January 29, 2012
Today was a great day...
I HIT MY 100TH FLIGHT HOUR!!!
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Dad's Birthday
January 28, 2012
Today was my second instrument lesson of Stage 2. It was all about holding procedures and ILS (Localizer) tracking. Since it was my Dad's birthday, I let him join us.
I won't go into too much detail, so I'll keep it quick. We took off and flew east. Once on the east heading, I called up St. Louis Approach and told them that I wanted to do the ILS Back-course for Runway 11 at Alton. He cleared us for the approach, then handed us off to Alton's tower once we got closer. We followed the Localizer, which is a navigational aid, into runway 11. Mark told me to look out the window for a moment, and sure enough, the runway was right in front of me.
Since we didn't need to land, we told ATC that we were going missed. The controller then vectored us (gave us directions) around the Alton airport so that we could follow the ILS Front-course for runway 29. Again, it put us right on track to land if we chose to do so. We went missed again, then told ATC we were done with approaches.
Mark told me to fly west and hold west of the St. Louis VOR. I verified the VOR was operational, then tracked it to the station. Once there, we use the VOR and the DME (Distance Measuring Equipment) to help guide us when to turn. I entered the hold with a teardrop entry, then we did about two laps around the pattern before ending the lesson.
Dad enjoyed watching so much that I decided to take him flying again, but this time it was just us and no instructor. We took off and flew east to follow the Mississippi River to downtown St. Louis. Once we received clearance to enter the airspace, we circled the Arch.
Today was my second instrument lesson of Stage 2. It was all about holding procedures and ILS (Localizer) tracking. Since it was my Dad's birthday, I let him join us.
I won't go into too much detail, so I'll keep it quick. We took off and flew east. Once on the east heading, I called up St. Louis Approach and told them that I wanted to do the ILS Back-course for Runway 11 at Alton. He cleared us for the approach, then handed us off to Alton's tower once we got closer. We followed the Localizer, which is a navigational aid, into runway 11. Mark told me to look out the window for a moment, and sure enough, the runway was right in front of me.
 |
| Photo of an ILS Approach by Flight Attendant Chronicles. |
Since we didn't need to land, we told ATC that we were going missed. The controller then vectored us (gave us directions) around the Alton airport so that we could follow the ILS Front-course for runway 29. Again, it put us right on track to land if we chose to do so. We went missed again, then told ATC we were done with approaches.
Mark told me to fly west and hold west of the St. Louis VOR. I verified the VOR was operational, then tracked it to the station. Once there, we use the VOR and the DME (Distance Measuring Equipment) to help guide us when to turn. I entered the hold with a teardrop entry, then we did about two laps around the pattern before ending the lesson.
Dad enjoyed watching so much that I decided to take him flying again, but this time it was just us and no instructor. We took off and flew east to follow the Mississippi River to downtown St. Louis. Once we received clearance to enter the airspace, we circled the Arch.
Following the Arch tour, we followed the Missouri River back to the airport. We landing shortly after sunset, which was gorgeous. Dad and I had a wonderful day together. Happy Birthday Dad!
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Holding Procedures
January 14, 2012
I began Stage 2 of 3 in my instrument training today. The first half hour of my lesson was ground school. I explained to Mark, my CFII, what I had already learned about holds. There's three basic entries; Direct, Teardrop and Parallel. Your entry depends on your position relative to the fix (a point on the imaginary racetrack shaped pattern). A standard hold is when all turns are made to the right, a nonstandard hold is when all turns are made to the left. The hold is to be a total of four minutes, with each leg being one minute based on a no wind situation. The reason for performing a hold "is to delay an aircraft already in flight while keeping it within a specified airspace" as stated by Wikipedia. They aren't too common these days, but all Instrument rated pilots are required to learn them.
Flight Log to Date
Hours flown: 96.8
I began Stage 2 of 3 in my instrument training today. The first half hour of my lesson was ground school. I explained to Mark, my CFII, what I had already learned about holds. There's three basic entries; Direct, Teardrop and Parallel. Your entry depends on your position relative to the fix (a point on the imaginary racetrack shaped pattern). A standard hold is when all turns are made to the right, a nonstandard hold is when all turns are made to the left. The hold is to be a total of four minutes, with each leg being one minute based on a no wind situation. The reason for performing a hold "is to delay an aircraft already in flight while keeping it within a specified airspace" as stated by Wikipedia. They aren't too common these days, but all Instrument rated pilots are required to learn them.
 |
| Photo by Wikipedia |
After departing from Runway 36, we flew out north. I quickly put my foggles on, then Mark told me to fly us to the FASHE intersection. This intersection will be our fix for the holding pattern, and can be flown to by using a combination of VORs, DMEs (distance measuring equipment), or a GPS. The combination we chose was to use the St. Louis VOR and the DME. When both navaids match up, we would be at the FASHE intersection (the fix).
Based on our location, we chose to perform a teardrop entry into the pattern.
 |
| Tpub.com drawing |
Once in the pattern, I started my timer and began a standard rate turn to the right. One minute later I was on the outbound leg and started my timer over again for one minute. Once completed, I made a right hand turn for one minute, then followed the inbound leg for one minute back to the fix. The hold is now complete!
Mark then asked me to fly to the BYRNS intersection, hold west, and follow the pattern around but with left turns (nonstandard). That was enough to confuse me. I knew I had to fly east to enter the pattern, but then I lost it when I couldn't visualize where I was. Do I turn right for a teardrop entry, or left? Mark tried helping, but I was so confused that we decided to call it a day.
I actually feel really good about today's lesson. Although the last maneuver threw me for a loop, I think overall I did well. Holding procedures aren't as intimidating as I had expected. Next lesson we'll do more practice with holding, which I'm looking forward to.
January 15, 2012 - Local TRACON Facility Tour
Today my fiance and I joined a group of people from the local EAA Chapter to tour the St. Louis FAA TRACON (terminal radar approach control) facility. They manage all approach and departure control for a 40 miles radius of Lambert Airport (Class B airspace). When we arrived, we pulled up to the security guards outside the fenced property, let them copy our drivers license, then received visitor badges. After parking, we went inside where we meet with the two tour guides and our group. They broke us into two groups, so we stayed behind while the other group when to tour the radar rooms. While they were gone, our guide explained how their system worked and answered questions. They definitely have an intelligent system, and as a pilot myself, I feel very fortunate to be under their eyes.
A half hour later, it was our turn to go into the radar room. Our guide opened the door and we walked into a pitch black room. There were about 20-30 terminals, but only about five controllers working. It was a slow day. I was fascinated with the radar screens as you could see all the aircraft out flying and their information. It was a neat sensation when I could identify a lot of it on my own. For example, I watched a Beechcraft land at Spirit, and multiple Southwest flights go in to and out of Lambert. Then down towards Festus, we watched a Cessna 182 climb to 11,000ft to drop some parachuters (at least we assumed that's what they were doing because part of their information said "JMP"- jump??). We then walked into the training room where he talked about the simulators and the type of training and requirements that it takes to work ATC. Apparently the training takes approximately two years and the cut off age to get hired is 30. Retirement is mandatory at age 55 in most situations. Must be nice!
Above seeing the process in action, I think I enjoyed listening to the tour guides the most. I learned a lot about how controlled airspace works, who to contact and what to expect when I'm flying. It was also comforting to know that there's a lot of training involved for the employees, and good number of controllers are also pilots. They assured us that there's no reason to fear ATC. If we needed anything at all, whether it be weather information, or other airport information, they are there for us. They have many resources available to them, and it's easier for them to dig it up than for a pilot to figure something out while flying an aircraft in bad weather.
We really enjoyed the tour and thank the EAA group for letting us tag along, and thanks to the FAA for providing the tour!
 |
| FAA TRACON facility located in the Missouri Research Park |
Hours flown: 96.8
Saturday, January 7, 2012
Stage 1 Check
January 5, 2012
Today was my first of three stage checks for my instrument training. I was pretty nervous early in the day; worried about not knowing everything required to pass. After a couple phone calls to my instructor and the stage check airman, I decided to go for it.
I met with Lou, who would be testing me all afternoon. We went in to the trailer so we could cover the oral knowledge review. The first thing he asked was, which instrument is your primary instrument based on different scenarios. We then went over questions about constant airspeed and rate climbs/ descents. Afterward, we discussed timed turns, and turns using the magnetic compass versus the heading indicator. Lou also wanted to make sure I knew how to recover from unusual attitudes before we got in the plane and actually did them. Later, we moved onto partial panel questions and stalls. Then lastly, we reviewed navigation aids ranging from VORs, to NDB orientation and tracking. This included questions about time, speed and distance calculations, along with localizer tracking. After an hour, he felt that we were ready to fly.
I do the preflight inspection on our airplane. All looks safe, except that one screw missing from where the wing strut meets the wing. After a simple fix from the maintenance tech, we're ready to go. We takeoff from runway 27. My instructions were straight forward; climb to and maintain 1700ft at 500 feet per minute. After about 300 feet above the ground, Lou asks me to put on the foggles. No wasting time! Once at altitude, he had me turn north then climb to and maintain 2500ft at 100kts. Shortly thereafter, I trim out the airplane and perform the clearing turns that he requests. The area is safe; we can do our maneuvers now.
First up, unusual attitudes with the use of all available instruments (full panel). I do the first one. Then he does one to show me some tricks of the trade. I do another one, recovering from a different situation. He shows me more tricks on the last one. Lou then has me do some steep turns. I anticipated screwing these up because of the lack of practice, but I did surprisingly well. He then covers up my attitude indicator and heading indicator so that I fly with only a partial panel. Time for stalls. He asks to see a power off stall first, but he wants the plane to go into a full stall, not just recovered at the first sign. Not bad considering I don't remember ever doing full stalls with foggles on. We then do a power on stall, but I'm allowed to recover at the first sign. Good! The last thing we do under a partial panel is standard rate timed turns, magnetic compass turns and more unusual attitudes.
Lou uncovers the two instruments and now everything is visible. We go over the use of GPS and ADFs for navigation. Once finished, he has me fly to the FASHE intersection that was indicated on my approach plate. We use the GPS and VOR to get us there. Upon reaching that point, we can follow the instructions that safely take us in to our airport. We descend down to 2300ft until we hit our next point. Once we arrive, we can descend again at 500 feet per minute down to 1160ft. Lastly, down to 800ft. Foggles off, time to land the plane. We cross over midfield and perform a teardrop entry into the traffic pattern. Another airplane was approaching, so we did a 360 turn to allow time for them to pass. Now on the downwind leg, power back, and pre-landing checklist done. Turn left onto the base leg, add more flaps and keep slowing down. Onto the final approach. We have a slight crosswind, so we make some adjustments. Power completely out to idle... touchdown. I passed!!
Lou has over 30 years of flying experience. Working with him today was a pleasure.
My next lesson will be back with my instructor Mark as we start Stage Two training. Now comes the good stuff!
Today was my first of three stage checks for my instrument training. I was pretty nervous early in the day; worried about not knowing everything required to pass. After a couple phone calls to my instructor and the stage check airman, I decided to go for it.
I met with Lou, who would be testing me all afternoon. We went in to the trailer so we could cover the oral knowledge review. The first thing he asked was, which instrument is your primary instrument based on different scenarios. We then went over questions about constant airspeed and rate climbs/ descents. Afterward, we discussed timed turns, and turns using the magnetic compass versus the heading indicator. Lou also wanted to make sure I knew how to recover from unusual attitudes before we got in the plane and actually did them. Later, we moved onto partial panel questions and stalls. Then lastly, we reviewed navigation aids ranging from VORs, to NDB orientation and tracking. This included questions about time, speed and distance calculations, along with localizer tracking. After an hour, he felt that we were ready to fly.
I do the preflight inspection on our airplane. All looks safe, except that one screw missing from where the wing strut meets the wing. After a simple fix from the maintenance tech, we're ready to go. We takeoff from runway 27. My instructions were straight forward; climb to and maintain 1700ft at 500 feet per minute. After about 300 feet above the ground, Lou asks me to put on the foggles. No wasting time! Once at altitude, he had me turn north then climb to and maintain 2500ft at 100kts. Shortly thereafter, I trim out the airplane and perform the clearing turns that he requests. The area is safe; we can do our maneuvers now.
First up, unusual attitudes with the use of all available instruments (full panel). I do the first one. Then he does one to show me some tricks of the trade. I do another one, recovering from a different situation. He shows me more tricks on the last one. Lou then has me do some steep turns. I anticipated screwing these up because of the lack of practice, but I did surprisingly well. He then covers up my attitude indicator and heading indicator so that I fly with only a partial panel. Time for stalls. He asks to see a power off stall first, but he wants the plane to go into a full stall, not just recovered at the first sign. Not bad considering I don't remember ever doing full stalls with foggles on. We then do a power on stall, but I'm allowed to recover at the first sign. Good! The last thing we do under a partial panel is standard rate timed turns, magnetic compass turns and more unusual attitudes.
Lou uncovers the two instruments and now everything is visible. We go over the use of GPS and ADFs for navigation. Once finished, he has me fly to the FASHE intersection that was indicated on my approach plate. We use the GPS and VOR to get us there. Upon reaching that point, we can follow the instructions that safely take us in to our airport. We descend down to 2300ft until we hit our next point. Once we arrive, we can descend again at 500 feet per minute down to 1160ft. Lastly, down to 800ft. Foggles off, time to land the plane. We cross over midfield and perform a teardrop entry into the traffic pattern. Another airplane was approaching, so we did a 360 turn to allow time for them to pass. Now on the downwind leg, power back, and pre-landing checklist done. Turn left onto the base leg, add more flaps and keep slowing down. Onto the final approach. We have a slight crosswind, so we make some adjustments. Power completely out to idle... touchdown. I passed!!
Lou has over 30 years of flying experience. Working with him today was a pleasure.
My next lesson will be back with my instructor Mark as we start Stage Two training. Now comes the good stuff!
 |
| Sunset at the airport |
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
For Old Times' Sake
January 2, 2012
First off, I hope everyone had a great holiday season and Happy New Year!
The beginning of 2012 started off nicely for me. I have remained in contact with my first flight instructor, Justin, over the last year since he moved away. So when I received an email from him saying that he was going to be in town, we decided to go fly.
I scheduled a Cessna 172 for 12:30pm, however the winds were already gusting to nearly 40mph by 11am. We decided the smartest and safest option would be to cancel. I was on the schedule to work dispatch in the evening, so it appeared that we would not be able to get together. Then about an hour prior to my shift start time, I called the airport and they said all lessons had been canceled for the day and that they did not need me. Alright, maybe we could get some night flying in before he left for home. It was still gusting to 30mph but we were much more comfortable flying in those conditions so we decided to meet at 5pm.
We nearly froze while performing the preflight inspection, but shortly thereafter we were ready to take-off. He's the pro of the two of us, so I asked him to do the initial takeoff due to the crosswinds. We followed the Foristell VOR out west, then flew south to Washington Regional Airport. Now completely dark, the city lights illuminated the sky. I've never seen the city so gorgeous!
Once at the airport, we used the approach plate to guide us in to land with a circling approach. I handed the controls to him and let him do the first landing. Perfect. We quickly configured for takeoff and climbed out. My turn to land. It was somewhat challenging; I was already missing my back pad that I use on my seat to push me closer to the controls, plus I have next to no experience landing at night, much less with a crosswind. Justin talks me through it and lends a helping hand. Not too bad! We each did another landing before heading back to our home airport.
I was incredibly thankful for his help in navigation. Who knows where we would've ended up if it was left to me. The city lights were still a sight to see. If given the opportunity, I would've loved to fly longer. Now approaching our airport, I flip on the landing light. No one was out flying, so I just entered on the base leg of the traffic pattern, then left onto final. The winds were only gusting to 20mph now. I put the plane down, then immediately takeoff so he could do one final landing. Again, he lands with precision. After nearly two hours of flying, we taxi back to the hanger and park the plane.
I was really nice to get out and catch up with a friend while having an all around fun flight. I hope we can do this again in the future.
First off, I hope everyone had a great holiday season and Happy New Year!
The beginning of 2012 started off nicely for me. I have remained in contact with my first flight instructor, Justin, over the last year since he moved away. So when I received an email from him saying that he was going to be in town, we decided to go fly.
I scheduled a Cessna 172 for 12:30pm, however the winds were already gusting to nearly 40mph by 11am. We decided the smartest and safest option would be to cancel. I was on the schedule to work dispatch in the evening, so it appeared that we would not be able to get together. Then about an hour prior to my shift start time, I called the airport and they said all lessons had been canceled for the day and that they did not need me. Alright, maybe we could get some night flying in before he left for home. It was still gusting to 30mph but we were much more comfortable flying in those conditions so we decided to meet at 5pm.
We nearly froze while performing the preflight inspection, but shortly thereafter we were ready to take-off. He's the pro of the two of us, so I asked him to do the initial takeoff due to the crosswinds. We followed the Foristell VOR out west, then flew south to Washington Regional Airport. Now completely dark, the city lights illuminated the sky. I've never seen the city so gorgeous!
Once at the airport, we used the approach plate to guide us in to land with a circling approach. I handed the controls to him and let him do the first landing. Perfect. We quickly configured for takeoff and climbed out. My turn to land. It was somewhat challenging; I was already missing my back pad that I use on my seat to push me closer to the controls, plus I have next to no experience landing at night, much less with a crosswind. Justin talks me through it and lends a helping hand. Not too bad! We each did another landing before heading back to our home airport.
I was incredibly thankful for his help in navigation. Who knows where we would've ended up if it was left to me. The city lights were still a sight to see. If given the opportunity, I would've loved to fly longer. Now approaching our airport, I flip on the landing light. No one was out flying, so I just entered on the base leg of the traffic pattern, then left onto final. The winds were only gusting to 20mph now. I put the plane down, then immediately takeoff so he could do one final landing. Again, he lands with precision. After nearly two hours of flying, we taxi back to the hanger and park the plane.
I was really nice to get out and catch up with a friend while having an all around fun flight. I hope we can do this again in the future.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)