(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.

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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:

(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.

(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.

(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.

(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 ;)

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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!

(8.1) 7/11/2016

Not many skills-based updates in this one, but there were definitely important learnings from the lesson today.

Knowing your body is really important in flying, and in relation to being PIC of an airplane. With practice, I've learned to leave the stress out of the airplane. This has actually been a great form of therapy, in relation to everything going on in my family. Stuff that's going on with your body? A little harder to ignore.

This was the latest lesson I'd done (time of day-wise), and because I was rushing back from the city, I didn't get a chance to eat even a little bit before. Add to this a night of poor sleep, and it was a perfect recipe for being in a low-energy/low brain power state. I was also flying Snoopy (1806G) for the first time, so I had to familiarize myself with the instrument locations, different rudder feel, different stick feel, and different radio. All great things to teach adaptability and feeling different airplanes.

We practiced slow flight and ground reference maneuvers again. Turns around a point, S-turns across a road, and rectangular pattern. I remembered everything conceptually about turns from downwind needing to be steeper and turns into upwind needing to be shallower, but it took me a few tries to feel in the zone again. We had strong winds (15-18kts on the ground), which made me instinctively grip the stick a little too hard and made it harder to feel what the plane was doing. After two rough turns around a point, I transitioned back to a thumb-and-middle finger grip, and did a whole lot better. Phew. I still have a problem with pitching the nose up slightly during ground reference maneuvers, so I need to watch out for that.

Toward the end of the lesson I felt more in the zone. Turning back to RHV, setting up the approach, forward slipping to descent, and flaring/keeping the plane straight with the rudders all felt good. Slight hiccup on the flare - after the plane touched the runway, there was a small bounce because I let off some back pressure on the stick. Gotta remember to keep the nose high attitude so the plane stays on the ground!

Things I noticed - missing some things on the radio calls, like saying "Runway 31" instead of "31 right". Super important detail when there are two parallel runways. I left this bit of info out during taxi to takeoff, but luckily remembered when I was inbound to land. And I'm glad I did, because tower had me and a Skyhawk landing at the same time on the parallel runways at RHV.

Overall, I'm more aware of some of the mental/physical things that happen to me when I'm in a tired state. Gotta remember to give myself more time if and when I fly like this in the future, and maybe keep a small snack on me at times when I'm rushing back from the city. I told Batelle I felt off my game today, but she said I wasn't as bad as I thought and it was a good experience to have. She's got a good mix of being a hard instructor and a constructive instructor at the right times.

On a reallllly high positive note, I finally broke the cycle of not getting to fly on days where I came home from work early! I didn't report the snafu on an attempted lesson from last week, but basically, Sharkie came back from an 100-hour inspection and needed some work because of a crack in the exhaust. The test flight went a little long and made it nonsensical to fly that day because I'd only basically get to take off and land. Anyway, things are looking up.

I have two more lessons on Thursday, one on Saturday, and one on Sunday. Batelle said that I might be ready for the Stage 1 check ride after my lessons on Thursday, but I said I wasn't in a huge rush. I want to feel competent at every stage.

Thinking about being in the air, and not at this stupid desk right now :P

(6.6) 7/1/2016

Fun fact! Rod Machado got his primary at Aerodynamic with Amelia Reid herself (back when it was Amelia Reid Aviation). Makes me feel nice, knowing that the legend himself started out here too.

Today was PACKED. I had two supposed-to-be two-hour lessons, but Batelle wanted to make up for the botched lesson the other day, so we got 3 hours in across the two hours. I really wish I worked closer to this airport. Then, I could fit in lessons during the week a lot easier. Ambitious goal: get my license by my 30th birthday (May 20, 2017). I think I can do it.

Dumb mistake of the day (all things considering, not that bad): I forgot mixture full rich on starting up. As we were taxiing out, I told Batelle that I couldn’t believe I did that, and she was like, “Don’t think like that! You’ll never make that mistake again. Plus, you have to let things go as you are flying. Don’t dwell on the past during a flight - always think about what you’re going to do next. Otherwise, mistakes tend to build on mistakes.” Sound advice, and something I need to take to heart.

Here’s what we covered today: crosswind takeoffs, more slow flight practice, more power off stall practice, power on stalls, ground reference maneuvers (turns around a point, s-turns across a road, pattern work), forward slips, side slips, and one landing. I’m definitely processing everything we covered today, and I feel like my mind is going to process everything as I sleep tonight. I can’t wait for things to get to the “muscle-memory” stage, and I don’t have to think about what I’m doing as much.

More detail. This is mostly for me, so you can skip ahead if the meaty stuff that follows gets boring. If it’s in caps, it’s something I especially need to remember for next time.

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Cross wind takeoffs:
Keep the upwind wing from rising with aileron! Don’t let the wind pick up the wing. Dance on the pedals as always, but you’ll have to work on the opposite rudder more to keep the plane going straight. Push straight forward with the stick as before, so that you keep the upwind wing down! Don’t center the stick on the push forward. When you lift off, start leveling the wings, and crab a bit with the crosswind in the climb.

Power on stalls:
Starting from level flight or slow flight, throw in full throttle and pitch up to climb, maintaining nose high attitude in the climb. Continue to pitch up slowly and hold higher than climb attitude, while keeping right rudder in and the WINGS LEVEL to not enter a spin. When the stall is entered, lower the nose attitude, hold it, and then level the wings. Sharkie isn’t actually that rough in the power on stall, so I definitely want to feel a power on stall in a 172, for reference.

Power off stalls:
Starting from level flight or slow flight, carb heat hot, and pull back power to 1700 RPM. Pitch up to maintain altitude with airspeed around 65 MPH. Maintain nose-high attitude and airspeed for a few seconds. Then, pull back power to idle and maintain a constant descent rate of 65 MPH (as in glide to landing) for a few seconds. Then, pitch up smoothly until the stall is entered. Reduce angle of attack immediately, in almost a simultaneous motion with carb heat cold and full throttle. As airspeed increases, keep nose attitude out of the stall, but test shallow climb attitude quickly and then level flight before climbing back to altitude.

IN SETTING UP THE STALLS FOR CHECK RIDES, REMEMBER LEFT RUDDER IN DESCENT/LOW POWER AND RIGHT RUDDER IN CLIMB/HIGH POWER. THAT DAMN P-FACTOR. KEEP THE WINGS LEVEL. BREAK THE STALL BY REDUCING ANGLE OF ATTACK BEFORE ATTEMPTING TO LEVEL WINGS.

Slow flight:
Adjust climb and descent with power and adjust airspeed with pitch.

Forward Slips:
Coordinated aileron and rudder, but opposites! Steepen the descent with a larger bank angle. This is a maneuver that allows you to control descent rate while maintaining heading, which is extremely useful in planes with no flaps. Also super fun.

Side Slips:
Opposite aileron and rudder again, but adjusting rudder pressure without compensating on the stick allows you to adjust heading (I may be wrong and need a refresher on this one).

Ground reference maneuvers:
Basically, turns from a downwind heading should be steeper, and shallow out as you turn upwind. For turns relative to a reference point, keep a constant radius by keeping the point at the same position between the leading and trailing edges of the wing, at the same position along the length of the wing.

The landing!
Batelle had me fly the pattern at South County at traffic pattern altitude, and then had me fly back to KRHV and set up the approach. Rudder action to keep the nose pointed at the numbers, and aileron to keep the wings level. We did a full stall landing, pulling the power back to idle with carb heat, and pitching the nose up and holding attitude in the flare to let the plane gently come to the ground in a three-point landing. I think it was mostly luck, but Batelle said she wasn’t doing that much. Feels good. Anyway, I know I’m going to have to practice a ton of different types of landings, and they’ll be trickier in a tailwheel plane. The day definitely ended on a good note, though.

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When I was checking Sharkie back in, several instructors were in the club, chatting about camping plans for the weekend. It’s a really nice community here.

No lessons until next Thursday, so I’m kinda bummed about that. BUT I reserved the Champ for an hour, so I’m going to get some hand propping action!