Saturday, January 13th, 2007
My father finally received his Christmas gift yesterday. I got him a Charlotte sectional map, which includes his area of Wilmington, NC. The reason I got him the sectional map is because I needed him to look around for frequencies to tune into with the new Aviation (among other things) scanner I got him as well.
I talked to him last night as he was learning how to use the scanner. This morning I thought of the greatest idea…I would put a picture of the closest airport to him (ILM) here and highlight the airport information. This would help him locate the type of information he should be looking for.
Then I thought to myself, “You know, that’s not good enough. Let me also place the key information here as well, so he has something to refer to (even though he already has the same map).”
Wow! What a plan. Now, all my mother has to do is print this page and give it to him as a little reference (Mom, please print and give to Dad). Also, someone else in this world my be THRILLED at this information too.
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Friday, January 12th, 2007
Do you want to know what someone said to me about my previous post about VOR navigation? They said it was boring. I didn’t think it was boring when I was writing about the fascinating topic of airplane navigation. I thought it was quite thrilling. I was actually thrilled to write that post. What a thrill.
Well, after reading that post again, I kind of came to the conclusion that unless you are an airplane geek, you would probably get a big dent in your head from the thud of your skull hitting the desk in front of you while reading that thing. I mean, I had a full glass of water next to me on the desk when I started reading it and by the time I was done reading…the glass was empty. That’s how dry that reading was.
As an apology, I decided to write a little today about how to fill in a Jeppesen Sanderson Navigation Log for a VFR Private Pilot. This should make it up to you. If you are not completely thrilled by the time you are done reading this, by all means, please let me know. You know…I am a riot at parties.
CREATING A JEPPESEN NAVIGATION LOG PLAN TO A CLOSEBY AIRPORT (50NM - ONE VOR STATION)
Here we go…step by step. I completed this navigation log this morning for a trip to a nearby airport. I hope this helps you fill in your own navigation log.
- Plot your course on sectional chart. Draw line directly from your departure airport to your destination airport. In this case, we drew a line from Orange County (MGJ) to Waterbury-Oxford (OXC).
- Plot your course from departure airport to the closest VOR station and then from VOR station to destination airport. In this case, we drew a line from MGJ to the Kingston VOR (IGN) and then from IGN to OXC.
- Measure distance in nautical miles from departure airport to destination airport. In this case, the distance was 50NM.
- You will be flying to the VOR station and, once reached, to the destination airport. Find and mark checkpoints along the way.
- On flight plan, record your departure airport in the first box in check point column and your first check point in the second box in the column. In this case, our first checkpoint was Stewart International (SWF)/Orange Lake. Draw a line through the checkpoint on your sectional chart.
- Record the VOR station identification and frequency in the first two boxes in the VOR column. In this case, the VOR identification is IGN and the frequency is 117.6.
- Record the course for your first leg in the first box in the course column. To do this, use your plotter and find the true course from the departure airport to the VOR station. In the case of flying from MJG to the Kingston VOR, the true course is 064.
- Decide what altitude you are going to fly at. To do this, look at your sectional chart. Each longitude/latitude section has a number in it for the highest point in that section. You must add two zeros to the number to get the altitude for the highest point. You must fly at least 1000FT above the highest point. In the case of this course, the departure airport section has a highest point of 4600FT, the VOR station section has highest point of 2200, we cross through a section with the highest point of 2300FT and the destination airport has the highest point of 1400FT. Since we are flying east, we fly an odd number altitude ex.- 3000FT, 5000FT, 7000FT plus 500FT. Since we know the area of the departure airport and we are no where near the highest point (the Shawangunk Ridge), we decide to fly at 5500FT. We could fly at 3500FT, but decide not to. Record your cruising altitude in the first box in the altitude column.
- Find wind direction, velocity and temperature and record in the top boxes in the wind column. To do this, call the weather briefing center at 1-800-WX-BRIEF. Ask for the information for the winds aloft closest to your cruising altitude. In this case, I asked for the wind direction, velocity and temperature for 6000FT aloft. The information came back as 250 at 37 +3. That means the direction was 250 (SW) at 37KTS with a temperature of 3 degrees celsius.
- Find and record the CAS (calibrated air speed) in the CAS box. CAS is the speed found in the front page of your POH (pilot operating handbook) recorded by the airplane manufacturer. Our cruising power is 75% throttle, so our CAS is 122KTS. Knowing the airplane’s engine capacity, we will record this number as 110KTS.
- Find and record the TAS (true air speed) in the first box in the TAS column. To find the TAS, use the ACT TAS (actual true air speed) function on your Sportys E6B flight computer. Enter the pressure altitude (5500), the temperature (3C) and the CAS (110). This should give you the result of TAS=118.8. Round up for 119. The reason you have a faster TAS than your CAS is because there is a lower density altitude (5121FT) than your pressure altitude (5500FT). This means that since the air is more dense due to the cold temperature, your airplane will fly more efficiently.
- Record your true course (TC) and the wind correction angle (WCA) in the TC column. To do this, simply re-record your course from the course box earlier. Then, use the HDG/GS (heading/ground speed) function on your Sportys E6B. Enter the wind direction (250), the wind speed (37), the course (064 or 64) and the TAS (119). This should give you a heading of 62.1 or 62 rounded down. Now, you can see that heading is different than the TC by 2 degrees. Record the WCA as the difference between the two. In this case, the WCA is -2 degrees.
- Record your true heading (TH) and magnetic deviation in the TH column. To do this, just use the result from the prior calculation (062) and find the closest isogonic line to your course on the sectional chart. In this case, the magnetic deviation was +14.
- Record your magnetic heading (MH) and the compass deviation in the MH column. To do this, just add the magnetic deviation (+14) to your TH (062). Record 076. Now, look inside your airplane on the compass deviation chart right near your magnetic compass. Find the deviation closest to your magnetic heading and solve. In this case, we chose -2 deviation.
- Record your compass heading (CH) in the CH column. In this case, we have 076 - 2 = 074.
Now, that’s basically the tedious part for the first leg of the trip. For all the following checkpoints along this heading, use the information that you recorded above.
- Record the distance of the entire course directly from the departure airport to the destination airport in the DIST box. In this case, the distance is 51NM.
- Record the distance from one checkpoint to the next and record it, as well as the remaining distance, in the DIST boxes. In this case, the distance from MGJ to SWF/Orange Lake is 7NM, therefore the remainder is 44NM.
- Record your ground speed (GS) in the GS column. To do this, use the HDG/GS function on your Sportys E6B. Fill in the required information and you should get a result of 155.7, rounded to 156.
- Record your departure time in the Time Off box. In this case we departed at 12:00.
- Record your estimated time enroute in the ETE box. To do this, use your E6B LEG TIME function. Type in the distance (7) and the GS (156). You should get 00:02:41, rounded as 3 minutes enroute. Your actual time enroute (ATE) will be recorded as you fly over your checkpoint.
- Record your estimated time of arrival (ETA) in the ETA box. In this case, we recorded 12:03. Your actual time of arrival (ATA) will be recorded during flight.
- Record your gallons of fuel per hour (GPH) in the GPH box. In this case, our airplane (C172) burns 9 GPH. We started our flight with 40 gallons of fuel on board.
- Record your fuel burned and remaining fuel in the FUEL and REM boxes. To do this, use the FUEL REQ function on your E6B. Type in 00:03:00 for the time and 9 for the FPH. You should get a result of .5 gallons of fuel used. Now, subtract this number from the total fuel on board and record your result (39.5).
That’s it. Now, repeat the steps above for each checkpoint of the trip to the VOR. Once the VOR is reached, change the course and the following figures that relate to that course. The altitude, wind, CAS and TAS will remain the same.
Once this information is complete, use your sectional chart and airport/facility directory to fill in the Airport & ATIS Advisories as well as the Airport Frequencies sections.
Yup, I just reread this post and I was right…THRILLING!
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Sunday, January 7th, 2007
Hours - 20.4
This was a fairly challenging but rewarding lesson. That seems to be the default description of flight school…challenging but rewarding. I remember the first time I did VOR navigation with Yigal. It made so much sense on the ground, of course things are different in the air. It helps that I am studying my ass off for the written test. The reading makes things a lot easier.
Today I learned how to track a course with the VOR (Very High Frequency Omnidirectional Range) Indicator. I also learned how to intersect a VOR radial. What we actually did today was to fly to the destination VOR station and then change heading to a nearby airport, using the VOR signal. Ok, here’s how it went down:
We wanted to fly to the Huguenot VOR station (HUO) northeast of Port Jervis and then to the Resnick airport (N89) in Ellenville. We would be flying parallel to the Shawangunk Ridge with the Catskills to the northwest. On the ground with my chart and plotter, I made a line from our departure airport (MGJ) to the VOR station, so I knew the general direction to head after takeoff. The heading is 260 (magnetic). Then, I made a line from the VOR station to the destination airport. The heading is 037. You can see the compass rose surrounding the VOR station below. You can also see the little headings written on the outside circle of the compass rose.
After I wrote those two items down, I recorded the radio frequency for the VOR station. In this case, the frequency was 116.1. Each local VOR station has a different radio frequency. Just for your personal information (so you can talk about this at parties), VOR stations transmit within a VHF frequency band of 108.0 - 117.95 MHz. Keep that in mind because I am going to quiz you on this one day. I also recorded the UNICOM frequency of 122.8 for Resnick airport. Yigal and I did a practice flight with the simulator and then hopped in the airplane.
We took off from runway 26, so we were already headed in the right direction. After I climbed to about 3,000FT, I tuned the NAV portion of the radio to the VOR frequency of 116.1. I listened for the Morse code. After tuning into any VOR station frequency, you need to listen for the Morse code because sometimes the station might be down for maintenance. If you hear no beeps, don’t use that VOR. I continued climbing to 3,500FT. Orange County Airport was pretty busy today, so I wanted to get away from all the traffic. Also, this was a good cruising altitude.
Once the frequency was dialed into, I turned the OBS knob on the VOR Indicator so the little arrow pointed “TO” and the needle was centered. Below is a sample of a VOR Indicator. The “TO” and “FROM” are not showing. What you see is what it would like like if you were directly over the VOR station. See my previous post for what a VOR station looks like from the air.
When the needle is centered, that is the track you fly. If the needle moves to the left, that means you need to fly left because you drifted to the right and vice versa. The needle acts as the actual track and you don’t touch the indicator again until you reach the station.
Once we reached the station, and actually saw it on the ground, we flew over it. Right at the point of flying over the station, the “TO” flipped to “FROM” and I changed the indicator to read the new heading to Resnick airport of 037. Then, I turned the airplane to that heading.
Basically the idea is the same. You fly based on headings and what the VOR Indicator is telling you. At the same time, you use your chart and ground reference charts to confirm your heading. We decided not to go all the way to Resnick and to head back to Orange County. How did we know where we were, you ask? We just took the closest ground reference point and made a note of the heading from that reference point to the airport and then flew it. Easy. The hard part is that Yigal kept cutting the engine when we got close to the airport for simulated engine out practice.
Also, I learned soft field takeoffs. You need this when you are taking off from a grass or snowy runway. That is pretty straightforward…basically you need to set your flaps to 10 degrees and punch it like a normal takeoff. When you reach about 40KTS, you pull back just to get off the ground. Then, you use ground effect to keep the airplane about 20FT off the ground. When you reach climb speed of 70KTS, you pull back and climb, while putting the flaps back up in normal position. This type of takeoff is used to get you off the ground as quickly as possible because the grass or snow creates drag on the wheels and slows you down.
For next lesson I need to create my first flight plan for our cross country flight to an airport at least 50 miles away. Word.
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Sunday, December 10th, 2006
Hours - 18.3
Can you believe it? I was taunted the other day. Yes, that’s right…taunted. By who? None other than Bob C. You can see his taunt here. Now, you can say what you want about greasing things all day, but I pay particular attention when it has to do with landing in valleys with small uphill runways. Well, that’s Sky Acres (44N) in Millbrook for ya.
I have really have come to terms with the fact that I will be the only student pilot taking his practical having never soloed. The examiner is going to look over at me and say, “So, how did you like your first solo?” I am going to respond, “Oh, actually, I never have.” That should make for some good conversation. Hmmm, let’s see…10KTS on the ground with gusts to 20KTS at Stewart. We calculated a 40KT headwind at 3,500FT. The airplane was barely moving, but I’ll get to that later.
Back to Bob. Ah yes, I think I read a bit of a challenge in his last comment. Well, today, after I did the pre-flight, I walked up to Yigal and told him I want to go to Sky Acres. He has never turned down one of my requests, so why would today be different? That’s what is so cool…you actually have an airplane for 2 hours to go do what you want. If you learn something too, all the better. He looked at me and seemed pretty eager to do something fun today.
Before we left, Yigal gave me a rundown on navigation. Yeah, I should probably know something about that. We discussed VOR, the VOR Indicator, the radio settings and the GPS. That all made some pretty good sense. Why does everything always seem so much easier on the ground? You know, I could really be the best pilot if I just stayed on the ground. I could be one of those guys who just hangs around the hangars talking to the mechanics about VOR. That would be fun.
With that all done, I grabbed my bucket of Crisco and headed toward the plane. I was sure I would need that for later. We taxied to runway 21 and flew that airborne vessel off the ground. I turned into the downwind leg and kept climbing. I climbed to 3,500FT and then that’s when it all started. It seemed like everything we went over on the ground was a distant memory and now I knew nothing. I am sure I will get more familiar with it all in time.
We set the radio to the proper VOR setting for Kingston…117.6. I set the VOR Indicator. We started our way to Sky Acres. Due to the strong cross wind, I had to keep adjusting my heading until it was pretty set. We talked with ATC because we were in Class E airspace. I was pretty familiar with the terminology because I have been up at this altitude before. We crossed the Hudson River and saw Dutchess County Airport (KPOU). We were heading right for the VOR beacon. Right when the Indicator switched from “To” to “From,” we turned the plane to get a good look. It looks like a small white lighthouse.
Ok, on to Sky Acres to see Bob. I saw the airport only a few miles away. I descended and switched radio frequency to 122.8 and made a few calls to see what the active runway was…17. Ok, I had the wicked beast in sight. Bob was right, a nice valley right before the end of the runway and an even nicer uphill slope after that. Hmmm…should be interesting. I entered the pattern and did my best to situate myself in new terrain. It is so weird…you can get very used to your home airport very quickly. I turned base, final…kept going down. The wind was pushing me to the left. I went down, cut the throttle, flared and touched down. We turned on to the taxiway. Great landing! I will admit that Bob does have a more difficult airport to practice from. It has “character.” I didn’t want to get smart, so I left the Crisco in the back seat (kidding of course).
Yigal and I talked for a little while and then turned back on the runway for a nice uphill takeoff. On the way back, there was a huge headwind that made it seem like we weren’t even moving. I was boggled at all the ATC chatter and the navigation. I will get that, but it was a challenge. I talked a lot and ATC and I seemed to like each other. One time, I said “yes” instead of “affirmative” and they questioned that. I responded again with “affirmative” and it was all cool. We headed back to MGJ by going through Stewart’s Class D airspace. I made some more radio calls to ask for clearance to do this. All good. I entered the pattern for MGJ correctly this time and landed with a bit of help from the throttle after my airspeed got too slow due to the wind. It’s important to remember that your airspeed needs to be a bit higher when landing in the wind.
Bob, now that I visited your home base, I would like to invite you to my neck of the woods, just be sure to give a call first, so I can be there.
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Monday, November 27th, 2006
I told you I would let you know how I did on the pre-solo written test. I did well. My instructor and I discussed the test and I got everything right…maybe too right. I think they were looking for general ideas and I gave them every last detail. One good thing is that it pushed me to learn a heck of a lot, especially where to look for stuff (in the books).
This lesson I was half way hoping I would solo. Yigal was really eager to get up in the sky. We used up a lot of time going over the test, so time would be cut a little short.
We took off and did a few landings. Yigal had me practice a few go-arounds and showed me how to do a “Slip to land” or as Bob C. correctly put it, “Forward Slip.” That was pretty extreme. A forward slip is when you need to get down to the runway at a steep angle, for whatever reason…obstruction at the end of the runway or icing on the windshield. Basically, you apply complete rudder pressure to one side and use opposite aileron pressure for the other. This turns and banks the plane in a very strange position, but decreases altitude quite well. In other words, you are losing altitude belly first, kind of sideways.
We did this once and had to call it a day. Yigal said that I am officially ready to solo for next lesson. I am a little nervous.
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Tuesday, November 7th, 2006
I finally received the book, “Stick and Rudder.” This book was recommended to me from a nice guy I met a few weeks ago, named Al. He is a Private Pilot and we had a great conversation for about an hour on the topic.
This is supposed to be the “Bible” for any student pilot. Here is a description of the book from Amazon:
“In the early 1940’s, Wolfgang Langewiesche wrote a series of articles in Air Facts analyzing the various aspects of piloting techniques. Based on these articles, Langewiesche’s classic work on the art of flying was published in 1944. This book explains precisely what pilots do when they fly, just how they do it, and why. These basics are largely unchanging. The book applies to large airplanes and small, old airplanes and new, and is of interest not only to the learner but also to the accomplished pilot and instructor. Today, several excellent manuals offer the pilot accurate and valuable technical information. But Stick and Rudder remains the leading think-book on the art of flying. “
I will let you know what I think of it after I read it. Want to buy it? You can get it here.
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Friday, November 3rd, 2006
The other day, Bob sent me this great online resource for flight students. It is from the King Schools and is a video archive of tons of tips. The ones that interested me the most at this point in my trainer were…
Crosswind Landing Using Bank and Rudder
Explaining good crosswind takeoff
Landings-where to look during flare
Demo crosswind landing
Landing - adjusting the glide path
Tips for Good Landings
Ground Effect
…but there are many more for you to review. Good luck!
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Sunday, October 15th, 2006
I am really tired right now, but I wanted to get this up. I will explain in the morning when I write my post about today’s flight lesson. What a trip…
The phonetic alphabet is as follows:
A- Alpha
B- Bravo
C- Charlie
D- Delta
E- Echo
F- Foxtrot
G- Golf
H- Hotel
I- India
J- Juliet
K- Kilo
L- Lima
M- Mike
N- November
O- Oscar
P- Papa
Q- Quebec
R- Romeo
S- Sierra
T- Tango
U- Uniform
V- Victor
W- Whiskey
X- X-ray
Y- Yankee
Z- Zulu
A google search would tell you that the Phonetic Alphabet assigns a word to each letter in the English alphabet, so that letters can be exchanged easily and with clarity. Instead of saying “ABC,” you would say “Alpha, Bravo, Charlie.”
To elaborate, communication via radio is notoriously unintelligible. If you listen to ATC (Air Traffic Control) chatter, you’ll notice a considerable amount of background noise when a general aviation pilot is on the mic.
Note, as well, that 9 is “niner”, to prevent confusion with “five.”
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Thursday, September 28th, 2006
Today lesson was devoted to staying on the ground, having coffee and discussing some very important ground material. Yigal and I talk quite a bit in the plane when I am practicing, but the airplane in no way a classroom. You must take time to go over things that are going to be on the written test.
We went to Rick’s Runway Cafe with a VFR Sectional Chart that covers some of New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine. We also brought a plotter and a flight computer. For a good hour, we went over classes of airspace. This is pretty straightforward when talking about class A, B, C and D, but gets a little tricky when talking about class E and G. I got the concept, but need a lot more reading to get a firm grasp on it. We also went over how to use the plotter and the flight computer. The plotter is used to determine your heading (direction) and the flight computer is used for a few things. We went over how it is used to help you determine your actual heading, compensating for wind. Here is an example: say you want to fly directly east for 100 miles. Say there is a wind coming from the south at 25kts. If you take off and head directly east and continue on that heading, you are going to land east, but quite a bit more north than expected, due to the wind carrying you in that direction. The flight computer computes your heading, speed and wind speed, to give you the proper heading to fly. With this knowledge, you will “crab” (point the airplane south east, but remain flying directly east) the airplane the entire trip. Think about crossing a flowing river. If you get in a boat and head directly across, the current will bring you down stream. If your goal is to get straight across the river, you will need to point the boat up stream to compensate for the current.
For the next hour, we reviewed what I am doing in my Sporty’s Ground School. I gave him some topics I had covered and he quizzed me on them and offered some clarification on any questions I had.
I have to say, the DVDs and reading are very helpful, but nothing really beats face to face back and forth.
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