Diary of a Student PilotPart 5
Diary of a Student PilotTo shorten page loading time, this diary is divided into 5 parts. This is Part 5. 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!!!) |
Well, I made the switch - at least I took a step in that direction. Friday, I
realized that my solo endorsement was out of date. Since yesterday’s lesson was
supposed to start with a solo, I drove out to 9N3 after dinner for a new endorsement.
Asked Greg about the stall horn - still not fixed. Not a good sign.
Yesterday
was a wx washout - fog, snow, rain, etc. Today, the plane wasn’t available and, of
course, it was a beautiful day. After church, I called Clido to see if he wanted to fly.
Met him at the pilot’s club a little before 1:30 and started pre-flighting N2572U, a
Piper Warrior II. Things here are a little loose, too. There’s no checklist other
than the POH so I used that. The Piper Checklist isn’t as well thought out
procedurally as the Cessna’s so I think I’ll write my own. There was no fuel
cup. Clido said to just drain some fuel and look at it. When I did the right wing, I
didn’t like the look of it so Clido got a bottle for me to drain it into. All was
well so we gassed up and took off on 24. Climb out is at 80 KIAS - wow! Climb out went
pretty well but I had trouble holding airspeed - seemed to swing fairly wildly with not
much pitch change. There was quite a bit of turbulence. Headed west and just flew around.
S&L, turns, climbs, descents, etc. I asked for an engine out drill and was pleased
with the glide. One strange thing, though. IAS wouldn’t drop below 80 even though I
pitched up quite a bit. Eventually, the stall horn sounded and we broke off the drill.
Weird!
Eventually, we returned to WBW and did a full stop a T&G and a final full stop. First two were too low, third was fine. Settled up, then sat around the club shooting the breeze with some other guys - a side benefit. (Back to Contents)
The advantages of WBW - a midday flight! Had a relatively sane day at work so I called Clido and booked for noon. We agreed he’d go over early and pre-flight so I could spend most of the time flying. He called about 11:45 and asked if we could go at 12:30; Another guy had just taken 2572U and would be back by then. Unfortunately, the other guy started doing T&G’s and didn’t bring the plane in ‘til about 12:50. Then it needed gas so we only flew for 0.6. All we did was pattern work. Had a little trouble with the climbout; kept overshooting. Otherwise, no problems. Did an engine out the last time in and greased it. I like this plane! (Back to Contents)
Saturday was a washout as usual. Saturday night was the WVPC Christmas party. Sunday was a decent day. Actually started off to be magnificent but by lesson time (1:00) it had clouded up; ceiling about 1800 ft. Had planned on doing stalls but not with that ceiling! Did 8 landings, T&G, soft field, and short field After 8, Clido climbed out and I soloed for 4 more normal T&G’s. Nice day! (Back to Contents)
Quit work at 11:00 and headed for WBW. Clido already had the plane gassed up. Finished my flight plan and headed out to Easton (N43) to check out he location of my checkride. It’s been a while since I’d done a flightplan so the process took a while. Got goofed up on the departure; went too far south before turning on course so I was right of course. When I got to I-80 I was near the turnpike entrance instead of by the intersection of 115 so I turned left and hit my checkpoint before continuing. I would have just corrected the heading a bit but was really concerned about busting the class C for ABE. Was pretty nervous about that all the way down but found N43 without incident. At the FBO, Clido called the DE and set up an appointment for 1/11. Seems a bit soon to me but I might as well go for it. I talked directly to the DE for a while. I guess the die is cast!
I suggested lunch but Clido wanted to get moving. I wanted to go to UKT to show Clido the plane I’m considering; looked at it yesterday and it’s at least interesting. Didn’t bother with filing a flightplan due to the short distance. Maybe I should have checked with flight service ‘cause, when I got to UKT and called unicom to ask about the active, I found the airport closed! Funny since it was open yesterday. Here I was with a closed airport and no flightplan for home. I certainly could have gotten home without incident but Penn Ridge (N70) was only 5 miles away so I headed there to regroup. The scuttlebutt there was that a plane had gone of the runway at UKT. While I was planning the flight back, Clido looked at the wx on a terminal and said we had to get moving ‘cause weather was moving in at AVP. He said we’d file the flightplan from the air. In order to save time, I planned to overfly UKT, then pick up the original flightplan. Did that and it worked like a charm. Hit WBW dead nuts. What a beautiful day for flying! The wx never did move in on us. We’d done all the paperwork (paying, logbook, etc. before I remembered to close my flightplan. The guy in flight service made no comment but as we were walking away from the hanger, someone from WVA came out and told us the FSS was looking for us. Oops!
I’m not happy about my performance today; missed several things on the checklist with absolutely no excuse but sloppiness. Had trouble with heading and airspeed control while departing N43 and talking to ABE approach. Failed to hear several calls from AVP approach. Just sloppy!
I later sent an e-mail to Tim at Biplane Adventures at UKT asking what had happened there. Turns out a friend of his hand landed with the gear up. And I thought I had problems! (Back to Contents)
With only two days left in the year, I decided to take a few hours off to fly. Met Clido at 2:30, pre-flighted and left. Headed out to the practice area (interesting difference between WBW and 9N3...WBW has a practice area; 9N3 is so far in the sticks, it doesn’t need one!) and did turns around a point and s-turns. After the second s-turn, he had me break off, saying it was fine. I didn’t feel good about it, though; didn’t hold altitude as well as I’d have liked.
Did some ADF work and then some standard rate turns to headings he specified. Turns out he was checking out his girl’s house! Flew a couple of turns around my office, then pulled the power and landed beautifully at WBW. Clido said it was one of the best he’s ever seen. I have to admit it was great. Then I blow it by forgetting to retract flaps as I did the T&G. Damn!!!!
Did two short field landings and quit. On the second one, Clido took it on short final and put it on the numbers on 06. We were able to turn off on the taxiway and that’s close to the threshold!! I was sure we were short. Scared the hell out of me!
Went in the club and several of the guys were there. Chewed the fat ‘til it was time to meet Linda, Krista, etc. for dinner. There was some discussion of my buying all or part of a plane now owned by one of the members. I don’t think he’ll go for it but it would be nice! I really want a plane! (Back to Contents)
Finally! Missed the entire month of January due to an unending succession of low ceilings, wind, too cold to start plane and ASI goofed up. Had to postpone my checkride several times. Finally got all the stars to line up and able to go back up to re-learn how to fly. Got to WBW about 2:30 but I’d told Clido to plan on 3:30 so he was gone flying with someone. Ceiling was 8500, visibility 9 SM and winds calm. Pre-flighted 76U and taxied it up for fuel.
Finally got going shortly before 4:00. Went to the practice area to do stalls. Started out by neglecting to do a clearing turn - great start!. Took a couple power offs to get it right; the third was great. Tried 2 power ons but never did get it to stall, just mushed. Neither Clido nor I was completely confident in the static system so we decided to pack it in. We were about over Edwardsville at 4500 MSL when Clido asked if we could make the field with an engine out. I said “hell, yes” and pulled power. Amazing how the plane seems to hang in the air. Got over the threshold for 24 and did a 360 to loose altitude, then greased the landing. Had the plane parked and shut down when we decided to see what effect the alternate static port had. Taxied back out and took off again. Clido flew while I meddled with the valve. Discovered (by watching the effect of opening the storm window) that the valve’s in the normal when the flag is pointing to the right. Clido suggested we try a T&G at AVP. Did one T&G on 04, then headed back, landed and shut down. I was feeling really unhappy with a bunch of small errors but Clido insists I’m too hard on myself and that I’m ready for the checkride. Stopped at his house on the way home and discussed the stalls, etc. All in all, not a bad day but I really need some solo work. (Back to Contents)
Since I’ve been so frustrated with maintenance, I decided to get serious about the search for a plane. I’ve been looking at Trade-a-Plane for a while and on Feb. 1 decided to do something else. I’d been in touch with a woman on the net who said she’d found her 180 by calling every FBO within a 2 hour drive. I decided to write to FBO’s and started looking for addresses on the web. Found www.airsport.com which had a way of sending messages to a lot of FBO’s. Within an hour or so of starting to send the messages, I got a call from Tim Kennedy at Hawthorne Aviation at Queen City. His wife works at Hawthorne at ABE and they got a fax saying I was looking for a plane. Gave me a lead and I contacted the seller, Bruce Nash, on Monday. On Tuesday, I took a 1/2 day vacation to look at N8857N. It’s a 1969 PA28-140 in cherry condition in appearance. Engine time is only 1066 SMOH but the overhaul was done in ‘73. That’s 1/2 TBO as measured in engine hours but twice TBO by calendar time.
Next night was Pilot’s Club and we had a presentation by Morgan Brown and Jim Ryan from the FAA. A lot of the discussion revolved around “my plane” Hard to know what to do. (Back to Contents)
Spent from 8:00 to 1:30 in meetings at work. Linda called and asked why I was in the office on such a sunny day! I said there were a lot of clouds at 1000 AGL or so plus I had to do 2 performance evaluations. Finished the evaluations and the sky was clear so... Got to WBW by a few minutes after 4:00. Found I needed both gas and oil etc, etc., etc. Got off at 4:40 and flew to the practice area to do steep turns. Did several, then did a couple turns around my office. Returned to WBW to do T&G’s. There was a Tripacer ready to take 06 as I was on downwind. It quickly became evident my mic wasn’t working; I heard him but he didn’t hear me. I’d been using my headset for the first time in this plane. Picked up the hand mic and he read me. Plugged the headset mic in that jack and all was well. Hmmmm...
Hated to quit but it was getting dark. The mess ups I made today were...
All in all, frustrating but still fun. I still love to fly!!!!!! Oh, as to problems, the avionic switch is still erratic and the transponder is dead! (Back to Contents)
What a beautiful day! Called Clido from the car on my way to my 12:30 lesson. He said he was running late so I said I’d solo a while and meet him at 2:00. Got to the club and George and Doc invited me to go to Blairstown for lunch but I declined; the only thing more fun than going flying with someone is flying yourself! While I was preflighting, Ed & Ron taxied in, parked their Cherokee 140 and walked over to talk to me about my search for a plane. They’d heard that some folks were trying to talk me into something bigger and they wanted me to know they were very happy with their plane. We spend a lot of time talking and it was about 1:30 by the time I launched. Flew to 9N3 and spent a few minutes talking to Bob Klemens and Greg. Left and returned to WBW to pick up Clido. On the way in I was just about to announce that I was 4 miles north of WBW inbound when someone else announced the same thing!! I looked around and saw nothing but sky! Pretty scary! I announced and asked for his exact position. He said he was crossing the river and I was past it and therefore in front of him. I asked him if he saw me but he didn’t. Landed without incident at about 2:20; 20 minutes late for my appointment with Clido.
Parked at the gas pumps and asked for a top off while I looked for Clido. I caught him just as he was about to leave the lot with another guy. I said I’d solo if he wanted to blow it off but he said we could dual but would like to have this guy, Ken come along. Ken is a 1.5 hour student I said I didn’t mind if Ken didn’t.
Learned another lesson while getting ready to go. Checked the fuel levels and took a sample from each wing. Was walking away when Ken pointed out a fuel leak from the right drain valve; it hadn’t seated when I sampled it and I would have flown without noticing! From now on I have one more thing to watch for!
With three of us aboard, launched and headed to the practice area. Did my first hood work in this plane. Also the first time I’ve tried my Foggles. No big problem. After the hood work, did MCA, steep turns, flew toward the Hazelton VOR (HZL) and then to the NDB. Set up for left traffic on 28 at Hazelton Airport (HZL). When I announced crosswind, someone pointed out that they were now using right traffic. Had to break off and go around but then did the T&G no sweat. Funny, neither Flight Guide nor the A/FD said anything about right traffic! (Back to Contents)
Today was a mixed bag. I told Clido what I wanted to do to get ready for the checkride, tentatively scheduled for tomorrow. I knew we’d start with a cross country so I planned one and headed out. There was no wind so I didn’t do a correction. Unfortunately I forgot the magnetic correction! As a result, I ended up a few miles north of my two check points. Better be better tomorrow.
Broke off the x-c and did turns, emergency descent, and an ADF on Crystal Lake (CYE). At that point I felt like flying around a bit so we headed for Moscow, where I live. Did some turns around our house and headed for Seamans. Landed on 22, said hi to Greg and Bob K. and used the head. We then returned to WBW for T&L’s. That was the bad part. Soft fields were OK but the short field’s stunk! Better get a lot better in 24 hours! (Back to Contents)
The check ride was scheduled for today, weather permitting. I’d decided to take the test from Bill Standing who flies for USAir and lives at a private field (Gap View) in Mt. Bethel. This guy flies a 757 for a living and a J3 for fun! I’d expected to have to fly to Easton (N43) for the ride. Due to weather, I’d already cancelled the ride 3 times and was getting pretty tired of getting psyched up and let down! Last Friday, Bill called to see how I was coming along, reminding me that I’d said I wanted the ticket before my 50th birthday which is in 2 weeks. He said he was coming to Scranton on Monday (today) on personal business and could give me the test at WBW if I wanted. Sounded good to me; I’d save the flight to Easton and be flying on my home turf (er...sky).
It was really uncertain whether this one would come off, either. Weather forecasters weren’t in agreement as to what would happen with the weather that came in Sunday night. Bill said he was willing to meet me in either case and we could at least get the oral out of the way.
I didn’t sleep all night. If I had to pay for the flying I did as I tossed and turned, I’d be broke! Morning came and I felt like hell! Clido and I had planned to meet at the airport at 9:00 for more practice but it was still snowing at 8:00 so we cancelled. By about 9:30, I figured I’d go down and get psyched for the oral, anyway. Going down, the sky started to look pretty good!
By the time I got there, it was damned good so I pre-flighted and launched. Did a total of 5 short field landings, not one of which was award winning! Did one go-around since it occurred to me I’d never done one in this plane!
Taxied to the pumps and topped off, then got permission to leave it on the ramp while I had lunch and did the oral. By this time, it was close to CAVU! Starting to look like this might actually happen! (Back to Contents)
Talk about anxiety! Bill was to meet me at the Pilot’s Club at 1:00 but didn’t get there ‘til about 1:30. By that time, I had the carpet worn out! Fortunately, Hank Ward, one of the club members, was there to keep me from slitting my wrists! When Bill came, Hank left.
Bill was great! He immediately put me at ease. He said his job was to see if I could fly, not to trick me into doing something wrong.
After the paperwork and a long explanation of what we’d be doing, we started the oral. He said, “Don’t think of this as a test; we’re just two guys talking about flying.” He asked a lot of questions and expected me to answer correctly but was so relaxed about it that I did fine. Lord knows I’ve studied the stuff enough; I was just worried I’d clutch and forget my name or something!
Eventually, he said, “Finish your flight plan and let’s go flying!” My heart stopped a bit, I think! I called the FSS and got my briefing, then finished my plan.
As I started the preflight, Bill was standing back a bit. I asked whether he wanted me to explain what I was doing and why. He said, “No, I’m justa passenger.” I said, “I was told you’d want to know whether I knew what I was looking for or just going through the motions. He said, “Believe me, I can tell!” As I was doing it, he even gave me some additional things to look for; things none of my 4 CFI’s have mentioned!
We eventually launched and started on the x-c. He asked for a short field takeoff . I did a real nice one and he said, “Wow, that was great!” Nice start! Headed out for LNS. At the first checkpoint I was a tad South. In retrospect it was because of my 45° departure from a takeoff on 24. Corrected and continued on ‘til I sighed HZL, my second checkpoint, in the distance. At that point he said, “Where are we on the sectional?” I showed him and he said, “Right. Now, there’s MPO, take me there.” I determined a course and started out on it. He said, “That’s fine but notice that there’s a VOR in almost a straight line behind it; give it a try.” I set off to the VOR, then he asked me to take him to the Wilkes-Barre VOR instead.
Then we did hood work, MCA, steep turns, stalls, and an emergency descent. We worked our way over to the west side of the valley for ground reference and engine out.
Eventually, we headed back to WBW for pattern work and it was over! Put the plane away, did the paperwork and after about $6,000, 398 landings, 357 calendar days, 99.3 flying hours, 5 airplanes, 4 instructors, 2 FBO’s and one great DE, ......... I’M A PP-ASEL!
What a great experience. Through the whole thing, he was checking me out but also giving me tips on how to improve further. This is a great guy! What I’d thought of as a nightmare was a dream come true!
Now I can go learn how to fly! (Back to Contents)
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