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
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
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
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
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
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
$1,000 Worth of Hamburgers…
There’s no question that flying is the most expensive hobby I’ve ever undertaken. The cost of getting my private license alone will be in the $10,000-$12,000 range. Then of course the question is: “Now that you HAVE your license, what do you want to do with it?” Of course I want to remain proficient, so my goal after getting my license is to fly a minimum of 5 hours per month. But I’m not going to spend all that time in the traffic pattern around my home airport. What’s the fun in that? I DO plan to get my instrument rating as well, so that’ll take a fair amount of time. I’d like to also get my multi-engine, high performance and complex airplane ratings as well. Seaplane would be a lot of fun too. But keeping current with all of those would require a whole lotta time and extra money. … Read More
Learning Plateaus Suck…
“More Right rudder John” “Don’t let the ball slip out John” “I feel like we’re a little fast John” “It seems like we’re a little high let’s fix that” “Let’s not do that again shall we?” “No more that 20 degrees of bank John” “More right rudder John” (Yes, I know I already said that, pilots know what I’m talking about). I’ve hit, according to Meg, a “learning plateau”. It feels like I’ve never been at the controls of a plane before. Yesteray was supposed to be a day that we just practiced takeoffs and landings. We got all of two takeoffs and landings completed. Yesterday I was frustrated, Meg was frustrated, even the plane seemed frustrated with me. I expected to get at least four takeoffs and landings in yesterday, instead I got two. The first takeoff was one of my better ones. But climbing out I was pitching … Read More