(3.6) 6/27/2016

God hates me when I cut out from work to fly :(((

I checked out N1806G, one of the other Citabrias in the club. According to the online FBO, Sharkie wasn't available. There's a third Citabria, but it has toe brakes so Batelle wanted me to check out Sharkie or 06G (maybe I'll call him Snoopy, because it's red like the Red Baron) for more consistency at an early stage.

I started pre-flighting Snoopy, and everything checked out except the fuel was too low for an hour and a half flight. 

"Let's take 9091L instead". It was a hot day, and Batelle got word that the other person who was going to take Sharkie originally decided to cancel. Fueling up would take longer than preflighting, so it sounded like a good option.

I started my walk around, but when I got to the air filter at the lower part of the cowl I noticed that there was a crack all the way through the mount, right at the screw positions. Gave it a little nudge and sure enough the whole thing moved. Gave it a pull, and the whole unit slid out easily. SIGH.

Ran into the club to tell Batelle (I had told her earlier to stay cool inside), and she, another instructor, and the club manager came out to look. Sho nuff, the plane had to be grounded. 

Part of me thinks the prop downwash would have kept the unit in place, but better safe than sorry. I definitely never want to lose credibility in relation to having good judgement as a pilot. 

By this time, there was only an hour left in my lesson, so we decided to do some ground school instead. After fueling Snoopy we'd only have 30 minutes in the air. Enough for me to takeoff and for Batelle to land, but not much else. I like that she's aligned with her students in relation to maximizing value of each lesson. 

We headed back inside, and Batelle pulled out the tailwheel syllabus. At this club, there are three "stage checks" for tailwheel students to get their license. Stage one is mastery of basic maneuvers,  stage one is solo fight, and stage three is cross country. To pass each stage check, you fly with another instructor in the club who is certified for the stage check. It's their way of making sure you get exposure to different perspectives, and so that the final check ride isn't as stressful. Fine with me. She said I was making fast progress, but that she'd continue to push me and make sure I was ready for each mini check ride and the final check ride. 

We talked about the maneuvers for the next lessons, airspace around KRHV, and books I should get. 

She pulled a club copy of the FAR AIM from a nearby shelf.

"That's it? Gross."

"Don't talk about it that way! That's your bible" she said with a chuckle.

Other things I need to get: Jeppessen private pilot manual and a Citabria POH.

I mentioned that I hadn't finished the application for the student pilot certificate so we knocked that out on the IACRA website. Then I mentioned I was slightly colorblind and looking for a good AME, and some of the other pilots in the lounge chipped in on who they go to when they're scared they won't pass their medicals.

One guy: "You have diabetes? I know the guy for you".
Another guy: "look at him. You think he has diabetes???"

Mental note to self. Wear looser shirts.

I like it here. Everyone is super down to earth.

It was nearing the two hour mark, so I asked Batelle how I should pay her for her instructor time. 

"Don't worry about it."

I tried to insist, but she gave me a firm "STOP". Definitely makes me appreciate her as an instructor and like I'm not getting jipped here. Apparently, she and some of the other instructors sometimes get drinks after their last students of the day, and she invited me to come along next time. 

I'll be sure to get em at least one round :)

Positive things about today:

1) I got praised on my preflight (haha, *ugly cries into shirt*)

2) submitted the student pilot certificate application

3) got a good recommendation for an AME who deals with *very* slightly colorblind pilots

Plus, I've got a double header on Friday (two two-hour lessons) and Batelle said she was going to try to tack another hour onto one of them. Gotta keep pushing!

(3.6) 6/26/2016

I got to aerodynamic aviation about 10 minutes before the lesson, and just as I was pulling up Batelle sent me a text to do the preflight because she was running late. :D

Started the walk around from the inside, making sure to get the Hobbs, check the beacon, and check the rudder cables.

Half fuel, 5 1/4 quarts of oil. Everything else looked good, except the inspection panel was missing again on the left wing. Batelle arrived by this point so we grabbed a replacement and jumped in.

She's been giving me a lot more responsibility, which feels nice. I pulled Sharkie out by myself, verified the preflight checklist, and started her up with three pumps of primer because it was colder environmental conditions. Batelle told me she wasn't going to say anything to correct me unless I was going to damage the plane, but to verify what I was doing with the checklist card. Feels good to be more in control. 

Did the runup procedure while verifying everything with the checklist card. Almost forgot to check the oil temp and pressure during the runup, though, so I mentally slapped myself on the wrist for that one.

"Citabria niner zero niner one Lema, ready three one right". Got cleared for takeoff, did the takeoff roll, and climbed to 3500 toward Mission Peak.

Lots of maneuvering practice over the Calaveras area today, south of KLVK. We practiced climbs, descents, shallow turns, medium bank turns, and steep turns again, along with climbing and descending turns. I have a good picture of where the nose should be during climbs and descents, but I'm still working on getting the picture right for normal level flight. Gotta remember to throw in some left rudder during descents, and throw carb heat on first before reducing power. Then, to level off from a descent, take carb heat off and throw in power about 50 feet above intended altitude. 

Slow flight was definitely a new experience! I've done a little bit of pattern work in Little Spiffy (the Loveness 172) but because there aren't any flaps on Sharkie, things feel pretty different. 

To get to MCA (minimum controllable airspeed): Throw carb heat on and pull back power, while pitching the nose up. Fine adjustments to power to maintain airspeed and adjust pitch to keep angle of attack below a stall, but without descending. The sweet spot was at about 2000 RPM for me. Trim off the pressure for the nose high attitude. 

We felt the edge of the stall, where roughness kicks in. Then we did shallow bank turns, which was mostly rudder pressure. Batelle told me to be easy on the stick (two finger grip) to avoid stalling and the spinning during a turn. To get out of slow flight, carb heat cold, throw in power, and reduce pitch to level flight. We went in and out of slow flight a few times, and then headed back. 

I missed a few of the radio calls on landing, so Batelle jumped in and laughed at me, while telling me to not feel rushed by the tower. Fly the plane first. I'm definitely trying to keep on top of everything, though :)

Next lesson we'll be doing power on and power off stalls, and maybe some pattern work if there's time!

Got 1.4 hours in today, and I'm up to 3.6 hours now. Goal: to have 10 tailwheel hours logged by the end of July :)

(2.2) 6/25/2016

Sharkie was good to me today!

I got to Aerodynamic a little bit early, so I started the pre-flight without Batelle. I'm getting good and efficient with my pre-flight flow, but one thing I need to be better about is starting with the interior - check the fuel gages, flip on the master and beacon to check that they're working, get the starting Hobbs meter number, testing brake pressure, and inspecting the rudder cables (connections and safety pins) to make sure everything is good. The other day a safety pin on an interior rudder cable popped out, and someone taxi-ed off the taxi-way because they lost rudder authority. Scary stories are always good to remind you to be thorough and not miss key items.

Only thing I needed to followup on after the pre-flight was a missing inspection panel on the left wing. Can't believe the previous person who took Sharkie out didn't notice it was missing when he/she returned the plane. Again, #clubplanes. Still a good learning experience, and I'm learning how important proper pre-flighting is.

We hopped in, and taxi-ed over to the run-up area. Batelle was about to make the radio calls, but I offered and she gave me the okay to call up ground and state intentions. "Citabria November niner zero niner one lema at Aerodynamic, requesting taxi for a departure to the southeast with kilo". Repeated the instructions to "taxi via zulu", and started moving. Felt good! Batelle said she was glad to pass the radio calls onto me because she gets tired of talking on the radio :) Definitely told her to push me as far as she thinks I'm capable, and that I'd ask questions if I wasn't confident about something.

We checked that the controls were free and correct, and set the trim for takeoff. Then we did the run-up, checked the RPM drops with left and right mags, and checked the RPM drop with carb heat. Everything looked good. PHEW. Checked pressure and temperature gages. Checked idle. Good and good.

"Citabria niner zero niner one lema, ready three one". Got the okay, and lights, camera, action! Batelle had me do the takeoff roll. Mixture full rich and full throttle (action), kept level pitch attitude as the tail rose (required more nose forward stick than I expected because I was nervous about pitching forward), and danced on the rudders to keep Sharkie straight. Kept relaxing forward stick pressure until Sharkie lifted off. Wheee!

We climbed to 3500 ft. toward the reservoir again, and Batelle had me do shallow bank turns, medium bank turns, and steep turns. She had me select which maneuver would be comfortable/efficient depending on the heading to which she instructed me to turn to. Shallow bank for small changes in heading, and steeper bank for larger changes in heading. Remember to keep the turns coordinated, Ivan. Coordinate rudder pressure and stick movement/back pressure, if needed!

One tip that was useful was to keep a reference object (part of plane, bug, etc). on the horizon during steep turns. You'll automatically keep the right back pressure and coordinated-ness of the turn. It definitely helped my steep turns to the right and left improved. Batelle said that the last few I did were with PTS for sure. Woohoo! We did three or four of each, and then practiced a few climbing turns.

In relation to level flight, I need to improve a little bit - I always get into a slowww climb or descent, so I need to be more precise about what "picture" I keep. It's not a big error (about a 100 feet descent or climb over a few minutes), but I'm going to beat myself up over it until I get it right.

Time to head back! Batelle had me set up the approach heading and descent. Carb heat on, throttle back, trim.

We practiced forward slips, a maneuver to descend at a faster rate without necessarily increasing airspeed. Opposite stick and rudder, but you still need to be coordinated! You can increase or decrease airspeed if you want, by adjusting forward or backward stick pressure. It's a good maneuver when you have a crosswind, or when you don't have flaps.

It feels good when you get the coordination just right. Heading and plane orientation doesn't change, but you definitely feel the descent!

I followed along for the landing again, but Batelle said she'd be having me do more of the landings in future lessons. I'm going to push myself, but there's definitely a difference between the landing flare and approach in the 172 vs. in the Citabria. No flaps and you have to be wayyy more active on the rudder pedals!

Also...Batelle gave me the go-ahead to do the pre-flights by myself (basically, everything up to pushing the plane out or re-fueling the plane). Cha-ching! Gonna save about $25 bucks per lesson now, and be able to spend 20 more minutes flying :D

(1.2) 6/22/2016

A little bit of a bummer today! There was an issue during run-up, so we had to taxi back to the tie downs (after my hard work during the pre-flight!) and I didn't get to fly today. We were still able to use the rest of the time productively and I added 0.4 hours (hah), so I don't feel as bad about it.

Here's what went down. I did the pre-flight on N9091L as before, only we only had about 8 gallons left so we needed to re-fuel. It turns out that one of the other instructors had just taken her up for five hours, and left her pretty much with minimum fuel requirements and bugs all over the front window. THANKS BRAH.

I pulled Sharkie (that's what I'm gonna call her now, given her paint job) to the fuel truck, and put 6 gallons in each wing. Done and done.



Started Sharkie up, leaned for taxi, and taxi-ed to the run-up area. I pulled the stick around "the box" (front-left corner of range, front-right corner of range, back-right corner of range, back-left corner of range) to check that the controls were free and correct, and that the elevator was trimmed for takeoff. Cool.

Next was the run-up. Mixture full rich, throttle up to 1800 RPM, and instrument check. Looks good. Left mag check, about a 100 drop in RPM. Right mag check, about 200 drop in RPM and rough. Uh oh.

At this point we were thinking it could have been fouled plugs, so we leaned out the mixture for 2200 RPM for what seemed like 10 seconds. Did the mag check again at 1800 RPM, full rich, and there was the same issue with the right mag. Did the test one more time and still no dice. SIGH. Time to taxi back home. Breaking my balls, Sharkie. Breaking my balls.

As we were taxi-ing, Batelle and I were brainstorming what could have caused it. Loose spark plug? Maybe, but I checked them all in the pre-flight. Major fouling on the plug? Likely. We've had issues with spark plugs in the 180 and the ES, and sometimes you need to ultrasonically clean them to get everything off. The person who took Sharkie up previously did go on a longer flight, so maybe he ran the mixture too rich for a long duration of the flight or something. The maintenance guy at the club was going to look into it.

So yes, a bummer. But it was a good experience overall. Sometimes you have to make calls to NOT FLY as a pilot, as a matter of safety.

Batelle was cool about it, though. It didn't make sense to check out another plane (and there wasn't even another Citabria available), so we finished ground instruction for the next two lessons so that we could spend most of the next lesson flying :) I'm going to try to fit in two hours on Saturday and two hours on Sunday.

On the plus side, she says I'm doing great on the preflights and also at tailwheel taxi-ing! Next time she's going to play some tricks on me (move some inspection panels, etc.) and see if I catch them all. Goal: convince her that she can trust my pre-flights, and soon I won't have to take up any more instructor time for them.

(0.8) 6/19/2016

Officially started primary instruction today and it feels good. I've been putting this off for way too long, and at some point you can't keep making excuses for yourself to not...try a little harder in life. That's what I'm telling myself, at least. It hasn't been an easy year.

After searching around, I ended up joining Aerodynamic Aviation, a club based at KRHV that instructs in tailwheel airplanes. Tailwheel instruction is surprisingly harder to find in the Bay Area than one would expect! Anyway, Aerodynamic has a few Citabrias, a Champ, and a C170. Sweet.

My instructor, Batelle, is a badass. She served in the Israeli Air Force and trained around the DC area before she came to California. After introducing ourselves to each other in person for the first time, we checked out N9091L (a Citabria painted in SJ Sharks colors!) and chatted a bit. About loving classic planes, camping in the Western United States, going to OshKosh, and loving the 49ers. Her heart's in the right place, and I'm looking forward to training with her.

The pre-flight walkaround: We checked the oil level (5 qts) and fuel level (~1/2 full in each wing, total capacity of 35 gallons), and inspected the engine. No visible issues, no nesting animals, and the alternator belt was tight.  We then walked around the perimeter of the aircraft counterclockwise and checked: 1) the wheels/tires (for tight bolts, tire pressure, treads, pad thickness, and cotter pins in place); 2) gear strut tightness and wing strut tightness; 3) inspection panels in place and secure (wood and fabric FTW); 4) aileron couplings; 5) rudder couplings and cable tightness; 6) no cables rubbing on the fabric of the aircraft; and 7) elevator movement and trim tab. Check, check, and check.

The rest of the pre-flight: Old instruments and no Garmin! Kind of refreshing, actually. Just a whisky compass, a VSI, an Altimeter, an analog clock, an airspeed Indicator,  a turn coordinator, a G-force indicator (the Citabria is an aerobatic airplane), a tachometer, oil temperature and pressure gages, an ammeter, and Hobbs meter. + Radios. Throttle and carb heat knobs on the left, heel brakes with the rudder pedals, and...the best part: the control stick! I know I'm going to have a lot of fun in these :D

Batelle had me start the plane. It's a fun startup procedure. You bicep curl the stick with your right arm to keep the elevator up and control the throttle with your right hand, so you can push the starter with your left hand. 3-7 pumps of primer, flip the master and mags switches, yell CLEAR PROP, and up to 7 seconds on the starter. Baby started right up. Thanks for not making me look dumb, 9091L!

I then taxi-ed out while she made the radio calls performed the run-up, and we took off. I have to say that practicing taxi-ing in a C172 and a C180 has paid off a bit. Taxi-ing in 9091L wasn't easy, but I was able to get the hang of it. There's no direct coupling between the rudder and the gears, so you rely on the rudder to steer and dance on the pedals to keep things straight.  It took a bit to get used to the heel brakes, but then again, you shouldn't have to use much of the brakes while taxi-ing anyway.

"November niner zero niner one lema ready runway one three left for a departure to the south east". A bit of a mouthful. Lights (beacon and strobe), camera (transponder to ALT), action (mixture full rich and throttle), and we were off!

We flew over toward Lake Anderson, climbed to 3500 ft, practiced straight and level flight, and practiced steep left and right 360s. Then we did a few power-off stalls and recoveries. It was my first time experiencing a stall - feels a bit like cresting the first drop of a roller coaster!

After what felt like a short flight, Batelle had me set up the approach to 31R. Last minute call from the radio told us to switch to 31L (a Pitts was taking off on 31R). Readjusted the approach, and Batelle had me follow along on the landing. There was a lot of stick movement to control for a right crosswind to keep the wings level, and once we touched down, there was dancing on the rudder pedals to keep the plane going where we wanted her to.

Overall, I had a great experience during the first lesson. I now have a whopping 0.8 official hours logged, and I really like my instructor. I told her not to be afraid to yell at me because I want to become GOOD, and she said not to worry about that :)

I'm really looking forward to my next lessons.