100 Hours!

Today, a friend and I flew to Ryan Field (KRYN) in Tucson for breakfast. The flying was great. One thing that was significant about my flight was that I now have over 100 hours as a pilot. Since I started flying last December, I have accumulated over 100 flight hours. I really don’t think there is any significance to this fact other than it was sort of a personal milestone. In my honest opinion, I’m always going to be a “low-time” pilot because there will always be people with more hours.

There was a low pressure system coming in from California and there were high cirrus clouds at FL250 but visibility was greater than 10 miles and winds were light and variable. The air was smooth and the temperature was right around 60 degrees at altitude. Not much to note about the flight except that my friend with whom I flew was also a pilot.

There is something funny about flying with other pilots – other than flying with a CFI or DPE, flying with pilot in your right seat is always nerve-racking. It probably keeps me on my toes to an extent; but, I feel like all of my actions are being scrutinized. Unfortunately for my fragile ego, there is no VASI or PAPI on RWY 6L at KRYN - my approach was high and subsequent arrival (not necessarily a landing) was firm (at least, that was the excuse I made for the arrival). My pilot passenger was politely quiet as we taxied to the restaurant.

I know that the times when I’ve ridden shotgun in some of my friends’ planes I compare their actions to my own –whether it’s the way they pre-flight, run-up, when they put the flaps in, how wide they fly in the pattern, their radio technique, etc. Maybe it’s a case of, “what goes around, comes around.” Maybe it’s paranoid. Anyhow, it doesn’t detract from the experience of flying. Lest I forget that there are few people in this great country who have earned the privilege of being a pilot.

Wisdom from a 100-hour pilot.

Flight time: 2.0

Total time: 101.6

Wind!

Today was going to be a $100.00 omelet flight up to Lake Havasu City (KHII) and back. A couple of things happened to change my plans. First, my right seat cancelled on me late yesterday; citing some lame excuse of parental responsibility. He had to drive his son to school… That was OK, and since the “flying for fun” objective was altered somewhat, I gave my CFI, Scott, a call to see if he wanted to fly. Fortunately he did. Don’t get me wrong – I like Scott. It’s still fun flying with Scott – hell, it’s fun flying with anyone. The problem with flying with Scott (or practically any other good CFI) is that the flights take on purpose in addition to fun. I was sort of on the fence as to whether I wanted to fly for a purpose; however, at $50.00 per hour, it’s prudent.

This brings me to the second reason for the change in plans. Weather. More specifically, wind. I called flight services and the briefing was grim. Winds were 20kts gusting to 30kts in KHII. Not a good idea to try and land in those winds… Also, the winds were not favoring any of my other regular destinations with good restaurants. So the decision was made to make this an IFR training flight.

I began pre-flight while Scott ran into the office to get some approach plates. We took off from RWY 4R and turned southeast. While heading towards Casa Grande (KCGZ), we loaded the VOR approach for RWY 5 at KCGZ. I learned some pretty cool tricks on the Garmin GNS430 today and I’m grateful that Scott is one of those instructors who is really patient while I try to figure things out. Furthermore, that GNS430 coupled with a really good HSI is the next best thing to flying a glass cockpit. Now, we live in a desert. Deserts have a lot of sand. When sand becomes airborne, it affects visibility. I would classify the visibility at some points during our flight today as very marginal VFR. As we were on a three mile final into KCGZ, our crab angle essentially had us flying sideways. It was really cool! We declared a missed approach and flew to the Stanfield VOR (TFD). We entered a hold at TFD and set up for the GPS approach to RWY 23. We went missed and headed east to Coolidge (P08) and did an ILS approach for RWY 5 and finally a VOR approach for RWY 23.

There are a lot of things going on in an approach and I can see why there is a currency requirement for IFR pilots. We talked about and performed the 5Ts:

T turn to proper heading

T time hold or approach

T twist OBS knob to inbound course

T throttle adjustments, as required

T talk - procedure turn inbound, entering the hold, etc.

Plus you have to know what altitude and heading you need to fly as you cross each fix. Not to mention that you can conceivably be doing all of this in IMC. Fun stuff!

After we determined that it was clearly too windy to land anywhere, I donned my JeppShades and we practiced flying vectors and altitudes with climbing and descending turns. We did some unusual attitude recoveries and triangulated our position using VORs. After about an hour of simulated instrument flying, we headed back home to Falcon Field (KFFZ). Winds at KFFZ were 040 09kts gusting to 15 kts – right down the runway. We did three touch-and-gos and then called it a day.

All in all, it was a great day of flying. I learned a lot and I like flying in choppy air. My next IFR lesson is scheduled for next Friday.

Flight time: 2.4 hours

Total time: 99.6

Texas – Ya’lls State Sure Is Flat…

OK, so I’m not that excited about Texas. Can’t stand the Cowboys. I will say this, the people here are friendly and though they’re a little hard to understand sometimes, they seem to make up for it in hospitality. I’m here on business. Again. When I was here last month, I was constantly reminded that my hotel room was a half of a mile from the end of runway 15 at Addison (KADS). A lot of people would get sick and tired listening to planes climb-out all day (and most of the night). Not me. It only makes me want to fly…

Last month when I was here for a week, I did a little reconnaissance work. Scouted out the FBOs, flight schools, and aircraft rental companies. I actually reserved a plane on my last trip but the check-airman (I’ll get to that in a minute) cancelled on me at the last minute. Apparently he forgot that he was supposed to have dinner with his dad. This time around, I called a different company and my experience was totally different.

After exchanging a few e-mails with Ron, at Lone Star Flyers, he put me in touch with a great guy named Derek. I was talking to Derek because 95% of my piloting time is in a Piper. Nobody in Addison rents Pipers (singles anyhow). Therefore, I had to get checked out in a C172. I explained to Derek that I wanted to spend some time flying and get checked out in the 172. He asked me a lot of questions about my flying experience and e-mailed a lot of information to me regarding airport operations at KADS and the V-speeds associated with the Cessna 172. After about 5 e-mail exchanges, we scheduled an airplane for November 4th.

Today I spent the entire day in a conference room talking about ERP systems (JD Edwards). Now, I’m not an IT guy and I certainly don’t relish 8 hours in a room where I am struggling to understand what is being said (even though they are all speaking English). By 5:00, I was really itching to be “wheels up” somewhere over Texas.

When I arrived at the airport, I was immediately greeted by a friendly guy. I told him that I was looking for someone named Derek. He simply grinned and said, “You found him.” We spent about 10 minutes talking and planning the flight. We were standing over a sectional talking about where we were about to go and he says, “On the outbound leg, we’ll fly over the top of Love Field and DFW, then head southwest to Granbury…” Wait a minute, not only is that flying into Class B airspace, but it is going to take us right on top of DFW! I reminded him that this would be VFR. He simply said, “So?” I explained that you have to have clearance and that they don’t hand that out like Halloween candy. He just looked at me and said, “Why not?”

Let me tell you, where I’m from, as a general rule of thumb, they just don’t clear any VFR traffic into the Class B airspace. Most VFR pilots I know, don’t even ask! This concept was beyond him… I was amazed. Anyhow, we went out to the plane and began our pre-flight. Big differences between the Piper and the Cessna: 1) 13 fuel sumps (Piper has 3); 2) Climbing the wing strut to visual the fuel quantity; 3) Field of view through the windscreen is exceptional. After our walk around, we started the engine and radioed ground for taxi clearance and indicated our destination and requested VFR flight following. We were given clearance to taxi to runway 15. Winds 150 at 17kts., gusts 22kts. – yeah that was windy but it was coming right down the runway.

As we were taxiing, we were given departure instructions and a transponder code. We did a run-up and were cleared for takeoff. Shortly after we were airborne, about 1000 ft AGL, we were handed off to DFW Approach. Then in a cheerful voice, the controller cleared us into Class B airspace! He told us to cross Love Field at 2,500 and fly an assigned heading… I was simply amazed. Every time we were handed off, we were met with friendly and enthusiastic controllers! Coming out of Phoenix, this was shocking. For the most part, Phoenix Approach is friendly, but they really don’t have the time to deal with VFR aircraft. This was awesome. It felt great to be in the air and flying a new aircraft wasn’t nearly as much of a challenge as I had anticipated.

The Cessna flies very well – maybe that’s why there are tens of thousands of these planes buzzing around. We flew to Granbury. Landed – full-stop. Taxied back and took off VFR to Mesquite. Mesquite is a non-towered airport about 20 miles south of KADS. We did some slow flight, stalls, steep turns, and finally 3 landings so that I could get my night currency back. After Mesquite, we flew back to KADS and packed it in for the night.

So, in the title of this post, I mentioned that Texas is flat. That is the understatement of the century – especially when all of my flying has been in or around mountainous terrain. The Dallas sectional has only one color for the topographical depiction – green. The highest terrain depicted on the sectional chart is 1400 feet! This is great – except at night. Due to the flat terrain, there are more communication towers and antennae per square mile than anywhere else in the world. These towers don’t typically interfere with flight (except perhaps Cedar Hill); but, at night, when you are trying to spot traffic, you literally see thousands of flashing white and red lights on all of these towers and antennae. It is hard to spot traffic among all of the flashing lights. Like anything else, I suppose you would get used to it in due time.

All in all, my experience was fantastic. Great people, great plane, excellent controllers, smooth air and 30 miles of visibility. Oh yeah, you’re probably wondering how were your landings? New plane be damned, I greased ‘em. Pert’ near perfect ya’ll.

Flight time: 2.1

Total time: 97.2

Watch the right seat!

Today I was hoping to take advantage of some cooler weather to get up and do some flying. I was particularly excited to fly since it has been a few weeks and I also had the chance to make good on a promise to take a good friend up for a ride.

My friend, who shall remain nameless, has had the fortune of a privileged upbringing. His family has property in several states and he has flown extensively throughout the country on heavy metal, his father’s Challenger business jet, some twins and a lowly old single engine Pilatus… Pretty nice resume if I don’t say so myself. What he did disclose to me was that he had never had the chance to ride shotgun.

I am happy to oblige!

During my pre-flight brief, I was very clear about the do’s and don’ts and even a few what if’s. He listened intently and seemed eager to be under way. Since the Piper has only one way in and out – the door on the right side of the aircraft, we went through a couple of latch and unlatch the door routines so that he was thoroughly comfortable operating the door. I always tell my right seat passengers that the most important thing they need to do in an unplanned landing is to listen to my instructions and operate the door! Furthermore, failure to do so will result in footprints on their back as I exit the aircraft ahead of them…

With a clear understanding of all of the non-flying responsibilities, we were ready to take off. This was my favorite kind of flight. My passenger had a genuine interest in aviation and he was asking questions as fast as I could answer them. I let him have the terminal area chart and he was trying to keep track of where we were. I even unloaded the chore of keeping us out of the Class Bravo airspace. He was doing a great job! Asking me our altitude, and to verify our position on the chart was keeping him involved in and excited about our flight.

We were flying north of Falcon Field and over Fountain Hills, Rio Verde, Canyon Lake, and Scottsdale. Since it was still in the mid 90’s on the ground and we were flying around mountainous terrain, the ride wasn’t as smooth as it would be in cooler weather. Not to mention that a cold front was passing through and the winds were in the 10-20kt range. After about a half hour, I sensed that his enthusiasm was waning and I asked if he had enough for one day. His response was an unenthusiastic, “Whatever you want to do is fine with me.” I decided to head in so as not to ruin his first impression of flying a GA plane (in the right seat no less).

There was virtually no traffic in the pattern so we were cleared for a 3 mile right base on runway 22L. I was flying at pattern altitude when I reported my 3 mile right base for runway 22L - right in the foothills of the Superstition Mountains. Needless to say, at high noon, high temperature, and moderate wind, it wasn’t the most calm approach. Then I was asked to widen my base leg 20 degrees to the left to give way to some traffic on runway 22R. That being said, I ended up flying a two mile final.

As we lined up on the centerline, I began to explain the PAPI on the left side of the runway. My passenger seemed a little less interested than he was previously. I noticed that his posture had stiffened and he was staring intently at the runway numbers.

I put in the last notch of flaps and the plane pitched up a little (as is typical). He was visibly shaken by this sudden (albeit slight) pitching moment. I explained why it happened and he only managed a nod. Wind was about 12kts gusting to 16kts and it was a right quartering headwind. Thus we were coming in on a pretty good crab angle – almost 45 degrees. I tried to explain that this was a “normal” approach and we were at an angle due to the quartering headwind and he could rest assured that I would kick in the right amount of rudder to straighten us out before we touched down.

By now he was visibly nervous and I was beginning to feel sorry for him and somehow responsible for him not enjoying this flight. The weather wasn’t bad and I’m sure that an approach in his father’s Challenger would look significantly different. I tried to explain that the turbulence was easier to feel in my Piper because there was a lot less metal and it was easier for Mother Nature to push around than his father’s plane. As I passed over the threshold, I added in enough rudder to line us up nicely on the centerline.

Then we slipped nicely into ground effect and I knew that I was in for a nice landing. Flying a 2-mile final gives you plenty of time to set up a good approach… Apparently the sensation of flying in ground effect was not as pleasurable for my passenger. No sooner had I finished complimenting myself on a landing that I hadn’t yet made, he let out a, “Whoa,” and stomped on the rudder pedals as if to brace himself for a crash. Ordinarily, this wouldn’t have been too big of a deal; however, I did mention that we had a quartering headwind and we were quickly being blown off of the centerline and we were drifting over to the edge of the runway!
I yelled, “Get your feet off of the rudder pedals!” He looked at me with shock and horror and I repeated my command and this time I pointed down to his feet for clarification. He quickly pulled his feet back and I quickly let the tower know that we were going around.

My passenger began the process of apologizing profusely and I simply replied that it was OK. We went around and, much to my chagrin, I floated the landing and came down with a thump. I must admit that the whole experience had me a little shaken. I don’t really know what the lesson learned here would be. I was very thorough during my pre-flight and went over the do’s and don’ts explicitly telling him to not touch the yoke, pedals, or any of the instruments. Furthermore, for 99% of the flight, he obliged. My only thought is that the next time I take a non-pilot up in the right seat, I will use this story as an example of what can happen if my passenger fails to explicitly comply with my pre-flight brief!

Flight time: 0.7

Total time: 95.1

Still Hot!

Man it's Hot. I didn't want a lot of time to pass between flying so I coaxed my self into the airplane today at 06:00. I mean, hey, it's only 91 degrees! I also must admit that a morbid curiosity brought me to the airport today. Last night, the greater Phoenix area had one of the most severe storms in history. In the 21 years that I have lived in Arizona, I have never been in a storm like it. Wind gusts were clocked at 75mph and I witnessed golf ball sized hail falling on my patio.

I did get a few droplets of water when I sumped the fuel tanks. There was only about 4 drops in each tank and I rocked the wings and waited awhile and checked again - nothing. Though I must admit that I was watching all of the engine instruments like a hawk during my taxi and run-up.

I was cleared to take off from runway 22L and given a right turn once I hit 2300 feet MSL (about 900 feet AGL). I headed north up through Fountain Hills, Rio Verde, and then westerly toward, Cave Creek, Carefree, and North Scottsdale. All of the typically dry washes were running and I observed toppled trees. I didn't see any damage that was incredibly extensive (thankfully).

I didn't have enough time to actually go anywhere exciting; however, it felt good to be in the air and simply flying. I did notice that my radio transmissions were not as sharp as they usually are (I'm sure much to the chagrin of the folks in the tower). I decided to head back for some touch and goes to get some landing practice in.

I radioed the tower from about 9 miles to the north. I was told to contact the other tower frequency and to enter a 5 mile right base for runway 22R. There was only one other plane and one helicopter in the pattern. I was cleared for touch and go and then for right traffic on runway 22R. I made 4 touch and gos and quite honestly they were rather good! I worked really hard on flying a tight pattern and managing my speed on downwind, base, and final. For my final landing (which was a full stop) they were kind enough to clear me for a right base for runway 22L. This is really cool because to get to the FBO where I park I would have needed a long taxi and I would have had to cross the primary active runway which can mean a lot of waiting and fuel burn!

Much like my touch and gos, I greased the full stop landing and taxied in feeling pretty good about my flying for the day. I know that this post is not overly exciting; however, it was great to be back en the air and I was happy to see that my skills (flying skills anyhow) hadn't suffered to any great extend as a result of a 6 week hiatus!

Good times...

Flight time: 0.9

Total time: 94.4

IFR Lesson

HOT!

KFFZ 091947Z 22006KT 40SM FEW100 BKN200 38/13 A2977

According to the METAR above the air temperature is nearly 101 degrees Fahrenheit according to the thermometer in plane (that had been sitting on the ramp), the OAT (outside air temperature) was pushing 128 degrees.

With the high temperatures, there was a lot of heat radiating off of the ground making for some moderate turbulence close to the ground. We began today’s lesson by intercepting and flying VOR radials. This was a refresher from our last flight. And even though it had been nearly three weeks, it all came back fairly easily. N4182L has a HSI and a CDI so it was good to practice this flying using both instruments.

We next started working on DME arcs. A DME arc is simply flying in a circle or an arc that keeps you a specific distance from the fix. We were flying a 10 mile DME from the IWA VOR. Our flight path was curved so that we were always 10 miles from the VOR. The process to fly it was fairly straight forward and would have been a lot easier had the air been smooth. This is great practice for developing good scanning techniques too.

The flight today was a lot of fun but it started to get REAL hot! We called it a day and agreed to fly again soon. Next meeting would be for simulator training though.

Flying time: 1.2

Total time: 93.5

Texas Aerobatic Show

Well, other than commercial, I have done no flying in the last week or two and I'm starting to get the itch. First, I have a gripe. We went to the airport last week and I dropped my wife, my three daughters, and our luggage at the curbside check-in. I left the luggage checking to them and I was off to park the car in the long-term parking and take the shuttle back to meet them at the gate. This process seems to yield the best results for us. Being the only male in my family offers a different perspective on packing... My "stuff" for a week of vacation fits into a duffel bag. The balance of the U-Haul needed to bring our luggage to the airport belongs to the estrogen faction in my family...

Neither here nor there... I parked, took the shuttle bus to the terminal, went through security and went directly to the gate printed on my boarding pass. Shame on me for not checking the screen! The gate changed and I had to huff it to the other side of the terminal and was one of the last people on my flight. My question is this: With all of the nickel and diming the airline is doing to us passengers, what's in it for us? Would printing the correct gate on my boarding pass be asking too much? Or is there an extra fee for that too????

Now that I got that off of my chest. We had an uneventful B737 flight to DFW for a 5-day trip at my sister-in-law's place. It was a great trip. On Saturday the 5th, there was a ho-down at the local country club (Pecan Plantation) and guests were treated to an aerobatic demonstration by someone flying what looked like a super cub. It's only a guess though. The flying was spectacular. Plus there were scattered clouds at 5,000 and a beautiful sunset for a backdrop.

The development of Pecan Plantation has a private airstrip and looking around the crowd, it was easy to spot the pilots in the crowd. We were the folks with our heads fixed on the sky for about a half hour. It was a geat show and we were treated to good ol' southern hospitality for our entire stay.

Plus I should mention that I was pleased that flying US Airways, we were treated to rides on B737-300s. All of the press releases I read these days are about US Airways purchasing more and more Airbus A3XX aircraft. I'm partial to the Made in America Boeing products myself...

On another note I got my official Pilot Certificat in the mail today. Exactly 77 days after being issued a temporary certificate. Now I have a piece of plastic with Orville and Wilbur Wright on the back. It feels cool in my wallet. In case you're wondering, we (my CFI, DPE, and I) used IACRA. From talking to people and reading about other experiences, it doesn't seem to be any faster than the old paper process.

I hope to be in the air tomorrow. I'll post on that experience tomorrow.

No Fly (See 6/26 Post)

Still waiting for a fuel pump. REALLY, REALLY wish I was flying... Stay tuned... Next scheduled flight: July, 2.

No Fuel Pump = No Fly

Today’s fight was cancelled due to lack of plane… The plane was in for a 100 hour inspection and it was found that the fuel pump was INOP. It was the electric pump – not the engine-driven pump. I’m glad that they fount that problem during the inspection rather than when I was on short final needing to do a go-around.

Scott and I instead spent a couple of hours doing ground instruction and hangar flying. Mostly the latter. He presented a few mnemonics for me to learn. Aviation is full of these and I probably wouldn't have passed the written or oral for my Private Pilot without them…

mne·mon·ic (neh-MAHN-ik)

adj.
Relating to, assisting, or intended to assist the memory.
n.
A device, such as a formula or rhyme, used as an aid in remembering.

TTTTT – Crossing a Fix/Approach

T turn to proper heading
T time hold or approach
T twist OBS knob to inbound course
T throttle adjustments, as required
T talk - procedure turn inbound, entering the hold, etc.

WIRETAP – Near Destination

W Weather (AWOS, ATIS, ASOS, etc.)
I instruments set
R radios tuned
E elevation (check final approach fix altitude)
T talk to ATC
A altitudes for decision height or minimum descent altitude
P procedure for missed approach

Another that I shouldn’t publish – it is a family blog.

We talked about the three different entries into a hold: Parallel, Direct, and Teardrop. This is what we were going to fly today – VOR intercepts, holds, and approaches. I am supposed to fly tomorrow so I can practice these procedures without the hood (JeppShades). It was a good lesson in ground. Scott has a good teaching style so that it is easy to understand the information he is presenting. He also does a good job relating the information to material in the book and the FAR/AIM.

All in all, a good day. I just wish I was flying…

IR Lesson and the Garmin

My flight today was great. I have been looking forward to this flight for days since my last flight was cancelled due to aircraft maintenance. Other than being a little on the warm side (90 degrees at 6:30AM), the air was smooth and visibility was 20 plus miles. Not that visibility mattered much it was IFR training…

181547Z VRB05KT 30SM SKC 35/10 A2992

Scott and I spent about ½ hour going over some ground school stuff before heading out to the plane. We took off from runway 22L and headed south. We began with some constant rate climbs, turns to headings and standard rate turns. After that, we began tracing the Williams Gateway or “WILLIE” VOR (IWA). A lot of this was review from my Private Pilot training but there was a very compelling difference – the Garmin GNS 430 is far more complex and capable than I had known.

As a VFR pilot I was used to following a purple line to my destination. When using the GPS and CDI (Course Deviation Indicator) it is a lot more accurate than following the purple line on the moving map! Additionally, when flying VFR, I only used a fraction of the capabilities of the Garmin. Typically I would use the “nearest” function to find nearby airports or I could look up local airport frequencies if I didn’t have them in front of me. Today I learned so much more about functions of the Garmin GPS unit I was nearly overwhelmed. It is a lot to learn and retain. You can track and locate VORs, Airports, NDBs, Intersections, and a lot more. While using a VOR to fly to and using multiple VORs to triangulate position was a lot of review from my Private Pilot training, today was much more in-depth.

After tracking the Stanfield VOR (TFD), we used that to locate Eloy airport (E60). This is a small uncontrolled airport with a lot of jumping activity. We did a touch and go after a nasty exchange with one of the jump pilots. It seemed like this jump pilot had a bit of an attitude. As if we were an imposition to her traffic pattern! Oh well, it won’t be the last time… The jump pilots at Pinal (MZJ) are really great and work with other aircraft when jumping activity is in process.

Upon departing Eloy (thankfully), we flew to the Stanfield VOR and then turned to the Phoenix VOR (PXR). We flew toward PXR and switched to GPS tracking to Chandler. We flew over their Class Delta airspace and flew GPS to Falcon Field for a landing – not a bad one either. Great time!

It was a fun lesson. Also, being able to appreciate a well equipped airplane is something that I am quickly learning to do!

Flight time: 1.5

Total Time: 92.3

No Flying Today...

Today was my first "official" instrument lesson. After acquiring all of the stuff I needed for my Private, I had to do a little additional shopping today. My CFI uses the ASA Syllabus and Book.

To date, as I embark on my IFR training, I have invested:

The Pilot's Manual: Instrument Rating Syllabus: $12.95

The Pilot's Manual: Instrument Flying: $41.95

Low Altitude IFR Chart: $4.90

JeppShades: $24.95

Gleim Instrument Test Prep Audio: $60.00

FAA Instrument Flying Handbook: $21.95

Compared to the initial purchase of nearly $1000.00, this was a little easier to stomach!

The airplane that we were going to fly today had an alternator failure and is in maintenance so it looks like today we will only do some ground work. We are working our of the ASA syllabus and it is nicely planned and will work well for our training. The first section - or stage - is mostly review of some of the principles that were learned in the private pilot lessons. A little more in-depth but still a lot of review.

We began with a review of the instruments (the six pack + engine instruments) and had some discussion about how they work. We did a quick review of the pitot-static system. He described various types of instrument scans and then we moved right into VOR, DME, NDB, GPS, and Loran discussions/training.

For next week, he has given me a boat-load of reading in the text and AIM. It is exciting and interesting reading at least (that's the engineer in me coming out). I am looking forward to getting back up in the air though!

By the way, I am still waiting for the Arrow to come out of maintenance so that I can wrap up my complex aircraft endorsement.

On a better note...

On a positive note, I have my first IFR lesson scheduled on Tuesday morning with a new instructor. I really liked my old instructor for my private but it seemed that he had a lot of outside interests and our schedules were hard to synchronize. We more often flew when he could fly rather than flying when I wanted to fly. I figure that if I’m paying for something, I should get exactly what I want (or close to that). I have no ill will towards RC.

After all, he is a very big reason why enjoy the privileges of PP-ASEL today. I’m looking forward to Tuesday. I already own (and have begun to read) Jeppesen’s, “The Pilot’s Manual: Instrument Flying” and the Gleim CD study guide for Instrument Flying. I’m excited to get rolling towards IFR flying!

Head Case

It’s funny how things work…

I had been itching to fly again since I landed last week. I was supposed to have my final checkout in the Arrow which would give me my complex aircraft endorsement this past Monday. Unfortunately, the A&P guys found something in the 100 hour inspection and they are “waiting on a part.” Oh well, I simply scheduled some time in an Archer for today and was planning a short cross country hop up to Payson (PAN) – I hear they have a really good restaurant up there.

I left home for the office at 06:30 and called Flight Services for a briefing on my way into the office. We had a cold front past through yesterday and last night and the net result would be a high of 90 degrees today. This is relatively cool for Arizona in June and I was hoping to take advantage of the lower than normal temperatures and density altitude.

According to the briefer, there was an AIRMET for moderate turbulence from the surface to FL160. Winds aloft were light and variable up to 6,000 and 290 at 12kts at 9000 feet. No convective activity. No PIREPS for anything. Other than the usual surface heating, I’m thinking that turbulence shouldn’t be an issue for my flight. The briefer agreed.

Got to the office at 07:00 and exchanged a few e-mails, talked to a couple of people, and printed my “trip kit” from the Jeppesen flight planning software. Pulled out of the office at 07:30 and headed out to the airport. As I began the 20 minute drive to the airport, I noticed that I was fairly distracted with some of the things going on at the office. Oh well, not to worry, flying should clear my head.

I arrived at the airport at 07:50 and couldn’t find the plane that I had reserved! A quick check in the office revealed that the plane I reserved, N287HP, was in for an annual inspection. They had kindly moved me to N4182L. No big deal – they’re identical planes. They have the same equipment and differ only in paint color. The electric trim is INOP in 82L and that was the only reason I reserverd 7HP instead of 82L.

I began my pre-flight and realized that the person who had flown before me forgot to order fuel. So now, I had to wait for the fuel truck. It was 08:25 before I yelled, “CLEAR PROP,” and started the engine. By this time, I had a few things from the office, the plane switch, and the irritation of waiting on fuel all swirling around in my head. None of these things are incredibly egregious but combined they are a distraction. Again, I defer to the supposition that the noise in my head will dissipate once I’m airborne.

I taxied to the run-up area. Usually we turn such that your prop wash is blown back into a grassy field next to the run-up area. Today there was a 152 doing a run-up on the taxiway. Fortunately there isn’t a lot of prop wash from a 152 but it is mildly irritating. I was finally cleared for takeoff (behind the 152). My DTK for PAN is 010* and we were leaving runway 04. The Cessna was supposed to turn right while I would essentially fly straight out and slightly to my left. I was catching up to him and he didn’t appear to be turning. I didn’t want to turn to my left because there is traffic off of runway 4L and I didn’t want to turn right because I assumed that the Cessna would eventually turn right. I was running out of options right when the tower instructed the Cessna to, “turn right immediately!” Thank you very much!

As I continue my climb out, I radio Phoenix approach and immediately know that my VFR request will be turned down just from the amount of traffic on the frequency. I ask anyway. They say, “Call back in 10 minutes…” I press on. Now I begin to realize that all of the crap I brought with me on this flight is still swimming around in my head and I am adding to it! I wasn’t enjoying myself at all. I wasn’t flying well and I was distracted. Time to head back.

I thought that flying would have a positive impact on all of the junk going on in my head. Instead all of the junk in my head was having a negative impact on my flying. Since I had all of this activity in my head, my gut jumped in and said, “Time to land.”

I was told to enter a wide right base for runway 4R. I was cleared to land right about the time they decided to switch to runway 22. I had just turned about a ¾ mile final and the controller cleared a Diamond for takeoff – no delay. When the Diamond asked for a repeat, I was already offsetting to the right for a go-around when the controller instructed me to do just that. She asked me to offset wide to the right, do a 360, and enter a mid field left downwind for runway 22L. Got to do a little extra flying anyhow.

I had about a 10kt crosswind on landing and floated a little. Nothing major and came back down right on the centerline. I tied up the plane and headed back to the office. I guess I had better take care of the stuff that was irritating me. I suppose that this is a lesson learned in that I made a good decision not to continue my flight; however, a better decision would have been to wait until I had a clear head before I attempt to enjoy the clear skies.

Flight time: 0.8

Total time: 90.8

Cross Country - CAVU

Today I decided to spend a little time flying. The "good flying" days are about over for us folks in Phoenix. Especially those of us NOT flying high performance aircraft and aircraft without air conditioning. The heat is bad but the density altitude is worse.

I was going to head up to the tall cool pines in northern Arizona. Flagstaff (KFLG) was looking nice. Unfortunately, the field elevation is 7015 ft and the density altitude was already 8,500 (Strike 1). At max weight, 180 hp doesn't work real well unless you're OK with the 100 ft per minute climb on takeoff. Not to mention that the winds were gusting to 22 kts (Strike 2). Also the briefer at flight services said that the outlook was for moderate turbulence later in the day (Strike 3).

So? Down to Tombstone? Active MOA (Hit by a pitch). OK back to Ryan. At least the restaurant is good. The weather was pristine. I didn't feel even the slightest bump and the ceiling and visibility were unlimited. It was unusually clear today - I could see the field 30 miles out at 7,500 feet.

I was a little high and fast on my approach to runway 6L. Since there is no VASI or PAPI, I had to rely on my skill as a pilot - in this case, lack thereof... After the third or fourth porpoise, I cleared the active runway and taxied to the restaurant (while trying not to make eye contact with anyone or anything). Fortunately, the restaurant at Ryan Field does not have a view of the runway and I was able to shake off the shame and embarrassment on my way inside. I had the confident look of a seasoned ATP as I casually walked in and sat down. I even looked up at the sky and nodded my approval of the weather - how cheesy can you get?

Once again, I was treated to a first-rate breakfast prior to my return to Falcon Field. I left the restaurant and made amends to N4182L for the abusive landing (I think the plane and I are back on speaking terms - the runway is still pissed).

The flight back at 6,500 feet was perfect. Clear air the entire way (little bit of wake turbulence from a B737 on climb-out). Phoenix approach told me to stay clear of Gateway's (KIWA) class delta airspace. This was odd - I transition through it all of the time without as much as a complaint from them. Oh well, I don't mind the extra flying. About 10 miles south they terminated radar service and told me to contact Gateway tower for clearance to transition their class delta airspace. OK then.

Changed frequencies and tried to contact Falcon Tower for landing clearance. Falcon and Gateway's class delta airspace are adjacent to each other. Unfortunately Falcon tower was unusually busy and they denied me entry into their class delta and told me to call back in 5 minutes! Don't they realize who I am? Whatever ego-boy. Eventually they called me up and said to enter a left base for runway 22L. Seriously, in over 300 landings at KFFZ this has never happened to me before and I'm not taking anything at all away from the controllers there. They are the best. Since I was so far out (turned a 3 mile final), I had better make a good landing to redeem myself (and keep N4182L happy and in one piece).

I love the sound of the screech on a good landing! Wow! It was a great day of flying. One of those days where you are thinking to yourself, "Can we go again?"

Flight time: 2.1

Total time: 90.0

Mother Nature's Not Happy

This has been the strangest week I have seen in the 20 years that I have lived in Arizona. Last Sunday, it was our first day over 100 (there are usually about 120 of those every year). Last Monday was our first day over 110. Today it was raining and windy and cold - 70 degrees (yeah, it's all relative).

Word for the day: AIRMET


Icing

• Turbulence


• Mountain Obscuration


• IFR

Throw in a Convective SIGMET for good measure and it simply isn't a good day for the cross country flight I had planned... A friend of mine, who is also a pilot, and I decided to go up and see if NOAA and the National Weather Service were accurate in their reporting.

ATIS information at the airport reports winds at 15kts gusting to 20kts and a ceiling at 8,000 feet. We went up and flew in the local practice areas. We were in the southeast practice area and there was no turbulence and it was decent flying - at least 7 miles visibility. We went up to the northeast practice area near Fountain Hills and the ceiling was dropping like a rock. At 3,000 feet (about 1,500 feet AGL) visibility was quickly dropping too.

Time to head back. Wind check on final for 22L had sustained winds 150 at 17kts (which is the maximum crosswind component for the Archer). Other than drifting a little to the right of the center line, it was a great landing.

Too bad we couldn't fly more - we learn to treasure days when the temperature (and density altitude) is so low!

Flight time: 0.7

Total time: 87.9

Complex Aircraft 2nd Flight

My second flight in the Arrow was a lot like my first. The biggest difference between the flight characteristics of the Archer and Arrow is with the larger engine and landing gear on the nose, the additional weight causes the Arrow to pitch down with no power. In other words the nose is a little heavy.

When landing, I'm used to cutting the power over the threashold and flying in ground effect just before my flare. With this plane, if you cut the power, it tends to pitch down - abruptly. So I have to work on keeping a little power in on final approach.

I should have one more flight and then get my endorsement.

Flight time: 1.2

Total time: 87.2

Complex Aircraft Endorsement

A complex aircraft is defined as an aircraft having retractable landing gear and a controllable pitch propeller. I found a Piper Arrow that was renting for a decent rate and scheduled a flight with a CFI to begin the process of my complex endorsement.

Really you have two more levers - a landing gear lever and a propellor control lever. Since I have had some time in the Cirrus, I was familiar with manifold pressure and quickly adapted to the additional instrument.

The flight went really well. We spent about a half hour on the ground going through systems (landing gear is controlled by a hydraulic system) and the V speeds along with the manifold pressure and RPM settings that correspond to different stages of flight in the traffic pattern.

Flight time: 1.3

Total time: 84.4

More Cross Country - back to Ryan

Today I wanted to go cross country. I wanted to head down to Tombstone but there was a fire in the area and I wanted to stay clear of the area... So I went back to Ryan for a quick hop. On the way back, I saw 2 F-16 fly across my windscreen at an incredibly high rate of speed! That was cool (Tucson Approach told me they were coming). They were far enough away that I never felt their wake turbulence but close enough to have some fun watching them scream by!

Flight time: 2.1

Total time: 84.7

Sedona

Today my friend SP and I decided to fly up to Sedona for breakfast. Another beautiful flight to a beautiful airport. Great breakfast too. At about 10:00AM we needed to head back to the Valley of the Sun.

The automated weather briefing had a remark that the density altitude was 6,900 feet. Hmmm. That's pretty high. Didn't seem that warm out. The field elevation is just shy of 5,000. Well, if I can reach 70% of Vr halfway down the runway, we should be OK. Also try a short field takeoff. Full power, full brakes. RPMs are all the way up and release the brakes. Rolling. Slowly rolling. Thin air...

We used ALL of the runway and were maintaining 5,000 feet turning crosswind for a left downwind departure. Thank God the runway sits 500 feet above the town! It took a lot of time to climb up to 7500 feet for the trip home. If any new pilots are reading this and don't think density altitude and weight and balance are important, think again!

This wasn't a really close call but it is unnerving for a new pilot. Once we picked up some altitude, the flight was nice. It was good to get out of town for a couple of hours...

Flight time: 2.1

Total time: 82.6

Fly Because I Can

Today I had a friend who wanted to go up for a quick flight. We went up for a quick flight in the local area. He was impressed with the experience and is considering getting his licence too.

Flight time: 0.8

Total time: 80.5

I'm a Pilot!

Now that I'm a Pilot, I need to start building up some cross country time in preparation for my instrument rating. Today I decided that I would fly up to Sedona. I looked at the weather and it was looking pretty windy up there so I decided to head South down to Ryan Field.

This was a very different flight. I had no maneuvers to practice. Nothing to remember for my oral exam. The only thing I had to do was safely fly the plane to Ryan Field and get some breakfast!

Besides my first flight, this was the best flight ever. This flight had no purpose other than for me to do something I actually love. Fly. I actually noticed some of the landscape around me. Took in the 50 mile visibility and cleared my head! What a great flight!

Since I had not been the the restaurant at Ryan, I asked the ground controller for a progressive to the restaurant. He told me that would be easy - just follow the blue line. Next to the yellow center line on the taxiway, there is a blue line too. Apparently the blue like takes you right to the restaurant! I like that plan! Had an egg sandwich and the best home fries ever!

Got back in the plane and flew back to Mesa. I was having so much fun that I felt like the time passed too quickly. It was a great day!

Flight time: 2.2

Total time: 78.1

Checkride

Last night, the FAA examiner called me and asked me to plan a flight to Nogales, AZ (right on the US-Mexico border). He and I were to meet at the FBO at 07:00 to begin the examination. I slept fairly well - my head was filled with thoughts of adiabatic lapse rate, density altitude, LAHSO, pilotage, mountain obscuration, gyroscopic procession, emergency procedures... No sheep...

Today in about 4 hours, I'm either going to get in my car as a Private Pilot (Airplane Single Engine Land) or I was going to get in my car really pissed off as a Student Pilot about to enter retirement... I had worked very hard to get to this point - managing a career and a family of 5. Financially and from a time perspective, I was running out of ways to continue the process. At 6:30, I was at the FBO getting the weather so that I could finish my flight plan. I ran into one of the instructors and he said that there was a temporary flight restriction (TFR) down by Nogales - probably wouldn't affect my flight but the examiner might be impressed if I made mention of it... Thanks!

The examiner showed up right at 07:00. The first thing we did was go over my log book. He was checking for all of the appropriate entries, making sure I had logged all of the required flight time, and that I had all of the appropriate endorsements. It all looked good.

Next we logged into IACRA. This is a pretty cool system developed by the FAA to eliminate the paper 8710 forms. I had filled out all of the information on the electronic form and signed it electronically. My instructor had also signed the form electronically. It automagically checks my written test score to see that I passed and it even validates my medical certificate. It is actually very cool!

After the paperwork was out of the way, we spent 5 minutes talking about why I wanted to be a pilot and we exchanged information about each other. He is a retired FBI agent. Outstanding. He disclosed that he likes to do these things "by the book." Speaking of books, he had a 3 inch binder with the test standards plus oral exam questions. My palms were a little sweaty at this point.

Thus began the oral portion of the exam. Talked about the airplane (Piper Archer) and it's systems and instruments. This probably consumed 45 minutes. Then we were on to density altitude and weight and balance. 15 minutes. Flashcards on airport markings and signage. 10 minutes. Brief discussion of physiological aspects of flying such as, hypoxia, hyperventilation, carbon monoxide, spatial disorientation, night vision, etc... 20 minutes. Terminal area chart and sectional chart review including identification and definition of different airspace classes. 20 minutes. Review of my flight plan and a quick pit-stop and then we were off to the plane. It's 09:00.

While I did the pre-flight, he was watching planes takeoff and land. Didn't ask me what I was doing or any questions about my pre-flight. When I was finished, he said, "Why don't you clean the bugs off of the windscreen?" Bugs on the windscreen? Hey, it’s a rental! I ran into the FBO and bought a can of window cleaner and spit-shined the windscreen...

Once on board, we admired the clear view that we had through the windscreen, I performed the engine start checklist and we were about underway. I asked him if he would like a passenger briefing and he said that he didn't need one. I also proclaimed that I was the (Student) Pilot In Command and asked if he would like to check his brakes. He said that he didn't need to check the brakes. We talked about sterile cockpit and that unless he was instructing me to perform a maneuver, I shouldn't expect to hear much from him. Fine by me. Furthermore, unless I had a question about a maneuver or something on the checkride, I should limit my conversation to the tower. Alrighty then.

Taxied to the run-up area and performed a run-up. Everything looked good. Performed my takeoff briefing and requested takeoff clearance from the tower. Basically the checkride is half over and I know I’m capable of flying the plane and performing the maneuvers. What was I forgetting? Flaps 10, landing light on… Archer 4 1 8 2 Lima, Falcon Tower. Cleared for takeoff on runway 4 right. Right turn approved. This is it!

Once airborne, I was turning crosswind to begin my flight plan and there was a huge structure fire in my planned route. There were tons of black smoke billowing up in my route of flight. I mentioned that I needed to divert a little to avoid flying into the smoke. This would probably add a couple of seconds to the time en rout to the first checkpoint. He simply nodded his head.

My first checkpoint was Williams Gateway airport (IWA). I obtained permission to transition their class delta airspace and overflew the airport. Next checkpoint was the north edge of the town of Coolidge (we were flying southbound). At Coolidge, I was told to divert to Phoenix Regional Airport (A39). I started my turn, set the timer, got out the chart and estimated the distance, estimated a heading, and calculated the time en route. Hit it right on the money. He asked me to perform a slip to a landing and do a touch and go.

Back in the air, he told me to fly out over the test tracks and when I was ready perform a steep turn to the left. I said that I would do a clearing turn and he simply told me that the area was clear and to perform the maneuver. When I was about ready to roll out of the steep turn, he said that I was clear on the right and roll right into that steep turn. Now on this one, I picked up about 20kts of extra airspeed and lost about 150 feet during my turn. I don't think he looked at the instruments once during this turn. Either he sensed that I immediately corrected during the turn by reducing power and adding back pressure or he was oblivious. I’m guessing the prior.

I know that I exceeded the tolerances on that turn but I think he is supposed to stop the flight if I am not going to pass. Or is he? Anyhow he then pointed to a clump of trees and asked me to do turns around a point. This is a relatively easy maneuver - even when it is a little bumpy. At one point he simply said, "Please center the ball." I had become a little uncoordinated in all of the turbulence.

"Climb to 4,500 and configure the plane for slow flight." So I configured for slow flight at 4,500 feet and was cruising along at 60kts when he said that he wanted me to give him 50kts and not lose any altitude. 50kts? We always practice slow flight between 55 & 60 kts. I wonder if he knows what he’s doing? 50kts. OK. With all of the data I have crammed into my head right now, I’m frantically trying to remember Vso (stall speed in a landing configuration) for this plane. We’re still airborne. At least I have that going for me. To add to the chaos that has erupted between my ears, the stall warning horn is screaming and we were getting kicked around pretty good.

Next he asked for a power-off stall. I lost about 150 feet and he told me to clean it up for a power-on stall. Done. Then he handed me the hood. Once we were situated, he told me to look straight down while he took the controls. He did a series of climbs, banks, turns, descents and told me to take the controls and fly straight and level. Done. Then we did a couple of climbs, descents, and turns. Slow flight and recovery.

"Now, locate the Stanfield VOR and fly me there." Tuned the frequency to the Stanfield VOR, centered the needle and began to fly. He asked me if I was sure that I was tracking the Stanfield VOR. I checked the chart and compared it to the frequency on the NAV radio and concluded that I was sure this was the Stanfield VOR. He asked, "How can you be totally certain?" "I could listen to the Morse code identifier." "OK let's do that." So we listened and heard dashes and dots – honestly I don’t really know if they matched the dots and dashes for the identifier for the Stanfield VOR. It was a WAG. "OK you can take off the hood."

I had just pulled the hood off of my head and simultaneously he pulled the power out of my engine and said, “Your engine just quit.” Great. Establish best glide, locate a suitable landing point, and attempt engine restart – switch fuel tanks, fuel pump on, cycle the magnetos, attempt restart. “Restart successful! Full power.” No dice. Apparently, no sense of humor either. OK, finish the checklist. Mayday, mayday, mayday… Now we are in the middle of the desert and I found a nice deserted, straight, and flat gravel road with no electrical lines for the landing point. We are descending to the point that I can identify various bugs on the ground (no, they’re not on the windscreen) and I’m starting to get a little nervous. When we practice this maneuver, we never went down this low. I would say we were about 100 feet AGL when he said, “OK, full power.” At least we didn’t actually cross the line between simulated and actual emergency…

“Let's head back to Falcon Field.” We were flying back and he said that he wanted me to do a short field landing, a soft field landing, a power off 180 to a landing, and a normal landing. At Falcon Field, there were 4 or 5 other planes in the pattern so the tower was busy (There are 2 parallel runways at Falcon Field and they use the longer and wider one, 4R/22L, for full stops and the shorter and narrower 4L/22R for practice and helicopter traffic. The controllers at Falcon are some of the best! There is a lot of training activity at the airport and they do a great job keeping everything running smooth. Kudos to Falcon Tower.). So my first short field landing was a little on the firm side but passable - I stopped before the first exit within a couple hundred feet of my touchdown point. Next we went back up for a soft field landing. This was the worst one that I ever performed - I think I may have even landed with the nose wheel first! When we were airborne, he had me request a short approach. That request was turned down because there were multiple aircraft in the pattern. He said OK lets see another soft field landing. This one was perfect. Though he kept saying, “Keep the nose wheel up!” I was a little irritated. I finally blurted out that it was up and it had not touched the ground. I’m not too sure where that outburst came from – it was probably not appropriate considering what I had riding on this flight. I’ll blame it on global warming – it certainly wasn’t stress related… He said, "Fine, tell the tower that we want to terminate."

I taxied back and parked. He simply said, "You tie it down and I'll get started on the paperwork." About 10 minutes later, after having successfully removed my foot from my mouth, I walked into the FBO and he handed me a piece of paper and said that I needed to sign it. The top of the paper read "Temporary Airman Certificate!"

I was probably more relieved than excited. 4 months, countless hours of reading, listening, flying, and round trip travel to and from the airport, which is a 50 mile round trip commute for me, finally paid off.

Paid my $400.00 and said thank you. Did I mention that I am a PILOT?!

Flight time: 1.8
Total time: 75.9 Hours

Flights: 57
Dual Received: 56.5 Hours
Solo: 19.2 Hours
Pilot In Command: 21.0 Hours
Cross Country: 16.3 Hours
Simulated Instrument: 3.1 Hours
Takeoff & Landings (day): 270
Takeoff & Landings (night): 11
Flown 5 different planes and 3 different types of aircraft.

One More Day...

My final flight before my checkride tomorrow. I am totally spent. My head is full of information (getting ready for my 2 hour oral exam) and to be quite honest, the last thing I really want to do is fly.

After some coaxing, RC talks me into going up for a little practice. We did a couple of maneuvers and I said that I was simply burned out and really didn't want to do anymore practice. Instead, we made a leisurely flight over to the Salt River Canyon. It is some spectacular country and perfect for taking my mind off of my eminent checkride. Headed back to Falcon for some touch and gos and go try to get a decent night's sleep.

Flight time: 1.1

Total time: 74.1

Touch Up...

This flight is intended to be a touch-up on some of the areas in which I could use some work - my checkride is a week away!

Emergency procedures. Engine restart procedure - remember to cycle the magnetos after switching tanks! Power off 180s on approach. Nailed the first one that I tried but then heard from the controller that the good folks over at Boeing would rather we didn't do that short of an approach over their building. They manufacture the Apache attack helicopters right there and don't really want anyone crashing their party. So to speak.

While I respect Boeing's wishes, if I lose my engine on downwind, the last thing I'm going to be thinking about is overflying their plant! Did some touch and gos and that was about it. Both RC (my instructor) and I are confident about my flying.

Flight time: 1.2

Total time: 74.6

Windy!

Flew up to Deer Valley for lunch with a supplier. Good flight in and nothing to report. Had a nice lunch and a good flight back. A little bumpy but that's the desert for you. When I checked the ATIS for Falcon Field on my way back, they mentioned that the winds were ar 17kts gusting to 26.

Where did this come from? I had variable at 5kts on the way out an hour ago! This would be interesting. I had to come in and manage the crosswind. I made my landing and quite frankly I think the winds were overstated... I was tying the plane down and a couple of gusts actually moved the plane an inch or two.

When I walked into the FBO, my instructor was there. He took one look at my headset bag and asked if I just flew in this. I said that I did but it was relatively calm when I took off. He shook his head and said that he was glad I was safe but he didn't want to know any more about it.

When we finished talking, I went back outside in time to see a Cessna 150 scrape his wing on the runway while landing. I guess I'm glad to be heading to my car no worse off than being reprimanded by my instructor!

Flight time: 1.0

Total time: 71.8

Solo Cross Country

Today is the day of my long solo cross country. It is really the last thing I need to log before my checkride. I planned to go from Falcon Field (KFFZ), to Lake Havasu City (KHII), to Blythe, CA (KBLH), and back to Falcon Field.

The first leg of my trip began at 6:00AM (13:00 Zulu) and was going to take me over SDL and DVT into the mountains towards the Colorado River. It was a beautiful morning and the scenery was incredible. I was hitting all of my checkpoints pretty much right on. All was well until my coffee spilled all over the right seat AND my logbook. Oh well, at least it looks used now. When I came within 12 miles of Lake Havasu, I radioed that I would be making left traffic for Runway 14. This would allow me to fly by the airport for observation.

Suddenly a voice came over the CTAF frequency saying that winds were calm and that the calm wind runway was 32. OK that's fine I can go straight in for 32 - oh, but wait, I read a NOTAM that said straight in approaches were not allowed. Cool! Fly out over the lake and make left traffic for 32.

Landed and had to pee really bad so I taxied to the FBO. Pee'd got a bottle of water and ended up putting a quart of oil in the plane - it was down under 5 quarts.


Off to Blythe. This is a really cool flight because you can basically fly down the Colorado River the entire way. It is a nice flight. Short too. Unfortunately, the airport is a total hole. I took a picture of the sole hangar at the airport. It has definitely been on this earth longer than I have. Made a quick bathroom break and headed back to Phoenix.

Upon leaving, I contacted Los Angeles Center for flight following. They were great. They handed me off to Albuquerque Center. All was going well and then I was handed off to Phoenix approach. Then Phoenix approach cleared me into Class Bravo airspace at 4500 feet for one of the west to east VFR transitions. I wasn't expecting this but I'm willing to try anything once. I then got handed off to another controller. I switched frequencies and the following exchange took place:

Phoenix Approach, Archer 2 8 7 Hotel Papa is with you at 45oo feet.

November 2 8 7 Hotel Papa, Phoenix Approach. Care to tell me why you're with me at 4500 feet when the previous controller cleared you to 5500 feet?

Phoenix Approach, Archer 2 8 7 Hotel Papa. I wrote down and read back 4500 feet. Since the controller did not correct my read back, I think I'm cleared to 4500 feet.

November 2 8 7 Hotel Papa, Phoenix Approach. Negative. You were not cleared to 4500 feet. Cancel Class Bravo clearance, radar service terminated, squawk 1 2 0 0, frequency change approved!

So I got that going for me. Which is nice...

Flew out, around, and under the Class B airspace the rest of the way. Still a little peeved about the controller's nasty attitude but they're in charge. I guess. Successfully completed my last solo cross country and I had a lot of fun too!

Flight time: 4.1

Total time: 72.4

More Practice for Checkride

Now we're getting serious. My checkride is scheduled for 4/22/08! I still have a 150nm solo cross country to do to meet all of the qualifications. Today we practiced everything, including a no-flap landing. There is light at the end of the tunnel and if I'm lucky, I might end up becoming a pilot after all!

Flight time: 1.2

Total time: 68.3

Stage Check!

Today I did a stage check. This is a simulated checkride with a different flight instructor. Even though this was "just practice," I was still a little nervous. I had planned a cross country flight to Payson. At our first checkpoint, he diverted me to Sky Ranch.

Then it was on to steep turns. Good. S-Turns. Good. Turns around a point. Good. Slow Flight. Good. Power off Stall. Good. Power on Stall. Good. Emergency engine out. Good.

Simulated instrument work. Straight and level flight - good. Climbs and descents - Good. Turns to a heading - good. Slow flight - good. Unusual attitudes - good.

Back to the airport for a soft field landing. Not good. Short field landing - good. Power off 180 (short approach with a slip) - not good. Missed the runway. Normal landing to a full stop - OK.

Feedback from the CFI was that my emergency procedures needed a little more memorization - it was good that I used the checklist; however, he felt like I should have memorized all of the emergency procedures. Also recommended work on my power off 180 and soft field landings.

It was a good flight with a fresh perspective from somebody that I hadn't flown with before.

Flight time: 1.6

Total time: 67.1

Personal Limits

Went up to do some practice work today. If you read enough of the rags and talk to enough pilots, you will hear a lot of talk about personal limits. Today I met one of mine. Wind and turbulance. As soon as I left the ground I was getting kicked around. It didn't get any better out in the practice area so I did what was prudent. I came back to the airport. Simple enough. Unnecessary risks are not a part of my flying M.O.

On another note, I did pass my FAA written test today. It wasn't that hard - 68 multiple choice questions. Basic stuff.

Flight time: 0.5

Total time: 65.5

Solo Cross Country

Today I had my first solo cross country. RC approved my flight plan and the weather checks out. What am I waiting for?

I planned for Ryan Field (KRYN) and was just going to go down and back. Its about 85nm each way. Since the airport at which I am based is underneath Phoenix Class B airspace, we spend a lot of time knowing where the shelves are located and at what altitudes they are located. The biggest concern about my flight today was to avoid the Class B airspace and I had to transition the Class D airspace at KIWA and KCHD.

The flight was uneventful. I had requested flight following and, as always, Phoenix Approach, Albuquerque Center, and Tucson Approach were all very accommodating. The winds were a little gusty when I got down to Ryan.

Funny how you're so focused on the task at hand, you forget to enjoy it sometimes...

Note to self: Have more fun on the next cross country.

Flight time: 1.4

Total time: 65.0