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.