December 2007 Archives

I went ahead and got a couple of the more expensive items that will be in my flight bag when I'm a full fledged pilot.

First, a handheld GPS. I ordered the Lowrance Airmap 2000c.

Also, a handheld radio transeiver with VOR Navigation.

Both of these items will supplement the avionics in the cockpit and provide a valuable backup method of communication and navigation should I lose electrical power in the plane.

It wasn't a big deal. The sun was quite bright in the afternoon sky and the visor on my CFI's side of the plane was installed backwards. So, he took it apart while I was practicing landings today and put it in properly. At one point he said, "Tell you what, you fly the plane and I'll work on this. Sound good?"

That's right... we did landings again. Here's my problem. I can get the plane on the ground without killing us just about every time. But in the last two lessons my landing were crappy at the beginning of the lesson and really, really good at the end of the lesson. So, I'm kind of in a rut. I've got to work on remembering the things that made the landings good at the end of the last two lessons and make them work at the beginning of the lesson. Then I have to string several good ones together.

Once we're done with that, we can practice some of the landings I'll need to perform during the FAA test. In particular, soft field landings, short field landings, emergency landings (which I've already done a little bit of).

Next lesson: Wednesday, January 2.

Time logged this lesson: 1.4 hrs

Total Time: 10.2 hrs

T-Minus 12 days until my eyeballs get LASERed.

Today the weather was not too great, but passable enough to fly. Here's the METAR (Meteorological Aviation Report) data for 2pm today

METAR KTKI 272053Z 11009G15KT 10SM OVC015 04/01 A2988 RMK AO2 SLP130 T00390006 56026

Translated, that's winds out of the southeast at 9 knots with gusts to 15 knots, overcast with a ceiling of 1500 ft AGL, visibility was 10 miles. The minimums for VFR are greater than 5 miles of visibility and ceiling of 3000 ft. But this weather was good for MVFR. Which means we could fly as long as we remained below the clouds. That was no problem because the pattern is at 1000 ft AGL and all we were doing was landings.

Overall, I did well today. Most of my landings are what I would consider "passable". As I get more practice, things are becoming more instinctive, for example, I have a much better sense of how close the ground is when I'm close to touching down than I did before, such that even when I don't land quite right, I'm not landing on the runway as hard. More and more of my landings are falling into the "good" category. One or two landings might have even been "excellent".

Next lesson: Sunday, December 30.

Time logged this lesson: 1.3 hrs

Total Time: 8.8 hrs

I went to see the AME yesterday. I passed the exam, however, I have a couple of on-going medical issues and a pending eye surgery so, it looks like I'm not going to actually get my medical certificate until after February 11.

My first issue, is I have a past history with anti-depressant medication. I took Zoloft for awhile to help deal with some anxiety issues I had when a couple of years ago when I had some trouble concentrating on stuff at work and home. So, the AME said I need a letter from my primary care physician stating what the diagnosis was regarding the zoloft (mild anxiety), when I started the meds and stopped (approx. 12/05 to about 12/06), and what tests were conducted to reach the diagnosis (no tests).

My second issue, I have slightly high blood-pressure for which I take medication. I need a second letter, stating that my BP has stablized, includes the results of bloodwork from within the last 60 days (no problem I just had one done a couple of weeks ago), and a 12 lead EKG.

Finally, my third issue, is my pending LASIK surgery. The FAA has a requirement that I wait until 30 days after LASIK and get my eye doctor to fill out a form stating that my vision has stablized before I can be medically cleared to fly.

So, there should be no problems. I just have to wait. I can take care of the first two issues with my doctor right away, but just have to wait the 30 days after my LASIK (scheduled for Jan 11) before I can get my certificate.

If you have no medical issues, the actual exam takes about 30 minutes and you're good to go.

My CFI asked if I had my medical yet. I cannot solo until I have a current medical certificate.

My dilemma is that I have LASIK Surgery scheduled for January 11, so I was wanting to wait until the surgery was finished before getting the medical to avoid have a "must wear corrective lenses" restriction on my medical certificate.

Well, there are some issues with LASIK and aviation medicals. They aren't big issues, but there may be a period of time that has to elapse before I can get my medical certificate after the surgery, which means I would have to wait even longer to solo. The AME (Aviation Medical Examiner) may want me to wait until my eyes have stablized after the surgery.

So, I called the AME that I'm going to use to ask a few questions. I decided to use this particular AME because his office is about 5 minutes from my house. I was nice to hear from my instructor that this AME is the best one I could have found. Not only is he a very good AME, he also has an ATP (Airline Transport Pilot) ration, which means he's an experienced pilot too -- In addition, The Observer might be interested in the fact that this Doctor is a DO, not an MD. The receptionist was not too helpful, but it isn't her job to necessarily know the nuances of what makes or breaks a medical decision with regard to a aviation medical certificate. So, I made an appointment to try to get my class-3 medical certificate with "the great healer" (inside joke with The Observer) for the day after Christmas. My next lesson is on the 27th. If the medical goes well, I should have my medical/student pilot certificate and I'll be ready to solo as soon as my CFI thinks I'm ready.

The tricky part is, I'll probably have to ground myself for a week or two after my surgery, then go in to reaccomplish the vision part of the exam after that in order to be eligible to fly again. If I don't solo before my LASIK surgery, there is still an advantage to getting it done now. Getting the medical out of the way now will help if I need to get a waiver from the FAA. If I need a waiver, I won't be medically cleared until the AME gets an answer back from the FAA about whatever issue. It'll mean I have to wait awhile to solo, but the clock will start sooner rather than later.

I'll let you know how the medical exam went next week. Until then, happy holidays.

I had a hectic day. My wife is out of town for the week, so the responsibility of taking care of the house including three cats and a dog falls solely to me. This morning, I had to drop the dog off at the vet for a dental cleaning. Work has been slamming me to get a couple of tasks finished for a delivery by Thursday, before everyone leaves for the year. I had a flying lesson today at 3pm. I left work at 2:30 from Garland, to get up to TKI. It's normal about a 20 - 25 minute drive (with no traffic). Today however, it took me about 45 minutes.

Even though I was late for the start of my lesson, it didn't matter. My instructor locked his keys in the his car including the key that opens the lockbox that contains the keys to the club's aircraft. We were able to get going about 4:15 or so by "borrowing" the keys to another Cessna from the other flying club based at TKI. With the other set of keys we were able to get into the plane and "jimmy" the ignition on 733NB. You gotta love the security in these planes!

Anyway, we had about 15 knots of crosswinds when we started the lesson so, landing were going to be interesting.... and you guessed it. That's what we did. I've had three lessons at TKI now and I don't think I've been more than about 2 miles from the airport. All I do is make a rectangular box at the pattern altitude and try not to kill myself on the thin strip of concrete that makes up one side of the rectangle.

I'm getting better. I'm not there yet. But I noticed that compared to last time we had significant crosswinds, a few weeks ago, I did much, much better. So I am improving. Also, I'm getting less nervous about performing approaches and landings. The proof of this is that my underarms are pretty much dry now after my lesson. The couple of lessons I've had prior to today, my underarms were a little moist despite the air temperature being in the 50°F range. After about an hour and twenty minutes, we ended the lesson because I had to get back to the vet's office to pick up the dog.

Next lesson: Thursday, December 27.

Time logged this lesson: 1.3 hrs

Total time: 7.5 hrs

One last thing... my instructor asked me if I had my flight physical yet. This might indicate to me that he thinks I'm getting close enough to soloing that it was worth mentioning. Then again, maybe not.

This is a blog about learning to fly and all that that implies. I therefore, reserve the right to post about things related to aviation. This leads me to the following topic...

I have LASIK surgery scheduled for January 11. Afterward, assuming all goes well, when I visit an AME (Aviation Medical Examiner) to apply for my Medical Certificate (and Student Pilot Certificate), I will not have any restrictions (like "must wear corrective lenses").

This will allow me to wear sunglasses when I fly without having to wear contacts (which are technically prohibited for flight).

The weather was much better today.

METAR KTKI 161853Z 20004KT 10SM CLR 06/M03 A3034 RMK AO2 SLP290 T00611033

Translated, that's

Conditions at:	12:53pm Local Time (16th)
Wind:	200 degrees (SE) 4 knots (~5 MPH)
Visibility:	10 miles  sky clear
Temperature:	43°F, Dewpoint: 27°F
Pressure:	30.34 inches Hg

We stayed in the pattern and did touch and goes. I am getting noticably better. I can see the progress.

I still get nervous on the landing. There's a lot going on. You have to be concerned about lining up with the runway (using aileron with the left hand), rate of descent (using throttle with the right hand), pointing the plane straight down the runway (with left or right rudder), then at the right moment making the plane flare (with steady back pressure on the yoke) so that the main gear touches first.

It takes a lot of work to become coordinated and to obtain the muscle memory to do that stuff without thinking about it. Much like when you're learning to drive, you have to coordinate turning, brake and gas, and shifting (on a manual transmission) without thinking about it.

My next lesson is Wednesday, Dec 16. The Forecast is for clear skies.

Time logged this lesson: 1.3 hrs

Total time: 6.2 hrs

Well, I was suppose to have a flying lesson today. Alas, the weather didn't cooperate. This was the weather report today at McKinney Airport.

METAR KTKI 142053Z 10005KT 2SM BR OVC007 08/06 A3003 RMK AO2 RAE10 CIG 005V010 SLP183 P0001 60001 T00780061 56037

Translated, this means: Dec 14 at 2053UTC (2:53pm local), Wind is 5 Knots from heading 100° (slightly East by Southeast); Visibility 2 Statute Miles; Mist; Overcast with a ceiling of 700 ft.; Temp is 6° C, Dew point is 8° C; barometric Pressure is 30.03 inches of mercury. The rest of the data (after the code, "RMK" is non-standard data, some of it is important, some of it is not, I'll explain it another time).

Long story short, with Visibility of only 2 miles and clouds at 700 ft above ground level, the airport was operating under IFR (Instrument Flight Rules). This would have been okay with my instructor because in order to get my Private Certificate because I am required to log at least 3 hours of training under IFR or simulated IFR anyway. There was one catch, the plane I'm training in has a Attitude Indicator (artificial horizon). It's not that big of a deal if you can fly VFR because you get to use the actual horizon to see what your pitch and all that stuff, but it's a very important instrument for IFR conditions because it's extremely easy to become disoriented when you're flying in zero visibility.

My next lesson is Sunday, Dec 16. The Forecast is for clear skies.

Tim logged this lesson: 0.0 hrs

Total time: 4.9 hrs

I had a much better time flying today. We just did pattern work and touch and goes the entire lesson. I think my instructor is going to keep me staying on landings until he feels I've got it down cold. I was better today. I had less of a cross wind to worry about, but there was still some element of that and got a better feel for how the plane reacts when on final approach and not fighting the plane so much. That's the trick to flying. You setup the plane and it pretty much stays the way you want it to and you only need to use light touches on the controls. Also, some of the landing procedures are coming much more naturally for me. All that said, I still have a lot of work to do to get landings.

Now that the club is back at McKinney, I actually made my first radio calls today... There is a procedure that you have to get used to. When talking on the radio it's,

1. Who you're calling.
2. who you are
3. where you are
4. what you want to do.

Also, you need to acknowledge anything the controller tells you. If you don't they get really mad. So here the calls I made today...

ME: McKinney Ground, Cessna 733NB on the north ramp ready to taxi.
GROUND: Cessna 733NB, cleared to taxi to runway 17.
ME: McKinney Ground, Cessna 733NB, cleared to taxi. (repeating the controller's command/request).

Now, I've taxied to the end of runway 17, I've completed my run up checks and ready to take off. So I call the tower controller and ask for permission to take off.

ME:McKinney Tower, Cessna 733NB, ready for takeoff doing pattern work and touch and goes.
TOWER: Cessna 733NB, Hold Short Runway 17.
ME: Cessna 733NB, hold short runway 17.

The command "hold short" means to go up to the lines that divide the runway and taxiway, but don't cross, and wait for the Controller to clear us to proceed. So, I wait until I hear from the tower, then...

TOWER: Cessna 733NB you are cleared for take off.
ME: McKinney Tower, Cessna 733NB, cleared for take off.

With that, I took my position on the runway and gave it full throttle and in a few hundred feet I was airborne. After that, we got calls from the tower usually when we were on our downwind leg of the pattern clearing to land at our option (meaning we could touch and go, low approach, or full stop).

Next lesson is Friday the 14th.

Time logged for today's lesson: 1.4 hrs

Total time: 4.9 hrs

Today was an interesting day for flying. There were significant crosswinds, so my CFI decided we should go to Grayson Airport and practice low approaches and landings in crosswinds.... and I have to tell you, it was frustrating and humbling.

My CFI kept telling me how lucky I was to be doing this because there aren't that many opportunities to practice landings and approaches in crosswinds. But after going around the pattern 12 or 13 times and trying to follow instructions, it seemed like I wasn't any better at the end than I was when I started. I suppose that's going to happen though, I have to pay my dues... not everything is going to come easy and it is going to take a lot more practice to get good at this stuff and I've had a total of 2 lessons now, so I guess I shouldn't be so impatient. I'm sure it'll get easier with more experience. Anyway, I hope it will.

We got in the air a little early and the visibility was really good, so we stayed in the air a good long time. Now here's the good part... There are a few advantages to being a member of a flying club. One of them is, when I rent an aircraft, I am charged by the Tach Hour (at least in this club) rather than by the Hobbs Hour (as with a typical flight school). Hobbs time is a measurement of the clock time that the engine is running. Tach time based on tachometer hours. The tachometer, which measures engine RPM (just like on a car), is calibrated so that 1 hour of tach time = 1 hour of hobbs time (or clock time) when the engine is running at cruising speed. At full power, you're running at a higher RPM, so tach time will accumulate more quickly. Conversely, when operating at reduced power, your tach time will accumulate more slowly. What's the point??? Well, today flew for 1.7 clock hours, but because I was operating the plane at reduced power for quite a bit of time, I only accumulated 1.2 tach hours. That is a difference of approximately $55 for the time I flew today.

Next lesson is this Saturday.

Time logged for today's lesson: 1.7 hrs

Total time: 3.5 hrs