there's a lot of stuff in here

odiebeans1

Filing Flight Plan
Joined
Jul 5, 2011
Messages
6
Location
North Wales, PA
Display Name

Display name:
RisaA
I'm new to POA and just wanted to say "Hi!"

AdamZ recommended that I check this out so here I am. There's a lot of stuff in here!

I have been a student pilot since October 2010. My husband, who has been aware of my dream of learning to fly since I was 6, gave me the gift of a Discovery Flight for my 50th birthday last year. (Dave is not a pilot but I hope he will be a student someday.)

I knew that if I didn't schedule my first lesson on that day in October I never would. It was one of the best decisions in my life! This whole aviation experience in more than awesome.

My first solo was on May 11th and I have two dual cross countries logged. I joined the 99s in January and I don't think I could have attained these goals without the support of these ladies. My first solo cross country is around the corner. There are only two things that make me nervous about this - radios and getting oriented to enter the traffic pattern.

Dave and I are both physicians. I'm a pediatrician and he is a urologist. We have three terrific boys, 23, 21 and 15. It is a busy household and explains my ~40 hours in 8 months. But, I'm in this to fly, enjoy each hour and take it all in!

My dad (also not a pilot and who is my other major cheerleader) will be my first passenger when I get my PPL. My mom will likely not get in the plane with me.

Nice to meet you and any advice is welcome. However, I see that this forums are very rich in info.

Blue skies,
 
I'm new to POA and just wanted to say "Hi!"

AdamZ recommended that I check this out so here I am. There's a lot of stuff in here!

I have been a student pilot since October 2010. My husband, who has been aware of my dream of learning to fly since I was 6, gave me the gift of a Discovery Flight for my 50th birthday last year. (Dave is not a pilot but I hope he will be a student someday.)

I knew that if I didn't schedule my first lesson on that day in October I never would. It was one of the best decisions in my life! This whole aviation experience in more than awesome.

My first solo was on May 11th and I have two dual cross countries logged. I joined the 99s in January and I don't think I could have attained these goals without the support of these ladies. My first solo cross country is around the corner. There are only two things that make me nervous about this - radios and getting oriented to enter the traffic pattern.

Dave and I are both physicians. I'm a pediatrician and he is a urologist. We have three terrific boys, 23, 21 and 15. It is a busy household and explains my ~40 hours in 8 months. But, I'm in this to fly, enjoy each hour and take it all in!

My dad (also not a pilot and who is my other major cheerleader) will be my first passenger when I get my PPL. My mom will likely not get in the plane with me.

Nice to meet you and any advice is welcome. However, I see that this forums are very rich in info.

Blue skies,

""Dave and I are both physicians.""


Don't buy a Bonanza
 
Welcome to PoA!!

AdamZ is a good guy. :)
And Tom-D is correct. ;)
 
Hey Risa! Glad you made it to POA. It really is a great board. Full of aviation addicts such as yourself! We have a few other docs here as well, Gary F and Bruce Chien! Stay enjoy and ask!!

As for the solo XC don't sweat the pattern and radios too much. for the most part a majority of patterns are the same with perhaps the exception of a right hand pattern and unusual patterns due to terrain. Just enter the same way you would at DYL Downwind, base and final.

And as for the radios if its an uncontrolled field just replace Doylestown with whatever field your at and remember the runway number may be different its the same CTAF calls. If you need to talk to ATC such as at a Class D tower or C approach just remember tell them who/what you are, Where you are and what you want to do.
 
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Hi Risa! Welcome to the board, lots of good info and good people here. I'll assume you are flying out of KLOM?

Gary
 
Hi, Adam!
Fun place. Thx for leading me to it.
Just about to pop in the DVD you sent me.
Hope you had a nice holiday weekend and hi to your family!
R
 
Welcome, Risa! Yes, Adam is one of the good ones.

I got my wife an intro ride for her birthday, too, and she got her pilot certificate before I got mine. She's currently Secretary of the North Central Section of the 99's.

Your mother may surprise you, unless you deem her physically unable to go flying with you. My Dad suffered from acrophobia, but found that he really enjoyed his flight with me.
 
Hi e1, thx for the warm hospitality.
Home base is KDYL.
Dual XCs to Lancaster (klns) and Wilkes Barre (kavp).
Anticipated solo XC to Lancaster.
 
I just did my solo XC to KLNS this past weekend. Nice folks. Buy some chocolates at the FBO while you're there.

Welcome!
 
Welcome to POA Risa. I'm just up the road from you in Harleysville. Flown to/from Doylestown many times.
 
Welcome to PoA!!! Enjoy the rest of your training. Don't sweat the pattern stuff as many pilots can't get it right either. :rofl::D
 
Hello and welcome! Here's to enjoying each and every flight... :thumbsup:
 
Hey there fellow 99 member (I'm an associate, all I can be, since I'm a student).

I just joined POA but I want to say "welcome" anyway.

I too FEAR THE RADIO - not sure why since by now I've had the chance to talk to ATC quite a bit. I train out of an un-towered airport though, so that could explain things.

I hope you post some of your student stories and get some encouragement from the pilots here - I have found that sometimes the online forums help *almost* as much as in-person interactions. There aren't that many in-person "real" pilots who I know besides the 99s and my instructor, so the ability to ask questions online helped me in my training.

Kimberly
 
Hello,
It is so true about the sheer volume of information available on this website. I happened on to it two days ago, signed up, and have been reading a wide variety of topics for hours. Good luck with your PPL achievement. Remember the learning never stops.
 
Welcome to POA, Risa.
I trained at KPWK and one of my biggest issues, if you'll believe it, was radio communication at non-towered fields. I was hard-wired to get an ATIS and then tell someone that I was arriving, to have them tell me where to go. It took a while for me to figure out that no one was going to give me a wind check and runway assignment ten miles out.
It sounds like you're almost due for your checkride. Good luck! Just keep the ball centered and you'll be fine.

p.s. I would like to underscore the aforementioned Bonanza warnings. It's best to not mess with the mystical elements of flying.
p.p.s I remember my first time flying an older Cessna with the 40 degree flaps... the owner of the plane had me put them all in and said, "See what I mean? This thing comes down faster than a Bonanza full of doctors." How we laughed.
 
Howdy, Doc! I'll add to the sincere welcome to PoA. Adam Zucker rarely steers anyone wrong.

Please take time to share your experiences with us, here, as you travel through your journey of flight; we all enjoy it, and you'll often learn litle tidbits of useful knowledge.

As for the Bonanza comments, well, perhaps it's best you save the experience for when you are ready - spiritually, emotionally - to commit to an airplane. Once you've tried Bo, you'll wish for no mo' (Lordy me, that's bad).

Off to the salt mines!
 
Welcome Risa! I'm nearby as well, just in the center of lansdale and I fly out of Wings field most of the time. Good luck with your training and feel free to ask all of us questions anytime!
 
Welcome. There's a whole POA mafia down toward Philly. You should get a chance to meet a bunch. Good peoples all.
 
Hi e1, thx for the warm hospitality.
Home base is KDYL.
Dual XCs to Lancaster (klns) and Wilkes Barre (kavp).
Anticipated solo XC to Lancaster.

Welcome to the board.

My student Long XC was supposed to be KLNS, but went east instead due to weather. KLNS is still on my to-do list, just for the sake of going.....hmmmmmmmmmmm maybe I'll go tomorrow instead of where I was going to go.....
 
Adding my welcome to POA, Risa! Nice to have you here. Congratulations on pursuing that lifelong dream and making it happen despite your busy schedule and obligations! I can't wait to read about that 'first flight with Dad' when it happens.
 
Welcome aboard Risa.

I'm a student at LOM.

If you're worried about the radio, a great resource is liveatc.net. It was real helpful for me. As a student, it was (is) reassuring to hear how bad many pilots are on the radio and how patient the controllers were.

Locally, they've got good live feeds of:

Lancaster:
http://lhr.liveatc.net/klns_twr

and

Reading:
http://lhr.liveatc.net/krdg

Or you can download archives (listen to yourself after your xc to LNS)

http://www.liveatc.net/archive.php

Ted
 
Welcome Risa;
Mike fright is a common problem. Try listening to LiveATC.net or go out to the airport with a handheld. You can also get a book "Say It Right". (The author is on the board sometimes too.) Talking on the radio is all about who, what, and when. You can ask for almost anything. ATC guys are great to work with.
Have fun. And good luck with the XCountry.
 
Welcome Risa;
Mike fright is a common problem. Try listening to LiveATC.net or go out to the airport with a handheld. You can also get a book "Say It Right". (The author is on the board sometimes too.) Talking on the radio is all about who, what, and when. You can ask for almost anything. ATC guys are great to work with.
Have fun. And good luck with the XCountry.


This is true. There was no one on the radio (and in fact no one took off or landed for an hour after I arrived) - yesterday on my "long" solo cross country to a towered airport. By the time I had the airport in sight, I was too high and too close. When I asked them "was that a right pattern or a left pattern for one three left" and told them I was a student, they said "whichever you would like." So then I was still too high and too fast and I asked ATC if I could fly over the airport at (above their airspace) and then descend and come back on a 45 for the left downwind for 13L - they approved and I felt much more comfortable being properly set up for my landing. If I had the airport in sight earlier, I would have been at TPA, but my instructor taught me that until I am in two-way contact with the tower I am not to penetrate their airspace, even if I had flight following. So by the time I had the airport in sight I was almost directly above it and therefore was maintaining 3,000 feet instead of the TPA which is 1240.

ATC is really nice, and even later at STS (Class D) they cleared me for a stop and go on short final when I realized how busy they were and that I should not do pattern work that day. I made the decision last minute (well after I was sequenced in) when I realized how late I was in getting the plane back to O69, and how I probably had about an hour's left of fuel (my personal minimum), etc.
 
Thanks e1!

I am reading these posts as I am ready to embark on my first solo XC to KLNS this morning. In just a few moments I'll be hopping in the shower and getting ready to leave for KDYL. Weather briefing and flight planning finished. A little tricky as winds at 6000 ft are 9900....oh no......light and variable.....how do I plan for 4500 when @3000 it is 2406!!?? We'll see what my instructor says about my conclusion about what my MH should be. Skies are clear, gorgeous day and I'm pretty nervous.

Now, the more important question....what to wear on this momentous occasion? lol...

How great to have so many cheerleaders.....what a great group you are. I'll let you know how it all turns out.

:)
Risa
 
Thanks e1!

I am reading these posts as I am ready to embark on my first solo XC to KLNS this morning. In just a few moments I'll be hopping in the shower and getting ready to leave for KDYL. Weather briefing and flight planning finished. A little tricky as winds at 6000 ft are 9900....oh no......light and variable.....how do I plan for 4500 when @3000 it is 2406!!?? We'll see what my instructor says about my conclusion about what my MH should be. Skies are clear, gorgeous day and I'm pretty nervous.

Now, the more important question....what to wear on this momentous occasion? lol...

How great to have so many cheerleaders.....what a great group you are. I'll let you know how it all turns out.

:)
Risa

Looks like a beautiful day!! Good luck on the trip.

Gary
 
Thanks e1!

I am reading these posts as I am ready to embark on my first solo XC to KLNS this morning. In just a few moments I'll be hopping in the shower and getting ready to leave for KDYL. Weather briefing and flight planning finished. A little tricky as winds at 6000 ft are 9900....oh no......light and variable.....how do I plan for 4500 when @3000 it is 2406!!?? We'll see what my instructor says about my conclusion about what my MH should be. Skies are clear, gorgeous day and I'm pretty nervous.

Now, the more important question....what to wear on this momentous occasion? lol...

How great to have so many cheerleaders.....what a great group you are. I'll let you know how it all turns out.

:)
Risa


Good luck on the trip! I know what you mean about what to wear LOL. Your first solo cross country is very special, even more so than your first solo around the pattern if you think about it. YOU got that plane, all by yourself, to somewhere far away, and brought it back in one piece.

Congratulations, this is where it "all came together" for me.

I am sure you will do great - please post your XC story when you're safely on the ground. It helps us other students to learn from you.


Sincerely,


Kimberly
 
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