Prioritize please!

On Sunday, I made a very unusual mistake while playing drums for worship service. It was not that I forgot to turn on my in-ears monitor prior to clicking off the first song. That is not unusual for me. I have done it three times in the last year. Rather, it was that when I realized that I could not hear, I immediately tried to turn the monitors on. I did this instead of concentrating on the higher priority activity of playing the music. The band follows me. I know the song. I could play without hearing a thing for most of the song. But I did not do this. Instead, I reached over to turn on the monitor, missing the entry into the chorus, getting off on the time and nearly derailing the entire band. The bass player chuckled as he rarely hears me screw up. Laugh it up!

Today. I flew with a different instructor. I was a bit nervous as this instructor was evaluating my progress. I new checklists were critical in this evaluation, so I tried to be thorough in all cases. Every thing up to the threshold of the runway was near flawless. Tower clears me to take-off; I enter the runway and line up on the center line. I then proceeded to do a nice take-off. I am about 150 feet above the thresh hold when my instructor kindly states that the transponder is still on stand-by. It is set to the correct code, as I confirmed that with the tower. I neglected to do the last TLT (time, lights and transponder) check on the runway.

Now, here is the priority problem. I really wanted to release the throttle and switch the transponder on. For a second, my hand did leave the throttle, even with my instructor's advice to not worry about it 'now'. I was not in any critical danger. I had a competent co-pilot, I had a positive climb attitude, airspeed was well within the green and the airspace was clear. Had I been alone and a bird decided to end its life through the air-intake or the engine failed or a plane taking off from the parallel runway decided to slide over into my line of flight (that occurred later), then the transponder would not seem so important at 150 AGL. What seems as a small issue is super critical in these cases.

It seemed appropriate that, after this little lesson, my instructor wanted to practice aborted take-off procedures. The first time was too easy. I had the throttle back well before Vr. The second time, I was already 3 to 5 feet of the ground. As expected, I made a common mistake. As the power was cut, I did not compensate fast enough with left rudder as the gyroscopic forces, corkscrew and torque from the propeller were dampened.

All in all, this was a great day to fly. I got good feedback and my landings continue to improve.

Do not let the plane fly you!

Planes are fairly responsive to input from the controls. For example, adding flaps without quickly compensating for a nose-up attitude change results in some undesirable increase in altitude. In general, I think I am a few seconds to slow on dealing with such conditions. A few seconds adds up to altitude changes over the 50 foot margin or error. In the check ride, this type of change is not indicative a pilot in complete control of the plane. It is nice to be at the stage of flying that my instructor is now focusing on these adjustments. This shows advancement in itself.

I am just starting to feel good about my increased flying capability and the bar is raised a notched. Thats what we, as student pilots, want. The bar must continously be raised until we can control the plane safely in different configurations such as sudden wind changes, turbulence, etc. However, it is nice to take a moment to look back and see how are a student has come. Becoming a pilot is a big challenge. I find I have to fight myself on getting discouraged.

The big take-away today concerns the stable approach method of landing. In this approach, the pilot focuses 10 to 15 degrees from the the nose of the plane at flare height. Looking TOO close results in a high roundout. Bingo. My problem in one sentence. Today, I focused farther down the runway. Just changing my focus had an immense effect on performance. I gladly say goodbye to the high round, bottom falling out, big bounce of landing. The plane is grateful too ;-)

too cold to fly, so why not a mock oral exam?

Really, I wanted to fly. It would have been easier than dealing with my apparent lack of preparation. Yeh, I could tell my instructor the definition Vx, Vy, Va, Vfe, Vno, etc. Could I actually recite the values for the Cessna 172N? Nope. I remembered 85 KIAS for Vfe and 65 KIAS for best glide (roughly, given the weight) and the maximum of 160 KIAS for Vne. That's it. Why? Well, geee, when your flying, it is all pretty much right in front the pilot, with the exception of the weight to Va ratios. I could not explain why carb icing occurs other than it has something to do with the Venturi. Well, duuhhh! Also, I was really keen on designating everything below 14500 MSL and not class B, C or D airspace as G airspace. Why so simple mistakes? Because I skimmed EVERYTHING and did not really absorb details. There is a reason that a syllabus for private pilot is critical to a successful training program. There is just too much material to skim or absorb all at once (unless you have a photographic memory). For this cancer survivor (it is a bit lame, but I will use that as an excuse), I just do not have the retention I did five years ago. Besides, as a computer scientist, it is really easy for me to pick up new concepts after working with computers since I was 10. I have been only working pilot related activities since October. So I am going back and starting on a more methodical approach to studying the material. I am starting on chapter 1 through 3 of the my POH!

Tomorrow, whether I fly or not, I will have these details ready for recall and I will stick to the syllabus.

Fly Safe!

picking a school

I am getting asked quite a bit on why I picked Rising Pheonix Aviation at Manassas for my school. Picking a school is not always easy. The cost of flying is high AND a student wants to get the best education for the price. With the rich set of material out there (DVDs, On-line testing and knowledge programs, books, audio tapes and CDs, etc.) the knowledge portion of flying is generally going to be the same regardless of the school. It really comes down to the student/instructor relationship and the scheduling options. My choice is based on the fact the Rising Pheonix Aviation instructors have become my friends through shared interests. I enjoy hanging out with them. Their knowledge and instruction skills are exceptional, backed by MANY years of experience. I get quality education and I enjoy the process of learning.

There are schools that specialize in pilot training (e.g. Aviation Adventures). These schools often have more flexible scheduling options and more CFIs to work with. These schools are optimized for quality and fast training. For most people, this is the best option. There are caveats though. Fast is determined by preparedness of the student and consistent scheduling. With consistent scheduling, it may not always be possible to work with the same instructor. For some students, this can be an issue. Dedicated schools provide the option for faster and more flexible training. The burden of learning still falls on the student to be prepared, consistent and on time for each lesson. Very few, if any, school is going to hurt their reputation by letting a student do a solo or check ride without being competent in the required skills.

In the end, the only advice I can give is to visit several different schools before choosing. The time spent up front investigating the best school for each individual is valuable, considering the cost of training. Meet the instructors, see the planes, look over the knowledge materials, look at payment options and look at scheduling options.

thank you WX BRIEF

It is nice to have a briefer that provides feed-back for more efficient and clear processing of a flight plan rather than presenting a frustrated atttitude. At 7:30 in the morning, my brain is not necessarily fully engaged. It maybe understandable for student to forget to state that a pre-stored plan is on file and forget to to use UTC when discussing time (or specify the timezone used). However, this places a burden on the briefer to ask for clarification or make the determination. As a studious and humble pilot, I took the briefer's suggestions/requests seriously and, upon termination of the call, repeated back his suggestions followed by a gratuitous 'thank you'.

Today's flight rocked! We covered slow flight, standard rate turns (3 degrees per second) in slow flight, accelerated stalls, power-off stalls, slips, power-off best glide speed, engine failure on take-off, emergency landings, and go-arounds. The skills are coming together, making flying more enjoyable and less stressful.

Key "take aways":
* On a go-around, after applying power, close the carb heat to get every inch of power possible and then slowly lift the flaps once speed exceeds take-off speed. Do not let the nose balloon. If using 40 degrees of flaps, knock that down to 30 degrees immediately to reduce drag.
* It is embedded in my head, but always good to write down: when finding an ideal place to land in an a power-off emergency, do not pick a point moving away from you. It is simply not reachable. A reachable point is one that is moving towards you or one that is not moving at all.
* If landing on tree tops with passengers in the back seat, limit flaps to 20 degrees. When the wings crumple, the flaps could crush into the cabin, severely injuring the passengers.
* Accelerated stalls are most likely to occur when the nose is pointing down (relative wind is not perpendicular to the ground) as if landing or a quick drop in altitude. Pulling back to far on the yoke creates a stall condition. Almost all stall conditions result from too much back pressure.
* The most likely place for a stall is in pattern turning from base to final. Speed is slow (1.3 Vso) and the upper wing exceeds the angle of attack. I am speculating here, as I need to reread this, but the upper wing should drop. However, a slip can occur as the certifugal force is no longer balanced with the horizontal force (greater). The actions are to reduce the angle of the turn, increase the rate of the turn and ease up on the back pressure.

As I get closer to solo, I become less anxious or in rush to do so. I am sure it is different for other students. I am able to obtain more experience and go through more simulated emergencies at this point, since the basic skills are beginning to solidify. Every flight has increased value. In the beginning, I was more concerned about the time expenditure to solo because of the hourly cost and the general expectation to achieve that goal as early as possible. The first few lessons felt like big money wasters, as the skills seem to form VERY SLOWLY and the benefit seem so SMALL. Once skills coalesce, students accomplish more in each lesson and the perceived value increases dramatically.

trust but verify

It is not a coincidence that ATC provides clearance for runway 16R while I hold short of 16L once out of every 6 flights in the pattern. A minor slip of the tongue does happen and can easily go unnoticed. It takes a short 'verify clearance for 16 R, 2 9 Echo' prior to take-off to avoid incident.

If requested by ATC to make a short downwind leg to get in front of approaching traffic, do not be afraid to: (1) request a long downwind if safety is a concern OR (2) move the aiming point farther down the runway (on a suitably sized runway) as long as the pilot can still get the plane off the runway in short time after landing for arriving traffic. The ATC is managing space, trying to be respectful to each aircrafts constraints (fuel, speed, training or commercial, etc.). Pilots ultimately are responsible for the safety of the passengers and aircraft.

ATC is usually cognizant of flight training. In the case of a short downwind request, I often wonder if the ATC has a secondary purpose--placing new trainees in different scenarios. Either way, ATC is in integral part of training and often very helpful.

Today's training, another day in the pattern, was very beneficial. Not only can I land the plane with some confidence, many little things were sured up including the following.

• Remember to turn the transponder to Mode C prior to take off.
• Remember to check the directional gyro one more time prior to take off while on the lined up on the runway (since the direction is well known). It takes a second.
• Be aware of the the foot on the brake when taking off while using right-rudder.
• Use of the side slip in a cross wind landing as well as more rapid loss of altitude while maintaining airspeed around 75 knots. This proved helpful in a shortened downwind.

Now the repeated pattern lessons are complete.

Patience, young jedi.

I am a drummer. I have been for 28 years. I try not to own up to it as I am not as good as I should be by my standards. After that long, I should be playing like Dave Weckl did 10 years ago, even for a part timer like myself. Some reasons are obvious. Cats like Weckl play ALL THE TIME. I play, both practice and perform, on average about seven hours a week. The other reason is how I practice. For the longest time I would push very hard to get the most complicated patterns down without building on the fundamentals. The idea, bad as it was, is the the fundamentals will come and the end is the same. This is FLAT OUT WRONG. In the last five years I have stepped back and worked incrementally. Now, I am a solid drummer who can play in just about ANY setting. I recall those frustrating days where I was slamming my sticks down on items like the tape player (for youngs guys, this is device that amplifies sound stored on a magnetic tape), lamps and anything else close by that is designed as a percussion instrument.

Anything requiring motor coordination requires the same disciplines. I have seen 'natural' talent. What I see is a quick grasp of fundamentals. 'Naturals' do not SKIP fundamentals. This is evident in any activity requiring motor skills (e.g. Kung Fu, my son's Tae Kwon Do, other musicians, other sportsment, seamstress, etc.). FLYING IS NO DIFFERENT.

So when one of my instructors says 'CHILL OUT', it is instantly understood. Learning to fly is a well-established set of steps. They cannot be skipped. Moving on to the next step is not an option if the first set of steps is not performed with competency. For example, landing is difficult if a student cannot hold a plane steady in slow flight. Getting frustrated is counter productive and is a sign that the student (yeh, me) is trying to move to fast.

It is hard to maintain patience. With the monetary price of flying, it is preferred that each step comes quickly. So now I look back at yesterday with a different perspective. I had trouble landing. In the process of trying improve landing, I accomplished the following:

(1) Solid take-offs in a cross wind.
(2) Accuracy in holding a pattern including 20 degree turns, maintain altitude and heading.
(3) Incremental improvement in airport communications at a busy class D airport with a tower.
(4) Maintain focus while still having 'light' intermittent conversation.
(5) Solid approach on the glide slope.

So if I attempt to measure the whole 1.3 hours of flying on about on about 90 seconds of that time, I am doomed to be an unhappy and unsafe pilot. [ 90 seconds = 15 seconds during the flare and rollout multiplied by 6 landings. And yes, 1.3 hours for 6 pattern runs is a bit much, but, like I said, busy airport.].

The problem with 'home' simulators

When trying to land in a simulator like Microsoft 2004, the visual cues are limiting. For me, when landing a real plane, learning to take advantage additional visual inputs is a challenge. I botched five out six landings today. Nothing that would have probably injured me and my passengers (not saying much for the plane). Its either pulling back too fast or not pulling back enough during the flar. I am starting to realize that part of my problem is that I am 'ignoring' some visual information that would helpful. It almost as if I do not want to acknowledge that there is information to be used.

My take-offs are pretty good. There was a variable 8 knot crosswind today. This allows me to use some aileron during the take-off and feel the plane weathervane naturally into a crab position upon leaving the ground. Very smooth. I also had a better sense of rudder and aileron configurations for landing. In my 'good' landing, I came down on one wheel first--perfect for a crosswind landing, but unnecessary for the little wind today. Never the less, it felt good to land in that configuration.

My instructor did a quick recovery when I began to stall during the landing flare several feet above the ground (one of my more abrupt applications of the yoke). It is easy to say "apply power and ease the nose down a bit". In the simulator, I have no problem doing it quickly. I need to translate that into real flying. Once the stall horn goes off, it does not take much time before the plane drops.

Another day of flying thwarted by weather

My instructor makes an interesting and quite obvious point. With one mile visibility while on a one mile final, the pilot can see the VASI, PAPI and start of the runway. The far end is not visible. One of the techniques used to land is to hold a picture of the runway. The picture does not change (other than the size) during landing until the flare. The runway does not get longer and more narrow (too high) or shorter and wider (too low). This does not work well in conditions with less than one mile. The stabilized approach involves picking a point on the runway and holding that point steady with respect to a unmovable reference point (a spot on the windshield). This is still possible in 1 mile visibility, provided the point is the runway numbers. However, 1 mile is a short distance to pick a point when descending from 500 AGL at 65 knots and a descent rate of roughly 500 FPM. I look forward to more wisdom in this area.

Good to fly?

See if you agree.

KHEF 131446Z AUTO 33014G18KT 3SM OVC013 07/06 A3015 RMK AO1

Class B,D and E airspace restrictions for VFR conditions (HEF, IAD, and beyond)
3 statute miles? YES
500 feet below? Lowest clould cover is 1300 AGL, so maintain below 800 and 500 ft about sparesly populated areas/structures/persons. It is not comfortable but legal. Just note that a 1000 AGL and 2000 Ft avoidance it required in congested areas.
1,000 feet above? Not getting there without flying through clouds.
2,000 feet horizontal? Not getting there without flying through clouds.

So, heading west, avoiding the town of Manassas, seems doable but provides a narrow range of safety since mountains are nearby as well as pockets of congested areas. Exceeds my level of comfort.

What about that wind? Well, I believe my POH (Cessna 172 N (I believe....I should know!!)) states not flying winds that exceed a 13KT crosswind. With gusts of up to 18KT, I would not fly.

Now what about that ADIZ? I have not currently found anything concerning altitude minimums that differ within the ADIZ. When flying out, the selected altitude has been about 025 and 022 on the return, neither of which can be met in this weather condition.