Updates

November 23, 2012

Over the last several of weeks I've had a few firsts:

Nov. 2nd - This was a very fun cross country. I took my commercial training instructor with me and our first stop was Rolla Downtown. This was a tiny, deserted airport that was surrounded by trees with a 37ft wide runway. I'm used to landing on 75ft+ wide runways. We practiced an instrument coming in which took us straight to the runway, however because of it's size, we didn't see it until we were basically on top of it. We flew outbound and got established then turned inbound for the landing. If successful, this would be the narrowest runway that I have ever landed on. Flaps down, throttle back, descend. The trees are all around; below me. I slowly lower us down, watching carefully to not hit the trees. I'm lined up perfectly and gently let the plane sink onto the runway. Tricky, but executed beautifully.

We then took off and flew to Bismark, which had a 50ft wide runway, also with surrounding trees, but the runway was 1000ft shorter than Rolla Downtown. The first attempt required a go-around otherwise I would've rolled off the end of the runway. The second time was much better. This runway seemed like a much bigger challenge than Rolla's. We then took off and with a lot of extra time, we decided to make a landing at Creve Coeur... on the grass strip. I have been wanting to try this for over a year and I knew today would be a perfect opportunity. We head into the airport and circle while waiting for a plane on the strip to takeoff. Now it's our turn. My instructor reminds that this landing will require a soft field procedure. Once over the runway, I hold it off until we lose enough speed that the plane naturally wants to touch down. With the wheels now on the grass, I use all my strength to pull the yoke back, keeping the nose wheel off the ground as much as possible. The grass is in good condition, but being nature, it's still quiet bumpy and we don't want to damage the nose wheel. After taxiing back, we takeoff and immediately make a turn to the north to avoid Class B airspace. It was a very exciting trip, one that I remember for a long time.

You can find videos of the landings on my YouTube page. Click the video button on the top of my blog to find the link.


Nov. 4th - Today I took up a friend/ co-worker and her boyfriend to see the Arch. Usually when I do the Arch tour, I'm too afraid of accidentally entering Class B and/or Class D airspace, so I just take a different route. It's normally follow the Mississippi River to the Arch, then turn around and follow it home, avoiding the city entirely. This time I was going to step outside of my comfort zone and use an iPad app called Foreflight to help me navigate the airspace. We fly over St. Peters, head towards Creve Coeur, find Hwy 40 and turn left to follow it downtown. Off to our left side is a St. Louis favorite, Forest Park. Straight ahead we see downtown. I call a local airport tower to get clearance to enter their airspace, then I circle us around the Arch a couple times before heading northbound. My passengers are taking pictures right and left and apparently can't stop smiling... I'm happy. We follow the Mississippi back home and land. I'm so glad they had a good time. I live to put smiles on people's faces, especially when I can provide them with an experience of a lifetime.


Nov. 16th - I finally took the dreaded FAA Instrument knowledge exam... and PASSED!!


Nov. 18th - I met with our Chief CFI and took the Stage 3 Check/ End of Course test. This consisted of an oral exam, followed my a flight exam. By the time this was over, I was exhausted! Thankfully he signed the required documents saying that I could schedule the final checkride if my CFI and I agreed that I am ready. I think I'll fly a couple more times to fine tune some things, then schedule the checkride. I'm so close to finishing!!