Park Flying

With so much focus on summer trips, outings, and other adventures, it had been a while since we were last out with the model airplanes.

Audrey got some time in at the sticks with her beginner airplane, Matti narrowly averted disaster (twice) when the battery slid out during a loop, severely affecting the center of gravity, and I had nice relaxing time with the two planes I brought along.

The traditional post-flight coffee shop stop topped off a enjoyable morning flying at the park.

8/23/09 End of Another Vacation

Going for a flight on the last day of vacation had worked out well after our trip in June, so prior to leaving for a week at the coast, I scheduled a couple of hours with 4KU for Sunday morning. Again the last day of vacation, and in my favorite plane.

The original plan was to fly from Twin Oaks to Astoria, overfly Ft Stevens, head south to Tillamook, and return to Twin Oaks. I’ve been to Ft Stevens many times including a visit during this vacation, and have wanted to see it from above.

The weather around Astoria was clear with little wind on Saturday prior to leaving the campground at Ft Stevens, and the flight looked possible.

When we arrived home, the forecast for Sunday was low clouds and mist.

So, on to plan B. Plan B was to fly around the south side of Mt Hood, turn north for a stop at Hood River, follow the Columbia Gorge west, turn south to Oregon City to avoid Portland’s class C airspace, and return to Twin Oaks. I could request transition through Portland’s class C, but it’s easy to avoid the need to do so.

We departed Twin Oaks at 7 am and turned east towards Mt Hood. It took only a few minutes to realize that Mt Hood was obscured in the haze and morning low clouds. We could fly above the clouds and haze, but then there would not be much to see below.

So, now were on to coming up with plan C on the fly. Plan C became a trip to Independence for breakfast. Independence is southwest of Salem, and includes the Starduster café at the airport.

It was a bit hazy in the Willamette Valley, but the air was nice and smooth, and along the way we saw several hot air balloons just south of Newburg. Pretty cool... We were about 2000ft above their altitude, and looked as though they were skimming the ground.

We approached Independence, and entered the pattern, and landed with no more than a squeak. Heatherle asked if that what’s referred to a squeaker. Yep, sometimes you get lucky…

We enjoyed a nice breakfast and headed back out on the ramp. Still feels a bit strange to walk out of a restaurant, headed for an airplane.

A quick preflight and we were taxiing for run-up and takeoff to head back to Twin Oaks.

On the return trip we had to lose some altitude at few points to maintain clearance from some pesky clouds, but it was nice to cruise along about 1000ft above the farmlands of the valley anyway. Audrey apparently was not so impressed with the view, and found the return trip a good time for a nap.

Northwest Antique Airplane Club Fly-in

Today Audrey, dad, and I went to the Northwest Antique Airplane Club Fly-in at Pearson Field in Vancouver Washington.

Included was everything from early aviation up to modern GA aircraft, as well as several antique autos.

Airplanes, cars, hotdogs, and cotton candy... What could be better?

Audrey also found out what happens when you pour water into a cup with your leftover cotton candy. Science?

8/11/09 Checkout Completed

Today was my second lesson for getting checked out in the Cherokee.

The weather was looking pretty poor. One of the 172’s took off while I was preflighting the Cherokee, and a few minutes later, landed. The instructor in the 172 mentioned that they weren’t able to get above 600ft as they tried to head south. Oh well, I’ll complete the preflight and see what happens with the weather as I wait for Kelly to arrive.

My instructor and I discussed the cloud clearance for a few minutes, and decided that we'd stay in the pattern, practice landings, and see how the weather progresses. My instructor always says that if you can land well at Twin Oaks, you can land most anywhere anyway.

We departed 20, and turned left upwind to remain in the pattern for 02. The overcast cloud layer kept us at 800ft AGL, below the normal pattern altitude of 1000ft AGL, but the visibility was very good.

My control over the aircraft felt much smoother from the start, but still was a little caught off guard by the sink rate with the power pulled back to idle. I was a bit late rounding out before touchdown, and landed a little flat. Fortunately I didn’t come down hard on the nose gear, or bounce back into the air, either of which can happen with a flat landing, and earn groans from an instructor.

The next time around resulted in a better landing.

The third time around my instructor pulled the throttle to idle as we approached abeam the numbers on downwind. A large continuous left turn, and the first notch of flaps on a very short final, brought us right over the numbers before touching down. A power off approach from the downwind needs to be flown much closer than in the 172, which has a comparatively high glide ratio.

At this point we decided to call it a day because the clouds were progressively getting a little lower, and we'd done about all we could do with what we had for weather.

My instructor said that as far as he's concerned I'm checked out on the Cherokee, and would be ready to fly it on my own with no problem. We'll still do one more lesson to practice some soft and short field takeoffs and landings, as well as some simulated emergencies from altitude

It's nice to know that I can now fly an airplane that is somewhat different than I learned to fly in.

8/05/09 Checkout In A Piper Cherokee

Looking to expand my rental choices, yesterday I began getting checked out in the Piper Cherokee, a 1963 PA-28-180, available at Twin Oaks.

The Cherokee has one door (on the right hand side), so it was a bit more difficult to get my 6’6” frame into than the 172, but once in, it was pretty comfortable, and we began going over the instrument panel, radios, etc. The Cherokee does not have the VOR navigation equipment that the 172's have, but does have the same GPS, and is completely suited for VFR flight.

The preflight was pretty straight forward, and we were soon taxiing for run-up. The Cherokee is a great plane to taxi, and will go right where you want it to, but the hand brake in place of toe brakes took some getting used to.

The takeoff roll was easy enough, but required a fair bit more backpressure to rotate than I’ve grown accustomed to. I really couldn’t find the right combination of speed and backpressure to make a real smooth lift off. Maybe experimenting with the trim some will help.

We headed southeast into the Willamette Valley to practice some slow flight and stalls. The Cherokee will fly very nose high in slow flight, and really buffets as the stall approaches with both power on and power off, giving allot of warning. Recovery was as simple as easing off the backpressure. The 172’s I’ve been flying will buffet some with power off, but just seem to drop smoothly with power on.

We turned towards Aurora to practice some landings and pattern work. We did a few landings with various flap settings, and with no flaps. My landings were surprisingly good, but I need to work on keeping my approach speed down. The Cherokee also drops fast with the throttle out, never failing to surprise me as I’d pull the throttle crossing the threshold.

The flaps on the Cherokee are also a bit different. The flap are deployed manually using a Johnson bar, which resembles a long version the e-brake between the front seats in many cars. The first notch is 10 degrees, second 25, and third 40. The Cherokee also tends to pitch nose down as flaps are added, which is opposite of the 172.

Two full stop landings back at Twin Oaks ended lesson one in the Cherokee. It’s not quite as spacious for a taller pilot, but still comfortable and fun to fly. Really a nice chance to experience something different.

I have one more lesson to practice engine out landings, steep turns, and just get a little more comfortable with it, and I should be good to strike out on my own.

It was also nice to fly with my instructor Kelly again, who I’ve not flown with since a week prior to my check ride in May. He mentioned that my airmanship was very solid, which I was happy to hear. I had some nervousness before the flight, worried that I was unknowingly slipping in my short time alone.