Twisted Fairytale
Retired Administrator
So, I recently started learning how to fly and have been keeping a journal. Here is what I have so far! I'll be adding an entry every time I go flying. Enjoy!
November 29th, 2014
My first flight! My instructor (Grant) and I went up and did some basic turns and maneuvers. We also worked on ground taxi-ing. He landed the plane and we only spent .7 hours airborne.
December 3rd, 2014
After having my first takeoff, my second lesson was an odd one - we did instrument training. I put on some foggles (which look like this) so that I could only see my instrument panel. I did some simple maneuvers with turns, dives, climbs, etc. In addition, I set up the landing and almost put it down right!
December 4th, 2014
My takeoff was simply awesome today. I didn't weave around the runway like I did yesterday. It was just a clean takeoff! We did some complex maneuvers like S-Turns, Turn-on-Point, and slow flight. I had to hold the plane about two knots before a stall, then recover. It was pretty interesting and fun. I honestly can't wait to go back up again. 🙂
December 6th, 2014
I did my first landing(s) today! The sky was overcast at 1200 ft, so that wasn't enough altitude to practice any maneuvers other than the pattern (for those unfamiliar with what the pattern is). Anyway, we flew the pattern about eleven times and he (Grant, my instructor) helped me land the first seven times. Then, I landed the last four! I noticed that my turns onto downwind kept me climbing, when I really need to be leveling off at 1200 ft. In addition, I kept wanting to pull up and gain altitude, not really wanting to point the nose at the ground. Hopefully, I'll get over that soon! I fly again on Monday. 🙂
December 8th, 2014
We did stalls today, and actually got to pull some heavy Gs. We went up to about 3,000 ASL to avoid traffic (which we still had to deal with). First, we did power-off stalls. This just means that you reduced the power to glide at about 50 KIAS (Knots Indicated AirSpeed) and pitched the nose up to hold altitude. I held the nose up until it stalled, pushed the nose down, added full power, and got back our speed. Then, for power-on stalls... These were the worst! It's the same, but you're pitched up very high. When it stalls, the airplane makes a left-spin as well, so you have to add right rudder and aileron. I couldn't get this down, so my instructor did a power-on and told me to let go of the controls, which he did too. The airplane spun once, and eventually leveled out after about 750 feet. Pretty fun, but scary.
December 12th, 2014
We started doing the pattern today, a lot. We ended up doing 12 take offs and landings. Not much to say other than I keep getting better at landing!
December 16th, 2014
I drove down to the airport and listened to the weather service on the way. We ended up having a 11 KIAS cross-wind (when the wind is perpendicular to the runway) with gusts of 18 KIAS, which I wasn't comfortable in at all. It was also above the crosswind component of the airplane. I called it off after the first landing and rescheduled for the next day.
December 17th, 2014
I regained my pilot status by doing the pattern about ten times with the last two take offs and landings without any help from my instructor at all. He didn't say "power," or "pull up," like he normally does! I'm getting much better at landings now!
December 26th, 2014
So I went and flew the pattern again today, about eleven times total. It was interesting because there was a Leer Jet coming in to land as we were taking off. The tower came on the radio and told us to take an immediate 090 turn (directly left). We were pretty close to to the ground, but the instructor took over and started a pretty steep turn to avoid this jet. Then, we had to land before the jet did as well, so... at about 1000 feet ASL we cut the power, did an extremely steep 180 degree turn with full flaps and ended up on final with just a few hundred feet before the runway. I was more scared of this than our power-on stalls! At the end, though, Grant gave me my Pre-Solo test to start studying for! That means I'm close to being able to fly solo! 😀
December 30th, 2014
I went down to the airport to fly today, but the plane wouldn't start. We postponed until tomorrow, but I still turned my test in!
December 31st, 2014
Today we had winds from 030 (NNE) and rose from 4 knots to 10 knots. It was extremely difficult to land, so we called it off for the day about 50 minutes in. Grant said he wanted me to solo today, but we scheduled that for next Monday after we practice some emergency landings and procedures. I don't want to be in the air with an engine out and not have practiced! I'm excited but also kind of scared. It'll be easy once I get going though!
January 5th, 2015
Today was my first solo flight! The instructor took me up to do some emergency landings and go-around's, then told me to land and take him to the tower. He got out and told me to take the plane around three times and come back. So I did! The plane was much lighter and easier to turn to the left. It was so exciting! Here are some pictures of me with the plane.
November 29th, 2014
My first flight! My instructor (Grant) and I went up and did some basic turns and maneuvers. We also worked on ground taxi-ing. He landed the plane and we only spent .7 hours airborne.
December 3rd, 2014
After having my first takeoff, my second lesson was an odd one - we did instrument training. I put on some foggles (which look like this) so that I could only see my instrument panel. I did some simple maneuvers with turns, dives, climbs, etc. In addition, I set up the landing and almost put it down right!
December 4th, 2014
My takeoff was simply awesome today. I didn't weave around the runway like I did yesterday. It was just a clean takeoff! We did some complex maneuvers like S-Turns, Turn-on-Point, and slow flight. I had to hold the plane about two knots before a stall, then recover. It was pretty interesting and fun. I honestly can't wait to go back up again. 🙂
December 6th, 2014
I did my first landing(s) today! The sky was overcast at 1200 ft, so that wasn't enough altitude to practice any maneuvers other than the pattern (for those unfamiliar with what the pattern is). Anyway, we flew the pattern about eleven times and he (Grant, my instructor) helped me land the first seven times. Then, I landed the last four! I noticed that my turns onto downwind kept me climbing, when I really need to be leveling off at 1200 ft. In addition, I kept wanting to pull up and gain altitude, not really wanting to point the nose at the ground. Hopefully, I'll get over that soon! I fly again on Monday. 🙂
December 8th, 2014
We did stalls today, and actually got to pull some heavy Gs. We went up to about 3,000 ASL to avoid traffic (which we still had to deal with). First, we did power-off stalls. This just means that you reduced the power to glide at about 50 KIAS (Knots Indicated AirSpeed) and pitched the nose up to hold altitude. I held the nose up until it stalled, pushed the nose down, added full power, and got back our speed. Then, for power-on stalls... These were the worst! It's the same, but you're pitched up very high. When it stalls, the airplane makes a left-spin as well, so you have to add right rudder and aileron. I couldn't get this down, so my instructor did a power-on and told me to let go of the controls, which he did too. The airplane spun once, and eventually leveled out after about 750 feet. Pretty fun, but scary.
December 12th, 2014
We started doing the pattern today, a lot. We ended up doing 12 take offs and landings. Not much to say other than I keep getting better at landing!
December 16th, 2014
I drove down to the airport and listened to the weather service on the way. We ended up having a 11 KIAS cross-wind (when the wind is perpendicular to the runway) with gusts of 18 KIAS, which I wasn't comfortable in at all. It was also above the crosswind component of the airplane. I called it off after the first landing and rescheduled for the next day.
December 17th, 2014
I regained my pilot status by doing the pattern about ten times with the last two take offs and landings without any help from my instructor at all. He didn't say "power," or "pull up," like he normally does! I'm getting much better at landings now!
December 26th, 2014
So I went and flew the pattern again today, about eleven times total. It was interesting because there was a Leer Jet coming in to land as we were taking off. The tower came on the radio and told us to take an immediate 090 turn (directly left). We were pretty close to to the ground, but the instructor took over and started a pretty steep turn to avoid this jet. Then, we had to land before the jet did as well, so... at about 1000 feet ASL we cut the power, did an extremely steep 180 degree turn with full flaps and ended up on final with just a few hundred feet before the runway. I was more scared of this than our power-on stalls! At the end, though, Grant gave me my Pre-Solo test to start studying for! That means I'm close to being able to fly solo! 😀
December 30th, 2014
I went down to the airport to fly today, but the plane wouldn't start. We postponed until tomorrow, but I still turned my test in!
December 31st, 2014
Today we had winds from 030 (NNE) and rose from 4 knots to 10 knots. It was extremely difficult to land, so we called it off for the day about 50 minutes in. Grant said he wanted me to solo today, but we scheduled that for next Monday after we practice some emergency landings and procedures. I don't want to be in the air with an engine out and not have practiced! I'm excited but also kind of scared. It'll be easy once I get going though!
January 5th, 2015
Today was my first solo flight! The instructor took me up to do some emergency landings and go-around's, then told me to land and take him to the tower. He got out and told me to take the plane around three times and come back. So I did! The plane was much lighter and easier to turn to the left. It was so exciting! Here are some pictures of me with the plane.
