How much.......

Todays flight was rather spontaneus. I woke up and was really really suprised it wasnt raining. Everyone really thought it was going to. I scheduled time for late afternon, and hoped today Id finally get to solo with all the pattern work Id been doing.

No such luck, altho I did manage to really improve my landings. My instructor noticed I was really fighting the aircraft during the final stages of flare. He suggested on short final, after I drop full flaps, to add 2 full dials of trim. WOW! I could really finess the plane now as I wasnt struggling with holding the yoke in my lap. I managed to pull off some good landings in overall good weather. The best landing Ive made to date as a pilot on about the 10th approach. I really couldnt even feel the touchdown.

Work is keeping me busy, and were off to hawaii in one week, so no more lessons until then.

Hopefully, Ill solo within the month, and then get onto flight manuevers over the practice area. Im hoping to get the written out of the way shortly too. The studying I did about a month ago now really paid off as a good foundation. I figure another marathon week or two like the last, and I should be good for an 85% no problem. Im sure my instructor will want to move into the cross country stuff shortly tho ......

How much of students progress is motivated by the instructors current work load? I hate to think that an instructor that isnt working as much as they would like would hold off on letting a student they know is capable of doing x or y task just for financial reasons. Anywhoo ..... Aloha!

Wearing a rut in the pattern......

Weather around here has been the pits!!!!

I was thinking of up and moving to Seattle if it kept up for much longer :)

I awoke this morning to blue skies, as the weatherman has predicted for the last few days. I was hoping to solo today, but after my initial display in the cockpit it was apparent I wasnt quite ready. Id forgotten a whole block of the startup checklist and subsequently didnt have the master on when I tried to start the bird this morning :(. We decided pattern work was in order for this lesson, so off we went via runway 20. I was really disappointed in myself, and knew I needed to focus on the tasks at hand more.

Lots of trafic in the pattern today, the weather being nice and all. It seemed to steadily increase, but I was really happy as I felt I handled it well, and didnt rely on my instructor for cues. I just called it as I saw it, and it worked out really well. My first few landings went very well, but I was about to be introduced to the moral of this lesson ..... dont take anything for granted.

On my 4th approach, things felt a bit different. The wind had shifted almost 90 degrees. I landed her, but it wasnt pretty. Better luck next time they say ...... and on the next aproach the wind had shifted back across the runway, it felt like it was circling :) Every one of the approaches I attempted after that 4th one resulted in a different wind position. I struggled to keep up.

All in all it was a good lesson, and my comfort level in the pattern continues to increase, espically within moderate traffic conditions. Ill continue to hone my patten skills and hopefully solo within the next few lessons. FWIW, my new headset worked like a champ, the MIC and the noise cancelling really were nice. Thumbs Up for the ANR XC series from lightspeed.

The pics are of an aircraft Im considering purchasing. The price is really good (about 30k), and the insurance isnt bad either (about $80 a month). Suprisngly (to me at least) the major expense in owning an aircraft, is the maint. and storage fees. The airport Im flying out of right now wants $160 a month for a tie-down and $800 a month for a hangar with a waiting list longer than my arm! In looking around a bit I found a place approx. the same distance as the field Im at now for about $40 a month for a tiedown .... much better!

Birds on the runway, Birds in the sky....

Lesson #7
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Flight Time: 8:00am
Length: 1.5 hrs
Total Time in logbook: 22.6 (7.8 since starting lessons again)

Notes:
Awoke this morning to the most beautiful weather for a month at least now. Clear blue skies, temps in the high 40s at 6:30am. I think to myself "now this should be fun, no crosswind".

Upon arrival to the airport, my instructor greets me, and I proceed to preflight the aircraft. One of the things I dont like about rentals is the fact that each person has a different opinion of "full" fuel tanks. On inspection of the left wing tank, it was apparently 5 gallons low or so. I pointed it out to my instructor, and I got a credit for it so no biggie, just frustrating, as I take great care when refueling the plane. Today we decided stalls and VOR navigation were on tap. My takeoffs are getting much better, almost a no brainer. Im still having an issue correcting stalls. I want to correct with rudder into the stalled wing, not opposite....Ill get it one of these days.

I decided to ask about VOR navigation, as Ive been reading about it for awhile now. I have very little exposure to it as my last instructor did no instruction regarding that subject. We dialed in travis VOR, and maintained our 5000ft alt. I learned about Flight Following as well, and good thing we got it. Once out over fairfield area, Travis AFB became visible. WOW what a sight. About 4 miles of paved surface all said, and whats that a c-5 just departing the active headed our way ... too cool! At this point Travis approach asked we climb to 5500. 3 more departures quickly left the area, all within about 1500ft of us (all below thankfully). What a thrill, a c-5, 2 dc-10s and a c-130. Needless to say I was a little unnerved, but having the Flight Following really helped. We crossed the VOR, and told approach we were headed back to the nut tree. Flight Following cancelled, and I dialed in 122.7 (UNICOM for nut tree).

There was traffic reporting 5 miles out, and heading for runway 20. First of all, we were about 7 miles out, and secondly automated weather was reporting conditions favoring runway 2. I had visual on the traffic first, and called him to see if he had us. After what seemed forever, we decided that as we were higher and further out, hed lead us in. Ive never landed with a tail wind, and it showed. I really pancaked in hard. Indicated airspeed was lower than normal, about 60kts, but the ground speed was way higher. I didnt like that at all. I taxid back around to runway 2 and took off for some pattern work.

My best landings to date. All 4 of them were "greasers". My instructor congraulated me after each one. Im going to solo next time :) My plans of taking the written were a little adventageous. Theres so much to learn with just manuevers and commit those to memory I cant imagine all that at once. Oh yeah, birds every where in this everywhere during the AM hours it seems. A flock of birds all around us again on short finals.

Flight Planning can be fun......

I signed up for the weather service provided by DUATS, the other day, and this morning I woke up to find access to their website in my inbox. What a really incredible tool! I just wish they would let me do some work on how the site looks :) Sinve Ive been working on doing some flight planning, with the assistance of Rod Machados' book, and the trusty old handbook for the e6b, I should now be able to produce a fully functional flight plan.....

I decided that for the first flight plan, Id go ahead and do the example straight out of the book. WOW, not only is it an area Im familiar with, but the airport Im based out of, how cool is that! The e6b seems to be able to compute any value known to man, assuming you know how to read it right (which takes some practice I might add), but after about an hour or so I manage to plan a 33 minute flight. A little later, I had a great idea. I thought to my self, wouldnt it be neat to take all this planning and be able to fly it right now? I THINK I CAN! Plug the winds aloft values into flight sim, and we should be good to go!.

Once inside flight sim, I selected healdsburg as the departure, and using the 'advanced' weather tab, you can set what ever meterological condition your heart desires. In this case I set winds aloft and temp info to match my flight plan Id just completed. Using only my sectional and times/checkpoints on my flightplan, I navigated to the nut tree with hardly any problems. It turned out I needed a little more right course correction than Id planned for, but using virtual pilotage skills, I was able to find the field with no issues. It was nice to see that from planning to virtual implementaion I was able to successfully navigate to and from the areas of my choice. I hope it goes this well in real life.

Im still looking at headsets, but I know the David Clarks are still the ones to buy for my budget right now. Just need to pull the trigger on that, but money just seems to go oh so quickly with hobbies.........

I can smell the solo coming....

Lesson #6
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Flight Time: 8:00am
Length: 1.2 hrs
Total Time in logbook: 21.5 (6.7 since starting lessons again)

Got up way too early for a sunday morning, but the only time avaiable for the plane Ive been flying (N328SP), was early this morning. As it turns out it was a beautiful morning, with the exception of the winds gusting to 16 at 7am :)

After preflight, we headed up and out of the nut tree and I asked my instructor "where to?", and he promptly replied "yolo county, winds seem to be more aligned with the runway out there". Ok, were off to Yolo County! After about 10 or 15 mins, just east of winters I saw the airport. Im getting better at aerial recognition, I always figured airports would be easier to spot, but they really do blend in! As we entered on the downwind, I noticed lots of birds in the area of the runway, that really gets me, but I guess we are invading their airspace afterall.

Yolo county was a rather nice field, very nicely paved surface and nice and wide. On finals, I was getting batted about rather well by the winds and had to keep in alot more power than Im used to (about 2000 RPM vs 1500 or less normally). Just after my first touch and go, one of my new acquaintences entered the traffic pattern with his instructor. It was really cool to follow each other around the pattern. My radio work is getting like clock work now, which is great progress from just a short time ago. After about 10 t/o and landings we decided to head back home as the wind was starting to pick up even more. I got ATIS headed back home, and it was gusting to 23! yikes this one will be fun.

Entered on the downwind just above pattern alt., for runway 2. Im glad my instructor was in the plane with me as it was really a drastic crosswind, just about or above the 15 rated for the aircraft. I made it stick, but it wasnt pretty.

Back at the fuel pumps, I saw N286SP, the plane that was doing pattern work out at yolo with us. We parked and tied down, and shot the breeze for a bit. We both commented on the winds and the turbulence below 1500ft. I feel bad for the pilot on his checkride this morning, best of luck to him!

After a while back at the FBO, my instructor and I went over the Pre-Solo test Id taken home with me after the last flight. There was a few questions I had about 1 or 2 questions, but overall I did very well. I dont think there was a major correction to any one of my answers, which admittedly I had to go back to my study guides alot for, but still I feel ready its just a matter of convincing my instructor now.

SacTown Shuffle

Flight Lesson #5
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Objective: Increase landing profiency, and head to to Sacramento Executive (KSAC) for a plotter and e6b.

Flight Time: 1.3hrs

Got up early this morning to decent weather, and headed out to the airport. I hadnt filled out all the student pilot paperwork the FBO requires, so I finished that up when I arrived (good thing I was early). I met my instructor, and headed out to the plane ahead of him to start the preflight. The plane Im in isnt getting used all that much in between my flights, as a matter of fact this is the 3rd time in a row that no one has flown her in-between my flights. I make sure that everything is in order and get ATIS.

My instructor had me tune the radios for sacramento executive, ATIS and tower, on com2. He said we'd check ATIS enroute, and contact the tower about 10 miles out. Runway 2 was the active this moring, which I dont like the run-up area on as much as runway 20. After about 10minutes of flying to the NE, I dialed up atis and got info foxtrot. My instructor handled the radio, as it turned out to be very busy today. Lots of GA, and business type traffic about. We were number 3 for landing on runway 20. I didnt make the best of landings, but it worked :) Clear the active, I request taxi to the transient parking so we can stop at the Pilots shop.

Once inside, its rather nice. A nice looking little restaurant, and 2 pilot shops(CFI, and Executive Flyers). A mini passenger terminal if you will. I purchased my trusty old e6b, and plotter, and also decided that I prefer the David Clark headsets the best. I cant quite afford the ANR set, but someday :)

Back at the plane, I grabbed ATIS, and it was now information x-ray, runway 20 for arrival and departures. Once I tuned into ground, I could tell it was busy! We got cleared to taxi to rnwy 20, via taxiway A, M. Arriving at the runup area, we were #2 for departure, but 2 other planes managed to sneak in ahead of us (sheesh the nerve :)). A few planes had to go around, they were packing them in right on top of each other it seemed! Finally, after about 10 - 15 miutes, we accepted a 'no hesitation' clearence to takeoff runway 20. WOW that was fun!.

Heading back home, nothing to eventful, entered on a left crosswind for runway 2. 2 touch and gos, then full stop. I got my paperwork from my instructor for my written solo test, I must be getting closer :)

Cris Crossed Landings

Lesson #4
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Objectives: Beat the weather and get a flight in to practice some landings, and turns around a point.
Flight Time: 1.5hrs
Total Time: 18.7hrs

Woke up early and headed out to my old stomping grounds in Marin County, gnoss field. I was scheduled for a 10:30am medical. As usual, the field was quiet, and much the same since the last time Id seen it 6 years ago (with the exception of the piper sign being a bit more weathered I swear its the same). Passed the medical, but my eyes arent as good as they used to be. Headed back for home, with a stop off at an old local favorite for lunch :)

I arrived early, and pre-flighted the aircraft as usual. Im getting much more comfortable in general, I even got atis via the overhead speaker while I was checking the fuel etc. My instructor was excited, cause once again the winds were pretty much 90d to the runway layout at the nut tree (gusting to 16 out of 120). The preflight is pretty much ingrained in my head, but I focus on each step as if I were doing it for my checkride, and announce to no one but the wind gods what Im trying to accomplish with each step.

It was rather bumpy below 1500ft today, and at first my landings suffered from it. I wasnt nerevous from the turbulence per say, but from the sudden attitude changes the aircraft would experience on short finals and takeoffs. As I got used to the turbulence, the increased airspeed (70kts instead of 65kts), became the real issue with my landings. I would flare as normal, but with the extra airspeed, the nose would just hold and float. That unto itsself wasnt the issue, its how I reacted to it. I pulled back on the yoke more which resulted in a rather rough pancake style landing (think bellyflop) which I wasnt happy with at all. I struggled with the increased airspeed allday long. After some progress with the landings, it was off to the practice area.

Since it was so windy, I asked if we could do some turns around a point. I figure if I can master them with 25 - 30mph winds, a nice summer day will be cake :) Turning around a point is not on my strong point list, I now know this :( In theory they seem pretty straight forward, but in practice they are much more difficult. I just couldnt get the distance maintained properly, if it wasnt too far it was too close. I wonder what the people on the farm I was circling were thinking we were doing for 15 minutes circling there house :)

On the way back to nut tree, my instructor took the airplane, and turned directly into the wind. We turned on the GPS, and entered a slow flight configuration. As we hit 45kts indicated, it felt like we were crawling visually. The GPS indicated a ground speed of 19kts. I asked if next time its windy can we try to get below 10kts and get a ground speed check from travis hehehe :) Anywhoo, atis was a bit nicer to me returning to the airport, steady at 14, gusting to 18 but out of 140. Approached via the 45 for runway 20, and all as going well. On short final my instructor says, "If you airspeed is high on approach, check your flaps"......well hint hint I thought. I only dialed flaps 10! Man did I feel bad. I decided for a go around. I didnt make that mistake the next time thru the pattern :) My last landing was the best, and tracked the center line very well all the way down. Even held left aileron while we were slowing down.

Next Lesson:
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Objective(s): More landings, I want to solo! Out to KSAC for the pilots shop. I need a plotter and e6b still.