Will Obama's visit ground local operator during visit to Martha's Vineyard?

Boy, that would be a bummer? This has been a cold year for the island as it is. With a short summer and troubled economy, 10 days of no-fly TFRs would hurt local operations. AN open mind would permit some choices here. For example, the government can say 'sorry' and do what they have to do. The government could implement some sort of security plan that would restrict flights in and around the island to approved operations using a security coding scheme similar to three airports within the DC area (costly for one 10-day trip). However, the procedures could be repeatable for other future occassions at other locations. The government could take the money it would use to pay for such a complex security operation and hand it over to local FBOs, compensating them for their loss. Yeh, right!

Flying expenses and student/instructor tension

My instructor and I ran into some scheduling snags over the last month. With him going away for a large portion of the summer, we both decided it was in my best interest to pair up with another instructor. In addition, there were some personality issues that was inhibiting me from making some bigger steps towards being a certificated pilot. From what I hear, it is not uncommon. The aircraft is a terrible classroom. The instructor and student must 'gel' to get the most effective instruction. In the last couple of months, we were not communicating well. Add to that the stress of finances, lost opportunities and the general stress of flying, the efficiency of instruction was going south quickly. Time to move on.

The money issue is really starting to take its toll on me. My music earnings are half of what they should be. I can thank the economy for some of it. Some of it is due to my lack marketing efforts. Marketing takes time. For every five hours of marketing, I may get one gig, paying around $100. Consider each gig is minimum of four hours of work (regardless of how long I play) and there is always travel involved. It just does not seem worth it. I could justify the time in the past because I love to play. That being said, if I spend time marketing, then I do not spend time flying.

After dumping three grand into car repairs and tree removal, and forking out money for summer camp for my son, I am starting get anxious about flying. I cannot quit now, but the costs are prohibitive. I do not mind the instructor costs. I would pay instructor costs for any new endeavor, whether it be for golf lessons, drum lessons, whatever. The rental fee for a Cessna 172 runs around $115 to $135 per hour wet. Even at four dollars per gallon of gas, burning close to ten gallons an hour in training, that is still a jaw-dropping large fee. By the time I get my certificate, I will have flown close 65 hours. The notion that a private pilot license costs under $7000 is ludicrous. It is not possible unless a student enrolls in a three week 'all or nothing' immersion program.

I keep looking for a way to cut the costs of flying. In the end, if GA is to be 'saved', then the industry, as a whole, should change it's attitude towards student pilots, not trying to use them as a money bag to prop up the industry. In addition, I think, with all the controlled air space out there, the LSA market is never going to be very big. The money being dumped into does not seem justifiable. It may show some spots of success in states like Florida or in the western states with wide open spaces.

At this point, I would be better taking the family on a vacation in the west for two weeks and finishing up my flying out there where rental and instructor fees are lower in cost. Get'er done!

Ahh, the voice of reason

In Government Executive, the DHS inspector general stated that GA terrorism threat is "mostly hypothetical". Richard Skinner also said "The current status of [general aviation] operations does not present a serious homeland security vulnerability requiring TSA to increase regulatory oversight of the industry".

The key thing to remember is that the backing analysis is attempting quantify risk, making it measurable against other areas of security risk. There is always risk. It is matter of determining the level of effort and cost associated with further mitigation of each risk. Richard Skinner uses the word 'serious' as a very lax reference to the weight associated with the risk. In the end, he provides a distilled conclusion not in opposition what many pilots call 'common sense'.

132 Ways to Restrict our Freedom

In his New York Time article A Threat in Every Port, Dr. Lawrence Wein provides a summary of his path analysis on bomb delivery to a US city. In his final sentence, he writes:

But its bigger task is to turn that analysis into action, initially by stepping up the screening of air cargo, better monitoring domestic flights by small planes, and improving the ability to detect highly enriched uranium and fissile material at sea.

The second item, monitoring domestic flights by small planes, does not sit equally with the other suggested actions. Consider that land borders are the LEAST controlled elements of our nation. They are hard to secure. Immigrants and illegal substances make it into this country every DAY. Once in, a van can move substances just about every where. For example, it could be driven into a parking garage of a major building in a big city without much notice. A small plane entering class B airspace without a clearance is going to get noticed. Most cities reside under class B airspace. Perhaps he thinks this is an easier target. However, the author states the terrorists will find alternate paths, so easy does not always mean cost effective. Within the last few years, a small plane can not get close to the monuments in DC. A few years ago, a disgruntled citizen drove a farm tractor into the tidal basin, IN THE MIDDLE OF MORNING RUSH HOUR!

I would like to see some domain experts weight the 132 paths. I think it is necessary before recommendations are made. Before this is done, such analysis can only be deemed incomplete.

I can think of quite a few benefits to increasing land border security. It seems to me, this would be a better use of American dollars than going after GA.

This suggestion does not mean GA cannot be involved in the security of America. I have yet to see a comprehensive online training course offered to pilots on how to notice suspicious behavior and provide guidelines on how to help provide security of small air fields. There does not exist a 'hotline' concept or set of procedures for reporting suspicious behavior other than reporting unsafe, accident or incident activities that violate regulations. Let us use the best and most widely spread GA resources, namely FBOs and pilots. Many of resources are already in place to do this. The communication channels and procedure are not!

Ah hah

After a scheduling mishap on Monday, I decided to return the airport on Friday to get some practice time in the pattern. Geoff, my other instructor, wanted me to do no-flap landings. I did not recall doing that, so I invited him up to come up with me after I went out for a 'warm up'. I picked up Geoff after performing 3 short field take-offs and with standard landings. Other than repeatedly forgetting carb heat, I was doing a fine job...until Geoff got into the plane.

I started a normal takeoff with Geoff. We went around and I executed a fine no-flaps landing. I had gone through all the check lists properly (except that carb heat). Geoff was thinking that one more time around would do it since I was flying so well. That is when things went south. On a no-flaps landing, the trim is considerably different. I did not retrim the plan for take-off. So when Geoff asked me to show him a soft field take-off, naturally I botched the procedure. The trim made it difficult to keep the nose down while building up airspeed in ground effect. I had to apply more forward pressure than I was expecting to.

After fixing the trim, I proceeded to do a soft field landing. In prior soft field attempts, I did not have a much of problem. I never bothered to practice them. With higher density altitude and 225 extra pounds in the airplane, I did not demonstrate anything but a THUD. Geoff flew the next round, demonstrating to me what he wanted to see. I watched closely to everything including the power settings. Geoff then had me go around again. In my second attempt, the soft field take-off was fine, with the plane now trimmed properly. The second landing...THUD. So much for soft! At this time, our empty stomachs and the heat were annoying us so we called it a day.

I tried to analyze the situation, asking questions about how much power (1700 RPM maybe) is required for a soft field landind. Geoff kept saying "provide as much power as necessary". I needed to fly the plane on to the runway. It is like flying with the wheels on the ground.

I went out again on Sunday night. This time, the density altitude was higher and the weight was lower. The power setting requirements for a soft field were completely different. It is at this point that the message Geoff attempted to convey to me sunk in. I did not need as much power and my landings were SOFT. I was having a blast, and remembering carb heat.

I was going to go for four landings until bambi decided that 34 Right was a place to park him self. I hear all sorts of deer strike stories. None of them sound good. I kindly notified the tower, waited until they had me and the deer in sight, and then proceeded back to the tie down spot, scaring the deer into grass towards the adjacent runway. I doubt the deer lived past that night. Once deer get into an airport area, they are often terminated.

So, once again, I had some 'ah hah' moments: checklists (keep on them) and do what ever it takes to fly the plane (power, trim, yoke pressures) on to the runway. Obviously, these are broad statements about concepts that I have encountered in prior flights. There comes a time where things start coming together, when the words become actionable, when and a student pilot just 'gets it'. I believe I am at the moment.

Oral Exam Preparation: Day One

Today, I started preparations for the Oral Exam. We started preparations by going over some of questions concerning aircraft maintenance and pilot certification. I even read through a couple A/Ds.

I have been able to take advantage of knowing every maintenance issue with the plane I fly since I am almost exclusively the only pilot using the plane. Any maintenance and A/D compliance does not go unnoticed. However, if I ever rented another plane, I would definitely have to add in extra time to inspect the aircraft logbook. N2229E's log book is organized and without error. I wonder if other logbooks have the same organization and completeness. As with most regulations, compliance can mean many things. In general, compliance does not address intricacies of indexing and organizing records. Rather, it addresses methods of compliance and completeness.

After some ground school, we went flying. It was distracting having an instructor in the plane again. It increased my work load and made me appreciate the work load I will incur when taking on passengers. During the flight we covered the following items.

(1) Slow flight with standard 2 minute turns.
(2) Power-off Stalls
(3) Power-on Stalls
(4) Instrument Flying, with lost procedures, turns to headings, airspeed changes and altitude changes.
(5) Soft Field Take off
(6) Short Field Take off

I made some minor mistakes, listed below.

(1) In a short field take-off, flaps are not required in the 172. The round out (Vr) is 55 KIAS, hold the speed at 59 KIAS as soon as practical until clear of the obstacle. Weight and density altitude determine the length in distance to reach these INDICATED speeds. I used flaps and then needed to apply soft field techniques. This is not a bad thing, as short fields are often soft fields. However, I need to recognize the difference.
(2) When doing pattern calls, saying 'turning to base'. Use 'entering' only when entering the pattern like 'entering at 45 to downwind for runway 22'.
(3) I tend to use long base approaches to establish a nice stable approach. If an Engine fails and there is wind, I will not make it. My instructor wants me to pull it in a bit tighter.
(4) I tend mush around a bit while preparing to make altitude changes. If a altitude change notification is given by 'ATC' to descend or ascend, immediately establish a 500 FPM vertical velocity through power changes and trim. Do not exclusively dive and do not pull up. Both cases change the forward velocity of the plane, faster or slower respectively.
(5) I usually respond to unsighted traffic calls with 'looking for traffic'. The correct phraseology is 'negative traffic'.

If today's flight was my check ride, would I have passed? Yes. However, I am not going to settle for that. I want to be instrumented rated, which requires an increased level of accuracy. As my instructor says, he wants me to "kick some ass". I am on it.

Milk it for what it is worth

A River snakes through the mountains in large S turns.

I went on my long cross country flight on Friday, May 22. My route began at Manassas, leaving through Fluky towards Cumberland, Maryland. From Cumberland, I flew down to Luray and then back to Manassas.

The cross country flight represents a balance between meeting the 14 CFR 61 requirement, learning new things and enjoying the benefits of flight. My plan was to make every penny spent on this excursion have significant value. I flew to airports that I had not visited, while not venturing too far from Manassas. I wanted to meet new people and have a complete experience. Looking back, my plan worked out perfectly. It was the people that I met on this trip, not educational elements, that made this trip memorable.

Starting with the perhaps the more boring elements of the trip, lets look at the flying challenges. These airports embody the challenge of a cross country flight, crossing over mountains and confusing terrain. These airports are much smaller than others that I had visited. Luray has a small runway (3125 x 75 ft) with trees on the south end and does not have any lighting such as a PAPI or VASI. Cumberland's runway is about two thousand feet longer than Luray, but the airport is nestled up against mountains in a small canyon and the runway is on a little hill. As I approach Cumberland, I recall the runway rising to meet me. Cumberland has a PAPI and I was on the glide slope during the approach.

I flew on a warm day, around 25 degrees Celsius. That made it a bit more fun, as I had to take off and land on a shorter runway with a higher density altitude. I did not worry about landing. The Cessna 172 that I fly has 40 degrees of flaps, if needed. I can put the plane on the numbers and stop within 150 feet. Takeoff is different story. I did not have any trouble. I just had a pause as I stared down Luray's runway 4 at the trees on the other end. I pushed in the throttle, held the brakes firm and prepared for the take-off. I was off within 1000 feet without issue.

Navigation was fun. My plan was to head to Airlie from Manassas and then up to Cumberland. This put me clear of the SFRA and the lower ceilings of class B. I missed Airlie and then started my trek about 10 miles to the west. This means that I will arrive south of Cumberland without correction. Guess what! The wind correction was off and I arrived about 5 miles south of Cumberland. I had much better success with Luray, except that the NDB I used as a guide was not giving accurate readings on the ADF. I had to ignore it. I could not even hear the station identifier clearly, so it was not usable. At one point, I used a VOR to verify my position. I had dialed the frequency incorrectly. If I had to not verified the station identifier, I would have been a bit confused. Coming back into Manassas is fairly easy. I get a bit agitated as I near the SFRA. I often just turn off my course and head to Warrenton. I know the route and distance from Warrenton well and I can provide Potomac Approach with an accurate identifiable position.

That sums up most of the educational elements of the trip. I found the cynical pilot sitting on the bench watching traffic at Cumberland amusing. He questioned my right pattern approach to runway 23. My answer: It is an uncontrolled airport, I wanted to stay clear of the power plant and the hospital, I wanted to assess the runways before landing, I announced my intentions during the approach and landing, and there were no planes in the area at the time. No problems that I can see.

In Cumberland, after chatting with the cynical pilot for a bit, I was ready to search for a snack. At the same moment, a couple from Cleveland were on a similar pursuit. Mark and Yvonne, a professional pilot and a professional photographer, graciously invited me to join them. I rarely ever turn down an opportunity to meet new people. This was perfect. Mark and Yvonne were finishing a days worth of aerial photographer, ready eat and then return to Cleveland. We had a wonderful time trading stories (not all pilot related). Though Mark's fish dinner was forgettable, I hope the occasion was memorable for them. I snapped a picture of them, decked out in their nice polo shirts with their company logo (as Mark is pointing out in the picture). Check out their website: Focal Plane . I am sure they would love visitors. Yvonne snapped a picture of me in front the Cumberland terminal. Thanks again Yvonne!

Yvonne and Mark

Ready to leave Cumberland

In Luray, I met an old friend of Geoff Petterson, the owner of the plane I fly, named Kenneth Painter. Ken recognized the plane immediately. We chatted for a bit and then were distracted as state trooper, enjoying his one holiday week-end off in the year, came in to show us the sophisticated control for his radio-controlled nitro-fueled helicopter. It is a nifty device. After a bit of stalling, I decided to get off and return to Manassas. Thanks to the Ken for his hospitality. I will return there again, with friends!

The Single Hanger at Luray

Departing Luray

Touch and Gos

I see people do touch and gos all the time. My instructor always has me do full stop landings. I was not sure if that was policy, insurance or wisdom, but I listened. The other day, by myself, I decided to do one touch a go. This was not some sneaky attempt. I really felt that I should practice this maneuver. Why? Well, I had it in my head that perhaps it is maneuver that could be used to get off the runway quick while still having sufficient speed when, lets say, a deer or another plane meanders onto the runway. I discovered touch and gos just do not work well in that setting. In a small plane like the Cessna 172, it is easier and safer to just stop in a hurry. There is less danger smashing into a deer while slowing down on a runway then pulling out of ground effect too soon and stalling 50 feet above the runway. So, that will be my last touch go for a while.

At the same time, I heard a pilot announce that he is coming into airport area to land from the South. I was taking off to the South, but my intention was to North. I had already announced this earlier, but he must not have heard me. I kept heading south a little longer and got above pattern height before beginning my turn. I still did not see him. As a reached 90 degrees into my turn, I saw the other plane. It was a large turbo prop or small ject (probably a Citation but it had a Canard look to it) also turning parrellel to the runway. The pilot had announced he was entering downwind. I was not sure if the plane I saw was associated with the call, . It was downwind, but high and another mile out. The pilot must have noticed me or heard my call when I began my turn, so he inquired about my intentions. I told him I was on a downwind leg at two thousand and heading North. I made sure he new I was a Skyhawk. I also stated that I had him in sight. He sped way ahead of me, looped in front of me and did a long final (suitable for a much faster plane).

There was little danger in this situation. Thinking back, I wish I had waited 20 seconds more before turning to the North. Had he been a slow plane closer into the airport, this could have been a more dangerous situation. Proper communication in this situation was critical.

The Death of Commercial Airlines

In Pilots’ Lives Defy Glamorous Stereotype author David M. Halbfinger writes

The National Transportation Safety Board’s inquiry into the Feb. 12 crash of Continental Connection Flight 3407 outside Buffalo has highlighted the operations of the nation’s regional airlines, a sector of the aviation industry that has grown to account for half the country’s airline flights and a quarter of its passengers.

The details of that world have surprised many Americans — the strikingly low pay for new pilots; the rigors of flying multiple flights, at lower altitudes and thus often in worse weather than pilots on longer routes, while scrambling to get enough sleep; the relative inexperience of pilots at the smaller airlines, whose training standards are the same, but whose skills may not be.

Well, I can believe it. The commercial airline industry has been struggling to hold down costs for a long time now. Guess what? It is reaching a breaking point. Costs must go up to support the airport fees, maintenance fees, fuel, and the salaries and benefits of all those involved in the commerical workflow, including ground crews and air traffic control. The improvements in efficiency has reached a local maximum. It is going to require big changes in technology and processes to make the next leap into driving down costs. The industry does not have the resources to make such a leap. Costs must rise or something drastic must occur.

If I may make a prediction. The airline industry is on borrowed time. Rail is coming back and going to rescue the transportation industry. Flying will be reserved for the wealthy. Smaller FBOs with fleets of smaller turbo props and light jets will recover and thrive in the failing commercial market.

Suggestions? Yeh. Control fuel costs. Drop them in half and watch the industry bounce back in a big way. And, once that occurs, then make industry INVEST in more pilots, less hours, and better benefits. Make them do it through CULTURE and PRESSURE. Make the penalties for failure bigger. The bottom line, start with fuel but do not end there.

Ready for the Big ONE

I went on my last 50 plus nautical mile cross-country today. I decided to return to Shenandoah. It is a short trip over the mountains. I just love passing Old Rag. I passsed it from both sides--south side on the trip out and north side on the trip back to Manassas.

As for learning, the trip was routine. The only hiccup, which I remedied before it became an issue, is the ADIZ flight plan. The FSS filer was 'new' to the procedure and had me taking off and landing at Fluky. Funny. For those who do not know, Flucky is a virtual gate into the Washington DC SFRA. I got a little confused with the VOR coming back. I just did not have the radial picture in my head. I followed a 250 radial FROM the station on the way out to Shenadoah. A little math, the radial back should be 70 TO the station.

My last landing at Manassas stunk. The wind picked me up so I had to add some power. I settled gently to the runway at about 10 feet from the center line. Woops.

So, with the second cross country complete, it is time to plan for the big 150 plus trip. I have not decided where to go. It depends on the the weather. I have alternate plans for EACH direction from Manassas. This includes to the east of Manassas, which I will avoid if any of the restricted areas become active. I would love to head out to Rehoboth Beach in Delaware.

Below are some pictures from today's excursion. The observer should notice that the clouds are really close. At one point, I was at the same elevation during my mountain passage. I had to pay close attention to avoid the clouds, per regulations. These clouds are small and harmless, but there is no need for me to pass through them. I managed to snap a picture of a friendly passer-by.

Clouds

Old Rag (south side)

North Ridge

It has not been that long

I flew two times since my last post, doing pattern work. The first of the two session was just plain bad. I was hot, uncomfortable and impatient, as the airport was busy and the temperature was pushing 92 degrees Fahrenheit. Yesterday was much better. I controlled my speed, did not have ANY bounces. All landings were soft and short. The short-field take offs were smooth and controlled. There was no wind and the air was comfortable. I practically had runway 16R to myself.

My next flight should be to Shenandoah. After that, I need to tackle night flights and finish up the instrument training. Stay tuned.

My latest aggravations in the air industry:
* Piper Aircraft sold to Imprimus, stationed in Bangkok, Singapore. Just piss away another American company. At least there is promise in the American made Lopresti Fury as the king of Sportsters for planes.
* User Fees, User Fees, User Fees. Obama supports User Fees. If the cost flying is not enough. Sure, they are post-poned for possible introduction in 2011. But, a footnote...geezzzz, thats low. Uggh, politicians and their little foot notes! It is a method of creating a paper trail indicating that either the political pressures to make a firm decision now are not strong enough in any direction or politicians want a back door to their typical mistakes.

The Hunt

While a directionally challenged pilot from Maine blundered into the SFRA without authorization with his small Cessna, bringing fear to Washington DC and forcing a military confrontation of grand proportions, I was hunting for grass runways. The poor guy at TRACON must have thought I was nuts, zig-zagging all over the place. I met the guy from TRACON assigned to my sector a week before. I aim to bring amusement.

So what's with the hunt? Well, it is a lesson in diversion if required, such as mechanical problems or other such matters such as closing down airports or airspace due to crisis. Grass strips are not easy to see from the air. Below is the sectional with the strips I needed to find. I found 4 out of 5. I am determined to go back and find the other one. I snapped a couple of pics also shown below. I included Airlie, even though it was not one of the five I needed to find.

Sectional

AVIACRES

Horse Feathers

Airlie

This adventure was great. I used may skills: pilotage, dead-reckoning, instruments, slow flight, and steep turns. I used the VOR quite a bit. I first dialed up 270 on the Casanova VOR to find Horse Feathers. When I passed and did not see it, I headed up to Airlie and then headed south (190 degrees magnetic) till I found Horse Feathers. Airlie was easy to find and acted as great starting point. Once I found Horse Feathers, the other two neighbors were easy to see. Warrenton has nice big checkered red and white roof on a nearby hanger.

To find the southern airports, I first centered the needle on the Casanova VOR (TO) and flew until the TO went to FROM (passing over the VOR). I then headed 215 degrees magnetic to find Pleasantdale (using the VOR 'FROM' on the 215 radial). I missed it and circled a few times before giving up. I then went after Berryvale. The way I found that was interesting. I found Culpeper and then flew 280 degrees until I saw the radio tower and then looked around the tower. The sectional shows the little Tee-Pee looking mark near the airport.

The sectional also has a circle on the NAILR NDB. The point of this exercise is to fly with the ADF needle pointing up (to 0 on a ADF without a compass card) until the needle flips to point behind the plane. Done!

My adventure was near the SFRA line! Did I blunder? No! Sorry Mr. Maine pilot. I know our government is over-zealous in their expensive response to your ingress into the SFRA (there is no easy way to call you up and inquire about your intent). However, most people in this country do not see it that way. Most people instead look at you, Mr. Maine pilot, as the problem. That means that your mistake puts a blight on the general aviation industry. At this time of economic crisis and a country on the verge of pushing legislation for GA user fees, such mistakes have huge ramifications.

PLEASE! Pilots flying in or near the SFRA, pay attention. If unsure, turn around and LAND!

Potomac TRACON Operation Raincheck & ADIZ/SFRA

My son and I went to the seminar last Saturday. Any event with donuts and hotdogs is a great event in my son's eyes. When flying out of Manassas in the SFRA, sometimes I feel Potomac is a barrier to entry. My instructor keeps telling me that Potomac is a service like other Tracons around the country and should be treated as such. He is right. Ultimately, Potomac Tracon keeps the skys and the underlying greater Washington DC area safe. With respect to the FRZ, I have no desire to fly over monuments. Even if it was allowed, it seems like it would be an awfully congested airspace with Reagan National traffic and all the other potential sight-seeing pilots.

Part of the presentation included numerical facts about number of accidents and number of deviations over that last five years. As one would hope when such a service is put into place, the numbers went down drastically. Part of this is due to better pilot education. Part of this is due to improvement of the service. Part of this is due to fear of the SFRA.

When it comes to the SFRA, I think I am not alone when I question the amount of freedom within the zone that is granted after a flight plan is filed. My plans usually entail a direct ingress or egress through Fluky. What if I want to squeeze between class B and the FRZ to go north? What if I wanted to fly east, squeezed between class B, FRZ and some restricted areas? After the seminar, I feel that these routes are possible with a proper a plan and communication. Although, Tracon will not route GA traffic between class B (Dulles) and the FRZ during peak times.

Most of the time, VFR traffic is handled by two or three dedicated stations. This makes me feel that, if I needed the service, I should not hesitate for a flight following. From what I could tell, during a peak Saturday morning time, the controllers are well within their capabilities to handle it. The controllers were friendly, professional, relaxed and very efficient. Even the hand-offs were a work of art. I have experienced hiccups in the service, even with my low time in the plane. That never gave me warm fuzzies about how things are handled. Now, I feel a bit relieved, meeting the controllers and watching them work.

I noticed a few funny things that seemed odd to me. The ticket dispensers at each station are not used. There is still a set of professionals that handle the clearance calls (IFR and VFR), get the ticket and WALK it over to the controller who handles the sector that plane flies through. I also noticed that, for VFR traffic requesting ingress to the SFRA, the DEN mother needs to be consulted if a plane does not call to open a plan within 15 minutes of the SFRA flight plan start time. The DEN mother needs to look up the N number, as it is not directly available to the controller. This means walking away from the station. It is only a few steps away and the radio is never left behind. Still, odd. After letting these observations stew a bit, I realized that this is not all bad. Technology is not everything. These direct interactions may dispel some confusion and are less likely lead to issues of when pressing the wrong buttons.

Dual Cross Country Radio Mishaps

My instructor and I flew from Manassas to Chesterfield County and back. It took me a while to figure how to summarize what I learned from this experience. Most of the 'problems' involved the radio and communication. The flight started with my instructor's headset jacks malfunctioning during the initial startup procedures. He spent the whole flight giving me hand gestures and listening to the speaker.

The next issue was a strange conversation with ground. I did everything right at the time, so I was confused why the conversation had so much confusion. I had radioed ground, detailing who I was, where I was, and what I wanted to do. The ground ignored the 'where' and the 'what' for a moment to inquire about my equipment code. I replied Uniform. This means I have a transponder with encoding altimeter. Ground then asked in a excited voice of disbelief: 'You do not have transponder'? Weird. I replied, 'Yes, I have a transponder with altimeter encoding'. The reply: 'You do not have altimeter encoding?'. Me: 'Yes, I do have a transponder with mode C' (same thing). Ground: 'You do or do not?'. Me: 'Do!'. Silence. Then ground replied with frequency and transponder code. I replied with the verification and then questioned ground if they cleared me to head to the runway. Once again, ground barks at me that they have not granted me clearance to taxi. I could not remember with all the confusion, so I asked. Ground apparently did not like that. What a mess!

Why did this happen? Well, it took sometime to put the pieces together. The mistake was partially mine. When filing the SFRA flight plan, I forgot to mention to FSS that I had a pre-stored plan. The stored plan had the information, including equipment code, for the plane. FSS created a new plan but DID not inquire about the equipment. Had they inquired, I would have caught on to the mistake. So the new plan was submitted without the equipment code. I later learned that there was an error in the prestored plan as well. It contained an equipment code Golf (for GPS). This is due to maintaining compliance with SFRA procedures when flying out of Leesburg.

The radio issues did not end here. Chesterfield County radio was out along with their ASOS. I used Richmond's ATIS for surface information and then picked the runway I liked the best, making the appropriate pattern calls. No one was responding.

Coming back into Manassas, we were an hourly early. It took me a few times, stating 'we are an hourly' to Approach, before Approach found the return SFRA flight plan and cleared me to enter. I explain why in a future blog. I always notify them around Warrenton. It is a good place to land if clearance is not granted. It is close to Manassas, so I could get a ride back.

Crosswind Landings

I soloed today for the second time. After all the crosswind work in the past, my instructor raised my limitations for flying in wind to 15 KTs and 10 KTs crosswind maximums. During my flight, winds were at 13 KTs with variable direction changes resulting crosswind components between 8 and 11 KTs. Very close to my limits!

I went around the pattern once, landed and called it a day. One landing was enough. My landing was fine. With the higher airspeed, I had to hold the plane in ground effect longer, with the wing banked into the wind, as the plane slowed down.

This flight was sort of a test. My instructors were watching from the ground. The test was NOT to see if I could fly a pattern in this weather. The test was to see if I new when to call it quits. I did. I passed.

Some other tidbits:

• There was a larger multi-turboprop engine plane in the runup area. I pulled into the runup behind but off to the side of the plane to accomplish three goals. (1) The pilot of the other plane could see me. (2) I was no where near the prop blast. (3) I did not get in the other planes path to the runway.
• Airspeed must be maintained in winds. I kept the flaps at 10 degrees until just about crossing the threshold. I had plenty of runway and I was go to use whatever I needed. I never exceeded 20 degrees of flaps. My airspeed at the time of crossing the threshold was still 70 KIAS. Ground speed was a but slower due to the wind.
  
• Good communication avoided any confusion about changes to my pattern today. Ground control directed me to 16L. When ready to takeoff, the tower asked if I was using right or left traffic. I stated left. The tower then cleared me to cross 16L to hold short of 16R. I verified this clearance. When cleared for takeoff on 16R, I reaffirmed with the tower that I was going to use 'right hand' traffic pattern, as I am now taking off from the other runway. Tower kindly explained that they would direct me to 16L for landing, using right hand traffic. Good to go!
  

Thoughts about the Stolen Canadian Cessna Lands In Missouri

Lots of noise about this recent incident. It looks to me like the system worked. No one was hurt physically and the problem seems to be adequately assessed by our military. Sure it is expensive. What is the alternative? We have freedoms in this country we need to protect. Canada has similar freedoms to protect. In the USA, TSA is already requiring more documentation and more controls for smaller airports and the planes stationed there. The new procedures are a preventive strike against an incident which has yet to occur since 9/11--someone using a small plane as a destructive weapon. The line on how much security and infrastructure is needed is subjective at this point: cost vs. freedom vs. tangible threat is hard to balance here.

Can security from small aircraft threats be trusted on the vigilant GA pilots? In many cases, yes. A watchful eye is maintained by many pilots. Pilots are trained to be observant. They are protecting themselves, their planes, their passengers and their freedom. We do not hear about all the incidents adverted by GA pilots in the news. Boring stuff. Instead, news jumps on incidents such as the this latest one that required military involvement. I can tell you that FBO personnel at airports are watchful and observant. Many times it is out of pure curiosity. Either way, they see things. That's what we want. That is what TSA is asking FBOs and pilots to do. It is being done. It is working.

Now, let me address a few crazy comments found in the news with no factual basis.

Why are some people even suggesting this a government sponsored test? It serves no purpose to speculate in this direction without sufficient evidence. It's pure paranoia.

Based on scientific evidence, the FAA has established that oxygen is required by pilots at altitudes greater than 12000 feet for over 30 minutes. This guy was way above that for longer. Seems like oxygen deficiency is plausible. Why do some people doubt? This guy obviously had a deficiency of some kind, regardless of oxygen. In a stressful situation, the pilot practically shutdown mentally.

Why are some people complaining about the key left in the plane? If someone really wanted to take a plane of this size, a key is not required. The key is a simple deterrent. That's all. It is fairly simple to 'hot wire' a Cessna 172.

Could an explosive be placed on plane like this? Yes. Nothing of great size. Hopping a fence with a 100 pound bag is hardly easy; it's a bit risky if the intent is too complete an act of violence. Heavily loaded, chances are the plane of this size would not have made it to any critical destination with a heavy load. I would think that a terrorist organization would take an approach that has better chances of success than a guy hoping a fence to steal a little plane. Maybe I am wrong.

In the end, I can understand not leaving things to chance. I understand the show of concern. But we should look at the problem objectively. The best thing to improve is educate pilots and FBO personnel on what looks suspicious. I would not mind having a training like that. I do feel empowered to stop any threat to property or persons. As a pilot, safety in all aspects of aviaition is tantamount.

Why did I not fly today?!

It is not that windy: KHEF 071255Z AUTO 29009G14KT 260V320 10SM BKN065 05/M05 A2955 RMK AO1

I have been having trouble sleeping so I have been staying in bed longer. This has cost me two opportunities to fly this week already. With these fast moving fronts, the opportunities requires me be ready to get the airport when on short notice. I just want to fly the pattern. Sunday was a beautiful day to fly. I designate most Sundays as family day and I have not flown on Sunday as of yet.

The weather man last night stated that the low pressure area in the north east was pushing wind down to the Mid-Atlantic region. Normally, low pressures tend to suck the wind into the center from the tracks parallel to the isobars, not pushing it out. However, the weatherman said something about rapid heating and cooling of the ground that results in a change to the direction of the wind. My guess is the lifting action of the heat from the ground is offsetting the wind. It is pretty dry here so the cloud cover is high and sparse, allowing more sun to penetrate the atmosphere and reach the ground. The thunderstorms have been quick and weak. I think the high winds has helped keep the tremendous updrafts of thunderstorms to a minimum. I remember hearing recently that thunderstorms do not occur if the rising moisture cannot reach to -10 degree Celsius point in the atmosphere.

Anyway, I plan on flying the next two days: solo pattern work and a cross country to Chesterfield County, VA. Stay tuned.

Did Eric B or Eric Bruce ace the PPA knowledge test?

Depends on the perspective. My Medical Certificate, my Birth Certificate AND my US Passport claim that Eric Bruce passed. Since I only entered my middle initial when applying for my Virginia State Driver's Licence, my driver's license and my FAA knowledge test results claim that Eric B passed. What's the difference? The FAA clearly states ( in the last three weeks or so ) that exam proctors must only present the knowledge test to the person whose name EXACTLY matches the name on the presented form of picture ID. Today, that was my driver's license.

What happens next? Not sure. Probably nothing, but I am irritated. The posting page for the exam results CLEARLY request Middle Name, not Middle Initial. This is consistent with the FAA Medical Request Form. But, my proctor MUST match the name EXACTLY to my ID. So, we were FORCED to change Bruce to B. I now have a smaller middlename according to the FAA. Identify Theives!!! Leave it to another technocratic government body to further confuse the issue.

I am a software programmer by trade. I spent two years cleaning up data for a data warehouse. I understand the need for clean consistent data. But there comes a point where simple cleansing rules are required, such as matching the initial B to Bruce. Now, if I decide to become Eric Bruce again, the paper work would be enormous because the FAA cannot hire a descent engineer to write a routine that says IF the user provides ID with an INITIAL for the middle name and the initial matches the presented Middle Name, then consider this individual identification as consistent. Duhhh!!

Anyways, I passed, and I am relieved that this part my journey is over. I just want to apply my knowledge now. I found both ASA Prep Ware and Sporty's $10 online test and practice tools instrumental in my success. Those tool's rock!


My family was happy for me, making me a nice card.

Bird Smells

After cleaning out the bird nest in the empennage, I was able to fly three times in the pattern. Even though I wore rubber gloves, I could smell bird on me the rest of day.

The flying felt great, so it was a fair price to pay. The wind was 8 to 12 knots and the direction was variable from 300 to 350. Fun stuff. My instructor pulled the mixture abeam the numbers for a simulated engine failure. I had no issue landing in this scenario. It was my best landing out of the three. I had to consult to POH upon completion for verification. I was under the impression that the 65 KIAS was applicable to 'best glide' at 10 degrees of flaps. It is not. 60 KIAS is used for up to 20 degrees of flaps.

When establishing 'best glide', it is best to avoid flaps until the landing point is picked and assured. Up to 15 degrees of flaps is mostly lift. After that, it is pretty much all drag.

I also worked on soft field take-off. It just feels so odd to push the nose down when flying so close to the ground. The idea is to stay in ground-effect waiting until the speed reaches 61 KIAS. It is more pressure on the yoke than I expect. I will get used to it.

My instructor and I postponed the night excursion. Bill needed to get current. We thought about having Bill make three full stop trips around in the pattern and then picking me up. With sunset at 7:30 PM EST, regulation mandates that he not take off until 8:30--one hour after sunset. The means we cannot start flying until 9:00. That is a bit late.

Another good day for crosswind landings

My intention for flying yesterday was simple. I wanted to solo in the pattern again. This is confidence boosting exercise as much as it is practice. With winds at 10 to 12 knots and gusts up to 20 knots, this outside my comfort zone to fly solo. Luckily, Instructor Geoff sat with me. No earth shattering lessons to report on cross wind landings. Been there, done that. Just need to firm up the skills as expected. Just a few tidbits to remember, as follows:

(1) Announce to the tower the intention to land, even in the pattern, as soon as mid-field. I tend to wait till the plane is abeam the numbers.

(2) If I am in the glide slope, do make power changes until over the threshold.

(3) Do not be so quick to add 20 degrees of flaps until on final when a strong wind is present. Judge the ground speed (as it is slower) and the glide slope. Just make sure the the altimiter is in the green (65 knots) but do not assume it is correct (TAS) with a wind.

That is pretty much it. All my landings were safe. The last one was a bit odd, as I reduced power too soon and rapidly lost airspeed in the flare. Luckily, I recovered fairly well with a firm (no bounce) landing 5 feet off the center line.

A have minor correction for a previous post. I mentioned, on an ILS approach in IMC, the copilot takes control of the plane once the runway is in sight. I investigated this procedure further and it is not a strict procedure. It depends on the airline or organization. For example, military pilots do not do this. The reason, I am told, is that the copilot may trim the plane differently, and unless they have flown with the same PIC along time, they would need to adjust. This is not a good thing 600 feet above the ground in a jet at 150 KIAS. It was funny, because I noticed my instructor trimmed the plane different than I. I tend to add a little more elevator trim so I can fly in 20 or 30 degrees of flap, and gain airspeed quickly. With Bill's trim, I felt the need to use 40 degrees of flaps to get the plane to 60 KIAS. My reasoned approach to trimming the plane comes from two considerations: (1) most planes do not have 40 degrees of flaps and (2) one should never retract flaps once added in order to gain airspeed. The risk of losing lift at the same time can and often does have detrimental effects.

First ILS Approach

I know what some pilots may be thinking. Why is a twenty-some hour student pilot flying an ILS Approach? Well, my enthusiasm and my instructor's optimism got the better of us today. FSS declared 'VFR not recommend'. The fog looked like it was burning off quickly, we had 5 plus SM visibility at the airport and a thin layer of fog above us. We could see the Sun poke through. We decided to go flying. Now, I could pin this on my instructor as his misjudgement. But, at twenty some hours, the student has to start learning to be firm with his decision making. I should have called off the flight.

So the 0.6 hour flight was short. After taking off from Manassas and turning to our Westerly heading towards Fluky, I climbed to FL020. What I saw for many miles was a blanket of white. Not even a spec of ground. Disorienting? Somewhat. I kept thinking that I was flying to far South and had this strong desire to turn right. Before we reached the edge of the SFRA, my instructor radioed approach control for an ILS approach back to Manassas, confirming that the plane is instrument certified.

The conversation between us and Potomac Approach was a series of exchanges, confirming altitude and heading changes. At the time we were west/south-west of Manassas, having taken off from 16L (heading 160 degrees for non-pilots). We were vectored northward (360 degrees) climbing and holding FL027. My instructor, Bill, maintained 105 knots, keeping the carb heat on. Speed is important since we were the slowest thing out there. To not hold up traffic, Approach brought us in tight to DORGE ( the middle marker ). I am not entirely certain of the distance but I believe we picked up the localizer for 16L at around 3 to 4 miles out, so we intercepted the glide slope pretty close to DORGE. That leaves plenty of time for a small slow plane to nail the glide slope at FL027. Since we were vectored into the proper altitude on glide slope, we did not need to dial up ARMEL on the 227 radial for positioning.

The fog was breaking at around 700 AGL. On a faster plane, the PIC is flying instruments while the copilot is looking for the runway. As soon as he sees it, the copilot takes over so the PIC does not have to readjust his vision ( a couple seconds at this point is too long ). Although not as smooth, Bill and I did roughly the same thing. Once I had the runway in sight, I took control. Bill had plenty of time as we are SLOW. It is more a matter of learning crew resource management.

In crew resource management, I did not sit idle while my instructor followed vectors to the glide path. I looked up the localizer frequency, kept checking the directional gyro, looked for traffic, and made sure the checklists were followed: carb heat on and landing lights on.

All in all, still a good lesson.

Honest Self Assessments

I have been nagging my instructor a bit about flying in windy days rather than the perfect days. The point is simple really. There is always wind and, when I earn my private pilot certificate, I want to be able to fly in those conditions confidently. This week's flight was supposed to be another solo flight in the pattern, but as luck would have it, winds where up to 15 knots with gusts up to 20 knots. These conditions exceed the constraints placed by my instructor upon solo flights. I got my wish. My instructor and I flew the pattern for 6 landings. The lesson was gift!

My landings were not perfect. Two were on the center line. The rest were not. I overcompensated for the wind in most cases. The wind kept shifting. The average wind direction was about 10 degrees to the right of the runway center line. The aircraft never once was in an uncrontrolled dangerous state. Safety over beauty first. I flew the plane to the runway. I never gave up control. So, in the end, both my instructor and I were pleased with the entire lesson.

After ever lesson, my instructor and I discuss my performance, the good, the bad and the ugly (not much of those thankfully). These discussions sound a bit odd at times. My instructor is very cautious to provide an honest well-rounded assessment. The point is to not discourage a student, but to clearly point out areas of improvement. I generally find myself walking away from these discussions a bit frustrated. It is no different from the way my son feels when we talk about his performance in Tae Kwon Do. The lesson can be good but there is always areas that need improvement. These assessments are critical to understanding a pilots skills and limitations. There is no place for over-confidence or a boosted ego in the cockpit.

Some of discussion with my instructor, both before and after the flight lesson, focused around future flights. I wanted to jump into night flights since I have completed two cross country flights. I wanted the next two or three cross country flights to be night, with and without foggles. Following similar lines of thought with flying windy conditions, I wanted to make sure I had sufficient skill to fly at night so I can start going on longer trips after attaining the private pilot certificate. For example, I may want to leave after work and fly to Connecticut to see my parents for the week-end. See the trend here? I want to make sure I have sufficient skills to do any kind of VFR flying within the contiguous United States as a private pilot. My instructor kindly tried to point out the error in my thinking.

The key word in my goal statement is 'sufficient'. When a 16 year old American earns his driver's license for a car, the kid simply cannot have the skills to drive in every situation. It is this reason that good parents and guardians do not just hand over car keys without restrictions. For example, I did very little night driving in the first month of my license. When I wanted to take my friends to a concert in Hartford, my father and I drove the route first. I needed to buid up some experience and familiarity with the surroudings. At 16, I was good driver. My father gave me many opportunities to drive under supervision, like driving to New York to visit his brother, or up to Massachusetts to see my grand parents. I even drove in snowy conditions, rainy conditions, and congested conditions. Even with all that practice, as a newly license driver, I simply did not have all skills to manage the workload all the time.

My Kung Fu instructor states that any skill requires ten thousand hours to become a master. I probably have close to that in drums. I know I have that in driving a car on the street. I definitely have that in my profession. So, a 50 hour pilot is by no means a 'skilled' pilot and very far from a master.

So what does a private pilot license gain someone? Sure, from my perspective the regulations are pretty open. There is a lot of space below 18000 MSL. However, just like a licensed car driver, regulations have some general statements concerning placing people and property in harms way. The private pilot license gives one the freedom to expand their skills. When the ink is wet on my license, will I have sufficient skills to fly at night to an airport over 300 NM from my home base, around some very busy airspace? Not by my definition of sufficient. Sufficient to me means that, unless the conditions are unusual harsh and completely outside my control, there is no chance of me harming person or property as PIC. A clear weather flight to uncharted territory at night carries quite a bit of risk for a new pilot.

It is this point that honest self assessment of skill is critical to survival. Baby steps are required, allowing the pilot to expand skills incrementally to deal with increased work load encountered in new environments. Case in point, night flying is only three to four hours of training. That is not much training. Best to do a trip several times during the day prior to attempting at night.

In the end, my windy conditions flying felt great. I suprised myself on how well I did. I also was pleasantly humbled on how far I need to go. I look forward to the journey.

Oh Shenandoah!

Not the song. The park!

Today I chose Shenandoah Regional Airport as the destination of my second cross country trip. FYI, I will address the altered syllabus in another blog.

It was a great day for mountain flying. The small mountains were covered with a white coat of snow. It was a beautiful clear day with minimal chop. The East Coast hills are not as grandiose as their West Coast cousins. However, they have their own beauty and can be appreciated at lower altitudes with less wind.

Going to Shenandoah from Manassas, my instructor and I maintained 6500 feet on a direct heading from the Casanova VOR. I even did some simulated instrument time. Not enough to take away from appreciating the view.

Resting at Shenandoah

On the return flight to Manassas, I took advantage of my instructor's presence by releasing control of the plane to snap some pictures of the valley and the airport.
The mountains

The airport

Coming out of the valley, I climbed to FL055 to get over the mountains and then came back down to FL045 to make a parallel track along the mountain range so I could get a picture of Old Rag. I then resumed course, on the 259 degree radial, TO Casanova while descending to FL030. We followed much the same track as the outbound flight with a slight detour to Warrenton as Potomac Approach waded through the barrage of traffic calls and verified my SFRA flight plan. Old Rag


As any student adventure, today's journey was loaded with simple lessons. The biggest and most humbling lesson is to continue to prioritize and manage the workload.

Other lessons include:

(1) As part of cockpit management and crew work load, I began to announce flight level changes and communicate my intentions. For example, coming into Manassas, there was a Bonanza over taking us and a chopper at 12 O'clock holding 1200 MSL. I informed by instructor that I was heading for FL020 to let the faster Bonanza fly over us as the chopper maintained altitude and flew to the East.

(2) I still get a bit excited prior to take off once I land for a 'break'. Today, I forgot to put the mixture to full rich when starting at Shenandoah. I nearly forget to switch the transponder to Mode C when leaving Shenandoah. With all the excitement, I forgot to pull the Carburetor Heat upon approach to Manassas. Where are my check lists?

(3) I witnessed my instructor communicate with a plane leaving Shenandoah as we arrived. The conversation included items like location, intentions, visual recognition etc.

(4) My landings were OK. It is easier to land when focused on pattern work. Today, I did not hold the center line with the little bit of crosswind. It comes down to the fact that I begin to doubt and over-think my ability rather than just 'fly the plane'. I should not be analytically be saying to myself 'apply right rudder and bank to the left'.

(5) I failed to refer to my careful flight plan at times, forgetting that I do not need to rethink things. I did my homework, so use it! This includes setting flight levels and following compass headings.

I did not have the same anxiety coming into the SFRA. I was on top of all the conversation. The only thing I missed was the change of personnel at Potomac. My instructor picked up the voice change and new it to be a sign of overload even before the operator announced that he had five calls waiting for clearance and patience was required.

For the next time: check lists, check lists, check lists. I am going to be MUCH MORE VIGILANT about check lists on take off, approach and landing. I will not allow my self to forget anything even in a high workload setting.

SOLO!

It was great!

I had original planned a cross country to Shenandoah Regional. It was good for my second cross country. I had already filed two SFRZ flight plans, egress and ingress the SFRZ. My instructor did not mention soloing. He wanted to work on ground reference maneuvers, something I had not done yet.

We left Manassas and headed south to our practice area. We practiced a simulated go-around and then proceeded to find an object to circle around. I found an old silo. I had some trouble with this maneuver. I had been reading about the Eights on Pylon maneuver (a more advanced maneuver not required for a private pilot) and had it in my head. The techniques are different, so that created some issues. A constant radius is not necessarily maintained around a pylon. It is also more difficult to maintain altitude and airspeed in the pylons maneuver. “Turns around a point” does not require a constant bank angle. It does require a constant radius, altitude and airspeed. It is critical in turns around a point to adjust the bank angle to compensate for wind. In the pylons maneuver, the adjustment is to the radius to maintain a pivotal altitude.

Consider that Pivotal Altitude = (Ground Speed2 /11.3) + Field Elevation. Speed is Va. Ground speed changes require adjustments in pressure: Ahead of the pylon, back pressure to tighten the turn; Behind the pylon, forward pressure to widen the turn (decrease pitch resulting in decrease pivotal altitude). Bank angle can change per pivotal altitude based on how close a plane is to the pylon. The pivotal altitude is maintained, but the altitude for the entire maneuver changes.

The next maneuver I demonstrated was S-turns along a road. I did not make the same mistake, so that went fine. At this point, I wanted to go back and correct my mistake in the ‘Turns around a Point’ maneuver. It is the musician in me that will practice the same pattern forever until near perfect. My instructor had other plans.


He wanted me to take him to Culpepper. In the back of this mind, he was thinking if I could not land the plane without assistance I was not ready for solo. I had no issue. My instructor shook my hand, signed my log book and medical certificate, and off I went, three times in the pattern at Culpepper.



Here are my observations in this grand occasion. First and foremost, I was not nervous. Not a butterfly. My first time around was not very square but the landing was fine. I noticed immediately that plane felt different. It is amazing how one less adult in the cockpit can change the dynamic of a small plane. The plane felt more responsive and more unstable at slower speeds. My second time around, my landing was a little fast but I nailed it. Third time around, same issue and I ballooned. I was going to apply power and adjust. I decided that the balloon was too high and a go-around was in order. The fourth time, again, no problems. Had it been cold, I am sure my instructor would have given some sharper jibes about the go-around (in jest, I assure you). He just chuckled at me and said that he did not see any issue with the landing. He and I both knew that I could have put that plane on the ground. I just wanted to put it down gently and I was not in mood for a mishap on my solo flight. It was my first unassisted go-around in an actual landing…good practice.


At this point, it was time to journey back. I took breather, grabbed a candy bar at Culpepper and returned to the plane for the flight back. I said I was not going to stress about flying through that 8 NM wide 500 foot corridor back into Manassas, but I stressed anyways, slowing my response time. The result is my landing at Manassas was off center due to slow compensation to a cross wind. I got “behind the plane”. My instructor made comment on this to me. I have a love/hate attitude toward such comments. A student pilot sometimes gets behind the plane, and we know it. So is the comment necessary? You bet it is. The day when my instructor does not make comments is the day that I start feeling like I can fly safely. It is a gage and a damn good one. The musician in me responded as expected: I requested a dedicated flight lesson to cross wind landings where the crosswind component is close to but not over 10 knots. Practice, practice, practice.


There are probably and handful of traditions on first solo flights. The celebration was losing the back of my shirt to scissors and marker, and then a celebratory meal of McDonalds (first time in 6 years for me…and the last time, I hope). I was wired the rest of the day from all the excitement!

Get Your Glass Archer awarded

Ahhh mannnn!

That was my plane. Well, a 25 year old woman from my cousins' hometown of Hopewell Junction, NY is not a bad winner. I would say she is more deserving winner than I. And that plane...that wonderful Piper is ment to be flown. It is a fantastic plane. I have a fascination with low wing planes and will get trained on a complex one (variable pitch propellers and raisable gear) as soon as get my private ticket.

Next year, AOPA gives away a Cirrus SR22. I have looked at one up close and can tell you that it looks amazing. However, regardless of all the 'safety' features it offers, a new private pilot has no business flying such a plane. It is a complex aircraft suited for a pilot with many many hours of flying. You can argue with me all you want, but I will not be convinced otherwise. I just hope that the winner is either a person with many years of experience or has enough sense to sell it.

Stayed tuned for a new post really soon. I have much to say and pictures to show. I am just patiently (not really) waiting for the pictures taken from another person's camera to make there way into my email box.

To Gerry Connolly concerning H.B.451

A bill treating a set of aircraft as a luxury subject to luxury taxes. Please do not support this bill. It is completely arbitrary and makes little sense. Consider that a small four-seat Cessna, Sirius or Piper can cost upwards to $350,000. These planes typically cannot hold more than 1200 pounds include passengers, baggage, and fuel. They cannot exceed 18000 feet above mean sea level (most commercial traffic flies above this). Their cruising speed is generally under 200 knots and they do not have bathrooms.

Consider a typical scenario where an executive needs to get from DC to LA (and back) for a meeting without missing half a day of work. There is only one option: use a small business jet. Consider the number of flights companies like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac performed in a short period of time to get in front of bankers to talk face to face during both restatement and this economic mud slide we are in now. These flights were absolutely critical to keeping people informed and moving bankers away from the panic button. Consider that economics has its own controls.

As costs rise, companies are naturally going to choose those options that best meet their needs, including virtual conference rooms, shared business class commuter flights, and trains that provide overnight services and meeting rooms so entire teams can travel without missing much work.

Consider that ALL major plane manufacturers are suffering. They may not be in the headlines like GM, Ford and Chrysler. However, there loses, relative to their size, are nearly as significant. They do not see themselves in the luxury business, nor should they anymore than someone buying a BMW over a Toyota or Honda.

Consider that this bill has two functions, to try curb corporate spending and to try to raise money. The former makes little sense, as the government's function is not govern corporate spending. Thus, this bill can only be attributed to a government's desire to obtain more money. The government must first look at it's own spending.

There seems to be a cultural shift to blame 'luxury items' (e.g. a plane) as a factor in the economic struggles we know face. A plane is a SMALL (tiny, minuscule) part. You look around the VA area and you can see other parts, like new buildings, large campuses, over-paid executives with large homes.

The best way to battle our crisis is through culture. Build a culture of saving. Build a culture of not supporting products or buying stock in companies with over-paid executes. Build a culture where companies are evaluated on sound business practices. Purchasing a plane, or leasing one, makes sense in many cases. Lets inform the people and let them decide. A new 'tax' bill is not the way to do this.

Thanks.

Radio Madness

I completed my first cross country today from Manassas to Charlottesville and back. As can be expected, the challenge is not the navigation or any of the physical flying. Instead, the challenge is with all the radio communications that need to be performed along the way. It is not that any of it is hard. Rather, it just, for not doing it before, it was quite a bit.

Getting out of the ADIZ (sorry SFRZ...but more on that in just a bit), is easy. I have been filing SFRZ flight plans for a while. Once out and released, transponder on 1200 and monitoring 121.5, I need to open my first VFR flight plan. It is not hard, but I need to release the airplane to my instructor to get things together in my head:

"Leesburg Radio, Cessna Triple Two Niner Echo, on One Two Two point Six". I could have just called 122.2, but I knew the correct frequency and I clearly identified what I was up to. FSS may listen on different frequencies. If I called on 122.2, I would probably have identified my location instead (South West of Manassas for Charlottesville).

After that, those FSS people guide me through the process (really helpful!!!).

Now, this did not go without little hitch. I attempted to call Leesburg Radio twice. Why? Well, I had dialed the correct frequency in the radio but neglated to swith from radio 2 to 1. So Potomac Approach got to hear my first request. Dumb student.

Coming into Charlottesville, I dialed up a VOR and set the OBS to 2.5 degrees. When the line centered, I knew I was approximately ten miles out I could call the tower. I had information prior to the call, punching up the ASOS for Charlottesville. Information was Charlie.

"Charlottesville Tower, Cessna Triple Two Niner Echo, 10 miles North East with Charlie, To Land".

If I did not state 'Charlie', the tower would have said something like "29E, proceed to 3 left traffic and ident, you have information Charlie". What I got was "29E, proceed to 3 left traffic and ident". For students, ident is just pushing the 'ident' button on the transponder so your aircraft "stands-out" on their radar.

I usually get confused when the tower starts blasting traffic calls. I believe my instructor likes me to respond immediately. I really cannot stand this. I would rather take 5 seconds to look for traffic and then respond "traffic in sight" or "negative contact" (to differentiate the traffic NOT in sight, as the NOT can be missed).

Landing at Charlottesville, I decided to close the flight plane via phone. I could have just radioed 122.65.

Coming back from Charlottesville was fairly uneventful until I was 4 miles from the SFRZ. I contacted Potomac Approach:

"Potomac Approach, Cessna Triple Two Niner Echo, over Casanova for Manassas". PA could not find my flight plan, forcing me to divert towards Warrenton. Once the flight plan was found, it was the usual rush to punch the transponder code and start looking for traffic. There is always traffic. Again, the same issue I always have. I would say I see that traffic 50% of time within 10 seconds of the call!

Once landed, I was pretty beat and really pleased. I learned alot and did some great flying. What a fantastic day. Visibility was amazing. Coming back from Charlottesville, I maintained altitude at 045. So, is any one suprised that it took me 45 minutes to close the flight plan? Anyone? Just as I was calling FSS, the tower was on the radio with my instructor (he was taking another student), asking if the flight plan needed to be closed. I felt like an idiot...still do.

Radios were not the only element packed with lessons. At Charlottesville, I was directed by a airport personel using the red light and hand signals. I new my signals, so that worked out great.

In flight planning, always get winds aloft and never calulcate in a tail wind, unless to calculations are applied. Never assume a tail wind, especially when budgeting gas.

I came back from Charlottesville, dialed into the Casanova VOR. The purpose of the exercise was not to chase the needle. Rather, to see and adjust the planes flying with respect to wind.

So, back to the SFRZ. Every contact with FSS I was asked the same question, am I familiar with the SFRZ. Now, SFRZ and ADIZ rules are identical as far as I know. They are required to ask since SFRZ went into permanent effect today. It is forbidden to use the word ADIZ any more. It is formally a Special Flight Restriction Zone. Those poor FSS guys. The last thing they want to do is play cop trying to find a pilots who neglected to take a 30 to 40 minute on-line SFRZ training course. That is not me! Anyway, I try to look at the bright side. It get tons of traffic calls coming in and out of that narrow Flucky gate...my favorite thing. I feel real safe knowing all the pilots, to get out of Manassas quickly and easily, follow the same route, following the railroad tracks. I especially like the pilot I followed today who came up from underneath me, rose above and then dropped 800 feet. Nice.

BTW. I did fly last Saturday and I am officially ready to solo. I wanted to share the experience with my two instructors and wear the appropriate shirt, so I opted to wait, practicing 180 degree power-off landings instead. Yeh, I know it is not required, but what better way to work on emergency glides!

GA industy is fighting back.

Seems like the GA industry, with its back being pushed against the wall, is starting to push back hard.

AOPA helps balloon operator hit with $8,000 tax bill

Cessna counters critics with new ad series

Proposed GA security regulation criticized in Congress

TSA actions in Nashville cause concern

On the flip side, the FAA is going forward with the SFRA around DC, despite request of re-evaluation from AOPA, local FBOs and local GA pilots. Still no sufficient proof of threat without the ADIZ of efficacy of the SFRA.

Now I am considering whether I should have permitted the TSA to inspect my birth certificate. It just does not add up. I cannot solo without a medical certificate. I cannot get a pilot's license without FAA certification. Why does TSA need to be involved in this process? I will go through regulations again and I will not be so compliant the next time TSA comes poking around without sufficient justification and cited regulations. If I was a commercial pilot, then maybe. But I am just going for my private ticket. Crazy.

So, I think I convinced my instructor that a cross country to Cambridge, MD from Manassas, VA would be a good experience (not the first cross country). I get to fly across a big body of water. I get to fly below class B air space. I get to navigate across the ADIZ. I get to call FSS and determine the activity of several MOA and Restricted areas south the route. Go ahead and look at the sectional to see what I am talking about. In the end, I want to know how to get to Ocean City, MD from Manassas VA for the day without having to go up and over OR far down and under the ADIZ. I just want to fly EAST. That's the freedom I talking about.

Other news: I have not flown in a long time. Weather, sickness, family vacation and a broken front wheel strut have wrenched my training. I am very discouraged student at the moment.

Too sick to fly

The weather is frustrating enough. Having a fever for four days straight while the outside exhibits great flying weather is driving me insane. I will not have a chance to fly the next two weeks. This is close to a full month of no flying. Crap!

I try to be ambitious when I am at home sick. I try to read a good book, write some letters, whatever. This week, I made an effort to learn about weather, watching some training videos. I am not talking about the exciting stuff like reading METARs, TAFs, PIREPS, AIRMETs, etc. I am talking about the basic weather: fronts, adiabatic processes, lapse rate, fog, isobars, etc. With a fever, I think I got through 1/4 of the instructional video on every attempt before falling asleep. I just cannot get into it. I know that I need to understand weather to be a safe pilot. But, gosh, the subject can be soooo booorrring. It is more fun reading pilots arguments towards LOP/ROP. This is a fun heated debate. I personally have looked all the information, in there is a strong case for LOP in a small carburated engine. However, if you are renting, then just follow the POH recommendation unless the owner says otherwise!

Some good news came today. I have my medical certificate. Yahoo! It only took three months. I am sure CAMI is glad that it is done as well, because I called one a week for the last three months for a status check. The answer was usually the same, "it is being looked at now". Boy, the MD who looked at my medical information most have found it intoxicating to have spent three months looking at it "now".

Other good news, Obama's organization is halting the progress of last minute regulations. Perhaps this ADIZ will eventually go away. While they are at it, perhaps they should look at some restrictions on when TFRs are to be used. There seems to be an over zealous use of TFRs as of late. I am not saying we have reached a critical point yet, but the direction of TFR use is approaching ridiculous (weddings and such). I would even go so far as to say that some basic freedoms are being compromised.

Here are some thoughts running through my head tonight.
* Not keeping the tanks full in the winter can lead to a serious side effect. Consider condensation forming and then the water freezes in the line. It may be undetected if the fuel selector is on BOTH and one wing's line is frozen. Without proper consideration, the pilot could be running into a low fuel situation as one tank empties and an imbalance in the weight of each wing as the full wing tank just sits there, untapped.

* Low temperatures can result in an increase power output of the engine. Extended use of this new found power is not necessarily good for the engine.

* If the belt in the front of the plane breaks, will the engine still run? Heh, this is not a serpentine belt like on my GMC truck. If that breaks, the truck does not run. The belt on a plane breaks and the engine continues to run (magnetos!). So other than a hopefully detectable noise of a belt break, how does the pilot know the belt broke while in flight? The ammeter will show a loss of power. This can also occur if one of the two leads to the alternator break or come loose (like the ground). During flight, the belts primary function is to power the alternator. The pilot shutsdown the alternator switch and fly on batteries. Shutting down unnecessary lights and radios is good thing to do at this time. Also, consider not using flaps until landing is assurred, as flaps need those batteries as well.

* The engine of a single engine plane is not centered perfectly. It, and the prop, are at angle. This is difficult to see unless the cowling is pulled off. The reason is to deal with the P-factor (the downward rotation of the blade is at a higher angle of attack, this providing more thrust than the upward side).

COLD and quiet day before the inauguration

Planes tied down at the airport were moved into hangers to make room for incoming fly-ins. The temperature was well below freezing. The wind picked up to 12 knots with peak gusts at 22 knots. I wanted to fly, but I wanted to stay warm and safe too.

So what does a student do? Well, we spent a little time preparing for my first country. The rest of the time we spent looking at some plane engines (a Piper Malibu and a Piper Warrior ). Why not get a little education on the systems that power the plane?

It was cool to contrast the two engines. In this case, the little Piper Warrior was a small four cylinder aspirated engine. The Malibu has a six cylinder fuel injected engine with a constant speed propeller. So here is a run down of things I learned in no particular order.

Magnetos:
* Both planes have two magnetos, as one would expect, and both have keys (unlike the dual engine cousins). This is important, because the key, in the 'off' position grounds out BOTH P-leads attached to the magnetos. If one of those P-leads breaks (it is thin wire...they break!), then simply turning the key to 'off' does not shutdown the engine. This is one good reason to cut the mixture when shutting down the engine. No gas, no run!
* Aptly name, the magnetos are left and right, on the left and right of the plane from the pilot's perspective and directly tied to the the 'left' and 'right' on the ignition switch. Turn the key to left, that grounds out the RIGHT magneto, and vice versa.
* When starting the engine (yes with the key) ONLY the left magneto is operating (assuming the ground is working). The reason is quite simple. Engine timing of a four cycle engine is such that the spark ignites when the piston is close to but not at the apex of its climb to the cylinder head. This is called ignition timing (remember hearing something to the effect of 20 degrees of top dead center in My Cousin Vinny? Sure you did). When the engine runs really slow (as in starting), ignition can happen to soon. So the left magneto has a impulse coupling (a spring loaded device) to alter the timing during ignition.
* Now here is where it gets interesting (well, if you are into this stuff). If you look at the wires to the spark plugs from the magnetos, you will notice the right wires go to the top (two, three) plugs on the right cylinders and the bottom plugs on the left cylinders. The left is in reverse. This is key (heh...foreshadowing;-). When priming the engine, the primer dumps gas into the cylinder head. The primer tube looks like a small fuel injection line. As you might guess, too much priming results in too much gas hanging out at the bottom part of the cylinder (cylinders are horizontal to the ground). This means the bottom spark plugs may get too much fuel and ground out. So, when starting, often times only the two LEFT cylinders will begin working because the LEFT magnetos provide the spark for the top left spark plugs. Now, Lycoming is not stupid. They often provide primers for only a subset of cylinders (skipping one or two on the right). This insures that some right cylinders are not flooded, pulling the gas from the carburateur. Once the ignition goes to BOTH, the top RIGHT spark plugs start igniting gas and then engine stops sputtering around.
* Fuel injection does not use primers. Fuel is injected into the cylinders. However, they do have an air pressure system that dumps air into the cylinders from the intake manifold. This serves the usual purpose as expected. In addition, these tubes maintain a fairly constant pressure in the cylinder so gas does not back up through the fuel lines.
* Turbochargers found on carburateur engines are driven by exhaust gases to turn a turbine. The turbine's primary function is to help maintain pressure within the carburateur, allowing the plane to fly at higher altitudes. The Warrior did not have one of these. It did however air conditioning. How convenient!

Ahh...so much more to tell. I will provide another post in a day or so. Spoilers: Not all planes have EGT thermometers on all the exhaust pipes. There are some easy ways to tell if there is a leak in the exhaust pipes. It is just plane stupid the use the throttle to dump fuel into the carburateur unless the purpose is to burn out the air intake.