Tristar
Pattern Altitude
It's amazing how after years of being around flying and aviation in general how so many people, especially instructors, can loose the appreciation of what they fell in love with. Yet it is equally amazing how those of us that stick around, love even the smallest things about it that give us that kiddish smile every one of you understands. I can't say I haven't had my moments of boredom interrupted by sheer terror but I have never ultimately guessed that the clouds are where I was meant to return. Each time I drive by the airport at night I look at the beauty of a blue, green, and white star lit runway the tranquility is instantly masked by the promise of a new adventure. Each time I see a smile on my student's face after a solo it recaptures why I love what I do not just in flying, but sharing it with others in the ways I know how. But every now and then you get the opportunity to experience something you haven't done before even if its from flying in the clouds for the first time, or...for me..it was flying at 20,000 ft in a cessna.
It just didn't seem right. Cessnas aren't supposed to go that high. Yet oddly I was purely fascinated by the fact that Cessna truly designed such a craft. What would their designers have though 60 years ago if they had heard such a thing? What would Orville and Wilber had thought? "Surely it can't be possible!" I was still trying to wrap my brain around the thought yesterday when I received a phone call asking if I'd like to take her to FL200....you know...that airspace where you have to dial in 29.92 in the trusty altimeter?
This story starts a few weeks before. One of our customers and a student of mine thought about buying an airplane. Now I've seen these fanciful dreams come and go with every pilot and student alike so most of the time it's an "I'll believe it when I see it" notion. Sure enough though, the paperwork started flying in many directions and the more I heard about it the more I believe I became as excited as he was. Then the phone call came in to both of us. "The deal closed!" Of course being his instructor I wasn't about to turn down a few familiarization flights.
I walked out onto the ramp with another instructor and there she was...a beautiful Cessna 182 Turbo. Now it doesn't sound like much but I tell you the paint sparkled more than any other airplane on the lot. It's just a cessna...I know...but I was so proud to know that I would be teaching someone how to fly in it. It's fully equipped with a G1000 cockpit very similar to one of the other aircraft in our fleet.
We climbed into the airplane and ran through the checklist. Within a revolution or two it began to purr like a finely tuned sports car. If you ever want to see a pilot drool it only begins with the sound of an engine. I felt at home as I taxied her out to the runway. It felt exactly like it should...a cessna. The rudders felt smooth and solid beneath my feet. The exhilaration started as I advanced full power on takeoff. The power was amazing as I heard the turbo kick in. Within no time, we were off the ground climbing at a comfy 90 knots.
We were on a fun IFR mission to "see what she'll do" meaning fly to FL200, get a feel for the systems, and...enjoy the scenery! It did take us a little while to climb to that height which gave us plenty of time to play with loading flight plans, talk about turbos, the excitement of teaching in something new and why being a flight instructor can have some great advantages. After passing through 6,000 ft the air was smooth as glass. The combination of atmosphere and aircraft conceives a calming aphrodisiac in the best of aviators. I can understand why pilots like it up here.
I couldn't believe it when we reached FL200. Sure enough, there it was on the PFD "20 000." Down below was the Platte river. Nothing flinched, no waves in the water, no people could be seen or cars to symbolize an active world below us. The river stretched on for what must have been a hundred miles and seemed to illustrate every possible curve that no human could ever design. The flatness of Nebraska was only interrupted by spots of tall odd shaped rocks with windows. If it wasn't for understanding that farms were a part of western civilization, you would never second guess that it wasn't a part of nature. It was like a painting that could never be appreciated enough. I'm sure the mountains would have been even more glamorous.
The little kid inside me, that kid that always wanted to be a pilot when she grew up, was jumping up and down inside. I kept saying, "wow, this is amazing!"
We turned around and started our descent. I was very impressed that pushing the airplane in calm air at 140 knots indicated resulted in 165 TAS and 206 knots Ground speed. I have never seen that fast in any Cessna, "it just doesn't seem natural"...but I'm not complaining! It took us close to half the time to get home as it did to climb and in no time we were setting up to land. I had the airplane all to myself the entire flight and looked forward to experiencing "heavy landings" like everyone talked about. I took their advice and cranked in the trim. It requires a lot more than the 172 but only enough to feel like a 172...or comfortable..whichever comes first. I had done 3 landing in it in a previous local flight and all three were smooth as butter and right on centerline. This one was no different. The sight picture looks slightly different with a higher dash and flying a few knots faster on approach makes you think faster but I had no trouble landing main first followed by the nose. It's nowhere near as tricky to land as I was lead to believe. I taxied her back and shut down like every other flight I've done.
Flying is truly a dream come true and it may have its days but you know you belong when you get out of the airplane only to look back up at the skies eager to do it again.
Fly safe,
Tristan - "always appreciate the little things"
P.S. Oxygen masks make you sound like Darth Vader
It just didn't seem right. Cessnas aren't supposed to go that high. Yet oddly I was purely fascinated by the fact that Cessna truly designed such a craft. What would their designers have though 60 years ago if they had heard such a thing? What would Orville and Wilber had thought? "Surely it can't be possible!" I was still trying to wrap my brain around the thought yesterday when I received a phone call asking if I'd like to take her to FL200....you know...that airspace where you have to dial in 29.92 in the trusty altimeter?
This story starts a few weeks before. One of our customers and a student of mine thought about buying an airplane. Now I've seen these fanciful dreams come and go with every pilot and student alike so most of the time it's an "I'll believe it when I see it" notion. Sure enough though, the paperwork started flying in many directions and the more I heard about it the more I believe I became as excited as he was. Then the phone call came in to both of us. "The deal closed!" Of course being his instructor I wasn't about to turn down a few familiarization flights.
I walked out onto the ramp with another instructor and there she was...a beautiful Cessna 182 Turbo. Now it doesn't sound like much but I tell you the paint sparkled more than any other airplane on the lot. It's just a cessna...I know...but I was so proud to know that I would be teaching someone how to fly in it. It's fully equipped with a G1000 cockpit very similar to one of the other aircraft in our fleet.
We climbed into the airplane and ran through the checklist. Within a revolution or two it began to purr like a finely tuned sports car. If you ever want to see a pilot drool it only begins with the sound of an engine. I felt at home as I taxied her out to the runway. It felt exactly like it should...a cessna. The rudders felt smooth and solid beneath my feet. The exhilaration started as I advanced full power on takeoff. The power was amazing as I heard the turbo kick in. Within no time, we were off the ground climbing at a comfy 90 knots.
We were on a fun IFR mission to "see what she'll do" meaning fly to FL200, get a feel for the systems, and...enjoy the scenery! It did take us a little while to climb to that height which gave us plenty of time to play with loading flight plans, talk about turbos, the excitement of teaching in something new and why being a flight instructor can have some great advantages. After passing through 6,000 ft the air was smooth as glass. The combination of atmosphere and aircraft conceives a calming aphrodisiac in the best of aviators. I can understand why pilots like it up here.
I couldn't believe it when we reached FL200. Sure enough, there it was on the PFD "20 000." Down below was the Platte river. Nothing flinched, no waves in the water, no people could be seen or cars to symbolize an active world below us. The river stretched on for what must have been a hundred miles and seemed to illustrate every possible curve that no human could ever design. The flatness of Nebraska was only interrupted by spots of tall odd shaped rocks with windows. If it wasn't for understanding that farms were a part of western civilization, you would never second guess that it wasn't a part of nature. It was like a painting that could never be appreciated enough. I'm sure the mountains would have been even more glamorous.
The little kid inside me, that kid that always wanted to be a pilot when she grew up, was jumping up and down inside. I kept saying, "wow, this is amazing!"
We turned around and started our descent. I was very impressed that pushing the airplane in calm air at 140 knots indicated resulted in 165 TAS and 206 knots Ground speed. I have never seen that fast in any Cessna, "it just doesn't seem natural"...but I'm not complaining! It took us close to half the time to get home as it did to climb and in no time we were setting up to land. I had the airplane all to myself the entire flight and looked forward to experiencing "heavy landings" like everyone talked about. I took their advice and cranked in the trim. It requires a lot more than the 172 but only enough to feel like a 172...or comfortable..whichever comes first. I had done 3 landing in it in a previous local flight and all three were smooth as butter and right on centerline. This one was no different. The sight picture looks slightly different with a higher dash and flying a few knots faster on approach makes you think faster but I had no trouble landing main first followed by the nose. It's nowhere near as tricky to land as I was lead to believe. I taxied her back and shut down like every other flight I've done.
Flying is truly a dream come true and it may have its days but you know you belong when you get out of the airplane only to look back up at the skies eager to do it again.
Fly safe,
Tristan - "always appreciate the little things"
P.S. Oxygen masks make you sound like Darth Vader
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