Friday, April 11th, 2008
I feel like I am reporting breaking news or something here.
I was on my way down to Lowe’s this afternoon when I happened to notice a very large area of black smoke in the sky in Middletown, NY. I kept looking at it, but it was over the horizon, so I couldn’t see what was causing it. I did my shopping in Lowe’s and pulled out of the parking lot. On the way out, I got these photos:
I thought this couldn’t be a good thing. Anyway, I wanted to see what the heck was causing all that smoke, so I checked it out online at this website. Apparently, Lee’s Quality Tire in New Hampton was on fire. A worker dropped a gasoline soaked rag on a light fixture and the place went up.
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Friday, September 22nd, 2006
This lesson was scheduled after work, because I used up my days off for the year. Good thing they renew tomorrow. I am going to start taking half days, so I can take my lessons at about 1PM. I think that would be the best time to fly. Mornings are good too because a nice lesson wakes me up.
I am a little razzled after work, so I needed to relax a little before getting in the plane. I needed to get in the zone. I was sitting on Freedom Air’s couch chillen like a villain when Yigal walked in. He was wondering why I wasn’t doing to pre-flight. Ok, getting in the zone…over.
I did the pre-flight and we taxied to runway 26, which threw me for a loop. It’s amazing how used to one runway and one pattern you become in such a short time. The wind was different today, so we had to mix things up. I learned that this was a right pattern runway as compared to runway 3’s left pattern. That threw me for a loop too.
Ok, taxiing done. Run-up done. Radio calls done. Takeoff number one was smooth. This lesson was to go over touch and goes again. Incidentally, touch and goes are a little taxing on the brain. There is a lot to do in a very short time. The pattern is not that far of a distance and there is not much altitude to play with. I made it a point today to use more of the rudder and to start using the horizon as a guide more than the instruments. This works much better and gets me more used to flying the plane like I am supposed to. Imagine driving a car with your nose stuck in the speedometer, gas gauge and turn signals. Not going to work well.
There were about 2-3 planes in the pattern today. There was a really nice Columbia up there with us. I found the new plane I want. This sucker cruises at 190MPH. There was another plane that came into the pattern later on from the left instead of the right. His radio call that he was entering the pattern on at a 45 concerned us a bit…because if that radio call was correct, he would be coming straight at us. Yigal took over at that moment and tried to find out where he was. We couldn’t find him at all. Apparently, since he thought it was a left pattern, he was all the way over on the other side of the runway. No wonder he was no where to be found. That’s why I like having a good instructor…it’s second nature for him.
Since there was a faster plane up there with us practicing touch and goes as well, we had to practice some slow flight waiting for him to do his thing. I am not a fan of slow flight…it’s ok, but you really have to keep your eye on the airplane’s pitch and speed. Too much pitch or too slow of a speed, the plane can stall and you will need to immediately recover. It keeps you extremely alert. We also practiced “crabbing” the airplane due to some wind coming from the North.
We made 4 landings and on our last one, Yigal asked if I remembered what to do if I lost the engine. I said I did. Of course his next move was to pull the throttle to idle. He said, “Land it.” I completed the proper steps and started my final approach. It is very difficult to maneuver in slow flight…so I had some difficulty. I pulled up the last click of flaps and slowed the plane down too much. Ok, that would’ve been a landing in the grass. Another note to self: keep your speed until you absolutely know you will make the runway. Yigal gave the airplane some throttle so we were further down the runway and I landed the plane.
I have to say, using the rudder more liberally improves my landings by giving me more maneuverability. Also, using the horizon as a guide lets me focus more on flying the airplane more comfortably. It feels like I “own” it more.
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Friday, September 8th, 2006
There are two distinct sides to me…one that is aggressive and uptight (my teenage years) and one that is laid back and relaxed…just along for the ride. This is how I have trained myself to be over the years. I couldn’t continue to be uptight my whole life.
Well, with learning to fly, you can’t be laid back. Yigal acts more laid back than me, perhaps because he has over 4000 hours under his belt. This guy is good. He has the ability to look around and enjoy the scenery. One thing I really like about him is the way he periodically pulls my nose away from the instruments to look at the horizon or the colors of the trees (there are a few of them changing right now). He likes to remind me why I am doing this…for the fun and beauty.
Today we took up a Piper Cherokee. This is the same plane as last time. Smaller but pretty powerful because the engine has had some work done to it. It has had some exhaust work done and hemi-spherical (Hemi) pistons put in. The “Hemi” creates more compression, thus a more powerful piston stroke. I couldn’t grab any photos today, because there were people there already and we were ready to get going.
I am getting pretty used to doing the preflight inspection, taxiing to the runway and taking off. This time we had to fill the plane with fuel first. We did this and headed for the runway. I got off the ground at 65MPH and climbed at 85MPH. In order to gain speed during the climb, I pitched the nose down (like rolling down a hill in a car) and in order to slow down, I pitched the nose up with the elevator. Of course, we take off at full power. We climbed to 3000ft and banked 30 degrees to the left to fly crosswind of the airport and then banked again to fly downwind. We were practicing patterns and turns during ascending flight. This is really tricky, as I found out. First of all, I had to focus on my climb speed, then I had to focus on my bank degree, then I had to focus on my heading, all the while making sure that there was no traffic in the air. Focusing on 3-4 things simultaneously is tricky to say the least. Some of the things are opposite of what I am used to in a car, but it does get easier every time. Here is a photo of the airport from where we practice. Basically, if you are driving on Interstate 84 in New York, we practice in between the Mongomery exit and the Newburgh exit.
We practiced more maneuvering during slow flight, practice area operations, cockpit management, constant airspeed climbs, constant airspeed descents, airspeed transitions, turns to headings (of which I need work. I really need to get the heading indicator down) and flight at low cruise airspeeds. The real push of this lesson was Emergency Operations and landings. Yigal showed me what to do if you lose power in the plane. The first time you go over this, you feel very rushed, because you think there really is no time, but trust me, there really is time, especially if you are above 3000FT, like you most likely will be.
The first thing you do if you lose engine power is to control the airplane. You change your pitch for optimum glide speed of 75MPH. Then, you look for a field to land in and start heading in that direction…seriously. Once you have these two things squared away, and you are gliding and heading towards your destination, you begin checking the flight controls from right to left. You start with turning on the carburetor heat. You may have ice buildup if it is warm and humid. Then, you check your fuel mixture to make sure it is rich or lean. If you are coming down from a high altitude, your mixture is lean and you need to compensate on your descent and make it richer. Without doing this, you are starving the airplane for fuel. Then you need to pump your throttle to see if the plane isn’t getting fuel for some reason. After that, you check your key to make sure it is in and on and last you change your fuel tank. Maybe one tank ran out of fuel and you need to switch to another. This took me some time to cover, but Yigal assures me that it will be instinct by the time I am ready to fly solo.
We assumed that nothing worked and the engine could not be brought back. So with this in mind, we needed to land the plane. We headed towards the airport, using my new skills of descending the plane while turning to a specific heading. I did have a number of questions while doing this and Yigal had no problem being patient and answering the questions for me. Usually I feel stupid asking people questions because most people have an uncanny knack for belittling others. A sign of a good flight instructor is one who continues to encourage with patience and skill.
We followed the airport pattern for our approach to landing. This was my show, with Yigal’s hands at the ready. He walked me through step by step for a relatively smooth landing. Immediately after landing, we gave the plane full power for another take off, called a touch-and-go. I climbed to altitude and followed the pattern to simulate another engine failure from 3000FT. I flew the crosswind leg, then the downwind leg, then the base leg and then the final approach. This time I came in semi-smoothly and landed the plane myself.
We made a turn and taxied back to the runway for another takeoff. I did the same pattern and this time made my best landing so far. It’s a great experience being able to make a good takeoff and a good landing!
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