Diary Of A Pilot

[CaptainMatt]

Good work Don!!!!

I love reading your posts...Im getting excited...I can't wait till I get to experience what you are doing...Only a couple more months....

Matt

 

[Houndog5]

Flight #15

Went in today looking forward to going out to the practice area to get checked out so I could head out there solo. Everything started out fine. We were cleared for take-off and started climbing out. We made our left turn and headed out over the Queen Mary and into the practice area. It was nice to finally get out of the pattern I had been flying in for the last week. We climbed up to 2000 feet and Derek started talking about the local CTAF and what landmarks to call out to notify others of your location. All of a sudden I smelled something burning. We both asked the question at the same time. First thing we did was look around to see if it was outside. Maybe a local fire. Quickly realising that it was not, we both thought it smelled electrical. A very plastic burning smell. Derek started shutting down the electrical items. Radios, Transponder, The master switch. The smell dissipated quickly, so I turned on the master again to see what would happen. The electronic tachometer came on for a few seconds, then flashed a couple times and went out. At this point we were already circling back around to head back to the airport. As we went, we tried a couple other things to see if maybe we could just get the radio to work. Since it has been very busy at Long Beach lately , we were watching the sky very closely for traffic. As we got closer we saw another plane coming off the crosswind doing pattern work and , giving them some space, we fell in behind them and started watching the tower for the light signals I was hoping I would never have to see in actual use. Abeam the tower now and, from what we could tell, #3 in line we still did not see the signals.
We took an extended downwind still following the plane ahead. The plane on the final, two ahead of us, peeled off for a go around, so we thought the tower must see us now and we again kept watch for the light signals. We came around onto base still #2 in line and then onto final and still did not see any lights. I was flying without a tach, but I could hear the engine and used that experience of sound to help me know about where I was at. No flaps with no electrical, and a pretty good crosswind did not make for the best landing I have made, but we came all the way in, landed, cleared the runway and sat for a few minutes. Still wondering why we never saw any lights and kind of waiting for a taxi light. After not getting it, we taxied back to the school and shut down. All this in .4 hours. A great experience I think. A bit scary at first, but good nonetheless. I am glad that it was with Derek and not on my solo, but I found that I did not panic and was looking almost instantly for a place to land when it first happened, just in case. I think in the future it will help to know what an actual emergency is like. Especially since the tower did not acknowledge us. I am looking forward to tomorrow and getting another chance to get out to the practice area.
Until then,

Don

 

[Houndog5]

Flight #16

Today was wonderful. We went out to the practice area. No electrical fires today. I just got to fly around a beautiful sky as Derek pointed out the boundaries of the area. LAX to the north, SNA to the south, all the different landmarks of note to report to local area traffic. It was quite amazing how far I had come in just 16 flights. I really felt comfortable doing a few maneuvers out there. Derek told me to head back in and do all the radio work. With the exception of a runway change the other day, I have done all the radio calls. For some reason I was very intimidated at first by the radio, but have now grown comfortable with using it. I may make mistakes from time to time, but I hear well seasoned pilots making calls to the tower sometimes that make no sense. And give a little laugh at some of the towers remarks. As we came into the pattern, Derek said we were going to do a short field landing and explained the procedure. As I turned final I was way to high and he took the controls to do a slip to lose the altitude to get me in line. I was not really sure why I came in so high, I usually do pretty well with staying on slope. Anyway, we aimed for 25 yards ahead of the numbers to land on the numbers and hit it right on and then under heavy breaking we stopped in what felt like about 150 feet. It was amazing how short of a distance you could stop if you had to. Taxiing off and making a 180, we lined up for a short field take off to try another one. As we came downwind abeam the numbers Derek had me take note of the spot where we had just landed and how small of a space that is really need for an emergency if needed. It did indeed look like a very small patch, that I would not have thought could be landed on. This time Derek had me aim for a spot a bit farther down the runway so I would not be tempted to use the VASI lights. Coming in with a bit of a crosswind, I came up a bit short of the point we were shooting for. I am looking forward to tomorrow and giving it another try. Also looking forward to soft field take offs and landings.

See you then,

Don

 

[Houndog5]

Flight #17

Today was short and soft. Take-offs and Landings that is. Pattern work has become pretty comfortable now. We had a 12kt headwind today, and since we were coming in for short field landings at 54 kts, it seemed like we were creeping down the runway and landed in about 75 feet or so, very short. I got the hang of soft field takeoffs quickly, but it did feel a bit wierd pushing the nose down in the ground affect to build speed, before climbing. The only glitch today was a wake turbulence that must have hung on the crossing runway for a good minute or so. As we came if for a soft field landing about 20 feet off the ground, I was thrown over to the right about 15 feet or so. A quick reflexive action to correct and get back over seemed to work pretty well. I can imagine that it could be very dangerous to experience larger wake turbulence. I have read some stories about planes being flipped in just a couple seconds, without warning. So, a tiny scare and an experience to be watched for in the future.
Tomorrow I am supposed to solo out in the practice area if the weather holds. If not, and the weather is marginal, we may just go airport hopping. Either way it should be fun. It will be nice to see some other places, especially Fullerton, where I took my first couple lessons 20 years ago.
See you then,

Don

 

[mtsu_av8er]

[ QUOTE ]
I tried the training flight diary too. Lasted about 7 flights.

[/ QUOTE ]

He's going pretty good, aloft....

Good Work, man!!! I sooo wish I had kept a chronicle of my flight training.....you could make millions!!!! (And one of the academies would probably make it required reading....lol).

 

[pullup]

Yeah keep 'em up. I enjoy reading about everything! Good luck with the rest, sounds like you're doing great so far

 

[John_Jones]

Yeah-Keep them up. I never checked this topic before, but just did and read them all. Brings memmories to my training, and the training I give (if I could ever get students that is

). Keep them coming, would be quite cool if you could take this thing all the way with a log of every flight you have ever made.

 

[EMBpilot]

When I was in service in Russian Air Force a dairy/journal was a must.
That's how 21 year-old boys fly Mig-29's with 160 hours total time!
Keep it up!

 

[SteveC]

[ QUOTE ]

When I was in service in Russian Air Force a dairy/journal was a must.
That's how 21 year-old boys fly Mig-29's with 160 hours total time!
Keep it up!

[/ QUOTE ]

Man, do I want to hear more of your story! Give us some details, please? (Maybe start a new thread?)

By the way, I presume you stayed with the Brasilia instead of the Part 91 767 gig?

 

[Houndog5]

Flight #18

Well, I was hoping to get out to the practice area today solo, but the weather just was not with me. Few clouds at 2000', scattered 4500'.
So Derek decided that with marginal weather as it was, even airport hopping was probably not a great option. So he sent me out for pattern work all by myself. So I guess this is my first complete solo. From pre-flight to shut down. I made a list of what I wanted to do and headed out for my pre-flight. I would do 2 each of short field, soft field, no flap, and regular landings and finish with a power off landing. I was doing pretty good until the wind picked up a bit, and made for a couple of bumpy, not so soft field landings. Take-offs went well. The crosswind really is a factor when doing soft field take-offs, though, and I found I really had to work to get aloft just above the runway without feeling like I was sliding off the side of it. I was coming in for my last landing, planned to be a power off landing, and called my downwind abeam. The tower cleared me for landing and I set up for it. Coming a little past the numbers, I pulled the carb heat on and the throttle all the way back to idle and started for best glide at 60 kts.
Just as I was turning base the tower called and said to extend my downwind and they would call my base. So much for power off, I added full power, pitched to Vy, and climbed back to pattern altitude of 1000'. I made a regular landing after that since it also had started to rain a bit. I was very proud of myself today. I am still grinning and looking forward to my next flight. I hope the weather clears and I get out to that practice area.
After my flight today a friend who is a pilot came out to the airport and we decided to fly out for lunch. We were hoping to head to Catalina Island, but the weather just would not allow it. We jumped into a newer 172 with all the bells and whistles, and took off heading for Corona and Bob's Chili and Chow Hall. My first attempt at the $100 burger. It was a good attempt too. Nice Bowl of chili and a couple of cheeseburgers with plane, $140.00......The fun we had getting there....Priceless! I am so going to enjoy being a pilot!
See you soon,

Don

 

[EMBpilot]

SteveC:

Yes, I figured I’ll be better off staying where I am - job security, life style and hopefully upgrade soon

My story is unusual but not that heroic: Native Russian, Russian Air Force, Russian airline (Tupolev-154), 141 school in the US, Regional airline.
Just love to fly and a whole bunch of luck.

 

[Houndog5]

Flight #19

I was looking forward to today. We went airport hopping. They were short hops, so everything happened pretty quickly, and the Santa Ana winds were blowing pretty good, so the turbulence were tossing the little 152 around pretty good. We took off with a straight out departure climbing to 2000 feet, following the 405 freeway NW, looking for the landmarks for an approach into Hawthorne airport. Getting ATIS, calling the tower, correcting for the wind, and before I knew it, we were almost there. Hawthorne literally sits on the edge of LAX airspace, so I was told to be careful not to cross into it. This being a relatively quiet airport, we were cleared for landing before we even reached our downwind leg.
We came in an landed and taxied back for a left closed traffic departure so Derek could show me the pattern. They have a very tight pattern at Hawthorne due to noise restrictions. Another landing, and we took off turnig left, heading for Torrance. Again, it was a short trip and things happened fast. I reported in and entered a right hand pattern. I felt like I was having trouble with my radio vocabulary for the day. I am not sure if it was just things happening so quick or just being unfamiliar with the new places. I asked Derek at the end of the day to sit and talk about all the proper verbage for coming into new airspace, just to make sure I understand what is supposed to be said.
We left Torrance and headed back to Long Beach. Once back on my "home turf," I felt much more at ease. I know that it will come to me with more experience and I will get more comfortable with time and practice. Overall it was a great day. It was fun to get out of LGB for a change. We are planning to head for Compton and Fullerton at the end of the week to clear me for solo's to these airports. I can't wait!

Don

 

[Houndog5]

Flight #20

Hard to believe it has been 20 flights already. I went in today knowing that I would be on my own. I was cleared for soloing out in the practice area. The weather was absolutely beautiful and I was excited to get out there over the water beyond the Queen Mary. I checked out the plane and took off. Making my first solo left turn departure was awesome. I was climbing for 3000 feet and had plans to do some simple maneuvers. Standard rate turns and steep turns in both directions, slow flight, and such. The practice area traffic was heavy so I spent a lot of time with my head out the window and calling my position. As Derek told me repeatedly, "Watch out for the yahoo's!" Sure enough, there was one guy up there that was not reporting his position and had the rest of us watching out for him. After cruising around for about 45 minutes, I headed back in. I got ATIS and switched over and called tower to notify my position and intent. I was informed that I was about a mile inside his airspace when I called and to report sooner next time. I assure you I will not let that happen again. The pattern was not too busy and so I decided to do a couple more take-offs and landings. These went nicely and hitting 1.3 hours on the hobbs, I called it a day. I do love what I am doing so far. I also found that I like having company up there with me. Even when Derek is up with me and just letting me do the lesson as planned, I feel like I am at least sharing the moment with someone. I know that soloing is an integral part of the process, but I can't wait to share it with some friends and family.

See you soon.

Don

 

[stultus]

[ QUOTE ]
Flight #20
I was informed that I was about a mile inside his airspace when I called and to report sooner next time.

[/ QUOTE ]

Ouch! Good learning experience. It's cool that you are learning in such a busy area (I wish I had)--you'll definitely be better off for it. Just be careful not to bust any of the Bravo around SoCal.

I heard two guys bust through BUR's class C without communication while I was flying into VNY today--and I they weren't wet behind the ears like we are.

Also, it's cool you're doing the diary...I think mine made it to 4 entries, but I still haven't given up hope--I'm gonna make it a habit someday.

 

[Houndog5]

I have not given up on my diary. As luck would have it I got a job and then the holidays kicked in. I am now over both the job and the holidays and ready to continue with the matter at hand. I hope to start back flying this week. I am a bit worried about missing a month, but i think it will all come back quickly enough.
See you soon.

Don

 

[Sprint100]

[ QUOTE ]
I am a bit worried about missing a month, but i think it will all come back quickly enough.


[/ QUOTE ]

Don't fret!!!!!!!!! I missed a month during my PP training and actually flew better than I ever did as soon as I hopped back into the seat.

 

[aloft]

Yeah, don't worry about it too much. I had a 15 year break after I first soloed, then another 9 month one after re-soloing and before starting my cross-countries. It doesn't take much to get the proper sight picture and muscle memory back into shape.