tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-222776722024-03-12T20:27:24.474-04:00Soaring StudentMaking the transition from groundhog to eagle.Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11726267862761677407noreply@blogger.comBlogger129125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22277672.post-51325178226866956032011-03-01T10:30:00.003-05:002011-03-01T10:58:45.980-05:00Buying an aircraftAs mentioned yesterday - I bought a share of an aircraft last October. This post will summarize my thinking and approach.<br /><br />First and most important, when thinking about whether to start flying it would be a Really Good Idea to answer the question "When I get my license, what am I going to do with it?". The answer really doesn't matter, but it is good to understand that you're going to spend about $10,000 getting the license so there really should be some objectives around how you are going to use it.<br /><br />In my case, I figured that drilling expensive holes in the local atmosphere would be an occasional interesting activity, but what I really wanted to do was to go places.<br /><br />One can always rent an aircraft - and if you don't fly too often (10-20-30 hours per year) then this is the least expensive option. It is also the least complicated, since (as part of your rental cost) you're paying the club or the company to worry about maintenance, upgrades, administration etc. However, renting gets more expensive quickly as the hours increase, the aircraft will be safe but they will also be somewhat battered, different aircraft will be configured differently. And if you go on an overnight trip, there is often a minimum per-day charge (which addresses the lost opportunity to the club of not having the aircraft available to rent to others).<br /><br />And so I explored owning a share of an aircraft. My wife and I attended the Ownership Forum, as run by the Rockcliffe Flying Club. RFC gets an income stream from fuel sales and from parking at the airfield, as well as ensuring that the rental fleet does not become either too large or over-taxed, so they like to see their graduates move towards ownership.<br /><br />Owning an aircraft can be Damn Expensive - and at my level of income and annual flying, owning an aircraft myself is an expensive proposition. Generally, when you sell the aircraft you will more or less get your purchase price back - but the annual costs will be borne by yourself only.<br /><br />I elected to look for shared ownership, preferably located at Rockcliffe since I like the camaraderie. Shared ownership means I will pay only a portion of the capital costs (the airplane and equipment), the annual costs (annual inspection, parking space, insurance, COPA membership, etc), calendar costs (annual ELT certification, 5-year propeller rebuild, etc), and equipment upgrades (better radio, paint job, etc). There will be several hands to share the workload (cutting the grass, washing the airplane, doing the finances, ...). The operational costs (per-hour, including fuel, oil, etc) would be the same whether I owned the aircraft solely, or was in a shared ownership arrangement.<br /><br />The downside of a shared arrangement is that other people are involved (that takes effort to manage, I have a responsibility to cooperate, but you "inherit" the existing members of the partnership). And since you have to share the airplane, you have to expect that it will sometimes not be available when you want it.<br /><br />The last factor was timing - there are hundreds of airplanes available for sale at any one time, so I could have my choice of airplane at whatever time I wanted at pretty much any desired level of equipment. But there are a limited number of partnership groups, and they are further filtered by the type and configuration of the aircraft they own.<br /><br />Fortunately, there is a group at Rockcliffe which met all my needs....Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11726267862761677407noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22277672.post-43423685793036664412011-02-28T16:10:00.007-05:002011-03-03T15:40:28.000-05:00Checkride.... er Currency Check.... er PIC CheckSo - I purchased a share of an airplane back in October 2010 (more about that in a later blog post).<br /><br />I flew during the fall, with my previous flight with my son and daughter-in-law on December 24th (more about that in a later post as well).<br /><br />But, due to weather, work, and mechanical problems, I didn't fly for more than 2 months. One of the rules our group has is a 60-day currency rule - if you don't fly in 60 days then you need to go fly with an instructor to regain the PIC capability. Even if we didn't have this rule, at my level of experience I'd do it anyway.<br /><br />Last Saturday was a beautiful day - big wind but steady right down the runway centreline. Sunny. Below zero, but not too cold. I booked the bird and an instructor, Steven.<br /><br />I have to take a flight with an instructor to re-PIC, but <em>what </em>I need to do on that flight is not explicitly specified. Technically, one circuit is sufficient.<br /><br />But I <em>like </em>to fly. And I booked Steven for 2 hours, not 6 minutes. So in our pre-flight briefing I request everything I want to cover. Steven is going to have fun with me, since we did everything on my list and little more.<br /><br />To save reading to the end: I re-certified. I'm safe. I forgot all sorts of little things due to rust, but caught myself on almost all of them (or the checklists caught me). I didn't do anything stupid or dangerous. <br /><br />Checklists were slow - they didn't flow, and I was methodical while working through them. I missed checking the brakes after we started moving (but checked all the instruments). I missed doing a carb lean test while at 1700 RPM (Steven caught that one).<br /><br />I chose to do a soft-field take-off. I find it the most difficult one to do, especially in a lightly loaded 180HP Cessna 172 with a good headwind. I may have leveled out a bit high, and I forgot to raise the flaps once we were climbing, but I did remember to turn off the landing light.<br /><br />Standard straight&level flight on a heading, then climb once in the training area.<br /><br />We started with steep turns. Left or right? I answer "let's do both". I prefer turning to the right over turning to the left. Turn was good, rolling out at the end was excellent, my altitude control was within limits but pretty loose. I'm grabbing the yoke too tightly. No spiral dive though.<br /><br />Slow flight, with turns to a heading, and then speed recovery. Pretty good. I'll want to practice this alone, however, since my airspeed fluctuated. And it didn't feel very comfortable.<br /><br />A power-on stall. Routine.<br /><br />Simulated emergency landing to a field. Done well, but I should have given a passenger briefing at a higher altitude when I was less rushed. And I forgot to "transmit" a Mayday or a 7700. Sheesh. <br /><br />The we get the foggles out for instrument work, and climb, descend, change speeds, turn to a heading, etc. <br /><br />With the foggles still on, Steven decided my vacuum pump has failed, we cover the AI and HI, and we do some more turns, flying a heading, and then we fly back to the field.<br /><br />Back to Rockcliffe, descend from 1700 to 1200 feet on the quiet side with a procedure turn, and I take the foggles off as we cross over the field to join the mid-right downwind for R27. <br /><br />We do an inspection pass to see that the runway is indeed bare&dry (since we didn't run through the precautionary landing out in the practice area), then climb out and remain in the circuit.<br /><br />On the soft-field landing I'm not descending on base because I have some power on, so I remove power and side-slip, losing air at about 1200 FPM, and I set up for the final Real Pretty. The landing was not great but OK - soft-field landings are also my least favourite. <br /><br />A heavy workout after more than 60 days of no flying, and with very short air time -0.8 in the air, of which 0.3 was instrument (and some of that was partial panel).<br /><br />One other observation - when recovering after a stall or slow flight I need to use full throttle (I'm timid on the throttle because the airplane accelerates faster than the flaps come up, and the speed limit with flaps extended is 100 MPH).<br /><br />And I still need to always put the carb heat back in so I get that last 10% of power from that nice thick cold air (I sometimes forget).<br /><br />But it was good to be in the sky again.Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11726267862761677407noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22277672.post-24954159641452804252010-09-18T10:35:00.004-04:002010-09-18T10:44:59.655-04:00Non-aviation photograph post<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_cdXB5Wv8Ks4/TJTPAyjW3RI/AAAAAAAAAFc/ai7irFAwgeE/s1600/IMG_3149.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5518263055912721682" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_cdXB5Wv8Ks4/TJTPAyjW3RI/AAAAAAAAAFc/ai7irFAwgeE/s400/IMG_3149.JPG" /></a><br /><div>I posted a comment about horses in downtown London UK over on Aviatrix's blog (go read <a href="http://airplanepilot.blogspot.com/2010/09/aviatrix-meetsthe-old-west-meets-new.html">her posting</a>, including the comments, to understand the context).</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>But needed a place to post a picture to illustrate. </div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div>Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11726267862761677407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22277672.post-58520529274583685312010-09-10T10:00:00.003-04:002010-09-10T10:18:15.391-04:00Rent vs. Buy?It has been a long time, <insert>.<br /><br />I have embarked on the journey to a new decison - should I buy an aircraft (or a share of an aircraft)?<br /><br />I am, and will continue to be, a member of the Rockcliffe Flying Club. They have a a fleet of aircraft (mostly 172s, with two 152s and a 182) available for rent. These aircraft have various levels of equipment, there are enough of them that you can get one pretty much when you want one. They are of course older aircraft, but well maintained, and safe.<br /><br />And expensive. By the time you rent one (wet rental), add HST, figure on $150 per Hobbs hour.<br /><br />There is also the price of "opportunity cost" - by the published rates, if my wife and I take a club aircraft to PEI for a week, then there is a minimum charge of 3 hours per day even if I never start the engine.<br /><br />However, if I don't fly, the cost to me of a rental aircraft is nil.<br /><br />Renting, and not owning, makes sense if you do not fly a large number of hours per year. There are rent vs. buy calculators, but the more you fly the more it makes sense to consider owning instead of renting (the crossover point is determined primarily by the costs associated with owning, such as the purchase price, but is usually somewhere around 50-100 hours per year).<br /><br />The cost of ownership can be dramatically reduced by owning a share in an aircraft, instead of a whole aircraft. The operating costs per hour are the same, but the capital cost (purchase price), annual costs (tie-down, insurance, annual inspection, ....) are divided n ways, as are the costs of any upgrades, paint jobs, etc. Owning a share of an aircraft can drop the crossover point to as little as 30 hours per year. Instead of $150 per hour, flying is half that cost.<br /><br />Another journey begins.Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11726267862761677407noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22277672.post-80419893385888170742010-03-13T14:35:00.003-05:002010-03-13T15:33:29.512-05:00Why is the stall horn sounding.....?March 10, 2010<br /><br />The weather this week has been terrific, work has been long hours, I am coming up on a month since the last flight, time to go drill holes in the sky for an afternoon. So I invite one of my daughters, and her friend, to go for a flight. I need to fly at least monthly (or else I need to go rent an instructor for a lap), so I may as well take someone along for the ride.<br /><br />Krysten (daughter) and my wife took the co-pilot course last fall, and Krysten has not gone for her two rides. This way she can get up for an initial flight, do some handling of the controls, and get some of the shine off so her two lessons with an instructor will be more fruitful.<br /><br />Unlike the last two flights, the temperature is above zero, +6C. The pre-flight check is not as brutal.<br /><br />I've not flown this aircraft before. It's a C172M - generally I've flown November models. Review the different V-speeds before climbing aboard, locate all the controls (flap lever and indicator are different), and make sure there are no surprises. The left strobe light is burned out, but otherwise everything is clear.<br /><br />The flow of the passenger briefings is getting better. During flight training I did very few briefings, so I'm working up to having a "flow".<br /><br />Start-up, taxi, run-up, backtrack to the button on 09, apply power, gauges checked green, rotate, and we smoothly leave the earth.<br /><br />As we're climbing out, I notice that we're climbing slower than usual. Mixture is rich, RPMs are good, gauges still green, flaps are not extended, airspeed is good, attitude is normal. Weird, but nothing is out of agreement and things look good out the window.<br /><br />To the practice area, flying past the casino and the ski hills. Krysten does some straight&level flight. Just north of Wakefield I demonstrate shallow turns, and let Krysten take the yoke. She puts in a bit of a turn (while I manage the yaw with the rudder), and mixes in an assortment of nose-up and nose-down attitude. At 3200' there's lots of time to recover, she gets a bit better over time. There were a few times where we were noticeably nose-down, but the altitude wasn't spinning down, nor the airspeed significantly increasing. Weird.<br /><br />Megan (in the back seat) is fine, so I do a HASEL check and show them a medium turn (30 degrees of bank) both left and right. Everyone is still happy, so Krysten tries a medium turn - she shows the usual hesitation about putting a "real" bank on the airplane, but does set up for a spiral dive. I have control, and we climb back to 3200'.<br /><br />I ask them if they want to see a steep turn - warning them that it will likely feel uncomfortable with that much "tilt", and if they look out the side window then there will be lots of air and not much airplane between them and the ground. Gotta love kids, they say go for it. I tell them to speak up the instant they feel uncomfortable, announce our position, do a lookout, and put it into a right steep turn. I wish I flew this well on my flight test, I nailed the nose on the horizon and didn't vary more than 20 feet from altitude.<br /><br />Everyone is still fine, so I put it over to about 60 degrees, still maintaining altitude. The secret to making a good steep turn is keeping your eyes outside, keeping the nose up on the horizon, and making a quick glance, at most, to the altimeter.<br /><br />Next stop is towards Ottawa, so Megan can see her apartment building from the air. It will have to be from a bit of a distance since she's inside the Ottawa control zone and I don't have a transponder code.<br /><br />The Prime Minister's summer residence has a restricted airspace above it to 3500', so I climb to 3900' and head southwest towards the river.<br /><br />Past the Gatineau Hills it is time to lose some altitude, as we want to fly down the river under the 1500' floor of Terminal's airspace. I brief my passengers that I'll reduce the power to idle, the nose will drop, and we will descend. Everyone is still good.<br /><br />Partway through the descent (when still plenty high) I point out the VSI and our rate of descent. To get down faster, I tell them about a forward slip being basically plowing the aircraft somewhat sideways through the air, and again, if it feels too weird then say something. Full left rudder, a bit of right aileron to maintain direction, and we plow down through a thousand feet. Remove the slip, descend a bit more to 1300', apply power and fly over the river while the girls try to find Megan's building. Left turn short of the CZ and head east (keeping a sharp watch for traffic heading southeast over the Descehnes Quarry towards CYOW), climb to 1700', pass north of the casino, overhead procedure at CYRO and join the mid-left downwind for 09.<br /><br />I'm stabilized on final, attitude is normal, flaps are extended, airspeed was about 65-70 knots, and through my headset I hear the stall horn start to sound. Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?<br /><br />Attitude is good, airspeed is good. Weird. But I put in a bit more power, adjust attitude to stay aimed at the numbers, and get rid of the horn.<br /><br />Greased the landing, but just left of the centre line. Quick backtrack to Charlie and park the bird.<br /><br />I discussed the sounding of the stall horn with two instructors after I entered the clubhouse. There was no obvious cause - my attitude and airspeed were good, there were no noticeable gusts... Later that evening I received a phone call - they had taken the plane for a later lesson, and there was a partially blocked static source.<br /><br />Time: 1.0<br /><br />Weather: SKC, 10003KT, +06C<br /><br />Skills: Steep turns, forward slips, normal takeoff and landing<br /><br />Need to improve:<br /><ul><li>Forgot the check the snags book before flying</li><li>Forgot to do the rolling instrument check when leaving the apron (I did it after the run up)</li><li>When doing my 360 check before taking the runway, my wing extended past the stop line.</li></ul>Done well:<br /><ul><li>Steep turns</li><li>Forward slip</li><li>Checking with the passengers - making sure they were comfortable. I hope they felt they could speak up if they were uncomfortable.</li><li>Reaction to the stall horn. The stall horn was disagreeing with the other instruments, but the worst that would happen with a higher airspeed would be a longer float over the runway. The worst that would happen from ignoring it would be a stall-spin. Though it made no sense (according to the other instruments), I reacted correctly in adding a touch of power and eliminating the horn.</li></ul>Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11726267862761677407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22277672.post-85585261255983837312010-03-12T23:02:00.005-05:002010-03-13T10:31:40.182-05:00Second Passenger Flight<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_cdXB5Wv8Ks4/S5sTGjgYj1I/AAAAAAAAAD8/2osh6Tar59s/s1600-h/DSCN1034.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5447969177565957970" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_cdXB5Wv8Ks4/S5sTGjgYj1I/AAAAAAAAAD8/2osh6Tar59s/s320/DSCN1034.JPG" /></a><br /><div>Friday February 12 2010</div><br /><div></div><div></div><div></div><div>So my passenger this time is Heather, a friend (and singing compatriot of my wife). Nancy can't get the time off work. Spousal units, kids and work all coordinated, we head to Rockcliffe.</div><div></div><br /><div>Heeding advice and lessons learned from my last flight, this one was to be a simple flight to/from the practice area. Heather lives at the southern edge of the practice area, north of CYRP, and so that will be one of our destinations.</div><div></div><br /><div>Weather was not as brutal as Nancy's flight, it was "only" -14C. Winds were 29008Kt, pretty much down the runways.</div><br /><div></div><div>Normal take-off at Rockcliffe, pass north of the casino and fly along the Gatineau Hills in the 2000+ range. There was a cloud streamer dead ahead, so I reduced power and ducked under, flying at 1000' (or about 600-800' AGL). On the other side I climbed back up to 1400' (1000' AGL) and flew to Kinburn. From there, Heather, through a hit&miss method. figured out roads and bushes and whatever, and figured out where she lived - reminding me of my first flights in the same area where my instructor was pointing out different towns and roads.</div><div></div><br /><div>Reduce speed to 70Kt, drop 20 degrees of flaps, and we did a few orbits around Heather's house while she took some pictures.</div><div></div><br /><div>Off to Carp CYRP where I did a normal crosswind landing (winds about 30 degrees from the right). Well done.</div><div></div><br /><div>Briefed and performed a short-field take-off, then climb up to 2500' and head back the Heather's for another orbit and more pictures.</div><div></div><br /><div>Heather than practiced some straight&level flight east, towards Rockcliffe. After about 5 minutes of some pretty decent flight I took over, we headed home to Rockcliffe CYRO, culminating in a normal landing with (unfortunately) a bit of a thunk to the runway - they can't all be greasers.</div><div></div><br /><div>Time: 1.3</div><div></div><br /><div>Done well: Overall, this was a clean flight.</div><div></div>Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11726267862761677407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22277672.post-79925109948095632022010-02-14T10:56:00.006-05:002010-02-14T13:18:30.548-05:00Flying with the one I love<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_cdXB5Wv8Ks4/S3g96CG-zjI/AAAAAAAAAD0/U3_p5CiADJg/s1600-h/DSCN1026.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 510px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 401px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5438164617257733682" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_cdXB5Wv8Ks4/S3g96CG-zjI/AAAAAAAAAD0/U3_p5CiADJg/s320/DSCN1026.JPG" /></a><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div>Nancy and I have been married 31 (and a bit) years - the first and only marriage for both of us. We met in the summer of 1976 at university, and married in 1979 at the start of Nancy's 4th year, which was mid-way through my final year.<br /><br />I have a very patient wife - some might say that only a very patient person could stay married to me, especially for that long. The most recent test of her patience was watching the bank account drain as I worked through fulfilling my life-long dream of earning my pilot license. But it was my dream fulfillment, and she agreed to the commitment at the start of the journey, so she saw me through it.<br /><br />The classic question, asked mid-way during 2009: "So, once you get this thing, what are you going to do with it?"<br /><br />"Why, go flying of course - <em>we</em> are going to go flying."<br /><br />Fast-forward to January 30 2010, when we scheduled our first flight.<br /><br />It was appropriate that Nancy would be my first passenger. Technically the flight test examiner is the first passenger, though that designation is there primarily to make it clear that the Transport Canada examiner is not there in a role as a pilot or as an instructor and therefore the PIC is the examinee - all of which is there for liability limiting reasons. Maybe it would be best to call her my first passenger of choice.<br /><br />And so discussions started. Where do we want to go? What do we want to see? How long do we want to fly? Is this going to be a breakfast flight to a destination, or a sight-seeing flight around the area?<br /><br />I asked another pilot and instructor at the club, <a href="http://huskypilot.blogspot.com/">Tony Hunt</a>, about airports within a decent distance that had decent food. Most of the restaurants are of the greasy-spoon variety, and breakfast flights are better in the summertime anyway.<br /><br />So Nancy and I decided on a local sight-seeing flight, over familiar landmarks, not too long or complex, with lots of novelty.<br /><br />As always, I had my own objectives for this first flight:<br /><br /><ul><br /><li>Make sure Nancy had an excellent experience. After all the investment of time and effort and money, I did not want this to culminate in one flight which freaked her out, and as a result we'd never fly together again. Smooth, simple, safe, well-explained and no-surprises would be the key criteria.</li><br /><li>I wanted to fly with precision - holding altitudes, holding headings, final approaches which were stabilized early. In other words, make it look easy and build her confidence.</li><br /><li>Build my confidence. Just as with any important event, nerves were going to be a factor for me. But I have a decent number of hours, I know how to fly an airplane, I can do this, so quit worrying about it and just go do it.</li></ul><br />Flight planning was Friday night. The weather was going to be clear though frightfully cold, the winds were going to be minimal, the jet stream was not overhead, so it was looking like a day with great visibility and minimal or no turbulence.<br /><br />Route selection was to be local. We live on the west end of Ottawa, and so the route was to be a loop on the northwest side. Once I calculated the total flight time I removed the final leg, there is such a thing as too-much, especially on her first long flight.<br /><br />Saturday morning: Sky clear, winds were 300 light, temperature was -22C, 30.34". With a density altitude of -5026 feet, the C172 was going to climb like a homesick angel. The club's limitation was a minimum temperature of -25C. Definitely a day to wear layers, especially long underwear (which I wear for every winter flight anyway).<br /><br />The selected route:<br /><br /><ul><br /><li>CYRO R27, clearing to the west. Fly alongside the Gatineau hills at 2200', providing Nancy with a nice view of the lookouts in Gatineau Park.</li><br /><li>Turn southwest, fly over Constance Bay to Carp (CYRP). Point out the landforms and towns around CBay, Constance Lake, etc.</li><br /><li>Descend from 2200' to 1400' over the town of Carp. Fly over the airfield to join the mid-left downwind to a stop&go. Carp is a quiet airport situated in farmland, so it has lots of airspace and not much traffic, a good place to practice circuits with no pressure. I wanted Nancy to see landings, since to an inexperienced passenger seeing the approaching ground get larger through the windscreen is usually one of the more stressful aspects of flying.</li><br /><li>Backtrack R28. To highlight the performance of the aircraft (and to practice my skill), I briefed her on the short-field take-off technique. No obstacle-clearance required, since I didn't want to surprise her with the extreme nose-up attitude. She was impressed with how quickly we were airborne.</li><br /><li>Climb straight-out to 1400', circle left to a southeast heading, clear CYRP frequency and talk to Ottawa Terminal, requesting 2000' over Stittsville (our town) then west to Carleton Place for sightseeing. Approved by terminal, I did an enroute climb. </li><br /><li>Over Stittsville I pointed out a few landmarks, such as the neighbourhood school and the shopping plaza near our house. Nancy traced streets until she figured out where we lived. Pictures were taken.</li><br /><li>Westbound to Carleton Place. Nancy had the map on her lap, and was correlating landmarks to the map (the world looks very different from even a bit of altitude).</li><br /><li>Just west of Stittsville to floor of Terminal's airspace changes from 1500' to 2500', radar coverage terminated, and we switched to enroute 126.7. Nancy was relieved, since the radio traffic on Terminal's frequency was constant, and overwhelming her.</li><br /><li>Highway 7 is being rebuilt to 4 lanes, between the 417 and Carleton Place, and so she was quite interested in trying to figure out the new routing.</li><br /><li>Just short of CP I turned north, to track along the Mississippi River.</li><br /><li>Almonte is a great little town (childhood home of James Naismith, inventor of basketball). Nancy didn't figure out which town it was until she cross-correlated with the map (and I pointed out the water tower with the big black letters on the side).</li><br /><li>Just past Almonte the floor of CYOW's airspace rises from 2500' to 6500', so I climbed to 2800' in anticipation of over-flying Arnprior's airport. </li><br /><li>Flew past Packenham, between the town and the ski hill.</li><br /><li>Just east of Arnprior airport (CNP3) we turned northeast, entered the practice area and climbed to 3950' to maximize visibility of Gatineau Park. Told Nancy we were headed to Wakefield to see the covered bridge.</li><br /><li>Pointed out Meech Lake under the right wing - a very long and narrow lake in Gatineau Park. We've taken the kids swimming there in previous summers.</li><br /><li>Nancy asked where the covered bridge was located. I told her "look right over the nose", reduced throttle and pushed the nose down - and there it was. </li><br /><li>Descended to 3000' in a slow descending sweeping turn to the right, so she could have a good look at Wakefield and at the bridge.</li><br /><li>Flew over the Mont Cascades ski hill. Nancy wanted to have a look at the hill, so I told her to take the yoke and turn it slightly to the left, so we would not fly directly over the hill. Nancy redefined the word "gentle" in a gentle turn. Who knew a C172 would turn with 3 degrees of bank.</li><br /><li>I took control, dropped the right wing a little so she could see the ski hill. "Oh, that's neat, there is a red helicopter taking off from the ski hill." This observation was made while looking almost straight down, so the heights were clearly not bothering her. We didn't hear any radio calls from the Medevac helicopter, but I made my position reports on frequency. I expect they have TCAS anyway.</li><br /><li>Enroute descent to 1700' over the Chelsea dam, flying south down the east side of the Gatineau River. Casino and the Parliament buildings were straight ahead.</li><br /><li>Pre-landing checks complete, landing briefing complete, descend to 1200' and join the straight-in left downwind for CYRO.</li><br /><li>Normal landing R27.</li></ul><br />Radio:<br /><br /><ul><br /><li>This was a busy flight. CYRO - practice area - CYRP- Ottawa Terminal - enroute - Arnprior CNP3 - practice area - CYRO.</li></ul><br />Done well:<br /><br /><ul><br /><li>The crosswind landing at Carp CYRP was stunning. Told Nancy exactly what to expect, and I landed exactly on the centre line, no yaw, right wheel first, then the left wheel, and a greaser. </li><br /><li>Turns were all gentle, 10-15 degrees of bank.</li><br /><li>No surprises. If I was going to turn, climb, descend, drop a wing so she could have a better look, I remembered to always tell her first.</li><br /><li>I had a flight plan filed for the route, with calculated times and headings. The only heading I used was Arnprior-Wakefield, the rest of the flight was flown via pilotage (ground landmarks). All the legs were too short to bother calculating ground speed, so I just noted my time at each turn and calculated a delta against my ETA (a minute early here, two minutes late there, ...).</li><br /><li>I ballooned a bit on the final landing at Rockcliffe, but put in a little power and ultimately greased it. Nancy commented on the smooth landing, and didn't even notice the balloon until I mentioned it.</li></ul><br />Lessons learned:<br /><br /><ul><br /><li>I did startle Nancy on the descents. Though I told her we were going to descend, over Carp and approaching Wakefield I reduced power to idle and the nose dipped down to the descent profile. She just didn't think it normal that you would "turn the engine off and the airplane would keep flying". Note to self - use gentle enroute descents where possible when flying new passengers. Otherwise, brief the passenger better.</li><br /><li>The volume of radio traffic on the Terminal frequency was overwhelming for someone not used to typical radio traffic.</li></ul><br />Overall, it was an excellent flight. Nancy enjoyed the eye-candy out the window. Flying over our house was an excellent idea. I did not frighten her. Her comfort grew as the flight moved along, and she was comfortable with looking straight down out the window. Same as being a passenger in the car, she likes to have a map on her lap.<br /><br />Apparently, she believes I can fly safely. She'll come flying with me again.<br /><br />It's great to do things as a couple.</div>Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11726267862761677407noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22277672.post-42566100160786684072010-02-14T10:45:00.003-05:002010-02-14T10:56:23.100-05:00Just a little behind.....I am behind on my blogging - I have about 32 flights between August 20th, and today. I'll do some catching up, likely through a summary posting. The objective of all those flights was to get up to snuff for the flight test - grinding out circuits, filling in some skill gaps, build instrument time and three cross-country flights.<br /><br />Compounding all of this, I was heading towards the last three months of the year, when sunset seemed like it was at 4pm and the weather seemed like it was always crappy.<br /><br />But I have my Private Pilot's License - I tried my flight test on December 22nd and had a severe case of test-itus, and the DFTE passed me on all but two items. I obtained the remedial instruction, did the supervisory check (my primary flight instructor is a Class 4 so he needed his recommendation supervised by a Class 1/2 instructor), I got weathered-out six times, and finally passed the two remaining items on a partial flight test on January 21st (the last day of the 30-day period to conduct the partial flight test). I'll summarize everything later.<br /><br />But I am now a pilot.Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11726267862761677407noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22277672.post-62175527123113649752009-11-15T19:05:00.003-05:002009-11-15T22:28:58.983-05:00Passenger BriefingsI'm surprised at how little information is present in the usual student reference sources regarding the provision of passenger briefings.<br /><br />I could not find anything in the AIM.<br /><br />FTM has one paragraph, p.39:<br /><br /><ul><li>Seat belts and shoulder harnesses,</li><li>Smoking limitations,</li><li>How the doors work,</li><li>What actions to take in the event of an emergency landing,</li><li>Location and use of emergency exits, the ELT, the fire extinguisher, the first aid kit, and any other emergency items that may be in the aircraft (survival kits, life vests, life rafts, etc).</li></ul><br />FTGU has one line, on p.315<br /><br /><ul><li>Brief passengers: door, seat belts, prop hazard, ELT.</li></ul><br />The CARS has, of course, the definitive requirements. CARS 602.89:<br /><br /><ul><li>Location and means of operation of normal and emergency exits,</li><li>Location and means of operation of seat belts, shoulder harnesses and restraint devices,</li><li>Position of seats, and securing of seat back and chair tables,</li><li>Stowage of carry-on baggage,</li><li>Use of oxygen, if flight is planned to an altitude where oxygen is required,</li><li>Any prohibition against smoking,</li><li>If an over-water flight, the location and use of flotation devices, before the over-water portion has commenced,</li><li>Location and use of first aid kits and survival equipment,</li><li>Location and use of the ELT.</li></ul><p>And passenger briefings are detailed in one more spot - the flight test guide itself (TP13723E):</p><ul><li>Use of seat belts,</li><li>The location and use of emergency exits (but regular exits are not mentioned),</li><li>ELT, </li><li>Fire extinguisher,</li><li>Passenger considerations for aircraft evacuation (which generally means "to the tail good, towards the engine bad"),</li><li>Action to take in the event of an emergency landing,</li><li>Smoking limitations,</li><li>Items specific to the airplane being used (the Diamond Eclipse had a pointy hammer which could be used to break the plastic canopy so it can be used as an emergency exit,</li><li>Other items for use in an emergency (first aid kit, life vests, etc).</li></ul><p> </p>Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11726267862761677407noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22277672.post-10054735143907384642009-11-15T12:49:00.006-05:002009-11-15T19:01:24.353-05:00Aircraft DocumentsTo be legal for flight in Canada, the following documents are required on a powered aircraft in Canada:<br /><br /><br /><br /><ul><li>A - certificate of Airworthiness</li><li>R - certificate of Registration</li><li>R - Radio station license (not required for flights solely within Canada)</li><li>O - pilot Operating handbook</li><li>W - Weight and balance calculation</li></ul><br /><ul><li>J - Journey log</li><li>I - Insurance</li><li>L - personal Licences (license, medical, radio operator certificate)</li><li>I - Intercept procedures</li></ul><br /><strong>Certificate of Airworthiness</strong><br /><br />See CARS 507, AIM LRA 2.0, FTGU Ch. 5<br /><ul><li>Is issued by Transport Canada, certifying that the original design is airworthy,</li><li>Is issued when the aircraft is built, or imported into the country,</li><li>Remains with the aircraft until the aircraft is exported or destroyed</li><li>An Annual Airworthiness Information Report must be filed with Transport Canada on/before the anniversary date of the CofA. A copy of the AAIR does not need to be kept on board, but failure to file the AAIR will automatically expire the CofA.</li></ul>For the CofA to be in force, the aircraft has to be airworthy at the time of the flight:<br /><ul><li>Periodic inspections must be up to date (annual for private aircraft, every 50 hours for commercial),</li><li>Airworthiness Directives must be up to date,</li><li>Defects which affect airworthiness must be repaired, or signed off as "deferred" by an AME,</li><li>The aircraft must be operated in compliance with the POH and with regulations, meaning that all equipment required for the planned flight must be installed and functioning, the weight and balance must be within the limits specified in the CofA, required emergency equipment is installed.</li></ul><br /><br /><p><strong>Certificate of Registration</strong></p><p>See CARS 222, AIM LRA 1.0</p><p>Is issued by Transport Canada and is valid for the life of the aircraft and must be carried on board (CARS 202.26), unless:</p><ul><li>There is a change of owner, in which case the seller must complete and mail the postcard section of the CofR within 7 days. The buyer must complete the Application for Registration form on the CofR to apply for a new CofR, mail the white copy and keep the pink copy. The pink copy is the interim CofR, for a maximum of 3 months after the transfer or until the permanent CofR is received (or unless the aircraft is subsequently sold again). </li><li>There is a change of address, in which case the owner must notify TC by completing and mailing the postcard section of the CofR.</li><li>There is a change of purpose (private to commercial, or vice-versa).</li><li>There is a change of nationality. An aircraft can be registered in only one country at a time.</li><li>The aircraft is destroyed (notify Transport Canada).</li></ul><p><strong>Radio Station License</strong></p><p>A Radio Station License is issued to an aircraft by Transport Canada. However, carrying this licence on board the aircraft is not required provided the flight is carried our solely within Canada. It must be carried on board for International flights.</p><p><strong>Pilot Operating Handbook</strong></p><p>See CARS 605.04</p><p>The POH not only must be on board, but it also must:</p><ul><li>Be available to the flight crew members at their duty stations (e.g. as a pilot I need to be able to reach it when I need it in flight, as opposed to having it buried in baggage compartment),</li><li>It must have all the required supplements and amendments.<br /></li></ul><strong>Weight and Balance</strong><br /><br />See CARS Standard 571 Appendix C<br /><br />Each aircraft is weight after manufacture, and after each modification which could change the weight and balance. The W&B printed in the POH is the manufacturer's standard for the fleet. The current W&B for the specific aircraft is contained in the journey log, and all previous W&B reports must be marked as "Amended" (which is the pilot's trigger to go look for something more current).<br /><br />A W&B report for the specific flight (e.g. one which includes the actual fuel, human and baggage load) must be calculated and carried on board. This document will prove that the aircraft is being operated in compliance with it's CofA.<br /><br /><strong>Journey Log</strong><br /><br />See CARS 605.94, 605 Schedule 1<br /><br />The CARS are very specific about the requirement for the Journey Log, what needs to be entered, and when it needs to be entered. There are specific provisions for continuity in the Journey Log (knowing that there are no missing logs).<br /><br />See CARS 605.95<br /><br />The Journey Log needs to be carried on board the aircraft except when it is planned that the aircraft will not land and shut down at another aerodrome.<br /><br /><strong>Insurance</strong><br /><br />CARS 606.02 specifies how much liability insurance must be carried.<br /><br />CARS 606.02 (9) states the the proof of insurance must be carried on board (unless it is a hot air balloon)<br /><br /><strong>Personal Licenses (License, Medical, Radio Operator Certificate)</strong><br /><br />See CARS 401<br /><br />"While acting as a member of a Flight Crew, the individual must be able to produce the appropriate permit, license or rating AND a valid and appropriate medical certificate." (CARS 401.03)<br /><br />Pilot License<br /><br />A pilot license in itself is not a time-limited document (though a student permit has a lifetime of 5 years). However, for the license to be valid the pilot also has to carry a valid medical certificate, and for the pilot to utilize the license (fly an aircraft) the individual has to meet the required recency and currency requirements (CARS 401.05).<br /><br />Medical<br /><br />Fixed-wing aeroplanes are operated on a pilot license under a Class 1 or Class 3 medical (pilot permits require only a class 4 medical). Medicals must be renewed every 6, 12, 24 or 60 months, depending on the permit, license or rating type, and the age of the individual - see CARS 404.04.<br /><br />Radio Operator Certificate<br /><br /><div>If an individual will operate the aircraft radio, then the individual must be carrying a Radio Operator Certificate (which may be restricted to aviation operations). Radio Operator Certificates are issued by Industry Canada, not Transport Canada - they call it a "Restricted Operator Certificate with Aeronautical Qualification (ROC-A).</div><br /><br /><strong>Intercept Orders</strong><br /><br />Not legally required to be carried on board, but a darn good idea in case an F-18 appears off your wing. A copy appears on the last pages of the CFS.Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11726267862761677407noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22277672.post-90895933259627401082009-11-03T09:42:00.004-05:002009-11-03T09:56:16.316-05:00After another layoff2009/08/20<br /><br />Another month of no flying - some family time, some vacation time, lots of work, and a bit of weather and suddenly it has been a month.<br /><br />Today I had the aircraft booked for a dual cross-country to Kingston and Brockville, however the low cloud base precluded the cross-country trip. We flew circuits instead, exercising the landing gear.<br /><br />Take-Offs:<br /><ul><li>I have no issues or problems with normal and short-field take-offs, with and without obstacles, and we reviewed them and performed them.</li><li>Crosswind takeoffs require a crosswind, which we did not have today,</li><li>I have performed soft-field takeoffs in the Diamond Eclipse, but from a hard surface the high performance of that aircraft meant you were well airborne before you knew it -- and so my soft-field takeoff was under-practiced.</li></ul><br />For each circuit I performed a normal landing - no sense trying the "specialty" landings unless you have the normal landings working smoothly.<br /><br />After a few circuits demonstrating and practicing the short-field and normal take-offs, the instructor hopped out and I proceeded to grind out circuits. I got in a few short-field take-offs, but the airport was getting busy so stop&go landings would be very disruptive, so I reverted to normal touch&go landings.<br /><br />Time: 0.8 dual, 0.7 solo<br />Landings: 3 dual, 9 solo<br /><br />Summary: Landings improved significantly after the practice.Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11726267862761677407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22277672.post-5926779621878035862009-11-03T09:31:00.003-05:002009-11-03T09:42:06.349-05:00Foggles2009/07/19<br /><br />Today's objective was to get some in-aircraft instrument time, under the foggles.<br /><br />Launch, and up to the practice area over Aylmer. I was under the foggles just north of the casino, just after we passed the Gatineau River (lots of southbound traffic from the practice area comes down the river, so it is a good thing to have two sets of non-distracted eyes outside the aircraft until we get past this point.<br /><br />Exercises:<br /><ul><li>Flew eyes closed for about 4 minutes, using only my sense of balance and hearing to keep the aircraft straight and level. I surprisingly didn't go into a spiral dive or a descent, so the objective of the exercise did not work (it was supposed to teach me that human senses are entirely adequate for doing human things like walking or standing, but not adequate for operating non-human high-speed machinery). I had it easy - the air was absolutely smooth, and the aircraft was very well trimmed. However, I did manage to make an undetected 110 degree left turn, when I thought I was flying straight.</li><li>Under the foggles, did a number of climbs, descents, level turns, climbing and descending turns, and other basic aircraft movements.</li><li>Under the foggles, flew straight&level for 2-3 minutes, then did a shallow-banked 180-degree turn, then flew straight and level in the opposite direction. This is the standard procedure to follow when one has mistakenly flew into cloud, and is a flight test item. </li></ul><br />Time: 1.0 Dual, 0.4 InstrumentJimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11726267862761677407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22277672.post-92145153379756964742009-11-03T09:18:00.002-05:002009-11-03T09:30:01.183-05:00Circuits2009/07/17<br /><br />New type of aircraft, new airspace, right-hand circuits, a layoff from flight... all of them combine to make landings a bit dodgy. One of the first things to do is to grind out some circuits and get the approach much happier.<br /><br />Started with a new instructor (ML, who was to become my primary instructor), and we went up for a demonstration, then I flew four circuits.<br /><br />My original struggles in performing a landing (touching down on the centre of the runway, landing with yaw) have disappeared, hopefully to never return.<br /><br />However, I found that I was allowing myself to get rushed on the circuit and final, and so that nice long stabilization period that I should be experiencing on final was instead consumed by getting the aircraft down, managing the speed, and lining up with the centre line.<br /><br />I had talked to several instructors about their speed management in the circuit, when they reduce throttle, put out flaps, and so forth, and they all vary BUT they all start early.<br /><br />Clearly that's the key, and that's what I need to incorporate.<br /><br />After four circuits with the instructor, he hopped out and I flew another 5 circuits solo. Getting better.<br /><br />Time: 0.9 dual, 0.5 solo.<br />Landings: 9<br /><br />Summary: Just work on it. The landings are safe but rushed - they will improve once I get into the groove of getting most of the work done before the final approach.Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11726267862761677407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22277672.post-67314982343054158222009-11-03T09:08:00.002-05:002009-11-03T09:18:30.307-05:00Mind the GapSo my last post was July 15th, about flying activities on July 10th. Since then I have 21 entries in my logbook. Ooooops.<br /><br />Quick status:<br /><ul><li>I'll get a short posting about each flight posted (members of my family follow this blog to understand what I have been up to),</li><li>I am very happy with Rockcliffe Flying Club, and have continued my training there,</li><li>I've flown five different C172 aircraft, as well as the simulator. Each aircraft is unique, either in their original configuration, or because of the variances in equipment and layout that have crept in over the years,</li><li>I have completed my solo cross-country hours. Flew the dual with my instructor to Kingston and an overflight of Brockville, then (on the seventh attempt, but that's another story) flew it solo with only a touch&go in Brockville. Subsequently flew the same circuit, again solo, adding the full stop in Brockville.</li><li>Wrote and passed the PPL written examination,</li><li>Spoke and passed the english proficiency test,</li><li>Am in the home stretch for the PPL flight test.</li></ul><br />Posting to resume shortly, both as a summary of each flight (which will have to be short out of necessity), as well as the examination/skill items for the upcoming flight review and flight test.Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11726267862761677407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22277672.post-25627494993772861032009-07-15T00:07:00.003-04:002009-07-15T00:24:01.234-04:00Instrument Time2009/07/10<br /><br />My instructor had some more time on Friday afternoon, so we booked the simulator, did the preparatory work for instrument flight and for unusual attitudes. I went home to study, eat, and do some domestic duties, then came back to the Club in the mid-afternoon.<br /><br />Back to the Club at 3pm, and we did some instrument flying. It is a bit weird to be flying a dashboard with no tactile input (ears, balance, noise, or seat of the pants).<br /><br />But the "flying" went reasonably well. We started with the tach and Attitude Indicator only, did some flying around, then added additional members of the six-pack to build up the scan.<br /><br />Then I crashed. Turns out I had runaway trim because the trim rocker switch on the yoke had a 100% contact to set the trim nose-down. In a real airplane you could still fly but there would be significant muscular force involved. In the Sim the nose just kept going down, no matter what I did with the yoke. We turned off the electricity (which cost me the Turn Coordinator, and impacted the objectives of the lesson), but it killed the electric trim. The instructor set the trim to more-or-less the middle using the mouse and gave me control. More throttle nose-up, less throttle nose-down, so by changing power 100rpm at a time I could get back into straight&level trimmed flight, which was a good enough starting point for all the manoeuvres I was doing.<br /><br />Instrument Simulated: 0.6<br />Landings: 1<br /><br />Done well:<br /><ul><li>The scanning methods taught in the Flight Training Manual work very well.... I followed them in the Sim and had little difficulty.</li></ul><br />Needs Improvement:<br /><ul><li>Lesson was too short to come to any conclusions here.</li></ul><br />I suspect my Flight Simulator days will be of future use, but it is yet to be determined if the FS time will be of practical use beyond the introductory level.<br /><br />Next Lessons (all are subject to the Wx Gods):<br /><ul><li>Next Friday: Cross-country dual</li><li>Next Saturday: Dual instrument time, hopefully some crosswinds</li><li>Next Sunday: Cross-country solo</li></ul>Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11726267862761677407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22277672.post-36671906882618041082009-07-11T15:26:00.003-04:002009-07-15T00:24:12.978-04:00Language Proficiency2009/07/10<br /><br />As a result of an ICAO requirement, pilots must now demonstrate English language proficiency. I think proficiency solely in another language (e.g. French, or Spanish, or whatever) is also acceptable but you restrict where you can fly. English is the universal language of aviation, and if you have English you can fly anywhere.<br /><br />You might not be able to get a job at Air Canada if you don't have French, but you can fly the planes. But that's another rant.<br /><br />It's a 20-minute exercise, over the phone, and while the context of the discussion is aviation, it is not required that you give a sensible aviation answer to the discussion.<br /><br />Painless. Completed. On the assumption that I passed (the examiner is not permitted to inform you of your results), I should get that certificate in the mail from Transport Canada within 3 weeks.Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11726267862761677407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22277672.post-81607989421954533122009-07-11T10:56:00.004-04:002009-07-15T00:26:37.318-04:00Second First Solo2009/07/10<br /><br />Bright and clear this morning, virtually no wind, very little cloud, and 1.5 hours booked on the airplane. Today's objective is to work on landings - and if all is OK, fly solo in preparation for next week's cross-country solo.<br /><br />Preflight, load up, taxi out, and try a short-field take-off. Did well getting off the ground and a lower speed, but we accelerated quite nicely and didn't stay in ground effect for the acceleration. I need to go through the motions even if the aircraft wants to go flying.<br /><br />My airspeed on the climb-outs is still not quite stable - I need to pick an outside attitude and hold it, rather than chase the airspeed needle.<br /><br />First landing OK but a bit long - the source of the problem is that I'm not getting slow quickly enough at the end of the downwind leg, which causes me to be high during base, and I just keep catching up throughout the circuit until I finally get it down on the ground.<br /><br />We did a stop&go, backtracked, and I had the instructor demonstrate a short-field take-off. Yep, I'm doing the short-field the same as he does, I thought it was OK, now it is confirmed.<br /><br />Flaps up, full power, carb heat in, rotate, and fly.<br /><br />Mid-left downwind the instructor pulled the power and said "simulated engine fire". This is a from-memory checklist:<br /><ul><li>Mixture to idle-cut-off (simulated, of course - touch the control but don't actually turn the engine off)</li><li>Fuel selector off</li><li>Master electrical off (but leave it on since this is simulated, and we need to communicate)</li><li>Cabin heat and air off, leave overhead vents on</li><li>Airspeed 100 kts to extinguish the fire. If not extinguished increase speed until it is out.</li><li>Conduct a forced landing</li></ul>By this point we were past the mid-left downwind, and ready to do a forced landing:<br /><ul><li>Declare where you're going to land (the runway)</li><li>Point the aircraft at the landing point</li><li>Maintain straight and level flight, and slow to best glide speed (65kt in the C172 with no flaps)</li><li>Communicate (radio intentions to traffic)</li><li>Forward slip to get down, including a turn to runway heading. I could put in flaps, but it takes a while to deploy them, and more importantly, it takes a while to retract them - but a forward slip can be taken out very quickly if we need to preserve altitude to make the runway.</li><li>On short final I put in 20 degrees of flaps, and did a pretty good landing just past the numbers.</li></ul>Full power, carb heat off, flaps up, rotate, fly away.<br /><br />On the third circuit I pulled the power from 2300rpm to 1700rpm earlier, rather from 2300rpm to 1500rpm later. Maintaining altitude by progressive nose-up and adding in 20 degrees of flaps, all on the latter stages of the downwind, meant I was starting to descend at my target airspeed as I turned to base. Reducing the power to idle on base, and starting the turn to final earlier (so it would be a nice gently-banked turn), meant I was in a much better setup during short final. Remember to keep the nose down to maintain airspeed, add a touch of power for distance, eyes to the end of the runway to get a better perspective for the flare and for yaw control, and the landing was much much better.<br /><br />The instructor told me to exit at Bravo, he hopped out, and I flew two circuits solo. Both landings were quite good, though the second final approach was a bit low. My first solo was October 5 2008 in the Eclipse, this was my second "first solo", this time in the Cessna 172.<br /><br />Next steps: Instrument instruction, in preparation for the cross-country solo. I've booked two 4-hour flights, next Friday (for dual cross-country) and next Sunday (for solo cross-country)<br /><br />Dual flight: 0.3<br />Dual landings: 3 (1 forced)<br />Solo flight: 0.3<br />Solo landings: 2Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11726267862761677407noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22277672.post-42496049215810774872009-07-09T23:01:00.004-04:002009-07-09T23:28:07.244-04:00S S S S S Stuff2009/07/09<br /><br />Third lesson in three days - I'm loving it. Today's weather was sunny with a large number of Cumulus clouds and a high ceiling - the glider pilots were loving it as well.<br /><br />The aircraft was back a little late, so RK and I briefed Emergency Procedures. I'm doing the emergency procedures OK, my approach to the procedures is logical and reasonable, but not exactly what the manufacturer has prescribed. Time for some more study.<br /><br />Preflight was very thorough, since we were going to be doing utility-grade work today. Taxi, checklists, and a normal take-off all went well. We flew up to the practice area, staked out an area between Meech Lake and the Gatineau River, and started the upper-air work. Most of these activities I had not performed since the fall of 2006, so while I knew what I needed to do, I was apprehensive.<br /><br />Stalls:<br /><ul><li>Several power-off stalls (the C172 is very gentle in a stall). I recovered at the first sign of a stall, rather than seeing if we could get a good clean break&drop.</li><li>Power-on stalls. The aircraft breaks a little harsher, but recovery is routine. </li><li>Climbing turning full-power stalls - I've not seen one before. These are really interesting - one second you're climbing to the left in a very nose-up attitude, and the next second you've tumbled down to the right. This was demonstrated only, I didn't recover one myself (time constraint). Must do that someday.</li></ul><br />Spins<br /><ul><li>My last spin was in October 2006, so I had RK demonstrate spin entry and recovery. We lost 1,000 of altitude in the spin.</li><li>I tried twice to put the C172 into a spin, but was too cautious in kicking it in, or we were not quite stalled enough when I tried the entry, and achieved two spiral dives - which I recovered easily.</li></ul><br />Spiral Dives<br /><ul><li>RK put the aircraft into a few spiral dives, which I recovered correctly and readily (in addition to the failed spin attempts).</li><li>As a quick demonstration, RK put the airplane into a <em>steep</em> spiral dive and recovered. It felt like we were going to launch a torpedo attack on an aircraft carrier. Impressive. And what I am likely to see on my flight test.</li></ul><br />And I put in a few forward slips on the way home, to lose the required altitude when leaving the practice area. Still not slick.<br /><br />RK quizzed emergency procedures as I made radio calls, scanned for traffic, switched from the practice area to the aerodrome frequency. Nothing like keeping your mind busy.<br /><br />Circuit good, final approach good, and the touchdown was the best yet.<br /><br />Overall, I was very pleased with today's lesson. We reviewed a lot of items, I handled all of them (except entering a spin) well. Good enough to move along. I'd like to go back and review all items again, sometime in the near future, just for the practice. I was apprehensive and now feel comfortable, however, I would appreciate some additional practice. <br /><br />Dual: 1.1<br />Landings: 1Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11726267862761677407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22277672.post-51951516875379521122009-07-09T22:50:00.003-04:002009-07-09T23:01:23.373-04:00Circuits, Forced Landings2009/07/08<br /><br />Yes, this is my third lesson in three days. I'm on holiday, and I want to get the rust off in a hurry. Frequent lessons are <em>so</em> much better than once-every-week-or-two. Retention is much better, and <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">improvements</span> are readily visible.<br /><br />Another low-ceiling marginal weather day. First time with Instructor <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">RK</span>.<br /><br /><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Preflight</span>, taxi (good), checklist (no missed items), and a short-field takeoff from 09.<br /><br />I received some really good instruction on getting to different items earlier, some mental flows around the cockpit during high-activity periods (after-takeoff checklist, for example).<br /><br />We did nothing but circuits, trying different flap <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">combinations</span>, throttle, starting earlier or later on items.<br /><br />On one circuit, just as I was about to turn from downwind to base (the furthest point from the runway), the instructor pulled the throttle and declared that we had an engine fire. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Gaaaaack</span>. I stumbled through the mental checklist while I more-or-less made a beeline in the general direction of the runway. I need to aim for the numbers, and I need to know the Emergency Checklists crisply and by heart.<br /><br />Overall, a big improvement in the final approach, and the circuits. Flare and landing is sort-of OK, but not yet smooth.<br /><br />Dual: 0.8<br />Landings: 5Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11726267862761677407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22277672.post-67768390554131635272009-07-09T22:33:00.003-04:002009-07-09T22:50:23.872-04:00Q & A & Precautionaries & Diversions2009/07/07<br /><br />Another marginal weather day. We had hoped to do some upper-air work, but low ceilings meant low-altitude work. Precautionary landings are 1,000 and 500 feet AGL, so they were today's agenda.<br /><br />I started with 10 minutes of questions, regarding techniques and suggestions that were not clear from the previous two flights. We briefed precautionary landings, and I headed to the apron.<br /><br />Preflight is getting faster, taxi is smoother, and I was absolutely determined to not miss that same item on the checklist.<br /><br />Take-off on 09, and rotation was at the correct speed. Just to do something different, I did a short-field takeoff.<br /><br />Cleared to the west, we went and found a field in the practice area and performed a precautionary approach, aborting the landing at 500 feet AGL. I got most of the steps correct, but it didn't flow. Nothing that some study won't fix.<br /><br />There was a good-sized rain-shower between ourselves and Rockcliffe, and no GPS in the aircraft, so SH called for a diversion to Rockcliffe. Out with the map, circle-circle-line etc, and I chose a course of 110 degrees and estimated 18nm, or 12 minutes. I still need to go back to the map with the protractor and ruler, and see if my estimates were accurate - they were close.<br /><br />As we got to within 3-4 miles of the airport the rain shower was no longer between ourselves and the airport, we turned left 20 degrees so we would not fly over the Governor-General's house (even though we had enough altitude to clear the restricted airspace), and came in and landed on 27 (runway change while we were gone.<br /><br />Done well:<br /><br /><ul><li>Checklists, taxi, short-field takeoff, climbs, descents, turns, level flight.</li></ul><br />Done, but dodgy:<br /><br /><ul><li>Precautionary landing. The briefing was good, the airborne execution was so-so. I absolutely need to do better.</li></ul><br />Getting better<br /><br /><ul><li>Landing. Angle of bank is now consistently less than 20 degrees, but I'm starting the turns too late. Ground proximity judgement is improving.</li></ul><br />Dual: 1.3<br />Landings: 1Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11726267862761677407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22277672.post-33968092288333012802009-07-09T22:13:00.002-04:002009-07-09T22:33:08.865-04:00Not Pretty, but Safe2009/07/02<br /><br />Thursday's weather sucked. Low clouds, very broken so it could be raining one minute and sunny the next, intermittent rain showers, poor visibility. As a low-time student, this is weather I would not fly solo in. However, with the IFR-certified CFI in the right seat, in a capable airplane, with a GPS - no problem.<br /><br />The lesson started with a quick discussion sitting on a bench in the sunshine. We'll go up, find out what we have to work with, and adapt from there. What a relaxing way to start a lesson!!!<br /><br />Taxi was less wandering but not yet pretty. I missed the same item on the checklist during the run-up. Not much better at getting the nose wheel up at the rotation speed, but getting used to the C172 yoke being much heavier than the Eclipse's stick. Suggestion was to put in a bit more nose-up trim to assist in taking the weight off.<br /><br />Takeoff on 09, climb out on the circuit, fly the downwind leg at 1,000 feet AGL, and then cleared to the west. We climbed up to around 2,000 feet, dodged a few clouds, flew through some rain, and decided that we were not going to be doing any upper-air work today.<br /><br />We diverted to Gatineau ()the GPS made it easier to find), and performed three touch&go circuits using different flap combinations, exploring different speeds, and getting generally oriented to the handling of the aircraft.<br /><br />Back to Rockcliffe, land, fuel, park.<br /><br />His summary: "Not pretty, but safe". We'll keep working through to the cross-country.<br /><br />My summary: Like last flight, my head was behind the aircraft most of the time. I could work on the important skills (attitude, speed, checklists, communications), but periodically forgot&caught certain steps. The landings were all on the mains, but not well timed. The circuit wasn't at 90 degree turns. Just banging around the sky, close, but not right. Overall, I know what I'm supposed to be doing, just not doing it very well.<br /><br />Dual: 1.3<br />Landings: 4Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11726267862761677407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22277672.post-91071685402830673152009-07-09T21:59:00.002-04:002009-07-09T22:13:41.868-04:00Canada Day Celebrations - July 1One of the attractions of flying from a club is the social aspect. Rockcliffe Flying Club is co-located with the Canadian Aviation Museum, and on every July 1 all the national museums are free entry. So a crowd of several thousand show up at the museum, and quite a few planes fly in for breakfast and a tour.<br /><br />So Nancy (wife) and I spent most of the day at the Club. Nancy served breakfast from 9-11, we both did the clean-up from 11-1230. The airport was closed for a radio-controlled flight demonstration, and then the Snowbirds (Canadian Air Force demonstration team) did their airshow over Parliament Hill, then they did a turn or three over the field. Afterwards, the Snowbird pilots (and astronaut Chris Hadfield) came into the museum for autographs.<br /><br />Nancy and I walked through the museum, then Nancy had a sightseeing tour - her first flight in a small aircraft.<br /><br />Nancy went home for the afternoon, while I stayed at the field and marshaled the four aircraft that were giving sightseeing tours (three C172's belonging to the club, plus a Waco biplane). Overall, a great day for socializing and meeting people, looking at airplanes. And flying.Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11726267862761677407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22277672.post-13214627533687150942009-07-07T22:54:00.004-04:002009-07-09T21:59:53.689-04:00RFC Flight 12009-06-30<br /><br />I was scheduled to take my first two flights with the CFI, as an assessment of where to put me into the "curriculum". Tomorrow is Canada Day, with a fly-in, breakfast, the SnowBirds fly-by, airplane rides and much more, so there were many too many last-minute details. A different instructor, SH, substituted.<br /><br />We started with a briefing, especially managing the landing circuit (when to reduce throttle, drop flaps, etc). I was well-prepared with the V-speeds for RFC's aircraft, had reviewed the checklists and emergency procedures from the RFC website, and I have manuals from two other (different year, different model) C172s so I had a general awareness of the aircraft characteristics.<br /><br />The pre-flight took the better part of a half hour, as I poked, prodded, looked into all the nooks and crevices, understood the inter-relationships of the different systems, and so forth.<br /><br />The checklist has a section where different combinations of carb heat and throttle are used, to ensure the engine is not going to stall on a certain combination. I skipped a step, which was caught.<br /><br />Taxi with a steerable nosewheel is again different. Being used to a castoring nosewheel I was not at all hesitant about punching the rudder to gain directional control, which is much more effective with a semi-steerable nosewheel. Once again, we meandered down the apron and taxiway like a drunken sailor as I over-controlled my way down the taxiway. Shades of the summer of 2006.<br /><br />Takeoff was on 09, so we did the run-up at the start of taxiway C. Positioning was OK, checklists were slower to process due to unfamiliarity.<br /><br />On the takeoff roll I found the elevators to be very heavy - we stayed on the nosewheel too long and rotated 15nmph late. Takeoff was fine, as was the climb out. We proceeded to the practice area east of the Gatineau River.<br /><br />The air lesson was on the fundamental manoeuvres, including straight & level flight, turns to a heading, climbs, descents, climbing turns, descending turns. We spent quite a bit of time in 45-degree steep turns, I initially had difficulty maintaining altitude but eventually got working. The turns sometimes approached 60 degrees of bank, so I need to work on the smoothness. I spent quite a bit of time trying to keep my eyes outside, getting re-acquainted with the over-the-dashboard view from a different aircraft.<br /><br />In preparation for the landing we spent some time getting used to slow flight - getting the flaps out, and handling the aircraft in a mushy and nose-up attitude.<br /><br />Flew the approach into Rockcliffe, landing was with 20 degrees of flaps. Not pretty, but not too bad. No yaw, the flare was not a last-second panic but it wasn't a smooth flowing transition.<br /><br />Filled the tanks, and pushed the aircraft to the parking spot.<br /><br />Need to work on:<br /><br /><ul><li>Flow with the checklists</li><li>Keeping my head ahead of the aircraft - I felt like I was struggling to keep up for most of the flight</li><li>Carb heat - the Eclipse was fuel injected and so carb heat is a new control I need to manage</li></ul><br />Did well:<br /><br /><ul><li>I can fly an airplane. After the layoff and with my low time I am quite rusty, and sometimes I need to think through things to figure out what I am doing... but I fundamentally have a clue.</li></ul><br />Time: 1.2 Dual<br />Landings: 1<br />First flight in C172.<br /><br />If all the instructors at RFC are cut from the same cloth as SH, I am going to have a very enjoyable time here. I have a very positive reaction to his laid-back, mellow, observant-as-a-hawk, teaching style.Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11726267862761677407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22277672.post-70256593244821551562009-07-02T10:05:00.002-04:002009-07-08T09:24:02.460-04:00MembershipI pinged Tony, another blogging pilot from the Ottawa area, and he was very generous with his time as he discussed the flying community in Ottawa, and Rockcliffe Flying Club in particular. He's an instructor at RFC and so not totally impartial, but he's happy there. And after the discussion, for balanced and good reasons. Again, the social atmosphere kept coming through in the conversation.<br /><br />I made an appointment with the CFI at Rockcliffe. After a discussion about the Club values, operating model, instructor pool, fleet, and more, I made the decision and joined.<br /><br />My only concern is the limited size of the fleet, as they lost two aircraft to a tornado that went through earlier this year.<br /><br />My PTR is in the rack.<br /><br />As a bonus, I saw a yellow Husky parked on the apron, so I searched out <a href="http://huskypilot.blogspot.com/">Tony Hunt</a>, a sometimes-follower of this blog, and a part-time instructor at RFC. We've emailed, blogged, and chatted on the phone, and this was the first face-to-face meeting. He loves to fly, so he offered (and I eagerly accepted) a spin in his Husky. We put 0.8 on the Hobbs up to the practice area and back, as he showed off his pride&joy.Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11726267862761677407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22277672.post-77548271185164008782009-06-12T10:34:00.004-04:002009-07-07T22:46:18.568-04:00Picking up the PTRThe Pilot Training Record is <em>the</em> document that has to be maintained as a student pilot - it records every flight, what you did on every flight, where you went, what you flew -- everything.<br /><br />It belongs to the student, not the flying club or school. Alas, when you apply for your "real" license then it is sent in to Transport Canada, never to be seen again.<br /><br />This morning, after dropping off my wife at the airport for her <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">week-long</span> vacation, I stopped in at the flying school and picked up my <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">PTR</span>. I'm changing schools. I had a brief chat with the Assistant <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">CFI</span> over the service counter, discussing the reasons. But ultimately, it comes down to the fact that I am going to commit a lot of time and money to finishing my PPL, and I am going to be happy doing it. And I didn't think I was going to be happy here.<br /><br />My reasons:<br /><br /><ul><li>They do not have an online booking system. I expect a web-based booking system, which is much faster when it comes to being opportunistic about making last-minute bookings. And I have had inconsistent <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">results</span> with them answering the phone, and even worse results in returning messages, so the absence of an online system is even more problematic.</li><li>They fly the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Katana</span> - which is a great little aircraft, easy to handle, but the useful load is minimal. With two adults (one of which is me!) and a full tank of gas, we're over-weight.</li><li>It will be more expensive - a good slice of the flying time is spent getting from the airfield to the practice area. It's a 20-minute flight (at least), not a 5-minute hop. And the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Katana</span> flies slowly because of the low power output of the engine.</li><li>The atmosphere - they are a business, operating on the GA apron at a major airport. The atmosphere is a bit sterile. I'm after a rather an additional factor, a casual, social, relaxed dimension to the environment, which a club-style organization can provide. In addition, I need to get my wife engaged in flying (starting with the social dimension), which I can get at <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Rockcliffe</span>.</li><li>I was really pleased with my first lesson (with the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">ACFI</span>) - we got along well, he's quit a cheerful guy, and in addition to being a good pilot he is also a good instructor. My second lesson - not so jolly. </li></ul><br />So I picked up the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">PTR</span>, and I'm switching. I'll write a thank-you email to the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">CFI</span>, describing my reasons for changing.<br /><br />Time to phone <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">Rockcliffe</span>.Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11726267862761677407noreply@blogger.com0