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Flying

First Solo

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Wow!  Solo flight… We woke to a beautiful sunny calm morning at KCQM.  We drove out to the hanger in the early morning light.  The plane sat quietly on the smooth concrete floor of the hanger waiting for its next trip into the skies.  After the hanger door was opened and the fresh air circulated the inside of the hanger I began my preflight.  This routine task before every flight is one of safety, but I aslo enjoy it because it allows me to get my hands on the plane.  It really is amazing how these things are put together and that all the science and engineering enables them not only to fly, but to do it so well.  After my walk around was complete and I had ensured the fuel was clean, and that there was plenty of oil we pushed the plane out of the hanger.  We had only flown a couple of hours the day before on a full tank of gas, and a dip check showed we had plenty of fuel for some pattern work so we skipped fueling up.  We were planning on going for a cross country after doing some pattern work so we decided to wait to top off the plane until we had finished our local flying.  So we hopped in the plane and I did my “Flow” which is a procedure that takes me through the pre start check list.  By doing the same flow every time the goal is to get my muscle memory to take me through the steps helping me to not forget something on the list.  After this was complete and a couple of shots of prime and a shout out the window to “clear prop” I fired the engine up.  After an immediate check for oil pressure and a little time to warm up we slowly taxied out to the runway.  What little wind there was that morning was favoring runway 31.  So we took off and started our pattern work for the morning.

Everything went well.  My climb outs were smooth, my turns were coordinated, and I was doing a nice job of hitting my designated airspeeds on decent.  We did a couple of landings and practiced a go-around.  As we were coming in to land on our final landing before heading back to the pumps to fill up for our cross country we were just touching down when a deer scampered out onto the runway.  It was a tense moment where the decision to attempt a go-around or just stay off the power and try to miss the dear was quickly weighing itself out in my mind.  My gut was to try the go-around, but my dad (CFI) quickly told me to stay off of the power.  Since we had already touched down he wasn’t sure we would be able to clear the deer if we did try to fly over it.  It turned out that the deer had plenty of time to get out of our way, and we were able to slow down and taxi back to the pumps.

I shut down the plane and was about ready to hop out and start going through the process of filling up the plane when my dad said “Do you want to take it around on your own?”.  I replied “sure”.  He asked for my medical and my log book to do the required paperwork for such an adventure, then got out the handheld radio from the plane and tuned it to a different radio frequency that we set on the other comm on the plane.  This would allow me to hear him as well as other traffic incase he needed to give me some guidance.  He pulled his headset out of the dash, and made sure it was stowed safely where it wouldn’t bounce around during the flight, told me to watch my airspeeds, keep my turns coordinated, and watch out for deer.

As you can imagine my heart was thumping a little louder than usual.  My mind was racing trying to assess all of the things I would need to have actively processing in my brain over the next several minutes.  He closed the door and stepped away from the plane and headed over to the side of the runway.  This is where things really start to stand out.  In a Cessna 172 there isn’t a ton of excess space.  I immediately notice a void to my right where I always used to be able to feel if not sense my dad sitting there.  For the first time I had to reach over and lock his door from the inside.  Something I now needed to do as the sole person in the plane.  Even though we had just been in the air, I went back through my flow.  I reached down and touched the fire extinguisher, up to the trim tab checking that it was set for takeoff, on to the mixture pushing it all the way in.  I went through the rest of the flow and it was time to start the plane and head out for my first solo flight.

The plane fired right up and after a check for oil pressure I slowly started to taxi from the pump.  I did a radio call that I was to taxi via alpha to runway 31.  On my way to the runway I passed my dad standing with his radio on the side of the field.  I got to the edge of the runway and looked each direction as I did my radio call announcing that I was entering runway 31 preparing for takeoff.  A few moments later with the throttle all the way into the firewall I was reaching 55 knots and just beginning to lift off the ground.  WOW!!!  The plane just seemed to rocket into the sky climbing out much quicker than it had ever before.  It was a couple hundred pounds lighter without my dad in there and it was noticeable.  It wasn’t long until I had reached 1800 feet and was starting my cross wind turn.  As I was making my turn I kept an eye on my DG (Directional Gyro) to see when 31 was out the side of the airplane indicating I was perpendicular to the runway, at which point I lifted the wing and looked for traffic and to confirm my location in relation the runway.  I then started my turn to down-wind still climbing out at 700 fpm.  Once at 2300 ft I leveled off the plane and since I was half way down the field on my down-wind leg I pulled the carb heat in preparation for landing as part of my CGUMPS flow.  When I was even with my touch down point I pulled the power back and kept the plane level which bled off some of my airspeed and I applied the first notch of flaps.  I was maintaining my airspeed and watching for traffic while keeping an eye on the runway as I started my base turn and dropping another notch of flaps.  Once again watching my DG in the turn to see when 31 would be out the side of the aircraft.  I looked, and continued my turn to final as the runway was coming into view in the windshield.  Coming in on final I was maintaining my airspeed with the stick and lining my self up to the runway with my feet and adjusting the power to ensure I’d make the runway.  Once I knew I could clear the trees at the end of the runway the last bit of flaps were dropped.  As I came into the runway I rounded out my decent, and flared the plane as it smoothly touched down with a squeak of the tires.  My first solo landing.  I survived, the plane survived, and not only that, the landing was great.  I back taxied down the runway and did it all over again two more times.  The next two landings were not as graceful as the first one, but the first one was really smooth and hard to beat.

After my three take offs and landings I taxied back to the pump where I met up with not only my dad, but Erin happened to stop by and was there to witness my first solo flight.  It was a great feeling and look forward to continuing to learn to become a private pilot.

That evening a first solo tradition was acted out at home.  In days long ago flight instructors were giving lessons in smaller airplanes that had only two seats, one in front of the other.  It was typical for the student to sit in the front and the instructor to sit behind.  In the days prior to aviation headsets the instructor would tug on the shirt tail of the student to get their attention during flight.  Once the instructor felt the student was good enough to fly on their own they would cut off their shirt tail symbolizing the student didn’t need the instructors tugs any longer.

Music

Intro:

Dan Tharp

Website: http://www.dantharpmusic.com

Song: Kodi

Show:

Dan Tharp

Website: http://www.dantharpmusic.com

Song: Beth

Flying

More time in the left seat

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My last flight in the left seat was on June 3rd.  19 days later waking up at 5:30 AM in search of calm skies my Dad (CFI) and I head out to the Cook airport (KCQM).  This would be my fourth instruction flight.  The sun was just making its way into view as I started my preflight inspection of the Cessna 172P.  I feel like I’ve got the hang of the preflight.  I check a quadrant of the plane, then refer to the checklist to ensure I’ve hit everything on the list.  We typically don’t like to leave the plane in the hanger completely full of fuel so we usually fill it up before we go out flying and then put it away partially full.  This prevents the expansion of fuel from leaking out onto the floor of the hanger.  So the routine has been to open the hanger door, preflight the plane, then taxi over to the pumps to fill up before our flight.

Taxing is taking me a bit to get used to.  Getting the fine control steering with my feet has been slow going for me.  Also since the breaks are applied by tipping the pedals forward I feel like I need to have my heels off the floor so the balls of my feet are just below the top of the pedal which allows me to apply the breaks more easily.  This however is a little uncomfortable as I’m having to hold my legs up there virtually unsupported.  As soon as I take off though I drop my heels down on the floor so the balls of my feet are directly on the pedal and as breaking in the air is pointless.  🙂

We have been working on some short field and soft field takeoffs as well as normal takeoffs.  These differ based on flap settings, angle of attack held while still on the ground, and how quickly you get the plane of the ground.  Once in the air if on a soft field takeoff you keep the plane in ground effect until the plane has gained enough airspeed to safely ascend.  For those of you who are unfamiliar with ground effect it is phenomenon where the airplane gets increased lift from a buffet of air being compressed between the earth and the ground.  This will allow and airplane to fly with a lower airspeed than usually required by the aircraft.  This effect can be experienced within the fist 20 feet of liftoff.  So by using this to your advantage you can lift the plane off of the soft takeoff surface even before the plane really wants to fly.  You can then hold the airplane in this buffeted area while the plane picks up speed.  Once you’ve reached your normal liftoff speed you can then pull back on the stick and climb on out.  With a short field take off you are theoretically trying to clear a 50 ft obstacle at the end of the runway like a stand of trees you may find in some back woods runway.  With these takeoffs you use a speed recommended for your aircraft which produces the best altitude gain over distance traveled.  Both of these types of takeoffs are preformed with one notch of flaps down.

Once we have arrived at our practice location we work on clearing turns, 30 and 45 degree bank turns, and slow flight.  I’m still finding it a bit difficult to make those bank turns and maintain the same altitude throughout the turn.  I am able to compensate during the turn to where I usually end up close to the same altitude when I get back to the starting point, but I am oscillating up and down throughout the turn.  Part of it is the different back pressure needed between a turn to the left and a turn to the right.  I just need to do more of them so I can get a muscle memory for what is required for each turn.

Now on to landings…  Boy oh boy.  With my first impression I want to compare this to riding a unicycle and juggling chainsaws.  You have to actively use all of your limbs during this phase of flight.  I know there is a sense I have’t tapped into yet that tells you when the plane is about to settle.  I’m struggling with determining when to round out the descent and when to flare before landing.  I do know the plane has an amazing ability to float down the runway.  My dad somehow always seems to know right before the plane wants to settle and either begins the flare or has me apply a touch of power.  I hope to find this sense sometime soon.

The flying has been fun.  I love the opportunity to learn with my dad.  He’s a great teacher, and very patient.  I know he loves flying, and I hope he is enjoying the time we get together as much as I am.

Can’t wait for my next flight