Lesson 13, 14 and 15

DATE: 3rd, 5th and 7th March 2012

AIRCRAFT: C172N N734HC   
ROUTE: CHD 
DURATION: 3.4 hrs
LANDINGS: 24!
TOTAL TIME: 17.0 hours (+ 45.5 JAA)


Lesson Summary - Introduction to soft and short field procedures. 7th March was supposed to be solo, but the wind was gusting from the west, therefore I practised crosswind landings with my instructor.

Next Lesson - 9th March.

Plans for March

March is upon us already. I have managed a little over 14 hours flight training since commencing my training in January. It is now time to step it up a gear.


I had a meeting with my instructor this week. I told him I want to target my checkride for April end. That means I need to fly minimum 2 to 3 times a week through March. I also need to study hard and be in a position to take the written test early April. 


I have been able to xfer my 40 JAA hours towards my FAA license. This means I have technically met the total hours needed, but I do need to close out on the solo cross country and night flight requirements. I am not saying I am ready for my checkride (far from it), but if I study hard and fly as much as I can, it will be possible to close out my license before May. I have a personal goal to meet, hence why I am giving myself this deadline.


March is going to be a great month. Time to hit the books and the skies.

Solo 4

DATE: 28th February 2012
AIRCRAFT: C172P N54288  
ROUTE: CHD -> {Southern Training Area} -> CHD
DURATION: 0.8 hour PiC
LANDINGS: 1
TOTAL TIME: 14.4 hours (+ 45.5 JAA)


Lesson Summary - Solo flight. Departed 22R, south departure. Practised ground reference manoeuvres.

Key Learnings - Another great solo flight. Southern practise area very busy. Had to work hard to find clear airspace. 


Next Lesson - 3rd March.

Lesson 12

DATE: 25th February 2012
AIRCRAFT: C172P N54288  
ROUTE: CHD -> {Southern Training Area} -> CHD
DURATION: 1.1 hour
LANDINGS: 1
TOTAL TIME: 13.6 hours (+ 45.5 JAA)


Lesson Summary - Practised ground reference manoeuvres; rectangular pattern, s turns and turning around a point. An additional 0.2hr under the hood with unusual attitude recovery.

Next Lesson - 28th February.

getmyppl audiocast #003 / Solo Practice Part 2

Link to MP3 File - getmypplcast #003

Here is the audio for my first solo power on stall. I was basically out of balance during the stall, therefore the left wing dropped and although I knew how to recover, it still shook me up.

For the remainder of the cast, I play the audio for the return to the airport, a touch and go and my full stop landing. The circuit was busy, so there are no gaps in the audio. Can you spot that I didn't do any pre landing checks for my touch and go? 

The Flight - 16th February 2012 / C172P N54288 / CHD / Solo Flight

Flight Details - Part 2 of a 0.8 hour PiC flight. Audio covers the power on stall and return to the airport. 

getmyppl audiocast #002 / Solo Practice Part 1

Link to MP3 File - getmypplcast #002

Today's flight was my first full solo flight. On previous solo flights, I had performed a couple of touch and goes with the instructor before getting released. Today, the instructor had a day off. I am sure he sat at home worrying about me all day!

I'm splitting the audio into two parts. Today I will share the power up checks, slow flight and steep turns manoeuvres. Part 2 will follow next week which will summarise the power off/on stalls (eventful!) followed by the return home/touch and go. 

The Flight - 16th February 2012 / C172P N54288 / CHD / Solo Flight

Flight Details - Part 1 of a 0.8 hour PiC flight. Audio covers the power up checks, slow flight and steep turns. All took place on a very busy Unicom frequency in the Southern training area south of Chandler.

Solo 3

DATE: 16th February 2012
AIRCRAFT: C172P N54288  
ROUTE: CHD -> {Southern Training Area} -> CHD
DURATION: 0.8 hour PiC
LANDINGS: 2
TOTAL TIME: 12.6 hours (+ 45.5 JAA)


Lesson Summary - Solo flight. Departed 22R, south departure. Practised slow flight, steep turns and power off/on stalls.

Key Learnings - Great solo experience again. Gaining confidence in the air on my own. 2 good landings. Did not enjoy the power on stall. The left wing dropped more than I was hoping. 


Next Lesson - 22nd February.

Monitoring the Wx

Big flight coming up this evening. Will be my first full solo flight away from the airport. I have to practice slow flights, steep turns and stalls.

I have been monitoring the Wx all day. Looks like my flight will be a GO this evening despite the appearance that the cloud cover is increasing.

METAR - KCHD 161747Z 00000KT 40SM SCT120 SCT200 12/02 A3001=

 

getmyppl audiocast #001

Link to MP3 File - getmyppl audiocast #001


As you know, I have had issues making my podcast and uploading it to iTunes. I was also not happy with the recorded quality of the non cockpit audio. I have therefore decided to release the cockpit audio on its own. Each audiocast will have accompanying comments written in the blog to support the audio material. Hopefully over the coming weeks I can resolve the iTunes issue and improve my voice over comments.

Note: I do talk a lot during my flying. The cockpit audio is real and not doctored for this cast.

The Flight - 6th February 2012 / C172P N54288 / CHD / First FAA Solo

Flight Details - My first solo two touch and goes followed by my first full stop landing. Cockpit audio for the second touch and go has been excluded. 22R at CHD. The flight took place two days after my stage one checkride. Prior to the solo, I had flown three decent touch and goes with my instructor. The winds were light and very little traffic in the circuit. We were both happy for me to go solo.

Supporting Material - CHD Airport Details

A big thank you to Ken Dravis for allowing me to use his music as part of my intro and ending. You can download his aviation themed music via iTunes.

Best part yet?

I am now approaching 12 hours flying in the US. Currently working on stage 2 of my flight training. 

So far, my favourite parts have been:

1. Hood work and unusual attitude recovery.

2. First solo away from the airport.

3. All landings :)

I am dreaming of that IFR ticket before I return to Europe in 2013. Recovering from unusual attiude recovery with the hood has to be the most fun I have had in an aircraft. I have read for many years about spatial diorientation. Now I can appreciate the comment "trust your instruments". I have recovered four times from unusual attitude and each time I had no idea what attitude I was flying in until I looked at the instruments.

No Podcast

Looks like I can't get this iTunes issue resolved for a while. Apple are trying to help, but the iTunes software is not robust enough to cope with different laptop settings (Firewalls, LAN connections etc).

Instead of making a podcast, I will blog about my flights and then put a direct link to the MP3 audio file in the blog entry.

Lesson 11

DATE: 13th February 2012
AIRCRAFT: C172P N54288  
ROUTE: CHD -> {Southern Training Area} -> CHD
DURATION: 1.1 hour
LANDINGS: 3
TOTAL TIME: 11.7 hours (+ 45.5 JAA)


Lesson Summary - Departed 22R for the south training area. Practised slow flight, stalls and steep turns. Hood work and unusal attitude recovery under the hood.  Two touch and goes on 22L and 22R with x-winds.

Key Learnings - Good flight today. Finally grasped the technique of "catching" the stall. Approaches and landings were good. Good focus on maintaining the centre line with the rudder whilst using aileron into the wind. During the unusual attitude recovery, need to first focus on the airspeed indicator. Increase or decrease will determine the probable attitude. Also learn how to remember the control direction on the tarmac for windy days "climb into, dive away".

Next Lesson - Planned for the 16th February 2012. Will be a full solo flight with the plan to practise stalls, steep turns and slow flight.

iTunes Issues

I have pulled episode 1 of my podcast until I resolve an issue with iTunes. Hope to have it resolved over the coming days.


In the mean time, I will re-post the audio in a separate blog entry.

Solo 2 - away from the airport

Today was my first solo flight away from CHD. Performed two touch and goes with my instructor before being released to the training area. What an amazing experience. 


I climbed to 3500' and performed some gentle turns. Wind picked up, so I headed back for a full stop landing. My instructor had requested two touch and goes, but I made the decision for a full stop landing rather than circuits (went from calm to 10kts at 60degrees off the nose).

DATE: 8th February 2012

AIRCRAFT: C172P N54288

ROUTE: CHD Circuits --> Solo Southern Training Area

DURATION: 0.5 DUAL / 0.6 hour Solo PiC

LANDINGS: 3 / 1

TOTAL TIME: 10.7 DUAL / 1.0 hour Solo PiC (+ 45.5 JAA)

Lesson Summary - Circuits followed by first solo away from the pattern.

Key Learnings - Again, again.

Solo 1 - first FAA solo

After passing the stage 1 check ride last week, I was expecting to  solo at some stage this week. However, I wasn't expecting it to happen today. 


I performed four Touch and Goes with my instructor. The flight was perfect. Zero wind. Zero traffic. Then he told me I was ready. 


Within a month of commencing my FAA training, I flew two Touch and Goes followed by a full stop. I will save the details for my up and coming podcast.


DATE: 6th February 2012

AIRCRAFT: C172P N54288

ROUTE: CHD Circuits

DURATION: 0.7 DUAL / 0.4 hour Solo PiC

LANDINGS: 4 / 3

TOTAL TIME: 10.2 DUAL / 0.4 hour Solo PiC (+ 45.5 JAA)

Lesson Summary - First solo flight in the US.

Key Learnings - I can fly!

Lesson 10 - Stage 1 Check

DATE: 1st February 2012

AIRCRAFT: C172N N734HC 

ROUTE: CHD -> {Southern Training Area} -> CHD

DURATION: 0.9 hour

LANDINGS: 1

TOTAL TIME: 9.5 hours (+ 45.5 JAA)

Lesson Summary - Departed 22R. Stage 1 check ride. Slow flight, stalls, steep turns and simulated engine out.

Key Learnings - Had my first experience of leaning the mixture. Taught the method of 100F rich of peak EGT. Couple of issues with my stall recovery which I need to work on. Other than that, it was a successful stage check.

Cockpit audio sample #1 - http://tinyurl.com/7rlqzx9

Cockpit audio sample #2 - http://tinyurl.com/7ml99ua

Constructive Criticism or Negative Attitude?

I am trying to critique my performance after every flight. I don't know if I am being too harsh on myself. 


This week I started to record the audio from the cockpit. Listening back has made me realise that I am forgetting key information about the manoeuvres I am supposed to be flying. As a result of this, I sat down this evening and listened to the  entire hour of the recorded audio. I made bullet point notes for each manoeuvre performed during the up and coming stage 1 check ride. 


When I recommenced my JAA training back in Ireland in July, I had a much more positive attitude towards reviewing my lessons.


Maybe it's time to focus more on the positive? Let the fact I made these notes today be the start of a more positive attitude towards analysing my performance. 

Lesson 9

DATE: 30th January 2012
AIRCRAFT: C172P N54288  
ROUTE: CHD -> {Southern Training Area} -> CHD
DURATION: 1.1 hour
LANDINGS: 3
TOTAL TIME: 8.4 hours (+ 45.5 JAA)


Lesson Summary - Departed 22R for the south training area. Ran through the required items for the stage 1 checkride. Back to the circuit for 2 touch and goes with simulated engine failure on the downwind.


Key Learnings - Judged the approach profile better on the simulated engine failures. Need to revise the emergency checklists. For a real life engine failure, will need to find a spot and stick with it. Quick thinking needed on determining the approach path. For the power off stalls, I was allowing the nose to drop too far. Need to focus on the climb out profile post the stall recovery (first notch of flap as soon as the VSI deflects).

FAA Class 3 Medical

Today I visited a local FAA Medical Examiner. I have to admit, it's much easier to obtain an FAA medical endorsement compared to one from the JAA.


Next up will be my stage 1 check ride. All going well, I should solo in the next week.

Lesson 8

DATE: 28th January 2012
AIRCRAFT: C172N N734HC  
ROUTE: Circuits at CHD
DURATION: 1.0 hour
LANDINGS: 8
TOTAL TIME: 7.3 hours (+ 45.5 JAA)


Lesson Summary - Wind 340/9kts. Circuits on 04L. Normal and glide approaches.


Key Learnings - 8 landings in the one hour. Good confidence builder with the 90deg cross wind. Screwed up a few radio calls but it didn't take away from flying the aircraft at all times. Good experience learning about the longer crosswind leg and  shorter base due to the wind direction and strength. Put the flaps in too early on one of the glide approaches which would have meant not making the runway in real life. With the stronger wind, was able to correct for speed and altitude at various points in the circuit.


liveATC Audio - http://tinyurl.com/872hkvn