3/26/09 More Time Alone

1.6hrs Solo

No challenging conditions, or huge lessons learned, but a very nice day to do a little flying on my own.

Recently I've been struggling a bit with landings, so I flew over to Aurora intent on hitting all the numbers for airspeed and altitude, making nice square patterns, stabilized approaches, and making my round out before touchdown smoother. I did several touch and go's, and several full stop landings, all of which I felt really good about.

On the return trip to Twin Oaks I played around with the VOR, and made a few turns, but mostly just enjoyed flying.

I does still seem a little strange that someone will give me the keys to an airplane, and let go fly all on my own.

A very nice day!

The first picture is runway 35 at Aurora State just prior to opening the throttle for takeoff. The second is the panel on 4oH as I was beginning my descent, about 6 miles out from Twin Oaks.

Lesson 28 3/20/09

1.3hrs - Gusty wind conditions

My lesson today was all about wind, actually some very gusty conditions compared to what I've experienced so far. Conditions at Hillsboro were 18 gusts to 29mph from the SSW.

With the wind blowing, occasional rain, skies broken at 2900ft, and worsening conditions on the way, we decided that we'd remain around the pattern at Twin Oaks. A little disappointing because Matti was along for the backseat ride, and the only other time he's been along, the weather kept us in the pattern, but it be great practice.

We made a few trips around the pattern, which were a lot of work, and really pushed the limit of my skills, but each time got slightly better.

We then decided to go over to Hillsboro for a few a little more class D practice on top of the wind conditions. Here I would be all set up on final, handling the gusty conditions, until about 50ft off the ground were the wind direction would suddenly shift, and I'd end up all over the place.

I was feeling more than a little frustrated. My instructor seemed to sense my frustration (maybe it was my muttered expletives) and reassured me that I was doing well, as well as reminding me how difficult it was to make a smooth landing on a calm day not to long ago, and how today's conditions were pretty extreme in comparison.

My instructor took us around once to demonstrate, and give me a chance to relax. It was great seeing him really work, and how aggressive he was, but at the same time making it look so smooth. Very talented!

As we passed Hillsboro Aviation my instructor commented on the fact that the conditions had kept their entire training fleet on the ground. It was very quiet in the pattern.

The last landing approach at Hillsboro was great all the way down to the flare, when a shift in the wind left me fighting to remain alined with the runway. The conditions had gotten a bit worse, and lower celings were expected to move in soon, so we departed south for Twin Oaks.

A straight in approach for 20, a bounce back in the air (oops, too much back pressure too fast), a second touchdown, rounded out lesson 28.

It was a good lesson.

FAA Written Exam Passed

After a marathon of study, and a lot of worry, I passed my FAA written exam today with a 97% (70% is passing). This will be presented to the designated examiner when it comes time for my check ride, and from what I've heard, the better the score on the written, the less grilling on the oral portion of the check ride. We'll see.

A relief to have completed!

More Solo Time 3/13/09

1.4hrs solo – Pattern work/landings, steep turns

I decided to take advantage of the last of weather forecasted to be nice for a few days, and spend some solo time with 40H. This would be my first solo time in this 172, one that I was just becoming comfortable with, so I was feeling a bit tense all morning.

Knowing that McMinnville would be busy on such a nice day, I decided that would be good place to practice pattern and landing work, and would give some time in-route to practiced a few steep turns.

When I arrived at McMinnville it was busy, and had a great time making a few trips around the pattern before the return trip to Twin Oaks. I decided on a bit of a zigzag return course, just to enjoy the view for awhile.

I entered the pattern a Twin Oaks, but came in a little fast, and really floated, ending with a bounce. I knew my instructor was with a student in the runup area at the other end of the runway, and hoped that he was distracted with that, and not watching me.

I didn't want to end with that, so off I went for another trip around. This time I was still a bit fast on short final, but remembered that 40H has an additional 10 degrees of flaps. The last 10 degrees helped to slow me down, though I did still float a bit. At least this touchdown was pretty smooth, and good to end the day on.

I still need more work with the flaps on this. In the 172 I've had most of my training with, the flap switch is notched for each 10 degrees, with 30 degrees total travel. In this 172 the flaps switch is held down approx 3 seconds for each 10 degrees, with 40 total. I may be counting too fast.

This last picture is the shadow of a contrail left by a jet far overhead. The shadow was visible as a dark line through the haze, as well an on the ground.

Lesson 27 3/11/09

1.6hrs - Remaining required night landings, class C airspace, cross wind landing

The goal of this lesson was to work a little more on night flight and completing the night landing requirement, as well as gain some experience in class C airspace.

We departed Twin Oaks in 40H (which I was feeling much more comfortable in after the day's earlier lesson), into a clear night.

This lesson offered the opportunity to fly directly over downtown Portland at night. Definitely very cool!

I felt comfortable talking with PDX approach and tower, and we were instructed to make right base for 10L.

Located on the Columbia River, PDX can be quite windy, and tonight was no exception. I knew I would be in for a small but gusty crosswind from about 40 degrees, so as I turned final I began to fumble around trying to figure out how to side slip (upwind wing down with aileron, and nose streight with the runway using opposite rudder). Suddenly it clicked, and I was doing what I needed to do to correct for the gusting crosswind as if it was natural (what a moment!!), clear down to the roll out.

I cleaned everything up for a touch and go and we were off for another. The pattern was pretty bumpy, and I briefly though about how just a few months ago, that amount of turbulence, in the dark, would have drove me to near panic. Downwind also required quite a crab angle.

Another steady crosswind correction on final to a landing on the centerline, and we were off again.

Some were in the pattern this time around, things suddenly became busy at PDX, and we were routed all over before being cleared to enter final for 10L. At this point I had a good feel for the communication, so my CFI took over the comm to help lighten my work load a bit.

On our fifth approach, I was instructed by the tower to go around just as we had passed the numbers, and decided that it was now getting busy to the point that it would no longer be very productive.

We were routed around and up north a bit, before being cleared to turn south for Twin Oaks, concluding my class C experience. And it was a great experience!

Back at Twin Oaks I made 5 more landings, this time with only a headwind, each being a good as any landings I've done in daylight. On the base leg for landing number 4, my instructor says "oh, too bad, your landing lights just shorted out", and turned them all off. Okay, this will be a little different! I actually did just fine, but it sure was dark.

As we taxied for another trip around, my instructor recommended landing somewhere larger and better lit if I were to ever lose the landing lights. Given how dark it is around Twin Oaks, I'm confident that it is good advice. So a great lesson, and a real boost after some of the struggles of lesson 26 earlier in the day.

A successful crosswind correction! Cool!

The orange zigzag in the last picture is actually the moon, and it looked very cool at the time. I need to remember the image stabilization next time.

Lesson 26 3/11/09

1.5hrs – Becoming comfortable with the 40H, stalls, steep turns, landings, and class D airport.

I scheduled this lesson with the primary intent of becoming more comfortable with 40H, which is one of three 172’s available at 7S3, and one that I have not felt comfortable with the few times I’ve flown it. It's a nice airplane, it's just a differant model with a differant instrument panel, radio, and flaps switch. Also 30 less hp.

Also, my landings have been pretty inconsistent lately, which was also something I wanted to work on in this lesson.

I got out to the airport at 8:30am (a very chilly 8:30am), pulled 04H out of the hanger and into the sun to pre-flight, and by 9:00 we were up in the cold clear air. I beautiful morning!

First we did a little slow flight, which is done in the full landing configuration, airspeed just above a stall, and a surprisingly high power setting (called "being behind the power curve). We then did several power off stalls (done in full landing configuration) . The recovery from the first was very poor, and earned me some words of disapproval from my instructor (rightfully so). After the stall, you release back pressure, full power, carb heat off, and climb away while bringing the flaps up in increments. I let the flaps come full up at once, which can cause a secondary stall. The subsequent power off stalls were much better. Power on stalls were good, except for a little turn off heading right before the stall. Surprisingly, given my early and still very occasional fear of flying, I do really enjoy practicing stalls.

Next we practiced several steep turns in each direction, and managed my best to date. The final couple were within PTS even.

We practiced and engine out from 3000ft above McMinnville. I cut my last turn a little tight, and we were quite high over the numbers with a little tail wind. A very poorly executed slip helped lose some altitude, but lead to an even more poorly executed flare. Landing number one of the day was not so great….

We departed McMinnville and headed towards Hillsboro for more tower and pattern work. My communication with the tower was smooth, and my instructor was able to remain quiet. My landings and pattern were also quite good, and I was happy to shake off the earlier landing at McMinnville.

With time running out we turned towards Twin Oaks, and had the pattern made until short final. With 40 degrees of flaps available, 40H slows down fast (4KU is limited to 30 degrees), and soon was close to a stall without me noticing. Bad… bad… bad... My CFI reminded me to watch my airspeed and I quickly pushed the nose down and gave it a good amount of throttle while cursing myself for not watching the airspeed. The landing was okay from there, but the thought of how quickly the airspeed dropped out on me really got my attention.

A good lesson, and a lot of good lessons learned. A tough lesson as well.

On the bonus side, I do feel much better with 40H. I also have another lesson scheduled tonight for my first trip to a class C airport (PDX), and to wrap up the 5 remaining required night landings.

Lesson 25 2/27/09

.5hrs ground - Reviewing towered airport operations and planning for my long cross country.

.5hrs - Class D practice

We spent .5hrs reviewing class D airspace, communications, and ground operations.

We also discussed my upcoming long cross country. Right I have a few possibilities in mind, each of which includes a class D airport, all stops but one are airports I've not been to, and all are places I'd really like to go to. Very exciting.

The first would be 7S3 (Twin Oaks) over the Cascade Range to PDT (Eastern Oregon Regional at Pendleton), back along the Columbia River to DLS (The Dalles), and then through the Columbia Gorge back to the Willamette Valley and home at 7S3.

The second would be 7S3 over the Cascade Range to RDM (Redmond) in central Oregon, then south to S21 (Sunriver Resort), and back across the Cascades to S30 (Lebanon), then home to 7S3.

The third is to head north to OLM (Olympia) at the south end of the Puget Sound, then over to the coast to HQM (Hoquiam), and home to 7S3.

The fog had cleared, and the ceiling was now high enough that we could head out to Hillsboro for some class D practice.

As we we began to taxi, it felt as though we were beginning to get a little carb ice, so I pulled the carb heat. At first it seemed to bind a bit, then moved freely - too freely. The cable had come off the carb heat.

We taxied up to the maintenance hanger, and I walked down to begin pre-flight on 04H. This was the same 172 that I struggled with a few lessons ago, so this lesson was would be more interesting than I originally thought.

We left Twin Oaks and headed the short distance north to Hillsboro.

My communication with the tower was much smoother, and made two touch and goes, but still struggled some with this 172. My landings were okay, but at the airspeeds typical in the pattern, the controls feel a little mushy compared to 4KU. So far in my training, when the controls begin to feel mushy, bad things to have happen in the pattern are close to happening, so I fly the pattern while focused on the feeling that we are on the verge of a stall, and not as aggressive as I need to be.

I plan to schedule one of my next lessons with 04H, and just work on stalls, steep turns, and pattern work. I'll be flying 04H in the future, whether during a lesson, or after I earn my certificate, so I really need to become comfortable with it.

We were short on time due to the fog, and the carb heat issue with 4KU, so we turned towards Twin Oaks.

My CFI had me quickly find a few VOR's for him in route, and we soon arrived at Twin Oaks.

I was a little high on final, but a brief slip dropped us quickly to where we needed to be, and the lesson ended nicely. I still need a little work on slips too.

My next will be a night lesson, this time to PDX (Portland International), which is a class C airport. That should be very cool, but probably won't be for more than a week due to weather forecasted to move in, and some other obligations. So, I'll be focused on studying for my written that my CFI would like me to complete in the next week or two. I've been scoring in the upper 80's (passing is 70) on practice tests, so I have a ways to go before I feel ready.

Lesson 24 2/26/09

1.3hrs - Hoodwork, above the clouds, and crosswind landings on 20.

We departed Twin Oaks, and by the time we had reached 3000ft, I was under the hood. We continued to climb, making turns, selecting a couple nearby VORs, and finally leveling off at 7500ft (highest I've been so far in a light plane), where we practiced climbing and descending turns, level turns, and more VOR navigation. After 30 minutes under the hood, my CFI told me to take it off, and have a look around. We were on top of the clouds. Amazing. All around where the bright white tops of clouds, with a few mountains in the distance, blue sky above, and a few large holes with ground below. Wish I would have brought my camera!

We decided to begin descending to practice some crosswind landing back at Twin Oaks, and during the descent practiced determining our position using using two VOR's. This is done by selecting a VOR with the NAV radio, determining what radial you are on (a radial is a magnetic bearing from a VOR), and drawing the radial on the sectional (chart). You then select another VOR, determine what radial you are on, and draw that radial. Where the two cross is where you are.

Back at Twin Oaks, the wind favored runway 20 (over some down sloping terrain and trees on final, and a down sloping runway) with a slightly gusty crosswind. This promised to be interesting, and good practice.

My first three were pretty good, with my instructor giving hints along the way, on my fourth attempt I was too high and ended as a go around, but the fourth landing was good.

I really wanted one where my instructor didn't need to offer any hints, so we took one last time around. I had the whole pattern nailed, until I was beginning to flare and was caught by a gust. I quickly began to correct to get back centered on the runway, but didn't add enough rudder to keep us aligned. I quick stomp on the right rudder from my instructor straightened us out. So I got a little chewing out about being straight when touching down, even if it means that I'd be off of center or in the grass, and how I need to keep my feet moving.

Not the best note to finish a lesson on, but the way it goes.