Log 5-31
Runway 6 touch & go. Today Mike did say I was flying a “pretty pattern” and it felt like it. I’m starting to know where I am and what I’m doing. It’s the sense of knowing where I am that makes the difference. I kept on top of altitude and airspeed & direction most of the time. One of the spots I used to miss was that first turn crosswind off the runway. I’d let the airspeed drop way too much without noticing.
I haven’t got that sense for the final approach and landing, yet. We keep talking about it. How high is high? How low is too low over the trees? Airspeed needs to be low coming in. Nose down for the descent, but then, don’t run us into the concrete. Level happens when????? When the airplane tries to drop itself down, (it does something different) that’s when you have to hold the nose up, but gradually (or is that when you bring it level?).
Flying again tomorrow morning.
Thursday, May 31, 2007
hands
Yesterday I took my new (reconditioned) David Clark headset to my flying lesson. Afterwards, after we cleaned up the bug spatters from the plane, Mike picked up my headset from the seat where I had set it and carefully wrapped the wires, explaining to me how to do it (not tightly) and that I needed a bag to carry it in, because it's a really good headset.
Seeing the way his hands moved, I had a flashback of Fr. Pat Creed's hands on the Lectionary as he set it out on the ambo the last day he said mass at St. Benedict. It was a day he hadn't expected to have--that last mass with us (or anybody) in a church.
Seeing the way his hands moved, I had a flashback of Fr. Pat Creed's hands on the Lectionary as he set it out on the ambo the last day he said mass at St. Benedict. It was a day he hadn't expected to have--that last mass with us (or anybody) in a church.
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
pilot's logbook
5/30 C-152 N89933 Lou Lou Touch & Go lndgs:10
Same thing. Consistency.
We used runway 14. Right now I’m at the beginning of that runway, over on the golf course, hoping that someone will start practicing touch-and-go’s here.
.....
I worked thru the first two 1/2 chapters of my J book w. Q&A. Most of it I know. Relief.
Just when I decided to walk back to the car, the wind changed and they started using runway 14 again. Mike's up with somebody, doing T&G.
Same thing. Consistency.
We used runway 14. Right now I’m at the beginning of that runway, over on the golf course, hoping that someone will start practicing touch-and-go’s here.
.....
I worked thru the first two 1/2 chapters of my J book w. Q&A. Most of it I know. Relief.
Just when I decided to walk back to the car, the wind changed and they started using runway 14 again. Mike's up with somebody, doing T&G.
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
You say you want a revolution...
Hi,
I just learned about an important issue, and signed a petition about it. The federal government is on the verge of turning over a huge portion of our public airwaves to companies like AT&T, Verizon, and Comcast--who will use them for private enrichment instead of the public good.
These newly available airwaves are a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to revolutionize Internet access -- beaming high-speed signals to every park bench, coffee shop, workplace, and home in America. Phone and cable companies don't want this competition to their Internet service--they'd rather purchase the airwaves at auction and sit on them.
Benjamin Franklin understood this when he worked to set up the US Postal System in a way that empowered ALL Americans, a revolutionary idea that leaped beyond the status quo of private couriers maintained by aristocracy. This one capability put our young country at a TREMENDOUS advantage both in war and in peace. These opportunities don't come about every day, but there is one now.
You can sign the petition I signed here - urging the government to make sure the public airwaves are used for the public good:
http://civic.moveon.org/airwaves/?r_by=10433-3763547-BjLl_k&rc=confemail
pax,
maggie
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Resurréxi, et adhuc tecum sum, alleluia:
This is a Gregorian Chant setting of a text from Psalm 138. It's really short, so I'll teach you the words.
One word (or set of words) that you should know before we start are Latin words for "you." Te, tu, tuam, and tua are all versions of the word "you."
Latin words can be found in a different order than English, for instance, "your hand" is "manum tuam."
Resurréxi, "I awake"
et adhuc tecum sum "and you are with me."
posuísti "position"
super me "above me, over me, on me."
manum tuam "your hand."
"You place your hand over me"--that's the action, what's the meaning?
"I am protected."?
"I am loved."?
"I am cherished."?
mirábilis facta est "what a miraculous fact"
est sciéntia tua "is this knowledge of you."
--often translated as: "This knowledge is too wonderful for me."
Is there any better expression of contentment/fulfillment/satisfaction in a reality radiantly new?
Click here to listen.
Resurréxi, et adhuc tecum sum, alleluia:
posuísti super me manum tuam, alleluia:
mirábilis facta est sciéntia tua, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.
One other thing I wanted to tell you about this. Did you wonder where this chant could be found?
In our Church's liturgy, this chant is the Introit (the Entrance Song) for Easter Sunday. I find that delightful.
One word (or set of words) that you should know before we start are Latin words for "you." Te, tu, tuam, and tua are all versions of the word "you."
Latin words can be found in a different order than English, for instance, "your hand" is "manum tuam."
Resurréxi, "I awake"
et adhuc tecum sum "and you are with me."
posuísti "position"
super me "above me, over me, on me."
manum tuam "your hand."
"You place your hand over me"--that's the action, what's the meaning?
"I am protected."?
"I am loved."?
"I am cherished."?
mirábilis facta est "what a miraculous fact"
est sciéntia tua "is this knowledge of you."
--often translated as: "This knowledge is too wonderful for me."
Is there any better expression of contentment/fulfillment/satisfaction in a reality radiantly new?
Click here to listen.
Resurréxi, et adhuc tecum sum, alleluia:
posuísti super me manum tuam, alleluia:
mirábilis facta est sciéntia tua, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.
One other thing I wanted to tell you about this. Did you wonder where this chant could be found?
In our Church's liturgy, this chant is the Introit (the Entrance Song) for Easter Sunday. I find that delightful.
Gospel of John in Catholic Sunday Liturgy
Amy said: my Ruth girls (the bible study group) decided on John, next. Is that your favorite Gospel? If so (or not), why? And-- it would be REALLY cool if I could somehow get (find online? are they all on the other blog?) any of Fr. Pat's John commentary. That would be nice to share.
John's gospel is read on these Sundays:
3 Advent Year B Jn1:6-8, 19-23
Xmas Day C Jn 1:1-18
Holy Family (Jan 1) C Jn 3:1-2, 21-24
2nd Sunday after Christmas Jn 1:1-18
Baptism of the Lord B John 5:1-9
3 Lent A Jn 4:5-42 B Jn2:13-25
4 Lent A Jn 9:1-41 B Jn3:14-21
5 Lent A Jn11:1-45 B Jn 12:20-33
Holy Thursday AB&C Jn 13:1-15
Good Friday AB&C Jn 18:1-19:42
Easter Sunday AB&C Jn20:1-9
2 Easter A Jn 20:19-31 B Jn 20:19-31 C Jn 21:1-19
3 Easter C Jn 21:1-19
4 Easter A Jn 10:1-10 BJn 10:11-18 C Jn 10:27-30
5 Easter A Jn 14:1-12 B Jn 15:1-18 C Jn 13:31-33a, 34-35
6 Easter A Jn 14:15-21 B Jn 15:99-17 C Jn 14:23-29
7 Easter A Jn 17:1-11a B Jn15;6-27; 16;12-15 C Jn 17:20-26
Pentecost A Jn 20:19-23 B Jn 15:26-27;16:12-15 C Jn 14:15-16,
23B-26
Trinity Sunday A Jn 3:16-18 C Jn 16:12-15
Body & Blood of Christ A Jn 6:51-58
In ordinary time:
2nd Sunday OT Year A: Jn1:35-34 Year B:1:35-41 Year C: 2: 1-11
17th Sunday OT Year B:Jn 6:1-15
18 Sunday OT Year B: Jn6:24-35
19 Sunday OT Year B Jn6:41-51
20 Sunday OT Year B Jn6:51-58
21 Sunday OT Year B Jn6:60-69
I haven't got all of Fr Pat's homilies up on the blog. Maybe I'll
start doing it again. It was a worthwhile project. But you can find
them in the books. If you want, I can send you the Word files for the
books, and then you could search and find.
John's gospel is read on these Sundays:
3 Advent Year B Jn1:6-8, 19-23
Xmas Day C Jn 1:1-18
Holy Family (Jan 1) C Jn 3:1-2, 21-24
2nd Sunday after Christmas Jn 1:1-18
Baptism of the Lord B John 5:1-9
3 Lent A Jn 4:5-42 B Jn2:13-25
4 Lent A Jn 9:1-41 B Jn3:14-21
5 Lent A Jn11:1-45 B Jn 12:20-33
Holy Thursday AB&C Jn 13:1-15
Good Friday AB&C Jn 18:1-19:42
Easter Sunday AB&C Jn20:1-9
2 Easter A Jn 20:19-31 B Jn 20:19-31 C Jn 21:1-19
3 Easter C Jn 21:1-19
4 Easter A Jn 10:1-10 BJn 10:11-18 C Jn 10:27-30
5 Easter A Jn 14:1-12 B Jn 15:1-18 C Jn 13:31-33a, 34-35
6 Easter A Jn 14:15-21 B Jn 15:99-17 C Jn 14:23-29
7 Easter A Jn 17:1-11a B Jn15;6-27; 16;12-15 C Jn 17:20-26
Pentecost A Jn 20:19-23 B Jn 15:26-27;16:12-15 C Jn 14:15-16,
23B-26
Trinity Sunday A Jn 3:16-18 C Jn 16:12-15
Body & Blood of Christ A Jn 6:51-58
In ordinary time:
2nd Sunday OT Year A: Jn1:35-34 Year B:1:35-41 Year C: 2: 1-11
17th Sunday OT Year B:Jn 6:1-15
18 Sunday OT Year B: Jn6:24-35
19 Sunday OT Year B Jn6:41-51
20 Sunday OT Year B Jn6:51-58
21 Sunday OT Year B Jn6:60-69
I haven't got all of Fr Pat's homilies up on the blog. Maybe I'll
start doing it again. It was a worthwhile project. But you can find
them in the books. If you want, I can send you the Word files for the
books, and then you could search and find.
Saturday, May 26, 2007
Talent Show at Active Day
Active Day Bardstown, 1013 Grande Dr. Contact person: Pam
All of us (including residents) had "knock, knock" jokes to tell between performances. We had song sheets for sing-along, and sang Kumbaya with motions.
Sharon--My Country tis of Thee, Kubayah--Kumbaya, sleeping, crying, praying, shouting, singing.
Gabrielle--Fur Elise
Gabrielle & Martha-- My Favorite Things
Conor-- Ants, Kittens
[Charlotte--The Laughing Chimpanzee]
Alex--Forest Drums, Firefly
Carrie--Heart& Soul, Snake Charmer, Tomorrow
Lauren -- The Mermaid, Over the Rainbow, *Skip to my Lou, *Leftover Popcorn.
[Elizabeth B.--Allegro (duet)]
[Kelsie--Russian Dance, Lightly Row*, Forest Drums]
[Maggie--Ashokan Farewell, Ding Dong the Witch is Dead]
[Anastasia--My Heart Will Go On]
Ezra--Scarborough Fair & Cossack Ride
Taylor--Minuet in G Minor, Blues Improv
[Megan--Candle on the Water or When You Wish Upon a Star]
Katie--Mama Mia
[]=didn't make it. It may have been the confusion over the location. I thought everyone understood.
Rented an electric piano from the Doo Wop Shop. They gave me a card for 1/2 off next time. (Also, they have a nice little Selmer piccolo that they'll turn loose of for $300.)
All of us (including residents) had "knock, knock" jokes to tell between performances. We had song sheets for sing-along, and sang Kumbaya with motions.
Sharon--My Country tis of Thee, Kubayah--Kumbaya, sleeping, crying, praying, shouting, singing.
Gabrielle--Fur Elise
Gabrielle & Martha-- My Favorite Things
Conor-- Ants, Kittens
[Charlotte--The Laughing Chimpanzee]
Alex--Forest Drums, Firefly
Carrie--Heart& Soul, Snake Charmer, Tomorrow
Lauren -- The Mermaid, Over the Rainbow, *Skip to my Lou, *Leftover Popcorn.
[Elizabeth B.--Allegro (duet)]
[Kelsie--Russian Dance, Lightly Row*, Forest Drums]
[Maggie--Ashokan Farewell, Ding Dong the Witch is Dead]
[Anastasia--My Heart Will Go On]
Ezra--Scarborough Fair & Cossack Ride
Taylor--Minuet in G Minor, Blues Improv
[Megan--Candle on the Water or When You Wish Upon a Star]
Katie--Mama Mia
[]=didn't make it. It may have been the confusion over the location. I thought everyone understood.
Rented an electric piano from the Doo Wop Shop. They gave me a card for 1/2 off next time. (Also, they have a nice little Selmer piccolo that they'll turn loose of for $300.)
Friday, May 25, 2007
pilot's logbook
5/25 C-152 N69011 LOU LOU Touch & go’s—xw #ldg 9 MB
Mike says it takes a solid 5 hrs practice on landings, and we’re half-way into it, and doing ok.
Takeoffs are right.
Airspeed. Watch always. Sometimes (only on landings) I’ll need to adjust the airspeed and I take it the wrong way. Mike counted 5 times.
Landing: it’s all judgment. Angles. Timing. Finesse.
Martha played the organ for Bach/Gounod Ave Maria at a wedding at St. Catherine tonight. I played flute. She also played the closing song (Joyful, Joyful) with choir. It was just fine. In fact, it was more than fine, as she found out at the reception afterwards. Sometimes, things are just right, and this was one of them--for the bride & groom, the guests, the choir, the priest and everyone. So, this is a big step for Martha.
I keep looking at all the issues that have affected my adult students in the past. Even though we usually have a good time, and even though they always know more and are often more motivated than younger students, the adults have less success. It's partly physical, but not predictably so. Martha and I (and Sharon) exhibit some of the same unwanted behavior in trying to learn, for them the piano, for me, flying. Well, we should have done all this when we were 16, but we didn't, and now it's just a little harder. My point is, we're gonna make it.
I gave Mike a copy of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. I'm curious what he thinks about it. He IS serious about his motorcycling and his instructing, so there ought to be a lot there for him. That book changed the world, so I'm sure it can't read to younger people the way it read to us 30 years ago. We'll see.
-------
Thinking: I know I read and practiced that for shallow turns (30º or less), once the bank is set, you're supposed to be able to neutralize the ailerons and the airplane is supposed to hold that bank until you cancel it out with an opposing bank. That's not what I've been doing. Why not? Because it doesn't really work that way? I'm going to pay more attention to that in the airport traffic pattern. Maybe I can get it consistent. Consistent would be nice.
Also, I'm wondering about using trim for the descent in the landing pattern. It helped me make sense of steep turns. The good thing is it would probably shape up my landings to something more consistent. The bad thing is that it would make for opposite controlling moves, and besides that, why not just fly the plane?
I don't have another flying session 'til Wednesday of next week. I could call Bowman Tower and see whether they take visitors. That would undoubtedly be instructive.
Whenever I'm driving the car, I try to be conscious of that Vy correction problem. Actually, I aim the car for Vx, which happens to be 55, and be aware of what I would have to do to correct the current speed, which involves matching pressure on the accelerator with pressure on the yoke/steeringwheel. Problem is, the speedometer dial runs the other direction, ie going up the LH side of the dial instead of coming down the RH side as the airspeed indicator does. This could cause more trouble than it solves unless I manage to think the direction of the dial "around" instead of "up" or "down."
Alex (my grandson, not the pilot) brought me a little "Flight Training Manual" that he bought at the school book fair. Since it contains exactly the things I'm working on, I agreed to study it this week before I give it back to him.
Mike says it takes a solid 5 hrs practice on landings, and we’re half-way into it, and doing ok.
Takeoffs are right.
Airspeed. Watch always. Sometimes (only on landings) I’ll need to adjust the airspeed and I take it the wrong way. Mike counted 5 times.
Landing: it’s all judgment. Angles. Timing. Finesse.
Martha played the organ for Bach/Gounod Ave Maria at a wedding at St. Catherine tonight. I played flute. She also played the closing song (Joyful, Joyful) with choir. It was just fine. In fact, it was more than fine, as she found out at the reception afterwards. Sometimes, things are just right, and this was one of them--for the bride & groom, the guests, the choir, the priest and everyone. So, this is a big step for Martha.
I keep looking at all the issues that have affected my adult students in the past. Even though we usually have a good time, and even though they always know more and are often more motivated than younger students, the adults have less success. It's partly physical, but not predictably so. Martha and I (and Sharon) exhibit some of the same unwanted behavior in trying to learn, for them the piano, for me, flying. Well, we should have done all this when we were 16, but we didn't, and now it's just a little harder. My point is, we're gonna make it.
I gave Mike a copy of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. I'm curious what he thinks about it. He IS serious about his motorcycling and his instructing, so there ought to be a lot there for him. That book changed the world, so I'm sure it can't read to younger people the way it read to us 30 years ago. We'll see.
-------
Thinking: I know I read and practiced that for shallow turns (30º or less), once the bank is set, you're supposed to be able to neutralize the ailerons and the airplane is supposed to hold that bank until you cancel it out with an opposing bank. That's not what I've been doing. Why not? Because it doesn't really work that way? I'm going to pay more attention to that in the airport traffic pattern. Maybe I can get it consistent. Consistent would be nice.
Also, I'm wondering about using trim for the descent in the landing pattern. It helped me make sense of steep turns. The good thing is it would probably shape up my landings to something more consistent. The bad thing is that it would make for opposite controlling moves, and besides that, why not just fly the plane?
I don't have another flying session 'til Wednesday of next week. I could call Bowman Tower and see whether they take visitors. That would undoubtedly be instructive.
Whenever I'm driving the car, I try to be conscious of that Vy correction problem. Actually, I aim the car for Vx, which happens to be 55, and be aware of what I would have to do to correct the current speed, which involves matching pressure on the accelerator with pressure on the yoke/steeringwheel. Problem is, the speedometer dial runs the other direction, ie going up the LH side of the dial instead of coming down the RH side as the airspeed indicator does. This could cause more trouble than it solves unless I manage to think the direction of the dial "around" instead of "up" or "down."
Alex (my grandson, not the pilot) brought me a little "Flight Training Manual" that he bought at the school book fair. Since it contains exactly the things I'm working on, I agreed to study it this week before I give it back to him.
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
pilot's logbook
5/12 C-152 N89933 LOU JVY LOU Steep turns, touch&go’s. #LDG 10. 1.8 hr MB.
N89933 is held together with wire & such. Seems harder to steer. I always feel like I’m yanking her to get her to move, and then having to yank back after we go too far. I’d take her in a heartbeat if someone gave her to me, though. Kinda like a sweet old cow. Bessie.
I planned to do a lot more reading aloud the altitude, airspeed and heading. (I did, but at some point forgot about it. It’s probably a good thing for me to keep on doing.)
“professional" vs. "within limits.”
Takeoff: Something was not right. What? Oh, yeah. Two fingers on the throttle for takeoff.
Steep turns worked.
Slow flight and stall ok.
Clark County Airport for touch&go‘s.
Takeoff. Full power, rotate @ 50, (but this plane doesn’t want to go until 55 or higher). Climb at Vy to 800 ft. I have trouble keeping the wings level (why?) and keeping us on the runway heading. Can’t see it until it’s wrong.
Climbing 20º turn, hold it to 500 fpm.
Climbing turn to downwind, take it to 1400 ft. Level off, then power back to cruise setting.
Abeam of runway numbers, power back to 1600 rpm. Carb heat on. Check airspeed for range, then first notch of flaps. Level flight. (?)
Turn base, begin descent, power back, second notch flaps. 500 ft per minute descent.
Turn final, line up with runway.
I still tend to flare a early, and then when I’m bringing her nose up, I can feel the spot at which it needs to be more, but in getting past that resistance, I’m likely to bring it too far, so it’s one extreme or the other.
A couple of touchdowns were really smooth, like they’re supposed to be. Also some 7’s and a couple of 5’s.
Mike’s Dad’s name is Don.
N89933 is held together with wire & such. Seems harder to steer. I always feel like I’m yanking her to get her to move, and then having to yank back after we go too far. I’d take her in a heartbeat if someone gave her to me, though. Kinda like a sweet old cow. Bessie.
I planned to do a lot more reading aloud the altitude, airspeed and heading. (I did, but at some point forgot about it. It’s probably a good thing for me to keep on doing.)
“professional" vs. "within limits.”
Takeoff: Something was not right. What? Oh, yeah. Two fingers on the throttle for takeoff.
Steep turns worked.
Slow flight and stall ok.
Clark County Airport for touch&go‘s.
Takeoff. Full power, rotate @ 50, (but this plane doesn’t want to go until 55 or higher). Climb at Vy to 800 ft. I have trouble keeping the wings level (why?) and keeping us on the runway heading. Can’t see it until it’s wrong.
Climbing 20º turn, hold it to 500 fpm.
Climbing turn to downwind, take it to 1400 ft. Level off, then power back to cruise setting.
Abeam of runway numbers, power back to 1600 rpm. Carb heat on. Check airspeed for range, then first notch of flaps. Level flight. (?)
Turn base, begin descent, power back, second notch flaps. 500 ft per minute descent.
Turn final, line up with runway.
I still tend to flare a early, and then when I’m bringing her nose up, I can feel the spot at which it needs to be more, but in getting past that resistance, I’m likely to bring it too far, so it’s one extreme or the other.
A couple of touchdowns were really smooth, like they’re supposed to be. Also some 7’s and a couple of 5’s.
Mike’s Dad’s name is Don.
Monday, May 21, 2007
brainstorm aviation camp
If I were setting up a field-trip day or aviation "camp," what activities could be part of this?
Ride in the plane. (Girl Scouts can't do it, cf. SafetyWise)
Where is money available? Arts showcase people charge what?
History: the building at Bowman Field. Storyteller.
Arithmetic/math Compass degrees. Read them. Wind is coming from (direction). What direction will you take to fly with it (tailwind)? Reciprocal: ie. heading plus or minus 180º. Math: associative property: figure 200º, then back 20º is the same as figuring +/- 180º.
Airfoil activity.
"Handbook" Wild Wings Fly Your Own Micro Plane Flight Manual by Joseph Casalese Scholastic (Tangerine Press) ISBN 0-439-84315-4
AOPA Wings Training Video "Say Intentions": Fly a Flight Simulator thru various emergency sitations, with emphasis on using Air Traffic Control's Flight Assist.
Spatial awareness
Compass directions, cardinal and numerical
Aircraft ID
associate each letter of the alphabet with a photo
drawing ie. (on the left side of the brain, art attack)
Just Think: Design airport aircraft home for yourself aviation school
Morse Code and AlphaBravoCharlie
EISH & TMO
MOrse code on letter shapes
practice with partner
write and say
Twinkle, Twinkle
Engines: Lawn mower
Technology user
Bring your own flight simulator game day
Ride in the plane. (Girl Scouts can't do it, cf. SafetyWise)
Where is money available? Arts showcase people charge what?
History: the building at Bowman Field. Storyteller.
Arithmetic/math Compass degrees. Read them. Wind is coming from (direction). What direction will you take to fly with it (tailwind)? Reciprocal: ie. heading plus or minus 180º. Math: associative property: figure 200º, then back 20º is the same as figuring +/- 180º.
Airfoil activity.
"Handbook" Wild Wings Fly Your Own Micro Plane Flight Manual by Joseph Casalese Scholastic (Tangerine Press) ISBN 0-439-84315-4
AOPA Wings Training Video "Say Intentions": Fly a Flight Simulator thru various emergency sitations, with emphasis on using Air Traffic Control's Flight Assist.
Spatial awareness
Compass directions, cardinal and numerical
Aircraft ID
associate each letter of the alphabet with a photo
drawing ie. (on the left side of the brain, art attack)
Just Think: Design airport aircraft home for yourself aviation school
Morse Code and AlphaBravoCharlie
EISH & TMO
MOrse code on letter shapes
practice with partner
write and say
Twinkle, Twinkle
Engines: Lawn mower
Technology user
Bring your own flight simulator game day
pilot's logbook
5/12 C-152 N89933 LOU (Madison) LOU. Climbs, turns, trim steep turns, touch and go's #ldg 4 1.9 hr MB
Lots of 5th-gradish-looking kids out back. Hap's was having a field trip airplane ride day. Mike says $59 a pop.
Before:
straight and level:
takeoff
landings. Hold nose up maybe 2 seconds after main wheels touchdown.
What are we watching? Horizon and key indicators. get used to tracking them.
We flew a new (to us) plane today. We messed up the cabin air thingies, couldn't get them back in to work right after they fell out.
Keeping on course on takeoff. Wings level. Vy. Oil pressure.
Anytime we're climbing more than 100 ft., use full power.
Rudder is making sense now.
Steep turns: Move quickly into 30º turn, add lots of nose-up trim while going the rest of the way to 45º. Keep the horizon in sight always. Let the trim hold it. Keep flying the plane for gusts and such. Cross-check horizon, altimeter, bank indicator, horizon, altimeter, bank indicator... On rollout, use lots of nose-down pressure, keep horizon in sight, get level then re-trim.
Landing. Don't flare too soon.
I need to find a close park so I can go there right afterwards and process all this stuff. Maybe Seneca Park.
Lots of 5th-gradish-looking kids out back. Hap's was having a field trip airplane ride day. Mike says $59 a pop.
Before:
straight and level:
takeoff
landings. Hold nose up maybe 2 seconds after main wheels touchdown.
What are we watching? Horizon and key indicators. get used to tracking them.
We flew a new (to us) plane today. We messed up the cabin air thingies, couldn't get them back in to work right after they fell out.
Keeping on course on takeoff. Wings level. Vy. Oil pressure.
Anytime we're climbing more than 100 ft., use full power.
Rudder is making sense now.
Steep turns: Move quickly into 30º turn, add lots of nose-up trim while going the rest of the way to 45º. Keep the horizon in sight always. Let the trim hold it. Keep flying the plane for gusts and such. Cross-check horizon, altimeter, bank indicator, horizon, altimeter, bank indicator... On rollout, use lots of nose-down pressure, keep horizon in sight, get level then re-trim.
Landing. Don't flare too soon.
I need to find a close park so I can go there right afterwards and process all this stuff. Maybe Seneca Park.
Saturday, May 19, 2007
Amelia has a job.
Amelia has a job. She has gone to live with a wonderful woman who has limited mobility and needs help with things that Amelia can do. The woman knows how to train service dogs, and she is teaching Amelia to be that for her. All of us who know Amelia know that Amelia has to be thrilled. She has always, always wanted to help, but didn't have a niche that she could fill in that way. Now she does.
You go, girl!
Friday, May 18, 2007
pilot's logbook
5/18 C-152 N69011 Lou Lou. Steep turns, slow flight, stalls, Vx, Vy, power-off glide, xw landings. 1.4 hr.
What was better? Mike says taxiing. Radio.
My flying stinks. Constantly behind the game. Can't seem to do anything without losing/gaining altitude or something else, and after that goes on for a while, I get to where I have to consciously process the numbers and the direction of the needles on the gauges, which puts me impossibly behind. I won't let myself get emotionally frustrated, but I think I spent most of today pulling myself away from that frustration threshold to neutral and trying to center up again.
I thought I would have the slow flight/ stall recovery concepts & motions down, but even that was way off. At one point I practically had us in a spin, and I was just supposed to be going into slow flight. I think.
Re-hashing afterwards, Mike asked what I was looking at. I was definitely inside the plane most of today. He said it needs to be 75% out the window with just cross-checks, maybe put a marker on the windshield. Monday I'll bring a library dot to stick on the windshield at 10º.
* Need to study/prepare differently, whatever, so that when I need an answer it comes fast.
This stuff is hard, but not this hard. What's the deal? It sure makes me appreciate when I get in the car and drive it, or when I sit down at the piano and it just does what I want, which almost seems to have been better here lately.
(Hmm...maybe there's a battle for control going on. The driving and piano skills are fighting to hold their territory, so they're getting better, and they won't share with the flying patterns that are trying to make use of them. Is this related to not being able to play Stars and Stripes on the piccolo last week? OK, it's a little too far out, but I'm leaving it in my notes here for future reference.)
What was better? Mike says taxiing. Radio.
My flying stinks. Constantly behind the game. Can't seem to do anything without losing/gaining altitude or something else, and after that goes on for a while, I get to where I have to consciously process the numbers and the direction of the needles on the gauges, which puts me impossibly behind. I won't let myself get emotionally frustrated, but I think I spent most of today pulling myself away from that frustration threshold to neutral and trying to center up again.
I thought I would have the slow flight/ stall recovery concepts & motions down, but even that was way off. At one point I practically had us in a spin, and I was just supposed to be going into slow flight. I think.
Re-hashing afterwards, Mike asked what I was looking at. I was definitely inside the plane most of today. He said it needs to be 75% out the window with just cross-checks, maybe put a marker on the windshield. Monday I'll bring a library dot to stick on the windshield at 10º.
* Need to study/prepare differently, whatever, so that when I need an answer it comes fast.
This stuff is hard, but not this hard. What's the deal? It sure makes me appreciate when I get in the car and drive it, or when I sit down at the piano and it just does what I want, which almost seems to have been better here lately.
(Hmm...maybe there's a battle for control going on. The driving and piano skills are fighting to hold their territory, so they're getting better, and they won't share with the flying patterns that are trying to make use of them. Is this related to not being able to play Stars and Stripes on the piccolo last week? OK, it's a little too far out, but I'm leaving it in my notes here for future reference.)
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Video: Ups and Downs of Takeoffs and Landings
It's important that pilots learn the basics of takeoffs and landings. This includes knowing when to abort an attempt and go around for another try, as well as how to recover from a bounced landing. This 65-minute video from the AOPA Air Safety Foundation is chock full of examples.
pilot's logbook
5/15/07 C-152 N69011 LOU LOU XW T/O, stalls, steep turns, unusual attitudes, slow flight, landings. 1 landing, 1.4 hr
*20º bank on departure & final. Rudder & coordination. The four forces. Serious DRAG. (grin)
Did I know I have to take a written test? I said yes, but I was thinking about the big one. There's something written for pre-solo and I don't know what it is. Better find out.
*Write down ATIS info.
Just before takeoff, Mike pointed to a bird headed straight up the runway in front of us, flying in place in the headwind.
Hazy, climbed to 5500 feet to get above haze, higher than I remember being. 30º turns using outside horizon, one of the neatest things I've ever done. It stuck with me all day. Even up above the haze, there were a few really small scattered clouds.
trim
slow flight
stalls
*need to be able to do the setup faster for stall recovery & slow flight
If we’re going to do slow flight, go on and start flaps down once we reach 85 knots.
Stall recovery: full power, coordinate, relax controls somewhat at the very beginning of the stall recovery (but not nose down, either.) Repeat 2x.
Unusual attitudes: "Close your eyes, I'll change things, then you fix them." First time, I thought he meant fix it all without opening my eyes. It was interesting to do that. Mike thought it was funny, but actually I'd like to try it that way some more. Mike could probably do any of these maneuvers with his eyes closed. I wonder whether he's tried.
* “right base to runway 24.” reciprocal
Study: Forces of flight. Airports.
*20º bank on departure & final. Rudder & coordination. The four forces. Serious DRAG. (grin)
Did I know I have to take a written test? I said yes, but I was thinking about the big one. There's something written for pre-solo and I don't know what it is. Better find out.
*Write down ATIS info.
Just before takeoff, Mike pointed to a bird headed straight up the runway in front of us, flying in place in the headwind.
Hazy, climbed to 5500 feet to get above haze, higher than I remember being. 30º turns using outside horizon, one of the neatest things I've ever done. It stuck with me all day. Even up above the haze, there were a few really small scattered clouds.
trim
slow flight
stalls
*need to be able to do the setup faster for stall recovery & slow flight
If we’re going to do slow flight, go on and start flaps down once we reach 85 knots.
Stall recovery: full power, coordinate, relax controls somewhat at the very beginning of the stall recovery (but not nose down, either.) Repeat 2x.
Unusual attitudes: "Close your eyes, I'll change things, then you fix them." First time, I thought he meant fix it all without opening my eyes. It was interesting to do that. Mike thought it was funny, but actually I'd like to try it that way some more. Mike could probably do any of these maneuvers with his eyes closed. I wonder whether he's tried.
* “right base to runway 24.” reciprocal
Study: Forces of flight. Airports.
Monday, May 14, 2007
Sunday, May 13, 2007
pilot's logbook
5/13 C-152 N69011 LOU LOU Pilotage, T/O, XW Landings, ER Procedures 1.6 hr
MIke said why didn't we take a break, just go looking around and have some fun.
We took off north over Indiana, looking at landmarks. Headed up I-64 and Hwy150, then went looking for the farm. It took a while to find it. I don't know the name of the road we take to get there. We went over Mike's house on Borden Rd. Then we went to Borden Reservoir, didn't see the farm, turned around and went back to the lake and found it. Kevin's conservation borders are beautiful. Smooth & classy.
Looking for places to make an emergency landing, practice coming in to final there.
Climbing from a low altitude, you can't see what's in front of you, look to the left, then bank somewhat left,
Lost my altitude at least three times just toodling around. No reason for that.
Deems Lake. "Let's do a 360º turn over the lake, here." I flew around the lake, but didn't even think to make it 360º.
preflight. draft
What next?
Preflight/Cleanup/ ???
Left-brain / right-brain --> procedural/philosophic -->Small-motor skills / lg-motor skills --> calibrate out-the-window motor control and sensation with bank indicator and pitch indicator motor control and sensation. -->Fly maneuvers concentrating on horizon and ground input, airspeed and altimeter.
MIke said why didn't we take a break, just go looking around and have some fun.
We took off north over Indiana, looking at landmarks. Headed up I-64 and Hwy150, then went looking for the farm. It took a while to find it. I don't know the name of the road we take to get there. We went over Mike's house on Borden Rd. Then we went to Borden Reservoir, didn't see the farm, turned around and went back to the lake and found it. Kevin's conservation borders are beautiful. Smooth & classy.
Looking for places to make an emergency landing, practice coming in to final there.
Climbing from a low altitude, you can't see what's in front of you, look to the left, then bank somewhat left,
Lost my altitude at least three times just toodling around. No reason for that.
Deems Lake. "Let's do a 360º turn over the lake, here." I flew around the lake, but didn't even think to make it 360º.
preflight. draft
What next?
Preflight/Cleanup/ ???
Left-brain / right-brain --> procedural/philosophic -->Small-motor skills / lg-motor skills --> calibrate out-the-window motor control and sensation with bank indicator and pitch indicator motor control and sensation. -->Fly maneuvers concentrating on horizon and ground input, airspeed and altimeter.
pilot's logbook
5/12 C-152 LOU JVY LOU Stalls, Power-off stalls, slow flight, Rudder Control, Touch & Go's 7 landings, 1.5 hr
Not coordinated
Still losing altitude
Moving into landing flare too early
Frank came to Bowman Field today, and was waiting at the fence when we came in.
draft
Not coordinated
Still losing altitude
Moving into landing flare too early
Frank came to Bowman Field today, and was waiting at the fence when we came in.
draft
Friday, May 11, 2007
pilot's logbook
5/11 C-152 N69011 LOU JVY LOU. Steep turns, slow flight, power-off stalls, touch-and-go's, pattern entry. #landings: 13, 2.0 hr.
I had thought about what we have been doing, and if my flight maneuvers were still as klutzy/frustrating as the last couple of times, I was ready to suggest taking a break, letting the "large motor skills" settle in by just flying somewhere heads-up (i.e. finding the farm), and then moving back into the "small motor skills" of slow flight, stalls & recovery next time.
The good news is we didn't have to. Things are starting to kick in. We did enough touch-and-go's at Clark County Airport for the sequence to smooth out so instead of concentrating so hard on WHAT I was supposed to be doing, I was able to be sensitive to HOW I was doing it.
Mike called two of the landings really good. He said the others were passable, I wasn't scaring him or anything, so I take that as a compliment.
Coming back to Bowman Field, when we were high coming up on Six-Mile Island, Mike asked me what we could do about it. I put us into a sideslip, which we've done once before. The difference this time was that, even though I ran it past Mike how it was to be done, I didn't feel uncertain about moving right into it. Great fun. "All you people down there in your cars, eat your hearts out!"
When we got back in to Air CenterOne, Mike tossed out to the others, "Guess who's landing the plane?" That felt good.
Long way to go, still, but I'm glad I didn't have to pull out plan B.
I had thought about what we have been doing, and if my flight maneuvers were still as klutzy/frustrating as the last couple of times, I was ready to suggest taking a break, letting the "large motor skills" settle in by just flying somewhere heads-up (i.e. finding the farm), and then moving back into the "small motor skills" of slow flight, stalls & recovery next time.
The good news is we didn't have to. Things are starting to kick in. We did enough touch-and-go's at Clark County Airport for the sequence to smooth out so instead of concentrating so hard on WHAT I was supposed to be doing, I was able to be sensitive to HOW I was doing it.
Mike called two of the landings really good. He said the others were passable, I wasn't scaring him or anything, so I take that as a compliment.
Coming back to Bowman Field, when we were high coming up on Six-Mile Island, Mike asked me what we could do about it. I put us into a sideslip, which we've done once before. The difference this time was that, even though I ran it past Mike how it was to be done, I didn't feel uncertain about moving right into it. Great fun. "All you people down there in your cars, eat your hearts out!"
When we got back in to Air CenterOne, Mike tossed out to the others, "Guess who's landing the plane?" That felt good.
Long way to go, still, but I'm glad I didn't have to pull out plan B.
Thursday, May 10, 2007
pilot's logbook
5/10 C-152 N69011. Lou to Lou. Stalls, slowflight, spins, pattern entry, landing. 1.5 hr
I need a lot of practice or something. I've signed up for a number of days in a row, hoping consistency might help. Mike says he has time to do that. He started out today by saying we need to do something to get these sequences and concepts and answers down, if it means trying to do a different style of learning or whatever. That's pretty direct.
Along with rehashing today's maneuvers, my thoughts keep spinning off into teaching & learning.
I trust (with Mike's assurance) that I will learn to fly, and I actually expect that I will learn to do it very well. There's a possibility that I won't, but it's not the most likely. Is it going to take me longer than an 18-year-old kid? Probably.
The experience is making me a heckuva lot better teacher. Part of it is just the awareness that comes of being on the receiving end. Another part is being with a good teacher. Teachers spend entirely too much on their own. How often do we get to soak up another's expertise and technique? Piano lessons and choir are benefitting from this.
Mike's got a name for what he does, "progressive (something)", and he just keeps taking you thru things, talking all the time, showing, explaining, doing the part of that needs to be done from his side of the plane, while expecting that you will take over more and more of it all. (Remember the comparison of taking someone on the interstate to teach them how to stop a car? How else could it be done?)
There's never anything personally negative in any of the interaction. Things are right, or they are not right, or they are noticed or not noticed, but I don't hear irritation or frustration in Mike's voice. His constancy really helps me keep from being blocked by frustration and helps me just refocus or go for the mental reach or whatever it is, because I do not like being inept. Not at all.
Still, today he was pretty direct. ..."You HAVE TO be able to move fast, multitask, keep flying the plane, hold your altitude, get these directions, finish the job." "We just went thru the ground." "Don't touch that!," etc. etc.
I'm noticing:
Mimetic cognition --
procedural knowledge--maneuvers & routines
the everpresent checklists lists (a mimetic version of knowledge encoding)
constant generativity. Mike doesn't seem to get tired of pointing and touching THIS and THIS and THIS as he talks.
Philosophic cognition --
Jeppesen & FAA book, test, emphasis on a complex yet defined set of information that is not to be challenged but mastered. (Inhaled? Drowned in?).
So there are these TWO HUGE NEW sets of patterns going down--the DOING and the heaps of INFORMATION that come into play with each action. It's a real crunch of being between the rock of rote/ritual and the hard place of needing to do fast accurate evaluation and judgment.
For instance, Mike asked me a relatively simple procedural question "How do we set up a stall?" (something that I have read, practiced, thought about, put on flashcards), yet I found myself practially paralyzed and having no response to give, whether verbal or in action. If I were on the receiving end of that type of behavior, I doubt that any judgment I would make as to what it "meant" would be correct. What is going on there?
Probably similar to the concept of two sides of the brain. One side may have the answer, but if the other is overly dominant at the time, it may not have access to that answer. I think that is partially what is going on with me, but it's not L & R hemispheres that are competing. I think it's a tug-of-war betwen mimetic (esp. procedural) cognition vs. the philosophic cognitive level.
Since mythic cognition stands evolutionarily and developmentally between the two, is mythic cognition the go-between? the arbiter?
Can "Top Gun," "Fate is the Hunter," "Wind, Sand and Stars," and Jake Green of Jericho bridge the gap? Mike is usually surprised when I ask him to just show me something. I want him to run the procedure so I can see and feel it smoothly, capably, well done. Imitation is the substance of social patterns of value, and identification/admiration is the glue. Gotta have it--the Right Stuff.
............
Mike spent a year getting his private pilot license, back in high school, but it really all came together for him in his Instrument classes.
I need a lot of practice or something. I've signed up for a number of days in a row, hoping consistency might help. Mike says he has time to do that. He started out today by saying we need to do something to get these sequences and concepts and answers down, if it means trying to do a different style of learning or whatever. That's pretty direct.
Along with rehashing today's maneuvers, my thoughts keep spinning off into teaching & learning.
I trust (with Mike's assurance) that I will learn to fly, and I actually expect that I will learn to do it very well. There's a possibility that I won't, but it's not the most likely. Is it going to take me longer than an 18-year-old kid? Probably.
The experience is making me a heckuva lot better teacher. Part of it is just the awareness that comes of being on the receiving end. Another part is being with a good teacher. Teachers spend entirely too much on their own. How often do we get to soak up another's expertise and technique? Piano lessons and choir are benefitting from this.
Mike's got a name for what he does, "progressive (something)", and he just keeps taking you thru things, talking all the time, showing, explaining, doing the part of that needs to be done from his side of the plane, while expecting that you will take over more and more of it all. (Remember the comparison of taking someone on the interstate to teach them how to stop a car? How else could it be done?)
There's never anything personally negative in any of the interaction. Things are right, or they are not right, or they are noticed or not noticed, but I don't hear irritation or frustration in Mike's voice. His constancy really helps me keep from being blocked by frustration and helps me just refocus or go for the mental reach or whatever it is, because I do not like being inept. Not at all.
Still, today he was pretty direct. ..."You HAVE TO be able to move fast, multitask, keep flying the plane, hold your altitude, get these directions, finish the job." "We just went thru the ground." "Don't touch that!," etc. etc.
I'm noticing:
Mimetic cognition --
procedural knowledge--maneuvers & routines
the everpresent checklists lists (a mimetic version of knowledge encoding)
constant generativity. Mike doesn't seem to get tired of pointing and touching THIS and THIS and THIS as he talks.
Philosophic cognition --
Jeppesen & FAA book, test, emphasis on a complex yet defined set of information that is not to be challenged but mastered. (Inhaled? Drowned in?)
So there are these TWO HUGE NEW sets of patterns going down--the DOING and the heaps of INFORMATION that come into play with each action. It's a real crunch of being between the rock of rote/ritual and the hard place of needing to do fast accurate evaluation and judgment.
For instance, Mike asked me a relatively simple procedural question "How do we set up a stall?" (something that I have read, practiced, thought about, put on flashcards), yet I found myself practially paralyzed and having no response to give, whether verbal or in action. If I were on the receiving end of that type of behavior, I doubt that any judgment I would make as to what it "meant" would be correct. What is going on there?
Probably similar to the concept of two sides of the brain. One side may have the answer, but if the other is overly dominant at the time, it may not have access to that answer. I think that is partially what is going on with me, but it's not L & R hemispheres that are competing. I think it's a tug-of-war betwen mimetic (esp. procedural) cognition vs. the philosophic cognitive level.
Since mythic cognition stands evolutionarily and developmentally between the two, is mythic cognition the go-between? the arbiter?
Can "Top Gun," "Fate is the Hunter," "Wind, Sand and Stars," and Jake Green of Jericho bridge the gap? Mike is usually surprised when I ask him to just show me something. I want him to run the procedure so I can see and feel it smoothly, capably, well done. Imitation is the substance of social patterns of value, and identification/admiration is the glue. Gotta have it--the Right Stuff.
............
Mike spent a year getting his private pilot license, back in high school, but it really all came together for him in his Instrument classes.
Jericho
Jericho is answering war with war with its neighbor town, New Bern. I'm glad I'll get to re-watch the installment without commercials. They hack it up too badly.
One really refreshing aspect of this ongoing entertainment is its ability to consider that the terrorism of today's world is not just some outside force, some "other" people who hate us for our freedoms, or whatever. This show continuously explores the possibility that "we have met the enemy, and he is us" and the reality that the black and white of good and evil are situational conflicts of values, needs and perceptions.
("Johnston Green, right? Last year you came to New Bern and placed fourth in the bass fishing competition. I came in second."--enemy truck driver being held at gunpoint by the former mayor of Jericho.)
The other issue that glares at us all througout this series is our society's saturation with guns and the Old West concept that a gun makes all the difference. It does. But think. Remember when Jake was pinned under the truck and couldn't reach his gun? The power of that scene had us all rooting for him to reach it. But suppose he had? My guess is that he would not have been around to finish the story for Jericho. The gun was out of reach and that changed the equation. He had to find a different course of action, and he did.
There's a deer outside my window. I'm trying to see what she's eating. Dandelions, yes. Prairie Coneflowers, no. I guess I need to chase her away, beautiful as she is. She might be the one who's been sleeping in the new grass right beside my vegetable garden.
"For what is evil but good tortured by its own hunger and thirst?"--Kahlil Gibran
One really refreshing aspect of this ongoing entertainment is its ability to consider that the terrorism of today's world is not just some outside force, some "other" people who hate us for our freedoms, or whatever. This show continuously explores the possibility that "we have met the enemy, and he is us" and the reality that the black and white of good and evil are situational conflicts of values, needs and perceptions.
("Johnston Green, right? Last year you came to New Bern and placed fourth in the bass fishing competition. I came in second."--enemy truck driver being held at gunpoint by the former mayor of Jericho.)
The other issue that glares at us all througout this series is our society's saturation with guns and the Old West concept that a gun makes all the difference. It does. But think. Remember when Jake was pinned under the truck and couldn't reach his gun? The power of that scene had us all rooting for him to reach it. But suppose he had? My guess is that he would not have been around to finish the story for Jericho. The gun was out of reach and that changed the equation. He had to find a different course of action, and he did.
There's a deer outside my window. I'm trying to see what she's eating. Dandelions, yes. Prairie Coneflowers, no. I guess I need to chase her away, beautiful as she is. She might be the one who's been sleeping in the new grass right beside my vegetable garden.
"For what is evil but good tortured by its own hunger and thirst?"--Kahlil Gibran
pilot's logbook
5/9/07 C152 N69011. Lou to Lou. Stalls, Slowflight, Slips, T/O, Landing 1.4 hr
I talked to Tony during pre-flight. He used to be an engineer--worked there for years, waiting for 5:00 so he could go flying. He asked me if there was anything he could do to make it better for me. Asked me if I was considering this as a second career, says for most people flying is a second, or something done just for the fun of it. Interesting that he said that, since I spent the past day wrestling with the question in a practical way. Kellie called me about Pat B's brother's funeral (a day and a half in advance), but I had a lesson scheduled. I couldn't get hold of Mike to rearrange, and didn't want to leave him hanging, or anybody who counts on the income, so I decided to say no. When I actually saw Mike, he pretty much encouraged me to go ahead and plan to be at the funeral. Long story short, Kellie got someone from Etown to do it, and, you know what? That's ok. That's not my life anymore, and it hasn't been for at least three years, and maybe this is permission to let go. These drag-on parish contacts are not real. I like them when they happen, and they pay well, but there's always this guilt that I'm not doing the real work. I put on the persona, but I really miss being the persona. Why even go there? Someday I'll be too old to fly, and Frank will be retired, and all that stuff will still be there for us. If it's right, maybe we'll find it together.
I had this imaginary conversation with Mike this morning. About how prayer could actually be as exciting/compelling/fulfilling as good flying. I remember that to be true, but God is not on my shoulder connecting me to the universe with music and prayer anymore.
There's something familiar, though, about that gorgeous river and earth below and a tangible sky opening its secrets to me/us through tiny touches of fingertip on 011's controls.
Why do we practice slow flight? precision flying with reduced effectiveness of controls;
hold heading. hold altitude. hold airspeed at 45 knots or less ...
Altitude is primarily enabled with power.
Airspeed is primarily enabled with pitch.
Carburator ice. Top Gun.
Sat in the plane and talked afterwards. Learning to fly safely & well & with precision vs. passing the test. Need answers. Feedback.
Jeppesen Private Pilot Maneuvers.
Really good session. Really good. I lucked out with this instructor.
I talked to Tony during pre-flight. He used to be an engineer--worked there for years, waiting for 5:00 so he could go flying. He asked me if there was anything he could do to make it better for me. Asked me if I was considering this as a second career, says for most people flying is a second, or something done just for the fun of it. Interesting that he said that, since I spent the past day wrestling with the question in a practical way. Kellie called me about Pat B's brother's funeral (a day and a half in advance), but I had a lesson scheduled. I couldn't get hold of Mike to rearrange, and didn't want to leave him hanging, or anybody who counts on the income, so I decided to say no. When I actually saw Mike, he pretty much encouraged me to go ahead and plan to be at the funeral. Long story short, Kellie got someone from Etown to do it, and, you know what? That's ok. That's not my life anymore, and it hasn't been for at least three years, and maybe this is permission to let go. These drag-on parish contacts are not real. I like them when they happen, and they pay well, but there's always this guilt that I'm not doing the real work. I put on the persona, but I really miss being the persona. Why even go there? Someday I'll be too old to fly, and Frank will be retired, and all that stuff will still be there for us. If it's right, maybe we'll find it together.
I had this imaginary conversation with Mike this morning. About how prayer could actually be as exciting/compelling/fulfilling as good flying. I remember that to be true, but God is not on my shoulder connecting me to the universe with music and prayer anymore.
There's something familiar, though, about that gorgeous river and earth below and a tangible sky opening its secrets to me/us through tiny touches of fingertip on 011's controls.
Why do we practice slow flight? precision flying with reduced effectiveness of controls;
hold heading. hold altitude. hold airspeed at 45 knots or less ...
Altitude is primarily enabled with power.
Airspeed is primarily enabled with pitch.
Carburator ice. Top Gun.
Sat in the plane and talked afterwards. Learning to fly safely & well & with precision vs. passing the test. Need answers. Feedback.
Jeppesen Private Pilot Maneuvers.
Really good session. Really good. I lucked out with this instructor.
Monday, May 07, 2007
Alex in Alaska
Amy and I have a friend who flies cargo and hunters and who-knows-what around Alaska. That's Alex on the left in the first picture. I asked him about the dog in the picture and he said:
"The dog in the pictures is my Border Collie 'Whitney' who has been on quite a few flights, and has logged probably over 100 hours."
pilot's logbook
5/7
Touch & Go’s, steep turns, pattern entry 1.5 hr
I apologized to Mike for trying to crack a joke about bouncing the airplane to the owners. He agreed it wasn't the best idea. On the good side, he said, no, I didn’t come in on the front wheel the other day.
We did touch and go at Bowman Field. I haven’t got it yet. I understand the pattern, what we’re supposed to do, but I’m not judging distances and I feel like I'm in somebody else's body, or using somebody else's brain. Maybe no brain. Airspeed! Can you see how high we are? Airspeed. Too far out. Need to stay parallel, can't be angling out. What's wrong with this picture? Nose down. Airspeed. Nose down. Nose down. Airspeed. Airspeed!
After that we went out and did some 360º steep turns. My angles and holding-altitude stink.
Coming back, Mike just said “OK, take us back to Bowman,” and I turned us around in the right direction, (small successes, what?) but I wasn’t sure what island we were over. Mike asks me does it look like six miles from Louisville? and I'm thinking Beats me, what does six miles look like? Turns out it was twelve-mile island--the long skinny one. I remember what downtown Louisville looked like from there, so maybe I can use that snapshot to say "10 miles away" (not twelve, the river curves).
MIke says doing this is like wanting to teach someone how to stop a car, but taking them onto the interstate to practice it. We're moving at 100 mph, and the plane and the setup are different every time around, so you just have to keep doing it until it clicks. He asked me if I’d been anywhere with Barry, the more time in a plane the better, and also said a flight simulator is helpful, don't I have one?
I have an old one on the Amiga, which isn’t running but has joysticks, and I have one on this macbook, but no joystick or input device and I really need to swap the hard drive out to use it anyway. Theresa has a yoke attachment. I’m going to stop by and pick it up, and maybe it will work with one of my machines.
----------
Nope. It looks great, but it connects via gameport, and we need USB, and there don't seem to be adapters that will work.
----------
Well, this is a depressing post, but it wasn't exactly a depressing lesson. Humbling. Not depressing. There were good things.
??????
It was a beautiful day, even if cloudy. I LIKE where we go and what we do. I can't wait to be competent to handle the plane and to be sightseeing and exploring. I want to explore the limits of the movement of flying, and I want to explore that whole world that you connect to from there. I like it. (Carmel told me this morning that a friend of hers says flying is like a drug addiction. It's all you want to do, nothing else matters, and then you hit a plateau, be ready for it.)
Back to good things:
I notice that I used to feel somewhat on the verge of motion sickness a lot of the time. That seems to be gone. That whole uneasy feeling of height, of being somewhere you don't belong, is gone, too.
Hey, I did check the METAR this morning and correctly predict what runway they were going to have us use. There was probably a small handful of little things that I was smoother at than last time. Til Wednesday.
I'm going to try again to digest that weather chapter.
Touch & Go’s, steep turns, pattern entry 1.5 hr
I apologized to Mike for trying to crack a joke about bouncing the airplane to the owners. He agreed it wasn't the best idea. On the good side, he said, no, I didn’t come in on the front wheel the other day.
We did touch and go at Bowman Field. I haven’t got it yet. I understand the pattern, what we’re supposed to do, but I’m not judging distances and I feel like I'm in somebody else's body, or using somebody else's brain. Maybe no brain. Airspeed! Can you see how high we are? Airspeed. Too far out. Need to stay parallel, can't be angling out. What's wrong with this picture? Nose down. Airspeed. Nose down. Nose down. Airspeed. Airspeed!
After that we went out and did some 360º steep turns. My angles and holding-altitude stink.
Coming back, Mike just said “OK, take us back to Bowman,” and I turned us around in the right direction, (small successes, what?) but I wasn’t sure what island we were over. Mike asks me does it look like six miles from Louisville? and I'm thinking Beats me, what does six miles look like? Turns out it was twelve-mile island--the long skinny one. I remember what downtown Louisville looked like from there, so maybe I can use that snapshot to say "10 miles away" (not twelve, the river curves).
MIke says doing this is like wanting to teach someone how to stop a car, but taking them onto the interstate to practice it. We're moving at 100 mph, and the plane and the setup are different every time around, so you just have to keep doing it until it clicks. He asked me if I’d been anywhere with Barry, the more time in a plane the better, and also said a flight simulator is helpful, don't I have one?
I have an old one on the Amiga, which isn’t running but has joysticks, and I have one on this macbook, but no joystick or input device and I really need to swap the hard drive out to use it anyway. Theresa has a yoke attachment. I’m going to stop by and pick it up, and maybe it will work with one of my machines.
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Nope. It looks great, but it connects via gameport, and we need USB, and there don't seem to be adapters that will work.
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Well, this is a depressing post, but it wasn't exactly a depressing lesson. Humbling. Not depressing. There were good things.
??????
It was a beautiful day, even if cloudy. I LIKE where we go and what we do. I can't wait to be competent to handle the plane and to be sightseeing and exploring. I want to explore the limits of the movement of flying, and I want to explore that whole world that you connect to from there. I like it. (Carmel told me this morning that a friend of hers says flying is like a drug addiction. It's all you want to do, nothing else matters, and then you hit a plateau, be ready for it.)
Back to good things:
I notice that I used to feel somewhat on the verge of motion sickness a lot of the time. That seems to be gone. That whole uneasy feeling of height, of being somewhere you don't belong, is gone, too.
Hey, I did check the METAR this morning and correctly predict what runway they were going to have us use. There was probably a small handful of little things that I was smoother at than last time. Til Wednesday.
I'm going to try again to digest that weather chapter.
Sunday, May 06, 2007
Saturday, May 05, 2007
pilot's logbook
Touch & Go's .9hr
I had an appointment this morning to get my eyes checked (annual) and got contacts instead of updating my glasses. I had a heck of a time putting them in (which is why I haven't been wearing them all these years), but couldn't believe how they absolutely disappear once you get them in. Can't feel them at all, just see distance. I can't get bifocal contacts (something to do with astigmatism in one eye) so the rub is that when I'm wearing them, I can see well at a distance (and so much better looking around) but to read a sheet of paper in my hand or music on the piano or the computer screen, I have to wear reading glasses. We'll see how this goes. I was hoping it might fix my problem with seeing the music at HNB, but it doesn't look as if it will. I might just wear them for flying. I do like them a lot for being outside.
Low ceiling. Would have cancelled, but it's ok for touch-and-go, which is fine with me. First we talked a little about weather, then about landing pattern airspeeds and such.
Then I asked how anyone could ever afford to rent a plane for a trip. Turns out you don't pay by the hour, but by the time flown--for instance, you would likely have the plane for 7 days, but you only pay for the hours it flies. Alternatively, there are some places (for instance, someone in Lexington) where you rent for a flat fee and your gas. So it is possible.
Today's touch & go:
Rotate at 50kt, climb at 67kt to 800 ft, turn (shallow bank) crosswind to continue. Continue at 67kt to pattern altitude (1300 ft) after downwind turn. When you reach altitude, bring the nose down first, then adjust the power back (something like 2200 rpm).
Abeam of the runway (85kt max) add carb heat, 10º flaps, nose down, adjust throttle back. Go for 500 fpm descent at 60 knots. Turn base (shallow bank, keep descending), add 10º flaps, nose down, throttle back. Airspeed 60kn. Turn final, line up with the center of the runway, add 10º flaps, nose down, power back, 60kn, adjust glide path according to the lights, throttle back to idle after passing trees.
At one wingtip length above ground, level out. At a few inches above ground (ha!) bring the nose up, hold it there, and let the plane settle itself down. Bouncing not preferable.
To go round again, carb heat in, full throttle.
I just explained all this to Frank, and didn't have to stop and think at all. Mike says it will be different when we're not dodging Derby Day traffic and can just do it over and over.
The blimp was right there, and planes coming and going from Churchill Downs to pick up their signs (advertising).
There was a parking lot FULL of small (well, I guess that's relative) jets. We wondered if piloting one of them for the rich and famous folks would be neat or if it would be like being a bus driver where you spend a lot of time cleaning up after the partiers have gone. Mike says he'd do it anyway, no hesitation there.
What else? When you follow a jet in, you come in higher and land past the place where he landed so that you don't hit his wake.
When I got out of the plane, I remembered that I was wearing contacts, which I had completely forgotten, so that seems to have checked out ok.
I didn't space out on the radio this time, not that I did much radio, either.
Very enjoyable session.
Questions for next time:
How much "nose-up" are we supposed to have at touchdown? Have I been way under? Or just a little? Did I land on the front wheel?
Why was I wobbling on final approach? It happened most of the time. Mike says it's weird. He and I may not be seeing "center of the runway" as the same position, other than that I can't think of anything.
(Unrelated to touch and go) I want to see (feel) if it flies straight with one wing raised and rudder to hold on course (as in clearing before manuevering). I think I need to revisit rudder in general.
I had an appointment this morning to get my eyes checked (annual) and got contacts instead of updating my glasses. I had a heck of a time putting them in (which is why I haven't been wearing them all these years), but couldn't believe how they absolutely disappear once you get them in. Can't feel them at all, just see distance. I can't get bifocal contacts (something to do with astigmatism in one eye) so the rub is that when I'm wearing them, I can see well at a distance (and so much better looking around) but to read a sheet of paper in my hand or music on the piano or the computer screen, I have to wear reading glasses. We'll see how this goes. I was hoping it might fix my problem with seeing the music at HNB, but it doesn't look as if it will. I might just wear them for flying. I do like them a lot for being outside.
Low ceiling. Would have cancelled, but it's ok for touch-and-go, which is fine with me. First we talked a little about weather, then about landing pattern airspeeds and such.
Then I asked how anyone could ever afford to rent a plane for a trip. Turns out you don't pay by the hour, but by the time flown--for instance, you would likely have the plane for 7 days, but you only pay for the hours it flies. Alternatively, there are some places (for instance, someone in Lexington) where you rent for a flat fee and your gas. So it is possible.
Today's touch & go:
Rotate at 50kt, climb at 67kt to 800 ft, turn (shallow bank) crosswind to continue. Continue at 67kt to pattern altitude (1300 ft) after downwind turn. When you reach altitude, bring the nose down first, then adjust the power back (something like 2200 rpm).
Abeam of the runway (85kt max) add carb heat, 10º flaps, nose down, adjust throttle back. Go for 500 fpm descent at 60 knots. Turn base (shallow bank, keep descending), add 10º flaps, nose down, throttle back. Airspeed 60kn. Turn final, line up with the center of the runway, add 10º flaps, nose down, power back, 60kn, adjust glide path according to the lights, throttle back to idle after passing trees.
At one wingtip length above ground, level out. At a few inches above ground (ha!) bring the nose up, hold it there, and let the plane settle itself down. Bouncing not preferable.
To go round again, carb heat in, full throttle.
I just explained all this to Frank, and didn't have to stop and think at all. Mike says it will be different when we're not dodging Derby Day traffic and can just do it over and over.
The blimp was right there, and planes coming and going from Churchill Downs to pick up their signs (advertising).
There was a parking lot FULL of small (well, I guess that's relative) jets. We wondered if piloting one of them for the rich and famous folks would be neat or if it would be like being a bus driver where you spend a lot of time cleaning up after the partiers have gone. Mike says he'd do it anyway, no hesitation there.
What else? When you follow a jet in, you come in higher and land past the place where he landed so that you don't hit his wake.
When I got out of the plane, I remembered that I was wearing contacts, which I had completely forgotten, so that seems to have checked out ok.
I didn't space out on the radio this time, not that I did much radio, either.
Very enjoyable session.
Questions for next time:
How much "nose-up" are we supposed to have at touchdown? Have I been way under? Or just a little? Did I land on the front wheel?
Why was I wobbling on final approach? It happened most of the time. Mike says it's weird. He and I may not be seeing "center of the runway" as the same position, other than that I can't think of anything.
(Unrelated to touch and go) I want to see (feel) if it flies straight with one wing raised and rudder to hold on course (as in clearing before manuevering). I think I need to revisit rudder in general.
Wednesday, May 02, 2007
pilot's logbook
Taxiing, Steep turns, stalls, spin awareness, recovery, touch-and-go 1.7 hr
Clark County airport
Clark County airport
Log 5-31
Runway 6 touch & go. Today Mike did say I was flying a “pretty pattern” and it felt like it. I’m starting to know where I am and what I’m doing. It’s the sense of knowing where I am that makes the difference. I kept on top of altitude and airspeed & direction most of the time. One of the spots I used to miss was that first turn crosswind off the runway. I’d let the airspeed drop way too much without noticing.
I haven’t got that sense for the final approach and landing, yet. We keep talking about it. How high is high? How low is too low over the trees? Airspeed needs to be low coming in. Nose down for the descent, but then, don’t run us into the concrete. Level happens when????? When the airplane tries to drop itself down, (it does something different) that’s when you have to hold the nose up, but gradually (or is that when you bring it level?).
Flying again tomorrow morning.
Runway 6 touch & go. Today Mike did say I was flying a “pretty pattern” and it felt like it. I’m starting to know where I am and what I’m doing. It’s the sense of knowing where I am that makes the difference. I kept on top of altitude and airspeed & direction most of the time. One of the spots I used to miss was that first turn crosswind off the runway. I’d let the airspeed drop way too much without noticing.
I haven’t got that sense for the final approach and landing, yet. We keep talking about it. How high is high? How low is too low over the trees? Airspeed needs to be low coming in. Nose down for the descent, but then, don’t run us into the concrete. Level happens when????? When the airplane tries to drop itself down, (it does something different) that’s when you have to hold the nose up, but gradually (or is that when you bring it level?).
Flying again tomorrow morning.
Tuesday, May 01, 2007
pilot's logbook
Taxiing, T/O, climbs, Vx, Vy, Stalls, Spin Awareness, Recovery, Landing
1.4 hr
Felt good today. A good portion of the time I just did what I wanted/needed to do, without all the brain interference. (Actually, there's still plenty that I'm leaving out, especially traffic awareness, tower communication, etc., but as far as the plane goes, I was at least connected to it.) Another lesson tomorrow morning. That will be three days in a row, which seems to help.
I asked about the throttle, and I checked it out. When it's on the ground, if you pull it all the way back, it might lope a little and you'd want to push it in a bit. In the air, all the way back is all the way back. The propeller still turns because of wind.
Brakes. Next time there's nobody around I'm going to play with the brakes some more.
I cut in on somebody on the radio.
Takeoff. We talked thru it before hand. Get clearance, full power, rotate at 50kn, using right rudder. Climb at 67kn (Vy). At about 800 ft, turn to N. Climb to 1700 until we cross the road (Indiana side of the river) 44? Then climb to 3000 or whatever.
Mike didn't touch anything on takeoff today.
Cruise rpm = 2200.
climb at full throttle.
Stall (simulated stall on landing): Flaps down. Pull the throttle ALL the way back. Hold the nose up. Pull hard to get it to stall.
As soon as the plane bucks, go full throttle, flaps up one notch, nose down to level. Check airspeed rise (needle going down). When it is, add another notch flaps, then check again. Last notch flaps.
Spin awareness. OK.
Turn around a point. Much better today. 2500 ft, "Wingtip length." I was able to keep an eye on altitude & airspeed while doing it. AND I didn't get queasy. At all.
Landing. It's coming along.
Mike says we'll do some touch and go at Clark County. After solo, I will go out to practice area and just practice (no steep turns), and find my way back. Then he and I will go together to different airports, and then I'll go there myself. Lexington, Bowling Green.
Bought a checksheet for the C152.
1.4 hr
Felt good today. A good portion of the time I just did what I wanted/needed to do, without all the brain interference. (Actually, there's still plenty that I'm leaving out, especially traffic awareness, tower communication, etc., but as far as the plane goes, I was at least connected to it.) Another lesson tomorrow morning. That will be three days in a row, which seems to help.
I asked about the throttle, and I checked it out. When it's on the ground, if you pull it all the way back, it might lope a little and you'd want to push it in a bit. In the air, all the way back is all the way back. The propeller still turns because of wind.
Brakes. Next time there's nobody around I'm going to play with the brakes some more.
I cut in on somebody on the radio.
Takeoff. We talked thru it before hand. Get clearance, full power, rotate at 50kn, using right rudder. Climb at 67kn (Vy). At about 800 ft, turn to N. Climb to 1700 until we cross the road (Indiana side of the river) 44? Then climb to 3000 or whatever.
Mike didn't touch anything on takeoff today.
Cruise rpm = 2200.
climb at full throttle.
Stall (simulated stall on landing): Flaps down. Pull the throttle ALL the way back. Hold the nose up. Pull hard to get it to stall.
As soon as the plane bucks, go full throttle, flaps up one notch, nose down to level. Check airspeed rise (needle going down). When it is, add another notch flaps, then check again. Last notch flaps.
Spin awareness. OK.
Turn around a point. Much better today. 2500 ft, "Wingtip length." I was able to keep an eye on altitude & airspeed while doing it. AND I didn't get queasy. At all.
Landing. It's coming along.
Mike says we'll do some touch and go at Clark County. After solo, I will go out to practice area and just practice (no steep turns), and find my way back. Then he and I will go together to different airports, and then I'll go there myself. Lexington, Bowling Green.
Bought a checksheet for the C152.
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