Clearly, I haven't posted on here in a long time. My last post was last year. Oops... The North Dakota winter presented itself as a problem in an already turbulent situation.
I decided I don't want to fly for a living. I'd rather fly for fun, when I want to, and not have to prepare so much for a simple flight within the area. But, because I still want to keep flying as a hobby, albeit an expensive one, I need to finish my Private Pilot flight training. Seeing as how I do not want to fly for a living, I took a somewhat casual approach. I'm not saying I approach my training itself casually, not in the least bit. But when it comes to scheduling it's nice to take some time off. So I became "choosy" when it came to scheduling and when I got canceled for some reason, I didn't think much of it.
Now comes the North Dakota winter. When I wanted to fly and I had a scheduled launch time, the weather conditions were more often than not bad enough to prevent any flying. Snow storms, low cloud cover, and the worst of all...high winds. Whenever it was nice and sunny out with clear skies, you'd think it was a nice day to fly. But then I thought, what pushed that bad weather out so fast? Oh yeah! Wind. Since coming back to UND after semester break, I had flown one flight up until today. I had yet to do my review flight before I left for break, but decided to do it when I came back since I'd have to do another one anyway since it would've been a long time since I had flown last. I flew that flight, but needed to do it twice because of the timespan since the previous flight. I never got the second flight in.
Because it's been awhile since I got that one flight, my first of the year 2009, I got reset to having to do two review flights.
I just flew the the first today...after having been canceled on Friday due to clouds, Saturday due to clouds, Sunday due to high winds. Oh yeah! And Monday due to high winds. Today was windy, but not bad enough to keep me from flying. The wind pushed me around a bit during my Ground Reference maneuvers; I wasn't able to keep my turns around a point and S-Turns with perfect arcs. The wind pushed me around and tightened or pushed out my turn, but I did well to compensate.
I flew well for not having flown in 3 months...exceedingly well, even with our aircraft's problems. Oh yeah, we had problems. Firstly, my instructor took the inside pre-flight while I took the outside. She came out to inform me that our right fuel gauge was inop (inoperable), but it was placarded correctly and shouldn't prevent a problem since it was a backup anyway. No big deal.
So we're off in the air flying around nicely performing my turn around a point. I didn't get to complete that full 360 degree turn. My instructor yanked the controls back to level. I glanced back into the cockpit and saw the MFD (Multi-Functional Display) on my side was black with red X's in places where my instruments should've been displayed. We're taught to look outside the cockpit while flying and, during the turn, to use the nose of the aircraft and the horizon as my reference to whether or not I'm loosing or gaining altitude, glancing inside the cockpit only for quick references that the instruments are all reading correctly and there's nothing wrong. Well, the last time I had checked inside the cockpit they were fine. The system came back online. In normal cockpits with analogue gauges the instruments are all separate from each other. But in a Glass cockpit aircraft the instruments are all displayed on the screen (except for the few backups) and the system which runs it, ARHS, had apparently quit on us for a bit.
It came back online and reset itself quicky. My instructor reasoned that maybe one of us received a call or text message on our cell phones because she had that happen once where her whole screen went blank and she saw later that she had missed a call. When I was leaving the airport I checked my phone quick. Thankfully I did not have any missed calls or text messages, though I didn't see my instructor check her phone after the flight. This completely proves that the Mythbusters on the Discovery Channel are wrong. They proved that phones do not interfere with aircraft. We at UND have proved that wrong multiple times. I received an e-mail from one of the Lead Flight Instructors here warning us all about turning off our cell phones for our flights because he had just been alerted off a situation with someone else who had a problem in flight and their navigation equipment went out for a few minutes. My instructor told me she had it happen to her once before, and now I personally have experienced it. We didn't need to report it, but it makes me wonder how many others have the same thing happen to them and don't need to report it.
We decided to head back to Grand Forks after that just to be safe, since my instructor also heard a rattling throughout the flight, as did I, and she finally determined it to be the engine cowling. Yeah, no problem at all... Heading back into Grand Forks my instructor said we'd push our luck and try for 1 or 2 stop-n-go landings. I was fine with it. It wasn't likely that our engine cowling would pop open in mid-flight and even if it did everything is secure within the engine compartment that nothing would fly out. We'd just have some added drag and a nice obstruction in our view point. Being creative, I bet if that happened I could use that to line myself up with the runway better. The cowling opens up longitudinally along the aircraft so if I looked down it and set the end down the center of the runway I'd be lined up. But that would be totally unnecessary.
We only did one stop-n-go landing before my instructor decided we should head in for good.
It felt good to be back up in the air again. Now, can I finish this within 3 weeks? I only have 5 more flights after my second review flight, hoping I don't unsat any checkrides. My money is on that I do finish within that time frame. Calm winds and blue skies!
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Monday, November 3, 2008
The Dark Night
After canceling the morning cross country flight to Bemidji, I made sure to catch a few more hours of sleep before I went up on my night flight.
Flying at night is the same as, yet completely different than flying during the day. Everything that's done during the day has to be done at night, but with more caution. You should always use caution while flying, but night flying is that much more dangerous. Then there's the additional procedures you should follow to keep your eyes in good shape throughout the flight.
When we pre-flight the aircraft, we don't exactly have the light of day to help us see, so we bring flashlights. These flashlights have to have two lenses; a white one is used to inspect the outside and the red is used at all times inside the aircaft. Because I didn't see any other alternatives I could buy, my flashlight was shaped like a normal flashlight. My instructor's flashlight was a headlamp that she just hung around her neck when using it inside the cockpit.
While readying the aircraft inside, I was struggling to handle both my kneeboard and documents, my map, my pen, my flashlight, and my hand used for pushing all the shiny buttons. My instructor saw me struggling and probably let it go for a bit so she could get a good laugh before she offered to switch lights. Seeing as I was the one that would be on the controls and needing both hands, I readily accepted. I hung the headlamp around my neck, as she did, so the red light didn't flood the entire cockpit, just around my kneeboard, map, and notes on my lap. Just in case you don't know why, the red light is used inside the cockpit to ease the strain on our eyes so we can still see outside the aircraft.
Once we were in the air it was a different feeling than flying during the day. I could see the lights of Grand Forks clearly. But I could also see all of the distant towns that usually blend into the horizon in the day. We proceeded to fly east of Grand Forks heading towards the Crookston, MN area. I saw a group of towers on my map ahead of us and when I looked up, sure enough there they were with there flashing red lights. We were well above them, don't worry, I'm just pointing out the fact that towers are terrible (invisible?) waypoints during the day, but at night they are the next best thing after a bright town.
My instructor told me to find the Crookston airport. I looked at where it should've been, but did not see it. I checked my map and made sure I was looking at the right spot in relation to the town of Crookston. My instructor reminded me of the fact that I can control the brightness of the airport lights. So I tuned the frequency in and gave the radio 7 clicks within 5 seconds and..."let there be light!" Cheesy reference, I know, but that's the kind of difference it made taking the airport lights up to there maximum brightness.
On the flight back to Grand Forks, the two reporting points we pass over, when inbound from the northwest, are made of water. They are the water treatment facilities for Grand Forks, so it's a good thing that smell doesn't penetrate into our aircraft. Because they are made of water, they have no lights on them, meaning there's a whole lot of nothing that is hard to see. The second reporting point, nicknamed Lagoons, is slightly easier to see because it's right on the corner of the airport and it has a lighted road passing through the middle of it.
Landing an airplane at night is supposed to be hard, but I didn't consider it so. I kept my eyes moving so I could, because of how human eyes are made, keep focus on everything I need to see at night. I divided my sight between checking the glide slope indicator the runway alignment, my speed indicator, and making sure the runway numbers didn't move within my windshield. I dropped my flaps at the correct intervals, kept my wind correction in, and gradually pulled that throttle back once I had the runway made.
I touched down so softly on the runway that I was questioning if we were all the way down. That was just a touch'n'go. On the second landing I touched down exactly on the centerline that my instructor told me to aim for, albeit a little harder, but I wasn't allowed to float down the runway to smooth it out. It was up to me if we would head in after 2 or 3 landings. When on final approach for the second landing I decided to make it a touch'n'go as well so I could get 3 night landings in. I was cleared for the option, meaning I could perform any landing I wanted, so it was acceptable to make that slightly late decision. Plus we had the plane and we had the time, so why not?
We went around for a third time before calling it a night. We taxied and parked the aircraft as the maintenance crews were pulling all the aircraft into the hangars for the night; we were among the last to fly for the night. Unlike another flight school, we actually have hangars that fit every single aircraft in our fleet. Very helpful for when winter comes, or say....a Christmas day tornado?
On the way back from the airport, I made a mental note to myself to go to Walmart and buy a red and white light headlamp to use. If it makes flying easier without making it dangerous, then there's nothing wrong with it.
Flying at night is the same as, yet completely different than flying during the day. Everything that's done during the day has to be done at night, but with more caution. You should always use caution while flying, but night flying is that much more dangerous. Then there's the additional procedures you should follow to keep your eyes in good shape throughout the flight.
When we pre-flight the aircraft, we don't exactly have the light of day to help us see, so we bring flashlights. These flashlights have to have two lenses; a white one is used to inspect the outside and the red is used at all times inside the aircaft. Because I didn't see any other alternatives I could buy, my flashlight was shaped like a normal flashlight. My instructor's flashlight was a headlamp that she just hung around her neck when using it inside the cockpit.
While readying the aircraft inside, I was struggling to handle both my kneeboard and documents, my map, my pen, my flashlight, and my hand used for pushing all the shiny buttons. My instructor saw me struggling and probably let it go for a bit so she could get a good laugh before she offered to switch lights. Seeing as I was the one that would be on the controls and needing both hands, I readily accepted. I hung the headlamp around my neck, as she did, so the red light didn't flood the entire cockpit, just around my kneeboard, map, and notes on my lap. Just in case you don't know why, the red light is used inside the cockpit to ease the strain on our eyes so we can still see outside the aircraft.
Once we were in the air it was a different feeling than flying during the day. I could see the lights of Grand Forks clearly. But I could also see all of the distant towns that usually blend into the horizon in the day. We proceeded to fly east of Grand Forks heading towards the Crookston, MN area. I saw a group of towers on my map ahead of us and when I looked up, sure enough there they were with there flashing red lights. We were well above them, don't worry, I'm just pointing out the fact that towers are terrible (invisible?) waypoints during the day, but at night they are the next best thing after a bright town.
My instructor told me to find the Crookston airport. I looked at where it should've been, but did not see it. I checked my map and made sure I was looking at the right spot in relation to the town of Crookston. My instructor reminded me of the fact that I can control the brightness of the airport lights. So I tuned the frequency in and gave the radio 7 clicks within 5 seconds and..."let there be light!" Cheesy reference, I know, but that's the kind of difference it made taking the airport lights up to there maximum brightness.
On the flight back to Grand Forks, the two reporting points we pass over, when inbound from the northwest, are made of water. They are the water treatment facilities for Grand Forks, so it's a good thing that smell doesn't penetrate into our aircraft. Because they are made of water, they have no lights on them, meaning there's a whole lot of nothing that is hard to see. The second reporting point, nicknamed Lagoons, is slightly easier to see because it's right on the corner of the airport and it has a lighted road passing through the middle of it.
Landing an airplane at night is supposed to be hard, but I didn't consider it so. I kept my eyes moving so I could, because of how human eyes are made, keep focus on everything I need to see at night. I divided my sight between checking the glide slope indicator the runway alignment, my speed indicator, and making sure the runway numbers didn't move within my windshield. I dropped my flaps at the correct intervals, kept my wind correction in, and gradually pulled that throttle back once I had the runway made.
I touched down so softly on the runway that I was questioning if we were all the way down. That was just a touch'n'go. On the second landing I touched down exactly on the centerline that my instructor told me to aim for, albeit a little harder, but I wasn't allowed to float down the runway to smooth it out. It was up to me if we would head in after 2 or 3 landings. When on final approach for the second landing I decided to make it a touch'n'go as well so I could get 3 night landings in. I was cleared for the option, meaning I could perform any landing I wanted, so it was acceptable to make that slightly late decision. Plus we had the plane and we had the time, so why not?
We went around for a third time before calling it a night. We taxied and parked the aircraft as the maintenance crews were pulling all the aircraft into the hangars for the night; we were among the last to fly for the night. Unlike another flight school, we actually have hangars that fit every single aircraft in our fleet. Very helpful for when winter comes, or say....a Christmas day tornado?
On the way back from the airport, I made a mental note to myself to go to Walmart and buy a red and white light headlamp to use. If it makes flying easier without making it dangerous, then there's nothing wrong with it.
Friday, October 24, 2008
Wx Raining on My Parade
Last weekend I was scheduled to go up for my second solo flight. My first solo flight was just around the traffic pattern at Grand Forks, but this flight had me flying out to the practice area to perform various maneuvers by myself.
I was ecstatic to once again fly solo, especially since I'd be flying away from the airport out to the practice area. Unfortunately, the weather rained on my parade. Not literally. Actually the weather would have been perfect to go up on a dual flight with my instructor; the only bad atmospheric conditions were the winds. They had just gone above my solo wind endorsement as I was getting ready to walk out the door.
I contacted my instructor and we changed our plans to skip the solo flight and move on to the next lesson. The next one was a ground lesson that would introduce me to cross country flight planning. There are two ground lessons in a row for the flight planning, so we were able to accomplish the second one the following day.
After the two ground lessons were completed my instructor gave me an assignment of planning out my first cross country flight. The trip had to have 3 legs, with one being at least 50 nautical miles. With those requirements, I chose to fly from Grand Forks, ND to Bemidji, MN for the first leg, proceed to Thief River Falls, MN for the second leg before returning to Grand Forks for the final leg. To fit the trip in with our schedules we had to move my launch time up from 1000 to 0800...the exact time the sun was supposed to wake up for that day. I was supposed to be at the airport by 0600 to meet my instructor so we could do the last bit of flight planning that we need current weather data for.
With that I made the decision to wake up at 0430. I had checked the forecasts the previous night and the weather was looking iffy, but I thought there might be a chance it would clear up. My instructor called at 0530 informing me that she did not like the weather outlook and we would reschedule our flight.
I did not like the fact that I woke up at 0430 only to cancel my flight. But on the upside we reschedule for 2200 that night, allowing me to get the next lesson in, a night flight. That was a good choice that my instructor made. When I met up with her for my night flight she informed me that had we decided to continue our flight we would have gotten stuck in Thief River Falls because by the time we would have arrived around that area the conditions had gone IFR (Instrument Flight Rules), meaning I could not have continued my flight because I have to stay VFR (Visual Flight Rules).
Every pilot, no matter how experienced they are or who they are flying for, has to deal with the weather.
I was ecstatic to once again fly solo, especially since I'd be flying away from the airport out to the practice area. Unfortunately, the weather rained on my parade. Not literally. Actually the weather would have been perfect to go up on a dual flight with my instructor; the only bad atmospheric conditions were the winds. They had just gone above my solo wind endorsement as I was getting ready to walk out the door.
I contacted my instructor and we changed our plans to skip the solo flight and move on to the next lesson. The next one was a ground lesson that would introduce me to cross country flight planning. There are two ground lessons in a row for the flight planning, so we were able to accomplish the second one the following day.
After the two ground lessons were completed my instructor gave me an assignment of planning out my first cross country flight. The trip had to have 3 legs, with one being at least 50 nautical miles. With those requirements, I chose to fly from Grand Forks, ND to Bemidji, MN for the first leg, proceed to Thief River Falls, MN for the second leg before returning to Grand Forks for the final leg. To fit the trip in with our schedules we had to move my launch time up from 1000 to 0800...the exact time the sun was supposed to wake up for that day. I was supposed to be at the airport by 0600 to meet my instructor so we could do the last bit of flight planning that we need current weather data for.
With that I made the decision to wake up at 0430. I had checked the forecasts the previous night and the weather was looking iffy, but I thought there might be a chance it would clear up. My instructor called at 0530 informing me that she did not like the weather outlook and we would reschedule our flight.
I did not like the fact that I woke up at 0430 only to cancel my flight. But on the upside we reschedule for 2200 that night, allowing me to get the next lesson in, a night flight. That was a good choice that my instructor made. When I met up with her for my night flight she informed me that had we decided to continue our flight we would have gotten stuck in Thief River Falls because by the time we would have arrived around that area the conditions had gone IFR (Instrument Flight Rules), meaning I could not have continued my flight because I have to stay VFR (Visual Flight Rules).
Every pilot, no matter how experienced they are or who they are flying for, has to deal with the weather.
Fear and Trust
A few weeks ago I came upon my Lesson 14 Stage Check. Stage checks for flying are like tests for a classroom. An instructor, different from your own, takes you up to test you on all the flying knowledge gained through the previous 13 lessons. There are two stages to a Stage Check: the oral, and the practical.
When I walked into UND Dispatch to meet my stage check pilot, he seemed ready to get up in the air. When we went to receive our aircraft, he found out he had accidentally doubled up and scheduled two students for a stage check at the exact same launch time. He thought about it for a bit before saying, "It's alright. I'll do you both at the same time." The surrounding instructors got a good laugh from this situation.
The stage check pilot, let's call him Jason, explained to us both how this flight would go with both of us flying. Jason told the other student, we'll call him Bill, to proceed to get the weight and balance and the performance data for our aircraft since he already went through the oral part the previous day. Jason told Bill to continue on to the preflight check as well, and to do it slowly since he still needed to go through the oral part with myself.
When Jason and I finished the oral part of the stage check, we proceeded out to our aircraft only to find Bill just finishing up with the weight and balance and the performance data. At the aircraft, I was assigned to do the interior preflight while Jason and Bill worked together on the exterior preflight. After the preflight was finished, we received our clearance and taxied out to the runway.
This would be my first takeoff with a passenger in the back, but I forgot one crucial part of the flight because I wasn't assigned to it. I forgot to ask Bill for the numbers he got with his calculations. I needed our liftoff speed, the takeoff roll, and the total takeoff distance. Without the rear passenger, the liftoff speed will tend to hover around 48 knots, but with the added weight the liftoff speed will increase as well. The takeoff roll and total distances all depend on the outside air temperature and the wind speed and direction.
I lifted the aircraft off the ground prematurely into ground effect (wingtip vortices are diminished by close proximity to the ground, thereby reducing drag, increasing lift, and increasing performance). I tried to continue climbing but settled back down onto the runway once I flew out of ground effect (roughly the height of the plane's width between the wingtips)...oops. Once I obtained a higher speed I was able to liftoff and continue to climb normally.
Jason announced that it wasn't my fault because it was Bill's job to get the numbers. In reality, I should've remembered to ask Bill for the data and he should have remembered to give it to me had I forgotten. We all screwed up, but we lived.
I proceeded to fly to our destination airport while flying the Aerodynamics Demonstration I needed to perform for Jason. When we arrived at Grafton airport I entered the pattern to to 2 touch'n'goes and one full stop so Bill and I could switch seats. He would fly in the pattern at Grafton as well as the return flight to Grand Forks. The winds, being almost at a direct 15 knot crosswind, didn't make the landings easy. Our PA-28 Piper Warrior is only rated up to a 17 knot direct crosswind. Fortunately, I didn't have to perform any go-arounds.
When Bill and I switched seats, it was my first time sitting in the back with another student pilot at the controls up front. I was interested to see how good of a pilot he was because pilots are constantly judging other pilots and comparing themselves to them. I had my first scare right after takeoff. There are two climb speeds, Vy and Vx. Vy gives the greatest gain of altitude in the shortest amount of time at 79 knots. Vx gives the greatest gain of altitude in the shortest horizontal distance at 63 knots; usually used to clear an object.
Bill was climbing so steeply that we was struggling to maintain 60 knots, let alone 63 or 79! While flying in a traffic pattern, pilots should never bank the aircraft more than 30 degrees because of the amount of lift lost. Bill's first turn was banked closer to 45 degrees than it was to 30! I was definitely on alert, but knew that the airplane wouldn't stall until the wing exceeded the critical angle-of-attack. And Bill was not at those extremes, though he was getting close. Either way, there was a competent instructor up front as well ready to take over at anytime, so I didn't need to worry.
The fun part came when Bill didn't fly far enough away from the airport on the crosswind leg of the traffic pattern. Because of this the downwind leg was close to the airport and only getting closer as he was not compensating for the wind. When it came time for Bill to turn to base, and consequently final, he was way too close to the runway and way too high. He did not extend his final far enough and was approaching the runway at too high of an angle. The glideslope given by the reference lights is usually around a 3 degree slope. Bill was probably closer to 15 or 20 on his first attempt. The plane was 1/3 of the way down the runway and still 30-50 ft in the air when Jason told Bill to execute a go around.
On the second try, Bill still didn't get it. Did I hear the stall warning horn as he climbed out and turned to the crosswind leg? On the third try he was able to land the aircraft, but only after following specific orders from Jason on how to fly the traffic pattern. Throughout this ordeal I was gripping the seat between my legs as tight as I could with both hands and trying to keep a cool expression on my face. I wasn't worried at all about getting sick by how Bill was flying, I was more worried about him possibly crashing the aircraft.
Jason initially told Bill he would perform 2 touch'n'go landings at Grafton, fly back and perform the last landing at Grand Forks. But after the second landing, Jason took control of the aircraft and demonstrated how to fly an excellent traffic pattern and landed the aircraft beautifully with proper wind correction. Bill received one more landing at Grafton to get it down, as I gripped my seat again because he once more had the controls.
Earlier in the flight I pulled the aircraft's nose up to demonstrate those effects, and from that nose-up attitude pitched the aircraft all the way over to a nose-down attitude. During that maneuver we experienced some prolonged negative G-force. During Bill's Aerodynamics Demo I believe he wanted payback on me. He performed abrupt control movements and as he abruptly pitched the nose over I could see Jason's head get thrown back as well as feel my headset brush the top of the cabin. I believe my control movements were smooth, not dangerously abrupt.
Bill is a student pilot just like me, but I hope he just had an off day. Never before had I been legitimately scared while riding in an aircraft. I fully trusted Jason to take over control of the Warrior if need be, but he apparently had more trust in Bill than I did.
The results of the flight were good. Bill and I both passed the checkride, and we came off that flight having both learned something. Bill learned how to fly a better traffic pattern, and I learned never to fly with him again. I expect his flying skills to greatly increase by the time he obtains his Private Pilot certificate, but for now I shall avoid flying with him.
When I walked into UND Dispatch to meet my stage check pilot, he seemed ready to get up in the air. When we went to receive our aircraft, he found out he had accidentally doubled up and scheduled two students for a stage check at the exact same launch time. He thought about it for a bit before saying, "It's alright. I'll do you both at the same time." The surrounding instructors got a good laugh from this situation.
The stage check pilot, let's call him Jason, explained to us both how this flight would go with both of us flying. Jason told the other student, we'll call him Bill, to proceed to get the weight and balance and the performance data for our aircraft since he already went through the oral part the previous day. Jason told Bill to continue on to the preflight check as well, and to do it slowly since he still needed to go through the oral part with myself.
When Jason and I finished the oral part of the stage check, we proceeded out to our aircraft only to find Bill just finishing up with the weight and balance and the performance data. At the aircraft, I was assigned to do the interior preflight while Jason and Bill worked together on the exterior preflight. After the preflight was finished, we received our clearance and taxied out to the runway.
This would be my first takeoff with a passenger in the back, but I forgot one crucial part of the flight because I wasn't assigned to it. I forgot to ask Bill for the numbers he got with his calculations. I needed our liftoff speed, the takeoff roll, and the total takeoff distance. Without the rear passenger, the liftoff speed will tend to hover around 48 knots, but with the added weight the liftoff speed will increase as well. The takeoff roll and total distances all depend on the outside air temperature and the wind speed and direction.
I lifted the aircraft off the ground prematurely into ground effect (wingtip vortices are diminished by close proximity to the ground, thereby reducing drag, increasing lift, and increasing performance). I tried to continue climbing but settled back down onto the runway once I flew out of ground effect (roughly the height of the plane's width between the wingtips)...oops. Once I obtained a higher speed I was able to liftoff and continue to climb normally.
Jason announced that it wasn't my fault because it was Bill's job to get the numbers. In reality, I should've remembered to ask Bill for the data and he should have remembered to give it to me had I forgotten. We all screwed up, but we lived.
I proceeded to fly to our destination airport while flying the Aerodynamics Demonstration I needed to perform for Jason. When we arrived at Grafton airport I entered the pattern to to 2 touch'n'goes and one full stop so Bill and I could switch seats. He would fly in the pattern at Grafton as well as the return flight to Grand Forks. The winds, being almost at a direct 15 knot crosswind, didn't make the landings easy. Our PA-28 Piper Warrior is only rated up to a 17 knot direct crosswind. Fortunately, I didn't have to perform any go-arounds.
When Bill and I switched seats, it was my first time sitting in the back with another student pilot at the controls up front. I was interested to see how good of a pilot he was because pilots are constantly judging other pilots and comparing themselves to them. I had my first scare right after takeoff. There are two climb speeds, Vy and Vx. Vy gives the greatest gain of altitude in the shortest amount of time at 79 knots. Vx gives the greatest gain of altitude in the shortest horizontal distance at 63 knots; usually used to clear an object.
Bill was climbing so steeply that we was struggling to maintain 60 knots, let alone 63 or 79! While flying in a traffic pattern, pilots should never bank the aircraft more than 30 degrees because of the amount of lift lost. Bill's first turn was banked closer to 45 degrees than it was to 30! I was definitely on alert, but knew that the airplane wouldn't stall until the wing exceeded the critical angle-of-attack. And Bill was not at those extremes, though he was getting close. Either way, there was a competent instructor up front as well ready to take over at anytime, so I didn't need to worry.
The fun part came when Bill didn't fly far enough away from the airport on the crosswind leg of the traffic pattern. Because of this the downwind leg was close to the airport and only getting closer as he was not compensating for the wind. When it came time for Bill to turn to base, and consequently final, he was way too close to the runway and way too high. He did not extend his final far enough and was approaching the runway at too high of an angle. The glideslope given by the reference lights is usually around a 3 degree slope. Bill was probably closer to 15 or 20 on his first attempt. The plane was 1/3 of the way down the runway and still 30-50 ft in the air when Jason told Bill to execute a go around.
On the second try, Bill still didn't get it. Did I hear the stall warning horn as he climbed out and turned to the crosswind leg? On the third try he was able to land the aircraft, but only after following specific orders from Jason on how to fly the traffic pattern. Throughout this ordeal I was gripping the seat between my legs as tight as I could with both hands and trying to keep a cool expression on my face. I wasn't worried at all about getting sick by how Bill was flying, I was more worried about him possibly crashing the aircraft.
Jason initially told Bill he would perform 2 touch'n'go landings at Grafton, fly back and perform the last landing at Grand Forks. But after the second landing, Jason took control of the aircraft and demonstrated how to fly an excellent traffic pattern and landed the aircraft beautifully with proper wind correction. Bill received one more landing at Grafton to get it down, as I gripped my seat again because he once more had the controls.
Earlier in the flight I pulled the aircraft's nose up to demonstrate those effects, and from that nose-up attitude pitched the aircraft all the way over to a nose-down attitude. During that maneuver we experienced some prolonged negative G-force. During Bill's Aerodynamics Demo I believe he wanted payback on me. He performed abrupt control movements and as he abruptly pitched the nose over I could see Jason's head get thrown back as well as feel my headset brush the top of the cabin. I believe my control movements were smooth, not dangerously abrupt.
Bill is a student pilot just like me, but I hope he just had an off day. Never before had I been legitimately scared while riding in an aircraft. I fully trusted Jason to take over control of the Warrior if need be, but he apparently had more trust in Bill than I did.
The results of the flight were good. Bill and I both passed the checkride, and we came off that flight having both learned something. Bill learned how to fly a better traffic pattern, and I learned never to fly with him again. I expect his flying skills to greatly increase by the time he obtains his Private Pilot certificate, but for now I shall avoid flying with him.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Flying Alone
When I arrived at UND Dispatch last Saturday, my instructor informed me we needed to complete Lesson 11 before my solo flight, which was Lesson 12. Lesson 11 consisted of us going over the FAR Part 91 Regulations, as well as some of UND's Safety Policies and Procedures. We spent that morning lesson reviewing those before she sent me home to eat lunch and to study for 3 hours.
I returned at 3:00 pm, ready to take my pre-solo test. This was a test of my knowledge so far and it didn't matter too much how many I got wrong as long as I corrected it to 100%. I passed the test, and put in a slip to Dispatch to get an airplane for my lesson and solo. We were number 2 in line for an aircraft when we heard the people in front of us got Maintenanced. My instructor ran over and checked for us. Sure enough, we were Maintenanced as well...meaning I don't get an aircraft to fly that day, nor do I get to solo. We both went home satisfied that we at least got one lesson in that day, plus my pre-solo test.
Then today arrives. I wasn't nervous, but rather anxious. Almost too anxious. My roommate was about to solo as well so we were both excited. It was interesting to see us together, and probably torture for anyone who had to eat with us at the same time in the days leading up to our solos.
I arrived at UND Dispatch once again, ready with all of my information for the flight. My instructor checked that I had all my necessary documents. We got our aircraft and I went out to pre-flight it while she received her own weather briefing. We went through the routine of starting her up and headed out to the runway.
Usually, after takeoff, I turn to a specified heading and fly away from Grand Forks. Not today. This time I was staying in the traffic pattern. We flew up to the pattern, and I performed 4 landings as my instructor critiqued me on what I needed to improve, mainly my airspeed and stepping to hard on the brakes. The first 3 landings were stop-and-goes and the fourth was a full stop.
I taxied the aircraft in and shut her down. My instructor endorsed my certificate, hopped out of the aircraft and asked me if I had any questions. I had only one: "how do I taxi off this ramp?" She seemed puzzled that I would ask that question when I was about to fly solo, but we never usually used this ramp so I was unsure if I could go out the way I entered it. Apparently I could. She closed and latched the door and walked away heading to the tower...probably to get laughed at by the controllers for her nervousness of hoping for me to do well.
When she was gone, I realized I was alone. If I did good, then I did good. If I made a mistake, it was my mistake. I had trouble starting the engine, as I did on the earlier flight, but it finally caught. An instructor going around a Seminole parked next to me looked over, smiled and nodded, and gave me a thumbs up. I just smiled back and returned the thumbs up. I taxied out to the runway, number 2 for takeoff behind another Piper Warrior. There was a Northwest CRJ-200 at the far end of the runway waiting to go, and I chuckled at the thought that the small UND aircraft were being given priority over an airliner. But they didn't seem to mind; they're getting paid well to wait and fly while we're paying to fly.
When I took off from the runway, I was amazed at how well I took off, then proceeded to climb faster than I expected because of the reduced weight of only one person onboard. This was when the realization really hit me and I thought to myself, "Hey, this isn't that hard! I'm flying alone and it's easy!"
I performed 4 landings; 3 landings were stop-and-goes, while the fourth was a full stop. When my instructor left me, she told me I had to perform a minimum of 3 landings, but I could do a fourth if I wanted to. It was up to me to determine if I wanted one more landing. I jumped on that opportunity and told myself I was doing 4 solo landings. ...why wouldn't I?
Every single one of those landings was a good one. If you can use the aircraft again, then it's a good landing. I came down hard once, and flared too early on another. But two of those landings I really liked, especially since I didn't have the help of my instructor telling me what to do or making minute adjustments to the controls.
After the last landing I taxied off the runway and acknowledged the tower's instructions. They congratulated me on my solo and I thanked them. Now who says controllers are bad?
Whe we arrived back at my instructor's office, her name placard was turned around with the nickname "Brakes" written on it instead. She laughed and explained that I don't have to feel bad about stepping on the brakes so much when I land. When she first flew at her home airport, she stepped on the brakes so hard that everyone at the airport heard her brakes and tires squealing. She also explained it was a small airport. When we entered the time in my logbook, I was ecstatic, but calm on the outside, to write in my first 0.8 hours of solo Pilot in Command time.
It's usually tradition for pilots to have the back of their shirt ripped off after their first solo. It's a tradition dating back to the early stages of flying when the instructor was usually seated behind the student and they tugged on the student's shirt to tell them something. When they did their solo, the instructor ripped off the back of the student's shirt to symbolize cutting them loose, saying they trusted them to fly alone. Thankfully, times have changed and not all instructors do this anymore. I just received many congratulations and jokes from my instructor on my solo, as well as a handshake.
The solo was rather routine, but unfortunately, I may have left my soul up in the sky.
There is nothing like flying alone. It's a dream come true for me.
"Congratulations."
"Thank you, sir."
I returned at 3:00 pm, ready to take my pre-solo test. This was a test of my knowledge so far and it didn't matter too much how many I got wrong as long as I corrected it to 100%. I passed the test, and put in a slip to Dispatch to get an airplane for my lesson and solo. We were number 2 in line for an aircraft when we heard the people in front of us got Maintenanced. My instructor ran over and checked for us. Sure enough, we were Maintenanced as well...meaning I don't get an aircraft to fly that day, nor do I get to solo. We both went home satisfied that we at least got one lesson in that day, plus my pre-solo test.
Then today arrives. I wasn't nervous, but rather anxious. Almost too anxious. My roommate was about to solo as well so we were both excited. It was interesting to see us together, and probably torture for anyone who had to eat with us at the same time in the days leading up to our solos.
I arrived at UND Dispatch once again, ready with all of my information for the flight. My instructor checked that I had all my necessary documents. We got our aircraft and I went out to pre-flight it while she received her own weather briefing. We went through the routine of starting her up and headed out to the runway.
Usually, after takeoff, I turn to a specified heading and fly away from Grand Forks. Not today. This time I was staying in the traffic pattern. We flew up to the pattern, and I performed 4 landings as my instructor critiqued me on what I needed to improve, mainly my airspeed and stepping to hard on the brakes. The first 3 landings were stop-and-goes and the fourth was a full stop.
I taxied the aircraft in and shut her down. My instructor endorsed my certificate, hopped out of the aircraft and asked me if I had any questions. I had only one: "how do I taxi off this ramp?" She seemed puzzled that I would ask that question when I was about to fly solo, but we never usually used this ramp so I was unsure if I could go out the way I entered it. Apparently I could. She closed and latched the door and walked away heading to the tower...probably to get laughed at by the controllers for her nervousness of hoping for me to do well.
When she was gone, I realized I was alone. If I did good, then I did good. If I made a mistake, it was my mistake. I had trouble starting the engine, as I did on the earlier flight, but it finally caught. An instructor going around a Seminole parked next to me looked over, smiled and nodded, and gave me a thumbs up. I just smiled back and returned the thumbs up. I taxied out to the runway, number 2 for takeoff behind another Piper Warrior. There was a Northwest CRJ-200 at the far end of the runway waiting to go, and I chuckled at the thought that the small UND aircraft were being given priority over an airliner. But they didn't seem to mind; they're getting paid well to wait and fly while we're paying to fly.
When I took off from the runway, I was amazed at how well I took off, then proceeded to climb faster than I expected because of the reduced weight of only one person onboard. This was when the realization really hit me and I thought to myself, "Hey, this isn't that hard! I'm flying alone and it's easy!"
I performed 4 landings; 3 landings were stop-and-goes, while the fourth was a full stop. When my instructor left me, she told me I had to perform a minimum of 3 landings, but I could do a fourth if I wanted to. It was up to me to determine if I wanted one more landing. I jumped on that opportunity and told myself I was doing 4 solo landings. ...why wouldn't I?
Every single one of those landings was a good one. If you can use the aircraft again, then it's a good landing. I came down hard once, and flared too early on another. But two of those landings I really liked, especially since I didn't have the help of my instructor telling me what to do or making minute adjustments to the controls.
After the last landing I taxied off the runway and acknowledged the tower's instructions. They congratulated me on my solo and I thanked them. Now who says controllers are bad?
Whe we arrived back at my instructor's office, her name placard was turned around with the nickname "Brakes" written on it instead. She laughed and explained that I don't have to feel bad about stepping on the brakes so much when I land. When she first flew at her home airport, she stepped on the brakes so hard that everyone at the airport heard her brakes and tires squealing. She also explained it was a small airport. When we entered the time in my logbook, I was ecstatic, but calm on the outside, to write in my first 0.8 hours of solo Pilot in Command time.
It's usually tradition for pilots to have the back of their shirt ripped off after their first solo. It's a tradition dating back to the early stages of flying when the instructor was usually seated behind the student and they tugged on the student's shirt to tell them something. When they did their solo, the instructor ripped off the back of the student's shirt to symbolize cutting them loose, saying they trusted them to fly alone. Thankfully, times have changed and not all instructors do this anymore. I just received many congratulations and jokes from my instructor on my solo, as well as a handshake.
The solo was rather routine, but unfortunately, I may have left my soul up in the sky.
There is nothing like flying alone. It's a dream come true for me.
"Congratulations."
"Thank you, sir."
Monday, September 22, 2008
Intense, Yet Fun
It has been awhile since my first flight and my last post. I have now completed 5 flights for a total of 7.2 hours, and something exciting has happened in almost all of them. I still watch in awe if there's a Northwest Airlines aircraft arriving or departing at the same time as me.
The last flight was the most exciting and frightening. I took off out of Grand Forks and turned towards Practice Area G around the Northwood, ND area. The point of this lesson was to practice simulated emergencies so I know how to recognize and handle them. As we entered the Practice Area, I announced on its frequency that I was entering from the Northeast corner at 3500' maneuvering between 3000' and 4000' around Northwood. My instructor suddenly pulls the throttle all the way back to idle and her only words to me were, "uh-oh." I immediately went through the Engine Failure Inflight checklist, switching fuel tanks, turning the fuel pump on, enriching the fuel mixture, turning the carburetor heat on. Well apparently it was the carburetor heat that worked; I had "ice in the carburetor" according to my instructor. Throughout that simulated emergency I lost a couple hundred feet in altitude thanks to not having an engine and not maintaining my best glide speed.
For the next simulated emergency, my instructor nonchalantly announces, "Oh, I think I see smoke coming out from the cowling." So I start going through the Engine Fire Inflight checklist in my head by immitating switching the fuel selector off (because I can't really turn my engine off for a training flight), I pull the throttle all the way back to idle, I pull the mixture to idle but my instructor was right behind me to push it back up because idling the mixture also turns off the engine. Then as I was turning the fuel pump off I heard an "OH CRAP!" from my instructor.
I could tell she meant it and wasn't trying to simulate another emergency. She immediately applied full throttle and banked hard left. I followed where she was looking out to our right and I saw another aircraft, an Extra 300, a highly aerobatic aircraft, climbing rapidly through our altitude, heading the opposite direction from us, and just starting to turn away from us. When he crossed our wing I estimated him to be about 1000 ft away from us.
My instructor told me to give a position report and I announced our position relative to Northwood. We got a reply from the pilot that he could now see us. Well that would've been nice if he was aware there was an aircraft ahead of and above him earlier, but it's good that he's aware now. We stayed back in the Northeast corner of the practice area for the rest of the flight until practicing various landings at Northwood, such as Power Off and No Flaps landings.
When we finished at Northwood I started climbing out to 2500' and made to depart out the Northeast corner of the practice area. I was still climbing through 2300' when we heard another UND aircraft announce they were entering Practice Area G from the Northeast at the same altitude we were climbing to. My instructor could not see the aircraft, so she told me to keep climbing through 2500' for 3000'. When we were around 2600' I spotted the aircraft straight ahead, 100' below us. I alerted my instructor, who still couldn't see it due to the fact that she is short and the aircraft was slightly below us, and turned away from it's path while I kept climbing. I watched as it passed under our left wing.
The rest of the flight was uneventful until preparation for landing back at Grand Forks. I performed one no-flap landing at Northwood, but I came in too fast and missed my intended touchdown point so my instructor told me to perform a no-flap landing into Grand Forks. The two major runways at Grand Forks intersect and the controllers usually tell aircraft to hold short of that intersection so they can land aircraft on one, launch aircraft on the other, and not have to worry too much about traffic building up. When my instructor told me to perform a no-flap landing, I was worried I would come in too fast again and not be able to stop before the intersection.
I kept the aircraft lined up through the slight crosswind, kept the flaps in, and bled my airspeed off perfectly before flaring the aircraft just above the runway. I held that flare almost right up to a stall before gently settling down onto the runway.
"Sioux 43, nice job, turn right taxi A3, contact ground."
Did I hear the Tower correctly? Did they actually give me a compliment on my landing? Maybe controllers are human after all...
During the briefing afterwards. my instructor told me she expected me to Solo later this week. I was surprised because I didn't realize that lesson was coming so quick. I will have sole control of the aircraft. I will be the sole occupant of the aircraft. Mother, don't be terrified. Just hope I don't bang the aircraft up so much that UND can't use it anymore.
For those that have time to waste, my instructor gave me a website I could go to and listen to the radio calls on the frequency for Grand Forks Tower. Head to www.LiveATC.net and look to the left and click on "LiveATC Feed Archives." Then click on September 20, 2008, select "KGFK - Grand Forks, ND," and select the 1500-1530Z block for the time. After clicking "Submit," a green "Listen" button will appear on the next page. It may or may not play in the web browser. If it does not play then it must be saved to the computer. 1500Z was when I departed Grand Forks and the 1600-1630Z block is when I arrived back at Grand Forks.
It is possible to move the slider over to specific times, so for the 1500Z block I have transmissions around 17 minutes, 20 seconds, 18:20, and 19:25. My call sign is "Sioux 43."
For the 1600Z block I have transmissions around 19:30 and 22:00. My call sign is still "Sioux 43."
Any landing you can walk away from is a good landing. One where you can use the airplane again is an excellent landing.
The last flight was the most exciting and frightening. I took off out of Grand Forks and turned towards Practice Area G around the Northwood, ND area. The point of this lesson was to practice simulated emergencies so I know how to recognize and handle them. As we entered the Practice Area, I announced on its frequency that I was entering from the Northeast corner at 3500' maneuvering between 3000' and 4000' around Northwood. My instructor suddenly pulls the throttle all the way back to idle and her only words to me were, "uh-oh." I immediately went through the Engine Failure Inflight checklist, switching fuel tanks, turning the fuel pump on, enriching the fuel mixture, turning the carburetor heat on. Well apparently it was the carburetor heat that worked; I had "ice in the carburetor" according to my instructor. Throughout that simulated emergency I lost a couple hundred feet in altitude thanks to not having an engine and not maintaining my best glide speed.
For the next simulated emergency, my instructor nonchalantly announces, "Oh, I think I see smoke coming out from the cowling." So I start going through the Engine Fire Inflight checklist in my head by immitating switching the fuel selector off (because I can't really turn my engine off for a training flight), I pull the throttle all the way back to idle, I pull the mixture to idle but my instructor was right behind me to push it back up because idling the mixture also turns off the engine. Then as I was turning the fuel pump off I heard an "OH CRAP!" from my instructor.
I could tell she meant it and wasn't trying to simulate another emergency. She immediately applied full throttle and banked hard left. I followed where she was looking out to our right and I saw another aircraft, an Extra 300, a highly aerobatic aircraft, climbing rapidly through our altitude, heading the opposite direction from us, and just starting to turn away from us. When he crossed our wing I estimated him to be about 1000 ft away from us.
My instructor told me to give a position report and I announced our position relative to Northwood. We got a reply from the pilot that he could now see us. Well that would've been nice if he was aware there was an aircraft ahead of and above him earlier, but it's good that he's aware now. We stayed back in the Northeast corner of the practice area for the rest of the flight until practicing various landings at Northwood, such as Power Off and No Flaps landings.
When we finished at Northwood I started climbing out to 2500' and made to depart out the Northeast corner of the practice area. I was still climbing through 2300' when we heard another UND aircraft announce they were entering Practice Area G from the Northeast at the same altitude we were climbing to. My instructor could not see the aircraft, so she told me to keep climbing through 2500' for 3000'. When we were around 2600' I spotted the aircraft straight ahead, 100' below us. I alerted my instructor, who still couldn't see it due to the fact that she is short and the aircraft was slightly below us, and turned away from it's path while I kept climbing. I watched as it passed under our left wing.
The rest of the flight was uneventful until preparation for landing back at Grand Forks. I performed one no-flap landing at Northwood, but I came in too fast and missed my intended touchdown point so my instructor told me to perform a no-flap landing into Grand Forks. The two major runways at Grand Forks intersect and the controllers usually tell aircraft to hold short of that intersection so they can land aircraft on one, launch aircraft on the other, and not have to worry too much about traffic building up. When my instructor told me to perform a no-flap landing, I was worried I would come in too fast again and not be able to stop before the intersection.
I kept the aircraft lined up through the slight crosswind, kept the flaps in, and bled my airspeed off perfectly before flaring the aircraft just above the runway. I held that flare almost right up to a stall before gently settling down onto the runway.
"Sioux 43, nice job, turn right taxi A3, contact ground."
Did I hear the Tower correctly? Did they actually give me a compliment on my landing? Maybe controllers are human after all...
During the briefing afterwards. my instructor told me she expected me to Solo later this week. I was surprised because I didn't realize that lesson was coming so quick. I will have sole control of the aircraft. I will be the sole occupant of the aircraft. Mother, don't be terrified. Just hope I don't bang the aircraft up so much that UND can't use it anymore.
For those that have time to waste, my instructor gave me a website I could go to and listen to the radio calls on the frequency for Grand Forks Tower. Head to www.LiveATC.net and look to the left and click on "LiveATC Feed Archives." Then click on September 20, 2008, select "KGFK - Grand Forks, ND," and select the 1500-1530Z block for the time. After clicking "Submit," a green "Listen" button will appear on the next page. It may or may not play in the web browser. If it does not play then it must be saved to the computer. 1500Z was when I departed Grand Forks and the 1600-1630Z block is when I arrived back at Grand Forks.
It is possible to move the slider over to specific times, so for the 1500Z block I have transmissions around 17 minutes, 20 seconds, 18:20, and 19:25. My call sign is "Sioux 43."
For the 1600Z block I have transmissions around 19:30 and 22:00. My call sign is still "Sioux 43."
Any landing you can walk away from is a good landing. One where you can use the airplane again is an excellent landing.
Thursday, September 4, 2008
The First Flight
After having the first lesson canceled, I finally went up in the air today. I arrived at the Grand Forks airport and walked into the Dispatch Center for UND Aerospace, where the first thing I saw was the TV that displays various information. It had the radar map of the Grand Forks region and I saw a giant green spot heading towards Grand Forks. There was nothing I could do but take a seat and wait for my instructor to arrive as I began to wonder if my flight was going to be canceled again.
When my flight instructor arrived we went up to her office for a short briefing. When we finished the briefing, she started to worry about the weather so she talked with two other UND instructors. They informed her it was only rain with no lightning, and the wind was almost dead calm so it would be a good day for me to practice my landings. They also said the weather wouldn't arrive for a couple hours so even if we were still in the air it would be good experience for me. Given that it would be my first real flight, my instructor asked me if I wanted to go up now or cancel and go up on a better day. I told her I was comfortable flying with the weather since it was still above minimums for VFR (Visual Flight Rules).
We walked out to our aircraft, a Piper Warrior, and completed the preflight for the aircraft. When we were ready to go, my instructor told me I was going to be doing all radio communications. Now that scared me. I had a cheat-sheet in my kneeboard but was still nervous to make the radio calls. I contacted Ground Control and taxied to the run-up area.
Right before we started the run-up we saw a Northwest Airlines CRJ-200 land on the runway. My instructor and I were silent as we watched it come in, both dreaming to one day be in the captain's seat of that aircraft.
It came time for us to enter the runway and takeoff without delay, meaning taxi onto the runway and go full-throttle without stopping to line-up. I tried maintaining the centerline but didn't realize how much pressure it took to move the rudder pedals with finesse and ended up drifting left on takeoff. I rotated smoothly and started climbing out. Even though I drifted left a little bit, my instructor complimented me on my takeoff given that it was my first one. She instructed me to proceed on my current heading until 2500 ft before turning 30 degrees and climbing to 3500 ft.
She got a map out and asked me where we were. With the help of the highway, Lake Ardoch, and 2 small towns on either side of us, I was able to tell her where we were and when we would enter the boundary for Practice Area M, centered around the Grafton Airport.
Once we arrived at Practice Area M, I got out the checklist for the Aerodynamics Demonstration, the same flight I went through in the simulator a few days earlier. I followed the checklist and demonstrated each aerodynamic control individually and explained what happened when I made an input on each control. The fun part came when I pulled back on the yoke. The aircraft pitches up, the airspeed slows down, and I get to experience a little bit of Positive G-Force. My instructor tells me to push the control wheel all the way forward. I comply and the aircraft begins to pitch down quickly as our flight path is forming an arc. At the top of the arc I begin to experience Negative G-Force. That was the best part of the flight, even though I was struggling to stay down in my seat with my feet on the rudder pedals. I explained what happened and my instructor verified with me that it was fun. I love all aspects of flying so I replied with a yes.
We finished the demonstration and headed to Grafton Airport to enter the Traffic Pattern so I could practice some landings. I contacted the the airport, communicated my intentions to land and entered the pattern. On the first landing I had a lot of help from my instructor to keep the aircraft lined up and on the glide slope. The weather getting close and the winds were picking up somewhat. The first landing was smooth and we came to a full stop before I applied full-throttle to takeoff again into the pattern. I climbed up to the pattern altitude and turned onto the downwind leg which runs parallel to the runway going the opposite direction of the intended landing. The second landing was with less help on the controls from my instructor and was more rough than the first; the aircraft bounced once on the runway before touching down. We came to a full-stop before taking off again for the third landing.
This time I was all on my own throughout the pattern and the landing. I explained every action I was performing throughout the traffic pattern, but I entered the glide slope a little high. I compensated by pulling back on the throttle and pitching the nose down slightly. I was still higher than I wanted to be but I had to start moving the throttle around to compensate for losing and gaining airspeed. I was aiming the aircraft towards the runway numbers and once I got close to the runway I pulled the throttle all the way back to Idle and pitched the aircraft up to flair for landing.
I touched down 3 times that landing. In other words I bounced twice and finally touched down on the third one. The landing was good enough with it being my first one with total control of the aircraft. We didn't come to a full stop on this one. Instead, we performed a touch-and-go meaning we applied full throttle after establishing ourselves on the runway and took off again into the sky.
I climbed up to 4500 ft and turned slightly to start heading back to Grand Forks. About half way back to Grand Forks I noticed a light rain began to fall because I started seeing thin streaks of water on the windshield. I looked to the West and noticed that wall of rain getting closer. I saw Lake Ardoch come into view and flew the aircraft to the East side of it because a National Wildlife Preserve is on the West side of it. Once we crossed the highway on the southern end of Lake Ardoch I announced to my instructor we were exiting the Practice Area.
While we were still flying back to Grand Forks there were 2 instances where I felt some turbulence. I could tell the weather was getting closer and closer. I lined up with Runway 8 of Grand Forks and started my descent on the glideslope. This was also on my own except for some help from my instructor to compensate for the wind. This landing was smooth and I was glad because anyone at the airport looking towards the runway was able to see it. I turned off the runway, contacted Ground Control and taxied back to the parking ramp.
I parked the aircraft, turned everything off, and got out. When I put that first foot down on the ground, I turned to look back at the aircraft and I smiled. I had just completed the first flight of my career.
Walking back to UND Dispatch I could only smile. During that walk my instructor was asking if I liked that flight and had fun. It was pilot to pilot talk and I enjoyed it because until this point in my life it wasn't often that I could talk to someone else who holds a passion for flight, an understanding of it, and loves it as much as I do.
Here at UND Aerospace, I am surrounded by people just like me. They all hold a passion for and love aviation as much as I do.
My journey through flight is only beginning.
When my flight instructor arrived we went up to her office for a short briefing. When we finished the briefing, she started to worry about the weather so she talked with two other UND instructors. They informed her it was only rain with no lightning, and the wind was almost dead calm so it would be a good day for me to practice my landings. They also said the weather wouldn't arrive for a couple hours so even if we were still in the air it would be good experience for me. Given that it would be my first real flight, my instructor asked me if I wanted to go up now or cancel and go up on a better day. I told her I was comfortable flying with the weather since it was still above minimums for VFR (Visual Flight Rules).
We walked out to our aircraft, a Piper Warrior, and completed the preflight for the aircraft. When we were ready to go, my instructor told me I was going to be doing all radio communications. Now that scared me. I had a cheat-sheet in my kneeboard but was still nervous to make the radio calls. I contacted Ground Control and taxied to the run-up area.
Right before we started the run-up we saw a Northwest Airlines CRJ-200 land on the runway. My instructor and I were silent as we watched it come in, both dreaming to one day be in the captain's seat of that aircraft.
It came time for us to enter the runway and takeoff without delay, meaning taxi onto the runway and go full-throttle without stopping to line-up. I tried maintaining the centerline but didn't realize how much pressure it took to move the rudder pedals with finesse and ended up drifting left on takeoff. I rotated smoothly and started climbing out. Even though I drifted left a little bit, my instructor complimented me on my takeoff given that it was my first one. She instructed me to proceed on my current heading until 2500 ft before turning 30 degrees and climbing to 3500 ft.
She got a map out and asked me where we were. With the help of the highway, Lake Ardoch, and 2 small towns on either side of us, I was able to tell her where we were and when we would enter the boundary for Practice Area M, centered around the Grafton Airport.
Once we arrived at Practice Area M, I got out the checklist for the Aerodynamics Demonstration, the same flight I went through in the simulator a few days earlier. I followed the checklist and demonstrated each aerodynamic control individually and explained what happened when I made an input on each control. The fun part came when I pulled back on the yoke. The aircraft pitches up, the airspeed slows down, and I get to experience a little bit of Positive G-Force. My instructor tells me to push the control wheel all the way forward. I comply and the aircraft begins to pitch down quickly as our flight path is forming an arc. At the top of the arc I begin to experience Negative G-Force. That was the best part of the flight, even though I was struggling to stay down in my seat with my feet on the rudder pedals. I explained what happened and my instructor verified with me that it was fun. I love all aspects of flying so I replied with a yes.
We finished the demonstration and headed to Grafton Airport to enter the Traffic Pattern so I could practice some landings. I contacted the the airport, communicated my intentions to land and entered the pattern. On the first landing I had a lot of help from my instructor to keep the aircraft lined up and on the glide slope. The weather getting close and the winds were picking up somewhat. The first landing was smooth and we came to a full stop before I applied full-throttle to takeoff again into the pattern. I climbed up to the pattern altitude and turned onto the downwind leg which runs parallel to the runway going the opposite direction of the intended landing. The second landing was with less help on the controls from my instructor and was more rough than the first; the aircraft bounced once on the runway before touching down. We came to a full-stop before taking off again for the third landing.
This time I was all on my own throughout the pattern and the landing. I explained every action I was performing throughout the traffic pattern, but I entered the glide slope a little high. I compensated by pulling back on the throttle and pitching the nose down slightly. I was still higher than I wanted to be but I had to start moving the throttle around to compensate for losing and gaining airspeed. I was aiming the aircraft towards the runway numbers and once I got close to the runway I pulled the throttle all the way back to Idle and pitched the aircraft up to flair for landing.
I touched down 3 times that landing. In other words I bounced twice and finally touched down on the third one. The landing was good enough with it being my first one with total control of the aircraft. We didn't come to a full stop on this one. Instead, we performed a touch-and-go meaning we applied full throttle after establishing ourselves on the runway and took off again into the sky.
I climbed up to 4500 ft and turned slightly to start heading back to Grand Forks. About half way back to Grand Forks I noticed a light rain began to fall because I started seeing thin streaks of water on the windshield. I looked to the West and noticed that wall of rain getting closer. I saw Lake Ardoch come into view and flew the aircraft to the East side of it because a National Wildlife Preserve is on the West side of it. Once we crossed the highway on the southern end of Lake Ardoch I announced to my instructor we were exiting the Practice Area.
While we were still flying back to Grand Forks there were 2 instances where I felt some turbulence. I could tell the weather was getting closer and closer. I lined up with Runway 8 of Grand Forks and started my descent on the glideslope. This was also on my own except for some help from my instructor to compensate for the wind. This landing was smooth and I was glad because anyone at the airport looking towards the runway was able to see it. I turned off the runway, contacted Ground Control and taxied back to the parking ramp.
I parked the aircraft, turned everything off, and got out. When I put that first foot down on the ground, I turned to look back at the aircraft and I smiled. I had just completed the first flight of my career.
Walking back to UND Dispatch I could only smile. During that walk my instructor was asking if I liked that flight and had fun. It was pilot to pilot talk and I enjoyed it because until this point in my life it wasn't often that I could talk to someone else who holds a passion for flight, an understanding of it, and loves it as much as I do.
Here at UND Aerospace, I am surrounded by people just like me. They all hold a passion for and love aviation as much as I do.
My journey through flight is only beginning.
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