Delays

Just a quick update - my plane time on Monday was cancelled because they found a couple of things during the annual inspection. They sounded minor like something with the exhaust and a part for one of the mags. But then, Jim called me last night and told me they found something wrong with one of the cylinders, possibly a valve problem. So, they are trying to decide what to do, because dealing with a valve problem is a bigger service effort, and the plane is due for its next major overhaul this fall. Sounds like they will give it an overhaul, or swap in a freshly overhauled engine. Jim is not sure how long the plane will be out of service, but it could be a couple of weeks more. At this point, I am not going to be flying until I hear from Jim further about the status of the plane.

Pics

Also, I took a few pics while I was out flying today. Something screwy happened with my phone, and the last two turned out purple for some reason. A reboot fixed it, but there's a lurking bug in there...
Pictures

Map of Practice Area

OK, this is fun. Here's one more that shows Forest Lake, Osceola, and the area where I practice maneuvers.
Forest Lake and Osceola

Map of Moose Lake Cross Country

I made another google map of the cross country flight we took to Moose Lake and Princeton.
Moose Lake Cross Country

21st.... Flight?

I can't really call it a lesson this time. I took the plane out solo today. Getting it out of the hangar alone isn't too bad, but I have to use the winch to get it back in. The winds were fairly strong around the area - out of the south east at 10-15kt gusting to 20-25kt. This is fine in Forest Lake, with only a minor crosswind component, but this gives a fairly strong crosswind at Osceola. First, I flew three laps through the pattern at Forest Lake, then I departed to the east and climbed to 4,500ft. I spent a half hour or so practicing power-off stalls and steep turns. Then, I tuned the Osceola AWOS and got the latest weather info. 11kt gusting to 21kt out of 140 - which means crosswinds on runway 10 would be about 7-14kt. I decided to go ahead and land there though. There was one other plane in the area I was talking to, and that wasn't a problem. I did two landings at Osceola, and neither landing was very good, but I got it on the ground safely both times. Then, I headed back towards forest lake. On the way back, I practiced some more stalls and steep turns, and then I did three more landings in Forest Lake. Aside from the bouncy crosswind landings in Osceola, I'm real happy with how the flight went. After the flight, Jim came flying into the area, and I stuck around to watch him drop his banner onto the runway. Monday Jim and I are going to fly our route through various towered airports in the city, and after that I'll need to fly a solo to Anoka.

Map of Cross Country from 18th Lesson

I threw this together. Took a little time, but it's kind of neat. I'll try to create these for all of my cross countries and post the links here.
18th Lesson Map

20th Lesson

Okay, 20 lessons in now. I was supposed to go out flying around the local area solo yesterday, but we had direct crosswinds of 10-12kt at the airport, which is more than Jim recommended that I fly solo in. So, since Jim was still available at the planned flight time, we went out together and worked on my instrument hours. We took off and went north, and then when we reached our altitude and I got the plane trimmed up, Jim had me put on the Jeppshades (like these: http://sportys.com/Pilotshop/product/9407). I got 0.6 hours of instrument training in. We practiced the usual maneuvers - power off stalls, straight and level flight, turns, and climbs and descents both straight and turning - but I could only see the instrument panel. We also practiced unusual attitude correction. Jim would have me close my eyes, then hang my head down and turn it to the left, then fly the plane blind for a few minutes (while he fiddled with the trim wheel I might add). After a while like this, you typically end up in an unexpected attitude. The first time I was in a 45 degree bank to the left doing 120mph and descending - you really can't tell what the plane is doing just from your equilibrium. So, this is good practice for if you accidentally fly into a cloud, where you are effectively blind. So, I'll need another 2.4 hours of instrument training before the checkride. When we got back to the airport, we landed, and then did another lap through the pattern with the crosswinds. I didn't have any problems with either landing, so Jim had me take the plane out solo and practice some crosswind landings. I did four laps through the pattern, and didn't have any trouble with the crosswinds. So, now Jim is comfortable with me taking the plane out with 10kt of crosswind or so. He basically said whatever I feel I'm comfortable with, so we decided 10kt - I'd probably be fine with a little more.

Since this is my 20th lesson post, I'll give an update on my stats. I've completed my second page in my logbook. I've flown a total of 30.1 hours. I've done 92 landings with Jim and 10 solo landings for a total of 102 landings. I have 0.6 hours of instrument training, 28.9 hours of dual training, and 1.2 solo hours. Friday I'm supposed to take the plane out by myself and practice some solo flight around the area. Jim also challenged me to go try a few landings solo at Anoka or Osceola. I want more time with Jim at a towered airport before I go to Anoka solo, so I'll probably head over to Osceola for a few landings if I'm feeling brave (mainly it's dealing with the other traffic that I'm worried about).

19th Lesson

I had to cancel my lesson last Wednesday because I was sick again, and the lesson for Friday got canceled because the winds were around 24kt gusting to 32kt. Yesterday Jim and I flew the cross country trip to Moose Lake and Princeton that I had planned last week. It was a beautiful day for flying - clear skies, decent visibility, and very light winds out of the south. The trip frankly, was pretty uneventful. It went exactly as planned, and I was able to find all of my checkpoints throughout. I'm feeling very comfortable with the whole thing now. Gotta work on my division of attention a bit more, as Jim is trying to keep me busy the whole time, and when I get distracted, I tend to let my altitude or heading drift a bit. I think when I'm out by myself this won't be as big of an issue, because I'll be able to pay attention to what needs attention, when it needs attention. Tomorrow afternoon, I'm going flying by myself in the local area. This will be my first unsupervised solo. I'm supposed to practice takeoffs and landings at Forest Lake, then fly out over the rural countryside at 4500 feet and practice steep turns and power-off stalls. I'm looking forward to it now. I've been doing all the takeoffs, flying, landing, and radio communications during the past several lessons anyway. Friday, Jim and I are going to fly a "cross city" if you will, and visit a few towered airports in the area. I need more experience at towered airports. The next step after this will be for me to fly a solo from Forest Lake to Anoka and back. Once I've done that, I will be flying a new cross country flight solo, which I need to pick and plan for. Starting to get really interesting now.

18th Lesson

I had my 18th lesson with Jim yesterday. We were scheduled to do our first introductory cross-country flight, but the weather was looking questionable all day, with thunderstorms approaching from the southwest. By the afternoon, most of the storm activity had dissipated, and it turned out to be a nice afternoon to fly, with winds out of the southeast at 10-15kt. I had done the flight planning on a few flight log sheets, and we reviewed that together. Then, we went and got the plane out of the hanger as usual, and when I hopped in the plane, right away Jim said "I want you to take it out and fly 3 laps around the pattern by yourself again." I was a bit nervous about not warming up and testing the conditions with Jim first, but I just followed my normal routines, and all three rounds through the pattern were a non-event. After completing my second solo, I swung by the gas pumps and picked up Jim, and we went on our first cross-country. We made sort of a diamond pattern, flying to Buffalo airport (KCFE). After landing at Buffalo, we headed over to Maple Lake airport (KMGG) and landed. Next, we departed back to the east-north-east, and flew over Lake George, then we turned east-south-east, and headed back to Forest Lake. The trip went pretty well, and we flew about 102 statute miles. We didn't fly at full cruise speed - instead we targeted 100mph to allow more time for matching landmarks up with the chart as a learning experience. The whole trip took about 90 minutes, 30 of which was for climb out and flying the pattern for landing at each airport. This was Jim's "introductory" cross country flight he takes all of his students on to get them used to it. Tomorrow we're going to fly a cross country flight of my choosing. I have chosen to fly from Forest Lake to Moose Lake, which is about 70nm north, then southwest to Princeton airport, after which we will return to Forest Lake. I believe if the trip goes well, I will fly the trip solo sometime in the near future. I'll be doing the flight planning for the trip this evening. The weather also looks questionable for tomorrow, with a 50% chance of thunderstorms, so the next lesson may not happen until Friday.

17th Lesson - 1st Solo!

Woohoo, I did it! Winds were 4-6kt today, out of the south. This gives a slight crosswind on 13, but not much. Jim and I spent about an hour in the office today going over my aircract checkout sheets, and my pre-solo knowledge test. Then, I signed the rental agreement and we went out to practice some landings. First, I flew a couple of normal laps through the pattern - all went well. On the next lap, everthing was as usual, but RIGHT before I was about to start my flare, Jim said "Do a go-around", which I did. On the next downwind, Jim pulled the power and said "Pretend your engine just died. I want you to land the plane." So, I tightened my pattern, and planned to come in a little long. Better to be a little high than a little low. It went great, and I got the plane on the ground just like I would have with a normal landing. On the next downwind, Jim said "Pretend you've just had an electrical failure and you can't use your flaps. Land the plane with no flaps." And, I did just that. I extended my downwind a little, and basically flew the pattern as I would have with flaps, just using less power and pitching for the appropriate airspeeds. Landing went great.

On the back taxi Jim asked "Are you feeling comfortable to try this on your own?"
"I think so..." I responded.

Then Jim asked me to taxi to the office and drop him off. He warned me that the plane would perform a lot better without him in it. His last minute advice was to keep doing just what we've been doing. And with that, Jim exited the running airplane, and went and sat on a jersey knee by the fuel pumps with a hand-held radio.

So, there I was, by myself, taxiing to the threshold for 13. Check carb heat off, mixture, fuel selector. Add 10 degrees of flaps. Announce "Forest Lake Traffic, Skyhawk zero zero hotel, departing one three to remain in the pattern, Forest Lake". Full power, and off I go. The plane really DID perform a lot better with less weight in it. Before I knew it, the wheels were off the ground, and I was climbing out on departure. Now I'm committed. I briefly glanced at the empty seat next to me. Then, I just talked myself through the procedure like I have done many times. 200ft up, flaps up. Pitching for 80. 500ft up, turn crosswind. Wait, then turn downwind. 1000ft up, there's my altitude, there's my airspeed, set my power. Pre-landing check, carb heat on, mixture rich, fuel on both, fuel in both. Announce my downwind on CTAF. There's the threshold, reduce power to 1500, and add my first notch of flaps. Slight pitch down to maintain 90. Wait, then turn to base, second notch of flaps, announce my position. Check for traffic coming straight in or right-hand traffic. Wait, turn final, announce my position. Track the runway center, and correct for crosswind. Keep her at 70. At the runway, reduce power to idle, let her come down, and flare. Nice landing. Woohoo, I did it! Then I back taxied and did it two more times. Everything went really well. On the second time around I wasn't able to call my base on the radio because there was too much chatter from nearby airports. On my third time around, I plain forgot to call my final, but no biggy. All three landings were very good, so I couldn't be happier about my performance. I pulled her up to the gas pumps to fill her up. Jim met me at the plane and congratulated me. He snapped a couple of pics of me beside the airplane, and I'll post them when he sends them to me. After refueling, we went inside and Jim endorsed my logbook and student pilot certificate for solo flight. He also cut my t-shirt back off and had me write the details about my first solo on it with a Sharpie, and he pinned it up on the wall in the office building. So, I've conquered a big milestone in my flight training!

Just to give you an idea of where I'm at: Including my solo flight today, I've had seventeen lessons, flown 24.2 hours and I've done 92 landings. Jim says we'll do one more supervised solo around the traffic pattern like we did today, and then I'm free to take the plane out by myself whenever I want to. So... enter the cross country phase of my training. It sounds like Monday afternoon, we're going to do our first cross-country to Buffalo airport, then to another nearby airport, and finally fly out and look at a specific lake on the sectional before returning to Forest Lake. He gave me a planning sheet and asked me to do the flight planning for the trip this weekend. I'm really looking forward to doing some cross country flight!

Thanks for reading, Mathias

16th Lesson

My Dad met me at the airport for my 16th lesson yesterday. He got to see the plane and we went through the preflight inspection together. Then he joined us for the lesson, and flew along in the back seat. He took some pics and posted them here: http://picasaweb.google.com/to.bobs/FlightSchool. Jim warned me that the plane would handle a little differently and it sure did. The nose wheel would pop up a lot quicker on the soft field takeoff because the CG was further back. I also noticed that it took a lot longer of a roll to get off the ground, and the plane climbed slower as well. Trim settings and required power settings were different also. I now have a log entry with a remark of "Passenger Experience - Bob". The winds were fairly light - 5 to 7kt, but direct crosswinds in Forest Lake. We were doing landing practice again. We did a few laps through the pattern in Forest lake. I came in too high on a couple of the laps and had to do go-arounds. Good practice though since I haven't done many of those. After a few landings at Forest Lake, we decided to fly out and see my Dad's house so he could take some pictures. After this, we flew along the sunrise river leaving Comfort lake, and had a good opportunity to observe the kayaking conditions from the air. Plenty of water down there - I think a trip is in store soon... Then, since we were up in the area, we headed over to Osceola to do some landing practice. I had a few bouncers, and a few nice touchdowns. The area also became busy with other traffic, with a few pilots not following the rules, and Jim got upset about the "yahoos" again. This was a good chance to practice on a narrower runway. The KOEO runway is 75ft wide, whereas it's 150ft wide in Forest Lake. I also came in high for one of my landings and got to practice using a slip to help descend for landing without picking up airspeed. After this, we departed to the west and headed back towards Forest Lake. Along the way, we did another power loss simulation, which went well. We would likely have landed safely in a farm field. Finally, we went back to Forest Lake and practiced a couple more landings, both of which went pretty well. No solo yet, but I'm betting it might be Friday. At the end of the lesson, Jim asked if I had bought renter's insurance yet (which I have), and said that soloing is very close, and that I should start wearing old t-shirts to my lessons. Next lesson is on Friday.

15th Lesson

I got out to fly again today, but it was a bit of an abbreviated lesson. There was a strong wind of 15kt gusting to 24kt directly out of the south today, with thunderstorms approaching from the south. This gave us a7-12kt crosswind on runway 13, which is a respectable crosswind, so we practiced crosswind landings. I was very happy with my landings today - all of them were really quite good, and a couple were basically perfect. I think I've got the hang of it at this point. On the 4th time around, it started to drizzle a little, and on the 5th time it was raining, and we saw some lightning a few miles to the south, so that was the last trip through the pattern for the day. I'm feeling really good with how things are going, and I have a feeling all that stands between me and my first solo are some good flying conditions with low winds. My next lesson is on Monday.

14th Lesson

Well, I finally got back out there for another lesson after being grounded for 10 days. I was sick with a cold, and then Jim was sick with a cold. Since I hadn't been out in a while, we went out and practiced some slow flight, and various stalls. We also did a high altitude fire emergency simulation, and then we came back for more landing practice. There was a strong wind, but it was mainly right down runway 13. The air was really warm, and what a difference it made! The plane climbed really slowly and used more runway for takeoff. My landings are getting better, and I had several nice smooth touchdowns just above stall speed. My next lesson is today, and it's supposed to be another windy day, but slightly cooler than yesterday. Sounds like we'll be doing more landing practice, possibly some crosswind landings, some flaps-up landings, and some power loss landings.

13th Lesson

Well, Jim had a change of plans with his roofing project (apparently the supplier that had his shingles accidentally sold them to someone else). So, have gave me a call around 1pm, and we were able to go out at our usual time. The winds were strong today - about 14kt out of the south/southeast with gusts to 20kt. This gave us approximately a 7kt crosswind on runway 13 in Forest Lake, and nearly a directy crosswind on runway 09 at Anoka. So, we practiced crosswind takeoffs and landings today. We did a few laps around the pattern at Forest Lake, and then we headed down to Anoka. I did virtually all of the talking with the tower today, and that went pretty well. I was feeling much more comfortable working the tower since I've been there a few times now. We did a few landings on Runway 18, and then Jim asked them if they had time to sequence us for some direct crosswind landings on runway 9. So, we did a couple of landings on runway 9 with a direct crosswind of 14-15kt, which is just about the C172's maximum demonstrated crosswind capability. They went pretty well I thought. Not perfect landings, but I got it on the ground safely each time. Then, we headed back to Forest Lake, and I did a couple more landings there, which both went really well. Jim is happy with my progress, and so am I. Sounds like more take off and landing practice next time, which is on Friday.

12th Lesson

I had my 12th lesson on Saturday. Just more take off and landing practice. We had some minor crosswind component to deal with. We did a few laps around the pattern at Forest Lake, then we headed down to Anoka again to do some more landing practice. Jim did the radio calls initially, but then I handled talking with the tower for the last few laps around the pattern. I'm getting more comfortable with it. Jim was going to take me up for a tour of the tower while we were down there, but apparently they have a restriction on visitors right now because of that ATC guy in New York who let his kid talk on the radio a few weeks ago. Jim was incensed. After the landing practice at Anoka, we headed back to Forest Lake for a couple more runs through the pattern. In total, I got 12 more landings in. Some were nice, some could have been better. Jim says we're going to look for an opportunity to do some direct crosswind landings next. I'm not sure when my next lesson is either. Jim isn't able to meet as usual today because he's having the roof replaced on his new house, and he's not sure about Friday. So, I may not get out again until another week from today.

11th Lesson

I had my 11th flight lesson today. Tammy and the kids followed me over to the airport to meet Jim and see the plane. I think the kids really enjoyed sitting in the plane and walking around with me helping me do the preflight inspection. We had a cold front move in from the north overnight, so the temps are back down around freezing today, and there is a strong low pressure system to the northeast, resulting in strong northerly winds, and overcast cloud ceiling at about 2500 AGL. Winds were out of 320-340 at around 15kt gusting to 20kt. This was the most wind I've flown in yet, and as I suspected, Jim would take this opportunity to work some ground reference maneuvers. Jim had me make all the CTAF calls on the radio today. We took off on runway 31, which went well, and headed out east to fly a rectangular course, circles around a point, and s-turns. I found I needed a fair amount of crab today, but I did a pretty good job with all of the maneuvers. I had a couple of altitude/speed busts on the s-turns, but I was able to maintain pretty consistent ground courses. Then, we headed back to the Forest Lake airport to practice more takeoffs and landings. Jim had me handle all the approach decisions, and on my first approach, I turned to my downwind leg too close to the runway, and I had to do a go-around. The next approach was a better pattern, and we practiced 5 landings. It really started to click today, and each landing got better. The last landing was clearly my best to date - a nice smooth, gentle touchdown right over the center of the runway. It was a great high note to end the lesson on. We went back and filled her up and put her back in the hangar. After Jim filled out my log book, he gave me a copy of the rental agreement, and my pre-solo knowledge test he wants me to work on. I'm sensing my first solo is probably getting close...

Next lesson is tomorrow afternoon, but I'm probably gonna get short-changed next week because Jim is having his roof redone, and the only lesson we have scheduled is for next Friday.

10th Lesson

I had my 10th lesson this afternoon, and it went a lot better than the last two. Jim wanted to go back over to the Anoka airport again to "beat that devil" and practice takeoffs and landings, but he said he would talk on the radio this time so I could concentrate on flying the plane. The takeoff at Forest Lake went well, and we headed straight over to Anoka. I learned SO much more listening to Jim talk to the tower, and listening to the other traffic in the area. With a reduced mental load, I flew the plane better, I got a real good sense of how the traffic is directed at a towered airport and the various situations that can unfold, and I really got to concentrate on improving my landings. I flew a mix of right-hand and left-hand patterns at the tower's request, and several times we had to fly extended base legs to accommodate other traffic. This was good though, because I got to see how to deal with various conflict scenarios. We were landing on runway 27 with variable wind direction out of 240 to 290 at 7 to 15 kt. The winds were a bit different on every landing and takeoff. Some were straight in, and others I had some crosswinds. My landings definitely improved during this lesson, and I started to get the hang of the low-wing slip crosswind landing technique by the end. I'm still working on the flare, but a few of the landings were nice and smooth on the center. My takeoffs were looking really good. I was able to stay properly centered on the runway, and crab into the wind as necessary to follow the runway centerline. In total, we flew the pattern and did 12 takeoffs and landings at Anoka before returning to Forest Lake. There was a lot of other traffic we were being sequenced with, including a couple of business jets, and I really got a good feel for how the communications at the towered airport work. I think I will be much better prepared to handle the radio at Anoka next time we go down there. Jim had me fly back to Forest Lake, finding my own way back, which isn't too difficult. Then, he had me land at Forest Lake and make the decisions myself to land the plane. My first try, I came in too long, and had to do a go-around. Then, on my second try, I had a good stabilized approach, and successfully landed the plane with a modest crosswind on runway 31. I feel like I made some real progress tonight, so I'm happy about that. My next lesson is on Friday, but the weather is looking iffy at this point.

9th Lesson

Well, I had another lesson yesterday. The field was soggy, and Jim wanted to practice landings, so we planned to head down to Anoka to practice landings on the paved runways. Anoka has two strips (18/36 and 09/27) and it's a towered airport in class D airspace. The takeoff in forest lake went well, and after climbing to a safe altitude, Jim had me do a power off stall, and some steep turns, both of which were probably my best to date. Then we headed down towards Anoka. Jim had me do the communication with the tower. They had us turn on ident, and as we neared the airport, there was other conflicting traffic. Initially they asked us to enter straight in on base for runway 27, but then they realized there was a guy practicing IFR on an extended final for 27, so they had us turn southeast and obtain a visual of the traffic inbound for 27. During this time, there was also another conflicting plane in the pattern for runway 36 (I think). Needless to say, there was a lot of chatter on the radio, and I had a hard time following what was going on. Once we confirmed we had a visual with the guy practicing IFR, they had us follow behind him for our landing. We were dealing with a north/northwest crosswind, and there are trees on the north side of the runway at the beginning that initially create turbulence across the runway, and then once you pass them, you are back in a crosswind. The landing was a bit wobbly. Then, we taxied clear of the runway, and contacted ground control, and requested taxi to Cirrus FBO. You have to write down your taxi instructions, read them back to GC to confirm that you understand them, and then follow them. I had a map of the airport on my lap. It's not a terribly complex airport, but there are six or seven main taxiways, and many numbered legs off of these. We had to cross runway 36 on the way to the FBO, and when we arrived, a couple of guys guided us in for parking, chocked the nosewheel, and put out a red carpet. Apparently they want to sell you gas, but we were just stopping by for pilot supplies. We went inside and I bought a couple of sectionals, and a couple Airport and Facilities Directories. Then we got back in the plane, started it up, and contacted ground requesting taxi for takeoff on runway 27 to remain in the pattern with the option to land. Before takeoff, we contact the tower and get clearance for takeoff, and then take off. I flew the pattern and landed on 27 again, but I had had enough at this point, and was overwhelmed between dealing with the communications, traffic, and crosswind landings, and I told Jim I was done. He flew the pattern one more time, and then I flew back to Forest Lake and landed. The landing at Forest Lake was probably my best yet, smooth but slightly fast at touchdown. I found the whole experience at Anoka extremely stressful and not fun. After the lesson I was seriously questioning if this is something I want to continue with. I think I can do it, but I'm not sure it's something I'm really going to enjoy. I think it was just too much too soon - unfamiliar airport, first time at a towered airport, conflicting traffic, and crosswind landings with partial wind obstructions when I haven't mastered regular landings. I was seriously considering it, but I'm not going to quit yet. Next lesson is Wednesday.

More Clouds

It has been raining and cloudy here all week. Ceilings are between 300 and 700 ft today, so the lesson for today is canceled. Tomorrow is looking like more rain as well, although a lower chance. Jim suspects the runway might be too wet for the lesson tomorrow as well. We've had a lot of rain and snow melt. If the permafrost hasn't melted yet, and the water will pool on the runway in big puddles, making it unusable. The sump pump has been running a lot at the house this week, so there is some hope for tomorrow, but it is not looking good.

Clouds

Lesson cancelled today due to low ceilings. Next lesson is on Friday, and our schedules don't work at all between now and then.

8th Lesson

I had my 8th lesson today, and I've got 10.7 hours of flying time under my belt. I got my David Clark H10-60 headset yesterday, so this was my first chance to try it out. It's definitely better than the headset I was using before - more comfortable, better sound dampening, better sound, and better mic. Today was also the first lesson that Jim had me handle the CTAF announcements on the radio. Like "Forest Lake area traffic, this is Skyhawk zero zero hotel, 5 to the east, on approach at two thousand four hundred, Forest Lake".

I must say, today was a bit of a frustrating lesson overall. We didn't do much of anything new, but I felt like I was dancing with two left feet during this flight, so to speak. Today we had some wind - about steady 8kt or so out of the south. So, the takeoff today was on runway 13 with a right quartering headwind. This was my first time taking off with a crosswind component, and we went through the procedure for dealing with this before the flight. I did it, but it wasn't exactly a thing of beauty. Next, we went out and practiced some steep turns. I did alright I guess, but I felt like I did better on the last lesson. My altitude and speed weren't maintained very well, and I was having trouble keeping things steady through the turns. After this, we practiced some more power-off and power-on stalls. Next, we took advantage of the windy day by doing some more ground reference maneuvers. This was a good learning opportunity for me; I could really see the effect of the wind today. We did a rectangular course for a while, then circles around a point, then S turns. I think my preference goes in that order as well. I'm not a fan of S turns, but I like flying a rectangular course, and I'm luke warm about circles around a point. I'd say I got the feel for it today, but it wasn't a performance that would get me through my checkride. My altitude and airspeed fluctuated too much. On the plus side, I don't think I did too badly with compensating for the wind during the maneuvers. After this, we headed back to forest lake, and did a couple crosswind landings. It was really awkward doing a slip in to land, and I'm not comfortable with this maneuver yet. I was actually very nervous coming in for both of these landings, and my control of the airplane was poor.

I told Jim I was a bit frustrated after the lesson, but he still thinks things are going okay. He implied that I'm not really flying any different now than I had been before, but rather that I'm getting to the point where I'm noticing more about what needs to be corrected. Some days are better than others I guess, so I'm hoping that Monday goes better than today did.

7th Lesson

I went in for my 7th lesson yesterday. Jim and I covered the two questions that I missed on the knowledge test, and he gave the the appropriate endorsement indicating this. It was a fun lesson this time (they all are though). Winds were pretty calm - 310 at 4-5kt, so we took off on runway 31 again. Jim took off this time to demonstrate how close I should hold the plane to the turf runway once airborne because I had been going a little high during the acceleration phase. After reaching altitude, we practiced some more 720 steep turns. Jim encouraged me to use trim during these turns since I hadn't been, and it made a big difference. Once I started using the trim I was able to hold nice steady steep turns without much change in altitude or airspeed throughout. After a few of these, we headed over to Osceola airport again. On the way, Jim cut the power and asked what I would do. I pitched for 80, and picked a field headed into the the prevailing wind and started setting myself up for the landing in that field. It went really well, and we would have made a safe landing in the snowy corn field. At Osceola, I got to practice.... LANDINGS. We entered the downwind leg at a 45 and Jim directed me through the various parts of the landing procedure, and I did the landing. Not the smoothest, but that's what practice is for. Then, we did 5 more takeoffs and landings through the traffic pattern to practice. I can land the plane okay, but not great. I need more practice. The main thing I need to get better at is the flare. I was generally touching down too early and not flaring long enough. Also, I can generally keep the plane aligned with the runway centerline, but more practice with this will be beneficial. After spending a half hour or so practicing landings at KOEO, we departed to the west. Next, we did some fire emergency simulations. If you have an electrical fire in the dash, the best bet is to shut off the master switch and spray up under and into the dash with the fire extinguisher. (The engine will continue to run with the electrical system off because the ignition system is electrically isolated in airplanes). If you have an engine fire, the solution invariably involves shutting off all sources of fuel and some sort of rapid decent. If you are relatively close to the ground (within a few thousand feet AGL), the goal is to rapidly descend and land as quickly as possible so you can exit the airplane and get away. You don't want to pick up too much airspeed during the descent or it will take you a long time to land once you get down to ground level. So, you descend either using flaps, a slip, or both. Jim first had me do a rapid descent with full flaps extended. The Vfe of a C172 is 100mph, so that's what we did - descend at 100mph with full flaps. This gave us a descent rate somewhere in the neighborhood of 1700FPM. With all that drag, you've got to get the nose pretty steep to go 100mph. Next, we climbed back up and did a slip descent. Jim had my put the plane into a slip and descend at 120mph. This gave us a descent rate of about 2000FPM (which is the max that the VSI can indicate). Seemed even more effective than the flaps, and you had to get the nose REALLY steep to get up to that speed in a slip. Felt like we were going straight down. Next, we supposed that we were at high altitude like on a cross country trip, say, 10,000 AGL. At 2,000 FPM descent, it would take you almost 5 minutes to get to the ground, and that's a long time to have a blazing engine fire in front of you. So, the approach here is to do a high speed dive in a clean configuration to "blow" the fire out, leaning it by providing it with too much oxygen, extinguishing the fire. Next we did a dive in a clean configuration, and Jim had me target 150mph. Cessnas have so much drag that it's difficult to get them going that fast with power at idle, and you're practically pointing straight down to get there. These exercise sound kind of scary, but I thought it was pretty fun. After this, we headed back to Forest Lake, and I did the flyover, entered the pattern, and did the landing. I feel pretty comfortable going through the pattern, and lining myself up on final, but I need more practice with the flare to get that nice smooth landing. I really like the landing process though - it was a lot of fun doing the touch and goes at Osceola. Next lesson is Friday.

Knowledge Test

I took a couple hours off of work this afternoon and headed over to Cirrus FBO at Anoka/Blaine airport to take my knowledge test. The test was 60 questions with 150 minutes of time allowed. I was there roughly 75 minutes and I passed the test. I missed 2 questions, which gives me 97% (70% is passing). At the end, they let you see the questions you missed. One of the questions was about requirements for class C airspace. I put "in communications with responsible ATC facility". This is what my study book has, but apparently they were looking for Mode C transponder. I think this is sort of a trick question, and I question whether the answer on the official test was correct. I know you need a Mode C transponder in class C airspace, but according to the book, some flights are allowed into class C airspace without a Mode C transponder, when ATC gives you clearance, and that's why the book indicates the answer I gave. The other question was about minimum ceiling and visibility requirements for Special VFR in class D airspace. I put 1SM and 1,000ft, but the answer is just 1SM, and there is no ceiling requirement. I'm very happy with this score though, and glad to have the test behind me. I think the only things standing between me and the private pilot cert at this point are more hours of hands-on training, and the dreaded practical test at the end.

6th Lesson

Yesterday I had my 6th lesson. It's starting to become somewhat routine now. Again I did the takeoff, and I was able to hold the runway center line a lot better this time. Today we focused on ground reference maneuvers. A wind determination was done by flying along a north-south road and observing drift, then flying along an east-west road and observing drift. There was a light wind out of the north-north-west, about 5-6kt, but I don't think it was really enough to get the feel for the wind correction necessary. First, Jim had me work on a rectangular pattern by picking out a few intersecting roads and some power lines to define our rectangle. The goal of this maneuver is to trace a rectangle on the ground and maintain a consistent distance outside of a rectangle defined by landmarks on the ground. I didn't have much trouble with this - the hardest part for me really was picking the rectangle on the ground to follow. There was enough wind where a slight crab into the wind was required in the base and crosswind legs, but the effect was subtle. Next, we worked on circling a point. Same idea here - you pick a point on the ground, and then attempt to fly around it in a constant-radius circle, compensating for the wind during various portions of the circle by varying your bank angle. This wasn't too difficult either - but then again, the wind was fairly light. For our final ground reference maneuver, we did some s-turns. This is when you pick a straight line on the ground that is perpendicular to the wind direction, like a road, and you fly the plan in a "wave" along the road, making semi-circles of equal radius on each side of the road as you progress down the road in one direction. The downwind portions of the path require steeper bank angle, and the upwind portions require less. This is going to take some practice. I was able to do it "okay", but there's a lot to pay attention to in this maneuver. Trying to keep your airspeed and altitude fairly consistent while constantly changing the bank angle, AND trying to align with landmarks on the ground was a bit challenging. I was able to do it "okay", but I wouldn't say my performance was stellar. More practice required. The examiner will pick one of these three ground reference maneuvers during the checkride, so I need to be prepared for any of them. Next, we climbed up and practiced some more 720 steep turns. Also, Jim had me do a 360 degree turn with 60 degrees of bank. 2Gs during a 60 degree banked turn, but I was pretty happy with how it turned out. Lost a little altitude, but not too much. Next, we headed over to the Osceola airport in Wisconsin (KOEO) and did a touch-and-go there. I did most of the landing, and we turned on the pilot controlled lighting. It was cool to see a better-equipped airport - a paved runway and a Precision Approach Path Indicator (PAPI). Taking off on the paved runway is a breeze compared to the turf field. We returned back to 25D at cruise speed and did a straight-in landing. After the lesson, we went inside and I took Jim's practice knowledge test. I got 100%, and received his endorsement to take the private pilot knowledge test. I'm going to schedule the real test at Cirrus at the Anoka/Blaine airport. Hopefully I will get that behind me this week sometime. Next lesson is tomorrow afternoon.

5th Lesson

Well, I managed to get another ground school lesson in this week during the afternoons and evenings after work. Went over Performance, Weight and Balance. This was fairly straight forward, and I found myself thinking back to the ideal gas law from college chemistry class. It's another nice and sunny February day here in Minnesota. The highs have generally been up around freezing and some days it has been a little higher, so there is some thawing going on. The ice patch in front of the hanger was a little more brittle today, so it didn't slip me up as much. Looking forward to that thing being gone. Preflight was as usual. I didn't really have any questions for Jim today from the material, so we didn't spend much time talking theory before we went flying. The checklists are starting to become more routine at this point, and I'm getting to the point where I'm running through the procedures without much input from Jim. Winds were very light today, maybe a knot or two out of the north. Jim was fine taking off on either runway, but I wanted to do runway 31 to get some more practice taxiing. I'm feeling very comfortable with the taxiing now, and doing the U turn off the side of the runway to turn around. For today's takeoff, I did the whole thing, and Jim was effectively hands-(and feet)-off. I think I'll need a little more practice keeping it on the center line, but I was happy with how the takeoff went. After climbing to 3500ft, we practiced some more stalls. I did a few power-off stalls in clean configuration, a few with full flaps, and I also did a couple power-on stalls. Jim also demonstrated a turning stall. Then we practiced flying a traffic pattern with go-arounds for missed approaches out over a cornfield somewhere. After this, Jim had me try some slips. This is when you apply rudder in one direction, and aileron in the other. The effect is that the plane is pointing in one direction, say to the right, but the direction of travel is straight ahead, or even to the left. The purpose of this maneuver is to increase drag, which increases your rate of descent without increasing your airspeed. It can be useful if you have an electrical failure and cannot extend your flaps, or if your flaps are already extended and you need to descend even faster for some reason. You REALLY have to jam your foot down on the pedal to get full right or left rudder. After this, Jim had me target a specific air speed while he would change the throttle settings. We probably did this for 10 minutes or so. I think the purpose of this exercise is to help you start to instinctively associating the appropriate changes in pitch to bring about changes in airspeed. Jim also had me practice some power-off descending turns at specific airspeeds. Next, we practiced some ground tracking. We would pick out a road or set of powerlines and I would try to follow them by sighting along the step on the strut out the left window. The winds were fairly light, but we did have a slight northerly wind, so I was able to see that it was necessary to point the plane slightly upwind to track straight along the ground. Jim also had me follow a curvy road on the ground, which was interesting. When we headed back to the airport, Jim had enter the normal traffic pattern and perform the landing. At Jim's direction, I did basically the entire landing, except he guided me in the flair. I felt like it was a really productive lesson, and I'm starting to see some progression in my ability at this point, which is encouraging. Jim has indicated Monday's lesson is going to focus heavily on ground reference maneuvers, and he wants me to read up on them. I'm going to knock out the rest of the ground school this weekend, and we're planning on have me take Jim's practice test on Monday for the knowledge test endorsement. If all goes well, hopefully I'll take the knowledge test sometime next week. I've also got three lesson scheduled next week, so I should make a lot of progress. Still lovin' it.

4th Lesson

I hit the books hard over the weekend, and I'm about 2/3 of the way through the ground school material at this point, and am getting in the 95% range on my practice tests. Was dreading the FARs, but it wasn't that bad really. Monday I went for my fourth flight lesson. I showed up a half hour early and did the preflight inspection. The plane was filthy with mud from the soggy runway. Inspecting the brakes was tough because the brake assemblies were caked in frozen mud and grass. Also, the right wing sump drain wasn't letting any gas out into the sample tube. We had to fiddle with it a bit later to get a gas sample out. After preflight was complete, I went inside and we reviewed some of the subjects I covered in the ground school material, such as wake turbulence, right of way, airspace, instruments, and some of the FARs. Then we went for our flight. Winds were out of the northwest on Monday afternoon, so we taxied down and took off on runway 31. This flight lesson was similar to the previous one, just expanded the envelope slightly. I practiced some more 45 degree banked steep turns with the goal of maintaining altitude and airspeed during the turns. After the first or second try I was able to do this fairly consistently. Then, he had me do some "720" steep turns, which consist of a 360 degree steep turn to the left, which immediately transitions into a 360 degree steep turn to the right. After this, we worked on stalls again. We did a few power-off stalls, a power-on stall, and some "falling leaf" stalls (where you let the plane stall repeatedly). Then he had me practice climbing and descending turns while rolling out and leveling off at specific altitudes and headings. We also did another power loss emergency simulation. The landing was as usual, although, it seems like he's letting me do a little more of the landing procedure each time. This time I basically did it, but he had the controls, and was providing some correction during the process. Yesterday, I also went up to the Fairview clinic in North Branch and had my flight physical, so I now have my 3rd class medical certificate and student pilot certificate. Don't have to deal with that again for another 5 years... Next lesson is on Friday - hoping to knock out some more of the ground school by then.

3rd Lesson

Had my 3rd lesson today. I was at the airport close to 4 hours. I did the pre-flight checks by myself - pretty easy. Probably took me about 20 minutes or so. I imagine that will become faster as it becomes more of a routine. When I was done, I headed inside and met up with Jim. I had a short list of questions from my reading material, and we spent roughly an hour reviewing what I had read about (airplanes and aerodynamics), and Jim drew various diagrams on a small whiteboard throughout this discussion. We covered basic concepts, and a few interesting things like the Region of Reversed Command, Ground Effect, and V_A (maximum Design Maneuvering Speed), and the somewhat counter-intuitive concept that V_A INCREASES when you add weight (i.e. passengers or cargo) to the plane. We also reviewed Induced Drag vs Parasitic Drag, and the "sweet spot" where these forces are equal, L/D_MAX (best glide speed, least power required for level flight, etc). We also talked a great deal about stalls, which was a good segue to our flight. I almost fell on my butt again slipping on the ice taking the plane our of the hangar. We got the plane rolling, with me at the front controlling the nose gear, and the plane pushed me over the sheer ice about 10-15 feet as I kept my feet rigid beneath me sliding on the ice, trying not to fall down. Again, I did the procedures "Starting Engine Cold", "Taxi", "Before Takeoff Run Up", and "Pre Takeoff". Steering during the taxi today was a bit easier for me - I think my brain compiled a bit from the previous experience. I also did most of the takeoff procedure again, and climbed to 3500 feet. First we practiced 45 degree steep turns. He demonstrated a couple, and I was a bit nervous about doing it myself, but it was really quite easy. No prob. After practicing a few steep turns in each direction, we practiced straight and level flight at different airspeeds. He would ask me to change the speed to say, 75mph (the airspeed indicator in this plane is in statute MPH, not nautical miles), and I would adjust the pitch, power, and trim accordingly. He also used this part of the lesson to demonstrate the region of reversed command. Next, we practiced power-off stall recovery. This was pretty easy too, just gotta remember to control the direction and roll with the rudder when nearing stall speed. Recovery is no prob, just nose down and add power. I noticed at some point after this, that Jim's instruction style changed a bit. He was no longer telling me HOW to control the airplane during the flight, but rather, just telling me to fly the plane to specific headings and altitudes at specific airspeeds or power settings. After this, we practiced a couple of power loss emergency simulations. First one, we picked Big Marine Lake (frozen, not landing in the water) as our landing site. This was really cool, because we came in descending over the lake with power at idle and probably went as low as 20ft over the surface of the lake. There were a bunch of ice fisherman out on the lake, and they were all staring at the plane cruising by just above the lake surface, and we smiled and waved at them. Jim grabbed the controls briefly and did what he called a "wing wave" at them, and then we powered away back up into the sky.

It sounds like Jim was happy with my performance and the way the lesson went, so I believe things are progressing well. Next lesson is Monday afternoon - can't wait! Time to hit the books...

Mathias

2nd Lesson

I received my Gleim ground school kit yesterday, and I also had my second lesson. I was too busy to get any pics, but it was a very productive lesson. I had a short time to review some of the ground school books before my lesson, and I brought the material with me to the airport. We were together almost 4 hours, and I was beat by the end. We reviewed the ground school package, and talked about how I should approach studying it, including which sections of the FAR I should concentrate on. Then, we moved on to the computer provided by MNDOT, and reviewed how to use the software to check for weather conditions, METARs, TAFs, NOTAMs, and TFRs. Then, I spent the next 45-60 minutes learning how to do the pre flight process. Once I provide my birth certificate and photo ID at the next meeting, sounds like I'll be doing all the pre flights myself going forward. After the preflight was finished, we moved the plane outside, hopped in, and I started going through the checklists to prepare, start, and test the various systems in the airplane. Since we had a northerly wind around 10KT, we had to taxi up to the far end of the airport for takeoff on runway 31. This was my first experience taxiing, and it was very awkward. You have to steer completely with your feet (rudder), which is counter-intuitive for someone used to driving a car. I kept trying to steer with the yoke, and had to remind myself to steer with my feet constantly. That's going to take some getting used to. Once we completed pre takeoff checklist items, I did most of the takeoff procedure. It's a turf field, and it's mushy because of the warmer weather we've had, so the goal is to get the nose wheel off the ground as quickly as possible to prevent it from digging into the slush, and most of the acceleration to takeoff speed is done with the plane doing a "wheely". After we took off, we flew up to around 3500ft, and leveled off. We spent the next hour practicing climbs, descents, 30 degree turns, and a few turning climbs and descents. Then we headed back, and like the previous flight, I guided the plane in for most of the landing procedure, at the direction of Jim. Also learned how to refuel the plane, and I almost fell on my butt slipping on the ice trying to get the plane back into the hanger. Great stuff though - my next lesson is on Friday, and I'm definitely looking forward to it.

Mathias

Introductory Lesson

Took my first hour of flight training on 2/10/2010. I had the pleasure of flying Cessna 172 N5200H out of the Forest Lake airport for an hour with CFI Jim Schulze. I got to fly the plane for about half of the lesson time. I practiced 30 degree turns, climbs, descents, flying at different speeds while maintaining altitude..., flying with different flap configurations, and I got to guide it in for the landing. What a rush of freedom! I got to take some aerial photos of my house from around 2000 feet (about 1000 feet AGL). Here are some pics:
http://picasaweb.google.com/mathias.smith/Flying2102010#

First Post

I'm starting this blog to journal my experience of learning to fly, and pursuing my Private Pilot's Certificate. I'll try to keep it up to date as I progress through the process, and post pictures when I am able to take them.

Mathias