Today was a big day. Today I feel in love with aviation all over again. Today, my instructor and I flew a cross country down to I69 (Clermont County) just outside of Cincinnati. I had to plan the trip for the way back and he had to plan the trip for the way down. However, we both had to make calculations to figure out how long the trip would take to each checkpoint along the route adjusted for the wind direction and speed. With our adjusted groundspeed for the time of departure, we could then figure out how much fuel we would approximately need. It wasn't easy work, but wasn't quite rocket science.
This morning, we planned on a 0900 EDT departure, but we were hampered by low clouds on a dreary Saturday morning. So, we delayed our departure and kept an eye on the forecast. Eventually, by about 1100 EDT, the cloud coverage was marginal for VFR flight and we figured, we can start our flight not with the intent to make it to our destination, but with the intent to remain within a safe parameter. I flew the aircraft, in addition to keeping the times we estimated (and actual) to reach our checkpoints, times for fuel management, scanning for other aircraft, and more. Our flight down to I69 was about 108 minutes, and since the clouds were so low, we had to fly at an altitude of about 1700 to 2000 ft. That was a low altitude that made our visibility less and our ability to spot airports from above more difficult. Plus, since we had to fly right below the clouds, traffic was a little more heavy and the ride was a lot more rough than it would have been at a higher altitude. However, we ended up making to our destination at Clermont County and went to the infamous pilot shop, Sporty's. As we were walking up, we ran into the founder/owner of Sporty's, a member of the Flight Instructor Hall of Fame, Hal Shevers. My instructor and I went up and introduced ourselves and had a nice conversation about various weekend plans. My instructor and I then went into Sporty's which has almost everything a pilot can think of ever needing. Then, after picking up some supplies, we went over our plan for the flight back nd calculated our time for the route back to 1G0. The wind was now a tailwind and the flight back would only take about 78 minutes. The flight back was a lot better weather wise. We were able to climb to an altitude of 3500 ft and have a more comfortable flight back. On our flight back, instead of using the common frequencies at local airports, we instead used Columbus Approach and communicated with someone who would update us on weather advisories and traffic in the area we should be weary of. However, once we were just south of Findlay, he handed us off to Toledo Approach who advised us until we had 1G0 in sight. Overall, it was a pretty successful, difficult, but successful first cross county.
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I was able to log nearly three hours in the air today. Sure yesterday was exciting, with my first solo, but the adventures only start there. Now I can move onto even more exciting adventures such as night flying, cross countries, and more. Today was more of a day to familiarize myself with foreign airports around the Toledo area. Before we left, I had to gather the various airport information such as frequencies to communicate or gather weather information from, runway lengths and positions and record them so I could have them handy mid-flight. Each airport I approached, I had to gather the weather information, decide which runway we would be using, and determine how we were to enter the pattern at that airport. We departed Wood County and went to a somewhat familiar airport, Fostoria. I had been down there three or four times before, so I somewhat knew the airport from memory and it made the descent that much easier. However, after KFZI, we returned to 1G0 (Wood County), did a few touch and gos, then ventured out to Toledo Executive. We entered their pattern, did a few touch and gos and had an unbelievable view of downtown from above. My instructor then took me out to a grass strip called HAAR, a few miles north of KTDZ (Toledo Executive). We did one short field landing their and then took off back toward KTDZ because the owner was moving along side the grass runway and we didn't want to be in his way. We did a couple more landings and takeoffs at KTDZ, before we headed back to 1G0 and called it a day.
Today, I met my instructor at the airport as per usual. I had the aircraft looked over and pulled out ready to fly. We started up the plane and taxied out to runway 28. A couple other aircraft were floating about the area practicing maneuvers, landing at Wood County, or just passing through. My instructor kept me in the pattern to continue our work on landings and take offs. Each of my takeoffs were right down the centerline and tracked down the runway. My landings were as great as the night before. I managed to flare at just the right moment and smoothly put the aircraft down on the runway. A few times, my instructor pull the throttle to idle and told me to glide the aircraft to the runway. This was to simulate an engine failure. I had to immediately turn towards the runway and pitch for the best glide speed of 83 mph. Each simulated engine failure went well as I made a smooth landing on the runway each time. However, my instructor then told me to taxi over to the ramp. I thought he might have needed to grab some water from the FBO or use the bathroom, so I taxied over there. He then told me that he was going to step out and watch from the ramp. My stomach fell through the floor and my gut wretched. He wanted me to solo. The first time a student ever flies a plane by their self. The entire plane in my control? Talk about a large responsibility! He unlatched the door, climbed out, and I closed the door behind him. I swear as I started rolling down the taxiway, my stomach was somewhere back on the ramp. My palms grew clammy and I felt nervous, almost scared. I pulled up to the hold short line, ran my final checklists, and announced, "Wood County Traffic 9er-2-Fox departing 28 Wood County." The moment the nose wheel passed the hold short line, it was all business. My worries and doubts cleared, the weight upon my shoulders lifted, and I was focused. Focused on the work I had done many of times before. "If I could do it before, I can do it now," I told myself out loud. I opened the throttle all the way, and in a few seconds my airspeed picked up, then I was airborne. I might have been all business, but I could hide the erratic urge to grin ear to ear. Here I am, flying a plane by myself. I haven't graduated high school yet, and Im living a dream! The sun is setting dead ahead and I am lifting off over the horizon into the orange sky. I come around and can't help, but go around the pattern three times still smiling. I noticed the the aircraft preformed different now that my instructor wasn't onboard. It wanted to climb faster, lift off sooner, and descend slower. No matter the performance, I quickly adapted and had the most fun I have in a long, long time. Yes, that is a cut out from the back of my shirt. It is a tradition that whenever a pilot preforms their first solo, their instructor cuts fabric from the students shirt and writes the details on the fabric; such as the tail number of the aircraft, the date, the airport callsign, the students name, and the instructors name.
Like riding a bike, if you haven't flown in a while you become a little rusty. You have to keep current in order to be a proficient pilot and practice every aspect of piloting. The airplane was down for a while after that flat wheel it had; however, today it was up and running once again. The nose wheel tire had the tube replaced, and it no longer leaked air. I was excited. It was going to be nice to get back in the air. I preflighted the aircraft and pulled it out of the hangar. Began running through the startup checklist, and started up the engine. Soon after we began taxiing out to runway 28. After our run up, everything looked good and we made our call, "Wood County Traffic 5-5-9er-2-Fox departing 28 Wood County." One last glance at the final approach to make sure no traffic was inbound, and we lined up with the centerline of the runway. Running through my final quick checks before takeoff, "flaps, up; fuel selector, fullest tank; mixture, rich; fuel pump, on; landing lights, on; strobe lights, on; engine instruments, in the green; and finally trim, set." I slowly pushed the throttle until it was all the way in at full power. Once again, we were airborne.
Today, we just worked on more pattern work to refresh myself and make sure I was still as proficient as before. I aimed for 85 miles per hour on my downwind (parallel to the runway), and 80 mph on base ( perpendicular to the end of the runway you are landing on), and finally 75 mph on final. I nailed my speed, I had the aircraft trimmed perfectly. I went to flare right before touchdown, as I perfected the flare last instructional period, and I ballooned. Too much power and I floated farther down the runway. I ended up taking too much power out, and the aircraft settled hard on the runway. I raised the flaps, pushed in the carb heat, and gave the aircraft full power. Time to try it again. Again I nailed my pattern work, but was again slightly off on my flare. I had to practice it a few more times, before the rust wore off and I was landing like a well oiled machine. I had the flare down pat. For my last few landings, my instructor closed his eyes or took pictures of the sunset. I was definitely doing a lot better than when I started. Ever installed an interior to a house? Or a car? I've done drywalling before, but haven't had to mess with too much else interior work. You might ask how does this apply? Well, I spent my morning helping an aircraft mechanic install the interior to a 1978 Cessna 441 Conquest II (pictured below). This aircraft may look nice and pretty on the outside, but it's definitely rough around the edges on the inside. The conquest is popularly used to take arial photos, so there is a section on the floor of the aircraft cut out with a window where the camera would be lowered into. The hole in the ground in the picture above allows access to the flight control cables. These cable move the rudder, elevators, and various trim tabs in the back of the aircraft. Needless to say, you can't step on them and have to be careful where you step. Neither can you stand up in the aircraft as it's small cabin was only about four and a half feet tall or so. The mechanic and I had to install the ceiling panels first. We would hoist them up through the cabin door and slide them so they were facing the right direction. Then I had to hold the panel up as the mechanic fastened the oxygen tubes and various electrical equipment in. Each panel weighed a good fifteen to twenty pounds, so hold them up wasn't too hard at first, but got tiring quicker than you'd think. After the panel was connected to the oxygen and electric, there were screws that screwed into the frame and held the panel in place. But the aircraft was old and did not have passengers, so the interior was not well cared for. Many panels only had two or three screw to put in the nine or so excision "holes." I use quotations because most of the holes were broken and would be unable if it weren't for the washers around the large screws that looked to have been purchased from a hardware store. Pictured below is the first panel we got installed that took about an hour or so to do. It was hard. We got about four more panels in before lunch rolled around and my time in the airframe department was over. I then went to work over at the FBO with the linemen who moved aircraft in and out of the hangars, helped pilots park jets, fueled aircraft, and (my favorite part) drove tugs. I did get to ride on the tug quite a bit and they're louder than you'd expect. But theres something that makes you feels a little more powerful when driving around with a multimillion dollar jet behind you.
Today, I was welcomed back to National Flight out at Toledo Express airport. National Flight is a privately owned company that does maintenance on Honeywell engines, airframe repairs, and avionic repairs. In addition to owning an FBO on the opposite side of the airfield. However, today I spent my morning in the turbine shop with a couple of mechanics. I started by talking to the person in charge of completing and gaining sales for and from customers. He explained to me the process of how they quote certain engines for the work that needs to be done and the program in which they use to make the quotes into work orders. When an engine comes into the shop for work, mechanics will deconstruct the piece of machinery and asses any other items that need to be updated in the quote before continuing on fixing or overhauling the engine. A usual quote for a Honeywell TPE-331 engine (the commonly worked on engine at National Flight) starts around $100,000 and usually goes up from there. Aviation is not a cheap business. He then took me around the various stations where the mechanics had engines being worked on (as pictured in my last blog from Fall 2017). He explained that their customer base is worldwide and that some of the engines in the shop were from Luxembourg, Argentina, Thailand, and even Cal Fire (the government organization in California that fights wildfires). He explained that part of his job is to travel around the world and meet his customer base face to face to ensure the customer's satisfaction with National Flight. In the past, he has flown out to Thailand to have dinner with a customer and ensure they'd meet their needs. He told me that it's important for the company to meet their clientele face to face in order to establish a positive business relationship.
After a quick tour, he took me to the test cell. The test cell is exactly as it sounds. A large, outdoor wind tunnel with an engine hooked up and being tested. Last time I was there, the test cell was empty, but this time there was an engine being fired up and an issue being addressed. The engine was someone's spare engine for when their main engines are in the shop (goes to show how much flying this person does if their spare is in for repairs). Apparently he does a lot of business traveling, and flying for the government. So it's critical that the mechanics find out what's wrong with the engine and fix it, no throwing in the towel and quitting. The engine was suffering an instability in RPM. It would fluctuate by 1% of it's total power. The mechanics traced the source of the issue back to the fuel lines and had to sort of play cat and mouse replacing different part and testing to see if the issue was fixed. The engine was being difficult with them as I watched them test it with a new fuel pump and still no change. Then they replaced one of the manifolds for the fuel; still no change. Finally, they changed both fuel manifolds, all ten fuel nozzles, and still had the new fuel pump, but still had minimal impact on the engine's performance. After lunch, I switched from the turbine shop to shadowing an airframe inspector. The airframe inspector is the last line of defense for spotting any issues that might cause malfunctions to the plane. Whether it's tools a mechanic left in the aircraft, rags used to fill gaps in the airframe so parts don't fall down them, or other mechanical issues with the plane such as an unfastened bolt or loose flight control wire. His role is crucial. Any issues that pops up and could possibly cause an accident on an aircraft that has been singed off on is on his shoulders. Any issue thats not caught ultimately becomes his responsibility. He was showing me a small crack that trails under another piece of the aircraft on an elevator and told me that there is a way to find out how far into the metal that crack goes. The way to find it is through a process called eddy current. He used to due eddy current tests on aircraft when he worked for delta years prior and had logged upward around 500 hours on an eddy current device. Eddy current is a current that circulates in a conductor; similar to an eddy in a stream. For example, if a river is flowing, but you can't see it moving from the shore, it still has a current. So if you put a stick in the river, the water will split in the direction of the current. The eddy current machine work similarly to that, only with metal and waves. He pulled out an eddy current machine to demonstrate, but after fiddling with the machine, he found out the adaptor for the probe was bad and we couldn't find a replacement. Today was a gap day between Toledo Express and National Flight. I used today to mainly catch up and plan for other requirements in order to get my private pilot's license. One of those requirements is a certain amount of hours for ground school. Ground school is like a drivers ed course for training pilots, except a bit longer. The course I signed up for (online) will take about 35 hours to complete filled with reading material and various information you're required to know for the written and oral exams given by an FAA examiner. Compared to the 24 hour drivers ed course online, you are not required to spend a certain amount of time on a page before continuing, instead you move at your own pace. Often times in drivers ed, I found myself leaving to do other things after reading the short paragraph required in order to wait off the remaining 30 minutes or so before I could advance. Not in this course. The first unit of the first section of the first chapter is about 30-35 pages of pure reading material on basic aerodynamics, carburetor icing, and flight components. This is going to be a busy course. I spent my morning at the school, setting up my ground school and by lunch time headed home to set up my flight simulator in my bedroom. I had to remove some drawers screwed under my desk in order to fit the yoke onto the desk properly, but after an hour or two, I had all the pieces properly fashioned to the desk and the software updated (updating the software took most of the time). However, once set up I couldn't wait to log some time since the plane I fly was downed due to that flat nose wheel. I messed around and started up the virtual aircraft only to realize the controls were not calibrated and I had to trouble shoot the issue (hence the 0.1 hours in the log below). Although, I got it all sorted out and then logged 2.0 hours doing pattern work at a virtual, 3D rendered Wood County airport. At first the controls were more sensitive than flying an actual plane (I later attributed that to the inability to feel how the plane responds and the forces enacted on your body during a normal flight), but with each time around the pattern I felt a little more comfortable and did a little better each time. Now I can officially saw I'm about half as good on a simulator as I am in an actual aircraft.
I met with my flight instructor Saturday evening after a few storms rolled through. We watched the weather quite intently hoping it would stick to the forecast and clear up by that evening. By the time I had arrived it was cloudy, but no rain. If the ceilings were high enough, we might be able to get in some time. However, while preflighting the aircraft, another storm rolled in and the heavy rains followed. But according to Firelight (an app used by aviators to view weather, sectional charts, and plan flights) the storm would clear soon. So my instructor and I decided to wait it out. After about 45 minute to an hour, the rain had cleared and we were ready to fly. You couldn't get a much better night. The wind was subtlety flowing over the grass tops, but the windsock had lay nearly limp. The sun, almost setting spilled an orange overcasting the airfield; and a rainbow peaked just off to the right of the hangar signaling the storms end. I was ready to fly. We start the aircraft up and head west, away from the weather. My instructor makes me descend to 1700 feet, 1000 feet above the ground to do ground reference maneuver like s-turns across a road or 360 degree turns evenly around a point. These maneuvers typically give you a sense of how the aircraft handles in the wind, but there was minimal wind so we decided to head back and work on landings.
I wanted to nail this first landing. To prove I could complete a soft landing with a flare at the right moment. I announce my entry into the pattern. No one else is flying tonight. I just wanted to make radio calls for good habits and practice. Im assuming most people saw rain and decided no to fly. Air traffic is a lot like road traffic, busier in nicer weather. Anyway, I pull back on the power and trim for my airspeed. My eyes are set on the runway. As I turn my final approach, I check for traffic one last time and radio, "Wood County Traffic 5-5-9er-2-Foxtrot turning final runway 2-8. Wood County." The runway numbers balanced right above the cowling, another perfect final approach. Now only to ace this flare. I descend farther and bring in another notch of flaps as I know I have the runway made. I adjust the trim again to slow my airspeed. Now as the plane floats above the runway I guide to yoke back into my lap and the nose pitches high as the back wheels glide onto the runway without a jolt or sound and the nose wheel gently settles on the runway. I finally made a good flare. I did it. A wave of relief and self satisfaction washed over me as I raised the flaps, checked the carb heat and gave the plane full power to go again. I did this a couple more times nailing my touchdowns. Everything sort of fell into place (pun intended). As I reached the hangar on Sunday, I wanted to nail each of those landing again, and feel accomplished. I pulled out the checklist and preflighted the aircraft as usual. By the time my instructor arrived, he noticed something. The front tire seemed a little low. That was odd. It was fine about five minutes ago when I was inspecting the front strut for the nose-wheel. We decide to check it out a bit as it was looking more compressed by the second. We rolled it about three inches and you could hear the air seeping from the stem of the tire. In a few seconds the tire was utterly flat. Not good, this means we couldn't fly that day and the aircraft would need repairs and be down for a while. We tried to trouble shoot the issue and another club member even came to deliver a noodle for the air compressor. We filled up the tire to see if maybe the leak would seed and stop releasing air. It didn't, the tire was flat in a short minute. Needless to say we were defeated and could only wait for maintenance on the aircraft. Meanwhile though, we managed to make a make-shift stand for the front wheel, so it would not sit on the rim. We used wood laying around the hangar to suspend it, as pictured below. This morning wasn't quite eventful as some days past, but I spent some time reading the operation manual of the airport that included FAA approved guidelines on how the airport is required to communicate and operate. With pages on how to properly execute the moving of snow and debris from the runway or on whether the Guard base or Port Authority is responsible when a cable for the F16s is malfunctioning. It was pretty fascinating, more so than I initially though it would be. After while, the Port Authority manager and I went on an airfield sweep to check for FOD, but this time, we wrote down each taxiway and runway needed some retouching on paint. For example we would write down taxiway bravo needs centerline, hold short line, and edge lines repainted. A lot of the marking were faded due to the mass amounts of water we received recently (mainly the edge lines) or due to the extreme use (mainly the centerlines). The runway centerlines also needed to be repainted as the rubber from aircraft tires had built up over time and made the paint less visible. The runway center lines are crucial to be seen from high up so the pilots can lineup on their approach into the airport.
After we finished up, we headed back and the Port Authority manager showed me a few of his presentations to various airlines in an attempt to gain new routes. In the aviation industry, airlines do not seek out routes to and from different airports. Instead, The airports attend conferences and set up meetings with the airlines to provide a pitch with enticing information on why the airline should set up a route to and from a destination. Airlines are mainly concerned with filling flights and taking less risks to earn a stead profit. Airlines are also interested in their largest market of customers, business travelers. So, it's important to list a few of the large corporations in the area that will use their services. In, and near, Toledo, we have Marathon, Whirlpool, Jeep, the Andersons, Dana, Coopertire, O-I, Promedica, and more in addition to the few I've listed. Airlines are also going to see their customer base in the area, in addition to other analytical information such as the leakage factor (the amount of people within an hours distance of the airport who use a different airport. Toledo Express, when looking at and hours commute to the airport, and only the consumer base in the state of Ohio (excluding Michiganders) has about a 92% leakage factor. This is mainly due to the Detroit airport which is nearly 45 minutes north of down town Toledo. Where as Toledo Express, although holding the name Toledo is in Swanton, Ohio, is about a half our drive from downtown with no solid way to get to the airport from downtown. Detroit offers more routes than Toledo currently, by a lot and is only an extra 15 minutes more drive. So, the Detroit airport does greatly impact the traffic in and out of the Toledo Express airport. At one point, Toledo Express hosted 37 flights a day in and out. With routes to places such as Cincinnati, Detroit, Atlanta, Las Vegas, Orlando, Pittsburgh, and more. Surely the Toledo airport was a bustling metropolis at the point right? Well, not as much as you might think. In fact, The amount of passengers that Toledo Express is set to receive this year happens to be almost half that it did in its former prime! Might I add the Toledo Express is offering 31 less flight this year than it did in it's prime. About 6 flights a day is bringing in half the amount of traffic as 37 flights a day use to, on smaller planes might I add! That is truly phenomenal and shows that aviation in Toledo Express is far from over, but is on a rise. Soon, we will see more and more options being offered at Toledo Express airport as its consumer base grows and the locals return home. Today was my final day at Toledo Express airport. I have to say, I'm a little disappointed to be leaving so soon. This week just flew by (pun intended). I learned a lot about the airport's operations, management, history, and goals. A lot of people in the Toledo area say that the airport is empty and no one is there. I have to disagree with that profoundly. Every moment I spent there, passengers were always waiting in the terminal to board a flight or grabbing a bite to eat from the cafe. But commercial traffic is not the only traffic at Toledo Express. Toledo Express also hosts quite a few corporate jets for companies such as Owens Illinois and Owens Corning, in addition to the three FBOs that host general aviation aircraft. Toledo Express also has three Promedica helicopters that regularly run missions out of the airport. Not to mention the Guard who runs a base at the airport and has multiple F16s launched nearly twice a day. Needless to say, theres a lot to keep tabs on at the Toledo Express airport. Every hour has its peaks in activity and its slower moments, but overall Toledo Express airport entertains hundreds of thousands of passengers each year. Today was full of excitement. I arrived this morning and at in a meeting with fire department chiefs, sheriff deputies, highway state patrol, a member of the FBI, and other various heads of organizations. The meeting was a monthly occurrence to update the various departments on Toledo's upcoming events, needs, and reoccurring issues. The meeting was very formal, but also had a relaxed nature. People talked about new microphone technology for handheld radios, issues with laser pointers being shined at pilots, road closures, and future construction. It was quite a sight to witness these ranked professionals updating each other with efficient communication and aiding with suggestions or asking for clarifications.
After the meeting concluded, we (the Port Authority Manager and I) meet up with a lady that handles media for the Port Authority because BCSN was coming to film a shot of an aircraft taking off for a new Allegiant commercial. He was a little behind schedule due to traffic on I80, but we managed to rush out to a taxiway and quickly set up as the plane made a short taxi to runway 25. He managed to capture a beautiful shot of the Allegiant pilot's well executed takeoff. We then headed back to the office to ready for another pre-bid meeting. However, a few minutes before the pre-bid meeting, the F16s were coming in to land, when one declared an emergency. Apparently an electrical system had failed during landing and posed a risk of leaking highly flammable material onto the runway. So the fire and rescue squads were dispatched and the Port Authority Manager, one of his interns, and I rushed out onto the airfield and to the scene. It was unlike any other experience before, almost out of a movie. Vehicles scrambled to ensure the utmost safety of everyone. The air traffic controller had to regulate who can go where on the ground and where planes could and couldn't taxi, as well as monitoring air traffic ensure that the runway was temporarily closed and not to be used. Before we could make it out to the aircraft pulled over to the taxiway, we completed a sweep of the runway to ensure no debris or hazardous material leaked onto the runway, and contacted the tower to inform them of such. There was no debris and the runway was reopened in a short amount of time. Just in time to depart a flight from Toledo to Chicago. The F16's pilot and the rescue crew were all safe and the fighter jet was shut down, then towed over to the air base to be repaired. Overall, it was a stressful situation, but well managed and controlled. This was a rare occasion, as I was talking to a police officer (earlier this week) who had worked there 18 years now, and only had three emergency landings in the time that he has worked there. We then worked our way over to the pre-bid, now a couple minute late, and met with various engineers, contractors, and Port Authority employees to oversee the reworking of some parking lots at Toledo Express. The meeting went well and was quick as everyone was on the same page, with minimal questions about the project. After lunch, I went out with an intern on a wildlife patrol. Nothing too significant occurred. We did come across a few white egrets in some standing water, but there was no reason to chase them away. Then we came across a group from the air base sitting out on a taxiway and stopped to say hello. They were preparing to watch the F16s take off once again. We talked to them for a bit and watched the F16s depart the airspace with them. By this time, my day second to last day there was over and I headed home. I later headed out to the Wood County airport for more flight lessons. Today was a very windy day and took a lot of effort, focus, and man power to correct for. We began with a cross wind takeoff from runway 10, as the airspeed increases you slowly remove the (into the wind) aileron as the airfoils become more effective. As we climbed out to an altitude of 3000 feet, we departed the pattern to the south towards some designated practice areas for BGSU's aviation school. After we leveled off, I attempted some steep turns. I was doing steep turns with 45 degrees of bank. The more bank added to the turn, the more force is required back towards you on the yoke to keep the aircraft from pitching downward. At first I had an itch to constantly monitor the flight instruments, but as I got more comfortable with the maneuver I found myself looking outside the aircraft more than inside, as I am supposed to. A couple more steep turns and I had the process down pat. So we moved on the slow flight. Slow flight's purpose is to slow the aircraft down as slow as possible and maintain altitude and heading. I was a little slow getting into slow flight at first because it had been a while since I last did it. Pull back on the power and pitch up to bleed off some airspeed. Pull in a notch of flaps, and bleed off some more airspeed to keep the aircraft slowing down. Then go ahead and pull in another notch of flaps, trim the aircraft for level flight, and bring in the final notch of flaps while adjusting power and trim to make the aircraft level. Then the aircraft tis in slow flight. The controls for slow flight require larger motions than when in cruise, so the control are mushy. In addition you are close to the stalling speed, where the wind stops going over the wings and the nose of the aircraft dips forward. It is important to know how to recover from a stall; so naturally, we began to practice stall recoveries. To recover from a stall, you pitch the nose down to pick up airspeed, and give the aircraft pull power by pushing the throttle in all the way. On the way back, we had to deal with a large crosswind component. This meant we had to use a healthy crab into the wind in order to fly a straight path. A crab is when you angle the aircraft into the wind and slightly away from where you're aiming for, so you can fly a straight line on the ground to your target. While in the pattern, the crosswind heavily pushed us toward the runway which made flying the pattern more difficult. I had some issues keeping the plane a great enough distance away from the runway, and the final approach was even more difficult. Before landing, you have to take the crab out with a slip. Where you swing the nose towards the runway with rudder, and dip a wing to produce drag and keep the aircraft's nose flying straight down the runway. The landing was a little too beyond my current abilities so my flight instructor had to help out quite a bit. In the end, the wind was quite a learning lesson. It helped me understand in greater depth how the aircraft reacts to a stronger gust and how much force I need to counteract the wind's effects. |
AuthorIt's been a school year, and I've matured both as a person and as a pilot. This is my, Rory Hopkins, continued journey to becoming a pilot. A precedent to Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, FL where I will pursue my degree in flight. This intensive is to open my mind to other jobs in the aviation industry and work towards my private pilot's license. I hope one day, we can meet some where in the sky. ArchivesCategories |