Sunday, October 28, 2007

Long Cross Country--final leg

Bowman Field-->Columbus-->Lexington-->home

Monday, October 22, 2007

Pilot's logbook

9/20/07 C-152 N69011 JVY-JVY Touch & Go Solo landings: 3 .5hr

Finally. Thanks, Todd!

Saturday, October 20, 2007

Pilot's logbook

10/20/07 8 PM N66198 C-172 Lou-Lex-Lou 172 ops, GPS intro, Night Cross Country Pilotage, Dead Reckoning, Radar Service, Night Landings 1.7 TH

Frank packed a picnic for the flight.

As I was driving to the airport, I came right under Joe F. flying the pattern above the Watterson Expressway. I watched him almost to landing, when I had to take the ramp off. It was the first time this has ever happened. So many times as I have been flying above the Watterson, I'm aware of the traffic below. The sunset glow added to the effect.

It was nearly dark when I went to the plane, which I've never been in before. (I went out once this afternoon to check it out, but someone had it up flying.) Just looking for things in dim light is difficult (also exciting). I was using my red-covered flashlight, which works just fine.

The C-172 has an entirely different feel. It is so stable and smooth (at least tonight, with minimal wind) that there almost isn't much for me to do, except figure out where we are and where we are going. Oh yeah, and talk on the radio.

198 has a GPS system in it, and Todd introduced me to that. It takes the guess-work out of it. Things are hard to see at night, even a beautiful clear night like this one. Airports do NOT show up easily. Todd was in charge of this one, and I was a steering passenger. He's a good host, though.

I thought I'd be ok with the radio, but between using a different avionics system and different plane and everything, at some point I pretty much left off the radio and listened to how Todd did it.

Coming back to Louisville, we got a straight-in for 24. Todd showed me how in a 172 you can "fly the glide-slope." We set 20% flaps and then just rode it in.

One Mag?

Pilot's logbook

10/20/07 8am N69011 C-152 LOU-JVY-LOU .5 hr., 3 landings.

All week the weather has been uncooperative. Also, I can't get anyone to put the book in the plane for me. Yesterday I was there at 7:45 and the wind was calm enough for me to be legal (<7 kt), but I was locked out. Tony came eventually and said why did'nt I fly? The wind was calm, and even though I knew it wouldn't be, I went out and preflighted and started the plane up. The new ATIS called the wind 8 knots, so I shut her back down and came back in.

Today it was perfect, but again, no book in the plane. Dane came about 8:30 and I took 011 up and over to Clark County. I had time for two TG's before coming back by 9:00.

AC1: test proctoring, etc. Left at one to see Frank for awhile before coming back in.

Monday, October 15, 2007

Pilot's logbook

10/15/07 Monday 8:00 C-152 N89933 LOU-JVY-LOU TG's :) landings:9 1.4 hours solo
10/15/07 Monday 12:30 PM C-152 N89933 LOU-BAK-LOU landings:2 Cross-country. 2.1 hours

Early morning trip to Clark County. No one else there at first. Seven perfect landings, one that I tried something different. Still a good one, just not perfect.

(No wind. No one in the way.)

When I went back, I checked to see whether Dane's frog was still on the plane. It was. Next time I'm in there by myself I'll move the frog to another place on the poster and deny I did it.

No one else needed the plane all day, so I planned another trip to Clark County, and Todd signed me off.

The weather was Clear Sky all around, with some low visibility and rain coming in tonight. Actually, there was a cloud layer at about 6000 that wasn't expected to be there, and a visibility issue that cleared up, but had me wondering.

For some reason, the trickiest part of the path for me to "see" on the ground is picking up I-65 right after Clark County. I waffled around a little bit on that one, could have just gone for the VOR radial from Bowman, but I didn't. Still, there's more time on my tach than I expected, and this is the only place it could have been.

Columbus was there. I didn't see the ___ airport at all, coming up on the Columbus airport, and wondering if I was looking at the right one, and exactly how big Columbus was. I went higher to look it over, decided it was the right one, slipped the plane down to pattern altitude and came right in right for the landing. Just right.

After I pulled off the runway, I was deciding whether to just go on back or to stop, when tower asked me if I needed directions. I told them I was considering going to the restaurant for lunch, and he said I'd have to get a move on, they close at 2:00.

So I ate lunch (a cup of white chili and vanilla creme pie with strawberries), and then went on back.

The return trip was completely uneventful. I-65 and the VOR and all my checkpoints were there. I didn't go all the way up to 5,500 as planned, because there was a layer of broken clouds above me and I judged I needed to stay at or below 5000 to keep out of the turbulence right under that layer. At this point I realized that I am ok flying by myself, but I'm not ready to have an inexperienced passenger along. I think if they were nervous, which they might be, I'd have more than I can handle.

FMI.

Upon arriving at Bowman Field, tower gave me "Midfield Right Downwind for 24" which screwed me up so badly the other day. Well, I've certainly thought about it enough. It was not as easy as the usual approaches, but I did it correctly. Ka-Ching!

Todd asked me about it as soon as I came down. It felt good to have a good reply.

Sunday, October 14, 2007

Pilot's logbook

10/14/2007 Sunday 8AM LOU JVY LOU TG's, Approach. landings: 4

note in the plane:
*Power Controls Altitude
*Pitch Controls Airspeed
*If you don't like the approach go around

Have Fun!! Be Safe!!
YOU CAN DO IT!!!!
--Todd
10/13/2007



Also, Dane's frog finds a home.

Saturday, October 13, 2007

Luminosity.com for reaction time and attention training

Click on the link above for a set of online training activities. There's a 7-day free trial, and after that, it costs money. I'm trying the seven days.

pilot's logbook

10/13/07 1:30 N89933 LOU JVY LOU landings: 5 .8 hours PIC

This morning I came in early hoping to go up in the plane, but Todd wasn't up until 10 . He and I talked and I do have permission to take the plane in calm wind from here to Clark County for TG's and back. OR TG's here.

I manned the phone at AC1 all morning. Then, at 1;30 I took 933 up for a spin. The plane felt light, unsteady and really jouncy. I guess it was just thermals, but it was weird. I also remembered Mr. Whipple's saying that the 933 didn't seem to have much power. I couldn't pin it down to rpms, though.

Takeoff was fine. Getting to river crossing and contacting UNICOM for airport advisory was ok. She said they were using 32, on which I've never landed. I was starting to think through the approach, when a couple of other guys had a conversation about taking off on 36 and taking off on 18 and taking off on 32 and deciding that they'd start using 36. OK, good. I was happy to be able to cross midfield and come in normal.

When I did, there was someone else entering downwind, so I figured I'd not try to turn in front of him, and instead, stayed above pattern, went on past, made a big turn to the right and entered downwind after that. I don't know if that's what was expected or not, but ok.

Then I went to make the landing, and it was horrible. Why? The plane was jouncy and I kept thinking "Is it me?" "What am I doing?" Go -around. Try again. I think the next one was not bad. Then again, and for some reason I was really off. That was enough. I went home. When I came in over Six-Mile Island, tower gave me "enter midfield right downwind for 24." I was glad it was a full pattern entry, but to enter midfield from where I was was weird. Heading for the middle of the airport from where I was had me entering at a sharp 45º turn left, not the usual 135º angle that you turn to make a 45. I did it, but misfigured and was too close to the runway. Then I made that leg longer to compensate, but still came in at a big overshoot for final, so didn't even try to descend, but called a go-around. I can't figure how I could have come in any other way, given the directions, but maybe I'm missing something.

Then I went around again and did another approach and landing. I don't remember whether I did the approach all right, but the landing was gentle, so I called a day and went on in.

Evan met me to help put the plane up. There was a barbecue sandwich and coke waiting.

Then it was on to St. Joe for church. Jim Fitzpatrick was cantor, and that's always a pleasure. Afterwards, he told me, "If you were as good a plumber as you are a musician, I'd hire you." I wish I was as good a pilot as I am a musician.

The plan is: Every morning, wind calm, 1/2-hour flight to CC and back. Maybe one or two TG's. Every morning. Routine. Routine. No biggie.

Friday, October 12, 2007

pilot's logbook

10/12/07 8:00 PM LOU JVY LOU ................ landings: 7? to full stop. TH

Originally the plan was a night cross country to Lexington. I planned and practiced and got ready, but the weather, while always "VFR," had a low ceiling about 4500-5000 ft. The briefer figured it would break up, but really, it didn't.

Instead of the cross-country, Todd and I went to Clark County for a bunch of landings. Night flying is as fascinating as I'd hoped it would be. Finding the airport is hard. The green and white beacon is nowhere near as visible as I'd thought. Todd is pointing straight at it, saying "green. white. green. white..." and I'm not seeing it at all in the sea of lights. The runways don't stand out, and look a lot like roads, if anything.

And Clark County Airport, which in daylight is surrounded by bucolic green farm land, has a zillion lights around it at night. It's hard to believe you're in the same place.

I checked out my flashlights, figured out the little one is not bright enought except as an attachment to the pencil. For cross country, I'll need a more visible watch face, which is true for daylight as well.

Bill helped us out with his headlights. Todd kept track of the landings.

Tuesday, October 09, 2007

Pilot's logbook

10/8 C-152 N89933 LOU-BAK-LOU 1st Solo Cross-Country Landings:2 2.1hours

I met Todd right at 12:00 with my weather and planning all done. He was topping off the tanks. We went in and he checked my plans carefully and filled out the necessary endorsements in my logbook.

I promised not to break anything, but actually, I wasn't anxious about the trip, other than to be on my toes. I had radio frequencies and notes on altitude on the front of my checkpoint sheet, and a post-it note to help me keep a scanning pattern going, which is actually easier to do if I'm the only one in the plane.
-----------------------------------------------
.................*Airspeed
TRAFFIC.....*Heading ........TRAFFIC
..LEFT......*Altitude.........RIGHT
.................*VOR

Compass-->RPM
...Ammeter-->Suction gauge
......Oil Press/Temp-->Fuel

!!!!!MIXTURE!!!!!
-----------------------------------------------

The ideas were right, but the note was too big. I need to make one less than 2" wide by 1 1/2". I also need to add "best landing."

The trip there was totally positive. Starting the plane is occasionally a problem, but not this time. Takeoff was smooth. Setting course and following it was fine. Altitudes were good, and I kept them within close range. There wasn't a lot of traffic, but anyone I heard on the radio, I kept track of, and there were no surprises.

The air was only a little bumpy. Having I-65 and a VOR heading FROM Bowman Field practically all the way to Columbus probably seems like a no-brainer, but there's still plenty to be on top of, partly because there's nobody else there making suggestions, and partly because I'm using a different set of stuff: map, clipboard, diagrams, notes, all in different places than I am used to keeping them.

I did keep track of checkpoints and time. I can see how Pirsig's "Cleveland Harbor Effect" can really come into play, here. It would be really easy to see something and convince yourself that it was what you were looking for, and be totally wrong. (More on that later.) The time spacing helps.

Winds were calm, even at 4,500 ft. altitude. Somewhere near Clark County Airport, as I was beginning to climb to altitude, I looked for I-65, and was confused by the roads under me, since the biggest one looked to be going the wrong way. What I did, instead of worrying or even trying too hard to figure it out, was clear the area around me and then just start a 360º climbing turn. In the first place, it was just an enjoyable thing to do, and in the second, by the time I came around I had my bearings and could see which road was the correct one. It also made sense as in following Mom's directions to us children: "If you're lost, stay in one place."

933 and I puttered along just fine. Eventually, Seymour Airport and the white tanks showed up right where they were supposed to be. I started thinking about descent and looking for the airport. The air was hazy and nothing distant was showing up sharply. I started coming down before I spotted the airport. When I saw it, I think I was surprised to still be up at maybe 3000 feet. But there it was. I contacted tower and they asked me to call final for runway 23. Good. 23 meant I could enter midfield downwind and do the pattern instead of some other approach which is harder to get right.

As I got closer, I couldn't figure which runways were which. I was checking my diagram, and checking my compass and heading indicator, and bouncing around as we got lower, too.

Eventually I determined it was the wrong airport, not just me not thinking straight. So, I did the circle upward thing again and found another airport that looked right and headed toward it. About the time I was ready to call tower and explain why I wasn't there, they called me and said they had me on radar, and I was cleared to land.

Landing wasn't great, but it was gentle. Maybe the super-wide runway. I must have been fast, because the plane floated when I flared, enough that I added power and started to go around. Then I recognized that I still had a mile of runway ahead of me, and just brought us back down nicely.

I taxied and parked, called Todd to tell him I'd made it, ate some dried mango and took pictures, and then headed back. The tower guys were pleasant. My taxi instructions, after I said I could see G and H, but not A, were "be careful of the workers, and turn right, the way their truck is pointed." I had to hold short a long time at the runway for someone to land, so I figured I'd better lean out the engine, and I was afraid I'd forget to put it back in. I kept my finger on it and kept chanting under my breath, "Mixture, mixture, mixture," but even so, I pulled out onto the the runway and was ready to go full power before I realized with surprise that I hadn't reset the mixture. That's one item to watch seriously.

Going back, I was careful about being aware of the restricted area to my right, and watching for everything on the ground and the air near those airports. I didn't have the VOR safety net at that end of the course, and there were a lot of bumps and a funky layer of scattered clouds above me. Still, not a biggie, until I tried to contact Seymour traffic about transitioning the area and couldn't get the radio to the frequency. This made no sense to me, since I had talked to them on the way there. (clue! but I didn't get it). I kept trying to turn the com radio down to 112, which it wouldn't go past 118, jumped to 132 or something.

I never figured it out, but I did figure out why it was harder to keep my altitude steady on the way back (I had the same trouble flying with Todd). Most of my checkpoints and I-65 were to the right since I used the same ones going as coming. I was always moving the nose down to look for something, and there we were, at 2600 instead of 3500. (Dane told me later that the radio problem was that I'd written the wrong frequency on my plan sheet. That's why they have us memorize the frequency ranges of the com equipment.)

I'm going into great detail on the things I want to correct. They were only a little part of the whole trip, but everything is major in this game, so I'm harping on them.

Eventually I gave up on the radio issue, tuned to Clark County and listened for traffic on that one. Then it was time to choose my island to cross. I took 12-mile island this time, and tower gave me a right base for 24, which I should be really used to, except I haven't done it but once in the last month. Again, it's the last thing that sticks in your head. VASI wasn't working, but that's no excuse. My base was too close (to the right of KT) but for some reason I put us there, figured out when I turned final what I'd done, and I should have just redone the whole thing. Isn't this what I promised myself to do? I've put myself on notice about that. No harm done, but no more. Ye gods.

My evaluation/ list of stuff also includes:

Make space on the flight plan sheet to write landing ATIS and ATC instructions. I think I'll just cut and paste the PIREP box to the back instead of the front. I don't need that equipment chart that's on the back.

PS. (Writing this up a day later) I just talked to Mike B., first time since he's been gone, and he asked me whether I was going to fly to Columbus again. Makes sense to me.

It really was a good first trip. The landing took the wind out of my sails, or maybe just the natural letdown of the trip being over. It was a good day. Todd was more nervous than I was. Hmmm....

Sunday, October 07, 2007

Pilot's logbook

10/7 C-152 N89933 LOU BAK LOU Flight planning, Pilotage, dead reckoning, leaving procedures, airport approach & landings. landings:2 1.9 hours TH

Sunday 3:00 - 5:00 pm

Cross-country trip to Columbus. This was the good one. I have a list of things to work on in my notes, but the trip was good. Columbus and the ground between here and there were all where they were supposed to be, and the airplane was where she was supposed to be, too. Todd was great--he played passenger really well.

MONDAY: COLUMBUS SOLO!!!!!!!!! (weather permitting) WHOO HOO!!!!!!!!

Windows open.
"Fore!" (Todd)

Eval:

I was rushed getting the last-minute part of the flight plan this time, too, but not as bad as before.

The gasoline measurer wasn't in the plane, and we didn't top it off. Gauges read almost full, and my finger test (gas up to the first knuckle of my forefinger) means 8 or 9 gallons in each tank, but this might not have been a good call. Better to really KNOW how much gas is in there.

Winds calm, on the ground and at altitude. Broken cumulus layer at 5,000-ish, so we stayed at 4,500 on the way there, and 3,500 for the way back. Climb-out course (350º corrected to 346º) took us directly to 6-mile island, and then correctly to the right of KJVY. I set us on VOR 351 FROM Bowman field, which turned out correct and took us practically to the Columbus airport.

All the way TO Columbus, we held altitude and heading within a very small margins. On the way back, for some reason, it was not as good.

Checkpoints all showed up as planned, except Henryville, which was most likely there, but wasn't distinctive enough to tell if it really WAS Henryville. Todd says any little town that is shown as a small circle instead of a shape is not usually a good checkpoint. Roads other than interstates are no good. Power lines, railroads, water towers are better.

I neglected to set the compass on the way there. One result (probably) was that the runway approach was confusing. Tower gave me a right base for runway 5. I had a hard time seeing it, a hard time figuring the angles, and (Todd says) I started my descent too soon. It was a crummy approach. Touchdown was ok.

I forgot to clean up the plane after pulling off the runway. (Carb heat, transponder and flaps.) Also, I need to be really careful to use the before-takeoff checklist to catch things like this.

Return trip--
I didn't have a VOR radial to follow from Columbus, but the heading (346, 350) worked correctly. It was important to know when I-65 should be on our right or our left.
It was harder to hold altitude and heading.

I should have descended sooner before 6-mile island to stay below Charlie airspace.

For Bowman right base for 24, head for the center of the airport, turn base when you intersect it. Again, I started the landing sequence too soon, and it was an icky approach. Both of those landings, it would be appropriate to go around and do the square thing to get it right.

Interestingly, the approach felt unbelievably slow, much much slower than my airspeed readings were telling me.

Notes for next trip (Monday at 12 noon):

Have flight plan totally ready.
Need current chart and Airport Directory.
Order a fuel sump and measurer-thingie.
BE SURE AND PUT THE MIXTURE IN BEFORE THE LANDING SEQUENCE. I did, but I'm always afraid I'll forget. This time, I put it in when I started the descent from altitude because I was afraid I'd forget later.
With only one person, you really need to do more looking for traffic.

Figure out altitudes and distances and points for standard and non-standard landings at these two airports.
Figure out and practice a scan that includes traffic, emergency landing place,compass.

Todd added:
Don't forget about the military restricted area west of Columbus.
You can ask for a progressive taxi if you're not sure where you're supposed to go.
Flight following is always an option for help with traffic.

----------------
Now playing: Sarah McLachlan - Blackbird
via FoxyTunes

Thursday, October 04, 2007

Pilot's logbook

10/4 C-152 N69011 LOU LOU Level Flight, constant airspeed, climbs & descents, constant roll climbs and descents, climbing and descent by ????, unusual attitude and recovery procedures, touch & goes, IFR radio and NW(?) procedures. landings:2 1.1 hr (.8 simulated instrument) ZC

This session under the hood finished up my instrument requirements for private. I was expecting it to be hard or uncomfortable, but it really wasn't. At the end, Zach proposed an interesting game. He had a name for it, which I've forgotten. The object was to keep the plane rolling in successive 180º standard-rate right and left turns, and at the same time keep yo-yo-ing from ascent to descent between 3,000 and 3,500 feet. Of course, these changes don't happen at the same time (or sometimes they do) and you definitely have to multitask. Cool.

I wanted to finish the instrument work with Zach, which worked well. I expect I'll do the rest of the cross-country and night flying with Todd. After that, it's review for check ride. I'm studying for the oral with Peter, and I'll probably do the review with Todd.

Pilot's logbook

Planned: cross country to Bloomington.

Compass wasn't working in 011. The part has been ordered for a couple of weeks. We got the ok to take the Piper Warrior instead. I took the checklist out to preflight, and spent at least 20 min. looking for the lever for flaps. I found it in the POH book, right beside the pilot's seat.

Couldn't figure out why planned course was so far off from the VOR, and I kept trying to check it out. (After we got back, Todd looked at it and found the headings that were wrong--I used a westerly course to come back to the outbound radial after skirting the towers, and then mistakenly continued to use that course for the next couple of checkpoints instead of the right course one along the radial.)

At any rate, it got hard to know where we were. At the height of this foolishness, we came up on an unexpected layer of rain and rain-clouds. I kept talking about how we should just go back, but was waiting for Todd to call the shots on it, and he was wanting me to do it, which was correct. Eventually, we turned around and came back.

Tuesday, October 02, 2007

X-Plane

Last night I "flew" from Bowman Field to Bloomington (KBMG) and it was a fairly successful trip.

I found all my checkpoints, kept heading and altitude withing limits, I think. I tracked VOR FROM Bowman and BOR TO BMG as well.
Landing was good.

This morning I took the trip back from Bloomington to Bowman. I kept track of time until the last 15 miles. I used simulated"real" weather, which I didn't do last night due to taking a daytime trip at night. Today, the air was really bumpy, and I had a strong crosswind to deal with.

Notes for improvement:
I tried to follow my first heading to the 2nd and 3rd checkpoints. I could tell it was wrong, and adjusted, but forgot to use the figured heading.

The color-copied chart was hard to read and didn't have a compass rose. Still, the real chart is a pain to use since we are using a course that angles across multiple folds. This also affected having frequencies of airspace that I was transitioning. If you're going to redo the chart, must be legible and have compass.

I did not see any checkpoints after Salem. At this point I switched to the Bowman Field VOR and followed it. I never saw Clark County Airport, either. As far as I can tell, I passed right directly OVER the WAVE towers (or whatever that is east of Greenville) My altitude was high enough to be 1000 feet above, but my plan had been to skirt them and then return to VOR heading.

I didn't have my Bowman Field Airport diagram, and had to work to picture the approach to runway 14 (which actually might not be open today, due to stuff on it).

I forgot to reset the Mixture to rich, and landed with it out.

The approach to landing was ok, up until the last, at which point we were in the grass. I have yet to be able to deal with crosswind landings on this simulator. Thank goodness I do a little better in the real world.

I'll fly the sim again tonight since I'm taking the trip tomorrow.

I'm going to meet Peter at Seneca Park to start to review for the oral exam. I don't know if I know ANY of the answers orally. Do I still remember them on paper? I'm going to review by taking a practice written test, then re-check my cross country for tomorrow and take that with me, too.

I'm really behind on the rest of my journal. I have notes scattered all over the place.