Lesson 26 - Back up in heavy winds!

I did it, and I am darn excited to finish my journey! Yesterday, I took a day off of work to get myself back in the air. I was somewhat concerned that weather was going to bump right out of the gates, conditions called for winds at 18 kts, gusting to almost 30. The wind was close to right down the runway, but I did have some swirling crosswind components. These are conditions I would right now never fly on my own, and honestly I don't recall ever flying in this stuff with a instructor before either. At first I wondered if this was the best condition to get back into flying with, but it turned out to be one of the best learning experiences.

I was a little slow and rusty on the checklists, plus I was flying with a new instructor. My old instructor Jack has moved full-time jet operation, congrats to him. I will be completing my training with two instructors, Paul, who has a TON of experience, he retired from the DNR after flying for them for 24 years, before that he spent time flying freight and for the airlines. Wow, he knows his stuff, and has a much more disciplined approach than Jack, I like him! I will also be flying with Chris, who first introduced me to flying. His hours are little more limited, but we'll be doing some nighttime flying to button up those requirements.

So, we do a preflight, my usual checklist and memory helped me well here, no problems. Once in the cockpit, I needed a few moments to re-familiarize myself with the instrument stack and startup checklist. Paul has some specific expectations, and they are all geared towards readiness for the checkride, he expected me to give him a passenger briefing! This was cool! Even though I got very far before, this was the first time I felt I was really getting trained on being ready for the test. So, off we went, winds were at 15, so we were going to be doing touch and gos on runway 14, but its taxiway is under construction, so we had to cross 4/22, then back taxi on 14. Had a great refresher lesson on proper aileron input during ground operations. Did our runup, all checks in the green, off we go! We did 9 takes offs and landings, the first few were a bit rough. Although I don't recall Paul wrestling for control back for any of them, but he did ask for control on just 1 take off. The wind was quite fun, and on the first take off as we got bounced around I started thinking... "oh boy, this is nuts," but it took only 1 pass for me to get accustomed to the bouncing and it was fun after that. The last 2-3 landings were quite good. Since I had such a strong wind on the downwind leg, I barely had time to run my checklist and start the landing descent since the wind was pushing me so fast. This resulted in most my approaches being high, which is fine, so I got a lot more comfortable doing slips to bleed off the extra altitude.

In the debrief, Paul seemed pretty comfortable with my skills. Sounds like I would only need a few more refresher lessons before I was received me solo-endorsement back. We talked about the next few flights will be to the practice area to brush up on manuevers and the expected standards, plus we'll spend some time under the hood finishing up just a little more instrument time. So, another 1.0 hours in the log book, and I have a few flights schedule over the next week. I am going to make this happen!

So.... what happened?

That is what I am asking myself. I had managed to overcome so many obstacles in my pilot training. And then all of a sudden, I realize it's been almost 7 month's since I have flown. Lemme get this straight. I pass my written exam, go through one of the longest medical certification processes known to man and government, fight my way to soloing, have an in-flight emergency, muster the courage to get back in the plane and fly another 4 times or so, and then I stop!? What the heck is wrong with me?

Ok, I don't need to pretend I don't really understand what happened. I still had some residual fear from my inflight emergency, and I let any and every excuse deter me. Daylight savings meant I could only fly nights and weekends through fall and winter. Evie was getting bigger by the day and a lot more fun. Hunting season started sucking up weekends. Holidays swept us a way. I had a very important and stressful project at work. Come spring, I kept telling myself, get back up, get back up, and I let weekend after evening pass by. All of which was a convenient excuse for not fully dealing with what happened. The engine failure scared me, and honestly it should have. But did it need to scare me right out of the cockpit? It shouldn't have, but I let it, and I rationalized my delay in flying.

Then God gave me a little nudge, but it took me a little while to realize it was Him. I think I recently read a story online about an airplane crash (I know, smart move when I am trying to get over the fright of an engine failure), but this story had a very different outcome. A pilot had engine problems, and was forced to land his plane on a beach. He survived, in fact him and his passenger walked away from the crash unharmed. But as he exited his plane, maybe in elation to have just survived a forced crash landing, perhaps even self-congratulating his piloting skill, he realized he killed a person on the ground. Here is this person, married, two kids, strolling along the beach, probably vacationing. He probably never saw it coming. Here one moment, gone the next. While practicing these past few months what I would like to call "risk aversion," I realize (again) I really have no control when God calls me home. Now of course, there is no reason to be reckless, but flying a well maintained aircraft responsibly and safely is not reckless.

No more. I will finish what I have started. So, you will soon see a rush of postings. I am making a commitment, with Laura's full cooperation and support, to get this done in May. Not this summer, but in May. Sure, weather might conspire against me, but I have almost all the requirements done, all I need to do is knock the rust off, finish those last few requirements, practice and get within PTS standards, and get my checkride done.

So wish me luck and safe flying, within the next 45 days, I hope I can call myself a pilot!

Tough call, but the right one...

Well, yesterday, October 19th, I wanted to get some flight time in. Its been almost 3 weeks, and I can feel the rust forming, and I didn't want too much time to pass. My normal instructor, Jack, has been away this few weeks at jet school, I am so jealous, he is getting his type certification in Cessna Citation jets. There are two more instructors at the school, but both do their gig part-time, so I knew I was going to have a rough time finding some availability.

So, I make some calls, and arrange for some solo flight time at 5:00 pm. Weather was going to be the determining factor, or so I thought. I get to the airport, and the conditions are on the border of my limitations, wind at 11 knots, and setup for crosswind landings. Not to mention an hour earlier it was gusting to 17 knots. So, Chris my CFI for the day (who was actually the instructor that gave me my discovery flight) and I decided soloing was a no go. But I wanted to get a little time, he had to watch his kids for a bit, but said he'd be ready by 5:30. I said super, I will preflight and we'll be ready to roll when you get back.

Doing my preflight, checking flaps, drop to 30 degrees, watch, and I could swear I hear and see some hesitation. Hmmm, that was weird. So, I gave both flaps a good push and work around, and the left flap felt weird. Pushing down, in the opposite direction the wind would push, felt springy, the right flap was firm. I never remember the flap feeling so spongy like that, I didn't like it. So, Chris was a bit late getting back, now its 5:45 pm, and I tell him about the flap. He was also a little puzzled, as we brought the flap up and down a couple times. Then hopped over to the 172 to compare, and both flaps were firm when pushed. You could actually see when the flaps extend, a slight flex in the skin above the hinge point in the flap. So, Chris asked, "Done any no-flap landings yet?" I said, "Yes," but landing without flaps don't concern me. Extending the flaps and having one come down without the other one, and they don't retract, that's a serious problem. So, I cancelled the flight, Chris very much agreed, and added... "You have already had one scare, no need to tempt fate." With that deliberation, it was already 6:00 pm, a good hour behind, and we have about 20 minutes of light left. We considered going up in the 172, and even though I need night time, I told Laura I would be back by 7:00 and I really wasn't too thrilled to be flying at night in an unfamiliar plane, even with an instructor. So, I decided to pass, and try for another time.

Although a bit disappointed I didn't fly, I can't tell you how much better it feels make the no-go decision on the ground, rather than dealing with an emergency in the air.

Anyway, I should get another chance to fly next week, hopefully....

Lesson 25 - Solo Cross Country to Marshfield!

Yesterday, September 30th, I hit my goal of getting my solo cross country done in September! It was quite a blast, but I also learned a lot about myself and abilities. Truth be told, when I looked back on the flight, I probably would haven't made the flight, but with my instructors endorsement that gave me the confidence to proceed. I wasn't concerned about the flight itself, the problem was timing. I got to the airport at about 4:45 pm. Talked over my flight plane with Jack, got my endorsement, preflighted the plan, and before I knew it, it was 5:20. Uh-oh! Marshfield is about a 40-45 minute flight each way. I have never done any night flying, and things start getting dark around 7:00 pm, not to mention it's illegal for me to fly solo during the night (until I have achieved my license). So, I was really pushing the timing, something in the future I will not do. The flight to Marshfield was beautiful and uneventful, nice smooth takeoff from runway 14, winds about 100 @ 6-7 knots, lift off at 5:35 pm. Easy, crosswind departure to the north. I was to use the same flight plan Jack and I used when we did my first dual cross country, follow 29 to Owen, then follow the railroad/pipeline southeast to Marshfield. I figured since I made the flight before it would be a piece of cake, but its been a few months, so I was quite busy in the cockpit watching my sectional map, scanning for traffic and good landing spots (in case of engine failure), and watching my checkpoints go by. Only 1 other plane in the pattern at Marshfield, they were just a few minutes ahead of me from the southwest for a full stop landing, they decided to back taxi on 22/04 so they wouldn't get in the way of my touch and go on runway 16.

At 6:20, I made my touch and go, as I glanced at my watch I realized this was going to be tight, I figured I would be landing in Eau Claire right at sunset. On my way out, tried to catch flight following from Minneapolis Center, of course, called the wrong frequency, but ATC was very friendly, directed me to 125.3. Called them up, and I was a bit too low, 4000 ft, which I later realized was the wrong altitude assignment, I should have been at 4500 (VFR traffic), don't know how I could have missed that in my planning!!!!! Won't happen again. Anyway, I was too low for radar coverage, but they invited me to stay on frequency, turns out there was some jumpers (parachuters) over Lake Wisota, and they helped advise me to make sure I stayed clear of their operations. I tell you what though, the extra chatter and interaction with ATC over the parachuters really taxed my multitasking abilities, it was all I could do to maintain heading, scan for traffic, watch my checkpoints, and keep altitude (which I kept wandering around 4000-4300, and automatic failure if this would have been a checkride). I definitely see the appeal (and subsequent dependency on GPS systems to lighten the workload). Just south of Lake Wisota, caught the river, and then quickly found the airport. Got handed off to Eau Claire tower frequency, a Citation was on approach for 22, tower had me on left traffic for 14, and they called my base turn, which resulted in about a 2.5 mile final, but that was ok, gave me a really long and easy look at the runway to lineup. The runway lights were on, boy that was a weird feeling, the sunset had just dipped below the horizon as I heard my wheels *chirp* on touchdown at 7:04 pm. Taxi back to parking, and my first real solo cross country was history! 1.7 hours official time added to the log book.

I am up to 36.1 hours, technically less than 4 until I hit the minimum for the checkride, but I won't be ready that soon. I still need 3 hours of night flying, 3 hours checkride preptime, over 2 more hours of solo time, including a super long cross country (1 solo cross country flight of at least 150nm total distance with full stop landings at 3 points and one segment of at least 50nm between T/O and landings). So, I figure I could be ready for the checkride probably between 45-50 hour mark, but no rush, the neat thing is I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Boy, it seems like yesterday I was struggling so hard with landings, persistence pays! Looking forward to a weekend at the cabin for some bow hunting, but weather doesn't look like its going to cooperate, no matter time up north is always well spent!

Lesson 24 - More Solo Flying!

Anyway, I also went back up on September 19th. I really wanted to do my solo cross country, but I didn't get endorsed by Jack, and he was off this weekend. But I was endorsed to fly solo at Eau Claire and Menomonie, so I decided to go flying and get some more solo confidence building done! I had to head into work anyway on Saturday morning, finally after that was done, go to the airport at 10:30. Getting myself off the ground seemed to take forever.... the FBO took the wrong plane out of the hangar, I did my preflight, oil was a bit high and discussed it with the airplane mechanic (no problem), mechanic took my oil wrag, went to find him to get it back, preflight done, about to fire up the plane, realized the FBO gave me the wrong clipboard and key, went back inside to get the right one, back in the plane, realized my pen on my clipboard was gone, back inside the FBO to borrow a pen, finally, I can get moving!

The weather wasn't exactly perfect for flying, but great for learning! Winds were manageable, varying between 6-8 knots, but at perfect crosswinds for every runway at both KEAU and KLUM. So, tower had me taxi to 22, off I went. Sheesh! I knew it had been about 2.5 weeks, but the takeoff was ugly, I compensated for the wind, but I seemed to struggle on the take off for the first few seconds. After I got it under control headed off to the west on a straight out departure. Did some rectangular courses, turns around a point, some slips. But something just didn't feel right, I felt this desire to be back on the ground for a while. The weather was a bit bouncy, and there was a lot of haze, and I think that is what made me a bit uncomfortable, but it was good experience! The last few dozen flights, was generally good weather. This was perfectly safe and legal flying conditions, just not perfect, and I needed that time to get comfortable flying in not-so-perfect conditions. The limited visibility from the haze made me feel uneasy, I usually can see Menomonie after taking off from Eau Claire, I couldn't this time, and couldn't make out the runway until I was about 6-8 miles out. Again, still good VMC conditions, and within the limitations of my endorsement, but I got myself a bit weirded out, it was getting more bouncy and I didn't like the clouds/haze I was seeing to the west. So, I started heading back to Eau Claire, dialed up the frequency and gave a listen. There was a bit of traffic, including a plane that just took off in my direction. So, then I got myself a little nervous about another plane in my neighborhood, so I decided to do some more rectangular courses, keeping an eye out for that plane. Finally, caught sight of him, he was a good 3 miles away, about 500 feet below me, and zooming westbound. I realized my maneuvers brought me much closer to Menomonie, the conditions looked better, so I decided do some touch and goes. It was a popular day for flying. Weather called for winds out of 150, making it an obvious choice for Runway 18, I enter the pattern, and I hear two planes working the pattern on Runway 9. What the? We had a few communications, and finally had a visual on the main plane in conflict, they were of no issue. So, I turn base, final and on the ground. I was a bit nervous for that landing, and it showed, landed a bit firm on the main gear, and missed the high speed turn off. No big deal, taxied off, was going to go back to Runway 18 to take off, but there was another plane still doing touch and goes on Runway 9, so I decided to join in the pattern for that runway to avoid any conflicts. After he took off, I waited, and got behind him and off I went. As I followed my fellow pilot in the pattern, I couldn't believe how long he waited to turn base, his final must have been 2-3 miles long easy, he was over Lake Menomin for Pete's Sake! But I wasn't going to cut him off, so I followed, did a touch and go, and did one more, and had enough, I didn't like his patterns so wide, so I exited to the east and returned to Eau Claire.

At Eau Claire, entered the pattern for a right base for runway 22. That is something I definitely need more work on. My right base turns are atrocious, which was caused primarily by me getting way to close to the runway on my downwind leg. I couldn't recover the approach, so called for the go around. The controller put me back into left traffic, which I am much better at. I proceeded to do another 6 or so touch and goes with varied traffic, a couple extended base legs because of incoming straight in traffic, and another go-around the controller called me to do. All the landings were in crosswind conditions, and the last 3 landings were much softer and I could actually feel myself land on 1 wheel the way I am supposed to for crosswind landings!!!

So, it was a really productive day, almost 2 hours of solo flying, it was great.