Diary of a Student PilotPart 2
Diary of a Student PilotTo shorten page loading time, this diary is divided into 5 parts. This is Part 2. The Table of Contents spans all parts. The parts are as shown in the following table.
| Part 1 | Preamble to Lesson 13 |
| Part 2 | Lesson 14 to Lesson 29 (including Solo!!!) |
| Part 3 | Lesson 30 to Lesson 46 (including first solo x-c) |
| Part 4 | Lesson 47 to Lesson 60 (including long x-c & written) |
| Part 5 | Lesson 61 to Lesson 71 (including Checkride!!!) |
| Buying an Airplane - the Epilogue | |
Great day. As normal for this week, the morning was calm but the wind picked up as the day wore on. DUATS had it at 2510G20. Pretty gusty but pretty well lined up with 22. I called Greg and he said it looked fine. Left the office around 4:00 but had a hell of a time because of construction on 81. Greg was just stuffing something in his mouth for dinner. I told him I'd wait while he ate but he said "nah, let's go..."
Since it was pretty windy, I suggested we go over to WBW for the T&G's since my friend, George Gross, had suggested it was a lot better there; less bumpy and a lot longer. Greg said he thought it was a good idea.
It was damned windy as I was pre-flighting. As Greg came out I said, "Greg, this is it, I'm gonna land it by myself today." As we climbed in, Greg said we were going to have a pre-flight briefing. He said, "OK, how are you going to do a good landing?" I said "By setting it up properly." He said, "How you gonna do that?" And so it went. Finally, he said "Lets go do it!" The whole time we were sitting there, the wind was buffeting the plane.
Took off from 22 and held the heading 'til after we crossed the river, then jogged a bit to the right to stay out of the AVP class D airspace. Crossed WBW midfield and turned downwind for 24 to begin a series of T&G's. This kid, Greg, must have minored in psychology. Very little touching of the controls and only a small comment now and then but lots of encouragement. Kept telling me to relax and have fun. For the most part, when I'd ask a question (e.g. "How does it look?") he'd respond with one ("What do you think?") I forgot the second notch of flaps about half the time and, each time, he waited 'til I figured it out myself. Still had trouble with the flare and keeping the plane straight after touchdown but kept getting better at it. Each time, he was putting the flaps up as I handled throttle and heat. At one point I said, "Let me do the flaps; pretty soon I hope I'll be alone up here!). He said "What's wrong, you don't like me?" I said, "No, I want to save the 18 bucks an hour!" I told him my goal was to solo in May. He said that shouldn't be a problem.
After one pretty good landing, he put his hand on the flaps lever (after I'd retracted them) and said "You've just lost your flaps." I said "What do I do?" He said, "Go land the plane!" So I did! Admittedly, he gave me a visual hint about slipping.
At one point, we did a full stop and pulled off onto 27 so another guy could land. When I took position again, he said he was going to handle the throttle to simulate a high density altitude summer day. He set it at about 2200 and we climbed out just fine.
Finally decided to quit and go home. Headed NW for a while to stay clear of the class D while we climbed to 4000 MSL, then headed up to look at the highway construction. Took a good look at Mom & Dad's house as we passed. Headed straight for Seaman's and 22. Did a pretty crappy landing. I always give myself something to stew about 'til next time.
As I left, Greg said, "I enjoyed flying with you today; it was fun!" Good kid. (Back to Contents)
Bad day all around. Really foggy in the AM. DUATS said < 3 miles in fog early but 4 miles in light rain for 9:00 (the time of my lesson), then reducing to 3 miles by 10:00. I drove up hoping I'd get lucky. I didn't. Sat around 'til 10:00 but the visibility stayed at 2 or less. Finally drove home after asking Greg to call if things improved and he was free.
About 3:15 Greg called and asked if I wanted to fly. My response was predictable and I hurried right out. Should have stayed home. Did about 8 full stops over 1.3 hours (actually, Greg did one of them to demo.) I just can't get the hang of the flare. Some of my approaches were OK and some were ridiculously high. Left very frustrated. I'm at the "I'll never get this." point. I feel like crying. (Back to Contents)
Well, better than yesterday, anyway. Nice day; appointment was for 2:30. At first it was quite calm. In fact, the first takeoff was from 22 and the balance were from 04. By the time we finished, however, it was a bit bumpy. Did a total of 10 approaches. One was a go-around 'cause I was too high. I could have gotten it down but decided it wasn't worth it; rather spend the time doing good ones! One Greg did as a demo. The rest were mine; some full stop and some T&G's. Definitely improving but still not award-winning. Flares are still a bit to much. I did all the radio work this time which made for an extra element to consider. One real bright spot. I've always admired hawks and love to watch them soar. At one time on downwind, I looked down as we were passing a hawk. Quite a kick! (Back to Contents)
Friday afternoon. Supposed to fly tomorrow but the weather's been bad and is supposed to be bad tomorrow so I figured I'd go up in this little piece of nice weather. Took 23E and started with some air work. Minimum Controllable Airspeed, power-off and power-on stalls. When Greg does MCA, he likes to hear the stall warning on constantly. If it stops, you have to pitch up 'til it comes back on.
After some of that, we started the old T&G's. This is really getting ridiculous. I just can't get the flare right. The difference between too much and not enough is minuscule in my opinion. I'm really getting sick of this...
When we were refueling, Greg said he didn't really get his flares right 'til he got his commercial license. I said, "What about the check ride?" He said, "You don't have to flare properly, just get it down without breaking the plane!"
I gave him my answers to the pre-solo written thinking he'd look them over at his leisure but we sat down and reviewed it together. Out of 85 questions, I got part of one multi-part question wrong. Theory's not my problem... (Back to Contents)
This was
more a lark than a lesson. We flew up to
Pocono Mountain (MPO) for their
fly-in. As I pre-flighted 23E, I noticed the front strut was collapsed. Brought it to
Greg's attention and he said it was NG. So, I pre-flighted 94609 which is a Cessna 152.
Man, is that thing small! Felt different for a while but then I got used to it.
The direct route took us almost directly over our house so I took a turn around the yard. I'd called Linda before we left and she told me later that she sat at the picnic table and waved. I didn't see her, though.
The fly-in wasn't very exciting. Weather was pretty crummy; periodic light rain and pretty windy. There weren’t lot of people there. We had two pancakes, sausage, OJ and coffee for $5 a head. The local RC club had a rally and were there in force. It was fun watching them do acrobatics. Around 11:40 we couldn't take the excitement any more so left for home. Rain started again and visibility wasn't great. Had a hell of a time seeing while landing on 22. Came in much too fast. Landed OK but had too much speed and the runway was wet go Greg grabbed the controls and took it around. Damn! Second (and last) landing was OK. I'm not a happy pup today. (Back to Contents)
Had a bit of a break between lessons due to a weekend trip to Chicago for the National Restaurant Association Show. The Chicago trip was nostalgic 'cause it was on Monday at this show last year that Jim Richardson and I had talked so much about flying. Every time I passed Grant Park, I was thinking about that day.
Anyway, Thursday was a nice day so I figured I'd better get back in the groove before I forgot everything. Made an appointment with Greg for 4:00 but got held up at the office and didn't get out 'til about 3:45. Greg was patiently waiting. Took 23E and did T&G's from 22. My flares are definitely improving but I'm not staying with the rudders. On about the third approach, Greg said, "OK, I've got the plane except for the rudders; that's your job." We did two landings that way, with me concentrating on keeping the nose pointed down the centerline. Big improvement. After one of the full stop landings which was particularly good, Greg said, "When you get clear of the active, do a full stop." When I did, he shook my hand and said "Great landing" I thought he'd jump out and was scared to death 'cause I didn't feel ready to solo. I needn't have worried; he stayed in the plane and we did a bunch more. Definitely getting better. (Back to Contents)
Beautiful Saturday morning of Memorial Day weekend. Since we were going up to open our summer cottage, Linda rode with me and sat in the car while I flew. Knowing how nervous she is about all this, I asked whether she wanted me to park the car facing away from the runway but she didn't. Winds were light and the active was 04 - good news! So, we started the T&G's again! I'm now feeling in control. One notable exception was the second or third which I really messed up and he had to help straighten out on the runway. I thought "OK, no solo today!" After that, things kept getting better. On one, he pulled out the throttle on downwind and said, "Yeah, these cheap engines do that sometimes!" I totally forgot what to do so he talked me through it. On the next takeoff, I said, "Let's do that again." and I did OK the second time. On one short final, I said "I'm too high for my taste, if I was alone, I'd go around." He said, that'd be the prudent thing but let's give it 40° flaps and put it down. Landing was fine. Pretty soon I was using more flaps when I needed which is something I'd always avoided.
Landing #10 was great and, as we were rolling out, I said, "OK, let's quit on that one." Greg said, "Nah, you can't quit on that one." so I firewalled it and went back up. On crosswind, I was thinking, "If I can get back up Monday and if the wind is OK, maybe I can meet my goal of soloing by the end of May." Then he said, "Are you in a hurry to leave and get to your cottage?" I said, "No, I can keep flying." Next landing, he said, "Make this one a full stop." As we started taxiing, he said, "About three more?" I said, "Sure, why not?" I figured "OK, this is it." but we kept rolling right past the building with no instruction to stop. I thought "Damn, I really think I could do it!" We taxied all the way out to the end of the runway and Greg said, "OK, I'm outta here; give me three." I said, "Don't talk to Linda, maybe she won't notice you're there." She’d said all along she didn’t want to know when I soloed. She’s sure I’ll kill myself up there. Strange twist of fate that I soloed on the one day she went with me!
WOW, I was about hyperventilating! I wasn’t the least bit frightened but I was very excited! It felt great to taxi out there alone. Up I went and around for a pretty good landing followed by a messy one. Came in high and hot, flared too high and floated along. Brought that to a full stop 'cause I wasn't sure how much runway I had left. Third one was nice. Felt like a million bucks taxiing back. Life is good!
Turns out, Linda saw it all. Drove back into town to buy champagne before going on to the lake. (Back to Contents)
Memorial day; 10:30 appointment. Winds were light and variable. Used 04. Greg came with me. I did about two landings, then 3 or 4 simulated engine outs. About that time a guy approaching the airport called us to see if we knew if the gas pumps were open. Greg told him to land and he'd be down in a minute. We landed and Greg said I should go solo while he sold the gas. When we got to the pumps, Bob Seamans was there so Greg stayed in the plane. Winds started getting pretty gusty and I guess Greg could tell I was nervous about it. Never did solo today. Damn. Still not getting the flare right. I was better Saturday than I was today. (Back to Contents)
Beautiful day. Left work early for a 4:00 lesson. When I'd called, Greg had said that he was free but both 172’s were booked. Suggested we take 609 (a 152). I asked whether that would be a good learning experience at this point and he said yes. When I got there, he said 23E was available after all but I couldn't solo in it; it was overdue for its 100 hour. I decided to take 609 in hopes I could solo in it today or tomorrow. Bad move. Sun was bright so it was very bumpy; we were all over the sky. Pretty gusty crosswind, too. Also we were using 22 which is tricky. Got a couple OK landings in but some were very bad. On one, I almost ran off the runway 'cause I didn't correct properly. Before the hour was up, I concluded we were wasting air time so I quit. (Back to Contents)
Fun day. Beautiful sunny morning and 10:00 appointment. Winds calm. 76F still not available and 23E still past 100 hr so no solo possible. Greg suggested that, rather than stay in the pattern all day, we should do a few T&G's at Seamans, then try landings at other airports. Sounded like a plan to me. Did 3 decent landings on 04. Third one was a bit high so I slipped it at the last minute; pretty slick and Greg was pleased.
Headed east for Cherry Ridge (N30) (I found it without help) where I did a full stop on 35. Landing was OK but I'm still having trouble staying on the centerline; drifted to the left. Next, went to Spring Hill (70N) and runway 5. Greg spotted this one before I did. Approach to 5 is a bitch; there's a ridge before it so you have to stay over the ridge, then get down rather quickly to a displaced threshold. Actually hit it on the second go; came in too high on the first and did a go-around. Did a full stop on this one, too. (I learned years later that the locals avoid landing on 5 and it's even closed for landings between dusk and dawn. Small wonder seeing as planes have been known to go off the end!) Next went to Mount Pocono (MPO) and runway 23. I found this one, too. Came in a bit high on the first one but got it down; this time I was off to the right and applied rudder instead of aileron to correct - STUPID! Did a total of 2 T&G's here, then headed home. With Greg's permission, did some sightseeing around the North Pocono area where I live. Back to 9N3 without incident; I spotted that, too. No problem landing but flare still not great.
What's bothering me now is economics. I'm over the $2200 mark and still a long way from my PPL. Should I be doing this? (Back to Contents)
Well, I'm still doing it so I guess it's OK. Called the airport about 2:00 to see if Greg was available. Bob Seamans answered and said Greg was up flying. He wasn't in the office but he said he knew Greg was coming down at 3:30 and was free from then on. I asked him to put me down for an hour at 4:00. When I got there, Greg said he had an intro lesson at 4:30 so we'd have to get moving. Did a joint pre-flight of 76F and were moving in a few minutes towards my old nemesis, runway 22. Did 4 T&G's with Greg constantly watching for the guy to show up. Made the fifth a full stop and Greg got out and told me to keep going. I did 16 more, solo. The wind was about 10 KTS and gusty. Started pretty well aligned with the runway but veered to close to a cross wind by the time I finished. Greg had said to be careful of the small pond just to the left of the threshold; said it had been trying to pull him in all day. (That’s a pond in addition to the lake!) Nice thought!
After about 1/2 hour, Greg called to ask where I was in the pattern. I said I'd just entered downwind and he announced backtaxi on 22; he was off for his intro lesson. Nice to know he has that much faith in me; he's leaving town!
Had a mixed bag. Some were pretty OK, a couple were go-arounds. On one, I bounced three times, then firewalled it. I'm setting up the approach beautifully but then still messing up at the flare. Still not staying on the centerline, either. About the third from the last landing, I saw a golf cart as I was taking off and saw that it was Bob Seamans and his wife, Karen. When I approached next time, he was at the end of the taxiway, obviously there to watch me. Oh, great! Lined up fine, then goofed it. Last one wasn't too bad. Bob helped tie down and they both came into the office. Karen is certain I'm not looking far enough down the runway. She says I should look all the way to the end. I'll try it next time. Bob had a lot of suggestions but said I was doing fine. It'll be interesting to see if he jumps on Greg for my inability to stay on the centerline. (Back to Contents)
Maybe a watershed lesson. Got an e-mail message from Karen Seamans suggesting that she fly with me. It made Greg nervous but since she’s the wife of the owner of the airport and a CFI, there wasn’t much he could do about it. Karen & I taxied to 22. She asked me why I didn't keep looking at my wing tips. I asked why since we were on the taxiway and far from everything. She said I should do it anyway and didn't know why no one had told me. Took off OK and then she took the controls. Things are so confused in my mind about exactly what we did, I can't put it down now that I’m at the keyboard. Used both 22 and 04 and did some figure 8's in between. Really threw me off. Also, I was very nervous with her there; much more so than when I'm alone. My pattern work was terrible; couldn't seem to get anything right. On one final, I was high so I started to slip. She said, "Who told you can slip with flaps?" I said "All three of my instructors, plus there were a lot of CFI's on the internet who recommended it as long as I didn’t have more than 20° of flaps." She said, "I disagree but OK." She said she'd watched me on approaches and knew I could do it; she just wanted me to relax and work on the landings. Her big point was that I need to look at the far end of the runway when I'm ready to flare, then keep looking there. She kept saying "Look at the end of the runway" over and over like a mantra. Guess what - it worked. Flares got better and, more importantly, I'm staying lined up on the centerline much better. She said she thought I'd forget where to look when I was alone so I bet her a dollar I wouldn't. After about 8 or so (forgot to keep track), she got out. By that time, we were using 04.
On the first solo landing (with her, Bob and Greg watching, no less!) I forgot my second 10° of flaps, came in too high and fast and DID forget to look down the runway. Terrific! Greg came on the radio and asked me to switch over to 22. Then I got it right and did several good ones. Thankfully, they were still watching.
Pretty soon, Greg came on the radio and said, "You're doing well." By that time I wanted to blow off steam so I said, "Wanna go for a ride?" He said, "Sure, if you're buying." so I picked him up and we went to WBW. Part way there, we decided to stop there for breakfast but then I remembered I was supposed to get home to spend our anniversary with Linda so I did 2 T&G's and we came back. Landed on 22 no sweat. Put the dollar and a note in the cash box for Karen. I hated paying the dollar but it was the bargain of my life! (Back to Contents)
Woke up to a beautiful day. As I headed out for my 8:00 appointment, I drove into fog. Called Greg from the car and found things were socked in at the field so I went home. He said he and the plane were free 'til 11:00. About an hour later, I set out again. As I got there, things were lifting but not so hot. I worked a bit on my do-it-yourself checklist, then I pre-flighted and we launched. We'd planned on doing controlled-field landings at AVP but weather was pretty close to minimums so Greg said he had "another idea". As I was getting in, I saw the hood and understood what was in store.
This was the first time I'd flown up through scattered clouds and it seemed strange doing so. As soon as we got on top, I put the hood on. What a weird feeling. There was no connection between the plane's attitude and what I felt. I'd read that, of course, but the reality was still a shock. Did turns and a climb up to 5500 MSL which is as high as I've ever flown. After the hood, he had me do constant-altitude turns. Took me a while to get the feel of them again since it had been a while. My stomach got a little queasy - another first. Greg says a lot of people have a little trouble when they come out from under the hood. I really need to work on these turns.
Headed back and did a few T&G’s. Greg says he wants my to set it down before the first taxiway on 22 or else go around. That really got me screwed up since I went from trying to hold it off to trying to get it down. Had one go-around and some pretty hard hits. I'm not feeling very happy. (Back to Contents)
Good time; just what the doctor ordered! It was pretty hazy when I got there but Greg said I could go but stay pretty close. I taxied out to 22 and, as I neared the runup area, I noticed I'd let the oil access door open! I had to shut down, get out, and close it. I'll put that on the checklist!
I'd planned on a few T&G's but there were workmen paving the new taxiway so Greg came on the radio and suggested I leave the pattern for about 1/2 hour so they could finish. Went a few miles west of the Nicholson bridge and did turns around a silo. No great problem since wind was very light. Visibility seemed to be getting worse so I called Greg and he said it was OK to come back to the pattern. Started an approach on 04 and, as I turned final, there was a piece of equipment on the runway. I was ready to go around when they pulled off to let me land. Repeated the dance a few times and then went west again and turned around the high school. Again the visibility got worse so I came back for more T&G's. By this time, the guys were finished. Did a total of 7 landings today. One was too high so I went around. The rest were pretty good. I'll have to get down a bit sooner but all were quite smooth. This was what I needed after the last lesson. As I taxied in, I saw some lightning; good timing. This is the first time I did the whole thing without an instructor near the plane at any point. (Back to Contents)
Once again, the nose strut of 23E was collapsed so we took a 609. The bad news is that we didn’t do the controlled airspace (again!) since we couldn’t use the headsets - there’s no intercom in 609. The good news is it gave me some 152 time. I need to get checked out in a 152; they’re cheaper and at least one is always available! I started by doing two pretty decent T&G’s. Greg decided we’d do some pilotage so told me to go find the Bradford County Airport (N27) in Towanda. Found it no sweat but that wasn’t a big challenge - head west to the river, then follow it while cutting off the bends. Landed there and bought a kneeboard. Cute little place with quite a bit to sell - they have some Sporty’s stuff for sale there, too. Coming back, I immediately picked up the smoke from the P&G plant so I could head right to it. In retrospect, you just fly between the smoke from P&G and that from Masonite in Towanda! When we neared P&G, I just looked at the sectional and guessed at a course of 115. I asked Greg what he thought and he said, “I don’t know, why don’t you try it and see what happens. Bingo. Dead on! Wind had switched to 22 and my approach was crummy. Came in low and slow. Finally went around. Second time, I thought I was high but Greg said I was just confused by the nose-high attitude of the 152. Right on this time. Pretty good landing but a little fast. Nice day. (Back to Contents)
Called Greg at supper time to see if he wanted to go night flying. I said I'd be up around 8:00; figured I'd get in a little solo time, then fly dual when it got dark. What a beautiful evening. Sky was clear with just a bit of cirrus and no wind. I was thinking of flying over the cottage since my son, Donny, was up there. Nose strut still shot on 23E so I pre-flighted 76F. Taxied to 04 for my runup and, when I pulled on the carb heat, nothing happened! Pushed it in and pulled it out again and it pulled right out to the flexible part of the cable; must have come disconnected. Taxied back and put it back away. This was the first time I'd parked between 2 other planes and I was a bit nervous but did OK.
Greg came out and we took 609. By the time we got up, it was starting to get a bit dark. We headed east and did some stalls and a power out drill. We got pretty close to the field I picked out before he put the power back on. I'd just suggested we head back towards Seamans when I saw a burst of light which turned out to be fireworks at Montage or the stadium. We flew down to the mall to see better. Good view of the fireworks and no traffic afterwards! :-)
Came back to Seamans and did 6 landings of which Greg did one to demo the different attitude of the 152. I tend to keep the nose high. I was having a ball and hated to quit but it was getting late and I had to get up early.
When we got back, he signed me off to solo the 152. Good night all around! (Back to Contents)
Return to
Jack's Aviation Link Page
Return to Jack's
Home Page