Some Interesting New Things

We flew tonight. No formal ground lesson because of impending darkness. My CFI did a pre-flight briefing on what we would cover. He included stalls (more in a bit) and some flying with vision restrictors on. You got it. I am on the third lesson, and he is introducing instrument flying. As it turns out, 90 percent of VFR pilots (those of us not rated for flying in instrument conditions where there is no visual reference and no quick way to get to one) who inadvertantly end up in IFR (instrument conditions) die. This doesn't count the pilots who fly through a cloud or those who get up into the clouds and then right back down out of them. But those who get into serious weather where they are truly out of touch have a 9 in 10 chance of dying. The moral is it's important to get some instrument time! And learn about weather! And be cautious!

So... we took off and headed west. He had me practice changing and maintaining altitudes at give speeds. It's a constant balance between pitch of the aircraft and power. It's the opposite of what's intuitive. You change altitude by varying power, and you change speed by varying pitch.

We then tried a couple of stalls, one power on and one power off. A word of explanation is in order. A stall has nothing to do with the engine. A stall is when the angle of attack (the angle of the wing into the relative wind) becomes so steep that the air will no longer flow around it nicely and the wing "stalls" or suddenly loses all lift. So.. you pull back on the yoke and the airplane pitches up. You pull back far enough and it stalls. The controls get real sluggish and it starts to fall out of the sky. With power on, you immediately push the nose down to gain speed and re-establish air flow over the wing. With the power off (engine at ide) you put the nose down and hit the power. It's an odd sensation and it happens really quickly. One moment you are nose up and mushing along... the next feel the bottom drop out. The recovery is very quick.. assuming you do the right things right now. The CFI demonstrated the recovery. I have a feeling he won't demo it for long. The airplane we were in liked to stall and start a roll at the same time. So there was some quick rudder work, too. It didn't freak me out at all other than the idea that I need to learn how to recover and how to avoid them to begin with. We also tried some steep banking turns. I liked that a lot.

Following that we flew out over Parma and he handed me view limiters. It's a pair of goggles that blocks you view forward but not down. So you see the instrument panel, but not out the window. He then asked that I establish a particular course and altitude using the instruments alone. I managed that OK, surprisingly. We tried a few turns and I did fine. We flew back to Boise that way. I did very well and was surprised by that. He then had me take off the goggles, find the airport by sight, and turn and line us up with the runway. I did well at that. He then landed while my hands were on the controls so I could get the feel of it.

All in all, I learned a lot. He told me not to analyze too much. Pilots need to do things, not think them through. Good advice.

No schedule yet for next time. We will settle that in a day or two. He is in the Meridian Fire Dept and they sent some guys to California. The ones here are covering extra shifts.

Once more I had a huge amount of fun. The Rodeo doesn't steer worth a damn using my feet.

Part Deux Dos

I had my second lesson. The ground school portion of it went very well. Essentially we go down the key word list at the end of the each section. I explain what I know, he expands it to the next level and we move on. The concepts are not unfamiliar to me, but I can see where someone with no science background would have troubles. This whole "proper study method" and just working at it regularly seems to be working out fine.

The flight was great, again. I did much better at keeping it on the yellow lines without wandering all over. Take-off is a hoot. We went out south of town toward the prison and practiced turns. Also did some exercises with various flap configurations to see how that affected things. I learned to use the trim wheel...it balances out the aircraft at a particular speed so you don't have constant pressure on the controls. He asked me to keep my hands on the controls and he talked through the landing. I am eager to see how that goes. Next lesson... next Wednesday.

First Flight

Well... WOW. I showed up about an hour early because that's the way my schedule worked out. I figured I would study for an hour (and I needed that). Turns out that the student preceding me didn't show. My CFI said that if you are a no-show because you just spaced it, you pay for a 2-hour lesson. He said that if you can't because of work, or you are sick (and call), then it's no problem. But.. if you just forget..then you pay for the lesson. The good news is that if the CFI spaces it.. you get the lesson for free.

Anyway, we started about an hour early and went through a bunch of the book work. I was prepared and it went well. We then went to the airplane and did the preflight. It took a good while because it was all new to me. Eventually we fired that sucker up and off we went. He handled the radio duties. I was busy trying to steer with my feet. He told me to keep my right hand on throttle and my left hand under my leg to keep it off of the yoke. Hard concept. I taxi'd us down the taxiway to the end of the runway. We stopped and did a run=up to check the engine et al. and hit the runway (28L..meaning that we were taking off at a bearing of about 280 degrees (rougly west) on the left runway of two parallel runways. Had we been heading the other direction it would have been 10R... the right hand side of two parallel runways heading roughly east). I digress. We hit the runway and, following his direction, I took off. It was incredible. We headed across the city, climbing to about 4,500 feet. The lights were amazing (it was getting a bit dark). I flew toward the foothills, enjoying the view. My CFI described it as "magic." I think that is a very apt description. The view was incredible and the concept that it was mine to see (and only mine) was amazing. He told me to forget about the instruments and enjoy the ride. I agree. What a great feeling!

My CF"I handled the radio (and I was happy for that). He told me to head toward what I thought was the airport. I did, and was right. We aimed for the airport (descending). As we turned for final approach, he took the controls and landed us. I then taxi'd us to the parking area and we shut it down and pushed it to the parking spot.

What a great evening. I have logged 0.6 hour as a pilot, and that puts me in a very special category. I am very fortunate to be doing this.

And now for the bad news. I lost the damned key to the plane. I locked the door, put the key in my pocket, and haven't seen it since. We walked the ramp. I walked the ramp after my CFIwent home. Oh well. He said to not let spoil a first flight, and I agree with him. I left a note on the office door and will suffer the consequences tomorrow.

Next lesson... Wed at 5:30. I can't wait to get back in the air!

Forgive the typos and other mistakes. I am a bit excited.

Update: Keys found. I dropped them in the headset drawer with a headset I borrowed. Lucky me... I would have had to pay for a new key. And you can't get them for a dollar at Fred Meyer.

The Meeting

I met my CFI today. We got together for about an hour. He went over the plan for training. It's well thought out. At 2 flights per week, the average time would be 6 to 7 months to license. The bulk of the calendar time is pre-solo because that's where all the book time comes in. The three stages are pre-solo (Stage 1), solo (Stage 2), and Stage 3 (solo cross-country or xc). He emphasized that learning to fly is difficult. There is lots to attend to at once and the physical requirements (for example, steering with the feet) are foreign. Luckily I am very coordinated from my extensive physical training over the years (NOT). He said that this will likely be the most challenging thing I will ever do as an adult. Wow. We went over a sample lesson. I was prepared and it went fast. I am studying like they tell you to in college, but I didn't. Review the last chapter, work hard on the new material, and preview the next chapter. I am trying to put in some time each day and it seems to be working out.

My CFI is a fireman in Meridian. He has about 5,000 hours and has taught a lot of folks to fly. Nationally, 70% of those who start don't finish. Here at Ponderosa, it's about 40%. Either they run out of money, don't like it, or don't want to put in the time. He says he has taught a lot of folks to fly, and never gave up on one that was willing to hang in there. He did point out that it gets somewhat harder with age. If only everything got harder with age. Anyway.. he spent time as a corporate jet pilot and has a wealth of experience. Pretty matter-of-fact and business like, which is fine with me. He said that he will be honest in his assessment of my skills..the goal being to turn out a safe pilot. I agree. Young guy..I imagine mid to late 30s.

And the best part is we meet next Monday and Wednesday at 5:30 for the next two lessons and some flying!

In the Club

It's official. I paid my money and joined the club today. Got a briefing on the club rules. Nothing that struck me as weird except I can't land on unpaved strips near mountains until I get a backcountry rating. That involves getting 100 hours of flight time and taking some more instruction. I don't think I am too interested in back country flying...except Garden Valley qualifies, and I think it would be fun to fly there. I also can't fly to Murphy... ever. Apparently that strip eats propellers. It looks paved, but it's not.. just some grey rock.

For every 2 hours of flight time I get an overnight stay. That should work out fine. My instructor, who I have not met, is a Boise fireman in his late 30s. He has flown commercially, but now just is a fireman and CFI--Certified Flight Instructor. Hope to hear from him this weekend. Working on a cool set of headsets on Ebay. David Clark H10-13.4. http://www.davidclark.com/HeadsetPgs/h10-134.htm, Just like the big boys use.

Anyway, I have the combination to the office and ramp, my flight kit (books, logbook, study materials, and a couple of navigation thingies), and a sticker on my Rodeo.

The Outset

Well, it's been quite a week. I had my physical on Wednesday. Passed with no issues. Now I have to wait for FAA approval. The AME (Airman's Medical Examiner) asked for some more information on my eye history. Had to go see the ophthalmologist for a checkup today, got the form filled out, and am ready to go. I can start lessons pending FAA approval of my medical. Just can't solo without the approval. Hopefully the timing will work out ok.

I went to Ponderoas Aero Club yesterday. The manager is a lady about my age who learned to fly in the 70s. I applied and should be in by next week. With luck, I can start flying the week after. They use the Jeppeson curriculum for training, which is good. I like the idea of a set, written curriculum. Need to buy a headset. Thinking of picking up a moderate grade used set from Ebay and then treating myself to a nice set when I get my license. I will then have a decent set for passengers, shouls anyone be crazy enough to fly with me. Headsets range from under $100 to the new Bose for $1,000. (I won't be doing the Bose).

I am alternating between excitement and outright fear. Pretty amazing. Anyway, going to Victoria, BC, tomorrow for 5 days. Will finish the registration process at Ponderosa when I return. Woohoo!