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."

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 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.

The Journey Begins

It's amazing the excitement one can feel knowing you are about to start what you have dreamed about for your entire life. Last night I had my first simulator ride at the University of North Dakota John D. Odegard School of Aerospace Sciences. It was incredible and supposedly did an excellent job controlling the aircraft for my first time. Yes it's just a simulator but it's realistic enough to count for real hours. At least I surprised my instructor. This morning was to be my first "real" flight in the actual aircraft to do exactly what I did in the sim, but I have been autoweathered, meaning the weather is not good enough for VFR (Visual Flight Rules). Currently only Instrument rated pilots are able to fly. So this gives me time to start my blog and tell you the story of how my passion for aviation began.

I've been hooked on flying since I was 8 years old. My family took a vacation to Hawaii and I enjoyed riding in the passenger cabin of the airplanes. But while waiting at Kahului Airport for a flight from Maui to Honolulu, a pilot for Hawaiian Airlines walked by and caught me staring in awe outside the window at the beautiful Boeing 737 parked at our gate; I longed to board the aircraft and get it in the air, but I was patient. As the pilot descended the ramp between me and the window to the jetway, he stopped and looked up at me. He asked me if I liked flying. Me being the shy guy that I am, I barely managed to stutter a yes. This pilot proceeded to tell me to stop by the cockpit when I boarded. Once again I stuttered out an "OK." He smiled and continued on his way down the jetway.

As I was walking down the jetway to board the Boeing 737, I was feeling nervous. I wasn't sure if the pilot was serious when he told me to stop by the cockpit. I had already been on numerous flights, but not once had I heard of a passenger being allowed into the cockpit. Even at 8 years old, I thought I knew my stuff about flying; as a passenger you board the aircraft and immediately take a right turn to start walking down the aisle of the passenger cabin. Sure you can glance towards the cockpit if the door is open, but you never actually turn left to walk into it. As I arrived at the aircraft door, I swear the butterflies in my stomach had mutated into violent birds. I didn't know what to do so I decided to just keep walking and turn right. Luckily, the pilot was looking back waiting for me to board and once again he caught me glancing as I was turning the other way to go down the aisle.

"Wait a minute! Where are you going? Come back here."

"...what?"

"Come on in! Are those your brothers? Bring them in too!"

Oh my God! He remembered me! Those mutated birds in my stomach had disappeared and I was instead jumping for joy...on the inside of course. I mean, I did have to keep a cool composure on the outside. Isn't that what pilots are? Cool?

I entered the cockpit and stood in the small space right behind the copilot's seat so my brothers could squeeze into the cockpit as they were unfortunately invited as well. This pilot had already pre-flighted most of the aircraft so the buttons, gizmos, and gadgets were all lit up and running. I was dazzled by it all. Did each and every button really work or were some just for show? He went through a few, showing me the throttle, main instruments such as the altimeter and attitude indicator, and the radios. The copilot put his headset on me and I even got to listen to the radio chatter of other pilots talking to ground control. The only words that came out of my mouth while in the cockpit were "cool," "awesome," and the occasional "uh-huh."

That's all I needed to see. I walked out of that cockpit knowing exactly what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.

Fly.

This one pilot changed my life. It's a shame I never asked his name. I don't think I even said "Thank You." I can remember his face and his crisp uniform, but I have no way to identify him. I wish I did; I wish I could write him a letter thanking him for giving me a dream and changing my life. Because here I am, 10 years later, at one of the foremost Flight Schools in the world, learning under one of the most recognized names in the aviation industry: UND Aerospace. I don't know if he realized how much of an impact he had on me. But then I wonder how did he get his passion for flight? I can only assume it was an act of kindness by another pilot when he was a kid. Now I know how much you can change some one's life with something so simple as inviting them into the cockpit. Maybe one day I too can change a kid's life. I'll have to keep an eye out for that kid staring out the window at the plane.

Many people dream of flying; I was one of them.

I'm living my dream.