Not much flying 'round here

My first autumn-winter as a private pilot has been downright dreary weather-wise. We've had very few VFR days, and most of those have had very high winds or temp-dewpoint spreads of 2 degrees C or less...the boundary of my personal comfort zone (regardless of the reported ceiling and visibility).

Today was a rare exception, so I took off work a bit early and just stayed in the pattern at KOLM. The ceiling was fine at 4500, but to the west lots of scud was hugging the eastern slopes of the Olympics and Black Hills. With an eye on the weather, I logged four good landings and one very nice one, with one planned go-around.

Most of my aviation time lately has been spent studying for the instrument rating knowledge test. It's a lot of material but fairly straightforward. I hope 2011 brings more flyable days so I can go up with Joel and start working on the flying part.

Happy holidays to everyone!

First flight for Mo

After several months of talking about it, I finally had an opportunity last week to take my friend and co-worker Mo flying.

We had very smooth air, excellent visibility, and almost 2 hours of fun. Launched from KOLM, one circuit of the pattern to make sure everyone was comfortable, then up to KTIW for a touch-and-go, followed by a long loop over Bremerton and down Hood Canal back home. We did a lazy sightseeing circle around downtown Olympia, then another around Mo's neighborhood in Tumwater.

Mo snapped this shot of Olympia as we rolled out to head over to Tumwater:



1.9 on the Hobbs and, hopefully, a convert to the joys of general aviation!

Flight track:



Display in Google Earth

A couple of short flights

Not much to post about lately...I've been traveling a lot for work, and the onset of fall has turned the weather "northwestish" (yes that's an official term...generally the METAR expression of it looks something like 23003 2SM BR SCT004 OVC010 10/10 2995). Result: not a lot of opportunity to fly. 75898 has only been in the air a half dozen times in the past month. So much unused potential!

Anyway, a couple of weeks ago I flew up to Tacoma Narrows (KTIW) for practice, and because I love the scenery in the pattern there. I took video that I hope to post in the near future.

Tonight I stayed in the (very busy) pattern at the home patch, and put 1.1 hours, 7 takeoffs, 7 landings, and a go-around (planned) in the book. It was about 50 degrees F and at that temperature the 180 hp engine really climbs. I was generally at pattern altitude in the turn to crosswind climbing at Vy. Normally I don't level off until just before the downwind turn. There were two other aircraft--a 172 and a 152--in the pattern. I was between them with the 152 leading the pack. It was fun.

The plastic has arrived...

I received my official certificate from the FAA this week...it arrived and was on my desk chair waiting for me, along with the latest copy of AOPA Pilot, when I returned home from the week's business travel. Even though it was 2 in the morning, I tore into the envelope with giddiness, and stood there in the study, reading every cryptic word on it.

As government-issued cards go, it's a work of art. On the front is a color scene of the first powered flight at Kill Devil Hill, with portraits of the Wrights (Ohio boys like yours truly, I might add) on the back. The writing is super-imposed over the images. Since with all the prop time I'm paying for I can't afford to shop at Macy's anymore, I demoted the Macy's card to the (less accessible) inside pocket of my wallet, and gave the pilot certificate a prominent slot, right below my drivers license.

Hats off to the FAA for beating by two weeks the expected wait time for my certificate.

From the video archives...KFHR

I finally got around to editing my video from my long solo cross-country flight, over a month ago, at the tail end of my private pilot training.

There was a lot of haze from forest fires on the evening I did the flight, so much of the video is uninteresting, to say the least.

But here is the video from my approach and landing at Friday Harbor Airport in the San Juan Islands. This is a place I plan to visit quite a lot now that I have the ticket...

Anyway, I have fond memories of this trip. I shut down at Friday Harbor for a bit, hoping to find Ernie's Cafe still open (alas, it was not). Ernie's is named for Ernest Gann, one of my favorite aviation authors, who wrote about his adventures as an early airline pilot (in the 1930s). Disappointed in the restaurant being closed for the day, but vowing to return, I left Friday Harbor and landed at Snohomish County (better known as Paine Field) near Everett, then back home via the eastside suburbs of Seattle (Bellevue, Kent, Auburn) and a transition through the McChord Air Force Base Class D. The challenge on the final leg was avoiding the Seattle Class Bravo airspace, which required flying at a low altitude to stay under the shelf.

During the taxi-back for departure at Paine, I saw the "Dream Lifter" taking a rest from hauling 787 parts around the world. What an awesome aircraft!

All in all, it was a terrific trip and is likely one I will repeat at some point...just for fun!

Crosswinds, night flight, and admiring the best

I have plans to fly tomorrow night to stay sharp, just some landing practice at the home patch.

If I can get Joel to come along, and the winds cooperate, we may work on crosswind landings, and maybe after that do the night flight refresher that we never got around to at the end of my training.

But anyways, speaking of crosswind landings, this is just really, really impressive.

Look Mom...

I had the honor and pleasure to take my Mom up for a flight today. She's visiting us in Olympia from my original hometown before school starts again, work travel spins up, and Deb takes on some new responsibilities at work.

It's a beautiful day here, just some high cirrus clouds and unlimited visibility. The winds did pick up while we were flying for 90 minutes...6 knots out of the north at takeoff, but 15 knots on landing, and just a bit gusty.

We took off and headed due west towards Hoquiam and the coast. I figured that as long as we were headed to the coast I may as well log a cross-country...so we did a touch-and-go landing at Ocean Shores, then headed south along the beach to Willapa Harbor, then direct back to Olympia from there.

1.6 on the Hobbs and Mom has a better sense of what flying is all about now. The air was generally smooth, until our descent into Olympia...the higher winds and some thermals tossed us around a little. I was generally happy with my flying. The landing at Ocean Shores was a little left-of-center, which on a 50 foot wide runway can be a big deal. But I kept it under control and right back on the centerline for the go.

The scenery was beautiful...flying the coastal beaches is really about the best sightseeing you can do.

I am very appreciative that my Mom was interested in flying with me, and she was a model passenger the whole way!

Flight track for Google Earth is here.

Private pilot

On Wednesday, August 25, it became official: I am a private pilot!

Even now, writing three days later, it still hasn't fully sunk in.

It's been nice to have a break from all the studying and practice I've been doing the past few weeks. I was frankly getting a little burned out...so much so that I haven't even been keeping up with the blog. I'll go back soon and fill in the blanks of my last 2-3 weeks of training.

I had originally scheduled the checkride for Thursday the 26th. I had a little difficulty finding an examiner in the area willing to come to Olympia. I was finally able to schedule it with a gentleman from up near Seattle, who offered to fly down to KOLM if I'd cover his aircraft rental.

As Thursday approached, the forecast for low ceilings and gusty winds held. With less favorable weather on the way as Fall gets closer, and with my work travel set to pick up again in September, I really wanted to get the test out of the way. In addition, I had spent a lot of effort (not to mention cash) practicing and studying, and I felt as ready as I ever could be. I didn't want to try to ramp up again in a few weeks.

So I called the examiner on Tuesday night to see if he could move it up a day, to Wednesday. When he returned my call he said he agreed that sounded like a good idea, so we agreed to meet in Olympia at around 3. I scrambled a bit to take care of work obligations and secured a most generous clearance from my boss to take the afternoon off.

The test was pretty much as I expected. The oral portion began with a review of my flight plan for the (somewhat fictitious) flight he assigned me...KOLM to KAST (Astoria), via Hoquiam. That gave us a chance to review aircraft performance, airspace, sectional charts, and weather. He had also assigned a weight-and-balance problem...so we reviewed that and he asked me to explain the consequences of an aft center of gravity on aircraft speed and performance. He challenged me with a few details, and I didn't know everything, but in general it went well.

After an hour, and a few more topics of discussion, we were ready for the flight test. We walked over to the hangar, and spent some time talking about aircraft systems. Having had an airframe and powerplant (A&P) mechanic as an instructor really paid off here...again, there were a few little details I didn't know, but for the most part I did well.

It was pretty hot on Wednesday--maybe 80 degrees at takeoff--so as we taxied out he held his door open for ventilation (the window on the right side of 898 is not openable)...it did cross my mind that this was a test of my pilot-in-command skills. I decided it was safe, verified that he felt it was safe as well, and off we went. I made extra sure to stay right on the center line as we taxied around all the construction going on at KOLM this summer.

Runups complete, he asked me to make a short-field takeoff from runway 35. Just as I practiced, I held the yoke all the way back, lifted off at about 45 knots, stayed in ground effect, and accelerated to 75. We climbed away via a left downwind departure, on course for Hoquiam as we passed midfield.

After passing Capitol Peak (elev 2300) west of Olympia, he gave me an E6B math problem, which I totally bombed. I was so focused staying on course, maintaining my assigned altitude, and watching for traffic, it was very difficult to concentrate on making the computer do what I wanted. After awhile of trying to figure out what I was doing wrong, the examiner said never mind...the point of the exercise was to make sure I didn't get distracted and kept flying the aircraft. Ah, good, passed that one!

Next up was instrument flight under the hood...some simple turns to headings, then navigating to the Olympia VOR. No problem with any of that. Hood comes off, then we did some power-off and power-on stalls. During the power-on stall I let the right wing drop and it wasn't the best recovery, but he said it would do (after reminding me about rudder use during stall recovery). Next were steep turns, slow flight, a simulated emergency landing (I kept best-glide speed nailed through the whole thing!) and then back to Olympia for landings. One soft-field landing, a no-flap landing, and we were done!

It's been a long haul, with a lot of work and focus, but I am very happy to have reached this milestone. I realize I still have a lot to learn, and doing so will continue to be a priority for my flying.

Stay tuned as the olympiapilot blog changes its theme from training to enjoying, exploring, and continuing to grow in this fascinating, challenging adventure!

IFR

I have had so much work travel lately, it's been hard to find time to fly...much less blog about flying.

I've continued doing solo practice when I can--ground reference maneuvers, performance takeoffs and landings, and such--and also getting back into the book-studying again, in preparation for my test, which I hope to take in August.

One of the requirements for the private pilot certificate is to receive 3 hours of instrument training...basically, just a "taste" of flying solely by reference to instruments. Joel and I talked about this requirement some time ago, and decided it would be more educational--and fun--to actually do it as an instrument flight rules (IFR) flight somewhere.

Last Friday morning, Joel filed IFR from Olympia to Troutdale (KTTD), a small GA airport on the east side of Portland. I had never been there before, so the flight promised to be full of new experiences for me.

A couple of weeks ago, I picked up a copy of the FAA Instrument Flying Handbook, which gives a pretty good overview of the basics. And with the few hundred hours of simulator instrument flying I've done over the years, I was comfortable with many aspects of the flight. But I had no idea what to expect from--and in fact was quite apprehensive about--flying in actual instrument conditions.

I secured time off work on Friday morning, and met Joel at the hangar at 8:30. After preflight, we started the engine and for the first time, I called up the ground controller and requested an IFR clearance. I copied everything down, read it back, went over it with Joel, and we taxied out.

We were assigned runway heading on departure, which was good, since I would only have to deal with punching through the cloud layer--about 2000' thick, starting at 1500' above ground--rather than turning in it too. As we climbed, it was an odd feeling to be approaching the clouds, which I've been trained (and trained myself) to avoid. As they got closer, the visibility closed in a hurry, and soon we were in the soup. I focused mostly on the attitude indicator (aka artificial horizon) but regularly cross-checked against the altimeter and vertical speed indicator (to ensure our rate of climb was steady) as well as the airspeed indicator (to keep it at 75 knots, just a hair faster than best rate of climb). During this time, we switched to the Seattle departure frequency, checked in, and received direct to the Battleground VOR just north of Portland.

We broke out of the layer around 3500, I leveled off at 5000, and I kept heading and altitude within the required bounds for IFR flight. It was actually quite a bit easier than I expected it to be. Joel did quite a bit of teaching about using the Garmin 430 GPS for IFR...it really makes things easy, and I learned things that will be useful for VFR flight as well.

After Battleground, Portland approach had us on vectors (with instructions like, "Cessna 75898, fly heading 220, descend and maintain 4000, vectors final approach course.") I had no real trouble staying ahead of the airplane. We asked for, and received, the GPS-A approach, with vectors to final. Approach took us right over Portland International (KPDX), and I allowed a quick glance out the window to the big runways, terminal, and lots of activity below (the sky over Portland was scattered at about 3500'). Our next vector took us right over downtown Portland towards Troutdale, with a nice steady descent.

When we broke out of the last bit of clouds, Troutdale was right in front of us, and the approach controller gave us the tower frequency for Hillsboro (KHIO)...which we dutifully tuned in. It took a few exchanges before the controller realized we were on the wrong frequency, and told us so. We looked at the approach plate, noted the frequency there, and dialed it up. We were advised of a departing helicopter and instructed to circle north of the field for runway 25. There was a lot going on and I did get a little behind the plane, overshot final, but salvaged a barely acceptable landing. My first IFR flight was in the books!

We taxied to the FBO, and while Joel went inside I called up flight service and filed our flight plan back...actually, Joel got to supervise the whole thing because it took me some time to get everything organized and get ahold of a flight service specialist. No issues filing, we were back in the aircraft for the flight home. We were given the Blue Lake 3 departure out of Troutdale, which has pre-determined vectors to fly, but it was no problem for me (with Joel's help announcing each change a bit before I needed to do it.) After we broke through the clouds, we were immediately advised of a Delta heavy Airbus 1000' above us, 8 miles ahead, moving from our 2:00 to 8:00 (inbound to PDX.) I picked him up first, moving right along, no factor for us, but looking pretty in the morning sunshine.

Our route home took us right by Mt. St. Helens, then we set up for the RNAV approach to runway 35 at KOLM. Again the Garmin made it pretty easy, though I struggled a bit to keep the needle centered, especially in and out of the clouds. The winds were blowing and a little variable at Olympia, so the pattern and landing were bumpy and interesting, but I nailed it and was glad to be home.

It was a very enjoyable way to satisfy this part of my training requirements, and helped convince me that I want to continue on and get the instrument rating. But first things first...the private, which is getting closer by the day.

Flight track (Google Earth) for the flight is here.

The flightaware.com history for 75898, including our flights, is here.

Practice, practice

Last night the forecast for the Puget Sound area was not looking good for a flight this morning...ceilings were supposed to be around 2000', way below what I can fly in.

However, I was awakened this morning at about 6:30 by the sound of aviation in progress...one aircraft approaching KOLM from the northeast, right over the house...as well as a garden full of birds of various types. There was also the distinct hue of sunlight hitting the treetops out the window. As I stumbled to the coffee pot, I regretted canceling my reservation on 898 last night...but happily a quick call to the club reservation system told me that the ship was still available. I did a quick online weather briefing, convinced myself the clouds would stay away until afternoon, and by 7:30 I was out the door for the airport.

The tower opened as I was finishing up pre-flight (at 8 a.m.), and by about 8:15 I was in the air. The goal for today was to practice steep turns and ground reference maneuvers. I made a couple of circuits around the patch at KOLM...my standard practice on non-cross country flights. I did one takeoff as a soft field, and one as a short field. The landing in between was a short field as well. I did all of them just fine--on the soft field, 898 sure doesn't stay in ground effect very long before getting to Vx (60 kts)...maybe two seconds.

After the two circuits, I headed south and up to 3000' for steep turns. I did them fine both right and left, and all four times felt the tell-tale "bump" of crossing my own wake just prior to roll-out. Then down to 900' above ground level (AGL) to practice turns around a point and S-turns across a road. I think these still could get better, but I believe they were within checkride standards. Maybe one more practice session and I'll declare myself ready.

The marine push that's headed into our area, with stratus clouds chasing away the nice high pressure we've had for two days, was starting to inch closer from the southwest. Between that, and not wanting to disturb further the folks whose farm field I'd been circling, I decided to head north and practice a little more. I did some more turns around a point near Oyster Bay, between Olympia and Shelton, and then headed back in.

1.2 hours in the logbook, a good amount of fun, and some boosted confidence that I'm getting really close to the checkride.

Flight track in Google Earth is here. I'm still finding GPS Visualizer to be a very cool tool. Unfortunately, the GPS had a little hiccup in the pattern on one circuit--no, I really didn't make an abrupt turn like that!

I also played around with adding Lloyd Bailey's airspace layers for Google Earth, so I could see today's flight track in relation to the Olympia Class D. The cylinder around Olympia (approximately 5 nm radius and up to 2500' above the airport surface area) requires pilots to establish and maintain two-way radio communication with the tower prior to entry.



Here's the approximate area of the flight from the Seattle terminal area chart...the Class D is the blue dashed line around KOLM...

Non-starter

It's been a week since I flew last, and this post is late partially because of a busy work and family schedule, and partly because it's taken almost a week for the story of the flight to unfold...

Now that I hopefully have your interest piqued...

I met Joel last Saturday morning in Olympia, on his way to work, to get his signoff on a solo cross country flight to Jefferson County International (0S9) in Port Townsend, Washington. It was a terrific day weather-wise, a nice break from the recent prevailing conditions.

I decided to use this flight to practice dead reckoning navigation, where the idea is to choose checkpoints along the way and use estimates of airspeed and winds aloft to determine the arrival at each point. In flight, the pilot tracks progress and time, and corrects the ETA at each point. It's a nice skill to have, and I think it makes flying more fun than just hitting "direct to" on the GPS and motoring along. Maybe at some point in my flying I'll prefer that, but for now, I really like the extra bit of planning, analysis, and in-flight computation.

I called Flight Service an hour before my planned 1730 PDT launch and got a full weather briefing. It was pretty boring...severe clear and calm winds all the way, with no NOTAMs or TFRs either. I filed a VFR flight plan, and headed to the airport.

The flight was terrific. The winds were a little stronger and more westerly than forecast, but only enough to add a couple of minutes to the 35 minute flight. I asked for, and received, VFR flight following from Seattle approach all the way, and once again enjoyed practicing radio skills (not to mention having assistance from radar in watching for traffic!) The landing in Port Townsend was a little left of the centerline, which I didn't like...but the touchdown was my smoothest ever, which I liked very much. I've posted the video of the trip on YouTube.

I've also started posting GPS tracks of my flights to Google Maps; this link should open the track in Google Earth, if you have it installed.

I landed at Port Townsend, taxied to the transient parking, and shut down. I called Flight Service to close my flight plan, called Deb to check in, and walked around a little to stretch my legs. After about 10 minutes, I hopped back in, ran the checklist, and turned the ignition to "start". Nothing. Primed it, tried again. Nothing. Sat for 10 minutes or so, tried again. Nothing. Both a mechanic on the field and another pilot offered assistance, but nothing we tried would get 898 started.

To cut to the chase...I wound up calling Deb back to drive 2 hours to pick me up, then drove 2 hours back home. It turns out the left magneto had died (good thing there are two!), and it is the one used to start the engine. It clearly died during flight, since the magneto check I performed during runup at Olympia was 100% normal.

I left the aircraft there all week, allowing the mechanic to overhaul the magnetos. He finished up yesterday, and Center O folks went up to pick it up today.

Magnetos tend to last about 500 hours, and these were getting close. It's ordinary wear-and-tear, and really illustrated for me how important dual mags are.

All the folks I encountered at Port Townsend were extraordinarily friendly and helpful, from the pilot and mechanic who tried to help me get it started, to the family who offered me a ride to a nearby restaurant to wait for Deb to pick me up. I need to go back up there when I get my ticket and buy them all a slice of pie at the Spruce Goose (the cafe on the field).

Lots of work travel these days, but I hope to fly again later this week or next weekend.

Quick flight today

I took half the day off today to go flying. I met with Joel to go over plans for a cross country flight to Jefferson County Airport (0S9), which would allow me to scout the first part of my intended long cross-country route to Friday Harbor. Skies dawned mostly clear this morning in Olympia, with only some high cirrus and usual low-level morning scud that would burn off by 9.

Michael had a music concert at school at 11, so my plan was to head to the airport right after that. Unfortunately, mother nature had other plans...the 11 am forecasts did not look good for places further north. After the concert I made the call to cancel the cross country and just practice maneuvers around KOLM, where the weather was still quite good.

However, those plans didn't work out either. Since the last time I flew 898, she had an oil change, and in the course of that maintenance task some of the cowling fasteners didn't quite make it back on securely. This is a fairly normal thing on Cessna 172s, but I was concerned about the extent of the gap between cowling and mount on one side. Despite a hunch that it was perfectly ok to fly, I decided to cancel the afternoon flight until I could consult with Joel.

I finally talked to Joel after 5, and we agreed the aircraft was safe to fly. In the meantime, the club's maintenance officer for 898 called me and also assured me it was safe, and also mentioned that he managed to reattach two of the missing fasteners. I was able to get a third opinion when I showed up at the hangar around 6:30 to find the club president working with another club aircraft in the hangar next door. So by the time I launched, I had no fewer than three expert opinions, all reinforcing what my gut told me this afternoon, but all the same giving me a higher comfort level that I could fly safely.

So I launched under mid-level stratus (6000') and the calmest winds I've ever experienced. There was not a bump to be had at any point tonight...lovely! I did my customary trip around the patch and headed south to practice maneuvers. I did a decent job at "turns around a point" and as I rolled out of the last one, I saw rain bands falling about 3 miles south, headed my way. Back to Olympia, where I encountered some light showers, two more pattern circuits, and back in the hangar.

I played around with GPS Visualizer by simply turning our Garmin handheld GPS on and leaving it in my flight bag. A couple of quick up/down loads at home, and I was able to produce this in Google Earth:



This will be yet another fun toy to play with, and is actually really helpful for grading myself on maneuvers. Here is a close-up of my "turns around a point"...



One of the turns with a "bulge" to the east was a "clearing turn", which we do to ensure no other traffic are nearby, and also to signal to any such traffic that we are maneuvering. And the other one was, simply put, a poorly performed turn. But I was pleased with the two tight ones! I was emphasizing keeping altitude and airspeed pegged throughout, and I accomplished both (1000' above ground, and 90 knots).

Video of tonight's flight forthcoming this weekend...I tried turning off autofocus, and also used a $3 mono/stereo adapter from Radio Shack to try to get the intercom patch in stereo. Hopefully that will improve the video quality.

Next aircraft time scheduled for Saturday evening...I may try again to go up to Jeff Co, or I had so much fun with maneuvers, I might just do more of that.

Tribute to 898

Wow do I love this airplane!



I awoke this morning to greater visibility and higher ceilings than forecast, and a quick call to the club reservation line confirmed that she was available until 10. A quick cup of coffee and shower, and I was at the field by 8:30 to practice performance takeoffs and landings.

In the cool morning air, with the sun just a few degrees above the Cascade Mountains on the eastern horizon, she really wanted to climb. My first practice takeoff was a short-field takeoff, where the pilot climbs in the shortest lateral distance possible, in order to avoid that (imaginary) obstacle at the end of the (imaginarily short) runway. The vertical speed indicator was pegged and all I could see ahead was sky. As the common expression goes, she was like a homesick angel...I had barely turned crosswind and she was at pattern altitude (1000' feet above the ground).

After an hour in the air, I landed so she could make her 10 am appointment with fellow club member Bruce. As they taxied out together and took off, I captured the scene on video.

Lesson at Shelton

Wednesday evening I had a lesson with Joel, and we decided since I am signed off to solo to Shelton that I'd fly up there to pick him up. We planned to meet there at 6:15 and even though we both agreed I'd take as much time as I needed to get there, I pulled up in front of his hangar at 6:17. Better to be lucky than good!

The flight was my first with my new video setup. The results were much better than clamping the camera to the front right seat...the view is over the cowling with minimal blockage (in fact, with it zoomed in a bit, you can't even see the cowling.) Only one remaining thing to fix: turn autofocus off! I'm thinking I need a little checklist for the video setup...will have to work on that.

The video is out on the YouTube channel; direct link is here.

After I picked up Joel we worked on high performance takeoffs and landings. These tasks, required for the private pilot license, simulate taking off and landing at short fields (where the runway is short and/or there is an obstacle in the way) and soft fields (muddy, snowy, grassy). It took a couple of times, but I eventually managed to perform each one within standard limits.

We then went out west of Shelton to practice stalls. A stall is a maneuver where the pilot intentionally raises the "angle of attack"--basically, the angle between the wing and the wind--to a critical level, so that the wing stops flying. Obviously, outside of aerobatics, this is not something that's part of everyday, ordinary flight, but practicing the maneuver helps pilots be aware of what causes it, and therefore how to avoid it...and also how to recover, should one occur.

Prior to the lesson, I was not 100% comfortable doing stalls solo, but the lesson gave me the confidence to do so. Hope to get that practice in on a near-future solo flight.

After an hour, I dropped Joel off at his hangar and flew back to Olympia. We reviewed the remaining things I needed to do before my test--and there aren't that many. It's mostly a matter of proficiency and comfort level at this point.

Video gadgets: ProMaster Clamper

Deb (my wife) wanted a new camera bag for Mothers Day, so we took advantage of a visit to Seattle to stop in at Talls Camera to shop. While she was trying out most of the bags in the store, I wandered over to the tripod section and had my attention drawn to a product called the Clamper. This cool little device seemed like it would work better than my current setup--using a GorillaPod to hug the top of the passenger seat.

The problem with the current setup is that it can't get adequate clearance over the panel. In every phase of flight except final approach (and, I suppose, steep descent), all you can see is the top third of the panel and blue sky. Not very entertaining.

I considered Frank Holbert's setup but was concerned about the camera blocking too much of the glareshield, not to mention bouncing around (Frank's assurances notwithstanding!)

In N75898, as in every C172 I suppose, there are about 4 inches of dash "overhang" above the panel...perfect for clamping a device like the Clamper. Remembering this in the store yesterday, I bought one (for the apparent bargain of $40). I went out to the airport today at lunch to try it out, and it worked great!

I've taken several videos with the current setup, but because of the limited view I haven't found them worth posting to my YouTube channel. But I expect that will change--maybe this weekend--with this new addition to the lineup.

Getting closer...I think

Went flying for a couple of hours after work last Friday. There were towering cumulus clouds (pilot translation: bad news) over both mountain ranges, but for the 50 miles or so between, skies were just about clear. However, given all those clouds over the mountains, I expected some turbulence in unstable air. And that's what I got.

I found enough pockets of smooth air north of Olympia to practice steep turns. During my maneuvers I requested (and was granted) "flight following" or VFR traffic advisories from Seattle approach. I like them knowing who I am and what I'm doing when I'm under a Bravo airspace shelf...and it helps to have them as an extra set of eyes for traffic. As expected the controller was courteous, helpful, and responsive, despite a fairly heavy load of IFR traffic (which takes priority over VFR traffic like me).

I did a low approach at KTIW...started off as a touch-and-go, but there were some squirrely winds on short final there, and I didn't feel good about the approach, so I went around. There were four other aircraft in the pattern, so I left and came back to Olympia. The trip back was pretty bumpy, and those cumulus build-ups were getting a little too close for my comfort.

The approach back into Olympia was one of those awesome moments, the vision of which caused me to take up flying in the first place...a beautiful, smooth ride right over downtown Olympia...the state capitol, buildings where I've worked, the field on which my son would play a little league game later that evening...just incredible.

After I landed, while waiting for carry-out dinner, I tallied up the hours in my logbook. I now have logged adequate time to qualify for a private pilot license. My comfort level is not quite there yet, but legally I am! I have one more long cross-country to accomplish, and simulated instrument flight, and some more practice...then I'll be ready. Maybe another 6 weeks?

Lesson with Joel on Wednesday. And the weather is getting better around here!

Windows of Opportunity

Wow, the atmosphere in western Washington is really unstable this time of year. We have had troughs and low pressure systems move through on a regular basis for the past couple of weeks, and next week won't be much better.

I did solo last Sunday, and it was terrific. This was my first solo in 75898, and my first flight in two weeks, so I decided just to stay in the pattern at KOLM for a bit and practice landings. Things went well, so I headed south to work on ground reference maneuvers. I found a nice bright red barn south of Tenino, descended to 1000 feet, and performed "turns around a point", the goal of which is to make a circle with the selected object (the barn) at the center, while maintaining airspeed and altitude. I did okay, but certainly need more practice. I climbed back up to 2500 feet and worked on steep turns more--these, I am getting the hang of, especially to the left. A little more work and I think I'll be ready for that part of the test.

I continued south to Chehalis (KCLS) and did two touch-and-gos, then back to Olympia to land.

My landings are much better now that I am really stabilizing my approaches and keeping the airspeed at 65 knots on final, then slowing to 60 over the numbers.

I have time scheduled in the aircraft tomorrow morning, but we'll see if the weather cooperates. These windows of opportunity are only about 12 hours long when they open, so I have to hit them just right. Hopefully the weather starts to improve, as I really want to move on to my cross-country flights while I continue fine-tuning maneuvers.

Fate is the Hunter

OK one more catch-up post...

After passing my knowledge test three weeks ago--and spending all the study time preparing for it--I decided to do a little for-fun reading.

There is a nice ongoing thread on the Pacific Northwest Flying forum about aviation books, and from that I got a favorable impression of Ernest Gann. Gann was an early airline pilot (for American) and also flew transports during World War II, mostly across the north Atlantic. I checked out a copy of Fate is the Hunter from the library, and thoroughly enjoyed it.

I'm sure glad the reliability of aircraft engines has improved!

If you're interested in aviation and adventure, I recommend the book!

FAA Wings

This morning I'm catching up on blog topics. Apologies for the stream-of-consciousness.

The club (meaning, Center O Flying Club, at KOLM, of which I'm now a member) offers a discount off the monthly dues for attending safety seminars or courses. Online courses count. With the end of April approaching, I thought I'd take a course, learn something, and secure my discount.

I signed up for the FAA Wings program, which provides pilots with a portal through which they can obtain online training and other resources. The FAA partners with AOPA so that AOPA safety courses (free to members, like yours truly) count towards the Wings program. It's an overall effort to provide quality continuing education in a cost-effective manner, which is a great idea.

I took a "GPS for VFR" course last night, which I thought would be valuable as I'm still getting used to the Garmin 430 GPS in 898. It was well-done and informative.

I'll look forward to using this resource and building a nice transcript at Wings. And the discounts at Center O won't be too shabby either!

Armchair flying

My flying has been plagued by two problems lately. First, I haven't been home very much...I've had a lot of business travel. Second, when I've been here, the weather hasn't been conducive to flying.

I did go up with Joel two weekends ago, and tamed the beast that is 75898. I focused on cutting back the power more, and also using more elevator trim. That combination allowed me to stay ahead of the airplane easily and not get so tensed-up with pitch control. Joel signed me off to solo in it. We also went back to Tacoma Narrows and I had no trouble with the pattern there. So I am now able to fly to Tacoma, Shelton, and Chehalis in 898.

But since then, no flying.

Since I can't be up in the air, I've been trying a technique that a former instructor once told me was quite powerful, despite how silly it can feel: visualization. Pilots call it "armchair flying". Basically, you sit in the recliner or on the sofa, close the eyes, relax, and visualize flying a pattern. I've been trying to do it once a day or so for the past couple of weeks, and it is really helping to smooth out my flow of activities in a full pattern. It forces a level of concentration that flying with a simulator doesn't quite produce.

Interestingly, in my other hobby--classical guitar playing--many experts recommend the same technique for training the mind to handle challenging fingerings and passages. While both flying and guitar-playing require some muscle dexterity, the vast majority of tasks in both activities are well within the raw muscular capabilities of most people. What slows us down is the mind sending the right signals through the synapses to drive those muscles, and visualization really helps the mind to get better at this job.

I have time scheduled in 898 tomorrow, so we'll see how much this has helped! I'm going to try to capture some video, too.

Knowledge test

The weather in the northwest has been awful for flying for more than a week now. So I decided to take this opportunity to get the mandatory FAA "knowledge test" under my belt.

This is a 60-question, computer-delivered, multiple choice test on the full range of private pilot subject matter. A score of 70% is technically a "pass", but any missed questions are likely to be "explored in depth" by the examiner during the "practical test" (aka checkride) later on.

I drove up to Tacoma Narrows (KTIW), the nearest testing center to home. After the staff at Pavco (the KITW FBO and test provider) resolved a few technical difficulties with the exam workstation, I finished the test and got 59/60 correct. Certainly a score I can live with!

Hope to go flying next weekend with Joel in between trips to DC and Honolulu. We'll see if the weather cooperates.

New Feature: Videos!

As mentioned earlier, I've set up in-cockpit video capture capabilities, and a YouTube channel to host the results.

This first "episode" is not terribly exciting, just verifying that internal cockpit communications (intercom) and radio traffic are audible. In flight, there will also probably be a soft murmur of engine noise as well...basically, the video will sound pretty much like what pilot and passengers hear with noise-canceling headsets on. This test was done on the ground (in the hangar, actually) with the engine off, so not entirely realistic conditions, but real enough to verify that it will work.

After doing some research online, I've settled on the following setup:

• A patch cord from Aircraft Spruce


• Our Sony digital camcorder


• Our GorillaPod tripod, with the legs of the tripod firmly gripping the back of the rear seat in the aircraft

My biggest concern is that the tripod will gradually work its way loose during flight. I suppose I will learn how likely this is on a flight soon. I did my best to dislodge it by replicating the effects of various aircraft attitudes, and it was very firmly attached to the rear seat. It really didn't seem at all likely to slide off, but I'll probably try to shore it up with some kind of backup bungee or tie, so if it does slide, it won't be rolling around the back of the cabin.

I'll take a photo of the setup next time I fly.

The contrast on the video is pretty dramatic, but that's largely due to the fact that the aircraft was still in the hangar (where it was quite dark) and the sky, while cloudy, was still pretty bright. I think when sunlight streams in the windows, the inside and outside lighting will be fairly equal.

In the test video, I tune the ATIS for KOLM first, then the Unicom where I did a quick radio check. (Unicom is a general communications frequency at an airport; at Olympia, since traffic advisories are provided by the tower controllers when the tower is open, the Unicom is largely for non-ATC communication and advisories (such as requesting fuel or other services). I'm still getting used to tuning the communications radio via the GPS receiver, but it's pretty straightforward. I happened to use COM2 (the second of the two comm radios) here, since the ATIS was already tuned there.

I will have one absolute rule about the video capture: no fiddling with the video camera in flight. Whatever gets captured, gets captured. It's really not reachable from the front seat, and I'll use the camera's remote to start/stop the video, but that's about it.

Hangar Flying Weekend

"Hangar flying" is a common term among pilots to describe a social gathering at the airport on days when the ceiling, visibility, or cashflow are inadequate for actual flight. This weekend I did a different sort of hangar flying...

On Friday morning, the weather was looking halfway decent for late afternoon, so I called up Joel and asked if he could do some dual time to get me more comfortable with 898. He said he could, and we agreed to meet at 6.

At 5, the weather was clear, with a high ceiling, but the winds were nearly 15 knots out of the southwest and the atmosphere very unstable. Not the kind of conditions that are going to help me reach a comfort level with the new aircraft. I went out to the airport anyway, taking my son Michael with me, just to take a look...and show Michael the hangar and airplane while we were at it. Somehow he thought we were going flying and was disappointed when I told him we weren't...that the weather wasn't going to work out and anyway, it would be awhile before Daddy was ready for passengers! He sat in the plane while I called Joel to cancel. As we were leaving, the Beech 1900 service that flies back and forth to Hillsboro, Oregon (KHIO) several times a day was landing on 17, so we parked 100 yards from the end of the runway and listened to the dull roar of the turboprops as it passed 200 feet overhead.

Then today, in more nasty weather, I went out to the airport with my new toy: an adapter that will allow my to patch our camcorder into the aircraft intercom system. It works great! I did a little test from the hangar that I hope to post on YouTube later. I'm looking forward to adding a video component to the olympiapilot blog!

While I was out there I snapped a picture of 898 so you can put a name with a face:



In between, I've been studying hard for my FAA knowledge test (which I'll take next weekend) and diving deep into aviation weather. Which is a good topic as I look outside at the rain, gusty winds, and waves of cumulus that have descended upon us.

More power than I knew what to do with

Tonight was my checkout flight in the latest of my long line of aircraft relationships: N75898. Eight-niner-eight, as she's known, is a beautiful ship that belongs to the Center O Flying Club, of which I am now a member.

First, a little about Center O. It's been around for 30+ years, has about 50 members, and is really an excellent way to fly a variety of aircraft--more variety than any FBO on the field at KOLM--very, very economically. Fortunately they accept students as members (in fact, many current members started as student pilots), and had a few memberships for sale. I've been working with them over the past couple of weeks to secure a membership. I applied, and the members voted me in at their annual meeting, which as luck would have it was last Saturday evening. I have learned that it is a very well-run organization, whose members take flying very seriously and take very good care of their aircraft.

The club recommended--and I insisted--on a checkout flight in the new plane, so I arranged to meet Joel at KOLM tonight for a lesson. I went into it thinking that the extra 20 horsepower of 898's engine would not make that much difference, and that I'd pretty much pick up where I left off on Saturday in 6268D. So Joel and I planned to work on "high performance" takeoffs and landings--practicing short-field and soft-field operations, which are required on the private pilot checkride (and good things to know anyway).

898 is kept in a hangar...new experience #1. Preflight was the same routine, though there were a few more details like engine heaters and wheel fairings to consider. Joel and I pulled the ship out of the hangar, and it was then that I noticed how immaculately clean it is. The club repainted it last year, so it looks much better than any aircraft I've ever flown. It doesn't really look like a typical FBO "trainer". The inside is in very good shape as well. A very pleasant ride.

898 has a panel-mounted Garmin 430 GPS...new experience #2. This is a very nice feature, but it has a bit of a learning curve. Joel gave me a very quick primer on it, but it was hardly enough to be productive. I've noticed that Garmin makes a free simulator for it. I will definitely be downloading that and playing with it. Joel said that once I get comfortable with it, I will fall in love with it. I believe him!

We had to takeoff without delay, as there was a Beech 1900 on final behind us, so we scrapped the idea of practicing a short-field takeoff. I flew over Michael's elementary school where his baseball team was practicing...I usually watch his practices, just usually not from this perspective.

10 minutes later we were at Tacoma Narrows airport (KTIW). During the whole trip there, Joel was showing me the 430 while I was flying and scanning for traffic. KTIW tower cleared us for a straight-in approach, and it was during the approach that I realized how much more power this aircraft has, and how much the difference would change my routine...new experience #3. I'm sure seasoned pilots just adjust to this, but for me it was a stark contrast. We stayed there for 4 trips around the patch, and after the second one we gave up the high performance bit...I was just focusing on basic takeoffs and landings. In the picture on the page linked above, you can see that one end of the runway (the 35 end) is near the water; what you can't tell from the picture is that between the runway threshold and the water is a 300 foot cliff, which really tends to skew the perspective and also, I found, created some strange wind currents on short final.

By the time we left, I felt like I was starting to get the feel for the aircraft, but we needed to head back to KOLM and park the ship for the night. Between the different perspective of KTIW and the different handling of the aircraft, it was a very challenging evening. But I am already eager to go out again and master it. Once I do, this will be a very, very fun airplane to fly.

Next lesson: tentatively Sunday, weather permitting.

Fine Day of Flying

So today was my first "total solo" flight...just me and the aircraft from start to finish. I did speak to Joel by phone this morning to review the weather and my plans, and he blessed my decision to go ahead with a simple flight today.

I was a bit concerned first thing this morning. While it was a beautiful day for flying (a bit of fog burned off by 9 am, and unlimited ceiling above it), there is a front approaching the northwest coast and it is pushing strong winds ahead of it. I consulted one of the many neat tools on the Seattle Center Weather Service Unit, which forecasts low level wind profiles (including wind shear). The tool was indicating calm winds at the surface at KOLM, but 30 knot winds at 2000 feet, at my planned flight time. Clearly, that would mean turbulence and challenges maintaining a proper traffic pattern.

I reviewed this with Joel, and he urged me to try one circuit, reminding me that I had the skills to land the plane safely. It might be bumpy, but wouldn't be unsafe. He reminded me of my new philosophy: set conservative limits, especially with respect to comfort, and stay within them. I acknowledged and decided to move forward with that plan.

I arrived at the field just before 11, did the pre-flight, and called up on the ground frequency for taxi clearance. My new headset--same model as before, but a new one since I somewhat impulsively sold the last one :)--worked great. I completed the engine runups, double checked all the checklists at the right times, and took off on runway 17. About 100 feet off the ground, the bumps started, but nothing too bad. I just rode it out. The winds did indeed get a lot stronger at pattern altitude--1000 feet off the ground--and were right out of the south, so my downwind leg went by before I knew it. I was high and fast, so just determined to extend my downwind leg a bit. I went probably half a mile further than usual, and that was almost exactly the right amount. Finished off the pattern and just about greased the landing.

Launched again, and the second circuit was a lot better. Anticipating the strong southerly wind up there, I planned ahead and was right on target at each phase. I'm also working on doing the landing checklist each time through the pattern, to help commit it to memory. Seat belts secure, Mixture rich, Carburetor heat on, Fuel selector on both tanks. I've found that the first three items share my initials--what could be easier! All I have to remember is that F...as in, do you want to FAIL the FAA checkride by forgetting the checklist??

After the third launch, I exited the pattern to the north for some steep turns practice. Above 2000 feet the air was super smooth, but I think I was getting about a 20 knot groundspeed boost from the back. I wasn't quite able to pull off 45 degrees of bank today...I stopped at 30, but I maintained altitude and airspeed pretty well. I'll hit 45 soon.

I was fairly close to Shelton (KSHN) and so decided to do some pattern circuits there. I tuned the automated weather service, and noted that the winds were at 4 knots (within my limits) but at 90 degrees to the runway. I evaluated the risks, and decided that I would go ahead, but was expecting that if I didn't like *anything* about the approach I would go around. The two landings I did there were okay, but certainly nothing to brag about. I did notice the crosswind, and did my best to handle it, but this is definitely something that will need work with Joel. And practice.

I was getting pretty tired so decided to head back to KOLM. The return flight was noticeably longer, and as I approached the Black Hills (2500 foot peaks west of Olympia) I did experience some pretty good turbulence on their lee side. It was bothersome, but not panic-inducing or enough to stress me out. The KOLM tower controller gave me a base entry to the pattern, which requires some thinking and adjusting versus a typical downwind entry. But I made the adjustment just fine. There was a bit of crosswind on runway 17, and I landed a bit too fast. Other than a little bounce it was a decent landing.

One other thing I learned today...the ability to play an iPod through my Lightspeed headset works great! I never tried this feature last year, but was determined to do so this time around. Plug it in and it just plays, and the headset shuts off the iPod sound when there is either internal intercom sound or radio traffic. This is something I will really, really enjoy.

Next flight? Uncertain. Weather this week is supposed to be crummy. Will be studying hard for the FAA private pilot knowledge test, which I hope to take around the end of the month.

Climbing back up

So, what have I been doing for the past month? In a nutshell: convincing myself and Joel that I still know how to fly.

Happily, for the most part, I do.

I posted before about our "reorientation" flight to Hoquiam. It didn't start out as such, but that's what it wound up being.

I've had a lesson or flight almost every week since that first flight with Joel in mid-February.

First time out, after Hoquiam, was to practice pattern work and slow flight, including stalls, with Joel. Even though I learned how to stall the aircraft safely last year (and more importantly, how to avoid stalling it!) Joel and I both agreed it was crucial to experience this again before re-solo. The techniques and feelings all came back fairly quickly. I still like power off stalls (basically, simulating a stall on final approach) a lot more than power on stalls (simulating a stall on takeoff). But I can perform both within the standards of a private pilot. Check.

We also did a pattern entry at Shelton (KSHN) but didn't land due to the high volume of traffic and skydivers operating at the airport that day.

Next time out we worked on navigation, steep turns (maintaining altitude and airspeed in a 45 degree bank), and pattern work (both Chehalis (KCLS) and at KOLM). After a couple of successful landings at KOLM, Joel jumped out and told me to do three more myself. Which I did. Re-solo, check!

By the way, in the past year, a new fixed-based operator (FBO) has opened at KOLM, offering a viable alternative to Glacier. Since Joel is no longer instructing through Glacier, I decided to try the new outfit. Jorgensen Air Service is an outstanding FBO, run by enthusiastic, friendly, and helpful folks who took over the space formerly occupied by Gower Flying Service. Gower was a pillar at KOLM, but when the owner Eldon Gower passed away last year, the family decided to leave the field. Jorgensen has big shoes to fill, and so far is doing an excellent job. I have had only positive experiences with them and their aircraft.

Will post a bit later about today's solo flight...now that I'm almost caught up on the story!

The Olympia Pilot is Back!

After almost a year away from flying, the Olympia Pilot is back at it!

Many friends and fellow pilots told me that it's quite common for someone to suspend training due to discomfort, busy-ness in other parts of life, or for a host of other reasons. Also after I posted my "final" entry last May, several pilots left comments that the discomfort, especially with turbulence, would get better if I'd give it time and challenge myself to overcome fear and uncertainty.

I don't regret the decision I made last May to stop. Turbulence bothered me, things about the aircraft I was flying bothered me, and frankly I burned out. Those of you who know me, know that I tend to jump into things with both feet and go at full speed. I did that with flying, and after two months of intensive pushing, it wasn't fun anymore. Mix all these ingredients together, and it makes sense to me why I stopped.

But gradually the gravitational pull of aviation started to have its effects in the intervening months. Pretty much every day since May 24 I've read the Pacific Northwest Flying Blog, and through it have kept up with the adventures of other pilots in this great part of the country. I've continued reading and studying, and visiting airports. I began to grapple with the issues that led me to stop. I gained a better understanding of what causes turbulence, and I thought about staying within my limits without compromise--weather limits, challenge limits, and aircraft operational status limits. And most importantly, as I eventually made the decision to resume training, I promised myself I would take it easy, have fun, and maintain a reasonable pace.

My understanding, supportive, and loving wife got me a flight experience for my birthday in February. The purpose was just to see how I felt about flying, and to enjoy some time in the air. I took Joel to lunch and we agreed on these simple goals for the flight. The Saturday after my birthday, Joel and I went to Hoquiam (KHQM), and did some slow flight on the way back. It was a perfect day for flying--smooth air, good visibility--and I really enjoyed just going for the fun of it, with no pressure. I did almost all the flying (Joel just needed a couple of corrections here and there), and I landed once at KOLM without his input at all. I felt like I didn't lose much in the past 10 months.

Soon thereafter I broke the news to Deb that I was still hooked on flying, and wanted to resume training. Again she was very supportive and understanding. So I put things in motion, and have officially been back on track for nearly a month.

In my next post, I'll talk about my three flights since that trip with Joel to Hoquiam. But let me close this one by saying, the year off was good. It provided lots of time for reflection, and to confirm my interest and passion for aviation. I have a plan for overcoming the factors that overwhelmed me last time.

Time will tell how it all works out, but right now I'm feeling great about it. More soon!