Solo Three

Posted in Aviation on June 06, 2016.

Flew over to Lake In The Hills (3CK) for my third solo, as was the original plan for the last flight.  Did a couple of practice laps and then he got out and I did 4 circuits solo before heading back.  At this point I'd be good to solo at that airport, but my school has a policy about flying cross country before taking the FAA written test.  So it's time to get serious about prepping for the written and getting that out of the way.

Second Solo Surprise

Posted in Aviation on June 03, 2016.

Today we were going to fly over to Lake In The Hills (3CK) for a little practice at an uncontrolled airport and to do my second solo there.  My instructor ran into a problem on his way in and couldn't make it in time, so I actually soloed again at PWK.  It was pretty fun going through the whole process on my own and I got 8 circuits in before calling it quits.  Got a few nice landings in there towards the end, which felt nice.

First Solo

Posted in Aviation on May 25, 2016.

Finally got to do my first solo today.  Three laps around the pattern at PWK.  It was great.

Smooth Lift of Spirits

Posted in Aviation on May 21, 2016.

Had a nice, relaxing lesson today.  The air was dead calm, which was a nice change of pace from the weeks of gusty conditions that I've been dealing with.  We flew over to Lake In The Hills (3CK) for some uncontrolled airport and precision landings practice.  The conditions were so nice and smooth, that I could just focus on my approach and flare technique.  I was eventually hitting the numbers and got some greasers in there.  I could tell my instructor was enjoying the smooth flying as well.

Some success can really build confidence and he said he would have soloed me right then and there, but I still didn't have my student pilots license.  I say "didn't", because when I got home this evening, there it was....

Diversion Confusion

Posted in Aviation on May 18, 2016.

Today we practiced an in-flight diversion and lost procedures.  We set off for a nearby airport and then he diverted me to DeKalb Taylor Municipal Airport (DKB).  The diversion procedure itself went fine and we arrived at the airport as expected.  For some reason (mainly because I've never done it before), what to do at an unfamiliar airport fell out of my brain.  You're supposed to overfly the airport and check the sock...duh.  He was purposely not helping me, which definitely drove the point home.  Eventually I figured it out and landed on the active runway.  That was learning moment one.

Learning moment two happened immediately afterwards.  I have a habit of rushing myself to get out of other people's hair.  In this case, another plane was taxiing along the runway as I exited.  They had the right of way, but they radioed and let me go first.  With them behind me, I felt rushed to get off the ground and out of their way.  We took off and headed back east when he "diverted" me to 3CK (our original destination before diverting to DKB).  What he knew and what I didn't know was that I forgot to realign my heading indicator and so it was about 20 degrees off.  I ended up flying too far south and actually thought everything was OK until I cross-checked my position with a VOR.  Once that was fixed, we got to practice lost procedures and got back to 3CK.

Getting burned like that definitely drives the point home.  I was always a bit lazy about realigning the heading indicator.  Hopefully that habit is broken.

Criss Cross Country

Posted in Aviation on May 16, 2016.

We did our first cross country today to Rockford International (RFD).  Did the usual dead reckoning flight plan and learned a few things about what does and does not make a good checkpoint.  RFD has TRSA, which means talking with an approach controller.  Fumbled that a bit, but did OK.  Winds were gusty and so I struggled with the cross wind a little bit, but it was fine on that huge runway.  It was pretty cool slinking around the airport among those huge jets.  Flew back to PWK using radio navigation, which was pretty straight forward.

Landed on runway 24 at PWK for the first time.  I cut it too close when turning into the downwind and then forgot about the displaced threshold.  Got too slow on the final approach, as my timing was thrown off due to the threshold.  Just a matter of not adapting the procedure to the circumstances.  The landing itself was fine.

Overall, it was a challenging experience and I learned a great deal.  It felt good to fly away from the airport for a change of pace.

Too Rusty and Gusty

Posted in Aviation on May 09, 2016.

Went back up into the pattern for the past few flights after taking about a month off.  Felt pretty rusty and nervous and the gusty winds haven't helped matters.  I still feel like I am trying to figure out crosswind landings, but have started working on short and soft field takeoffs in the meantime.

Things started coming together a bit more by the 3rd or 4th flight in these conditions, which have persisted these past few weeks.  After today's flight, my instructor said "your landings are safe, just not good." Gotta start somewhere! Basically, he was saying that I am getting close to my first solo.  However because of the FAA rule change regarding medical certificates, I am still waiting for my student pilot license.

When we finally got a less gusty day, my landings were good enough that we started practicing short and soft field precision landings.  Felt pretty good about this morning's flight and so we are going to move on to cross country flights while I wait for my license to arrive.

So long, old friend...

Posted in Automotive on May 01, 2016.

Today I let go of everything G-body.  Frankentona was sold to a friend of a club member, along with my stash of spare 2nd and 3rd gen Daytona parts.  It needed to go to someone with the enthusiasm and the time to put into it, instead of it rotting in the driveway.  I think it's in good hands.