RFC Flight 1

2009-06-30

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Filled the tanks, and pushed the aircraft to the parking spot.

Need to work on:

• Flow with the checklists
• Keeping my head ahead of the aircraft - I felt like I was struggling to keep up for most of the flight
• Carb heat - the Eclipse was fuel injected and so carb heat is a new control I need to manage

Did well:

• 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.

Time: 1.2 Dual
Landings: 1
First flight in C172.

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.

Landings - Nov 2

Today's lesson is scheduled for 8-10am. I love flying in the morning - the air is calm so you can get a great understanding of control inputs (and their effect) vs. atmospheric inputs aka thermals.

And the learning is faster, since you spend less bandwidth controlling the effect of the elements, and have more capacity to absorb new knowledge.

And the air has a freshness and crispness to it, due to the frostiness of the morning temperatures and because the daily smog hasn't built up.

Because I'm getting tired of Circuit Hell, I ask for something new. Let's do circuits elsewhere. Let's do precautionary landings. Let's do something besides drilling holes in the air and squashing bugs and testing the undercarriage. Not to say that I don't have a lot to improve in my landings - I do. But mommy I'm bored.

So we do the preparatory for Shorts and Softs - two more types of take-offs and landings.

Types of take-offs (and landings) of which I am aware:

1. Normal
2. Crosswind
3. Forced
4. Precautionary
5. Short field
6. Soft field

After today's lesson I still need to learn about precautionary landings, and off-airport forced landings. But some new pskills to practice have been introduced.

Winds having been my nemesis lately, it was great that they were at most 3-5 knots. Initially favouring runway 28, then variable, then building slightly and favouring 10. Low enough that the steady wind was just a routine part of airmanship without any extra effort to manage.

After the classroom work we got into the bird and the instructor demonstrated a soft-field takeoff, and then a landing; then a short-field take-off, and then a landing.

Then it was my turn to roll through the four of them (and a normal landing as well, just to reinforce the muscle memory.

All the landings (by myself and the instructor) were really good. No chirping tires, no yaw, no bounces, no balloons, no scary moments. A few were greasers.

This was a Really Good Day. Follow-on posts will describe the techniques for each landing type.

Time: 1.0 Dual
Landings: 8

Checkride - October 5

Lesson booked today from 4-6pm. Weather turned out great... minimal wind (NavCanada was arguing with itself on whether the winds were westerly at 6 knots, or variable at 3 knots), cool air, and a cloud base of 4000 feet above ground level).

I arrived early, pre-flighted the airplane, and found that the left white position light was burned out. Woooo hoooo, snag#2 in my piloting career. The light is optional for daytime flight.

I was then informed that I wouldn't be flying with my instructor, but with the Chief Flight Instructor - and two make two lines on the flight planning form. I had expected to take some flight with David, then with the CFI (Juliette), and then go solo.... but apparently I am to be cast into the maw of the Big Bad CFI without first drilling a few holes in the sky with my friendly instructor first.

I wasn't too nervous during the checkride... had some trouble getting trimmed up on the downwind and oscillated around a bit.

• Taxi - had to enter 28 to let some traffic off the runway, then get back on Alpha to let a touch&go come through
• Takeoff #1 - Slick
• Circuit #1 - Created some skid because I used some left rudder in a climbing left turn... and under full power the aircraft still wanted some right rudder - even in the right turn. And didn't track altitude all that well.
• Landing #1 - good. Stabilized approach, on the centre line, no yaw, no bounce, no drop
• Takeoff #2 - Slick
• Circuit #2 - Much better, less nervous
• Landing #2 - Stabilized approach, just to the left of centre, no yaw, flared through cruise and got my nose up a bit... but just waited it out. No bounce, no drop
• Takeoff #3 - Slick
• Circuit #3 - Fine...nailed and stuck my altitudes
• Landing #3 - Right on the centre line, very decent

The CFI asked to be dropped off at the 04 threshold, but we had two full-stops arriving behind us, so we went right back to the apron.

And then she got out....

Time: 0.5
Landings: 3

Round and round we go

Son of a gun, it is coming together!!!

The low-level practice, and having patience, is making all the difference. Several dozen (several hundred? it seems that way) landings ago I was alarmed at seeing the ground rushing up at me, and landing was a great big panic. Now it seems to proceed along quite nicely, there is lots of time, I think I know what to do, and there is lots of time to control the aircraft.

Wx was light occasional rain, ceiling variable between 1200 and 1500 feet above ground level. Several aircraft in the circuit.

Today's first takeoff was one of my best. Tracking the centre line dead-on. Rotate the nose, and let the plane fly when it is ready. I had been doing some reading, and the suggestion was to get the nose up and keep accelerating down the runway - the plane will fly when it is ready. It works! And is very smooth.

Circuits good. Some days (when distracted) I blast right through 1000 AGL, or don't track. Today went well.

Had one aircraft arriving from the north, crossing over the airport and joining the mid-left downwind. He announced as being over the airport as I was coming in on the downwind (having stayed in the circuit after takeoff), we I couldn't see him, and we were both closing in on the join between the downwind and the mid-left entry point. This is no time to keep sky-searching, so I called a 360 and did an orbit, then re-joined the downwind. Unfortunately I ended up doing the downwind rather close to the airport, but still shed the altitude by getting out the boards, getting the speed down to 60 knots (best L/D is 73 knots), and had a glide right in to the touch&go. Instructor approved the decisiveness when faced with the uncertain position of the closing aircraft.

I landed on the centre line a few times, greased a few landings, but had a few mild bounces.

On one landing the instructor added some right rudder to counter-act yaw, and there was another realization.... I didn't think the aircraft needed any rudder, when what actually happened was that I didn't need to add any rudder because it was being added for me. So we did the remaining 5-6 circuits with a running commentary from me.. I just talked about what I was seeing, what I was doing about it, so the instructor could determine what I wasn't doing, and what I wasn't doing yet. That way, he could determine what I was missing (and apply correction to keep us safe and minimize the wear&tear on the aircraft), and avoided having him try to guess what needed to be done (when maybe I just hadn't done it yet).

One uglier landing: I flared through cruise and into nose-up, gained some altitude, and applied a tiny bit of power since the aircraft needed the energy to have a gentle descent. Unfortunately, it needed a slightly bigger nudge of power. As we were coming down I just gave it more and more nose-up, the timing was decent, and so the landing was a bit harder, and no bounce.

Easiest and nicest landings were ones where I carried lots of altitude and eased the power to idle, then just glided in to a landing.

A few times I carried some altitude to the threshold and then eased off, had the altitude to handle the power cut, solidify the new attitude and flare through the landing.

I had one landing where I eased off the power while rotating through the flare - and that worked not too badly. Must practice that some more - there will be landings where you need to add power to get to the runway, and then have to ease off the throttle at a low altitude and low speed.

I did one landing where I started the flare comfortably high, but it was nice and slow, and that was a good landing. Landing is a good time to not rush things.

For the final landing I suggested a simulated forced landing at the airport. Chopped power, pointed at the threshold, traded airspeed for altitude, got to best cruise, did the cause check (oh my, throttle is at idle), had lots of altitude so went to full flaps, then kicked in a forward slip and rode that down from 1100AGL down to 200AGL. We crossed the threshold perhaps 300 feet AGL, lined up with the runway, smoothly removed the slip, and glided in to a decent landing.

Landings: 8
Time: 1.2

I'm buzzed. It is coming together.