's a student, and is currently working on his instrument rating, and has plans for a glider rating, and high performance and complex endorsements. He is also involved in Angel Flight West - http://www.angelflight.org/

Lesson 8 12/2/08

1.3hrs – Forward slips, crab angle, standard landings, power off landing, power on landing with no flaps, turns around a point, and go-arounds.

1.2hrs ground – Aircraft systems, and communications.

After departing Twin Oaks (7S3), we headed to Aurora (AUO) for some landing practice with intro to landing in various configurations. In route, we discussed slips and power off landings, wind correction, communication, and determining the preferred runway.

At AUO my CFI demonstrated a forward slip. A side slip is used to lose altitude without gaining airspeed and is entered by lowering a wing with the ailerons, and applying just enough opposite rudder to prevent a turn. Side slips are useful in forced landings, landings when flaps are inoperative, or the aircraft does not have flaps. Side slips feel a bit unatural at first, because one wing is down, and your looking at the runway more through the side window than the front. Also, it feels a bit like you will slide out the door (if your on the low side).

I then took off, flew the pattern. Descent took a little more work without flaps, and on final, my CFI helped a little with the slip and landing flair.

The next trip around I performed the slip. I didn’t have quite enough left aileron, and got off to the right of the runway, but was able to correct, and transition into the flair for a pretty decent landing.

Next up was power off landing. In a power off landing, the throttle is brought back to idle while in the patter. My CFI demonstrated the first. My turn became a power on with no flaps due to the need for an extended downwind to adjust for other traffic. Different, but ended smoothly.

We also practiced best angle of climb, and an engine out after departure.

For the first time in my training there was some noticeable wind, so we practiced using crab angle, and turns around a point. Wind correction came pretty easy, probably from my days of dealing with current in sea kayaking and boating. Turns around a point appear much easier than they actually are, but I got the basics.

Back at 7S3, due to the sloping runway, the calm wind runway for takeoff is 20, with landing on 02 (up to about 8 knots). Landing on 02 thus gave us a tailwind here, and resulted in a go-around. We set up for landing on 20 (my first on 20). About half way down on final, it just didn’t look right, so around we went again. I felt really good about this go-around; it didn’t look right to ME, and I made the call and completed the maneuver, without my CFI making the calls. By this time it was beginning to get a little dark, with some light rain, but I was able to make a nice pattern, and a very acceptable landing.

So now it’s all beginning to come together. I’m feeling much more relaxed (even have an appetite on days with a lesson), and am thoroughly enjoying each minute in the air, or at the airport.

My hours are now in the double digits! (11hrs logged)

Lesson 7 11/29/08

Lesson 7 – 1.4hrs. Landings and go-arounds.

Finally, Saturday the clouds lifted enough to get another lesson in. My takeoffs have continued to improve. I’m able to remain pretty straight, and am developing a good feel for when controls begin to become effective. So far the wind has been calm during my lessons, so I know there are still surprises to come.

We departed Twin Oaks for McMinnville, and practiced some mock go-arounds along the way. The process seems simple on paper, but difficult to perform smoothly in practice. After a little practice I felt comfortable with the process, and can identify where I need a little more work.

We arrived at McMinnville, entered the pattern, and flew down to one of the most stable finals that I’ve been able to manage. It then unraveled in the flair when the low sun filled the windshield, and highlighted every scratch and insect carcass covering it. I tried looking more off to the side to judge the remainder of the flair, but have no experience in this, so we came down a little hard. Heatherle, who was able to come along again, commented that it was hard enough to surprise her a bit, but she was able to hang on to her gum. Of course she was also videotaping from the back seat, and the taping ends with the camera nearly being knocked from her hands. Oh well, no one ever seems to be taping when you make a really smooth landing

After we exited the runway, the active runway changed from 22 to 04, making life much more pleasant. The next landing was my best so far. Nothing more than a squeak, and a straight roll out. Nice praise from my CFI, and Heatherle, but of course she didn’t tape that one... no one ever seems to be taping when you make a really smooth landing….

The next was a nice approach, and go around thrown in at the last minute for practice. The go-around definitely included less undue excitement than the first in lesson 6, but needs more practice. The final trip around the pattern at McMinnville ended pretty smoothly, and we departed for Twin Oaks.

I still struggle some with identifying while on base whether I’m high or low, but I’m now maintaining the correct airspeeds, judging my turns better, and feeling more confident. Two trips around Twin Oaks, both with pretty decent landings, ended lesson 7 on a high note.So I feel like I’m progressing well, or at least I’m happy with my progress. My CFI asked if I had noticed that he was coaching me a lot less (I hadn’t), and Heatherle commented that she has noticed improvement in the short time since her last ride, and that I appear more relaxed (support appreciated), so life as a student pilot is good!

Next lesson(s) – Consistency, slips, power-off landing, and radio work.

Lesson 6 11/20/08

1.3hrs – Power on stalls, steep turns, emergency landing procedures, pattern work, mental blocks overcome.

So far at Twin Oaks I’ve just not been able to take off and climb out cleanly. Either I’d veer one way then the next, lift off uncoordinated, try pulling it off too soon, or you name it. Finally, I was able to take off from Twin Oaks without any unnecessary excitement. Right off, a big mental block out of the way.

We reviewed power off stalls, which we had done in lesson 5, then proceeded to power on stalls. My CFI demonstrated a few, then, knowing that I’m still a little uneasy at times, asked how I was doing. I thought “Hey, I’m actually fine with this, and feeling pretty comfortable”. I practiced several, and found them to be quite fun to do, but dropped the right wing in all. I’m continuing to hold too much right rudder during the stall break. My CFI also demonstrated what happens with no rudder and other errors. Another mental block out of the way.

Next was what to do when the engine fails. My instructor demonstrated by pulling the throttle all the way back to idle. A Cessna 172 glides better than you may think (somewhere about a 10:1 ratio, so 10 feet forward per 1 foot drop in altitude at best glide speed). Once we had our chosen field made, we climbed back out. My turn. I was able to choose a suitable field (not hard over Willamette valley farm land), stay pretty close to best glide, etc, and get to a point where we had the field made. As we’re climbing out and passing about 1500ft, my CFI asks if I feel I understand the process. I answer yes, and he immediately pulls the throttle (should of seen that coming). Again all goes pretty smoothly but could use some work.

Steep turns (45 degree bank angle) were the next item on the agenda. These are a little tricky, because some of your vertical lift is lost due to the bank, and becomes horizontal lift, so you need to add some back pressure, as well as little throttle, while staying coordinated with the rudder, and controlling the bank angle with the ailerons. I had trouble with maintaining altitude, especially while in a steep turn to the right, but I felt comfortable with the process, and just need to practice.

Back to Twin Oaks for Pattern work. My CFI demonstrated the first landing. I taxi and take off, again without any unnecessary excitement (two in a row - sweet!). My first pattern was not so good, and really began to fall apart on short final. We were coming in fast and floating past a good portion of runway, when my CFI says “go around right now”. I’ve read about go-arounds, but this was the first time I’d heard this first hand. I began climbing, but the nose pitched high and we began losing airspeed, corrected for that but coordination suffered, and so on (I know something I need to spend a little more time on next lesson). I was wound pretty tight by the time we got back in the pattern, but really focused on relaxing, and what my next step is. This time around was much better. I was hitting all my air speeds, relaxed, made good turns, worked through how narrow Twin Oaks appears on final, and with a little coaching in the flare, touched down nice and easy. I even managed a straight roll out. Another block overcome.

So in the end a great lesson! Everything needs more work, but I got home and thought “Wow, I can fly an airplane smoothly off the ground, and climb out. Someday I will be a pilot”. How cool is that.....

Good Stuff!!

Lesson 5 11/15/08

Lesson 5

1.5 hrs - slow flight, landings, power off stalls, wife in the back seat for a ride. A beautiful morning to be above.
With this lesson scheduled for a Saturday, Heatherle was able to join us. She has been very supportive of this adventure, and has wanted to be included on the fun. She’s always been a very calm passenger on commercial flights, and up until I had a few lessons in, had more time in GA aircraft than I. Heatherle took some great photos, as well as some video.

I still can’t seem to get off the ground at Twin Oaks as cleanly as I’d like, and remains my nemesis, but still some improvement, and it didn't look too bad in the video Heatherle shot.
We worked a little more on slow flight, and then into power off stalls. Power off stalls were really not what I’d thought they would be, and were really quite fun. After my CFI demonstrated, I gave it a shot. My first I recovered before we really stalled, the second I pressed forward a bit on the yoke instead of just releasing some back pressure, at which point I heard a “weeeee” in the headset from Heatherle in the back. The last try was good.

We did three landings at MMV. All need work, but still a bit better than previous lessons, as were the subsequent takeoffs. I do over control on final quite a bit. My instructor held pressure on the yoke against my “corrections” to demonstrate how little is needed.

Lesson 4 11/13/08

1.2 hrs - pattern work, takeoffs, landings.

We flew over to MMV for more pattern work, with more work on fundamentals in route. A beautiful late afternoon to be in the air.

I’m now beginning to feel much more at ease in the air, apparently to the point that my CFI has noticed, and can identify when I begin to tense up again. I really think that this apprehension has been a block in my progress, so I’m hoping this is a beginning of a trend.

My pattern work is getting slightly better, but I still get pretty stiff, and tense up a bit here. My CFI did the pin laced between the fingers thing to help with the grip on the yoke, which does really help. I’m more able to pick out what I’m hearing on the radio, and have now at least an idea of where to look in relation to our current position to identify other aircraft.

My landings? Not so good yet. I had a few decent landings, with my CFI talking me through it, but still feel like more of a passenger than anything else once in the flare. On one attempt I had a good bounce back into the air off the main gear, at which point my CFI took over, and brought us down nice and easy. I’ve found in my few hours of tight fisted mishandling of the controls that he’s quite a skilled pilot, as well as instructor , and have begun to see an improvement in my skills, as well as some self assessment.

My takeoffs have improved, which was the bright spot and confidence builder for this lesson (much needed). I’m getting a better feel for when the control surfaces become effective, and my feet are becoming quicker on the rudder, but I still struggle a bit with remaining straight.
I still have a lot of work with the radio ahead. I can be looking right at the runway with large numbers painted upon it, but still screw it up. It will come…

In the end a very good lesson, and a big as well as needed boost in my confidence.

Not certified flight instructors

No, Steve is not allowed to take lessons from Skipper, Rico, and Private.

Lesson 3 10/26/08

.5hrs of ground instruction covering steep turns, slow flight, rectangular courses, S-turns across a road, intro to radio and transponder, and review of lesson 2.

1.4 hrs of dual.

My taxi skill have now improved quite a bit. My first shot at communicating on Unicom was pretty choppy - the mike button seemed to be more useful as a reset button for my brain than to communicate. My take off is still terrible, and requires intervention. We worked on some slow flight including maintaining altitude, and gentle turns. I was reminded now and again to loosen the grip on the yoke. Descended and found a field to practice a rectangular course. This I did pretty well at, even for a first try I thought. My S-turns over a road were a bit sloppy, and my altitude varied a bit, but I felt pretty good about this as well for a first try.

We put off steep 360 and 720 turns due to haze, and we flew to MMV (McMinnville) for some more pattern/take off/landing work. My one landing at MMV was terrible. I was over controlling some on approach but still okay, then it fell apart in the round out and flare. I felt like we were suddenly ballooning, and stopped increasing back pressure, causing our arrival to be a bit (a lot) harsh. Anyway, we quickly cleaned up the aircraft to make it a departure on the remaining runway, and was again all over the place. Once on climb out I was solid again, and we turned towards 7S3. I flew the pattern back at 7S3, but on base to final seemed to lose my mental picture of where we were in the turn, and my instructor took over and completed final and landing.

In addition to the previously mentioned things to work on, I have trouble identifying landmarks from the air, even figuring out where we are. I’ve lived here most of my life, and get around well on the ground, but things sure look different from above!

Still, so much fun!

Lesson 2 10/24/08

Lesson 2 felt MUCH better than lesson 1. We spent .5hrs of ground time going over patterns, and reviewing. My taxi skills were much smoother than during lesson 1, which helped me start the lesson more relaxed. My instructor performed the take off, with me just feeling the control inputs.

We did some more work on the four fundamentals, and headed to UAO, which has a much longer and wider runway. My instructor demonstrated a couple of landings and take offs, then had me fly the pattern and land. The first landing and subsequent take off was with some assistance, the second was mine with some verbal instruction. We touched down with a little yaw to the right, but really pretty smooth considering. That and my last take off which remained fairly straight down the runway had me feeling much more relaxed. We returned to 7S3, and I flew the pattern until final, where my instructor took over to land, since I'm not ready to attempt 7S3's sloping 2465 x 48 ft runway. I left the airport with another 1.2hrs logged in 4-Kilo-Uniform, and feeling great!

Amongst the very long list of thing to learn, I've noticed that I have some work to do on not leaning forward in climbs and to the side in turns, a lighter grip on the yoke, and just feeling more relaxed and in the aircraft.

Lesson 1 10/22 and 10/23/08

1.5hrs of ground instruction and preflight, but the flight canceled due to poor weather. The flight portion was rescheduled for the next day.

I performed the preflight on 4-Kilo-Uniform under the watchful eye of my instructor, then proceed to practice taxiing. At first I was all over the place, but smoothed out somewhat after a few minutes. After the run up and final checks, we taxied onto the runway. I had the controls, but was completely unprepared for the amount of right rudder pressure needed to remain centered. My instructor quickly corrected, and we never left the pavement, but to my still untrained eye we were headed directly for the grass and hangers beyond. We climbed out smoothly, but it took some time for my heart rate to come back down, and for my right leg to stop shaking. We practiced the four fundamentals, did a little sightseeing in the process to make it fun, some steep turns to add a little spice, and returned to the airport. I left airport this time knowing that this was going to be no easy process, as well as an increased heart rate and sweaty palms every time I thought of the takeoff run.

Private Pilot Training

What is required for a Private Pilot Certificate?

40 hrs total time including:
(All time, distance, etc, are minimums. Actual results may vary.)

20 hrs dual instruction time:

3 hrs dual night flying including;
1 night cross country of over 100NM
10 takeoffs and 10 full stop landings

3 hrs simulated instrument training (this does not make you qualified, or legal, to fly into clouds, but does give you a chance to save your butt if you do by mistake)

3 hrs of test prep within the 60 days preceding taking the check ride

10 hrs solo flight time including:

Pre-solo test completed

1 cross country consisting of at least 150 NM total distance with full stop landings at 3 airports.

3 takeoffs and full stop landings at a tower controlled airport.

FAA written exam passed

Oral exam and practical check ride with an FAA designated examiner

3rd class medical certificate

Pictured is the 1977 Cessna 172 I have been using in my training.
Twin Oaks has three 172s, each a little different, all of which I'll have flown at some point by the time my training is complete. Twin Oaks also has 4 Cessna 150s (which I'm too tall for), and a Piper Cherokee (I'll fly at some point), available for primary training.

A Little History

I’ve always been interested in flying, and as long as I can remember, I always looked up at the sound of an airplane, but never really gave learning much thought. I guess in the back of my mind I figured you learned to fly to make it a career, not just for the simple feeling of joy and accomplishment.

I’ve also never been a comfortable passenger. Yes, I was one of the passengers in the airport bar prior to my flight. I think it’s been a lack of understanding, as well as a control thing.

About a year and a half ago, my wife gave me a certificate for a discovery flight for my birthday; in part to help me to be more comfortable flying, and in part to help satisfy my curiosity. After .9 hours in a 172, with my then 14-year-old son in the back enjoying the ride, I came down hooked.
Fast forward a year and a half of putting money away in a separate savings account, forum lurking, and reading aviation books and magazines. I decided it was time to either do it or not.

With support from my wife (very important), as well as my manager at work (also important) , I found a part 61 school at Twin Oaks Airpark (7S3), about 15 minutes from work, and scheduled another discovery flight with an instructor.

The Discovery Flight – My instructor gave me the grand tour, looked over the different aircraft available, performed a thorough preflight of the 172 we were going to use (5440Hotel). We spent .5hrs in the air just getting a feel for the aircraft, and basic flight maneuvers and instruments. I was able to experience having the controls for much of the time, and left the airport again grinning, and with a feeling of exhilaration.