Learning to Fly

[TeePee]

I just had an oral test ready for my exam. Basically two hours of the instructor asking me questions like 'What are the VFR requirements for class E airspace?' (3sm visibility, 1000ft above, 500ft below and 2000ft horizontally from cloud) Can't do the flight today since the weather is too bad. Thunderstorms and a low ceiling. The plan is to do it tomorrow morning. It's a little disappointing as I had about 30 hours logged in the first two weeks, and in the last week about 4 hours total...

Dave Section:
Yesterday afternoon I went to play some baseball with another student. He had seen it on TV and wanted to have a go, so we went along to a driving range that also had some batting cages. He's German, which I guess explains a lot, especially his demon batting skill. I guess being English, we have cricket, so at least theres a bat-hit-ball kind of sport. I aquitted myself fairly well (I probably have the skill of an American 5yo), although I did pick up some nasty sunburn from the drive there. Who hires a convertible in florida? I was glad when it started raining and we could put the roof (and AC!) on!

[TeePee]

The FAA check ride.

Firstly I had to plan a flight from Crystal River to Daytona Beach, which proved hard enough, since the blokey at he Flight Service Station really, really wanted to help me get there, and spent ages looking at his RADAR to find all the gaps in the storms. All I had to do was plan it! The test only goes up to the first waypoint!

Anyways, finally got the weather required, and we set off. Got the airplane preflighted, and as I started the startup checklist the heavens opened! We decided to wait a little bit. An hour later it's a bit clearer and we decide to go. I crank the engine, and for the first time so far, it doesn't catch first time. It does the second but I'm beginning to sense a bad omen. Taxiing out I clock the windsock and decide to use runway 09. Bad choice, I must have looked during a gust, since every time I look (or the examiner looks) it's poinitng the other way making 27 the better choice. How many mistakes am I allowed to make?

Fortunately it's only about a 5Kt tailwind, and we quickly get airbourne and head to the first waypoint. The low ceiling means I creep along at 900ft while the examiner fires questions at me. 'Whats minimum safe altitude?' '800ft' etc. We reach the first waypoint and I'm told to divert to Dunnellon. This I had expected, but there is a lot of weather between us and Dunnellon. I turn due north and it doesn't look too bad. Theres some rain in our path, but I can see through it. As soon as we get through things brighten up, with blue sky and some scattered clouds. I'm handed the 'Foggles'. Basically safety specs like I used to wear in chemistry lessons in school, that have the upper portions frosted so that I can't see ut the windows but only the instruments. I'm asked to perform turns and to head for Ocala. This is done using a VOR system, but I head the right way.

Then it's unusual attitudes. Basically, the examiner takes control and puts the plane in some wierd direction, a steep bank and a dive or climb, and I have to recover it. This all goes smoothly. Then, at last, I can take the 'foggles' off. My first steep turn is a bit unusual, I think I caught a thermal, because we gained about 100ft in height. but back the other way is spot on. Then a simulated engine out. I pick a field, but the examiner suggests that for the purposes of the simulation, I pick another one, as this is a bit near a school and we don't need to scare them. I pick another field and turn towards it. As we turn, Dunnellon comes in to view! Duh! So I line up and we go through a perfect simulated forced landing at Dunnellon.

I'm then told to go around and do a short field landing, which means landing in as small a part of the runway as possible, touching down on the numbers. I overshoot, by about twenty feet. The examiner asks what speed I've been taught to do short field landings at. '60Kts', I reply. He says it should be 55Kt's and to try again. I say, 'OK' and we go around. I see the examiner getting the Operating Manual for the aircraft out as we do so. I do the approach at 55Kt's and sure enough we touch down smoothly on the numbers.

We then do a soft feild takeoff, which means holding the nose wheel off the ground, getting airbourne and holding the plane in ground effect, a few feet off the ground, until it reaches climbing speed. Then we head back towards Crystal River at 900ft doing a turn around a point and some S Turns along the way. We do a soft field landing at Crystal River, which involves using a little power during the touchdown flare to sink very slowly. The examiner said she was very impressed with this. Then it's taxi back, and she complains that now she has to do a lot of paperwork!

I was a little worn out, but I couldn't work out if this meant I'd passed or not! It wasn't until I got back to the office and was presented with my certificate, logbook and bill (in that order) that I realised I'd done it!

I'm now a pilot!



(and BTW, the Cessna 172 Operations manual says short field landings should be done at 60 Kts )

[Moby-Dick]

well done

you must be very chuffed !

have done recovering from spins yet ? I still shudder thinking about when loony_pilot demo'd spinning to me. Where where in a cessna 152 carrying about 50 kilos more than we ought to ( neither of us are particularly small ). He took it up to about 4500ft , then span....twice

it was like a rollercoaster with no tracks , but Loony held it like a star ( unlike me who was screaming like a stuck pig ! )

[shelley bda]

Well done TeePee

[Matt1eD]

Well done :d

This has been a great thread.

[TiG]

Congrats Teepee. Must be a good feeling after all that effort.

Hope you've enjoyed the whole experience too, must be something you are well proud of

TiG

[TeePee]

It's a fantastic feeling, I've wanted to fly since I was a kid!


Went up for a check out in a C150 this morning (basically an older C152, the oly difference is the C152 can only drop 30 degrees of flap. The C150 can drop 40), since they are cheaper to hire and I can get more hours solo while I am here. With myself, the chief instructor and a full load of fuel it was really struggling. We clawed our way up to 3000ft and did a few spins! Fantastic!

Then we came down to land, and that went very nicely. Thats when things went wrong. The C172 I've been learning on has a lever for the flaps with horizontal for up and down to whatever amount you want. The C150 has a different lever with a neutral position which is then moved up and down. I moved the flap level to horizontal and powered on for the go part of the touch and go. But.. the flaps didn't come up! We managed to get airourne in the ground effect, before I noticed the flaps were still down, but it simply wouldn't climb. We skimmed the treetops at the end of the runway and all we could do was keep going. Bringing the flaps up at that point would have meant losing lift and sinking into the trees. We brought them up one degree at a time, and as the drag reduced we were climbing a little, but then we were past the trees, and over a field. This was the opportunity we needed, and could bring the flaps up all the way, sinking below the treeline.

I feel a bit stupid for not noticing the flaps (and it's a mistake I'll never make again!), but thats exactly why Cessna restricted the C152 to only 30 degrees of flap.. It just won't fly with 40!

Went on a nice flight back up to cross city on my own after that, and the rate of climb was a bit better. I like the 150, you sit basically on the floor with your legs in font of you like a sports car, rather than the bus seat in the 172. But that thing is slow! 90 Kts Cruise!

[daverobev]

Good job matey...understanding less and less as the thread goes on, but all sounds good!

How much would one of the Cessnas cost to buy?!? An old one I mean...and then, how much to keep? I guess the latter is as much as the former...?

[TeePee]

On the wall here is a poster for a 1968 Cessna 150 for sale at this airport. It has 3363 hours TT and a good annual (basically an MoT). It's 21,000 Dollars, about 12,000GBP.

In the back of a dogeared copy of 'Pilot' Magazine, a UK General Aviation magazine, there is a similar Cessna for sale that is in the UK, on G reg. It's 28,000GBP.

Maintenence and storage cost for it in the UK would be about 120GBP a month, somewhere cheap. Then fuel, etc to run it would be about 35GBP an hour. Plus of course in the UK you pay 10GBP for each landing (and sometimes an amount for each circuit around the field as well), no such cost in the US. Obviously big bills like engine overhauls are BIG bills.

To rent such an aircraft, in the UK, would set you back about 70GBP an hour. I prefer paying 55 Dollars.

[TeePee]

I took a C150 out for about three hours today, cruised up to Perry-Foley again.. I still like the leg up to Cross City, it's very beautiful!

Speaking of which, while I was planning my flight, a 18 (ish) High School girl came in after finishing her second to last lesson of the course. Overheard her chatting on the phone to her 'Mom' about fitting the last lesson in around her cheerleading practise...

[TeePee]

Well, finally managed to put my licence to good use, and flew to a little town called inverness to watch some stock car racing last night!

Inverness airport was impressive! A good long runway with decent taxiways, but the FBO was in a portacabin, and that and a hangar were the only buildings there! Downwind leg was above the speedway where the racing was taking place, which was a little distracting, but later we got to see all the other aircraft taking off. The racing was good, I guess it's a NASCAR style, only on a much smaller scale, with rolling starts and stuff.

Flew back in the dark, my first night solo time, and flying at night is still amazing!

[Andyr]

When are you getting back to the UK then?

[TeePee]

I'm flying back to the UK on Monday, not looking forward to it to be honest, but my money is running out here. I'd like to be flying 8 hours a day, but even at 55 dollars an hour I can't afford that. I'm having to ration myself to only a couple of hours per day.

I've decided that I really need to be doing this for a living.

[daverobev]

Did you meet up with V and El? Look forward to having you back, even if you're not looking forward to being back!

[TeePee]

Nope, haven't been in contact with them. I could have flown down to Kissimee as well!

The weather here is pretty pants really, theres a low pressure system hanging off the coast, probably building into another hurricane and theres too much wind. I did manage to fly down to an aircraft museum earlier this week (big discount for pilots!), but other than that I'm really just hanging around. Some more brits have come over too and are sharing my trailer, and I'm suffering from their jet-lag a bit.. They were stomping around at 5am this morning!

[Zak33]

TeePee....you know we're all dead proud of you?

You are the main man! Well done, not only with the licence, but with this thread! It's been ace