Remember that time I told you about me going up in an ultralight at Randall Airport in Middletown? Well, I have a short video clip of the ultralight pulling out of its parking spot and starting to taxi towards the runway.
I remember this event well. Hmmm…
This is another oldy, but a goody. These are some videos from the time Craig and I flew a Stearman PT-17 at Candlelight Farms Airport in Sherman, CT. yes, this is the same airport that the helicopter landed at in the movie, Mr. Deeds.
It was a great day. Unfortunately, I took these videos with my old camera. They are kind of pixelated and there is no sound. You get the idea.
Laura and I decided to go on a little trip. Well, actually, Laura’s sister Kim was getting married, so the trip was important. The marriage was to take place in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic.
I took so many photos during this trip that I decided I am going to break them up into a bunch of little posts. The reason for this is to give some information. Before we left for this trip, we had so many questions. Now, we have some answers. I just hope I can remember everything.
Anyway, the first part of the trip to Punta Cana was the airplane ride from Stewart International Airport (SWF) to Philadelphia International Airport (PHL). The second part of getting there was the airplane ride from Philadelphia to Punta Cana Airport (PUJ).
Now, I know there aren’t too many people out there who care about our airplane ride, but I did see some pretty neat things. Here are some photos and descriptions below…
This photo is of our takeoff from Stewart. We took off on runway 27 heading West. We took off in a Dash 8 Turboprop. The flight was pretty short getting to Philadelphia, but I had my camera ready in my hand. I was a bit leary of the turboprop, but I really liked it once we were on. Those props are pretty damn strong. The plane has nice pull for takeoff.
After we had some altitude, we passed over Walden, NY. I remember this town, because during one of my flights, I passed over and asked what that cute little town on the river was.
After passing over the Shawangunk Ridge, I spotted Joseph Y Resnick Airport in Ellenville, NY. I just thought that was a pretty cool photo.
Remember the trip Laura and I took almost to Frost Valley? Along the way on that trip, we saw the Rondout Reservoir. Here is a photo of it from the air.
We also saw the Neversink Reservoir from the air as well.
This is really cool. I have been waiting to post this photo the whole trip. It is the first time I ever saw live wind turbines (from the air and from the ground). Towards the right, there was a whole row of them, but the second photo didn’t come out that great. I think this was in Pennsylvania somewhere.
This photo was taken during our approach to Philadelphia Airport. I am not sure of the runway, but the final approach went over the river.
We took off from Philadelphia on an Airbus 320a. This was a pretty good plane. It is smaller than some other jetliners but flew very well. After leaving Philadelphia, almost the whole flight was over the Atlantic Ocean, so there wan’t much point of taking photos of nothing. We had to re-route three times due to the weather. We didn’t hit much turbulence. The photo above is one over Punta Cana (inland a bit). I kept seeing these sticks coming out of the ground and later realized they were palm trees. Also, I saw a bunch of white animals that I learned were goats. Punta Cana is a different place.
I brought my laptop on this trip and hoped to use it. The first time I had a little time to take it out and turn it on was while waiting for our flight out of Stewart. I thought I connected to the internet, but was brought to a page asking for about $7 to use their internet access. I turned the computer off a little agitated. I thought airports had good internet, not something I was going to have to pay almost $7 to use for about ten minutes. Oh well.
We landed without incident in Punta Cana to only be welcomed by a blast of hot air…
Hours - 33.6
The conditions were confirmed for me at the end of the lesson when Yigal told me to tie down the airplane with all three ropes. Breezy? Maybe.
This lesson was scheduled for 3 hours. I was supposed to go up for a cross country with Yigal for two hours and then practice solo for the last one. Well, let’s just say that plan didn’t work out.
I called the “Oh so accurate” weather briefers. Ummm, 8 knots of wind at 3,000ft. Good! Great day for a cross country to East Stroudsburg, PA. It was only 49.4 nautical miles away, but we would fly more than 50.
On the way to the runway, while taxiing, we waved to another guy and took a picture of his plane.
We started talking on the radio and agreed to fly in formation with him after takeoff for a few good shots. Most were blurry, but one came out good.
It was good to get some nice shots. It was important for me to get some pictures during this lesson because I have virtually no photo archive of anything that I am doing.
I had everything set up fine…the VOR, the frequencies…everything except the GPS. I wanted to fly by only VOR this time, just for practice. The GPS is very helpful, but there may be too much of a reliance on it. Well, I made it to the VOR station and changed course, just like I was supposed to.
I continue on past Port Jervis and kept with the Delaware River and passed by some beautiful land. I never knew it was this nice in Pennsylvania. I always just dismissed the state. I have no idea why.
Anyway, Yigal started asking me when I would know when I was at the airport. I told him I was aware of where I was because of the river features. There was a zig zag in the river and I was looking at it on the map as well as out the window. Also, I would see the airport. A lot of them are visible from 20 miles away. Well, as it turns out, the river feature I was looking at turned out to be the wrong one. Also, the airport was like someone’s driveway, surrounded by houses. I had no idea that it was that small. I flew right over it. Yigal kept trying to give me hints, like, “Oh, look at that big break in the mountian where the river runs through it” and “Check out that bridge.” I kept wondering what the heck he was talking about because the airport was nowhere in sight.
I was lost.
There were a few options. I could use ATC for radar vectoring, which is embarassing, especially when you are flying right over the airport or you could use your navigation equipment. I decided to use the two VOR instruments to locate where I was. I did find an airport and thought it was the one, but it had big “X’s” on the runway. Also, the runway direction was off. Finally, I found the little, tiny runway, hidden down in the woods. I could almost see Stewart from where I was, 50 miles away, but couldn’t see the airport I was right on top of. I decided to descend for a landing on the 30ft wide runway.
Oh, I almost forgot to tell you, the weather briefing was wrong. The wind and turbulence up there were horrible. A few times, I thought the plane was going to go vertical. My altitude was going from 4,500 to 4,900 to 3,900 in a matter of minutes. It was crazy. The turbulence over the airport was bad too.
We flew the pattern to come in for a landing. I was on final approach and doing ok. The trees were right under me, but that wasn’t a big concern. I came in for my landing and the wind took me all over the place. Yigal had to take over and land. That pretty much sucked. He wanted me to land at this airport, so I took off again for another one. This time, there was just no way…we were running out of runway. We made a go-around for another try. Success…I finally did it. If I was alone, I would’ve just flown back to Orange County without landing.
With that done, We took off to head back home. I did my stuff after a little tif with the Allentown ATC guy. I asked him to repeat something and he told me to listen up next time. If I ever meet him in person, I would like to have a short chat. From about 20 miles away, I saw MGJ and flew toward it, getting bounced around the whole time.
I came in for an easy landing on runway 3 at Orange County. Oh so smooth, until at the last second an unexpected gust took me to the right. Yigal landed the plane. I taxied back and felt like crap.
I have to say that I am getting very tired. I mean literally. I think the pollen in the air is making me sleepy. I need a few weeks off just to get motivated again.
Hours - 31.5
This was another good lesson, although unexpected. I was scheduled to practice solo at the airport on Sunday, but Donna called with an opening with Dan for Saturday afternoon. Apparently, all his morning lessons cancelled.
I took advantage of the situation for a nice cross country up to Great Barrington (GBR). Everything was pretty straightforward. I did just fine on all my radio communications (now that I have some tips) as well as the VOR navigation. It was a good time. We flew right over the Berkshires and past Catamount ski area to land at the airport for a very short touch and go…the runway is only 2,500ft long. Also, there was some turbulence while going over the mountains.
On the way back, I flew at 6,500ft, my highest so far. The mountains were pretty high, so I wanted to be sure I was high enough. We made it back to Orange County without anything unexpected, besides of course Dan pulling the throttle on me for an emergency landing. That went smoothly for my third cross country!
I think I will fly to Stewart by myself soon and then start my solo cross countries.
Hours - 27.6
I was sick last weekend, so I had to cancel my lesson. Yigal was sick today, so he only stayed in the airplane for a short while. Interesting lesson, I should say.
The plan was to get me up there to get my head going again. I felt so guilty about missing last week. It was the first time I actually called in to cancel (as opposed to weather, etc…). To make a long story short, we were going to do a few laps around the pattern for a few takeoffs/landings and then I would practice solo.
We flew the pattern once at MGJ, landed and then headed towards SWF. I botched the call when entering their airspace. No big deal…just fix it and move on. We wanted to practice a few touch-and-goes over there. The first landing was ok…the second was ok…the third was behind JetBlue. There were no delays today. I know all about wingtip vorteces and turbulence. I was told by ATC to expect turbulence and I knew to land beyond the touchdown point of the jet. Well, I didn’t get a chance to see the touchdown point of the jet because I had to extend my downwind leg almost over the Hudson River. I was over Newburgh when I stared turning base and then final. It was good experience for learning how to creatively use your flaps and airspeed. I came in pretty nice (I am finally getting used to how long their runway is) and started to flare for my touchdown. I figured I was in good shape because it had been a few minutes since the jet had landed. They were already off the runway. Just as I started to flare, I guess the turbulence from the jet drifted across the runway from the right and totally gusted me up. I couldn’t get the plane down. I was sideways and slanted. Yigal grabbed the controls and gave it some throttle. He handed it back to me to re-land. Man, what a chore…it was a mess. A good word of advice is to really wait a few minutes more than you think you should when landing behind a jet.
Now, that was enough for me. No practice in two weeks and then that, I was ready to head back to MGJ. We flew towards the field and Yigal pulled the throttle for some engine out landing practice. I did quite well. Came in nice and smooth for a nice landing. We did one more lap for a nice touchdown and he hopped out. Since I now have my endorsement to practice solo, I went up for a few touch-and-goes.
I really wasn’t nervous because I was pretty warmed up. The sweat was almost dry from all the fun at SWF. Well, I came in for my first solo landing and touched the nose wheel down first. Boing, boing, boing…I was like a little porpoise. I guess I have more experience than I thought because I immediately punched it for a go-around. Honestly, a student pilot really never thinks he has to use these techniques. Anyway, I successfully climbed and removed my flaps one by one for another try around the pattern. I was a little freaked out because I think I needed a breather, but you can’t do that while you are in the sky. I took a breath and came in for another landing. I corrected my mistake and made a good, smooth landing. I told myself that it was important to do it once more, just to shake any hesitation on my part. I did so and everything went great.
Well, since daylight savings is almost here, I am planning to practice twice a week, especially since an airplane is available much more than both an airplane and an instructor. Practice makes perfect.
PS - I found a great resource on all sorts of flying stuff here. It’s from Australia, but still relavent.
Hours - 26
This was a pretty good lesson. We got a nice start because the airplane was already cleaned off after Wednesday’s snow storm. Also, it wasn’t bitter cold, like the last few lessons. I really wanted to get up to Columbia County Airport (1B1) in Hudson, NY. I have had the navigation log finished twice now. I didn’t make a new one for this lesson because I wasn’t sure if we were going to go. Also, the winds, speed and temp were almost the same as last time.
We took off and headed for 1B1. I was using the Pawling VOR for navigation. I am pretty used the the area now, so there aren’t a lot of surprises. We made it just fine to the VOR station and changed course and headed for 1B1. We had a nice tailwind so our ground speed was 139KTS. Going somewhere with that speed will get you there pretty quickly. We made it to the airport faster then I thought. My communications were good, but my main issue is hearing things. Sometimes the airplane gets kind of loud while I am climbing, or someone’s radio isn’t clear…I just have trouble with it. My hearing is fine, but I don’t have the $800 headset with noise canceling. I got the $300 one without. That will be my next present for myself. I had to ask ATC to repeat themselves about five times during the trip. Good thing they were different guys each time.
Early on in the trip Yigal and I got in a spat because I told him I couldn’t hear ATC because he was talking…that’s why I made a bad radio call. He said, “Fine, I won’t say another word unless there is an emergency.” I told him he could talk, but he said I was on my own. It worked out well, because I learn better when I am put in a situation. I made all the calls the whole time. A few times I said, “What did he say?” Yigal didn’t give up. I had to ask ATC to repeat themselves…just as if I were in the plane alone. It was fun.
Anyway, we made it back to MGJ with a ground speed of only 89KTS due to the headwind. I descended for a straight on approach for runway 26. Smooth landing and all that.
Next Saturday I am scheduled to practice my takeoffs and landings solo at the airport. I sure hope the wind is calm. Till then…
Hours - 23.2
Another cold day for a lesson. This one was last Saturday morning. We used up some time cleaning the snow off the plane, but still got a good 1.2 hours in. I wanted to go up to 1B1, but that wasn’t going to happen…not enough time. I just can’t seem to get up to that airport. I really can’t wait for the good weather to come back. It seems like my life now needs warmer weather. I miss flying, hiking and landscaping. From my previous posts, you can probably tell that I like plants, shrubs and flowers. Oh well.
We hopped in the plane and did our thing. I climbed to about 3,500FT and headed towards SWF. I must say that I was a little razzled because of the cold and the snow. Also, my whole game plan had been thrown off, so I was in the middle of nowhere in my mind. This is probably good practice for what to do if an unexpected event arises while flying as pilot in command. Everything you do is good practice when flying.
Yigal was throwing things at me left and right. He had me head towards the Pawling VOR. Once I had that established, he told me to head towards the Huguenot VOR. Things were coming pretty fast. I tend to forget some things while under pressure, but I will get it. I was having a little trouble with the NAV part of the radio. I forgot how to refine the frequency after the dot…like 116.1. Then, he told me to land at SWF for a touch and go. I started to put in the frequency for Stewart, 121.0, but forgot to listen to the ATIS at 124.57. You need to listen to the ATIS before calling the tower while entering class D airspace. The ATIS will tell a pilot important information that would take up too much time for ATC to say every single time to every pilot. At the end of each recording, the ATIS tells you which version of information you just heard…like, “This is information Bravo.” The tower updates this information continuously throughout the day, so it is important that you tell the tower which version you heard.
I tuned in to the ATIS and listened to the information. Yigal started going over something, so I never got to record which version I just heard. I didn’t realize this until I made my radio call to the tower. I made my call, told them my position, my altitude and made a request for clearance to land for a touch and go. Right at that point, I knew I didn’t know what version of information I heard, so I left it off. Oh well. We landed for a touch and go and then came back for another.
After we were through there, I headed back to MGJ and entered the pattern just fine. Yigal wanted to land the plane because the runway was a sheet of ice. He did a good job, but I would’ve preferred it if he had asked me for some advice. I am rather good at these things you know.
In my previous post, I mentioned that I made a cross country flight. Well, one of the things that I learned on that trip was that organization is extremely important. I needed my sectional chart, a sharp pencil, a backup pencil as well as note paper. There are tons of radio calls and things you need to write down. ATC is constantly telling you frequencies and squawk codes. Everything needs to be neatly written down, because you need to repeat these things back to ATC as well as program your equipment. You will also need to refer back to them later in your flight.
Let’s just say that I learned a valuable lesson during this flight. I wasn’t prepared. I actually dropped my pencil on the floor once and couldn’t find it. During my last landing, my sectional chart slipped off my lap onto the floor. I think Yigal had a good time watching as I learned what was important during this flight. Experience has much more of an impact on a person than someone just telling you what to do.
So, with that experience behind me, I purchased a pilot kneeboard.
This is going to help tremendously during my next flight. Check out the description from the link above so you can get a feel for what this thing is worth.
Hours - 22
This Sunday, I decided that it would be nice to take a cruise to Waterbury/Oxford Airport (OXC) in Connecticut. We would depart from MGJ, fly to the Kingston VOR station in Poughkeepsie and from there, head straight to OXC. The round trip would take about 1 1/2 hours.
We took off and everything was great. I set up everything for VOR navigation and pilotage and headed towards the VOR station. I finished my navigation log earlier that morning. I made a few radio calls to the tower at Stewart (SWF) (my first checkpoint) and transitioned through their class D airspace. I found the VOR station just fine, changed my heading and continued to my next checkpoint, which was Rt.22/Pawling. This flight was really fun. I love VOR navigation and am actually getting pretty good at it. We crossed over Candlelight Airport in Sherman, CT at 5500FT. I looked to the right and saw the Long Island Sound as well as the island itself. You can really see a lot from that altitude. I also saw my destination airport 17 nautical miles ahead.
Things started getting a little tricky as I approached the airport. There was a bit of turbulence and I started my descent late. We had to descend faster than my ears would’ve liked. Also, I kind of screwed up my radio calls to the tower. My landing was even worse. For such a nice day, it was quite gusty at this airport. It must be in some valley or something. I came in sideways and had to correct by giving the airplane some throttle to re-land. We got down on the runway and taxied to stay ahead of a pretty good sized commercial jet. We took off before them and I screwed up my last call to the tower on my way out. Oh well…practice will make perfect.
The trip home was pretty uneventful. Made some pretty good calls to New York ATC and flew over Stewart’s airspace. I screwed up a radio call to MGJ, but came in and entered the pattern nicely for a good landing.
There really was a lot to handle on this trip and I was exposed to a lot. I am confident that my radio calls will get better in the future as I practice more. Yigal says that it is common to kind of shut down when things get hairy for students on their first cross countries. I guess so, but I am going to do better next time. This Friday, if we fly, we are going to PA. Till then!
