July 6-13 - One Week with Kevin
I have the opportunity to commit two full weeks to reviewing the FTM exercises and preparing for my PPL flight test. I am doing so primarily with Kevin, a long-time instructor at Island Air. Kevin seems as comfortable flying an airplane as I am driving a car. He is confident without coming across as cocky. Kevin is currently the CFI at the flight school, though he has a hundred and one other nebulous "projects" and "jobs" he seems to be working on, many of them overseas. In any case, I feel like I have a lot to learn from Kevin, and I am grateful for the time up in the air with him. (Will continue to work on the ground portion of things primarily with Tatiana, my other instructor)
Here's where I'll report the first part of that two-week adventure...
Sat., July 6
I thought we'd ease into the exercises a little, but Kevin was all slow flight and stalls and steep turns and specialty circuits. And somehow, even though I haven't flown in a hundred years (other than the cross country recently, really), I managed to perform fairly decently. As the weather was hazy (what else is new?) there was not much of a horizon to reference, but Kevin pointed out that I should really just use the VSI as a reference when looking inside, and keep the needle at 0 when flying slowly and/or performing stalls.
In general, I managed to do the exercises, though my recoveries need work. In particular, Kevin encouraged me to immediately bring flaps back to half what they were (unless they were at 10 degrees only to start), then get airspeed under control and keep the nose of the plane where it was, before retracting the remaining flaps, in stages.
This afternoon and tomorrow morning, it's a review of some exercises for me, then planning a mock x country to Muskoka for practise, which we'll begin flying at the start of our flight lesson tomorrow, before breaking off to review slow flight, stalls and steep turns, and then some forced approaches and short field landings again.
Monday, July 8
Since the WX did not cooperate yesterday, I was left to my own devices; did a bit of studying and spent some time with my kids. (They came for a sleepover - fun!)
This afternoon, weather was better: not gusty or turbulent, though rather hazy.
Our flight began with a mock cross country take off, which quickly demonstrated that I need a review of in-flight calculations on the E6B (on my study list for tonight!!) We proceeded to review slow flight and stalls in various configurations, which went all right, though the hazy horizon made me quite disoriented. I see, now, the importance of knowing instrument rules!!
Finally, Kevin cut the power, and it was a forced approach. I remembered to turn on carb heat, and immediately put the plane into best glide. Alas, that was all I remembered. There was no mayday call, no pax brief, no engine warm up, no NOTHIN' other than best glide and figure out how to make a field, which I overshot, btw. Also, as Kevin pointed out, there was quite a bit of ASI needle chasing going on inside the cockpit. (He corrected this for me later, by covering the ASI and forcing me to set best glide and approach by looking outside when we returned to CYTZ. That sim echo was actually fairly decent. Funny, I rarely look inside a care when driving... why am I so obsessed with it when flying?!)
Kevin taught me a nifty little nemonic to remember when conducting forced approaches: A-B-C-D-E-F
A - Airspeed
B - best field
C - cause check
D - declare (7700, mayday call on 251.5)
E - evac plan (comm w/ pax)
F - fuel shut off
This has the added advantage that engine warm-ups can be done every two steps, so for example, between B and C, and then again between D and E. Rather than focusing exclusively inside the plane on altitude, AS, etc.
OH DEAR, I HAVE RATHER A LOT TO LEARN, STILL!!!! My head is swimming, but I hope to get out alive... another lesson booked for tomorrow a.m., with a possible solo flight in the evening. Weather, of course, permitting.
Tuesday, July 9
This morning's lesson cancelled due to -- you guessed it -- weather again!!! But I managed to get back up this evening for a few solo circuits.
It was a calm evening wind wise, and the ceilings were high enough about CYTZ for circuits (though of course, as usual, there was little to no horizon). The traffic, however, was heavy, with three Cessnas in the circuit, several Dash 8s landing and departing, and the odd other aircraft flying through the middle of it all. My intent had been to practise short field landings and take offs, but I actually ended up celebrating my increased confidence on the radio. There were lots of extends and early turns and overshoots and runways changes.... and I managed them all!!
The take offs were, well, okay... I am finding it hard to be precise with my AS for short field. When clearing a hypothetical obstacle, in particular, I am tentative about putting the nose that far up, for fear of a stall, perhaps? The landings were alright... if I was too high, I managed to slip like mad to get the plane down. But why was i too high in the first place, is the real question?!!! In part, I think I forget how differently the plane performs with only one person in it. For example, when turning downwind, I'd frequently find myself at 1300 ft or higher (circuit alt at my airport is 1250)... the plane just didn't want to level off with less weight in it, I guess!
Kevin was waiting for me when I got down; he'd been in Hamilton, with very low ceilings.
He suggested we keep in touch (by email, since I have the suddenly added complication that I phone just died today!!! New iPhone, anyone? Anyone???!!!) and see about perhaps flying twice tomorrow: Once in the morning, and once in the afternoon.
Wed., July 10
Only flew once today because of, e-hem, WEATHER!!!! (nasty gusting winds this time, esp over the water, just before landing!) But it was useful. Kevin noticed I have some "pedal issues", that is, he suggested I move my feet farther back, so that only my toes and the ball of my foot would touch the rudder pedals, as this would give me better control. Let's hope I can remember.
Also, I had a rediscovery of the "attitude is everything" phenomenon: Upon realising just how much I was relying on the instruments rather than my outlook, he covered the ASI and number of other instruments so that I would be forced to rely on attitude.
We realised that in fact, my attitude on approach was too nose up. TA-DA! problem fixed, and MUCH better landings once I started looking outside and setting up the plane that way!!!
We also noticed that I was often low upon turning to final, and then had to play too much with power, rather than focusing on flying the approach. Fixing my attitude (tee hee, oh, the analogies!!!) should help with this, but as a rule of thumb, when turning a normal base to final for rwy 26, I should be at about 750 ASL (500 AGL, which, OMG correlates to low key on a forced approach -- YES, my friends, I am JUST making this connection now, 3 years into my flight training!!!! Lord help us if I ever get licensed it will be a bloody miracle!)
Thursday, July 11
Went up solo briefly this morning to attempt to practise my new-found skills with attitude. Alas, the winds were variable and the ride was bumpy. I did two fairly lousy circuits, and came back down to spend the rest of the day briefing with Kevin and working on some ground prep, mainly weight and balance, and also planning a mock cross country to Lindsay, which we hope to set out for tomorrow afternoon when we fly.
Friday, July 12
Well, today I actually flew the plane!!! :-D WX was good, and I knew more or less what I was doing. I watched the attitude on climb out, I set heading and did everything I was supposed to for the mock cross country. Even my steep turns were decent. I attribute much of my success to my review of the presentations and quizzes on this site. But also maybe flying every day and focusing more on flying is helping, especially as slowly the ground stuff is coming together (emphasis on the SLOWLY!!! Whether it comes together in time for next week remains to be seen.)
I have been reading my POH, which I should have done AGES ago... more on that coming soon in a blog post...
We even did some spiral recoveries, and my body remembered -- with trepidation -- the early Korkka days (but I did not grab Kevin's arm, thankfully!!!) Enroute back to CYTZ, Kevin demo'd a diversion. Will need to work on this a little to become comfortable and proficient.
The plan for tomorrow is to fly with Tatiana, same stuff, but so someone else can evaluate, and then move on to instruments on Monday. I really do need to solidify my ER procedures, too -- ARRRGGGHHH!!! So much to learn, so much, so much! I look back at my early days of flying, how overwhelmed I felt, and how little I knew, comparatively. And although I realise I've come a long way, there still seems to be such a steep road ahead. My biggest problem is the math. I get so freaked out by the thought of things like calculating GS or distance quickly and efficiently in the air, I spend inordinate amounts of time worrying about it, and my brain is not able to focus on learning things I COULD learn and memorize, like ER procedures, lol!
Saturday, July 13
Time for Tatiana to see my growth today, after several days of flying in a row with another instructor and/or solo.
Tatiana is a VERY different sort of instructor than Kevin: All business, very serious, and clearly knows her stuff. (Kevin does too, but is more laid back about it all.) In the past, I have found flying with her to be a mixed blessing. I feel very confident in her knowledge base, and I highly respect her opinion on things, because I know she thinks a great deal about the physics behind various aspects of flying. On the other hand, I feel extremely incompetent when flying with her: All my high school math anxiety comes rushing back whenever we are together in the plane, and my mind spends so much energy in fight or flight mode (no pun intended) that there is little left to focus on learning to FLY! But, I think I've made considerable progress this past week, so I was eager to see what she thought.
The WX conditions were a bit bumpy, and we were in GGNJ, which was acting up in terms of RPM, making us both a little nervous. Nevertheless, we managed to head off to the faux cross country I had planned for, and then practised some steep turns, stalls, slow flight, and forced approaches before heading back to city. We also did a short field take off, and I held ground effect quite well before climbing out (though she suggested I let the plane actually get off the ground before holding it down in GE.)
I think I wowed her with my newly acquired confident execution of forced approaches, but I scared the shit out of both us with my stall recovery. ;-P It was, shall we say, less than stellar. We did a power on climbing, turning stall, and I over-corrected the wing drop, with AILERON to boot! Yikes! Definitely need some work on that....
Enroute home, we did a little unexpected instrument work: Straight and Level, which I think I did alright on, and am currently reviewing, via the Online FTM site that's been so helpful to me this past week.
Thus endeth the first week of my final attempt at achieving my PPL. Next week is my flight test, so I have four days of flying with Kevin to get it sorted out. Wish me luck, readers!!!
Here's where I'll report the first part of that two-week adventure...
Sat., July 6
I thought we'd ease into the exercises a little, but Kevin was all slow flight and stalls and steep turns and specialty circuits. And somehow, even though I haven't flown in a hundred years (other than the cross country recently, really), I managed to perform fairly decently. As the weather was hazy (what else is new?) there was not much of a horizon to reference, but Kevin pointed out that I should really just use the VSI as a reference when looking inside, and keep the needle at 0 when flying slowly and/or performing stalls.
In general, I managed to do the exercises, though my recoveries need work. In particular, Kevin encouraged me to immediately bring flaps back to half what they were (unless they were at 10 degrees only to start), then get airspeed under control and keep the nose of the plane where it was, before retracting the remaining flaps, in stages.
This afternoon and tomorrow morning, it's a review of some exercises for me, then planning a mock x country to Muskoka for practise, which we'll begin flying at the start of our flight lesson tomorrow, before breaking off to review slow flight, stalls and steep turns, and then some forced approaches and short field landings again.
Monday, July 8
Since the WX did not cooperate yesterday, I was left to my own devices; did a bit of studying and spent some time with my kids. (They came for a sleepover - fun!)
This afternoon, weather was better: not gusty or turbulent, though rather hazy.
Our flight began with a mock cross country take off, which quickly demonstrated that I need a review of in-flight calculations on the E6B (on my study list for tonight!!) We proceeded to review slow flight and stalls in various configurations, which went all right, though the hazy horizon made me quite disoriented. I see, now, the importance of knowing instrument rules!!
Finally, Kevin cut the power, and it was a forced approach. I remembered to turn on carb heat, and immediately put the plane into best glide. Alas, that was all I remembered. There was no mayday call, no pax brief, no engine warm up, no NOTHIN' other than best glide and figure out how to make a field, which I overshot, btw. Also, as Kevin pointed out, there was quite a bit of ASI needle chasing going on inside the cockpit. (He corrected this for me later, by covering the ASI and forcing me to set best glide and approach by looking outside when we returned to CYTZ. That sim echo was actually fairly decent. Funny, I rarely look inside a care when driving... why am I so obsessed with it when flying?!)
Kevin taught me a nifty little nemonic to remember when conducting forced approaches: A-B-C-D-E-F
A - Airspeed
B - best field
C - cause check
D - declare (7700, mayday call on 251.5)
E - evac plan (comm w/ pax)
F - fuel shut off
This has the added advantage that engine warm-ups can be done every two steps, so for example, between B and C, and then again between D and E. Rather than focusing exclusively inside the plane on altitude, AS, etc.
OH DEAR, I HAVE RATHER A LOT TO LEARN, STILL!!!! My head is swimming, but I hope to get out alive... another lesson booked for tomorrow a.m., with a possible solo flight in the evening. Weather, of course, permitting.
Tuesday, July 9
This morning's lesson cancelled due to -- you guessed it -- weather again!!! But I managed to get back up this evening for a few solo circuits.
It was a calm evening wind wise, and the ceilings were high enough about CYTZ for circuits (though of course, as usual, there was little to no horizon). The traffic, however, was heavy, with three Cessnas in the circuit, several Dash 8s landing and departing, and the odd other aircraft flying through the middle of it all. My intent had been to practise short field landings and take offs, but I actually ended up celebrating my increased confidence on the radio. There were lots of extends and early turns and overshoots and runways changes.... and I managed them all!!
The take offs were, well, okay... I am finding it hard to be precise with my AS for short field. When clearing a hypothetical obstacle, in particular, I am tentative about putting the nose that far up, for fear of a stall, perhaps? The landings were alright... if I was too high, I managed to slip like mad to get the plane down. But why was i too high in the first place, is the real question?!!! In part, I think I forget how differently the plane performs with only one person in it. For example, when turning downwind, I'd frequently find myself at 1300 ft or higher (circuit alt at my airport is 1250)... the plane just didn't want to level off with less weight in it, I guess!
Kevin was waiting for me when I got down; he'd been in Hamilton, with very low ceilings.
He suggested we keep in touch (by email, since I have the suddenly added complication that I phone just died today!!! New iPhone, anyone? Anyone???!!!) and see about perhaps flying twice tomorrow: Once in the morning, and once in the afternoon.
Wed., July 10
Only flew once today because of, e-hem, WEATHER!!!! (nasty gusting winds this time, esp over the water, just before landing!) But it was useful. Kevin noticed I have some "pedal issues", that is, he suggested I move my feet farther back, so that only my toes and the ball of my foot would touch the rudder pedals, as this would give me better control. Let's hope I can remember.
Also, I had a rediscovery of the "attitude is everything" phenomenon: Upon realising just how much I was relying on the instruments rather than my outlook, he covered the ASI and number of other instruments so that I would be forced to rely on attitude.
We realised that in fact, my attitude on approach was too nose up. TA-DA! problem fixed, and MUCH better landings once I started looking outside and setting up the plane that way!!!
We also noticed that I was often low upon turning to final, and then had to play too much with power, rather than focusing on flying the approach. Fixing my attitude (tee hee, oh, the analogies!!!) should help with this, but as a rule of thumb, when turning a normal base to final for rwy 26, I should be at about 750 ASL (500 AGL, which, OMG correlates to low key on a forced approach -- YES, my friends, I am JUST making this connection now, 3 years into my flight training!!!! Lord help us if I ever get licensed it will be a bloody miracle!)
Thursday, July 11
Went up solo briefly this morning to attempt to practise my new-found skills with attitude. Alas, the winds were variable and the ride was bumpy. I did two fairly lousy circuits, and came back down to spend the rest of the day briefing with Kevin and working on some ground prep, mainly weight and balance, and also planning a mock cross country to Lindsay, which we hope to set out for tomorrow afternoon when we fly.
Friday, July 12
Well, today I actually flew the plane!!! :-D WX was good, and I knew more or less what I was doing. I watched the attitude on climb out, I set heading and did everything I was supposed to for the mock cross country. Even my steep turns were decent. I attribute much of my success to my review of the presentations and quizzes on this site. But also maybe flying every day and focusing more on flying is helping, especially as slowly the ground stuff is coming together (emphasis on the SLOWLY!!! Whether it comes together in time for next week remains to be seen.)
I have been reading my POH, which I should have done AGES ago... more on that coming soon in a blog post...
We even did some spiral recoveries, and my body remembered -- with trepidation -- the early Korkka days (but I did not grab Kevin's arm, thankfully!!!) Enroute back to CYTZ, Kevin demo'd a diversion. Will need to work on this a little to become comfortable and proficient.
The plan for tomorrow is to fly with Tatiana, same stuff, but so someone else can evaluate, and then move on to instruments on Monday. I really do need to solidify my ER procedures, too -- ARRRGGGHHH!!! So much to learn, so much, so much! I look back at my early days of flying, how overwhelmed I felt, and how little I knew, comparatively. And although I realise I've come a long way, there still seems to be such a steep road ahead. My biggest problem is the math. I get so freaked out by the thought of things like calculating GS or distance quickly and efficiently in the air, I spend inordinate amounts of time worrying about it, and my brain is not able to focus on learning things I COULD learn and memorize, like ER procedures, lol!
Saturday, July 13
Time for Tatiana to see my growth today, after several days of flying in a row with another instructor and/or solo.
Tatiana is a VERY different sort of instructor than Kevin: All business, very serious, and clearly knows her stuff. (Kevin does too, but is more laid back about it all.) In the past, I have found flying with her to be a mixed blessing. I feel very confident in her knowledge base, and I highly respect her opinion on things, because I know she thinks a great deal about the physics behind various aspects of flying. On the other hand, I feel extremely incompetent when flying with her: All my high school math anxiety comes rushing back whenever we are together in the plane, and my mind spends so much energy in fight or flight mode (no pun intended) that there is little left to focus on learning to FLY! But, I think I've made considerable progress this past week, so I was eager to see what she thought.
The WX conditions were a bit bumpy, and we were in GGNJ, which was acting up in terms of RPM, making us both a little nervous. Nevertheless, we managed to head off to the faux cross country I had planned for, and then practised some steep turns, stalls, slow flight, and forced approaches before heading back to city. We also did a short field take off, and I held ground effect quite well before climbing out (though she suggested I let the plane actually get off the ground before holding it down in GE.)
I think I wowed her with my newly acquired confident execution of forced approaches, but I scared the shit out of both us with my stall recovery. ;-P It was, shall we say, less than stellar. We did a power on climbing, turning stall, and I over-corrected the wing drop, with AILERON to boot! Yikes! Definitely need some work on that....
Enroute home, we did a little unexpected instrument work: Straight and Level, which I think I did alright on, and am currently reviewing, via the Online FTM site that's been so helpful to me this past week.
Thus endeth the first week of my final attempt at achieving my PPL. Next week is my flight test, so I have four days of flying with Kevin to get it sorted out. Wish me luck, readers!!!