So in amongst trying to finish up my private pilot’s license, I’m also working toward my instrument rating. Last night in instrument ground school, we took some quizzes to see where the soft spots are. From what I can tell, ground school (both private and instrument) is simply designed to help you pass the written test. So there’s lots of information put out, lots of quizzes, some tests and ultimately you are ready to take your written test. So in last night’s class there was a question that read (not verbatim): If a pilot is flying along on a course with a 20º right correction for wind and ATC advises them that there is traffic at 2 O’Clock, where should the pilot look for traffic? The answers were:A) Directly off the noseB) 20º to the right of the noseC) 40º to the right of the nose The correct answer is … Read More
Crest and Boeing and a HUGE Compliment!
Today was an exciting day for me! (Even though I still can’t talk much from the game yesterday). I had a flight lesson scheduled, polishing my skills before my check ride. We took off out of Thun field and headed to Crest Airpark (S36). Surrounded by trees, getting into Crest for my first time was a little nerve wracking especially the “dog leg” landing on runway 33 to skirt around the trees at the end of the runway. If you look at the image of Crest here, you’ll see the trees. Runway 33 is at the top of the image. You’ll notice it’s not advisable to come straight in on runway 33 because of the trees. You have to scootch over to the right (left as you’re flying in) and once you’re past the trees, scootch back over the runway and set it down. It was a little white knuckle … Read More
Never Has The Title Of My Site Been More Appropriate!
Guy trying to fly is right! I booked two flight lessons for this week, Monday 10-12 and Tuesday (today) from 9-12. I’ve been fogged out both days. The last time I flew on New Years Eve, the plane was late, my instructor had car trouble and she was late (which is fine because we didn’t have a plane to fly anyway), when the plane finally did get there, it was almost empty of fuel, and two of the three tires were low on air. So I had to wait for the plane to get towed to the fuel pumps to fill it up, then towed to the maintenance hangar to get air in the tires. So by the time we actually got to fly, our noon reservation turned into 1:30. Someone else had the plane right after me, so I couldn’t just extend my flight by 1.5 hours. Instead of … Read More
The Finish Line Draweth Near!
I’m so excited!! The weather around here (Washington) has turned to our typical fall gray, rainy days. The opportunities to fly have been few and far between. But I just checked the weather forecast for the rest of the week and Friday and Saturday are looking stellar! I think between the two days, I’ll be able to get two big chunks of my license requirements done. According to FAR 61.109: 61.109 Aeronautical Experience. (a) For an airplane single-engine rating. Except as provided in paragraph (k) of this section, a person who applies for a private pilot certificate with an airplane category and single-engine class rating must log at least 40 hours of flight time (DONE!!) that includes at least 20 hours of flight training from an authorized instructor (DONE!!) and 10 hours of solo flight training (ALMOST Done!) in the areas of operation listed in §61.107(b)(1) of this part, and the training … Read More
Workin’ On Our Night Moves…
Tryin’ to make some front page flyin’ news… Some of you will get that, all the rest of you Google “Bob Seger, Night Moves”. I got to fly at night tonight! That makes four days in a row flying! I think it’s time to take a couple days off. As I’m headed to Vegas this weekend, it may not be until next week that I get to fly again, but the last week has been an absolute blast! I flew 5 of 7 days, I only wish I could keep this pace up! But most of what I have left to do are cross country flights, which take a significant amount of time, both to plan and execute. So I don’t think my pace will be nearly as frenzied going forward. All day today I was looking forward to tonight. Nervous anticipation to be sure! My instructor was teaching ground … Read More
Skagit Bayview (KBVS) Cross Country
Another milestone reached in my flight training! This week I scheduled four flight lessons positive that at least two of them would be cancelled due to weather. Well so far I’m three for three this week and with any luck, tomorrow I’ll be four for four! On Tuesday (09/30/14) I flew for the first time solo to another airport. It was the closest airport to home, but the fact that I took off from ONE airport, landed at another and came back was significant. I expanded my sandbox as my instructor likes to say. Yesterday (10/3/14) I flew out to the practice area over Enumclaw and did maneuvers. Power on stalls, power off stalls (no, we don’t turn off the engine), maneuvering in slow flight, turns around a point, and S-Turns. Then came back and landed. Both of those were solo flights. Today’s plan was to fly from Thun Field … Read More
Break On Through…Signed Off For More Airports!
So I haven’t written much in my Blog lately… I’ve been super frustrated with my flight training as of late. I soloed on August 21st, then promptly went on a weeks vacation. By the time I flew again, it had been two weeks since that epic day. The day I did fly, the winds were pretty strong, I was flying with an instructor I had never flown with, and had a horrible day. I was really discouraged. I did a couple more flight lessons, and then my instructor and I did a day of nothing but laps in the pattern, my first three takeoffs and landings were great. So my instructor hopped out, and I was soloing again. Super excited about it! Finally getting to fly by myself again! My takeoff was great, my pattern was great, my landing… Excuse my French, sucked ass. I bounced three times, should have … Read More
A Couple of Flight Lessons
After soloing, I headed off for a much needed vacation. It was my birthday week and Teri and I try to get over to Leavenworth a couple times a year. This time was for a week. It was awesome, I had a really relaxing time, but I didn’t get to fly. At all. OK, 10 minutes in the right seat of a DeHavilland DHC-2 Beaver where I didn’t get to touch anything, but I’m not counting it because it didn’t get logged in my logbook. But no flying to speak of. So coming back, the earliest I could fly was on the 4th of September, which was a full two weeks since my solo. And it showed. To top it all off, my normal instructor wasn’t available so I flew with the Chief Flight Instructor for Safety In Motion Flight Center, Shawn Pratt. Shawn is really nice, and I’m not … Read More
Just Call Me “Wog”… With VIDEO!!!
Well today was finally the day! My first solo flight! The day started out rather discouraging. The automated weather at Thun Field (KPLU) is still out, so we’re still going on best information we have available to determine what the weather is doing, which usually means checking the METAR and TAF at McChord Field on JBLM. They were reporting Marginal VFR conditions with the ceiling between 1,800 and 2,000 feet. Pattern altitude at Thun is 1,500 feet, but being a student pilot I need to maintain at least 500 feet of vertical separation from the clouds, which means the clouds need to be at a minimum 2,000 feet. I arrived at the airport at 9:30 for my 10AM flight lesson. I checked the gas and the oil in the plane and began my weight and balance calculations. Since the automated weather was out, AND I REALLY wanted to fly, I … Read More
Solo Close But Yet Solo Far…
Amazing flight lesson today! I had booked the plane (N84823) from 5PM – 8PM for a good long lesson. Unfortunately my two other scheduled lessons this week were cancelled due to weather. Tuesday and Thursday were no gos, but the sun was shining brightly today and even though it was hot, we were gonna fly! I arrived at the airport at 4:30, checked the gas and the oil in the plane, and did my preflight calculations for weight and balance. Final check of the weather and headed back out to the plane for my preflight check. My instructor was still debriefing with her last student, but that’s quite alright. I like doing the preflight on my own, taking my time to double check everything is just right. At about 5:15 she arrived at the plane and we saddled up and got ready to head out. She originally said we were … Read More