Walk Around

I was fairly certain that the solo wasn't going to happen today. The winds had been 45 degrees off the runway over 10 knots since the morning and by the time I showed up at the airport the windsock was fully extended even without the gusts.

I5 confirmed this when he showed up and we went through the "solo checklist" to make sure all of my documentation was in order. As it turns out I don't have to wait for transport canada to send any paperwork back, the chief instructor at the school has the authority to issue me a student pilot permit based on meeting the criteria. I filled out some MORE paperwork and we decided to spend some time reviewing the quiz I was required to write prior to the solo as per the flight school's procedures.

Although I passed with flying colors - it took a good half hour to complete since we discussed many of the answers which were in my opinion the types that led the student to an answer they were looking for, yet had too many variables missing which needed to be part of the final answer.

For example:

During your landing you float more than normal and notice that you are already half way down the runway. What do you do?

It's obvious they are looking for the steps in the overshoot procedure (Full Throttle, Up attitude, takeoff flaps, and climb out at best rate (Vy 68). However the first thing that came into my mind was "make a decision based on the runway remaining if I could continue with a safe landing". It doesn't say anything about the runway so it could have easily been 12,000 feet long which would have allowed me to float for another 1000 feet, do a touch and go, and then land again (tongue in cheek).

Once we completed that the winds were at the level of insanity (30 knot gusts) so we mutually agreed that flying wasn't going to happen. I5 asked if there was anything else and since he had told me had nothing booked for a few hours I asked if he would go out and do a long walk around with me.

I hadn't done a walk around with an instructor since my first or second flight. After watching the attention to detail some of my friends had done during a group flight in New Jersey back in March, I realized that I didn't feel 100% confident doing my walk around. Naturally I5 obliged and we spent a full half hour walking around the aircraft - going into minute details that I had never learned or considered.

Finally satisfied I noticed a Diamond Star (DA40? 4 seater Diamond) had parked at the ramp and we decided to check it out. Very fancy G1000's in this bird. I was impressed. I5 seemed interested in my love for airplanes and asked if I wanted to check out a few others on the field he had access to. I followed him across the airport to a hangar where we spent some time sitting in a Cessna 310 chatting about aviation. Following that we checked out a Skylane in the same hangar with some fancy engine upgrades which I didn't really understand that had some affect on the aircraft at higher altitudes (can you tell I've been struggling at the engine section of ground school?).

After over an hour in this hangar we departed to another where we spent some time in a Piper Navajo Chieftain with the Panther conversion. This was a HUGE airplane. I could barely reach the horizontal stabilizer from the ground (granted I'm only 5'4"). The coolest part of this craft was the vortex generators just behind the leading edge of the wings. I5 explained how they work and for the first time, all of the reading I've been doing about the theory of flight somehow clicked in the gears of my brain. I actually understood (on a limited basis) what he was talking about.

We booked a few more sessions for the potential solo including one this coming Saturday and I departed the airport. One would imagine I'd be down since I was unable to take to the skies solo but this was not the case.

The solo will have to wait for another day.