Don't have much time today, so just a quick post of SOME of the things I need to remember/add to my flow:
More landing practice!
Just some things I need to remember:
Pre-takeoff flow:
-elevator trim
-mixture rich
-appropriate lights
-final clear
-runway clear
Lining up/takeoff roll:
-heels on the floor
-throttle forward
-airspeed alive (after pushing stick forward)
-instruments in the green
-pull back stick around 55MPH
Post-landing flow:
-mixture lean for taxi
-carb heat cold
-elevator trim
-lights
-radios set
Thursday, August 11, 2016
Wednesday, August 3, 2016
(17.7) 8/2/2016
After fueling up and preflighting, we hopped in.
"Gross"
"Whats up?"
"The dude before me was realllly sweaty"
"HAHA! Yeah, when he got out of the plane, I noticed that his back was wet, all the way down to his pants"
Part of flying club planes, I guess >:| Started Snoopy up, and made the radio calls to taxi for closed traffic. Today was the first major day of landing practice, a day I've been excited about for a long time. It's funny that going around in circles repeatedly is fun, but variations in wind conditions, other traffic in the pattern, and other variables make each approach and landing feel different. It's almost like a video game where you hold yourself to standards of perfection, and where greasing the landing feels like magic.
I got 7 in today, and even one after the sun had set. That felt nice because in a Citabria, the instructor sits in back and has little vision out of the front of the plane. The back seat person has to rely on peripheral vision, which becomes worse with darkness. So they're trusting you a lot as it gets dark. Anyway, there was a slight right crosswind, but nothing too crazy. I want to get good at landing tailwheel planes in harder conditions, consistently.
A nice bonus at KRHV is that on 31L, tower often lets you back taxi to take off again, if traffic in the pattern is light. This saves a bit of time! I landed on 31L three times and 31R four times, so I got a little bit of experience doing left and right traffic patterns, too. It was a nice lesson.
A few things to note:
1) For left traffic pattern, you need little-to-no left rudder on the climb out turns. I skidded a bit because I was adding some left rudder, out of habit.
2) During the turns, watch the nose attitude. Keep constant airspeed (in climb or descent)
3) Don't overshoot the runway on approach (due to the parallel runways at KRHV), but also don't undershoot the runway.
4) Look down the whole length of the runway on downwind, so that you maintain parallel course with the runway. Watch out for the misleading grassline on the runway at KRHV. It tapers into the runway, which can skew perception of how "parallel" you are.
5) Stay on the center line on approach!
6) Be patient in the round out/flare! Slowly ratchet the stick back to slow down, and when the wheels touch in the stalled configuration, pull the stick all the way back to plant her on the ground. Dance on the rudders to keep her going straight. My first two landings were bouncy, but the last five had little bounce. If you do have a small bounce, repeat the ratchet back and planting steps. If it's a big bounce, power out of it and go around.
Practice practice practice.
---
Also, I've been trying a new strategy for my evening lessons: Wake up at 5:50AM, get ready, and then drive down to the San Jose Caltrain Station in time to catch the 6:45AM train. I get to work at 7:45AM, then leave to catch the bullet train at 4:33PM to make it down to my car by 5:40PM. Twenty minute drive, and I'm at my 6PM lesson! It worked well today, so I'm going to try it again tomorrow.
It sure beats the 2 hour drive down from SF during traffic, but fingers crossed that I don't have to deal with any Caltrain SNAFUs anytime soon.
Wednesday, July 27, 2016
(16.4) 7/26/2016
Hell yeah. Passed Stage Check 1!
After a SNAFU this weekend, I was a little nervous. Basically, both lessons got cancelled because I had to ground both planes for separate issues. I wanted some extra practice before today, but on the plus side, I learned a lot about Citabria systems.
Why Sharkie was a little bitch: During my preflight, I noticed that the #2 cylinder intake was leaking oil at it's base, so I traced it to a loose connection at a bracket mounting the #2 intake to the cylinder. Jostled the bracket and it moved. Dammit. Jostled the intake pipe and it moved. SIGH. Sharkie's grounded. On the plus side, one of the check ride instructors came by and congratulated me on my preflight.
Why Snoopy was a little bitch: After visiting my sister and nephew who live nearby, I came back for lesson 2 of the day. While preflighting, Snoopy's beacon wasn't working. ARGH. Radio out too. Thought process: 1) I'm cursed and 2) the battery is fully discharged. We tried hand starting it and it started right up, but the ammeter didn't show charging so the initial thought was that there was an alternator issue. Snoopy's grounded too.
I ate pie and ice cream for both lunch and dinner that day. #adulting.
---
So yeah, I was a little nervous, given my luck. I woke up a little earlier and got to the club around 7:20am to check out Sharkie. Things looked good and everything was tight.
"I got this."
The chief instructor I was doing my stage check with came by as scheduled at 8, and we went through the ground portion of the stage check. Super knowledgeable and an airplane owner too, so we talked a lot about system differences between the Citabrias, his 120, and our 180. Really cool guy. Everyone I meet at this club seems to be "our people".
After I did a second, more thorough preflight than the quick look I took earlier this morning, we hopped in the plane. He had a coffee cup in his hand, and I asked if part of the test was to make sure it didn't spill in a steep turn. He laughed :)
Ground work all went well, and traffic in the pattern was light so we were off quickly. All the maneuvers went really well, accept for one steep turn to the left where I lost about 100 feet. I fixed it on the steep turn to the right though, and he said I had great altitude control. I also pitched the nose forward a little too hard in the power off stall, but he said it wasn't terrible. I got away with things on the ground reference maneuvers because the wind was so light, so I definitely want more practice in stronger wind conditions.
Over UTC, he asked me how much landing practice I had.
"I've been talked through it several times and done most of the approaches recently, but Batelle usually helps with the flare."
"Well, you'll do everything this time and I won't touch anything, but I'll talk you through things if I notice you need any corrections".
Wut. Okay.
The approach was perfect, but I came in faster than usual and not in a full stall configuration. The straight in approaches from UTC are tricky for me because I don't have the full pattern to work with. Unintentional wheel landing (it wasn't hard, but I didn't like that it wasn't intentional). Pulled the stick back and touched the tail to the ground.
"That was okay, but you were a little fast. Have time for another?"
Always.
Second one went a lot better. We worked the pattern, and came in full stall configuration for a three point landing. He said I was good at keeping her straight.
He had me post-flight things, and we went back to the club office. Logbook signoff happened, and he said I flew really nicely. Alright alright, I'll stop gushing. I'm just happy I made my instructor look good. She's really good. Texted her the good news, and we went back and forth about how things were at Oshkosh. Apparently, it's super busy this year.
That's all! To more landing practice and safe landings :)
My mini celebration:
After a SNAFU this weekend, I was a little nervous. Basically, both lessons got cancelled because I had to ground both planes for separate issues. I wanted some extra practice before today, but on the plus side, I learned a lot about Citabria systems.
Why Sharkie was a little bitch: During my preflight, I noticed that the #2 cylinder intake was leaking oil at it's base, so I traced it to a loose connection at a bracket mounting the #2 intake to the cylinder. Jostled the bracket and it moved. Dammit. Jostled the intake pipe and it moved. SIGH. Sharkie's grounded. On the plus side, one of the check ride instructors came by and congratulated me on my preflight.
Why Snoopy was a little bitch: After visiting my sister and nephew who live nearby, I came back for lesson 2 of the day. While preflighting, Snoopy's beacon wasn't working. ARGH. Radio out too. Thought process: 1) I'm cursed and 2) the battery is fully discharged. We tried hand starting it and it started right up, but the ammeter didn't show charging so the initial thought was that there was an alternator issue. Snoopy's grounded too.
I ate pie and ice cream for both lunch and dinner that day. #adulting.
---
So yeah, I was a little nervous, given my luck. I woke up a little earlier and got to the club around 7:20am to check out Sharkie. Things looked good and everything was tight.
"I got this."
The chief instructor I was doing my stage check with came by as scheduled at 8, and we went through the ground portion of the stage check. Super knowledgeable and an airplane owner too, so we talked a lot about system differences between the Citabrias, his 120, and our 180. Really cool guy. Everyone I meet at this club seems to be "our people".
After I did a second, more thorough preflight than the quick look I took earlier this morning, we hopped in the plane. He had a coffee cup in his hand, and I asked if part of the test was to make sure it didn't spill in a steep turn. He laughed :)
Ground work all went well, and traffic in the pattern was light so we were off quickly. All the maneuvers went really well, accept for one steep turn to the left where I lost about 100 feet. I fixed it on the steep turn to the right though, and he said I had great altitude control. I also pitched the nose forward a little too hard in the power off stall, but he said it wasn't terrible. I got away with things on the ground reference maneuvers because the wind was so light, so I definitely want more practice in stronger wind conditions.
Over UTC, he asked me how much landing practice I had.
"I've been talked through it several times and done most of the approaches recently, but Batelle usually helps with the flare."
"Well, you'll do everything this time and I won't touch anything, but I'll talk you through things if I notice you need any corrections".
Wut. Okay.
The approach was perfect, but I came in faster than usual and not in a full stall configuration. The straight in approaches from UTC are tricky for me because I don't have the full pattern to work with. Unintentional wheel landing (it wasn't hard, but I didn't like that it wasn't intentional). Pulled the stick back and touched the tail to the ground.
"That was okay, but you were a little fast. Have time for another?"
Always.
Second one went a lot better. We worked the pattern, and came in full stall configuration for a three point landing. He said I was good at keeping her straight.
He had me post-flight things, and we went back to the club office. Logbook signoff happened, and he said I flew really nicely. Alright alright, I'll stop gushing. I'm just happy I made my instructor look good. She's really good. Texted her the good news, and we went back and forth about how things were at Oshkosh. Apparently, it's super busy this year.
That's all! To more landing practice and safe landings :)
My mini celebration:
Friday, July 22, 2016
(15.0) 7/22/2016
Watch the fuckin nose attitude. That is all.
Stage Check got rescheduled to next week, but it's okay! I don't mind the extra practice :)
We're still moving along and building on old skills/practicing 3-point tailwheel landings in different conditions.
I'm within limits of the checkride on maneuvers, but I don't like when I unintentionally do things like gain or lose 70-100ft in elevation during a maneuver. Once I catch it, I'm good, but I'll sometimes start the maneuver in a slow climb or descent because I pull back or push on the stick ever so slightly (at least to me) when I initiate the maneuver.
Also, GARLIC. That's what it smells like at 3500' over Gilroy on a hot summer afternoon.
Stage Check got rescheduled to next week, but it's okay! I don't mind the extra practice :)
We're still moving along and building on old skills/practicing 3-point tailwheel landings in different conditions.
I'm within limits of the checkride on maneuvers, but I don't like when I unintentionally do things like gain or lose 70-100ft in elevation during a maneuver. Once I catch it, I'm good, but I'll sometimes start the maneuver in a slow climb or descent because I pull back or push on the stick ever so slightly (at least to me) when I initiate the maneuver.
Also, GARLIC. That's what it smells like at 3500' over Gilroy on a hot summer afternoon.
Sunday, July 17, 2016
(13.3) 7/17/2016
Not much to report on today.
Batelle says I'm ready for the first stage check, so we've just been practicing maneuvers/doing more ground school. Remember that "bible"? I've been going through it. It's a bit dry, but nice to see some familiar material, in terms of what I studied for the written exam.
Honestly, we've just been cleaning up the maneuvers. Power on/off stalls, slow flight and maneuvers during slow flight, steep turns, ground reference maneuvers, forward and side slips, and emergency landings. She wants me to be within her standards, which are higher than the commercial standards (e.g., be within 50ft of an elevation during maneuvers, leveling off, etc.). Fortunate to be training with a perfectionist!
A few notes from yesterday and today:
1) Throw in a little bit of power (~2350-2400RPM) during steep turns because you lose a little bit of performance during the maneuver
2) During slow flight, reducing power is much more sensitive, so be light on the power reduction (e.g., for adjusting ascent/descent)
3) Power on stalls: hold back pressure and watch the airspeed slowly come down. Keep wings level and rudder centered. Recover by pushing forward to below straight and level, slightly up to see that attitude adjustments affect airspeed properly, and then back to straight and level. Reduce power back to cruise settings.
4) Find the right field during emergency landings! Be quick, but also have good judgment. Time is critical.
Taking the stage 1 check ride this week depending on the other instructor's schedule. Wish me luck. Also happy to have "passed" the crosswind correction during approach to landing, and I had a nice landing today. Feels good.
Hey! Just noticed I hit my 10-hours-before-end-of-the-month goal. WOOT.
Batelle says I'm ready for the first stage check, so we've just been practicing maneuvers/doing more ground school. Remember that "bible"? I've been going through it. It's a bit dry, but nice to see some familiar material, in terms of what I studied for the written exam.
Honestly, we've just been cleaning up the maneuvers. Power on/off stalls, slow flight and maneuvers during slow flight, steep turns, ground reference maneuvers, forward and side slips, and emergency landings. She wants me to be within her standards, which are higher than the commercial standards (e.g., be within 50ft of an elevation during maneuvers, leveling off, etc.). Fortunate to be training with a perfectionist!
A few notes from yesterday and today:
1) Throw in a little bit of power (~2350-2400RPM) during steep turns because you lose a little bit of performance during the maneuver
2) During slow flight, reducing power is much more sensitive, so be light on the power reduction (e.g., for adjusting ascent/descent)
3) Power on stalls: hold back pressure and watch the airspeed slowly come down. Keep wings level and rudder centered. Recover by pushing forward to below straight and level, slightly up to see that attitude adjustments affect airspeed properly, and then back to straight and level. Reduce power back to cruise settings.
4) Find the right field during emergency landings! Be quick, but also have good judgment. Time is critical.
Taking the stage 1 check ride this week depending on the other instructor's schedule. Wish me luck. Also happy to have "passed" the crosswind correction during approach to landing, and I had a nice landing today. Feels good.
Hey! Just noticed I hit my 10-hours-before-end-of-the-month goal. WOOT.
(13.3) 7/17/2016
Not much to report on today.
Batelle says I'm ready for the first stage check, so we've just been practicing maneuvers/doing more ground school. Remember that "bible"? I've been going through it. It's a bit dry, but nice to see some familiar material, in terms of what I studied for the written exam.
Honestly, we've just been cleaning up the maneuvers. Power on/off stalls, slow flight and maneuvers during slow flight, steep turns, ground reference maneuvers, and emergency landings. She wants me to be within her standards, which are higher than the commercial standards (e.g., be within 50ft of an elevation during maneuvers, leveling off, etc.). Fortunate to be training with a perfectionist!
A few notes from yesterday and today:
1) Throw in a little bit of power (~2350-2400RPM) during steep turns because you lose a little bit of performance during the maneuver
2) During slow flight, reducing power is much more sensitive, so be light on the power reduction (e.g., for adjusting ascent/descent)
3) Power on stalls: hold back pressure and watch the airspeed slowly come down. Keep wings level and rudder centered. Recover by pushing forward to below straight and level, slightly up to see that attitude adjustments affect airspeed properly, and then back to straight and level. Reduce power back to cruise settings.
4) Find the right field during emergency landings! Be quick, but also have good judgment. Time is critical.
Taking the stage 1 check ride this week depending on the other instructor's schedule. Wish me luck.
Hey! Just noticed I hit my 10-hours-before-end-of-the-month goal. WOOT.
Batelle says I'm ready for the first stage check, so we've just been practicing maneuvers/doing more ground school. Remember that "bible"? I've been going through it. It's a bit dry, but nice to see some familiar material, in terms of what I studied for the written exam.
Honestly, we've just been cleaning up the maneuvers. Power on/off stalls, slow flight and maneuvers during slow flight, steep turns, ground reference maneuvers, and emergency landings. She wants me to be within her standards, which are higher than the commercial standards (e.g., be within 50ft of an elevation during maneuvers, leveling off, etc.). Fortunate to be training with a perfectionist!
A few notes from yesterday and today:
1) Throw in a little bit of power (~2350-2400RPM) during steep turns because you lose a little bit of performance during the maneuver
2) During slow flight, reducing power is much more sensitive, so be light on the power reduction (e.g., for adjusting ascent/descent)
3) Power on stalls: hold back pressure and watch the airspeed slowly come down. Keep wings level and rudder centered. Recover by pushing forward to below straight and level, slightly up to see that attitude adjustments affect airspeed properly, and then back to straight and level. Reduce power back to cruise settings.
4) Find the right field during emergency landings! Be quick, but also have good judgment. Time is critical.
Taking the stage 1 check ride this week depending on the other instructor's schedule. Wish me luck.
Hey! Just noticed I hit my 10-hours-before-end-of-the-month goal. WOOT.
Thursday, July 14, 2016
(10.7) 7/14/2016
Starting to feel in the groove a bit with the basic maneuvers.
Lesson 1:
Batelle is prepping me for that Stage 1 check ride, so we've been practicing everything we've learned so far. Got 1.8 hours in the first lesson today, the longest flight I've had thus far. Another double header today, so I'm mentally prepped to get my brain ambushed by flying info today. Definitely hitting up the gym after so that my brain can take a break and so that the learnings from the day can rattle around a bit.
In relation to my previous post, I'm going to try something new in preparation for my lessons: the liquid diet. I want to have enough food to feed my brain, but I don't want to feel stuffed during lessons. Also, I want to make sure I'm hydrated so that I don't get headaches in the air. I "ate" this for breakfast and lunch today, and it seems to be doing the job. Don't feel super full or hungry, and I'm getting enough protein and veggies. Definitely an adjustment because I like eating food so much, but it ain't so bad!
There was a mic issue in Snoopy today, so Batelle took over the radio calls after the run-up. Squawk!
We got to altitude (3500'), and practiced slow flight with airspeed and altitude adjustments (maintaining altitude with power, airspeed with attitude). Then we practiced power on and off stalls, steep turns, descent and glide, and emergency landings. The landing at Frazier Lake (1C9) was a lot of fun! It's a grass strip, so the landing wasn't as bouncy, and it was easier to keep Snoopy straight after we touched down. I can see why learning tailwheel on grass strips is heaven.
Some notes to add on to my previous notes:
1) For the stalls for check ride, start with slow flight. Watch nose attitude and keep the wings level/ball in the center. When the plane stalls, lower the nose first (below straight and level) and increase power and carb heat cold (for power off). For power on, keep low nose attitude for a second, check nose high attitude, and then resume straight and level flight.
2) For steep turns, roll to enter the bank more quickly. Check nose attitude so that you remain at the same altitude.
3) For descent and glide, maintain about 60 mph airspeed (best glide).
4) We practiced forward slips in the downwind to crosswind turn and crosswind to landing turns for the emergency landing. Slip in the turn direction. Get to pattern altitude, using slips or 360s, when you know you can make it to the runway.
5) For soft field takeoffs, you don't push the stick forward as much. About half a normal field takeoff. The plane will lift off, and then keep the stick position in the initial part of the climb. We climbed at ~70 mph.
General note to self: WATCH NOSE ATTITUDE. THE PICTURE IN EVERY PLANE WILL BE A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENT. Kind of obvious, but I keep having to slap myself on the wrist for this one.
Check out dem neck rolls. Don't worry, I asked before I snapped the shot ;)
---
Lesson 2:
Did about 1.5 hours of ground school (FAR stuff, Sectional Stuff, and Plane System stuff, Airworthiness stuff, and performance stuff).
Then we practiced more ground maneuvers (turns around a point), emergency procedures, and a landing. The emergency landing was fun because we were cruising at 2500' and then Batelle just pulled out the power and told me to set up best glide/make it to a good field. I made it :) Well, we got to 300' above the ground before she had me recover (throw in power) and climb out from the field I chose. But she said I did a good job.
She said we should schedule the Stage 1 check next week, so I'm kinda stoked about that. But if i'm not ready yet, that's cool too.
I'm tired. 2.6 hours of flying and 1.5 hours of ground school. Keep on it!
Lesson 1:
Batelle is prepping me for that Stage 1 check ride, so we've been practicing everything we've learned so far. Got 1.8 hours in the first lesson today, the longest flight I've had thus far. Another double header today, so I'm mentally prepped to get my brain ambushed by flying info today. Definitely hitting up the gym after so that my brain can take a break and so that the learnings from the day can rattle around a bit.
In relation to my previous post, I'm going to try something new in preparation for my lessons: the liquid diet. I want to have enough food to feed my brain, but I don't want to feel stuffed during lessons. Also, I want to make sure I'm hydrated so that I don't get headaches in the air. I "ate" this for breakfast and lunch today, and it seems to be doing the job. Don't feel super full or hungry, and I'm getting enough protein and veggies. Definitely an adjustment because I like eating food so much, but it ain't so bad!
There was a mic issue in Snoopy today, so Batelle took over the radio calls after the run-up. Squawk!
We got to altitude (3500'), and practiced slow flight with airspeed and altitude adjustments (maintaining altitude with power, airspeed with attitude). Then we practiced power on and off stalls, steep turns, descent and glide, and emergency landings. The landing at Frazier Lake (1C9) was a lot of fun! It's a grass strip, so the landing wasn't as bouncy, and it was easier to keep Snoopy straight after we touched down. I can see why learning tailwheel on grass strips is heaven.
Some notes to add on to my previous notes:
1) For the stalls for check ride, start with slow flight. Watch nose attitude and keep the wings level/ball in the center. When the plane stalls, lower the nose first (below straight and level) and increase power and carb heat cold (for power off). For power on, keep low nose attitude for a second, check nose high attitude, and then resume straight and level flight.
2) For steep turns, roll to enter the bank more quickly. Check nose attitude so that you remain at the same altitude.
3) For descent and glide, maintain about 60 mph airspeed (best glide).
4) We practiced forward slips in the downwind to crosswind turn and crosswind to landing turns for the emergency landing. Slip in the turn direction. Get to pattern altitude, using slips or 360s, when you know you can make it to the runway.
5) For soft field takeoffs, you don't push the stick forward as much. About half a normal field takeoff. The plane will lift off, and then keep the stick position in the initial part of the climb. We climbed at ~70 mph.
General note to self: WATCH NOSE ATTITUDE. THE PICTURE IN EVERY PLANE WILL BE A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENT. Kind of obvious, but I keep having to slap myself on the wrist for this one.
Check out dem neck rolls. Don't worry, I asked before I snapped the shot ;)
Lesson 2:
Did about 1.5 hours of ground school (FAR stuff, Sectional Stuff, and Plane System stuff, Airworthiness stuff, and performance stuff).
Then we practiced more ground maneuvers (turns around a point), emergency procedures, and a landing. The emergency landing was fun because we were cruising at 2500' and then Batelle just pulled out the power and told me to set up best glide/make it to a good field. I made it :) Well, we got to 300' above the ground before she had me recover (throw in power) and climb out from the field I chose. But she said I did a good job.
She said we should schedule the Stage 1 check next week, so I'm kinda stoked about that. But if i'm not ready yet, that's cool too.
I'm tired. 2.6 hours of flying and 1.5 hours of ground school. Keep on it!
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