First Circuit

I'd like to say that the weather here had improved but that would simply be a lie. I checked the airport RVR from the office like your typical internet junkie - about every 90 seconds. Things seemed like they were calming down and I made a mad dash for the airport.

Today I flew with I3 again and this made me happy because we worked well together in the aircraft. Right before it was time to go she noted that the winds had picked up again to about 20 knot gusts - do I still want to go? After my "dream month" had been blown away by one problem after another, I wanted to get up in the sky one way or another.

By the time we made it all the way down to runway 25 the tower called and gave us an update that the winds were now gusting to 42 knots. Do you still want to go? I told I3 that I was happy to give it a try but would accept whatever her decision was. She informed ATC we were ready for takeoff.

I won't make any attempts here to sound macho. The flight was bumpy and the winds were howling. I fought the aircraft for every altitude and every heading. I spent so much time dealing with the winds that my brain was unable to process all of the information I had been briefed on the previous weeks regarding the circuit.

My first approach was horrible and I3 ended up calling ATC half way in and asking for a low approach. We stayed at this low altitude so that she could illustrate the illusions caused by drift. Maybe I missed something but I didn't notice anything special with this example in terms of my brain fooling me. Perhaps all of this flight simming I've done over the years has told my brain to watch the instruments and believe in them. I honestly don't know if this is a good or bad thing. It made perfect sense that the brain thinks you are in a skid while a turn is actually coordinated yet the drift is real.

One thing I did notice is that the downwind portion of the circuit (with a 42 knot tailwind) appeared to last somewhere between 6 and 8 seconds. The second spin resulted in a Touch and Go which I3 talked me through. Shockingly the approach and touch down were pretty good. I was shocked how much runway was remaining as we got ready for the "go" part. First Touch and Go was now out of the way - hopefully many more to come!

On the downwind of the third circuit the wind finally had taken its toll on me. I was not feeling well at all. I3 didn't appear to be having a blast either. I told her that I wanted a full stop this time and she didn't protest. The turns to base and final were extremely sloppy and I was fighting the speeds and attitude on the entire approach. The only feather in my pocket was that the landing was somehow magical again, though a bit left of center. I honestly have no clue what I did, it just worked.

When we popped the canopy and hopped out I realized that I was feeling pretty dizzy. I went into the club to grab a drink hoping it would settle my stomach and only at that point realized I was sweating like the only hooker at a Shriners convention.

Lessons learned were:

- When they say in the FBO "it's nasty out there" - they really mean it.
- Need to adjust clothing while flying based on sun/temperature
- I need to visualize the details of the circuit if I want to be successful.
- My concentration was brutal today. I imagined how it would felt being up there solo on a day like today.

The good news is - the circuit portion of the training had finally begun!

13.1 Hours and counting...

Windy

It appears that my streak of flights without a cancellation is now turning into a streak of bookings without any flying at all. They say that on average 1 in 6 bookings will likely be scrubbed due to a variety of possible factors; weather, the last student late returning with aircraft, etc.

As I got closer to the airport I started to expect that the flight would be dicey at best. The winds were absolutely howling on the highway. I sat in the parking lot reviewing my notes about the circuit for about 30 minutes and watched the other traffic in the pattern. Two helicopters, two Skyhawks, and a fast low wing that I couldn't identify. On the go - both the C172's were rolling constantly while attempting to climb into the wind. It was obvious that the pilots were having a great time fighting everything.

I turned my attention to the ramp and watched an older gent doing a pre-flight on a Skyhawk. The papers in his kneeboard were flapping in the wind, his hair was all over the place, and although the aircraft was positioned into the wind and tied down - the wings were constantly moving. The windsock was absolutely horizontal, and every 10-15 seconds it would move 5-10 degrees in one direction or the other. Flying probably wasn't in my future on this day.

I moved into the club and sat near the dispatch desk so I could hear everyone chatting. The first conversation I heard was an instructor with a student (the older gent I saw doing his pre-flight) who was being told that the winds probably were too strong for them to work on slow flight today (no kidding!). The icing on the cake was when the chief instructor returned from a training flight with another instructor who was doing some multi engine work. Apparently they were both not pleased with the winds.

When I4 showed up he immediately said we weren't going to fly if the winds didn't change. He thought about calling me but wanted to wait to see if they died down - especially based on the last flight getting canned. He made a quick call to his next student who was planning a cross country to tell him the flight was canned. Now we decided to sit and wait. Rather than sit around doing nothing we sat down at one of the briefing stations and did a weather overview.

I'll admit that I haven't really got to the point in my online ground school where I learn something about weather. In fact I was so clueless that I didn't understand most of what I4 was telling me about. Two good things did come out of the 30 minutes we spent together:

1) I need to start learning about the weather. I know how important it is to understand the weather as a pilot, but I didn't realize how little I actually knew. Being able to read a METAR doesn't make you a weather specialist!

2) The NavCanada Flight Planning site is a fantastic resource for weather. In fact one of the coolest things I4 showed me was the live RVR report. Updated every minute, it shows the current winds and gust for every major airport in Canada. The photo attached to this entry shows what the winds were for this day at CYBW (though I did take the screenshot a few days later and had to modify it). Almost straight down the pipe - but 25 knots gusting 41. Hmmmm.... I'm thinking I'll wait for another day.

I'm somewhat down in the dumps since I still haven't had a chance to fly in the circuit, but I know the day will come soon. The weather forecast for this Friday is again showing signs of a Chinook and thus crazy winds. Let's all keep our fingers crossed!

PSTAR

The Pre Solo Test of Air Regulations is a fifty-question written test that Canadian flight students must pass with a mark of ninety percent or higher, before they can fly solo.

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"Are you Bob?"

Sounds innocent enough; but if your name was Bob, and you were currently sitting at your flight school having already completed walk around, technical logs, weather brief, and weight/balance and were patiently sitting around reviewing emergency procedures out of your POH when the some guy answers the phone, speaks with someone for a few minutes, looks around all dazed and confused before focusing on your and asking that question - phone and hand. Now imagine if you were at that very moment waiting for your first flight in the circuit in the next 20 minutes.

"Yep - that's me". The dispatch dude handed me the phone. "Hello?". "Hi Bob, it's I4. I just wanted to call and give you a heads up that I'm going to be about 15 minutes late as I'm stuck down in High River with another student picking up his PTR and it has been taking way longer than it should have. We're about to hop back in the aircraft now".

OK, this isn't so bad - so he's going to be a bit late - no big deal (plus I love the fact he was considerate enough to call - I will need to get this guy my cell phone). "Also - the winds have been pretty crazy this afternoon and the turbulence is out of control. We probably won't be working the circuit this afternoon. If you can just hang tight until I get back we can talk about it". Great - no flight. A bit of turbulence? I'm a man - I can hack it, can't I? He asked to be passed back to dispatch dude and I slumped back into the couch. The little boy inside of me saying that it wasn't fair while the cold calculated master of logic inside told me that if I4 didn't want me to be flying there was a reason for it.

Some other instructor (minor role so he doesn't yet receive an "I" designator) showed up a few minutes and confirmed that it probably didn't look good for the first flight in the circuit. Then he told me there was a possibility of another air exercise and I should read up on "Exercise 20: Illusions created by drift". Only a 3-4 page reference in the FTM that discusses how winds cause some illusions that may lead to a pilot reacting incorrectly while turning upwind or downwind, especially while close to the ground. To be honest it did not seem that exciting - however how bad could it actually be performing an exercise like that (or any exercise) WHILE sitting in a small aircraft?

I4 arrived shortly after and told me based on his flight back the turbulence was so bad that I would gain nothing out of this flight in the circuit. Instead of focusing on the circuit itself, I'd instead be fighting the aircraft the entire time. I asked about Exercise 20 (or any other useful air exercise) and he said that while Ex. 20 was valuable, it was not the type of thing you specifically get into the aircraft to learn. Sounded more like one of those things you do on the way back from doing something else. In the end, I4 told me that it was "my money" and he was all mine for the next few hours, so if I really wanted to fly he would take me up. I decided that it was best if I did not fly.

Then I4 started working me over. "Why don't you write your PSTAR exam then? You sounded like you were almost ready the other day". I really did not feel prepared for the exam. I had considered trying to write it either today or the past Friday but didn't have enough time to review the few sections I was struggling with. I4 kept it up however "It doesn't cost you anything, if you don't pass we don't submit it to Transport Canada, no scores go on your permanent record until you pass the exam, and you can write it as many times as you like".

I decided to go for it, but only after spending 45 minutes reviewing one last time. I4 was amused that I felt I needed to review but seemed to be happy I would try the exam. I ran out to the car, grabbed my laptop and ran to the upstairs "lounge" area of the club. I flipped on my laptop, picked up the club's free public wireless and connected. Then started to load my favorite PSTAR web sites. Whoops - nothing is loading? After 20 minutes of playing around with the connection and all sorts of other IP related stuff I came to the conclusion that the wireless network was totally hooped because it wasn't allowing any traffic outside of the club itself. Oh well.

I headed back down to tell I4 that I had trouble and wouldn't be writing it. He greeted me with a smile and handed me the exam while saying "I knew you didn't need 45 minutes to review! You took less than 20!". I decided to just keep my mouth shut and write the stupid exam. I headed back upstairs to the exam room.

The exam is 50 questions. I need to get a minimum of 90% so that means I'm allowed to miss 5 answers and will still pass. The first thought that pops into my mind is my brother telling me just a few days earlier that he scored 100% on his PSTAR. Then again - he was working at an airport and getting trained by his boss. He was living and breathing this stuff, how in the world could he NOT score 100?

They are all multiple choice with 4 potential answers presented. Everyone has their own (or should have one) strategy for dealing with multiple choice tests and I am no exception. I read each question, and where applicable blurt the answer out in my head before reading the choices. Most of the time I have the answer before reading the choices - this is usually a good thing. For ones that can't be answered without looking at the choices it's usually a simple and obvious selection. Anything that I am unable to answer immediately gets a little "tick" mark next to it and I move on. When I've reached the end of the exam I go back and review the ones I was unable to answer. I may continue this process 4-5 times before completing all my answers. Once this is complete I review the entire examination to make sure I answered what I wanted to answer the way I wanted to answer them!

After the first pass I had marked 13 questions for review. That is 3 times higher than I had hoped. There were definitely a few questions that I was struggling with, and they were all from the sections that I had hoped to review. After my 3rd pass I was left with the following two questions that I was struggling with:

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Question: A 45 knot blast area can be expected ............. behind the propellers of a large turbo-prop aeroplane during taxi.

(1) 60 feet.
(2) 80 feet.
(3) 100 feet.
(4) 120 feet.

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Question: Which statement concerning wing tip vortices is false?

(1) Vortices normally settle below and behind the aircraft.

(2) With a light cross-wind, one vortex can remain stationary over the ground for some time.

(3) Lateral movement of vortices, even in a no wind condition, may place a vortex core over a parallel runway.

(4) Vortices are caused directly by "jet wash."

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I'm generally not a doom and gloom guy. When I came back down about 30 minutes later I handed the exam to I4 who asked how I think I did. "To be honest I'm quite certain I missed 6-7 questions and thus failed, most likely on the subject." I4 took the exam and held it up to some key for about 30 seconds before asking me "What score would make you happy?". It took me less than a second to respond with "100% was my goal but I'd be happy to pass". Turns out that I did. I only got a single question wrong for a score of 49/50 = 98%. Looks like the PSTAR is now a thing of the past for me as well. The only thing holding me back from the solo at this point is some circuit training and the sign off/blessing of I4.

Reviewing the question that I got wrong, it turns out that I aced the sections on Wake Turbulence, Controlled Airspace, and Regulations - General Airspace. These were the areas where at times I felt clueless. I screwed up on a question about visual signals. I knew I had been struggling with a few of them but had expected to do some flash cards to help nail the memorization process. Here's the one I got wrong:

Question: A series of red flashes directed at an aircraft means respectively:

In Flight || On the Ground

(1) airport unsafe, no not land; || taxi clear of landing area in use.

(2) give way to other aircraft and continue circling; || stop.

(3) do not land for the time being || return to starting point on airport.

(4) you are in a prohibited area, alter course; || stop

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The afternoon started off as if it would be a total loss. It was one thing after another not going my way, but it certainly did not end that way. Having that PSTAR out of the way allows me to focus on the air exercises, some POH reading, and finally some time to really focus on my next ground school topic - Meteorology.

The Circuit: Ground Brief

You are probably thinking the same thing as me.. another ground brief?

This is how they do it at the club - according to the syllabus we are required to go through a full ground brief regarding the circuit before actually flying in it. Although I would much rather be in the air; I can at the same time appreciate (and fully embrace) that we must learn the concepts on the ground first.

This was the first of 5 sessions booked with I4. I2's availability is simply that she's.. unavailable. Impossible to get a good booking with her. I really enjoyed I4's attitude and training style so I figured this would follow through while actually in the air with him. Seeing how the next 4-5 flights would be in the circuit leading up to the first solo - I would be better off settling in with a single instructor.

Right off the bat he proved that the first ground brief we did together back in August was not a fluke. To discuss the circuit he produced a great diagram of the circuit that contained all of the "things" that would be going on while we were flying it. I especially loved the caveats he kept telling me that this is simply "his way" and not necessarily the "only way". He stressed that once I understood the concepts I would probably have my own preferences. Here's a quick overview of the circuit and order that "things" will be done.

• Rotate at 55 knots and climb out with takeoff flaps at 68.
  
  
• Retract the flaps at 200 AGL and accelerate to 75 knots.
  
  
• Remember to compensate for the wind in order to keep the correct ground track.
  
  
• At 500 AGL make the crosswind turn and continue the climb to circuit altitude (1000 AGL).
  
  
• Look out the window for the 45 degree angle back to the departure end of the runway and upon reaching it turn downwind.
  
  
• We should normally make 1000' prior to turning downwind but this isn't always the case.
  
  
• On the downwind set the power for about 2200 RPM and look for 80 knots. That will keep our spacing good with the Skyhawks which we could easily blow past.
  
  
• Start our level off checks.

I4 explained a great "flow" he has for this. It reminds me of the flows I was a serious 767 Sim Pilot and religiously read a training guide by Mike Ray. He was big on up and down flows that allowed the pilot to scan everything. From memory, I4s flow would go:

[Center Console]
Fuel On
Mixture Lean
Throttle set to 2200 RPM
Alternate Air Off (unless required)

[Middle Lower Console - Left to Right]
Flaps Up
Master and Generator On
Electric Fuel Pump Off
Avionics Master On
Mags Both
Lights On

[Left Panel - Bottom Up]
Gyro Set
Primer Off
Suction Green

[Radio Panel Top Down]
Radios Set
Transponder Mode C

[Engine Instruments Bottom Up]
Electrical OK
Oil Pressure and Temps OK
Fuel Quantity and Pressure OK
Cylinder and EGT OK

[Circuit Panel Top Down]
Breakers all in

I find it amazing that I can actually remember where each of those gauges are. The flow is a natural. I have a massive screenshot of the DA20C1 panel and I can run through this entire scenario fairly quickly from memory. I guess I am learning something!

• By now we should be downwind midfield and unless there was a reason to do it earlier, we'd make our radio call to tower. "Tower, Diamond Mike Tango Zulu Left Downwind for the Touch and Go". Barring any major SNAFUs we'd get a response pointing out any traffic and indicating our number in the sequence.
  
  
• Past the runway threshold we want to start reducing our speed. Put out takeoff flaps at some point and slow her down to about 70 knots.
  
  
• At a 45 degree angle from the runway threshold (unless otherwise instructed) we make our base turn and start the descent down to 500 feet.
  
  
• Some time at, during, or before our turn to final (probably after) we go to landing flaps, 1500 RPM and configure the aircraft for the 60 knot approach speed.
  
  
• After touchdown we maintain the runway centerline and retract the flaps to takeoff, careful not to apply brakes.
  
  
• Wait a short time for the flaps to come up before firewalling the engine for takeoff and starting the process again.

We also covered crosswind landings which was extremely valuable from my perspective in understanding a few of the nuances and forces acting on the aircraft after touching down that I had not considered. Then we spoke about Balloons and Bounces. The difference is actually quite simple - in a balloon your aircraft is in ground effect and is still flying. In a bounce your aircraft is simply NOT flying. Immediate identification and action must be taken to either correct the situation and return to earth safely or apply full power and proceed with an overshoot. The balloon I experienced during the last flight with I5 now turns out to be a valuable one indeed.

Once we completed our discussion he asked if I had any questions about the circuit. I didn't have any but insisted that I draw and describe the entire process on the whiteboard without his diagram in my hand. I made a few small errors but apparently got the point.

We finished way quicker than anticipated so we chatted about the PSTAR exam and how I go about transferring flights on my PTR (Pilot Training Record) in to my own log book. I4 told me that since I already had a full page it would be a good time to start transferring them. I actually got my first chance to read my PTR and it was certainly interesting reading the comments each of the instructors had put in.

Monday afternoon we're scheduled for the first flight in the circuit. Autumn is definitely upon us as the leaves are falling, winds are howling, and temperature is dropping. Monday's forecast is clear skies and cool temps so we should be good to go.

I can hardly wait!