Fly With Blake | Fly With Blake |
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IMG_0010Date: 04/08/2007
At: Dec 05 2008 00:00Z
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Tuesday, August 29, 2006 - 12:35:31 ET
I got to the airport yesterday and was told that the simulator was busted. No worries, we just hopped into a plane. Did a short field with obstacle take off and almost just as soon my FI told me to put the foggles on. The entire flight was done with the view limiting device. I only really knew where we are by the radio calls my FI were making. We did the flight test which I executed within tolerances. The only issue I had was that my rate one turn (a 360 degree turn in 2 minutes) was 5 seconds too fast... but not a huge deal. On the way back it was all "under the hood". My FI just gave me headings and altitudes to fly while approaching the airport and in the circuit. On short final she made me take the foggles off and land. Transitioning from IFR to VFR wasn't as hard as I thought... just had to make sure to keep my eyes outside. My next lesson is booked for Thursday in the simulator. Comments (0) | Permalink | Category: Training
Monday, August 28, 2006 - 09:50:27 ET
My FI called me at 6:30am in the morning to see what I thought of the weather and if it was sutable for our long x-country. I had gotten up at 6am to be prepared for the call. The flight was scrubbed because the GFA was showing thunderstorm activity around Buttonville around the time I was to depart. Additionally the METAR for Muskoka was showing really low visibilities and ceilings. Needless to say, I went back to bed ;) I had a lesson a few days later which was all about instrument flying. Rain was moving in from the north so we headed to the east practice area. My FI handed me her foggles and the exercise began. Doing simple things like climbing and descending turns. I'm still amazed how well some of the rules of thumbs work. In this case I was using the "100rpm" for every 5KT in speed to adjust my speed and descent rate. I can hear my FI keeping a close eye on the ATIS at the airport to see how the weather was progressing over there. Our lesson ended up being cut short when the rain was over the airport. I took off the foggles and flew the rest of the way to the airport in the rain. That was fun! My FI quizzed me on what kind of visual illusions that I should be aware of now that there is wind on the windshield. If necessary she was going to call heights above the ground as I was on final. It was a good flight. I actually felt comfortable not being able to see outside. I found my self fixating on the heading indicator. My FI thought that was an "interesting" instrument to fixate on. I was pretty good in keeping my scan going though. Tonight's lesson is in the simulator. This will be the first time in the sim since my first lesson. Comments (0) | Permalink | Category: Training
Wednesday, August 23, 2006 - 13:03:48 ET
My Solo short x-country flight yesterday went without a hitch. It was the first time that I actually felt comfortable behind the yoke. My first x-country (with my FI) a week earlier was a disaster. I was really nervous and wasn't totally prepared. She reassured me that it was only normal. I got up early, had a decent breakfast and did all the necessary planning. I headed to the airport with enough time to spare, so much so that the plane was still out with another student. I got the necessary questions by the duty pilot before signing out the plane. Just "what would you do if..." type questions. I filed my flight plan and headed out to the plane. I had planned on departing at 14:30Z (according to the plan) and I needed to get fuel. Luckily the fuel truck was filling up the plane right next to mine, so I headed over and asked him if he can top me up. I glanced at the fuel counter on the truck when he was done filling.. the number showed "28". Not sure if that is Litres or Gallons. The run-up and taxi to the active went on without a hitch. I opened my flight plan at 14:28Z and took off from runway 33. I did bring my GPS but realized that I forgot to turn it on until about 10 minutes later... d'oh. The flight was great. A little bumpy, but nothing too crazy. I did make a radio call by accident on 122.8Mhz instead of 122.9Mhz - I blame the crappy analog radio stack. I was able to see all of my checkpoints and set heading points well in advance. I also maintained my track much better now.  A crappy radio stack I landed in Peterborough without incident. I think that airport is hilarious. It has a 5000' paved runway with a class E control zone. I guess it's because nobody uses it. I'd just assume that all uncontrolled airports are turf/gravel ones. I went inside, signed the log book and headed over to the other building near the fuel pumps to get by log book stamped. This is where the unicom guy lives. Unicom is a "service" that allows you to get information about the conditions at an uncontrolled airport. While in the air, before landing, I called up Peterborough Unicom and asked for an airport advisory. Since they are not air traffic controllers, they can't legally tell you which runway to use, etc... So the wording of their response is interesting... Me: Could I get an airport advisory please? He literally just looks out his window and reads the windsock and the direction and lets you know. Notice the key word here.. "suggested". He would also help you out with fuel or where to park once you land. I took off and started heading to Oshawa. This time climbing to 4500' (on the way to Peterborough I was cruising at 3500'). The winds seemed to be stronger up here (as the FDs predicted) and I noticed I was getting blown off track by quite a bit. Since I was in the first half of the leg, I used the Double Angle method to regain my track. It worked out beautifully. I called up Oshawa tower as a courtesy to let them know that I would be overflying their field at 4500' enroute to Buttonville. Technically you dont need to do this as their airspace ends at 3000'. I was given a transponder code to sqawk and told there was no conflicting traffic at 4500'. Made my way to Buttonville no problem and was number 1 to land. By this time the wind was gusting a bit but not an issue for the landing. Tower allowed me to roll out to taxiway Alpha (which is closer to the place where I tie down the plane). I closed my flight plan, shutdown the plane and headed inside. I have a flight tonight (if the weather holds up) on instruments and unusual attitudes. On Thursday I have the dual long x-country booked. I still have to do the planning for that one tonight. I haven't started studying for the flight test. I will this weekend though... Comments (3) | Permalink | Category: Training
Monday, August 21, 2006 - 14:15:11 ET
I had to cancel my lesson today... it was going to be about instrument flying. There are two possible scenarios that the flight test exmaminer will ask you to use this technique: 1. Recovery from unusual attitudes. The examiner will put the plane into either a stall or spiral then ask you to recover using only your instruments. So how do they avoid you from just looking outside the window? There are two types of "view limiting" (as they are called) devices. It will either be a hood or foggles.  This guy seems to be enjoying his foggles. I asked my FI if it would be worth while buying either a hood or foggles. I will eventually be learning how to fly IFR anyways. So I would be using them quite a bit later in my training. She suggested that I just make my own. Buy a pair of safety glasses from a hardware store and just tape up top half. So I'm going to build some sometime this week. The only decision I have to make now is if I should use opaque or solid tape. The weather for my solo short x-country tomorrow looks good. *crosses fingers* Comments (3) | Permalink | Category: Training
Wednesday, August 16, 2006 - 09:27:00 ET
Today couldn't be any better for my first x-country flight (so far). I'm looking at the TAF and it is showing variable and 3 knots as the winds for Buttonville. The upper winds are a joke too: 5KT at 3000' and 8KT at 6000'. All thanks to a quasistationary (I love that word) high pressure system sitting over southern Ontario. I've planned my route as follows: DCT Claremont (SHP) DCT CNF4 DCT CYPQ 030 CYPQ DCT Cavan (SHP) DCT CYOO Departing and returning to Buttonville (YKZ) with a 30 minute stop at Peterborough. Distance: 110NM. My set heading point departing Peterborough is just outside the zone. So I'm hoping that wont cause an additional workload for me. I think I covered all the bases: 10° drift lines, check points, half way marks, 10nm marks. I even marked on the map when I should start descending and to make radio calls. I've also marked places I could divert to if the need arises (by that I mean if my FI asks me ;) ). All of the "pre-planning" is done. I just need to wait closer to flight time to grab the weather and calculate the rest of my plan as well as weight and balance and take-off/landing performance numbers. I have the basic empty weights of all the planes in the fleet but they don't include the moment and arm numbers. I got a chuckle last night as I was calculating some of the weight and balance. I didn't know the weight of my instructor so I used the prescribed "standard weight" for a woman in the summer as indicated in the AIM. It's 165 lbs. Thats heaver than me! It's always better to err on the side of safety (ex. better to plan for heavier).  This will also be the first time that I will speak to an FSS specialist for more than 10 seconds. I called them once last week to get the upper winds because the PIK at the Airport wasn't working properly. So I have my flight plan filled out on paper so I can expect what to be asked and what information I should give them. I'm going to bring my GPS along to record the flight. I'm interested in seeing how well I stick to my planned route. Comments (2) | Permalink | Category: Training
Monday, August 14, 2006 - 09:02:27 ET
Boourns! That high pressure system didn't stay over Ontario as long as I'd hoped - quasistationary my ass! In anycase the TAF for YKZ this morning: TAF CYKZ 141143Z 141224 VRB03KT P6SM FEW100 SCT250 FM1500Z 17010KT P6SM FEW040 BKN150 BKN250 FM1700Z 21012G22KT P6SM BKN050 OVC120 TEMPO 1824 P6SM -SHRA BKN020 OVC050 PROB30 1924 2SM TSRA BR BKN020CB RMK NXT FCST BY 18Z= My planned departure for the short x-country was 20:30UTC. For those of you that cant decode the TAF, among other things it says: 18:00 - 24:00 UTC: Light Rain Showers, Broken 2000', Overcast 5000'. In other words... rain ;) I have rescheduled my short x-country to Wednesday. Comments (0) | Permalink | Category: Training
Friday, August 11, 2006 - 17:23:05 ET
My lesson today was less than stellar. I think it was because I was just too tired and couldn't concentrate. We took off from runway 03 today via taxiway charlie. This is an old and rarely used taxiway and the first time I've ever used it. The grass growing through the cracks in the pavement is a side of Buttonville that is rarely seen ;) We departed to the North and I was asked to get our asses to Bradford and to keep an eye out for the Holland Landing airport. Piece of cake. Once there we diverted to Baldwin airport to practice more uncontrolled stuff. The diversion part went well... and that's about it. I remembered when I should be making my radio calls this time but I didn't know how to enter the circuit or what to say. My FI ended up making some radio calls for me because I was so preoccupied with how to enter the circuit and figure things out :( . There was another guy at the airport practicing circuit work.. so it was good to see how an uncontrolled airport works when you are not the only one in the circuit. We didn't end up landing but instead headed to Sutton for a new diversion. Another mistake was made and I made a radio call stating that we were clear of Baldwin at ~3nm instead of 5... damn. It goes further down hill at this point. I was asked to divert from Sutton to Foxton Farms (I think thats how you spell it).... A private unmarked grass airstrip on the west side of highway 404 between Bloomington and Leslie. The Siftons own Toronto Airways and that farm. So they allow students to land there. The original plan was for us to land there... however I spent so much time trying to set up the diversion that we just ran out of time... Once again I was confused on how we would enter the circuit.  Foxton Farm - click for larger I guess one good thing to look at was that the weather was perfect. The visibility was at least 30 miles and not a cloud in the sky. Its kinda cool seeing the Toronto skyline from Lake Simcoe. My lesson tomorrow is going to be the required instrument training needed. The "just in case I fly in clouds" and need to get out lesson. We're also going to go over stuff with uncontrolled as well. Then after that it's cross country stuff! I have a short x-country lesson booked on August 14th. I think a solo x-country on the 22nd, and a Long X-Country on the 24th. Let's hope the weather holds out. Thats it really.. It's just test preparation lessons once we're done with x-country and instruments... PPL here I come! Comments (0) | Permalink | Category: Training
Thursday, August 10, 2006 - 16:16:57 ET
Today's lesson was awesome! On the advice of my instructor I had reviewed the procedures for landing at an uncontrolled airport before my lesson. Mind you this was at 6am this morning. We hopped in the plane and did a diversion from Claremont to Greenbank airport. The idea being that we are going to land at Greenbank - a grass strip. Of course when it came time I totally forgot what calls I need to make when.
My FI asked me which runway we were going to land on. I took a look at the CFS and picked 34. Why? Well the ATIS for Buttonville said light and variable winds... so it wasn't because of the wind direction. It was just the longest runway that happened to be on the side of the airport I was flying to. The plan was to do an inspection (low and over) to make sure the field was good to land on (since there was nobody down there to tell us). So we crossed overhead the field to the inactive side of the runway, turned around, descended to circuit height joined the left downwind, did the low and over, climbed back up to circuit altitude did the normal circuit routine and landed. All of the soft field landing practice payed off. I then backtracked down the runway and did a soft field take off. That was flawless as well. This airport was awesome! The owner has his house right on the field. And he has the runway edges marked with pylons with little lights on top of them. I would love to land here at night one day. On the way back we did a diversion to musslemans lake, then on to Buttonville. I actually got complimented on my landing by my FI... sweeet. So I need to review my uncontrolled airport radio calls. As well, I've been told to start thinking about writing the Transport Canada written portion of the Private Pilot's license test. I'm going to be studying for that over the next few weeks. Comments (2) | Permalink | Category: Training
Wednesday, August 9, 2006 - 13:11:35 ET
With the end of a semester comes exams. I only have one, but its the one I'm least prepared for. Navigation.. such a bitch. All of the things I'm learning will never be used in the "real world". However it is in the theory that can by applied. What scale is the VTA in? What map projection does the VNC use? How wide is a VHF airway? How much does that airway diverge? What are the pros and cons of using a Transverse Mercator projection versus a Lambert Conic projection? When do you use the one in sixty rule? When would you use the double angle method of regaining your track? All of the above questions can be answered by three letters... GPS. Of course I wont have a GPS in my 172 when I fly around for fun. I wont be tracking VORs and flying airways either! This was probably my least favorite class so far just because of the content. There is another credit that I need to take that I know is pointless: Economics. Really not looking forward to that one. I will find out my marks on Aug 26th. Comments (0) | Permalink | Category:
Tuesday, August 8, 2006 - 12:05:07 ET
"We then hit a brick wall. I hit my head on the ceiling even though I was strapped in firmly. The airplane shook violently, so much so that the instrument panel became a blur....I could see that we were climbing at 6,000' per minute. I called Air Traffic Control and said "We are unable to maintain altitude, do you see anything in radar in front of us". "Yes, you are penetrating a level 4 area of weather, it's about 15 miles wide and 60 miles long. You are cleared to deviate as required, there are no other aircraft in your area". Of course there weren't other aircraft, nobody else was dumb enough to be around a thunderstorm. I could hear screams in the back..." Read more at Sulako's Blog Comments (0) | Permalink | Category: Interesting Things
Friday, August 4, 2006 - 13:26:00 ET
My birthday is coming up (well, it's in late September) and I was thinking of things that I would like to get as a present. I want a new watch to use while flying. I spent some time today online trying to find what I want but couldn't. - Must be digital I saw some pretty crazy watches that included some functions of an E6B on it. I just want something that I can use to time things and display two timezones at the same time on the watch. If you know of such a watch, please let me know! Comments (0) | Permalink | Category: Interesting Things
Wednesday, August 2, 2006 - 12:37:57 ET
I recall the stories of the early arctic pilots draining their oil into a can at shutdown and then using it as a hot water bottle in their tent. This also had the effect of keeping the oil warm with their body heat to make it possible to start the engine in the morning. I suggest taking the extra oil (in one litre plastic bottles) with us into our room so we can then add one each side in the morning, warming the oil a little that way. The captain likes that idea, and we take the deicing fluid, too. Read more at Aviatrixs' Journal Comments (0) | Permalink | Category: Interesting Things
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Simulator Broken 
