At one point, I was absolutely DREADING stalls. Today I actually looked forward to it all. I am starting to enjoy them. It’s strange, they’ve almost become comforting to me. I used to think a stall made me very vulnerable. Now, it seems to reassure me of the planes ability to fly. Of course, I’m several thousand feet off the ground.

We started this lesson with slow flight. This is a very strange feeling. I have to admit I’m still not 100% of certain of this process. I know I have to slow down and bleed off my speed and extend my flaps. Once I have them fully extended I have to start to push in the throttle until I’m maintaining level flight. It’s tough being on the cusp of stalling and not feeling vulnerable. As soon as that stall buzzer goes off, I want to push the nose down and put and end to the buzzing.

Once we were done with slow flight, we went right into a stall. This was a power off stall and I still haven’t got the sequence memorized. I know I need to remove the flaps, but I wanted to get rid of too much to soon. It’s important to just get rid of 10 degrees of flaps at first.

I wasn’t really comfortable with my stall, so I asked if we can do some more. We did and I still never want to do this when I’m solo in the plane. If that ever happens…

Speaking of going solo, I know that one of these days my CFI is going to say “ok, let me out after the next landing.” I’m excited for that time, but I’m a little intimidated by it all. To think that I’m going to be all along piloting a real plane, not some flight simulator. It’s amazing

Well, no solo today. I still have a lot to work on with my touch & goes. I just can’t get that round out down correct. Someone gave me some great advice and it’s really helped. They said, when you’ve made the numbers and you’re about to round out, look at the END of the runway, not the part of it right in front of you. That really helps me not react to every little movement. I see the bigger picture.

Well, I’m at 13.4 hours and still no solo. Maybe I’m not doing too way. I keep thinking I have a ton of things to remember. It’s so hard to remember every step. My CFI reassures me that I’m doing well and I’m on track. I think he’s just being nice to me cause that’s the kind of guy he is.

We flew to a new airport today to do some touch and goes in an unfamiliar setting. This was VERY cool cause we got to fly over my house to get to Coeur d’Alene Airport (KCOE). It felt good cause we were actually going somewhere instead of just heading out the practice area.

Once we got to Coeur d’Alene, I was a little nervous. This was all different for me. I know a runway should be a runway, but I was used to turn cross-wind and downwind and recognizing some ground references or landmarks. Those were all gone now. I had to learn how to do this without using them.

This was a left pattern that we entered at a 45 degree angle coming across midfield. This was great because it gave me a chance to check the windsock and verify the reported wind direction. It was looking good and I felt pretty good about it all.

I entered the downwind midfield and made my calls on the CTAF. It’s strange because nobody was there and I had to verify I was on the right CTAF frequency. If you’re not careful, you could be off by one digit and think you’re making good safe calls, but nobody can hear you.

When I was abeam (lined up at a 90 degree angle to) the numbers on the runway, I reduced my RPM’s to about 1700 to bleed off my speed. Once I entered the safe flap zone, I begane my descent at about 400-500 fps (feet per second). Again, I was used to flying the pattern in Deer Park, so I probably extended my downwind a little too far. I have to remember to look over my left shoulder and turn to BASE when I’m at a 45 degree angle to the numbers instead of basing it on my location in reference to ground landmarks.

I turned to base and made my calls. Still no response so I checked my CTAF frequency again. Still correct, so I assume there’s nobody else in the area.

Turn to final and make my CTAF call. Really have to learn to watch that airspeed. It’s so hard to get it exactly right. I hear people talk about setting it correctly and then never having to worry about it until the flare. I can’t imagine that. I’m constantly adjusting my RPMs in an attempt to keep my airspeed correct and not descend too quickly.

I have the runway made and I begin to pull my power. It’s still something I have to do mechanically. I don’t really have the “feel” for it yet. I dropped a little too hard and bounced a bit. Sometimes I think my CFI is freaking out as he watches me enter short final, the round out, and the flare. I’ve only seen him reach out for the yoke a couple times.

Still haven’t perfected this landing thing, but it was great to practice at another airport. Really got me to focus on the numbers at the end of the runway and base my turns on my location to them. No more “turn to base when I’m lined up with that fence” or “turn to downwind before I cross over those barns”.

I ended up doing 5 touch and goes and heading back to Spokane (KGEG). It was a good day and I learned a lot.

Ground reference maneuvers are meant to increase your awareness of the effects from wind speed and direction. This is vital when flying the pattern just prior to a landing.

If you’re flying on a north heading with the wind out of the south (a tail wind), your indicated airspeed won’t change, but your ground speed will increase by the amount of the wind speed. As you turn to your left or to the west, you’ll need to crab into the wind to compensate for the wind coming out of the south. Your heading will be a slightly south of your course.

As you turn to the south (simulating a turn to final) your indicated airspeed will remain the same, but your ground speed will slow by the speed of the wind. If your flying at 60 kias and the wind is blowing at 10 kts, your ground speed will be 50 kts.

Learning to compensate for these changes and effects on our aircraft will help us to make more accurate landings.

Rectangular Course

My CFI took me out to a rural area and found a group of intersecting roads that made up a nice rectangle. We then flew at about 1000′ above the ground and remained a short distance, I’d say about 500′ outside of the rectangle.

I then had to maintain the distance from the roads as I traveled around the rectangle. On one leg, the wind was pushing me closer to the road and I had to compensate with the rudder. As I turned to the left and had a tailwind, I had to remove the adjustment to the rudder. I also traveled down this leg much faster than the others (the tailwind increased my ground speed). As I turned to the left again, I had to adjust to keep myself from being pushed away from the road.

This was a great exercise. The day I was flying there was a nice 10-15 knot wind. This gave me a VERY good feel for the effect the wind direction has on the airplane. It wasn’t easy, but it sure did open my eyes to the need for some serious rudder control.

S-Turns

These are also meant to teach about the effects of wind direction on the aircraft. But, this is a more fluid motion rather than the 90 degree turns done during the rectangular course.

On this exercise my CFI had me fly an S shape back and forth across a straight road. The goal was to find a couple of intersections and start the S turn at one intersection and switch back at the next. Basically flying at a 90 degree angle from the road and curve around to another 90 degree angle in the other direction.

If the wind is pushing you away from your reference road, you’re going to have to increase the rate of turn and bank angle to compensate.

Then as you switch back and do the second half of the turn you’ll need to decrease the bank angle and rate of turn because the wind will be pushing you toward the road.

Again, a great exercise to do when the wind gets up there. You’ll really notice the effect. I know I did. If you’re getting close to your 5th, 6th or 7th lesson and the it’s a windy day, ask your CFI to do some ground reference maneuvers. You won’t regret it.

Turns Around A Point

Again, another exercise to teach about the effects of the wind. With this one, you pick a specific point (mine was a hay silo on a farm) and then you fly around that point, maintaining your distance from it throughout the entire 360 degree turn.

This is even more fluid than the S-turns because you’re in a constant turn. No switching back toward the other direction and no 90 degree turns.

I had the most difficult time with this one. It takes a lot of awareness to the winds in order to successfully complete this maneuver. Don’t be afraid to ask your CFI to continue working on this one.

This is a continuation from this post. It was all the same flight, but they’re really two different things to learn.

Engine Failure

I know of a lot of people who think, when the engine fails on an airplane, you instantly fall from the sky. Once you understand the aerodynamics involved you know that’s not true, but I don’t blame people for thinking this.

The truth is, if you lose an engine during flight, you don’t stop flying. Your airplane simply becomes a glider with no ability to climb. In other words, you’re about to land and you better know of a good place to do that.

The lesson

We had just finished working on our steep turns and some hood work when my CFI reached over to the throttle and pulled it completely back to idle. This is meant to SIMULATE an engine failure. SIMULATE! I spoke with someone at my work who said they took a flying lesson and the instructor actually killed the engine. That is no longer a simulated emergency. It’s a REAL emergency. This isn’t what’s supposed to happen.

Ok, so now I’m flying along a couple of thousand feet in the air and I basically have no engine (idle isn’t near enough to keep the plane flying straight and level). The good news is, these little Cessna’s will glide a long way.

The first thing we had to do was bleed off some airspeed to get us down to 65 kts. This is done by pulling back on the yoke while being careful not to stall the plane. Some people wonder why you waste all that airspeed. But, you’re not wasting it, you’re using it to gain a bit more altitude until you reach (in a C-172) 65 kts.

The next thing I had to do was find a place to land. I was looking all over the place and didn’t see anything that seemed safe. Then my CFI said “don’t forget to look behind you”. That’s when I noticed the beautiful little private airstrip behind us. Wow! That’s convenient.

Ok, now I had to figure out which way the wind was blowing. My CFI pointed out the wind direction when we left the airport. That was a good place to start. As we began to descend, he pointed out some wheat fields and how the wheat was blowing exactly as we expected.

Now I had to set myself up on downwind leg just like a would in a landing pattern at a local airport. This is when my CFI pointed at the emergency procedure card for an engine out. Let’s see if I remember everything I’m supposed to check. Make sure the choke didn’t come out, the tanks both have fuel and the selector is on both. Then I check the lean mixture setting and put it to full rich. Magnetos are both on and still nothing. Simulate trying to start the engine and then come to the realization that we’re about to make an unplanned landing.

About this time we’re ready to turn to our base leg and then final. As I turn to final I get lined up with the runway and feel pretty good about things. We’re only a few hundred feet off the ground and I’m thinking “the guy who owns this airstrip is going to wonder what we’re doing”. My CFI says “ok, throttle in, let’s climb out”.

That was it. I handled an engine failure and learned a lot in the process. The most important thing is, the plane will glide a lot further than I thought and always look EVERYWHERE for a place to land, even behind you.

Since the vast majority of aircraft accidents happen when you’re landing an airplane (2nd highest is during take-off), most of the lessons apply directly to this time of EVERY flight.

I know of some people who go through their flight schools program and never understand why they have to learn steep turns. So, let’s go over it here.

steep turns.

When you’re flying a pattern you’re not going to want to use a steep turn, but there’s always the possibility that one will be required. This prepares you to handle that time, should it arise. A steep turn is a 45 degree banked turn from a heading back to the same heading (360 degree turn) without losing or gaining much altitude.

At my request, my CFI and I flew to a high enough altitude for me to feel comfortable. As always, I made my clearing turns and then flew nice and level for a minute. My instructor waited until I was ready to go into the steep turn.

Once I was ready, I decided to turn to the right cause I didn’t want to bank over that much with me being in the inside of the turn (I’m still a little freaked out about falling out of the plane). It was very hard to put the plane in that steep of a turn. My CFI kept saying, you have to bank more, bank more. It just goes against your nature to turn that steep in an airplane.

As soon as I was in a 45 degree bank, I noticed I was losing a LOT of altitude. Wow, pulling back on that yoke was HARD. I was REALLY struggling to keep us at the right altitude. We came back around to our original heading and my instructor had me immediately go into a left-hand steep turn. Oh no, this is where I freak out. Well, truth is, I didn’t even have time to notice the ground just over my left shoulder.

Once that turn was over, it was time to learn how to make these easier. Ok, so what’s the trick? TRIM! My CFI told me to give the elevator trim three nice sweeps as I go into the turn and then fine tune it. He demostrated for me and basically put the plane into a steep turn, trimmed it out and showed me that you can actually take your hand off the yoke and be ok. The other thing he said I needed to do is get into the 45 degree bank and then find a spot on the cowling where the horizon is located. That way you don’t have to focus on the instruments the whole time. Apparently that’s not good when you’re on your checkride.

Ok, with my new found knowledge, let’s give it a try. I got straight and level and then proceeded into a steep turn. Three quick sweeps of the trim and WOW… it’s like magic. That plane was staying level without much effort on the yoke. It’s almost like the plane wanted to be in that steep of a turn. Wow. I like this.

As we came around to our original heading, my CFI said “ok, now you’re going to bank over to your left”. I started to level off and whoa… the plane started to climb and climb fast! That trim was still way up and I was now level. I pushed REALLY hard on that yoke and kept us fairly level. I got into the left-hand bank and it was back to easy again.

This is a difficult maneuver and one that I’ll definitely have to demonstrate during my checkride. My CFI said we’d have plenty of time to work on it before the checkride.

Thats good!

I’m going to write about the engine failure training in a separate blog entry. I don’t want this one to be any longer than it is already.

Flight Hrs: 1.7 / Total Hrs: 6.9
Aircraft: C-172 / Airport: KGEG

I’m so glad to back in the comfort of a C-172. Honestly, that 152 was just a little small for me and my CFI. I’m 185 lbs and he’s 200 lbs. We were shoulder to shoulder and I just felt like I was a little more vulnerable in a plane that small. Truth is, I’m not. But, there’s something in my head that says “bigger is better”. I can’t imagine being at one of the flight schools that only offer C-152’s.

Well, it’s that dreaded day. We’ve talked about it from the my very first lesson and I’ve dreaded the thought of it. Everyone has to do it and I’m not going to get out of it….

Stalls!

First of all, I think it’s important that I explain what a stall IS NOT. Most people think of a stall and they can only compare it to their car. When your car stalls, it means the engine died and you’re stuck in the middle of traffic. Not so with an airplane.

In an airplane, a stall is when the air flowing around a wing is so disrupted that you no longer have enough lift to keep the plane airborne. Obviously, this isn’t a good thing.

So, today we purposely caused our airplane to not be able to fly while we were several thousand feet up in the air. Sounds stupid if you ask me, but we did it and I’m here to write about it so something went right. The purpose of this ridiculous exercise is to learn what a stall feels like and, more importantly, what the onset of a stall feels like so you can hopefully avoid them.

We were about 5500′ MSL, which is 3000′ above the ground. That’s when we did our first stall. It’s called a power on stall and it’s supposed to simulate what could happen while taking off if you increase your angle of attack too much. We started our climb at 80 kts and then continued to pull the yoke back until we heard that dreaded buzzer and knew the inevitable was about to happen.

The nose was pointed up at a very steep angle and all we could see was sky. Then the buzzer sounded (or stall warning) and woosh, the nose suddenly pitched down and all we could see was the ground. It happens so fast, you don’t really have time to get scared much. The most important thing is to remember to watch your wings so you can “step on the raising wing”. This is what keeps you from going into a spin. Basically, you press the rudder on the wing that is rising. Don’t confuse that with the wing that is higher. Sometimes the higher wing is the one that’s descending.

Next was power off stalls. These are meant to simulate what can happen when you’re coming in to land and you enter a stall. For this one, we slowed the plane down to an approach speed of about 65 kts at about 1500 rpms. We had full flaps and we were at about a 300-500′ descent. This is the perfect set up for a short final approach.

The next thing we did was stupid, but we were supposed to do it. We pulled back on the yoke and brought the nose up again. The plane slowed down considerably and I watched the airspeed indicator drop below 40 kts. It wasn’t long after this we heard that stall warning buzzer go off.

Again we were at a very steep incline and all I could see was the sky. The buzzer goes and within a couple of seconds all I can see is the ground. I kept the wings level and we didn’t go into a spin. When you have your flaps fully extended, you need to immediately bring them back 10 degrees and give it full throttle. Then you bring the plane back to level flight, but you have to be careful to not put it into a secondary stall. So you pull back slowly.

We did both of these a few more times and honestly, it wasn’t bad at all. It almost seems like the whole process is normal. I was so scared before today, but now I think it’s pretty cool. I actually enjoyed it and was sorry when it was over.

Steep Turns

The next things was steep turns. These actually had me a little worried too. I remember the first time I was up in the air on my discovery flight. Every time the plane would tilt to the side, I had this horrible feeling we were going to fall out of the sky. Those turns were only about 20 degrees in either direction. Today we were going to go to 45 degrees and I wasn’t looking forward to it.

We did a 360 degree turn to the right and then went immediately back to a 360 degree turn to the left. Basically, we did a figure eight with the plane at a 45 degree angle. The first thing I noticed was how difficult it is to keep the plane from losing altitude. I was pulling back with all my might on that yoke and we still were losing altitude.

After the first time through, my CFI said, “I like to use the trim a little when I do steep turns”. Well, DUH! Of course. When you use the elevator trim, you don’t need to excerpt at much force on the yoke to keep the plane level. I did 3 quick swipes of the trim and the plane was nice and level. Now all I had to focus on was keeping us at a 45 degree angle and watching my heading indicator so I could switch back into the other direction for another 360 degree turn. Wow… I LOVE that trim!

Today was great. I really crossed some huge hurdles. I was dreading stalls and now I love them. Also, I was able to do a steep turn without feeling like I was going to fall out of the airplane. I still got a little dizzy, but I didn’t slide out of my side and the door didn’t fly open.

I know I have to demonstrate stalls for my check-ride, but my CFI says I never have to practice them in a solo situation. Some do, but I think I won’t.

My next lesson is going to include engine failures. After today, I can handle that one.

Flight Hrs: 1.6 / Total Hrs: 5.2
Aircraft: C-152 / Airport: KGEG & KDEW

They say it’s one of the most difficult things to learn and it’s proving itself to be true. The landing is NOT easy, but it’s also the area where you’re most likely to have trouble and the potential for an accident later on. So, I’d say it’s something I should get good at doing.

I don’t know why it’s so hard, but I can’t seem to keep my nose up when I’m landing. Not that I’m landing nose first, I just can’t get the nose up high enough. We’re doing 3 wheel landings and that’ not good.

When I look out of the window I could swear that nose is high, but when the wheels touch it’s never enough.

One great piece of advice I received was to not focus too much on they spot you’re going to land on. Focus down at the end of the runway and you’ll find you’re not adjusting as much. This worked VERY well for me. The other day I was struggling with keeping the plane on the centerline, but now I seem to have fixed that.

Flight Hrs: 1.5 / Total Hrs: 3.6
Aircraft: C-152 / Airports: KGEG & KDEW

Most flight schools will have you spend the majority of your lessons working on this area.

Let me just say, the “go” part is a lot easier than the “touch” part.

We flew just north of Spokane International (KGEG) about 10 miles to a little uncontrolled airport in Deer Park, WA (KDEW). It’s a nice wide open area in a valley and there isn’t too much traffic. Just west of the airport is our “north practice area”. But, today it was all happening at the airport.

Flying the pattern
I didn’t realize this, but when you fly into an airport you can’t really pick any runway and just fly right into it. There’s specific runway you use, based on the wind direction (you always want to be landing as straight into the wind as possible). Also, there’s something called “the traffic pattern”. This is usually ~1000ft above the ground and it typically goes in a counter-clockwise direction around the airport (though sometimes, you will be told to fly a “right pattern”).

Not only is there a specific pattern you fly, but you also have to enter the pattern at a specific place. Midway down something called “the downwind leg”. There are 5 different legs of the traffic patter:

Upwind: This is straight out from the runway.

Crosswind: You turn from the upwind onto the crosswind leg.

Downwind: This runs parallel to the airport but in the opposite direction of your eventual landing.

Base: When you’re about 45 degrees out from the numbers painted on the runway, you’ll turn left to the base leg.

Final: At this point you’re flying towards the runway ready to land. There’s also something called “short final” but I don’t know exactly where that starts.

When you’re at an uncontrolled airport like KDEW, you have to make sure you’re telling everyone in the area what you’re doing. This is done on a common frequency that’s printed on your sectional maps. You then just announce your position in the pattern. For example:

“Deer park traffic, Cessna 54036, left downwind for touch and goes runway one-six, Deer park”

You always start and stop your calls with the airport you’re flying into. I guess these radios can go a long way and someone at another airport using the same frequency will think you’re in that pattern. You also have to tell them what kind of plane you’re in and your tail number (that’s the one that’s painted on the side of plane and starts with and “N”). Then you let them know where you are in the pattern and what you’re going to do (touch and goes).

Every time you turn to a different leg, you have to tell everyone where you are in the pattern. This isn’t easy to do when you have a deathgrip on the yoke and you’re freaked out about turning the plane that close to the ground. A few of the calls (actually most of them) my instructor had to make. The button you press to talk is on the yoke, but it still feels weird trying to press it.

As you turn to “final” you’ll see a set of lights. Runway 16 at DEW has four of them right next to each other (called PAPI lights). These tell you whether you’re too high or too low for the landing (almost always better to be too high). If you have 2 white lights and 2 red lights, you’re right on target. 3 or 4 whites and you’re too high and 3 or 4 reds, you’re too low.

Not only do you have to watch your slope angle into the airport, but you also have to use your ailerons to stay lined up with the runway and then use your rudder to keep your nose pointed directly down the runway. All this while watching your airspeed. There’s a reason this is one of the most difficult parts of flying. I ended up getting a lot of help from my CFI Dave. We did 3 touch and goes before heading back to GEG.

This was a lot of fun, but there’s SO MUCH to think about. Dave says I’ll eventually figure this all out and it will become second nature. Not that it will be easy, just that I won’t have to think about each step individually.

Dave says we’re going to do some more touch and goes on my next lesson. I have a lot to think about before then.

Flight Hrs: 1.2 / Total Hrs: 2.1
Aircraft: C-152 / Airport: KGEG

We took off from Spokane International (KGEG) and took a little trip down to something called “The South Practice Area”. This is between 7 and 10 miles south of the airport. Dave (my flight instructor or CFI), said this area can get pretty busy sometimes and you really need to keep your eye out for other aircraft. Fortunately we didn’t really see any, other than the traffic in and out of GEG.

I’ve spent a lot of time with Microsoft Flight Sim, so I kind of knew a little about how to do my turns and altitude changes. I think a lot of people end up overshooting their target heading or altitude because they don’t know when to roll out. Of course, knowing the theory and actually doing it are two different things.

Part this flight was also spent just getting familiar with the area surround Spokane International. It’s amazing how different things look from 3000 above the ground. When it was time to head back to the airport, I had NO idea where I had to go. My CFI Dave pointed out a few landmarks that I could fly towards. Once I did that, I was able to see the airport, but I still wasn’t sure what runway to use.

Communications. Dave did just about all of the communications with air traffic control. Wow! I’m on the radio everyday and I was very confused by all the talk going back and forth. I know we had to change frequencies about 3 or 4 times before we were actually in the air. Dave tells me this is an area that a lot of people have a hard time. If I had decided to fly out of a Class D airport (a smaller one like Felts Field), I wouldn’t have had as much ATC communication to deal with.  When looking at flight schools, take time to consider the class airspace they operate within.

On my next flight we’re supposed to do some “touch and goes” at Deer Park, WA (KDEW). They say take offs and landings are the most dangerous part of flying, so I’m a little nervous about this. I’m still extremely excited, but very respectful of the fact that I’m flying an airplane.

During my very first lessonafter my “discovery flight” (some call it a “Disco Flight”), I couldn’t believe how scared I was to be up in the air. I was very nervous about every movement made and every bump. I was ok turning to the right since I was sitting in the left seat. But, when my CFI (Certified Flight Instructor) told me to turn to the left I found myself leaning a LOT to my right. I was deathly afraid of the door opening or something. I honestly can’t even tell you what I was afraid of happening. All I know is my heart was pounding and I started to question my desire to go through with this. My CFI actually asked me if I was ok. I must have looked kind of nervous. I wondered if any flight schools have had someone completely panic on them in the air.

Something to think about, if you’re going to go up for your first flight, try to do it first thing in the morning when the air is cooler. When the ground warms up, something called “thermals” start showing up. As we all learned in elementary school, heat rises. The warm ground cause up drafts that tend to bounce your plane around a bit. First thing in the morning, the ground is still cool from the overnight temperatures. It’s honestly as smooth as a finely paved road in a brand new Rolls Royce.

There’s no way I’m going to let this stop me. I have wanted to do this for far to long. I just hope the anxiety goes away. I’ll keep you posted.