Last Sunday I wrote a post about Weight and Balance in which I described a pretty scary situation where a plane, seemingly over loaded, took off, bounced on the runway, took off again and made what I thought was an impossible turn back to the runway and landed again. This is just a quick video that was shot by my Garmin VIRB camera while I was preparing for that flight lesson. Maybe if you have eagle eyes like my instructor, you can see if the plane is heavy or not. The right side of the screen is pixelated due to privacy concerns for my instructor. Sections of the video are sped up for brevity. I’m not sure you can see much from this, but I thought it was kind of cool that I did get the plane taxing, taking off, landing and taxing back.
A Lesson In Weight & Balance…The Hard Way
I had a nice long flight lesson scheduled today. Truth be told, all I wanted to do today was fly the pattern. The plan was to take off from KPLU, head over to KTIW, go a bit West of the airport and practice a couple of maneuvers then do touch and go’s at Tacoma Narrows. I was going to get more practice on the radios talking to the tower, I was going to get to practice forward slips and simulated engine out procedures, the day was going to be great! One step closer to solo! Or so I thought. When I got up this morning, KPLU was reporting VFR conditions, but KTIW was reporting Marginal VFR with a pretty low ceiling. I got to the airport a bit early to work on my presolo written exam, and walked in right at 9. I told Meg about the weather, and she … Read More
My Mind’s Eye…
I’ve written ad nauseam about my journey with my weight. Not so much here, but on my other blog at http://johnhurlbut/blog It’s been something I’ve struggled with all of my life. I mean I have literally tried everything to lose weight. Weight Watchers, Atkins, South Beach, Cabbage Soup Diet, Hypnosis, Lap Band Surgery, I have done them all and a host of other things as well. Right now my journey includes 3010 Weight Loss For Life. And to be honest, it’s the most success I’ve had with a diet (lifestyle change) ever. I’m currently down 42 pounds in 9 weeks. Now do the math on that and it’s just shy of 5 pounds per wek. I’ve got 9 weeks left and am hopeful for another 30-40 pounds in that time. If that happens, I’ll be about 20 pounds heavier than when I graduated high school. That just blows my mind. … Read More
I AM a Student Pilot!
Well finally after four months, my 3rd class medical certificate and my student pilot certificate showed up in the mail! Some of you might be wondering what all the fuss is about. Well I’ll tell you. First of all your 3rd class medical serves as your official student pilot certificate. Kind of like your learners permit when you’re learning to drive a car. “But John, you’ve BEEN flying, so why do you need that?” That’s true, I have been flying. According to Part 61.109 of the FAR/AIM I need to have a minimum of 40 hours of flight training, of which 20 hours must be dual instruction and 10 hours must be solo flight. So I’ve been doing my dual instruction flights in the absence of my Student Pilot Certificate, so technically I haven’t been a student pilot until now. I must have my Student Pilot Certificate to Solo. So … Read More
Bravo…Class Bravo…
OK today I’m simply giddy with excitement! I got to do my third cross country flight, my longest time in the plane yet, 2.3 hours. I haven’t spent the time to total up my log book yet, but I’ve got to be closing in on 20ish hours of flight time. Today, our route was from KPLU (Thun Field) to 0S9 (Jefferson County Airport) up on the Peninsula. The way I planned it was like this: Take off out of KPLU and head pretty much due west, crossing over McChord AFB (KTCM). Which means I’d have to contact their tower and ask permission to cross over. Once we were past McChord, and over Harstine Island, I’d turn us just a little west of North and follow one of the designated Airways (Think Highway in the sky) using the Olympia VOR pretty much all the way up to Jefferson County Airport. Passing … Read More
Great Flight Lesson Today!
Today, as I posted about earlier, I found out on the FAA’s database, my 3rd class medical is in the mail. With any luck it will be here Thursday or Friday. I had a flight lesson scheduled for today and when I arrived, Meg, my instructor, had a present for me. My presolo written exam. Fortunately it’s a take home test, and there is no time limit. So I’ll be hitting the books over the next week or so making sure I get this done. Can’t solo until it’s done and I’ve passed it. That “S” word is coming up more and more lately. I’ve really got to work on my landings before I’m going to feel comfortable soloing. I don’t know if ANYONE feels comfortable soloing?? But it’s an incredibly special thing and I’m super excited that Meg is even HINTING at it!! I mean what percentage of the … Read More
Time To Start Wearing Shirts I Hate to The Airport!
Last week I called the FAA office of aerospace medicine here in WA State and inquired about the status of my 3rd class medical certificate. The guy I spoke to, Shawn, was really helpful and told me that he could see all my medical records were received, they were scanned in, and a letter had been written with a special issuance 3rd class medical attached. It was just waiting for a signature. So I put a note on my front door telling the letter carrier I was waiting for a VERY IMPORTANT letter from the FAA and if she could, pleas call me when it arrives. (All of their communication thus far has been sent registered mail). Nothing all week. So yesterday I called again. The nice lady that picked up the phone gave me the same story that it was there (In Oklahoma City) just waiting to be signed. … Read More
2nd Cross Country Flight and A Lot of Firsts…
So today, I had a flight lesson scheduled and we decided yesterday to make it a cross country flight. So last night I planned a flight from Thun Field (KPLU) to Arlington (KAWO). A distance of about 66 nautical miles. I was up until about 11PM making sure I got everything filled out on the flight planning form that I could do without a weather briefing. I had a hard time sleeping last night in anticipation of the flight. I think I finally went to bed at 12:30 and I swear I woke up every 1/2 hour and looked at the clock. When the alarm went off at 6:00AM, I was already awake for a good 15-20 minutes. I got up and retrieved the latest weather from Foreflight and Aviationweather.gov and then I called Lockheed Martin Flight Services to double check the information I got was accurate. Finished filling out … Read More
Just a Couple Random Notes…
Personal – I weighed 275.7 pounds this morning. That officially puts me lower than the lowest I got after lap band surgery. It also means that when I walk into my office on Monday morning, no one there has ever seen me this “thin”. The next milestone to fall will be when I hit 266 pounds. That was the lowest my weight was in 2002 after a few months and losing 50+ pounds on Weight Watchers. When I hit 265 and change, it’s a good bet that no one in the past 18ish years has sen me at that weight? I think I was around 270 in 1997 when Teri & I started dating. There was a lot of working out then, but I don’t think there was much weight lost at that time. I have 12 or so weeks to go on 3010 Weight Loss For Life. If I … Read More
Density Altitude – Flight Lesson 07-02-14
After a week in California helping my dad recover from his Pacemaker surgery (read: laying in the 105° sun), I have been itching to get back in the air and continue my flight training. I called the FAA on Monday to make sure they had received all my medical records and letters from doctors, etc. I was told that everything was received and scanned in, a letter had been written and it was just waiting for a doctor’s signature. It sounds like FINALLY, the wait for my 3rd class medical certificate might be over! According to the person from our local office of aerospace medicine, I will be given a “special issuance” 3rd class medical. Which means simply that in addition to my regular flight physical every couple of years, I’ll need to provide them with additional information. Specifically about my sleep apnea and usage of my Cpap machine. No … Read More