The burnout

Its been a while since my last post. One of my readers put it well when he suggested I was burnt out... indeed that is exactly it. My checkride was extremely stressful and came at the end of an even more stressful month. Fortunately, I passed. I want to brain dump before I forget everything but to be honest, most of the oral flew by until I got totally stumped on a really simple airspace question. The FE used a simple trick, he pointed at one place on the chart and asked "you are flying along at 400ft AGL what airspace are you in". G of course (up to 1200 ft unless in Class E starting at 700ft AGL). Then he pointed to another point on the map and asked the same question but this time stated I was at 1500ft. He didn't specify MSL or AGL. I assumed MSL, but I was stressed and getting confused. I said "Class G". Of course the FE was looking for the answer of Class E, because his intent was that I was flying along 1500 AGL, though he never stated so. I spun around on that question for a while. I didn't ask him to clarify AGL or MSL I just spun. He moved on to the jaggedy lines that mark the change in base of class E and hit me hard on that question. He didn't like the language I used to describe the line, "A change in class E" he wanted me to say "A difference in the start of class E airspace across the line" or something to that affect. I really couldn't see the difference to be honest but after he pounded me on it, I complied and said "its a difference in the base of class E airspace". At this point he turned back to the Class G question to which I still was answering the wrong way. He was getting irritated and I could see his dissastisfaction in his face. He pondered for a bit and said, "this is something you must know!" and wouldn't let me look at the key to verify my answer, even though it wouldn't have change, we had a basic failure to communicate. He then said that he was going to let me continue, though he wasn't sure, and based on the rest of my test he would decide. I slammed out the rest of the airspace questions he asked and then he turned to pilot responsibilites and FARs. I did pretty well through the rest of the questions I, he said a high 80% during the de-brief. Then he said, "let's go fly". I didn't realize that meant I passed the Oral. My head was spinning and my stomach was growling, I really needed to chill for a bit before I went flying. My instructor caught me in the hallway and asked how it went. I was pretty shook up over the airspace question and wasn't sure if I passed. She told me that if we were going to go fly, then I passed. She then offered to go grab some food for me and told me to take a breather. In the meantime the FE was waiting downstairs, thinking I was pre-flighting the airplane. Just as my instructor was prepping to get something from Wendy's he came up, obviously irritated, and wondering why I wasn't pre-flighting. I told him I needed to eat something before we went flying. He thought that was a good idea and asked my instructor to pick up some food for him as well. During the 15 minutes or so that she was gone, we sat somewhat uncomfortable, across from one another. I tried to make some small talk about airplanes and he started in with the questions again. This time he asked about the NTSB stuff. Unfortunately, I hadn't looked at that stuff in a very long time and answered poorly. He asked what the difference between an accident and an incident and which one you were required to report. I hadn't a clue. It had been months since I review NTSB stuff and there is so little we are required to know that I just blanked. Fortunately he had already decided to fly with me otherwise I might have been in trouble, I thought. The food came and we ate in silence then I headed out to preflight. My nerves were pretty thrashed by now and I was shaking from the low blood sugar.

When the FE came out he started quizzing me on the details of the airplane. He asked about the flight controls, the pitot system, the air filter and a few other things. Then he pointed at a hatch on the left side of the cowling and asked "what is this door for?". The cessna's being my second trainers, I hadn't spent nearly as much time studying the airplane, just flying it. Of course I didnt' know right off but I opened it and realized it was the plug for external power. This satisfied him but not before he said "you should know this airplane inside and out". Well I suppose he's correct for the exam but since I was likely never to fly it again after that day I didn't take it to heart.

Checkride, whew....

Well, today was the day. I started out at my normal time, 6:00 am, with a dog walk down in Oaks Bottom with the Orbit. Then back home to load up and get myself out to the airport for a 9:30 am start. When I got here I finished the flight plan by plugging in the numbers from the weather and looking over my practical test standards (PTS) one more time. The examiner showed up around 9:45 am and we headed up to the room. After several formalities he began by asking me what is a safe taxi speed. I responded with a non-standard answer but he agreed with my assessment yet corrected me with the "98%" answer, at the speed you can walk. The rest of the oral was moving along swimmingly until I got hung on an airspace question. The examiner helped me to tie myself into a knot then just pulled on the ends until impossibly to unravel. After some time spinning around the airspace questions we adjourned and took a lunch break. After lunch I preflighted and we went flying. He asked me a couple of questions about the airplane, what was the hatch door on the ft left of the cowling. I flailed and admitted I couldn't remember what was under it. He nailed me on that, saying I should know this airplane inside and out. Then he asked if you could take-off with no air in the ft wheel shock. Uh... I reasoned out that you could but landing would be problematic. He said you couldn't due to the risk of damaging the airframe, to which the ft wheel assembly is connected via the firewall. The rest of the flight went so-so, I had some problems, admitted that I screwed up and moved on. I am hard on myself so was fairly convinced that I blew it and started mentally preparing for the pink slip that I was sure I was going to be handed after we got back to the FBO. The FE de-briefed me and had me go over all the things I thought I screwed up. I listed them off as we went through them and for all but a couple he said I was within tolerances and showed that I understood that by admitting my issues as they happened. He also acknowledged how nervous I was and that he understood how difficult the process can be under pressure. He had a few words of wisdom and said I did very well on my oral and began filling out a white slip... I passed. I am now a FAA certified Private Pilot.

Freakin a little

I know I said my next post would be something about my check ride but I needed to do a little stress redux so here is my brain dump... I started freaking a little last evening about my readiness for the check ride after a very bad flight with my instructor. I couldn't seem to do anything right, blew all my steep turns and couldn't get a stall for crap. Then I got a little panicked when we started practicing diversions as I had been under the hood doing unusual attitudes and as soon as I took it off she had me do a diversion. I had no clue where I was and was having a lot of trouble figuring it out. She pointed out Mulino and suggested I fly over to it and then divert from there. I did and I found my bearing and estimated time but winds blew me way south of course and I was getting frustrated because I was still uncertain about where I was exactly.

I hindsight, I was fine, i knew where I was in general and was heading in the right direction and was able to get a VOR signal from Newburg but I was getting flustered. Then I blew the two short field landings I attempted at McMinnville, my diverted locale. As we departed McMinnville she had me calculate another diversion to Happy Valley and while enroute quizzed me hard on emergency procedures.

Now that I am typing this I realize how much she was throwing at me, just like one would expect on a check ride I suppose. However, if it was supposed to instill confidence in me, she failed completely. Oh did I mention that I spent the 8 hours prior to flying yesterday cramming?! Go figure. I came home feeling dejected and questioning whether or not I am really ready for this. Of course I am, I have been studying my brains out and have over 60 hours in now.

Today, after I got shelled by scuddy weather in the am, I spent the time between my time blocks not studying but just sitting watching people do touch and goes for a couple of hours. By the time my 3pm block came I was feeling pretty relaxed so I grabbed the book and started my pre-flight. My instructor came and discussed what I should go do and took another student up to do his solo prep. As I was completing my pre-flight, I stood up and tagged my head against the wing strut. It knocked me on my ass and it hurt. I took a deep breathe and was getting up when I realized I had blood streaming down my face... friggin perfect. I ran into the bathroom and I could tell I freaked out a couple of people who where sitting around studying but I had to get some paper towels on the wound to stop the bleeding ASAP. After I put pressure on it for a few minutes I cleaned it up under some cold water and looked to see if I was going to need stitches. The cut didn't look too bad and the bleeding was slowing so I just kept pressure on it and headed back outside. I decided to wait until my instructor came back to decide if I should fly. I felt ok, not freaked out just kinda pissed that Murphy stuck his big fat law in my face today. We went flying and I nailed my steep turns. Then we practiced emergency descents, a bunch of them... Pitch for best glide and look for a field. Begin troubleshooting: Fuel valve, Mixture, Carb Heat, Primer, Restart. Circle down on field and prep for off field. I think I have got the flow now. Then back to practice short fields and slips. I nailed the short field and the second slip. I am ready. Tomorrow I am going to fly with another of the instructors for a cross-check then go do some more ground reference maneuvers for last minute tune up. Monday is the day, just another lesson my instructors says to me! I will do great, I just need to relax, it's only flying after all ;)

Oh, and I met one of my readers today at the field. He was just finishing up a lesson with my instructor. He wrote me a while back asking about my experiences both in Bend and here and where would I suggest he go. I of course suggested Gorge Winds because I like the folks there and the attitude and he took my advice. I guess I have learned a thing or two about flying over the past 13 months.

Long Days

I forgot to post last week after my three days of intense training. Last weekend I began the final hours of my PPL training with review of stalls, spins and slow flight. Then a few short and soft field takeoffs and landings. Later on, I went out and practiced my ground reference manuevers. On Sunday of last week I went out again for a morning flight with my instructor to work on simulated instument time and short/soft fields again. Then after a few hours of study, went back up on my own to practice short and soft field stuff. It was wikked hot and I got frustrated with the lack of my performance so called it quits after 6 laps in the pattern. 

After taking most of the week off from aviation for work/school obligations I got back out to the airport last evening to work again on simulated instrument and short/soft fields. My instructor discussed setting up my checkride mid June prior to our flight, but when we got back she told me it was time and she called the Flight Examiner to make the appointment for next weekend. HOLY CRAPPOLY!!! I have in the past 24 hours been cramming like there is no tomorrow, even though the appointment isn't even confirmed, I need to be ready for my CHECKRIDE!!! Today I spent the entire day at the FBO studying and quizzing with other students of various degree. Fortunately, one of the guys I got hooked up with is prepping for his CFI and spent an hour quizzing me directly out of the Practical Test Standards book, PTS for short, which describes in detail what will be expected of me on the checkride. By 4 pm my brains were melted and I took Orbit out for his afternoon walk along a dike just east of the airport, a very nice place to walk and watch airplanes land.

The remainder of this week will consist of work during the day and studying in the evening, except for tomorrow because I have class.

Also, just in case anyone reads this thing, who is the cute girl my CFI solo'd today?  I sure would like to get to know her ;)

The next post will be titled "Checkride: " followed by some description adjectives.... till then

Fast Fast Fast

Last night I got to fly a Piper Arrow with another pilot who needed some left seat eyeballs while he practiced landing from the right seat. He took me out to the practice area and showed me how to do Pilon turns, Lazy 8's and Chandelles. This airplane hauls butt, even for a 34 yr old. The pilot I went flying with is getting his CFI and I think I am going to have  him help me get my complex endorsement.

Final Hours - Point Turns and S Turns

Yesterday I lucked out and grabbed a couple of hours abandoned by another renter. I went up with my CFI and practiced short field takeoffs and landings. Then we headed out to the Boring practice area to test my turns around a point and S turns across a road. My first attempts at keeping the elevation and airspeed and distance weren't great but that's why we were out there. We did a set of each then headed back for a couple more short field attempts. My instructor was telling me that the Examiner that I will likely be check riding with is pretty hard on landing pattern airspeeds being right on the numbers and that he wants everything about 10 kts slower than I have been practicing. So I played around with 75 on downwind, 65 on base and 45 - 55 on final. It felt pretty strange initially since I have been hitting base at 60 and slowing to 50 for touchdown. I will get it for sure, but yesterday there was a 8-10kt headwind right down the runway making it hard to maintain the glide path without adding power and increasing my airspeed. I dropped off my CFI and headed out for a few solo turns on a point and s turns. I dialed in the right turn first as I was having the most trouble with it. The NNW wind was good because it really accentuated the need to change the degree of roll through out the turn. I also found myself using power to maintain altitude within the 100ft range. I need to review the procedures to see if this is the recommended way. I have three days of training scheduled for this week and need to get started with studying for the oral. The date is closing in fast...

As a bonus, a guy I met via an email list who recommended Gorge Winds offered to take me up in the Piper Arrow tonight. He is working on his CFI and thought it would be helpful to have someone in the left seat who could call out numbers as he practices flying from the right seat since the view is funky from that side. We have been trying to meet up for some time but keep missing each other at the FBO (sometimes by minutes I am told). I had scheduled the 152 for myself but decided it would be nice to get a couple days off after and intense weekend.

XC Hours DONE!!!

Today I finished off my Cross Country hours with a 1.9 hr flight up to Chehalis (CLS) with a touch and go at Scapoose (SPB). It was a bit misty in places as some weather moved through but overall a good flight. Ceilings at 4000ft gave me plenty of altitude, though as I got higher up the visibility quickly became worse so I settle in at between 2500 and 3000 ft. Chehalis has rt hand traffic for 16 so I entered the pattern straight in on the downwind leg. There was a Skylane on a left base, apparently they didn't read the Flight Guide of AFD regarding the right hand pattern. As they turned final I turned base and followed them in. It must have been an instructor and student on a cross country from the radio calls. I ended up following them all the way down to Scapoose. They were moving a bit faster than I and made it in and out about 10 minutes before I got there. Upon my return to Gorge Winds I had a conversation with my instructor about the next few weeks as I prepare for the checkride. I need to get a paper copy of the PTS and a 2008 FAR/AIM, time for a Sporty's Order. Wow, its finally feeling real!!! I am going to be a private pilot before summer :)

FYI: Picture taken for Mother's Day @ 2500 ft over Kelso, WA.