I made it!

I finally Soloed.

I didn't solo on the 14th, however, as nice as it would have been to solo on Valentine's Day. The winds were once again too gusty. Cammie took me up, though, and we got some more practice in.
I really appreciate Cammie's method of teaching. She makes me think about things that I wouldn't normally think about. One of the things Cammie did with me, is, sing. Yes. She SANG. Paul McCartney songs. "Oh Blah Di" (Life Goes On). Hah. However, it was a great way to distract somebody in the cockpit, and see how well they handle it. She kept asking me what song it was, and who the artist was. It also made me much more comfortable in the cockpit.

After a scheduling mix up, I finally got to go up again yesterday, the 28th.


February 28th

I wasn't sure if the solo was going to happen today, I was hoping it would. It was a very nice day, and the winds were finally on my side. We took off and flew the pattern about nine times, and on the last landing, right before I was ready to turn off the carb heat, raise the flaps, and throttle up for another takeoff, Ryan said, "We're making this one full stop".

So we taxied back, and as we were holding short of the main taxiway, about to call ground, Ryan asked me if I was ready.

I felt GREAT, so I said, "You Bet!"

We taxied back to parking, he got out, signed my endorsements, and then I was on my own.

I was a little nervous in making sure I got everything right, but I had the handy - dandy checklist to help me. Started the engine back up, then I got the new ATIS, and called Ground as a "Student Pilot" for close patterned traffic. Then I started to roll.

It was a weird feeling looking out the window, and seeing Ryan there while I started to roll away. He was just keeping himself busy by putting the covers on their Cirrus.

Here's a little video of me on my way down the taxiway.

Of course I fumbled my words a bit to ATC, as I was nervous.

Here's a video of the first circuit I made all by myself. There is a bit of a hesitation as I get into position and hold, as if ATC is figuring out what to do with me. Heh.

After two touch and goes, the last one, which I really didn't want to do, because I was having so much fun... is a full stop. Here's a video of the last landing. It's one of the best I ever made. I keep the front wheel off the ground nice and long!

Well, that's it. I did it! Finally! Yay!

I even got my shirt tail cut off. Ryan said he'd give it to Cammie for her to decorate it for me, and they were going to hang it up.

Now... I just gotta finish that license!

Practice Patterns in Gusty Winds?

Wednesday was another lesson. Ryan couldn't be available that day, so I spent my time with Cammie. I really enjoyed the experience.

When I got there it was a bit windy. Winds were coming from ~300 at 25kts and gusting to 35kts.

I had been given my pre-solo written test when I started back up with Ryan last week, and I was able to turn it into Cammie today. We spent the first part of the lesson grading it, and I got 100%! Yay!

After we got done, Cammie said the winds would be good practice, so we went up and did some more pattern work.

I hadn't really spent any time in higher winds yet, let alone anything gusty. It was a bit exciting. But I never really got nervous. On one particular climb out, the wind caught us, and made us bank really quick to the right, as if we were trying to roll the plane. However, I corrected it, and we straightened back out. On a few landings, right as we were about to touch down, the wind caught us and made us land with sideways pressure on the wheels. I really don't like to do that, I know it's not good for the tires.

There was also one fairly hard landing, where I landed with all three on the ground. I think it happened because I wasn't ready for the gusts, the wind seemed to "shut off" for a second, and the plane dropped onto the runway.

We also even had one occasion where we had to break off on our landing, as I think ATC misjudged us against an airliner that was on approach behind us.

I did learn something else about myself that I need to fix. I guess I have what you could call a "tender touch" when it comes to manipulating things with my hands. I learned from Cammie that I really CAN and SHOULD throw my weight around in the cockpit. I should spend some time at the gym and work on my muscles!

It ended up being a great experience. I appreciate Cammie's patience, and I'm glad we went up. Hopefully it will make my solo (which should be TODAY!) go much better. I do have some pretty big butterflies, though!

Pattern Work

Friday was another good day for flying. It was overcast, but for the most part the winds were calm and the ceiling was high enough.

The entire lesson was spent flying around the pattern. This was great for me - I feel now that I'm pretty much back to where I left off in December, before the plane went in for a new motor.

When I first got in the plane - I pulled up on the front seat, trying to raise the height - and it wouldn't come so I thought the seat was all the way up. Not until we were rolling down the runway did I notice that I was really having to work to sit up and see over the dash. And of course, by now it's obviously a little difficult to adjust the seat height once in the air.

However, I think I did my pattern work pretty well. The difficulty still comes in what I was struggling with beforehand - all the steps taken, and getting a routine down so as to not fall behind. I did seem to always be a bit high - and there were a couple times that I overshot the turn from base to final and had to correct.

I really appreciated ATC today, they had a lady on the radio this time - and she was very pleasant and patient. Some of the guys on there can often times sound like auctioneers. She switched us up on the pattern quite a bit, I got to go back and forth between left and right closed traffic, and the left and right runways. This was neat as it got me more comfortable with changing events in the air around the airport.

My last two circuits felt really good, they were starting to square up really well, and I was getting my timing down. Even my landings were getting better at being on the glide slope and straight in.

When we were walking back to the office, Ryan asked me if I thought that if I were alone up there in the pattern - could I handle it. I said yes, I feel like I can. It felt a lot better today.

I hope that means my solo is coming soon!

Back in the air!

Yesterday I made it back up in the air again. About time! The Archer also has enough hours on it now so that I can continue with my pre-solo work.

I woke yesterday morning to 3 inches of new snow on the ground, and thought that the day might potentially be shot for flying. However, about an hour or so before I was scheduled for my lesson, the cloud ceiling dissipated away, and the sun came out. There was a lot of snow on the ground, and the plane hadn't been flown in three days, so before we started it we had to pull it with the tow bar out of it's parking spot into the taxi space.

The day went well, we did a review of slow flight, stalls, steep turns, spent time under the hood, and some pattern work. It took me a little bit, it's like getting back on a bicycle.

I got a somewhat disoriented under the hood, which is the first time that's happened to me. I was a little worried - since the last times I had spent under the hood I had done great. But Ryan said that was normal.

If there's anything I've learned from this, it's if you're trying to learn to fly, don't let so much time go by between lessons. You end up having to re-learn things. Even operating the radio was a little difficult. My plan is from now on to continue at a pace of once or twice a week.

My next lesson is this Friday, at 1pm. I hope the weather will work out again!

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This last Saturday I attended a Ninety Nine's meeting. They had scheduled the meeting at Glass Cockpit. Cammie was to be introduced, and she was to show us around the school. How fun, I could attend a meeting at my own flight school.

Cammie gave us a run-down of the glass cockpit interface, the differences between Avidyne and Garmin, and then took us into the Simulator to play around. It was fun, I learned a lot - and it got me itching to learn the Cirrus they have there. Since I'm pretty tech minded, I find the whole concept very attractive. But I'll wait until I get my PPL, then I plan to transition over.

If you're not familiar with what "Glass Cockpit" means, here's two pictures for comparison. This first picture is the standard, traditional cockpit I'm sure you're familiar with:


This second picture is of a "Glass Cockpit" setup.


Glass cockpit technology is very cool. I'll let you read wikipedia for more information about it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glass_cockpit

I've enjoyed meeting with the 99's so far, it feels like I might be able to be a part of something when I'm with them. I also get to see and talk with Gene Nora Jessen, a woman who has achieved much in her life. She has contributed a lot for the future of women in aviation.