Training has begun! (my journey)

jspilot said:
Nice Joe- sounds like another good flight.

I cancelled my flight on Sunday because of the high winds. It's a nice day to train in but not much fun to fly around for fun. Definately could have handled the winds but I'd rather save my money and go on a day where I can enjoy myself.

How many hours do you have now? I think I went on my frst xc dual with about 6 hours.
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I have 8 logged. But in reality the first 3 flights were part of an intro package. I definitely learned during them, but they werent nearly as intense as once I was an official 'student'. For instance I basically did no radio and barely touched the controls until we were up. So 8 in the book, 5 as a full blown student. The intro was basically to have me decide if it was for me.
 
PPL LOG: 8th Flight 11/10/13

Back in the cockpit again yesterday, and barely beat the horrible weather that started later in the day.

This was probably my windiest flight so far, but some strange part of me enjoys being thrown around and keeping the plane on course..

The topic of the day was engine fire/failure. We spoke about engine issues during all stages of flight, from start up to landing. We spoke about the critical points during takeoff (when is it too late to abort, when are you too low to turn around, etc).

The practice was basically pulling the power to idle and going through the procedure. My ability to pick a speed and pitch/trim for it has really improved. I was able to get to best glide speed and hold it pretty quickly. Next I picked a suitable landing spot, headed towards it, and began a check for a potential engine restart. We basically practiced lining up the emergency landing and then aborted the practice close to 1000ft. We did this a few times and I felt pretty confident.

It feels good knowing how to handle this sort of situation, as engine failure has always haunted my mind. It seems that as along as you are prepared and plan ahead, it doesn't have to always be catastrophic.

Next time we are beginning work in the traffic pattern, which is very exciting for me. I have been waiting to do landing/takeoff practice since the start, so it will be really cool to do it over and over.

Hopefully I can squeeze two flights in this coming week depending on work, so I will have my next update then. Thanks for reading, and happy flying!
 
Nice Joe. Man you have picked the windiest days to go flying. I went Saturday morning to Sky Acres(44n) early in the morning and it was totally peaceful and calm!

Practicing in the traffic pattern is fun- for a while. Then after about 10 laps around it gets a little boring. It is an active pattern at Islip especially during the peak Southwest departure and arrival times( they depart between 8 and 1030 and arrive back around 1130-1 and the. The cycle repeats over again). I might recommend listening to some Live ATC for KISP so that you get familiar with what to expect to hear when practicing in the pattern. It's so much easier to concentrate on flying once the ATC part becomes routine and the traffic pattern really requires you to plan ahead and be ahead of the plane.

Best advice I have is- every pilot out there knows this phrase like the back of their hand is "pitch controls airspeed, power controls altitude.". Guranteed you hear that a zillion times before your check ride!

Thanks for keeping us in the loop. I'm enjoying reading about your experiences.
 
jspilot said:
Nice Joe. Man you have picked the windiest days to go flying. I went Saturday morning to Sky Acres(44n) early in the morning and it was totally peaceful and calm!

Practicing in the traffic pattern is fun- for a while. Then after about 10 laps around it gets a little boring. It is an active pattern at Islip especially during the peak Southwest departure and arrival times( they depart between 8 and 1030 and arrive back around 1130-1 and the. The cycle repeats over again). I might recommend listening to some Live ATC for KISP so that you get familiar with what to expect to hear when practicing in the pattern. It's so much easier to concentrate on flying once the ATC part becomes routine and the traffic pattern really requires you to plan ahead and be ahead of the plane.

Best advice I have is- every pilot out there knows this phrase like the back of their hand is "pitch controls airspeed, power controls altitude.". Guranteed you hear that a zillion times before your check ride!

Thanks for keeping us in the loop. I'm enjoying reading about your experiences.
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Yeah, I do... Im going up tomorrow around 3, I think its supposed to be calmer....

Good idea about listening to ATC. Radio comm is still one of my most nerve wracking parts of flying. I have been studying my sheets so I can get to the point of just letting the conversation flow, as opposed to how I read off my sheets now :) Having to read what I need to say off of a sheet is very inconvenient in the air.

Thanks for the comments, always appreciated!
 
joeparrilla said:
Yeah, I do... Im going up tomorrow around 3, I think its supposed to be calmer....

Good idea about listening to ATC. Radio comm is still one of my most nerve wracking parts of flying. I have been studying my sheets so I can get to the point of just letting the conversation flow, as opposed to how I read off my sheets now :) Having to read what I need to say off of a sheet is very inconvenient in the air.

Thanks for the comments, always appreciated!
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I'm scheduled for 10am-2pm tomorrow as well.

As far as radio communications. I recommend reading Say Again, Please: Guide to Radio Communications by our own Bob Gardner. I found it made me very comfortable on the radio and my instruction said that I was better on the radio than the majority, if not all, of his students.....he could just be blowing smoke though :)
 
momalley said:
I'm scheduled for 10am-2pm tomorrow as well.

As far as radio communications. I recommend reading Say Again, Please: Guide to Radio Communications by our own Bob Gardner. I found it made me very comfortable on the radio and my instruction said that I was better on the radio than the majority, if not all, of his students.....he could just be blowing smoke though :)
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Thanks for the suggestion. What really worries me is communicating at another airport. Ive gotten to the point now where I can be fairly sure of the instructions I will be given. I can usually guess the taxi route and departure instructions before they are given. Unfamiliar airports just seem like they will kill me.
 
joeparrilla said:
Thanks for the suggestion. What really worries me is communicating at another airport. Ive gotten to the point now where I can be fairly sure of the instructions I will be given. I can usually guess the taxi route and departure instructions before they are given. Unfamiliar airports just seem like they will kill me.
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Radio comms is something that does get easier with practice. But I still get tongue tied ever once and a while.

I remember telling my instructor that the button on the yoke needs it's name changed from Push To Talk to "Push to Forget". I would have what I wanted say all square in my mind ready to say it, but as soon as I pushed the button on the yoke, I would go blank and become the "Uhhhhh...." guy we all hear tying up the frequency.

Bob's "Say Again.." book is good. I too recommend it.

As far as other airports, what can help is to have the airport diagram printed out and on your clip board. Scribble notes on it as Ground Control and Tower feed them to you. Then draw your route on it as needed.

Another pilot I know creates a written bullet point narrative of the entire flight. Essentially creating a crib sheet with key information items at key points in the flight, including frequencies, waypoint info, and more.

But again, radio comm's is something that will become more normal as you gain experience.
 
always have paper with you. write everything down. there is no need to memorize. if you are going to an unfamiliar airport, study the taxi diagram before hand or while en route. it will get easier as you move forward with your training. and the busy NY airspace is the best place to learn communications IMO
 
joeparrilla said:
Yeah, I do... Im going up tomorrow around 3, I think its supposed to be calmer....

Good idea about listening to ATC. Radio comm is still one of my most nerve wracking parts of flying. I have been studying my sheets so I can get to the point of just letting the conversation flow, as opposed to how I read off my sheets now :) Having to read what I need to say off of a sheet is very inconvenient in the air.

Thanks for the comments, always appreciated!
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Fellow student, I ditched the crib sheets for talking to ATC after 2 flights because I knew I'd lean on them too much.
 
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joeparrilla said:
Thanks for the suggestion. What really worries me is communicating at another airport. Ive gotten to the point now where I can be fairly sure of the instructions I will be given. I can usually guess the taxi route and departure instructions before they are given. Unfamiliar airports just seem like they will kill me.
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Have you listened to LiveATC.net? If not, go there an listen to some ground frequencies and pull up the taxi chart for that airport. A lot of the learning is just getting used to the pattern of discussion. Then its MUCH easier.
 
AtlantaFalcons said:
The only way you're going to become a "natural" is to get rid of the scripts entirely.
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Very true. And this doesn't just apply to communications. I've recently been transitioning myself from using a checklist as "do list" to a true checklist. My flow-based pre-departure checks are much more efficient and effective.
 
joeparrilla said:
Thanks for the suggestion. What really worries me is communicating at another airport. Ive gotten to the point now where I can be fairly sure of the instructions I will be given. I can usually guess the taxi route and departure instructions before they are given. Unfamiliar airports just seem like they will kill me.
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Yeah the new airports are a challenge but you'd be surprised at how quick you will learn. The tougher part is knowing what to tell them. Like a class d needs to know how far away you are from the airport when initially contacting them as most don't have radar to know. Also when taking off from class d they need to know your direction of flight once airborne. Un controlled is a whole different game. Good thing is, if you forget something ATC will just ask. They are people on the other end of the conversation.
 
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Thanks for all the ATC advice guys, much appreciated. I just picked up "Say Again..." from Amazon so that should be a good read. I think Im going to ditch the sheets as much as possible. My instructor saves me everytime the controller speaks too fast and I miss something anyway, so theres really nothing to worry about.
 
PPL LOG: 9th Flight 11/26/13

So my 9th flight is in the bag, and I just broke 10 hours and logged my first 5 landings!
This was my calmest flying day yet, which was a nice change. We spent the entire time in the pattern and it was pretty awesome. Other than my first flight, it was easily the most exciting but stressful flight I have had.

I have been reading about the pattern all week, and had a perfect mental image. Once in the air, totally could not visualize myself in 3D space in relation to the 2D images I had been looking at. The hardest part for me was the fact that we flew a right pattern, and I found it impossible to see the runway and decide when to make turns. I more or less made my turns to crosswind and downwind using the heading indicator, because it was too hard to see out of the right window to gauge my location. Once on the downwind, it was a lot easier to see the runway because it was out in front and to the right.

The first time around I just watched, the next 5 I did (mostly) on my own. For the most part I felt like my approaches were great, maybe all those flight sim hours paid off ;) I was able to line up really well and my approaces were pretty stable. The issue for me was definitely the flare.

I think I was having a hard time judging the airplanes angle to the runway. I was not pulling back nearly hard enough. I needed a bit of extra pull from my instructor on every landing, and even then they felt very rough and way too hard. I think the issue was my vision of what the approach should look like. In my head I imagined the approach would seem a lot less steep, so I didnt think much flare would be needed. I always visualized a very flat approach where you sort of just glide in with almost no need to pitch up. I was surprised by how nose down we actually came in... So much so that if no elevator was used we would basically nose dive into the runway... Or at least is seemed that way. When my instructor was flaring, it felt like almost full back elevator which I did not expect.

All together it was a blast. Taking off and landing are my favorite things, so doing them over and over is awesome. I logged 5 day landings (not to mention my first landing ever) as well as broke 10 hours (a mini milestone in my head). Flying in the pattern is so dynamic, and I cant wait to see how my skills improve from doing it.

Thanks for reading... Possible update tomorrow if the weather holds up.
 
Another nice write up Joe! I flew yesterday for lunch at HFD( Hartford) with a friend of mine. Came back around 415pm and the airport was very quite. Just me and a southwest jet on the frequency.

With regards to flare, yeah it takes time. Trick with the flare is it is a two part process. You must level off the plane first a few feet above the runway and then wait for the airspeed to bleed off. It will and you'll feel yourself lowering towards the runway. That's when you flare. Your job at that point is to make sure the main wheels hit first and the nose lowers gently. Once I realized this, my landings improved tremendously! The flare is not possible to do well until the plane is running out of airspeed!
 
PPL LOG: 10th Flight 12/2/13

So after two weeks of cancellation, Im back!. The weather has not been cooperating for the past two weeks, so it was a flightless end of November.

I was finally back in action yesterday and it felt great to be back. Yesterday we covered what my instructor said was the last main topic that I needed to learn before I just continually fly the pattern and move towards a solo, and that is ground reference maneuvers.

I learned both circling around a point as well as S turns. To me, the S turns were a lot easier and I feel like I executed them much better than circling a point. When I was doing circles, I felt like I was spiraling closer and closer to the point as I went around. I could tell because I started with the point clearly visible outside of my left window, but as I went around a few times it began to hide under my left wing. I am guessing this had to do with me not appropriately correcting for wind on each side of the circle.

The S-Turns were a lot more obvious to me. We used the shoreline as a reference, and I felt as thought I was successfully crossing the line without any bank, and making pretty even turns on either side.

In other news, I noticed that my ability to do the basic things such as maintain straight and level flight as well as constant climb have improved dramatically. The wind was very light which had a lot to do with it, but at one point my trim was so spot on that were were flying level and I could not see the slightest movement of a needle or the horizon.. and I didnt even have to touch the yoke. My ability to quickly reach a desired speed/altitude and trim the pressure away has gotten much better. This is especially nice on the post-takeoff climb, as I am able to hit Vy quickly and then concentrate on on other matter such as communication and checklists.

My landing went to the other extreme than usual this time. Instead of not flaring enough, I flared too much and did a slight ballooning. My issue is that I am having trouble gauging exactly how far from the ground I am, so I feel like we are closer than we actually are, causing me to pull back prematurely when there is still too much airspeed. I think its just a matter of practice.

From here on, I will be doing mainly pattern flying and preparing to solo. This is a very exciting time for me, it feels like the first portion of my syllabus has gone by so quickly. I am excited to get these landings down as well as perfect my radio skills. Until next time, happy flying!
 
Yeah landing takes time. Ballooning is also caused by to much speed and not always by too much flare. Remember to level the plane off first over the runway, wait for the speed to bleed off and then you'll feel the plane sink a bit. Just as it starts to sink, just gently raise the nose to about the same pitch as your initial climb attitude and just assure the main wheels touch first. It takes a while to master this and even 150 hours in, I still don't make a great landing each time!

Thanks for sharing your reports. I enjoy them!
 
jspilot said:
Yeah landing takes time. Ballooning is also caused by to much speed and not always by too much flare. Remember to level the plane off first over the runway, wait for the speed to bleed off and then you'll feel the plane sink a bit. Just as it starts to sink, just gently raise the nose to about the same pitch as your initial climb attitude and just assure the main wheels touch first. It takes a while to master this and even 150 hours in, I still don't make a great landing each time!

Thanks for sharing your reports. I enjoy them!
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Thanks for the tips, always appreciated. And most of all thanks for reading!
 
PPL LOG: 11th Flight 12/8/13

So I just beat the snow yesterday and got to fly! Another day in the pattern, and besides a few crappy landings, everything felt great :)

I felt very calm flying through the pattern, and confident in my ability to communicate while doing it. My approaches averaged on the high side, but I was able to make the appropriate adjustments in time to end up pretty solid.

I did a total of 9 landings, and I would say maybe 3 of them were pretty good. My main issue is with judging when to begin leveling off, and then knowing when to begin pulling back even harder to try and get the main gear to touch first. On all the landings that were bad, I began leveling off too early resulting in some ballooning and an eventual flop onto the runway. I think part of the issue is my perception of the distance to the ground, and the other part is me not anticipating the ground effect.

I always feel like if I wait a second longer, I am going to smash into the runway... when in reality I am still too far up. My approach speed is right on point the entire time, so its not like I am coming in too fast. I think this is just a matter of more practice, and when I do nail some good ones remembering exactly what I did that made them good.

I feel as though some of my approaches are so damn stable, the VASI looks amazingly perfect, the numbers are coming in perfectly smooth, but once I get near the ground it feels like everything is falling apart. I feel the plane beginning to yaw and everything becomes out of whack. Even with no crosswind I felt as though I was landing crabbed on some of them... is this because of increased torque effect when approaching? Should there even be an increase in this effect at this point... it would seem that with the engine idle this wouldn't really be a factor. Maybe I am doing something wrong but I definitely feel myself losing my line up when I get close to the ground.

Any tips are welcome of course. Thanks!
 
joeparrilla said:
PPL LOG: 11th Flight 12/8/13

So I just beat the snow yesterday and got to fly! Another day in the pattern, and besides a few crappy landings, everything felt great :)

I felt very calm flying through the pattern, and confident in my ability to communicate while doing it. My approaches averaged on the high side, but I was able to make the appropriate adjustments in time to end up pretty solid.

I did a total of 9 landings, and I would say maybe 3 of them were pretty good. My main issue is with judging when to begin leveling off, and then knowing when to begin pulling back even harder to try and get the main gear to touch first. On all the landings that were bad, I began leveling off too early resulting in some ballooning and an eventual flop onto the runway. I think part of the issue is my perception of the distance to the ground, and the other part is me not anticipating the ground effect.

I always feel like if I wait a second longer, I am going to smash into the runway... when in reality I am still too far up. My approach speed is right on point the entire time, so its not like I am coming in too fast. I think this is just a matter of more practice, and when I do nail some good ones remembering exactly what I did that made them good.

I feel as though some of my approaches are so damn stable, the VASI looks amazingly perfect, the numbers are coming in perfectly smooth, but once I get near the ground it feels like everything is falling apart. I feel the plane beginning to yaw and everything becomes out of whack. Even with no crosswind I felt as though I was landing crabbed on some of them... is this because of increased torque effect when approaching? Should there even be an increase in this effect at this point... it would seem that with the engine idle this wouldn't really be a factor. Maybe I am doing something wrong but I definitely feel myself losing my line up when I get close to the ground.

Any tips are welcome of course. Thanks!
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Try looking off to the side a bit instead of straight down the runway. This makes it easier to judge how high you are.
 
Concentrate on looking at the far end of the runway while purposely trying to use your peripheral vision. You're doing fine for where you're at.

Peripheral vision and then a quick glance for altitude while not changing anything. It'll help with flaring too soon (the quick glance gives you something else to think about instead of "OMG I need to pullllll) and activating your peripheral vision while not staring right off the end of the nose will help judge height.
 
A few things Joe. One, man were you lucky to get some flying in on Saturday! Weather was rough around here! As far as landing, yeah leveling off takes some practice. You just kind of feel it after a while. Even if you level off too high, just wait for the plane to start sinking a bit, then instead of flaring, just level off again and then it will sink some more and then you flare. Also, don't be afraid to add in a very small amount of power right before you touch down on the ones where you leveled off too high. I don't recommend getting into the habit of doing this but this little trick can avoid the dreaded "thud landing" as I call it( when you fall out of te sky and thud onto the runway.). What kinds of tips is your instructor giving you? As far as alignment goes, you need to use the rudder pedals a lot on landing. If you see the nose start to swing in one direction you must kick the rudder or else you will land crabbed. Also, don't be afraid to use the rudder and you may need to step on it a bit harder because you need to add as much as is required. Last tip is sometimes the wind aloft does not always match the ground wind. So if during approach you are lined up well, it's possible the surface winds are slightly different causing that little bit of crab you described. Best advice I got when dealing with winds is fly the plane to the ground!

Good job with the approaches! The rest will come soon enough! Thanks for updating!
 
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PPL LOG: 12th Flight 12/20/13

A little late logging this but Ive been busy... I promised to never miss a log so I have to do this!

This flight was another time in the pattern. I nailed something like 10 landings during the flight. I still am not totally happy with my landing, but I am at least landing safely without any instructor intervention. This at least makes me feel confident that I can solo and not worry about not being able to get the airplane down safely.

I am still setting up some pretty stable approaches but continuing to fall apart at the last seconds. The ground effect + near stalling speeds are causing me major issues with performing a smooth touchdown. Some big things I am noticing is a HUGE amount of yaw when I begin to flare, causing me come down very sideways. Also, I am having trouble pulling back continuously and steadily in order float above the runway as long as possible. Almost all of my landing are very hard, with the nosewheel hitting the ground way to hard and fast. I did have one very good landing where my instructor and I landed together, and feeling the pressure he was exerting really helped me to come down smooth.

One thing I am happy with is my ability to start a solid descent and lock in my speed at 70. I also did some very short approaches by request of the controller, and I was really happy with my ability to quickly lose altitude and line up for a stable approach even with such little time. I am also feeling very confident in my ability to adjust for coming in too high or low with the application of power and flaps.

I feel confident that in a few more trips around the pattern I am going to have this down.

In other news, I am going to get my medical next week which is very exciting. The plan is for me to do a review of maneuvers in the practice area, make sure my landings are safe, and then get up with another instructor to make sure they are all confident in me. After that its time to solo.... whoa.

I feel like I have come so far, and I am so unbelievably excited about this.

Until next time, happy flying.
 
Sounds like your moving along, its very exciting i was in training just last year just finished in august.. Enjoy!
 
Believe it or not, those flaring actions, including crosswind corrections, will get automatic eventually. Possibly really soon. This happens when you start thinking about where the nose should go rather than what inputs you need to put in (e.g., it's not "more right rudder", it's "move the nose right").
 
joeparrilla said:
Some big things I am noticing is a HUGE amount of yaw when I begin to flare, causing me come down very sideways.
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I was having the exact same problem, and was keeping me from holding centerline properly (which in turn was keeping me from soloing).
In my case, it was because since I was pulling with my left hand, I was also twisting the yoke. One thing that helped is seating a little further back. Being so close to the yoke caused me to have to help the pulling with wrist twisting, and that wasn't helping at all.
 
PPL LOG: 13th Flight 12/27/13

Getting closer to solo time!

This was a short review flight, where I revisited all of the old maneuvers to see how rusty I have become. I did steep turns, slow flight, and power on/off stalls.

The steep turns went OK, but I was not too happy. I was really rusty turning to the right... but I expected that as I haven't done them in months. The slow flight was pretty good, I was able to hold altitude without too much issues. I cant complain about the stalls, as I remembered the procedure pretty well.

On the way back to the airport, my instructor pulled the power on me --ENGINE FAILURE!-- I forgot a few things in the procedure, specifically my best glide speed (important!) and the emergency squawk (7700). I was able to spot a good landing area quickly and trim to best glide without an issue.

Pattern entry went well, and my approach was stable. There was a pretty good crosswind going on, and it really threw me off at the last minute. I had never done a true crosswind landing, so I had to be saved a bit on this one. I don't think it would have been disastrous if I was on my own.. but it would have been quite ugly...

I am getting back into the pattern next time to nail some more landings, and then if all goes well I will be checking out with another instructor to make sure I am safe. If that is OK I will be taking a pre-solo written exam and see what happens from there.

Its so close I can taste it, but I am pretty damn nervous.

Happy flying!
 
Nice to read your progress Joe. Solo will happen when the time is right- don't rush it because that will cause tension and that's not fun!

Yes holding best glide speed is important but it is more important if the engine lost power at a high altitude. If you are near the ground( 2,000 ft) or less- establish the best glide quick but also concentrate on selecting a good landing spot and then fly directly towards that site and figure out how to set up some pattern around that spot if need be. When close to the ground, you have to prioritize things and I was always taught to fly the plane first before everything else.

Looking forward to reading more about your training.
 
Best glide -- or at least approximating it -- is most important in the engine failure on takeoff scenario. That's when you have the least time available, and you're set up for a climb at relatively low speed, and you can lose it in a hurry.

At altitude, it buys you time so you can select a better field and maybe try to restart your engine.
 
I had the engine pulled on climbout a couple times(granted we were 500'+ AGL) and the first thing you do is forcefully push that yoke forward. I should say these weren't surprises, I got a warning beforehand. But it's good to practice, even at altitude to get that reaction programmed into your brain.

I'm enjoying reading your progress Joe, keep at it. It would also be neat if you could post a picture every now and then:yesnod:
 
fiveoboy01 said:
I had the engine pulled on climbout a couple times(granted we were 500'+ AGL) and the first thing you do is forcefully push that yoke forward. I should say these weren't surprises, I got a warning beforehand. But it's good to practice, even at altitude to get that reaction programmed into your brain.

I'm enjoying reading your progress Joe, keep at it. It would also be neat if you could post a picture every now and then:yesnod:
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Ah yes I actually had some pictures on my phone before I lost it last week. On my next flight I will try to take a few so you can all see my happy flying face.
 
PPL LOG: 14th Flight 1/12/14

So a few updates since my last flight...

Flew this past Sunday and the plan was to nail some more landings in the pattern, but the wind was ferocious and we decided against it... great decision. Instead we went out to do some maneuver practice which was fine. I did the usual stuff like stalls and steep turns, and had a simulated engine out again (damn engine always dies on me.... need to call Lycoming about that)

Everything went pretty well, and we planned to at least do a few touch and goes on arrival. When we got back, it was pretty obvious that it wasn't going to happen. The winds near the ground were so bad that my instructor didn't even let me land... (not like I would have been able to anyway). After he fought the controls a bunch, we got down in one piece.

It was very interesting flying in so much turbulence, as this was my windiest flight to date. I noticed that I was concentrating so much on keeping the plane flying straight, that I forgot my 1000' checklist items. Its a great reminder of how stress and high workload can inhibit your ability to multitask.

I will be flying again this Thursday, except with another instructor this time. Its going to be a pre-solo checkride, making sure that I am autonomous enough to do this stuff on my own. After that the plan is to do some written pre solo testing and get my landings as good as possible before soloing. I feel it coming!

In other news, went to the doctor today and got my 3rd class medical and student pilot certificate. No issue with any of the requirements, and didnt even need my glasses to read the charts :) All around it been a good week, and I am excited for whats to come soon.

Thanks for reading, and happy flying!
 
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Those winds are excellent training.

I went up today giving a local sightseeing tour to a colleague, as weather was clear and a million and we both put in a lot of hours over the weekend. I warned him that the forecast showed ~20 knots of wind shear from the surface to 3000, and that it would probably be turbulent with that much wind blowing across the mountains.

It turns out it was 45 knots from the northeast at 3500! Over San Francisco, it was nice and smooth, but closer to the mountains at 2000 (ducking under Class B over Oakland), it knocked our teeth out.

We heard a PIREP of "severe" turbulence from Half Moon Bay (on the lee side of the mountains we were traversing on the windward side). I suspect it was actually moderate. That's the worst of what we experienced over Oakland (most of it was actually light, and there were gaps in it).

And of course it was totally calm at the surface.

Both of us are fine and the colleague had a good time. And it was good experience for me trying to stay out of Class B with updrafts like that….while we were trying to descend to 1400 in continuous light and occasional moderate to clear a 1500 foot floor, the aircraft suddenly started climbing at 500 FPM. As it's turbulent, I can't descend at Vno, so I yanked the power to idle. That was enough.
 
PPL LOG: 15th Flight 1/12/14 (Pre Solo Check)

So yesterday was my pre-solo stage check. I went up with another instructor to evaluate my ability to be autonomous and function safely without intervention from the right seat.

I must say, I pretty much nailed it.

I went from parking to parking 100% on my own. No radio help, no control intervention, nothing. We did all of the basic maneuvers that I have learned so far, and of course an engine failure scenario. The only negative review I received was that I was moving with +-100 feet of my target cruise altitude of 2000'. The good thing is that I knew I was doing it, and I know exactly why. I never really fly this airplane, and the throttle tightening knob (not sure what its called) is extremely easy to become loose. I found that I would periodically lose engine speed and noticed it was because the throttle was slowly closing itself because it was too loose. Anyway, thats my excuse for altitude loss :)

We did 4 touch and goes and of course a full stop. My first touch and go was probably my best landing to date. The others were good as well, but a bit harder than I would like. My full stop was a super short approach, which I hate doing but nailed nonetheless.

All together, I did really well, and I got the OK to solo. I think We will just hang around in the pattern for now until a nice day comes along. I am pretty excited... I feel like I have come so far. To think that a few months back I couldnt imagine being able to talk to the radio while simultaneously holding Vy on departure (it seemed like an impossible task at the time), is just crazy to me now.

I still have a lot to learn, but I am feeling great.

As always, happy and safe flying.
 
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joeparrilla said:
PPL LOG: 15th Flight 1/12/14 (Pre Solo Check)

So yesterday was my pre-solo stage check. I went up with another instructor to evaluate my ability to be autonomous and function safely without intervention from the right seat.

I must say, I pretty much nailed it.

I went from parking to parking 100% on my own. No radio help, no control intervention, nothing. We did all of the basic maneuvers that I have learned so far, and of course an engine failure scenario. The only negative review I received was that I was moving with +-100 feet of my target cruise altitude of 2000'. The good thing is that I knew I was doing it, and I know exactly why. I never really fly this airplane, and the throttle tightening knob (not sure what its called) is extremely easy to become loose. I found that I would periodically lose engine speed and noticed it was because the throttle was slowly closing itself because it was too loose. Anyway, thats my excuse for altitude loss :)

We did 4 touch and goes and of course a full stop. My first touch and go was probably my best landing to date. The others were good as well, but a bit harder than I would like. My full stop was a super short approach, which I hate doing but nailed nonetheless.

All together, I did really well, and I got the OK to solo. I think We will just hang around in the pattern for now until a nice day comes along. I am pretty excited... I feel like I have come so far. To think that a few months back I couldnt imagine being able to talk to the radio while simultaneously holding Vy on departure (it seemed like an impossible task at the time), is just crazy to me now.

I still have a lot to learn, but I am feeling great.

As always, happy and safe flying.
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Sounds great! I always found going up with another instructor a valuable experience, although it doesn't sound like your other instructor had all that much to tell you. Also the PTS says that for the cross country portion of your checkride, you need to be +/- 200 ft, and if you were only +/- 100 and know why, that's even better. And by the way, the throttle tightening knob thing does have a name--it's the throttle friction control, friction lock, any number of things. Just fyi :).

Any idea when that wonderful day might come when that pesky guy who keeps killing your engine gets booted out of the plane?
 
jpower said:
Sounds great! I always found going up with another instructor a valuable experience, although it doesn't sound like your other instructor had all that much to tell you. Also the PTS says that for the cross country portion of your checkride, you need to be +/- 200 ft, and if you were only +/- 100 and know why, that's even better. And by the way, the throttle tightening knob thing does have a name--it's the throttle friction control, friction lock, any number of things. Just fyi :).

Any idea when that wonderful day might come when that pesky guy who keeps killing your engine gets booted out of the plane?
Click to expand...

Thanks for the naming tip ;)

As far as a solo day, not sure yet. Ill be taking a pre-solo stage check written test, and then pretty much waiting for a nice clear day. I imagine within a few weeks but who knows...
 
Another great write up! For me i try to look at the PTS and say I don't want to be +/- 100, i want to be AT the altitude. If it calls for 2000, i want to be at 2000, not 2050, 2100, 2010. It helps keep me in check. I'm looking forward to hearing about the solo!
 
PPL LOG: 16th Flight 1/19/14

Thanks for the advice on my last flight guys.

So I was in the pattern yesterday, trying to get those landings perfect. Well, they weren't :)

There was a significant crosswind, and I was having major issues going from a crab to straight before the landing. Actually, it wasnt as much getting straight, but it was doing all of that while trying to have a nice smooth flare. After coming out of the crabbed position, I was using left rudder/right aileron, in order to come in with a slight right bank so I could keep centerline without veering off. The problem was that I had never landed with a bank, and I was having trouble figuring out how to flare correctly while slowly letting out the rudder/aileron correction I was using. I ended up doing one or the other very well, but not both. Either I kept the centerline perfect but was not able to flare well enough to come down soft... Or I was able to releive the correction and flare perfectly, but lost the centerline due to the crosswind.

I think it was just an overload of control inputs, crossing the yoke/rudder while trying to flare and not land too heavily on one wheel was a bit of an overload I think.

Again, none of the landings were horrible, and none of them were dangerous or needed intervention. I did have one absolutely perfect one though, but Im not sure why ;)

I think I just need to practice more, it will come. I also have to take my pre-solo written, and we will be reviewing it next week instead of flying.

Once I get some more landings in, the solo time will come. I currently am just short of 20 hours, so I think Im doing pretty OK... I hope.

Happy flying!
 
Unless the crosswind has changed in the flare, you should be maintaining the aileron/rudder deflections (slip) all the way to touch down. Now, if you were flying final in a crab, then you'd have to kick out the crab prior to touchdown.

It's been great reading, thanks for sharing your experiences! I'd be interested in seeing what kind of winds you've been flying...considering all the comments.
 
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