March 14, 2007
This past month found me getting out and refining my pattern work and flight maneuvers, slow flight, stalls and engine out procedures have all gone swimmingly ... er.... flyingly well (?) Building confidence in my skills and getting back to the stage checks which allow me to solo. Stan was out of town for 10 days during this time and I was supposed to go up with my ground instructor but stormy weather kept me grounded the entire time. Finally this last week Stan finally signed me off on the first of my stage checks to solo and it was a great flight. I know that I am ready and have no lingering little doubts about my ability to fly the plane, at least around the pattern of San Carlos airport. It is as important that I feel confident as well as Stan, all American instructor.
Saturday - March 10, 2007
The second part of my stage I check took place with another instructor, Jim, who provides a cross-check to Stan's assessment of my flying skills. We sit down before the flight and start going over airplane systems, airspace and one maneuver not related to my certificate, spins. I need to bone up on systems a little. I know the plane has two fuel pumps but got tripped up on which power source drives which pump. There is an engine driven pump AND another pump driven by the electrical system, ie, battery. I was annoyed that I was being grilled on spins until I realized many of the concepts apply to my current certification. It's actually very difficult to spin a Cessna 172 due to what is called positive static stability. This means the plane is engineered to return to straight and level flight. You sacrifice performance in the area of maneuverability and speed but this is OK with me. One of the last items we cover is what documentation I need to carry with me when solo. I list everything and then Jim says I neglected one thing, student pilot's certificate. I respond that this is part of my FAA medical which is good for 3 years. He responds yes your medical is 3 years but the student certificate is only good for 2 years. What?!?!?! I am scheduled to solo tomorrow! As you may know it has been awhile since my last round of lessons before now. More than two years and I am now on the verge of soloing and my student certificate is out of date. So my medical is good but NOT my student certificate. Not a problem when flying with an instructor but a must have for soloing. I will now have to wait until the first of the week begins to even investigate getting my certificate which means another medical. No solo for Sunday. Bloody hell!! We wrap up the oral portion and I go out to pre-flight N5204A.
The flight goes really well and Jim gives me the second, and final sign off for my solo. Calling the FAA examiner first thing Monday morning to get the 'turn head and cough' out of the way.
Tuesday - March 13, 2007
Medical - Done!
Wednesday - March 14, 2007
Not feeling too nervous but more a sense of excitement and wanting to get the solo in the bag. I want to move on to more adventures in flying like cross-country and flying by myself to new and different airports besides San Carlos. I also try not to forget to be in the moment and enjoy the day because I may move on to bigger and faster airplanes but you only solo an airplane for the first time once.
I meet Stan at Diamond Aviation and we go over the written exam I filled out, required by the FAA. Everything is correct except one of the control tower frequencies for Hayward airport across the Bay - no big deal though. I go out and pre-flight the plane and Stan is going to ride with me for three trips around the traffic pattern and then get out, and bye bye birdie. We get up and are going around when the control tower announces there is a helicopter in the pattern. I really don't like getting close to these guys because they are small and really hard to see and have screwed me up in the past. I get a little knot in my stomach and as we round base leg coming down on final I am off to the right of center line a bit looking for this helicopter which had already landed. I get back on runway center line and Stan is looking cock-eyed at me and proceeds to inform me that he almost failed me for the day of my solo. I explained what I was doing and this seemed to agree with him and he mentions I need to keep my head in the game today. I am focused like a friggin' laser beam right now and nothing is going to screw me up.
We touch down and taxi back as a student pilot solo I am not allowed to do touch & go's. Too much going on at once for a student pilot I guess? We taxi back, get cleared to take off and getting on to downwind tower announces they are changing the runways. This means I will have to make a 180 degree turn and get back in the pattern lined up to land. Noooo problem. I turn the plane around and make the 180 getting set to line up for my approach on runway 30. This goes really well and Stan is now gushing about how I handled the situation which surprised me a little. I was thinking, 'who are you and what did you do with my instructor'?? With Stan it has always been tough-love and sometimes his critiques are withering. I am more than prepared to get 5204A around the pattern by myself at this point. I also executed a go around when another aircraft was on the runway which Stan seemed to like as well. Decision making, mate, decision making.
After the third landing with Stan he taxis us off the runway and over to the side of the the taxiway. He shakes my hand as he opens the door and steps out of the plane at which point he says, 'she's all yours, you'll do great.' I felt a really odd sense of calm come over me and it was nice to have the extra wiggle room in the cockpit. I taxied slowly toward the 'hold short' line of runway 30 and called up tower, 'San Carlos Tower, Cessna 5204 Alpha holding short runway 30 for right closed traffic'. Tower responded back '04 Alpha, position and hold'. This means you taxi on to the runway but don't take off just yet. Soon after tower announces, '04 Alpha cleared for take-off' and with that wheels were rolling. As I approach rotation speed of 55 knots I begin to pull back on the yoke and all of the sudden the plane literally popped off the runway. Without my instructor in the plane, note: the weight of my instructor in the plane, the flight characteristics changed. I sail around from crosswind to downwind powering down to 85 knots and 800 ft (traffic pattern altitude) I glanced over at the empty seat and down at the airport below and ahead scanning for traffic and listening to the radio I felt at peace and smiled a really big, stupid, 1st-time-solo smile. For some reason I was also a little gassy. I was somewhat paranoid I might accidentally depress the mic button during one of these eructations and shifted my index finger down on the yoke. I got clearance to land following another Cessna and lined up on final and everything looked great. On center line with 65 knots and red over white on the glide slope I was right on target. As I got closer to the runway threshold I throttled to idle and began to pitch the nose up for my landing flare. With Stan in the plane my sink rate would have been greater but instead I come down and do a little bunny hop off the back tires because the plane is lighter. Not too big a deal but was a little disappointed I didn't grease my very first solo landing. I taxi back and I am ready to go again. Cleared to take-off I ease back a little more gently and 5204A peels off the runway perfectly. I go around and get set up for my landing and totally grease my second landing. Right down the center line in the first third of the runway! Bada-bing, baby! Third time around I nail another great pattern even going long on downwind to allow for traffic on the ground to take-off and another greased landing. Sweeeeet!!! I was REALLY tempted to go around for a fourth time because I did not want to stop flying but figured that may be too audacious a start to my solo career.
I taxi back to the ramp and Stan is standing there arms folded pointing to a good spot to park. I kill the engine and execute my power down sequence. Soon after I pop the door open and Stan shakes my hand, congratulates me and almost immediately says, 'you bounced your first landing but the rest of the flight was really, really good'. That's right home-boy, start calling me the 'Grease-man'.
I get out the tow bar and put the plane back in to it's parking spot and Stan snaps a Polaroid of the occasion. Pretty damn cool. I have been dreaming of this moment since I was first born, I believe. I will go on to get my certificate but this is the moment I truly feel like I have joined the ranks of the breed known as 'pilot'.
I got all my documents and certificates affixed to my log book and heading outside I tell Stan I have something for him. In my trunk I have a bottle of champagne which I give to him as thanks for his great instruction and intolerance of me doing anything less than flying really well. I have definitely earned the right to solo at this point. As we are standing talking my wife, Kristina, walks up and mentions she had been over on the other side of the runway taking pictures of me taking off and landing. She even snapped one of Stan getting out of the plane on my initial solo flight. Pretty cool, thanks KK!!
Next week I start doing cross-country work which I already had begun several weeks ago. Stan will check me out to fly to certain airports and soon I will be hopping over to Livermore for a sandwich at their airport cafe! Exciting, eh??
-russ
This past month found me getting out and refining my pattern work and flight maneuvers, slow flight, stalls and engine out procedures have all gone swimmingly ... er.... flyingly well (?) Building confidence in my skills and getting back to the stage checks which allow me to solo. Stan was out of town for 10 days during this time and I was supposed to go up with my ground instructor but stormy weather kept me grounded the entire time. Finally this last week Stan finally signed me off on the first of my stage checks to solo and it was a great flight. I know that I am ready and have no lingering little doubts about my ability to fly the plane, at least around the pattern of San Carlos airport. It is as important that I feel confident as well as Stan, all American instructor.
Saturday - March 10, 2007
The second part of my stage I check took place with another instructor, Jim, who provides a cross-check to Stan's assessment of my flying skills. We sit down before the flight and start going over airplane systems, airspace and one maneuver not related to my certificate, spins. I need to bone up on systems a little. I know the plane has two fuel pumps but got tripped up on which power source drives which pump. There is an engine driven pump AND another pump driven by the electrical system, ie, battery. I was annoyed that I was being grilled on spins until I realized many of the concepts apply to my current certification. It's actually very difficult to spin a Cessna 172 due to what is called positive static stability. This means the plane is engineered to return to straight and level flight. You sacrifice performance in the area of maneuverability and speed but this is OK with me. One of the last items we cover is what documentation I need to carry with me when solo. I list everything and then Jim says I neglected one thing, student pilot's certificate. I respond that this is part of my FAA medical which is good for 3 years. He responds yes your medical is 3 years but the student certificate is only good for 2 years. What?!?!?! I am scheduled to solo tomorrow! As you may know it has been awhile since my last round of lessons before now. More than two years and I am now on the verge of soloing and my student certificate is out of date. So my medical is good but NOT my student certificate. Not a problem when flying with an instructor but a must have for soloing. I will now have to wait until the first of the week begins to even investigate getting my certificate which means another medical. No solo for Sunday. Bloody hell!! We wrap up the oral portion and I go out to pre-flight N5204A.
The flight goes really well and Jim gives me the second, and final sign off for my solo. Calling the FAA examiner first thing Monday morning to get the 'turn head and cough' out of the way.
Tuesday - March 13, 2007
Medical - Done!
Wednesday - March 14, 2007
Not feeling too nervous but more a sense of excitement and wanting to get the solo in the bag. I want to move on to more adventures in flying like cross-country and flying by myself to new and different airports besides San Carlos. I also try not to forget to be in the moment and enjoy the day because I may move on to bigger and faster airplanes but you only solo an airplane for the first time once.
I meet Stan at Diamond Aviation and we go over the written exam I filled out, required by the FAA. Everything is correct except one of the control tower frequencies for Hayward airport across the Bay - no big deal though. I go out and pre-flight the plane and Stan is going to ride with me for three trips around the traffic pattern and then get out, and bye bye birdie. We get up and are going around when the control tower announces there is a helicopter in the pattern. I really don't like getting close to these guys because they are small and really hard to see and have screwed me up in the past. I get a little knot in my stomach and as we round base leg coming down on final I am off to the right of center line a bit looking for this helicopter which had already landed. I get back on runway center line and Stan is looking cock-eyed at me and proceeds to inform me that he almost failed me for the day of my solo. I explained what I was doing and this seemed to agree with him and he mentions I need to keep my head in the game today. I am focused like a friggin' laser beam right now and nothing is going to screw me up.
We touch down and taxi back as a student pilot solo I am not allowed to do touch & go's. Too much going on at once for a student pilot I guess? We taxi back, get cleared to take off and getting on to downwind tower announces they are changing the runways. This means I will have to make a 180 degree turn and get back in the pattern lined up to land. Noooo problem. I turn the plane around and make the 180 getting set to line up for my approach on runway 30. This goes really well and Stan is now gushing about how I handled the situation which surprised me a little. I was thinking, 'who are you and what did you do with my instructor'?? With Stan it has always been tough-love and sometimes his critiques are withering. I am more than prepared to get 5204A around the pattern by myself at this point. I also executed a go around when another aircraft was on the runway which Stan seemed to like as well. Decision making, mate, decision making.
After the third landing with Stan he taxis us off the runway and over to the side of the the taxiway. He shakes my hand as he opens the door and steps out of the plane at which point he says, 'she's all yours, you'll do great.' I felt a really odd sense of calm come over me and it was nice to have the extra wiggle room in the cockpit. I taxied slowly toward the 'hold short' line of runway 30 and called up tower, 'San Carlos Tower, Cessna 5204 Alpha holding short runway 30 for right closed traffic'. Tower responded back '04 Alpha, position and hold'. This means you taxi on to the runway but don't take off just yet. Soon after tower announces, '04 Alpha cleared for take-off' and with that wheels were rolling. As I approach rotation speed of 55 knots I begin to pull back on the yoke and all of the sudden the plane literally popped off the runway. Without my instructor in the plane, note: the weight of my instructor in the plane, the flight characteristics changed. I sail around from crosswind to downwind powering down to 85 knots and 800 ft (traffic pattern altitude) I glanced over at the empty seat and down at the airport below and ahead scanning for traffic and listening to the radio I felt at peace and smiled a really big, stupid, 1st-time-solo smile. For some reason I was also a little gassy. I was somewhat paranoid I might accidentally depress the mic button during one of these eructations and shifted my index finger down on the yoke. I got clearance to land following another Cessna and lined up on final and everything looked great. On center line with 65 knots and red over white on the glide slope I was right on target. As I got closer to the runway threshold I throttled to idle and began to pitch the nose up for my landing flare. With Stan in the plane my sink rate would have been greater but instead I come down and do a little bunny hop off the back tires because the plane is lighter. Not too big a deal but was a little disappointed I didn't grease my very first solo landing. I taxi back and I am ready to go again. Cleared to take-off I ease back a little more gently and 5204A peels off the runway perfectly. I go around and get set up for my landing and totally grease my second landing. Right down the center line in the first third of the runway! Bada-bing, baby! Third time around I nail another great pattern even going long on downwind to allow for traffic on the ground to take-off and another greased landing. Sweeeeet!!! I was REALLY tempted to go around for a fourth time because I did not want to stop flying but figured that may be too audacious a start to my solo career.
I taxi back to the ramp and Stan is standing there arms folded pointing to a good spot to park. I kill the engine and execute my power down sequence. Soon after I pop the door open and Stan shakes my hand, congratulates me and almost immediately says, 'you bounced your first landing but the rest of the flight was really, really good'. That's right home-boy, start calling me the 'Grease-man'.
I get out the tow bar and put the plane back in to it's parking spot and Stan snaps a Polaroid of the occasion. Pretty damn cool. I have been dreaming of this moment since I was first born, I believe. I will go on to get my certificate but this is the moment I truly feel like I have joined the ranks of the breed known as 'pilot'.
I got all my documents and certificates affixed to my log book and heading outside I tell Stan I have something for him. In my trunk I have a bottle of champagne which I give to him as thanks for his great instruction and intolerance of me doing anything less than flying really well. I have definitely earned the right to solo at this point. As we are standing talking my wife, Kristina, walks up and mentions she had been over on the other side of the runway taking pictures of me taking off and landing. She even snapped one of Stan getting out of the plane on my initial solo flight. Pretty cool, thanks KK!!
Next week I start doing cross-country work which I already had begun several weeks ago. Stan will check me out to fly to certain airports and soon I will be hopping over to Livermore for a sandwich at their airport cafe! Exciting, eh??
-russ
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