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!

Ham Radio too?

I received some mail from Industry Canada today.

I am now officially licensed to operate a radio. I'm the proud owner of a Restricted Operator - Aeronautical Certificate. It apparently doesn't expire.

To be honest I'm not sure what it actually allows me to do aside from get my pilot's license. Maybe I should go digging through the electronic junk left in the basement after my dad passed away to see if I can pull out his HAM Radio. I don't think I'm really that interested in that and I also noticed that the certificate didn't come with one of those cool callsigns like VE4 OWL like my dad had.

Now I continue with ground school and studying for my PSTAR. I've found the online documentation extremely valuable so far - even if the videos I've been watching are hosted by a guy who is as funny as the Q key on this keyboard - maybe less.

One great resource I did find by doing a simple Google was "Robyn's Improved PSTAR Study Guide". I don't know anything about Robyn aside from the fact that she is a flight instructor based in Chilliwack with her own website and that she likes to eat Lemon Meringue pie. She did a fantastic job putting this study guide together. Aside from listing the correct answers from the TP11919E study guide, she also has great commentary for each question which explains:

Why the correct answer is correct.
Why the other answers are not correct.
Provides nice diagrams/graphics were applicable
Links to the AIM, CAR, and other resources.

If I'm ever in Chilliwack, I'm going to purchase her a slice of pie as a thank you!

Lean-a-phobia

"Hello, my name is The Flight Newbie, and I'm a Lean-a-phobic".

They always say that the first step is to admit you have a problem. Well I admit it, I have a problem. It all started back when I was.. well it all started many weeks ago while in my initial 10 hours of flying. That must have been a long time ago because I'm already in my second 10 hours of flying....

Honestly though, I suffer from a fear of leaning my mixture. I've conquered many of my other fears already in my training - fear of feeling ill, fear of unusual attitudes (though they weren't actually unusual, just to me), fear of I99, and certainly a fear of spins. This is more a fear that I will completely mess up leaning my mixture and wind up with an engine that is no longer running.

Like most people, I was quite tentative at first with the mixture controls. After a few flights I started to move them with more confidence and authority. Then it happened. One day while flying with I2 we had landed the aircraft and pulled on to the taxiway. One of the items on the After landing checklist is to lean the mixture. I pulled the lever back with confidence while watching the Tach for the "Rise before the fall" and it happened... I simply killed the engine. I2 looked a little annoyed and started the engine back up. No big deal. Well since that day I've had a fear that ANYTIME I lean the mixture I will cause the engine to shut down completely.

Why am I telling you this? Mostly because I realize that I forgot to include this in my last flight. I5 was adamant that I kept setting the mixture to lean and rich during our exercises. Watching me lean one time he had a curious look on his face when I said "OK that's leaned out now" to which he said something along the lines of "What exactly are you doing there with the mixture?". It was then that I told him of my lean-a-phobia. In fact I think that it was only at that moment that I realized I actually had the problem.

I5 had a great solution. First he explained to me the difference between leaning the mixture in the air vs. leaning the mixture on the ground. While on the ground the engine is idling. In the air we're probably pushing 2200-2500 RPM. There is a large difference in how the engine reacts to fuel starvation. To prove this point he made me pull the mixture lever back slowly until I was told to stop. I thought for sure he planned on failing the engine and showing me how simple it is to start - we were doing forced approaches after all! However this was not his intention.

After moving the mixture back fairly far I noted the rise and fall in the RPM. I stopped to look at him and he immediately said "I didn't say stop, keep pulling it back slowly". I was amazed how far back that lever got to the bottom before he asked me to stop. "See - engine still running fine, and did you notice how rough it sounds?". We continued that 4-5 more times before I finally felt confident in leaning.

On the way back to the field he asked me to lean a few times and I did it without hesitation. Problem solved! I'm happy that I was able to conquer the fear but even happier that I was able to identify that I had the problem thanks to the instructor. He did a great job of helping me conquer the fear IMMEDIATELY. It was almost as if the purpose of the entire flight lesson had changed from his perspective. If he doesn't get snagged up by an airline, he's going to make a fine instructor.

Slips and Forced Approaches

"Eet was a tewwibul stome. De boat wocked and wocked. Up one wave, and down dee udder. Hey Mistah puddy tat, you don't wook so good. Would you wike some salted pork?"

Autumn has definitely come upon the foothills of the Western Rockies. It had been raining for almost 24 hours, the overnight low was just above zero Celsius, cold winds were blowing out of the NW, and the clouds formed a broken/overcast layer one thousand feet above ground. I was certain that my flight would be cancelled. Luckily my lesson wasn't scheduled for the afternoon and the weathermen (who get paid well to be right only some of the times) had been calling for clear skies in the late afternoon. As I started my drive from downtown to the field it was still raining and cold. To the west the skies were breaking up and many patches of blue could be seen over the mountains. I had 90 minutes to go until flight time so there was still a chance.

By the time I arrived, the skies were somewhere between broken and scattered - the broken layers were reported at 2800 AGL so I suppose we were good to go. My only concern was the winds which were reported as 16 knots gusting 22. I recalled reading something about "20 knots" being the maximum for student pilots at the club, but after some discussion with dispatch I learned that it applied to solo students. Dual flights were always at the discretion of the instructor.

If you can believe it - this lesson was with YET another new instructor; I5. We headed upstairs to a briefing room and he asked me who my primary instructor was. I responded that I didn't really have one and was sort of "an instructor whore", meaning that I was playing the field. Luckily he saw the humour in that one. I guess it is true now that I think of it - I AM an instructor whore. In 2 short months and close to a dozen sessions, I've managed to pair up with 7 different instructors at the school. I've flown with 6 of them, and the last one (I4) is scheduled for my next 3 sessions. I'm fairly certain that I won't add anyone new, and I'm also fairly certain I'll never fly with I1 or I99 again.

I'll admit I was a bit taken aback when he asked me if I had "read" the sections on Slips and Forced Approaches. Of course I did. Hell I'm paying good coin for these lessons, why in the world would I not bother doing my part. It really puzzles me that some of these instructors almost assume that most students DO NOT take the time to be prepared for the lessons.

The brief was a good 40 minutes long but very useful. We started with an overview of forced approaches. Why would we do a forced approach? Engine doesn't work. Why doesn't are engine work? Pick a card, any card. Well most common reasons are probably due to icing or fuel. We covered a few others. What's the first thing we do if we lose our engine? I said "Fly the plane" and he specified "Trim the aircraft for a glide, rich mixture, and turn on the electric fuel pump". After that we select a suitable landing field with the help of our COWLS check:

C ivilization: If possible, near a road or farmhouse in case help is needed
O bstacles: Have a good look for power lines, fences, rocks, trees, etc.
W ind: Look for clues to determine wind direction and speed. Smoke, Trees, or water. Otherwise use the last known winds.
L ength: Is the field long enough for you land on? How about if you have to take off again?
S urface: Is the surface the type you need for landing? A flat field ploughed in the same direction as the wind is a good selection.

Obviously there are a lot of factors involved when selecting a field. I suppose that depending on the scenario, you may not have a lot of time to make that selection. Once we do make the selection we decide on a "Keypoint". The keypoint should be lined up where you would generally be on "Final" approximately 1 mile from the landing field. Once selected you head straight for it and then fly a "bowtie" pattern until it is time to turn final.

One other thing we covered was that when simulating engine failure we should "heat" the engine every 1000 feet (or few minutes) for 1-2 seconds. In the winter we should heat it twice as often (500 feet or whatever half of a few minutes is).

From the time we hopped in the canopy of FIFA to the time we took the runway I had settled in nicely. I felt very comfy on the radio, and I managed to keep my taxi very straight, though I can't seem to get it right on the centerline. We did some of the checklists while on the roll and it dawned on me that I was able to run through them quickly now (but still as thoroughly). During the taxi, ground gave us a call and asked what side of HWY 22 we were looking for today since "something" was active. I looked over at I5 with that look on my face that said "I have no clue what he's talking about". It was then that I realized the ATIS mentioned something about something being active and my inexperience had me writing it off as something that didn't pertain to me. Pulling out my map (after I5 asked me) I realized that this tiny warning area over Cochrane was active for hang gliding! Probably want to avoid those guys as much as possible!

The takeoff roll was not perfect but was fairly straight. Everything went smooth and before we knew it we were turned to the north and on course. The winds were extremely nasty and we were getting hammered all over the place. I5 called it "Moderate chop" when tower asked us for a ride report a few minutes later. Then I5 asked me - so how are you going to avoid that hang gliding area? He answered for me by asking me to pull out my map and locate the are out the window. I didn't have to pull out the map at all. Cochrane is a town built literally on the side of an absofreakinglutely massive hill. If I was a hang gliding type guy, I'd want to jump off that hill too! Another nice addition was the realization that the warning area was nicely depicted on our GNS430. I told myself that I should make a mental note of that feature and probably review the Garmin user manual I had printed a few months back. Always nice to understand how that things work in case I need a backup.

We started talking about all of the fields around us, whether they were good candidates for landing, and where the keypoints would be. Turns out that most of the fields in the area are nicely laid out in 1/4 mile plots - so one can determine the field length (1/4 mile is about 1300 feet) and pick a good keypoint without injuring their brain.

Finally, I5 told me we just lost our engine - so what are you going to do. I immediately answered "fly the plane" and started pitching for 73 knots as I pushed the mixture rich and flipped on the fuel pump. Then I started looking for a field to land at. I made the selection and immediately turned for the keypoint I had selected. To my amazement - this all took me less than 10 seconds. As we flew towards the keypoint I5 told me that he wanted me to stay on that glide speed because it was "my lifeline". Then we spoke about why I selected this field over a few others. I noted that it had plough lines in the same direction as the wind - didn't have much of a treeline, no creeks or visible rocks, and was fairly close to a farmhouse. I also noted that the keypoint was a farmhouse beside a road which would make a nice reference point for the bowtie pattern.

When we hit the keypoint he asked if we should go final. It was obvious we were too high so I started on the 45 degree pattern out of the keypoint while remembering to keep the field at my 5. I turned back and decided we were still too high so started again outbound the other way. Soon after the second outbound leg I said "I don't want to be any lower, so I'm turning direct for the field now". I wondered if I had made a mistake. Then I realized that we were still far too high once on final. I5 said "perfect time to execute a forward slip - show me your stuff". I moved the rudder as far as it would go while rolling in the opposite direction. It took me about 5 seconds to really get the hang of this super odd configuration. The sounds from the prop were freaking me out and I could not believe how much altitude we were losing. We were literally dropping like a stone. I5 called for the overshoot and I firewalled the engine. He asked for climbout at best angle and I pitched for 57 knots (how the hell did I remember that when I've never done best angle before?).

We practiced 3-4 more forced approaches mixed in with a few powerful sideslip exercises where I had to stay lined up with a road the entire time. I fully admit that about 50% of the way through the slips my leg was absolutely killing me! Additionally - I realized that with our airspeed low, the airspeed indicator not reliable (in the slip), higher angle of attack with one wing due to the roll, and full rudder input in another direction - that we were perfectly set up to stall the aircraft and immediately enter into a spin. I suppose that a forward slip on final is a very useful procedure but must always be approached with caution.

The ride back to the field was bumpy and fast. The tailwind was giving us 143 knots over the ground. This is when I started growing concerned about the landing due to the winds. We were a good 10 minutes later than the normal "arrival" time for lessons and as a result there was absolutely no traffic. I entered my downwind and picked a good spot where I would turn base remembering to take a look to my right for the forty five. That's when I5 told me to turn base right away. "Right now? We're a bit close aren't we?" was my response, but I5 had other plans for me. "How is our altitude?". "We're too high" was followed by him telling me to hold my altitude. As I prepared to turn final he asked me to execute a slipping turn. Knowing I had to make my turn to the right I applied full left rudder and then rolled us to the right. The "slip noise" started again and we lost altitude quickly. I increased our roll and we started a turn to the right. After a few adjustments we rolled out on final - still too high so I held us in the slip until things started looking a lot better.

I5 then asked me what the winds were and naturally I had forgotten everything tower said except for "Cleared to land" so I keyed the mike and said "Tower, wind check for India Fox Alpha". "India Foxtrot Alpha, Winds 280 at 14 gusting 20". Ooh boy - this was going to be fun. I kept some right rudder in play and reminded myself to keep the nose down as I cut the power over the threshold. I of course was doing my "talking out loud" thing again. As we neared the ground I levelled out and pitched back a bit to bleed off the speed, all the while keeping us on the centerline. We started to float or balloon a bit and I said to myself "a little float but that's OK, keep it straight, keep it straight, hold it off, hold it off hold it off". Then something magical happened - somehow between my automatic inputs of rudder, aileron, and elevator we gently touched down on the right main gear. I held everything nice and tight and a second later the left gear touched down followed by the main gear softly meeting the pavement. We were literally right on the centerline! I then focused on keeping the aircraft straight while I5 said "Suh wheet landing!". The elation was immediately followed by a loud noise coming from the front gear. I had let up completely on the elevator which was causing excess weight on the gear. Have to remember that.

We headed back to the club without incident. After parking FIFA we walked to the club for a debrief. While filling out the paper work I5 asked me "Do you have the keys?". Oops - where the heck did I put them? We searched my flight bag, our pockets, and finally went back to FIFA to check her out. The keys could not be located. I felt like even more of a doofus 2 minutes later
when I found them in my shirt pocket! Another mental note for the Flight Newbie to make!

The flight was a success from start to finish. Although I would love to head out and do another session of forced approaches; I5 told me that I had passed my demonstration of all the requirements with flying colors. Apparently I'll be working on these again in greater detail but for now my time in the practice area is done. The focus now will be on the circuit! The syllabus calls for the next 4 flights to be in the circuit. This section of my training will climax with my first solo flight. I find it very hard to believe that in 4 short flights I may have enough experience and training under my belt to be in the skies alone!!

Before I can get excited about that I need to focus on three things. Perfecting everything learned to date, grasping everything I'm about to learn in the circuit, and preparations to write (and pass) the Transport Canada PSTAR examination which grants me a Student Pilot Permit (required for the solo).

Next Friday the circuit training begins with a TWO HOUR ground brief. I can hardly wait!

12.3 Hours and counting...

Steep Turns and Spirals

It's been 25 days since my last flight. The demands of home and work have been far too heavy for me take some personal time for flying. I canceled a precious booking with I2 for a Rig Trip up to Dawson Creek, BC (lovely scenery and got to hang out with my brother who drove down from Fort Nelson) and a second flight scrapped when I2 suffered a minor neck injury.

This was the last flight I had booked with I2. She's nearly impossible to get a flight with, even when booking a full month in advance. I was quite concerned that I would be brutal in the air due to the long layoff. I was slow getting my butt in gear this morning and as a result I showed up later than I would have liked. After reviewing the logs I ran outside for the walk around FIFA. For some reason I could not find her! I walked the entire apron twice searching for the aircraft. My fear was that someone had taken her overnight and not returned. I headed back for the dispatch area and when I asked where FIFA was no one seemed to know. Oh great! I peeked into the maintenance hanger and there she was. I still took my time with the walk around (from memory this time which I didn't expect I'd be able to do after 25 days) and quickly checked the weather and completed the weight and balance.

The briefing with I2 was quick because I had done my homework. A Steep Turn is one that exceeds 30 degrees of bank. The angle will result in the nose wanting to go below the horizon and thus a loss of altitude, so power and back pressure will be required to keep it level. With the increased load factor the stall speed will be increased. There was some math in the FTM that allowed you to calculate it but I couldn't recall it. The potential result of this is that you could stall the aircraft or over bank and end up in a Spiral Dive.

The Spiral Dive is a Steep Descending Turn, with a rapid increase in rate of turn, airspeed, and vertical rate (loss of altitude). If not identified and recovered from properly, the spiral can increase which will more than likely result in aircraft overstress as opposed to flight into terrain. The recovery steps once the spiral and turn direction are identified are:

1) Cut the power
2) Roll the wings level
3) Ease the nose up
4) Add power as required

One must be careful not to attempt to use the elevators before you have stopped the turn. I've also read that one should pause slightly after rolling out before pulling back on the yoke in order to decrease the chances of overstress.

We ran through the checklists quickly (never done that before) and I actually managed to start the aircraft myself (never done that before either, always an issue). The calls to ground went very smooth and my taxi to runway 34 was on the line the entire way. We briefed for the takeoff and I noted we would probably get the North Route to the practice area since we were in north ops (never done that either). My takeoff was smooth, fairly centered, and I handled the controls with authority. The speeds were bang on, I stayed on the runway heading, and turned on course without any issues. Heck - I could even see those power lines (never done that before).

During the climb out I2 had me level off at a number of altitudes and make a number of small turns. The checklists came out and were completed without any issues. When we entered the practice area I made that call too. Things were going very well and I felt very comfortable in control.

We started with the steep turns. Lined up with a road at 7000', I2 asked me to complete a 360 degree turn. She stressed the "picture" out the window and that I wanted to hold that picture of the horizon, which isn't easy to do since the entire western edge of the area is covered in mountains. She told me that if I could keep the altitude within 200' I would be doing a great job. I started into the turn to something I figured would be about 45 - 50 degrees and immediately added some power. As I applied back pressure I could feel the rate of turn increasing. I tried to keep my head outside on that "picture" the entire time but every now and then glanced at the altimeter to see if I was losing altitude. Before I knew it I could see the road at my 10 and I rolled out parallel with it. Adjusted my power back to 2300 RPM and kept it level. "Pretty good" I2 told me. "You kept the aircraft within 20 feet of 7000". I could not believe it ;) We did 5-6 more steep turns and most of them were within 50-100 feet of the altitude. I had some trouble on the first turn to the right because that "picture" was completely different when turning right (since I'm sitting on the left). Satisfied with that we moved on to Spiral Dives.

Not much to really say about it, I2 demonstrated two and we spoke about what was going on with the physics and the instruments. She then put the aircraft into a number of spirals of various degrees of seriousness and then would say "Recover". Most were automatically completed and with a lot of control authority.

From there I2 asked me if I knew what a slip was. Of course (I think). You roll in one direction with the ailerons and apply opposite rudder deflection which results in increased drag. The drag allows you to lose altitude rapidly without a gain in airspeed. You can also use them to compensate for a crosswind while on approach. At least that's how I understood them to work! We entered into a slip and I could hardly believe how quickly we were losing altitude - while at the same time our airspeed did not increase AT ALL. Finally we spoke about forced approaches while we climbed back to 7000. At this point I2 cut the power and said "OK we've lost our engine and need to land somewhere, what's the first thing we do?". I wanted to say "Cry and Pray" but instead said I'd configure the aircraft for best glide speed and start looking for a place to land. I mentioned that I thought the best glide for the DA20C1 was 72 knots but she corrected me with "73". I love how exact I2 is! Stable at 73 knots we selected a farmers field just off the edge of the practice area. We lined up for the field and I2 asked if we would make the field for a landing. I immediately noted that we were way too high so she entered into a number of S turns and even a few long 180s.

I was surprised how much time and control of the aircraft we had without any engine power. When we finally rolled out on "final" I again noted we were a bit high and she entered into a slip that quickly lined us up nicely for the "middle" of the field (so we had lots of room for error). When we put our flaps down to landing position I noted that the flap indicator lights didn't appear to be working and she asked me "so what do we do?". I honestly had no idea, but recall that when doing the walk around we extend the flaps all the way down and then move them up one notch at a time. This gives us an indication of what they should look like when active. So I simply said "bring the flaps up all the way and put them down one notch at a time while we observe". Seemed to satisfy her. It was simple to do and before i knew it we were somewhere in the neighborhood of 400 AGL and I honestly thought we would land in the field. I asked "Do the farmers mind if we do this?". "Some of them don't like it at all". I immediately formed a picture in my mind of a farmer running out of the house below with a shotgun.

Finally - I2 blasted the power and we climbed back out. Time to head back to the airport, so where is it and how do we get there? She's always challenging me with this stuff. I noted exactly where the airport was out the window though I couldn't see it and mentioned that since we were this far north we were better off flying over Cochrane lake and checking in. She gave me control and I IMMEDIATELY noticed traffic crossing about 500 feet underneath us from our right to left. She hadn't even seen it. We made a call on the CTAF without response. Interesting - the aircraft was going the other way so we didn't worry about it.

Checking in with the tower over the Lake they noted traffic at our seven and I automagically turned my head in that direction while they were saying it and spotted a skyhawk. With the winds at our backs we could easily outrun that bird so I responded as such to the controller when asked if we could keep our speed up. The pattern entry and approach went very well. I was amazed at how much I had remembered from the month earlier and more so that I was able to pull out and complete the landing checklists while battling the quarter crosswind. I2 said almost nothing during the approach as I kept calling reminders out to myself. "1500 RPM, flaps to landing, 60 knots, crab left a bit, picture looks good, speed is low so a bit nose down, etc.". On very short final I started reminding myself "Keep the nose down, Keep the nose down, Keep the nose down" as we crossed the threshold I cut the power and said "nose down, nose down, nose down, ease up slowly, hold it off, bleed of the speed, hold it off, right rudder right rudder, ease it off, ease it off". Low and behold we touched down GENTLY just to the left of the center. I immediately put the rudder into play to keep it straight. Wow.. what a great landing.

When Tower asked us to exit right on runway 7/25 I recalled that we had to stay on the runway before entering the taxiway unless he told us otherwise. He sent us immediately to ground so I asked I2 "I can't enter the taxiway until I get permission right?". "Right!". The taxi in was down the centerline and I managed to pull us up on the line pretty nicely for some fuel.

After the flight I2 noted that everything had come together for me. The exercises I demonstrated today would have easily passed a flight test. My radio work was excellent. My takeoff, climbout, altitudes, and headings were all bang on. I knew when and how to lean, rich, add fuel pumps, warm the engines, and check/reset my gauges. The situational awareness was also great. The approach and landing were better than expected at this stage in my training. Wow - what a glowing report from I2. I could hardly contain myself.

On the way into the office I thought about the flight. The thing that I couldn't get over was how comfortable I felt working the aircraft. I am not talking about an overconfidence of "this is easy". What I mean is that somewhere a transition occurred where in the past I was always "fighting the aircraft" to do what I wanted, and today I was "controlling the aircraft". I knew where everything was and I knew how and when to use them. My hand and foot movement required to control the stick, power, mixture, and rudder were all instant and with authority. More than anything, I seem to have lost my "fear" of weird attitudes. Well - I shouldn't say "weird" attitudes, I should "Attitudes that are weird to ME".

My smile quickly faded as I recalled that I had felt extremely happy about other flights which resulted in the NEXT flight being a slap in the face due to lack of concentration. My goal now is to make it two good flights in a row.

Next flight is air exercises for forced approaches and slips. After that we start with the circuit training. I can hardly wait!

11.1 Hours and counting...