| Lessons 1-19 | Pre-Solo (24.3 hours, 123 landings) |
| Lessons 20-45 | Pre-Cross Country (60.6 hours, 330 landings), read below |
| Lessons 46-65 | Pre-License |
| Flights 66- | Private Pilot |
Landing stalls: prelanding checklist, at Vfe 10 deg flap, trim, 20, trim, 30, trim, 40, trim. (1500 rpm during all that). Glide established on each, but get into it quickly to avoid loss of altitude. Then pitch for stall speed until stall. I did well again, avoiding a spin. Full power/carb heat off, flaps 20. When I get to Vx, flaps 10... then 0. Climb a few hundred feet.
Then off for more T&Gs, which went ok. Bit of a cross wind, so we stuck to
dual flying. I was off a bit on the rudder again, they weren't great landings.
Got to stay focussed down the runway, and straight.
Contents
Lesson 21 -- Second solo, uncontrolled field
Mon
2/3/97
Beautiful clear day, with turbulence and crosswinds. We took off for
Arlington (uncontrolled field) to do T&Gs. Both my radio handling skills
and traffic pattern skills fell apart really badly, but by the 4th or 5th
time I kinda had it. So I soloed for three landings. They went ok, only
flubbed the radio badly on one where I reported entering right base
instead of right final. Tim corrects me on his handheld radio. An
uneventful return to Paine, until the landing. I got balled out by the
tower for coming in straight instead of entering the 45, then got too low
in the pattern, then drifted towards the runway (crosswinds much worse at
Paine). Then on final, I drifted way off and was way off the runway and
totally crooked. I decided on go around, but Tim brought it in. Problem
was the opposite crosswind from any I'd done yet, so I got corn-fused!
We'll get it... I know it... ONE of these days!
Contents
Lesson 22 -- Under Class B, fly someplace, see new 737X
Fri
2/7/97
We needed to bring the 150 down to Renton, and switch for another one at the
club, so off we go to Renton (35 mi). On the way, lessons about how to fly
under the class B airspace (we are near SeaTac airport), and how to enter
Renton field. When we got within striking distance, we called up ATIS for
Renton. "Airport will be closed at 330 local time for 45 minutes for 737X taxi
tests." Uh-oh... Tim calls up the tower, and asks if the airport is closed
yet. They say we can land, the 737X isn't quite ready yet. If we get in there
quick. So a hasty lesson in how to approach Renton ends up in a quickie zoom
down to land, with Tim taking over my really bad landing, and getting off the
runway pronto. Course, cameras, helicopters, and such are all over the place
watching the taxi tests of this brand new 737-700!
After watching the 737X smoke the brakes a bit and tie up the entire airport for a while, we take off in another C-150 (the one I started off with back in November). The Push To Talk button ain't working, no wonder no response from the tower! So we got out the old handheld mike as backup, and continue on the way.
Getting up to Paine field, the ceiling is rapidly, and is at 1200 MS L (field
is at 606' el). So the patterns on the couple touch and goes went really badly
because of the different approach. That wasn't so bad, except my landings were
all crooked again, just like at Renton earlier. All in all, a bad flying day.
Too many distractions. Gotta concentrate on how to touch down straight,
rudders, rudders, rudders... and get some good consistency.
On takeoff from Paine the airplane was bouncing and jostling all over the
place, much more than any other time I've flown. It was pretty disconcerting,
but Tim didn't hardly bat an eyelash. I'm sure it was pretty mild turbulence,
but more than I've ever handled before. Anyway, off we go for Harvey, a short
ride almost due east. We get into the right pattern, as I try my best to
announce on the radio. We are still hopping and bopping all over the place.
I'm glad it was a dual flight, because I was so distracted, thinking about the
previous Valentine's day, the bouncy flight, a new tiny airport (Paine is
huge!), and the radio, I had no business landing an airplane!
We did a series of 8 full-stop landings, taxiing back to the runway,
announcing on the radio, watching out for parachuters, crossing the grass
runway, and a thousand other distractions. I was getting it on the landings ok
after I figured out the pattern, even announcing ok. My rudder work wasn't
great, but I was using them heavily. That pesky wind was a problem, but
smoothed out as the time wore on. I came in either high, or low. I preferred
high due to power lines right in front of the derned runway, but I never did
get a really good approach set up. Still, by backing off on power, I was able
to come down fairly close to the numbers. That plane will really drop when you
cut power to 1000 rpm, even at flaps 20!
The landing back at Paine went not too badly also. Next flight, the plan is to
due another supervised solo.
The landings are down with flaps 40 and brakes applied right at once. I
did ok, not great. We did 4 of these, then flew over to Monroe and did
them there. New airport, new procedures. I was pretty bad on the first
one, but got better at it. It's a small, narrow runway. Sure didn't like
all those airplanes parked right next to the runway. What if I ran into
them? Ruin lotta nice equipment. Oh well, survived it. Some of the
landings had to be rescued by the CFI though. On flaps 40 you have to be
very careful not to stall.
I asked the tower for westbound departure, and they offered me a new runway:
29. It's a diagonal runway between the parallel 34R/L runways. What the hey,
try something new and exciting! So we take off, head for 3000 feet over Puget
Sound, and do some steep turns. It had been ages since I had done one, but
they went fairly well, for me. I need to remember where we started, and to go
for 360 turns. Not just turn for turning's sake!
Then departure stalls, which went fairly well also. I need to remember NOT to
correct with ailerons, but with rudder. Then arrival stalls. Need to keep the
altitude loss to a minimum, and get that yolk forward, get those flaps to 20
degrees. But actually they went well. I'm handling the rudder quite well. We
also did a continuous stall where I was only handling the rudder.
Back to Paine for touch and goes on the big runway 34L. I was handling rudder
much better, and they went well. We did a few multiple ones. At one point, he
pulled power on me, and we slowly came in for a landing (intending to do
multiple T&Gs after that). But someone was on our tail, and the tower called
for go-around. I kinda flubbed that a bit, because I forgot to take out the
mega flaps I had in there. Also the carb heat.
Then we did some slips. Always right rudder, so you can see the runway
better. I elected to do left rudder because I had done so few. No prob,
switched to right rudder and slipped her down there.
Just about everything went really well, no major screwups, just what I
consider minor infractions. Nothing that more practice won't burn into the
memory banks. I did miss the first engine-out, would have landed short of the
runway. I learned you need to get to the runway, then worry about dropped
altitude. That's easy, there are plenty of ways to lose altitude, but no way
to gain it!
Then some departure and arrival stalls, which went ok. Then steep turns. He
pointed out how looking at a spot on the windshield, and keeping that on the
horizon, negates the need to stare at the instruments. Ah! Good trick! Then
two touch and goes at Arlington. Not my best landings, but we got there.
Back to Paine for the last landing, another kinda lousy landing, but made it
nonetheless.
My first landing was a true greaser. Good way to start off. The next six
landings went like this: slightly sideways (here I go again), ok but not a
greaser, greaser, bounce but basically straight, a kinda scary whoop where
I'm not sure what happened, but it all happend within feet of the
runway and it turned out ok, and a kind of lousy last landing where I was
pretty crooked.
I quit because the air on takeoff was pretty bumpy, and I was getting
tossed around more than I was ready for that day. Turning was a challenge
on one of the circuits, and I got a bit unnerved. First time I've really
been that way in an airplane. I kept going for 4 or 5 more landings, then
figured I need more experience before getting into that. Actually, a more
experienced pilot would consider the turbulence relatively minor. At least
on landing, for some reason, the air was pretty smooth!
I did several landings, all which went fairly well. Then the traffic
started coming in, and a jet wanted to take off. So tower tells me to
enter base right away, way before the beginning of the runway (it's a LONG
runway, so no problem there). I successfully dove down for a landing,
maybe violating Vfe just slightly by accident, but landed quite nicely if
I may say so!
The next circuit, the jet had taken off, and tower did what I was gonna
ask for anyway, to go to the other, small runway (parallel). So I finished
off a series of T&Gs there. Again, all were fairly good, and most
importantly, straight. But that derned turbulence was disconcerting! Not
bad on approach, but on takeoff, it was a bit bouncy!
The landings didn't go all that well, but towards the end I was getting
it. We did 4, then back to Paine for some soft-field procedures. It's fun
driving the airplane with the nose up in the air! Kinda like that one.
By the way, he says he'll sign me off for 25 nm radius. Ah -- to be free
of that short leash and on a longer one!
So we took off for a night flight out the 200 radial from Paine's VOR. On goes
the hood for the first time. Yeah, this ain't so bad, I can easily fly this
thing by instruments. But wait... what's up? What's down? Am I tilted right or
left? Boy, you have no idea if you are turning, climbing, or anything! I had
some trouble, but was doing ok tracking the radial and trying to keep
altitude. After all the effort spent trying NOT to look at the instruments too
much, here I am relying on them completely.
Well, practice will make... er... perfect. Along the way the CFI says "put
your head down", and turns, dives, climbs, and messes up the trim
considerably. "OK, your airplane". Actually, I did ok in getting back to
straight and level flight on those.
Then he drills me on the procedure to fly through the Class Bravo airspace at
SeaTac airport. Of course, after all the practice, the tower responds totally
differently than he expected. Like no squak code, different altitude, flying
right over the tower... but we got through ok. Then we headed back north
(after he points out Boeing Field and Renton airport, both very close to
SeaTac).
Back on goes the hood as I track TO the radial. Oh, forgot to mention that I
had tracked to the SeaTac 070 earlier... anyway, the Paine signal was bouncing
all over the place, not really working right. Course, that's exactly what the
ATIS has been saying for the past couple months "335-345 radials under 3000'
out of service)". But there was a weak signal and I got in some practice
getting back.
Then 3 touch and goes. Our landing light didn't work, so it was good practice.
Tower was closed, so huge Paine field was just another uncontrolled field.
Kinda nice having it all to ourselves.
I am now signed off to fly 25 nm from Paine, but can't land anywhere else. The
CFI wants me to fly west and practice steep turns, stalls, etc. I have some
mighty difficult restrictions for this part of the country, though: 25
visibility, 6000 ceiling, 11 kt winds. At least I gained on the winds! So
let's hope that we get a little decent weather. Hmmm... stalls all by
myself? We'll have to see if I have the guts to do that! This will give me a
chance to play with slips, waving the wings, VOR tracking, and other
maneuvers.
I came back in, and did a few touch and goes. On one, I saw a big bright
landing light of some airplane coming in, and it looked close. My
perception isn't all that good yet, because it was a 727 way off, and
tower asked me to make short final. I dove down, had to get to flaps 40,
and started my flare WAY too early. Ugh... that (literally) sinking
feeling. Sure enough BAM! I had my hardest landing yet. Actually, it
didn't slam all that hard, though. These Cessna 150's are super forgiving.
Maybe it's time to try the computer flight simulator, see if I can find my
way back while in the comfort of home.
After 7 of T&Gs, the ceilings had risen to my minimum (6000'), so I headed
west to do nothing but enjoy a little flying. So I flew over a local
island in Puget Sound and looked at the scenery a little. It's kinda hard
to see when you are flying, I notice. So I tried a few slips to tilt the
airplane and get a better view. I'm better at left rudder slips than
right. Perhaps I should practice those more.
On the way back, I entered the pattern, and some other guy was coming
right towards me! Bet he didn't see me, since he was climbing and turning
from crosswind to downwind. I guess I entered the 45 too close to the
crosswind end... anyway we both did the right thing (turned right) and no
problem. I also got balled out by the tower, but I could swear I done
right. I done wrong by not looking, though. She had a right to complain,
though, because that was too close a call.
Our new hangar is much closer to the big runway used to get those Boeing
jumbos away from the factory and off to customers. It was taking me too
long to go all the way down this 9000' long runway, so I asked to
transition to the3000' runway. The way the tower had me timed, I was way
too close to another aircraft on the landing, so I did a bunch of S turns.
The tower asked me, after I had already started, to do S turns. Already
doin' 'em! The other guy barely got off the runway when I touched down. I
was really close to going for a goaround.
I did well with flaps and crosswinds, so the whole flight was a great
experience. Hope the weather tomorrow is good!
Slips sure are fun, I was zooming down, pegging the VSI. Pulling out of it is
a bit jerky. I need to work on that. My steep turns went well. Now to get the guts to do some
departure stalls!
I can't describe how fun it is compared to that Cessna 150. This aircraft
is very manueverable! It uses a stick instead of yoke, and I turned and
went up and down like a bird. After a few turns, he says to try a stall.
OK! Up, up, up... it breaks, and I overdo the down elevator and we quickly
pick up speed. Whoop.. and feel some really good g loads leveling off to
best glide speed. I did two more stalls, they were fun! Then some REALLY
steep turns, pulling more great g loads. Every pilot should try these
things!
The landing was right over power planes doing their runup at a very busy
Arlington WA airport, and he took it in for a great landing. Gotta do that
again!
The air was much bumpier than I'd ever flown before, but it wasn't really
all that bad. I'm getting more used to that. At Hoquiam (96 miles from
home) the landing went well, probably due to a calmer wind. We stopped for
gas and to run into the bushes. The airport was deserted, no food or
anything!
Off we head again, backtracking the route. Along the way "hey, you are
heading towards bad weather, let's divert". Hmmm, looks sunny to me, but
let's go to Olympia. That also went well. I landed it pretty good at
Olympia, after he points out which runway I'm SUPPOSED to go for. Me
blind. He says he did the same thing. I gotta pay more attention. In fact,
I notice with him along I'm way too lax about looking for traffic, etc.
After the touch and go at OLM, it's hood work time. I'm to find Bremerton
with just the one VOR. I had a little trouble getting that right, but
found the field fairly well. Luckily I had all the info written down on my
nav log, so I didn't have to deal with measuring angles, etc. We ended up
flying right over it. A little past, he pulls power again. Sheesh, this is
getting to be a bad habit! I managed to survive it, because this time we
did land, for a touch and go.
Then off to Seatac to fly through some Class B airspace. Did well handling
the radio, but due to traffic and the tower not answering, we circled over
Vashon island for several 360 circuits. Finally we head on over the south
end of the runway, with big jets landing and taking off right under.
That's fun! Tower says head for Kent, so we do that until they clear us
from Class B airspace.
Now to fly over Renton field, but tower is closed. So we do an uneventful
flight back to Paine, coming in straight for landing. The whole flight
went quite well, although I can see I need more work on instrument flying.
You want more? How about the next batch of
lessons, where I do some cross-country flights.
Contents
Lesson 23 -- More touch and goes
Sun
2/9/97
After my lame performances last time, today was just pure touch and goes.
I flubbed up the first few, but got better on the rudders towards the end.
Did 14 of them. No solo today, need to see if tomorrow's lesson STARTS
with good landings.
Contents
Lesson 24 -- Solo Touch and goes
Mon
2/10/97
The winds were calm, and ceiling 10000, so conditions looked perfect for
flying. We did a bunch of dual touch and goes, then it was my turn for a bunch
of them on my own. I got the alignment pretty good on the duals, and the first
bunch of solos, but the last few got a little crooked again. Dern it!
1.6 hours, 0.8 solo, 16 landings. Contents
Lesson 25 -- Touch and goes on a narrow runway
Sun 2/16/97, 1300 The weather was changing, and the winds were getting
just a tad gusty. But not real strong. Ceilings were really high, visibility
75 miles, temperature just downright nice for around these parts in February.
Off we go to Harvey field to work on a narrow runway to get that rudder
control practiced.
Dual: 1.6 hrs, 15000 broken, 50+F, slightly gusty, 12 kts Contents
Lesson 26 -- Touch and goes again
Mon 2/17/97 1500
Just a bunch of touch and goes in slight turbulent weather. They went fairly
well. Just about put the CFI to sleep though. Winds were just a bit too much
for solo.
1.4 hours dual, 16 landingsContents
Lesson 27 -- Short field takeoffs and landings
Fri 2/21/97 1500
We tried something new! Short field takeoffs... you start from the very
beginning of the runway, hold the brakes, apply full power, let go, and...
well, it is a Cessna 150! But we took off and zoomed up at 60
knots, going much steeper. Kinda fun!
1.4 hours dual, 8 landingsContents
Lesson 28 -- Pre-solo checkride review
Sun 2/23/97 1300 It's a beautiful, sunny day in the Seattle area.
Tomorrow is a checkride from another instructor, to allow me to do
unsupervised solos. So today we will do steep turns, stalls, and touch and
goes.
1.2 hrs dual, great weather, 10 kt winds
Contents
Lesson 29 -- Solo checkride
Mon 2/24/97 1500 Another beautiful day, with little wind and sunny
skies, and the day for my club solo checkride. Off we go to the east for some
not-quite-minumum controlled airspeed. 60 kts. Norm pointed out how you can
turn on a dime at that speed. Comes in handy if you get stuck in a canyon, or
want to look around, etc. We tried it at various flap settings. Flaps 30 gives
you quite a nice view out the front.
1.4 hours dual, sunny
Contents
Lesson 30 -- Unleashed for solo in the pattern
Fri 2/28/97 1500
We went up for 4 touch and goes, then I drop offf the instructor and he
leaves. Ah, no supervision any more.
0.5 hours dual, 0.8 solo, weather deteriorating gradually to
rain
Contents
Lesson 31 -- All by myself, touch and goes
Tue 3/4/97 1300
I had been waiting to go out totally on my own to practice in the pattern.
Finally on Tuesday, the ceilings got up to above 2000', and I was out
there after the first ATIS reported that! I intended to do multiple touch
and goes on the big runway, so headed out there. But after the first
takeoff, with a lot of bouncing around a couple hundred feet above the
runway, I chickened out of that option.
1.1 solo, cool and between rain showers
Contents
Lesson 32 -- Crosswind, short field t/o and landings
Fri 3/7/97 1500
It was too windy for me to solo, so I asked if we could practice crosswind
landings instead. But then the wind died down that afternoon! Still too
high for me, though. So how about short field and soft field procedures?
Off we go to Monroe, a small, narrow field. With airplanes parked WAY too
close to the runway, too. Main problem was turbulence that was pretty
severe (for me), and close to the ground. So full flaps, crosswind, and
turbulence, all at once!
1.5 dual, almost thunderstorm weather
Contents
Lesson 33 -- All by myself, touch and goes
Mon 3/10/97 0730
Not much to tell. The weather was very calm, in between nasy windstorms.
So I took advantage of it and did 10 T&Gs. One was a pretty nice bouncer,
but the others were ok, not great. That afternoon, I hiked up Tiger Mt.,
at 3000' and it was deader'n ever up there! I should have gone up again
that afternoon!
1.1 solo, very calm, patchy skies
Contents
1.5 dual, almost thunderstorm weather
Contents
Lesson 34 -- All by myself, touch and goes
Sun 3/16/97 0815
Not much to tell. The weather was very calm again, in between nasty
windstorms again.
So I took advantage of it and did 10 more T&Gs. The first 3 were real
"greasers", but later on I scared the heck outta myself. I forgot to raise
the electric flaps on a touch and go. I think I had 30 deg on the C-150.
The airplane didn't want to stay down, and started lifting way earlier
than usual. It also was drifting off the runway. I popped it off the
ground and realized the durned flaps were still down. No wonder!
The others were ok, not great. That afternoon, I hiked up a couple
mountains, Tiger Mt. one of them. Does this sound like deja vu or
just some great cut 'n pasting? ha! Seriously, the chop near the runway
both approach and departure was disconcerting again, so I cut it off after
an hour. I like the security blanket (CFI) sitting next to me when that
happens!
1.0 solo, cloudy, ceilings 3000
Contents
Lesson 35 -- Hood work, Class B, and night T&Gss
Thu 3/20/97 2000 The ceilings were finally reasonable again, and it was
time to try some hood work, in preparation for solo cross country endorsement.
Actually, the only endorsement I have so far is in the traffic pattern at
Paine with 9 kts winds, 2000 ceiling, and 10 visibility. So I'm looking
forward to moving along in this training.
1.7 hours dual, mostly clear, the CFI got to see Comet
Hale-Bopp, but not me!
Contents
Lesson 36 -- First solo out of the pattern
Fri 3/21/97 1700
I had just enough time to sneak over and fly before dark, if nobody had
the airplane. Yes! It was available. So off I go to practice steep turns.
I did a few, they went well. Well... maybe they weren't THAT steep, but
they were a little over 30 degrees! I chickened out on the stalls, but did
a few minimum controlled airspeed (MCA).
0.9 hours solo, clear Contents
Fri 3/21/97 2000 Yup, two flights in one day!
More hood work, so I won't get hoodwinked if I have to get told how to get
home. This time, we practiced flying on radials, changing directions per
radio instruction, and finding my way back to the airport. I did ok (not
great). A few more landings, the first I really misjudged the runway.
Still no landing light but Paine is well lit anyway so that didn't affect
things.
1.3 hours dual, clear
Contents
Lesson 38 -- Short and Soft field landings
Sat 3/22/97 0800
I'm really making up for lost time with all these flights in a row. We did
short field work at Monroe, and soft field work at Paine. Nothing much
new, just more dual practice. Cross country next week we hope...
1.6 hours dual, 11000 ceilings
Contents
Lesson 39 -- Touch and Goes, and a little sightseeing!
Sun 3/23/97 1500
Nobody had the airplane, I was kinda bored, so off I go to do some flying
again! Kinda nice living so close to the airport. So off I go on my bike
to the see if I can sneak in another flight. I did a bunch of touch and
goes. The air was a bit bumpy again a from about 50 to 300 above the
runway, but this time I stuck it out. I'm getting used to it better and
better.
1.2 hours solo, fluffy (oh, yeah... "few"... need to talk like
an aviator)
Contents
Lesson 40 -- 9 Great landings
Sat 3/29/97 1730
Tomorrow is my first scheduled cross country trip. For various reasons, I
wasn't able to fly all week, and I'm going into withdrawal symptoms, so I
decided to try a bunch of touch and goes before dark. All 9 landings were
great, at least for me. No bouncers, straight, handled the crosswind and
traffic great. One was of particular interest.
1.0 hours solo, high thin clouds, small crosswind
Contents
Lesson 41 -- First solo stalls
Wed 4/2/97 0930
I did some approach stalls, slips, and steep turns today.
Boy, my heart was
pounding on that first stall! But it went ok, so I did some more. I never lost too much altitude on any of the four. Kinda makes
me nervous not having a second pair of eyes looking for traffic on those
manuevers. I was doing clearing turns, and once saw a guy 500' below who came
from nowhere! Kinda hard to see behind, etc. I was super cautious on the
clearing turns, and did a couple of 360 slow turns to REALLY clear the area.
1.1 hours solo, high thin clouds, small crosswind
Contents
Lesson 42 -- Let's try a Glider!
Sun 4/6/97 1200
The Boeing Soaring club had a special on intro flights, so... what the
hey... I'll try it! We hop in a tandem glider and bump along the grass
behind the tow plane for a ways, then gently lift off (no, I'm not at the
controls!) The tow plane still is trundling along the grass strip.
Eventually it lifts off and we head to the right, and very slowly climb to
3000'. The CFI pops the tow rope handle, and we veer right, the tow plane
left. Whee-haw! Free!
0.5 hours dual, beautiful sunny calm day
Contents
Lesson 43 -- More solo stalls
Tue 4/8/97 1800
ANother beautiful evening, so off I go to try departure stalls. The first
one went pretty good, with not quite as much heart pounding as the first
stall last week I did alone. It went so well (albeit a very slight stall)
that I did a couple more. Now I'm really comfortable with them. So I did
some arrival stalls too, steep turns, and a great slip from 3500 to 2500'.
AFter 4 bumpy touch and goes I called it a day. Bumpy both in the air and
on the touchdowns. Hmmm... lost my soft touch, dern it!
1.2 hours solo, slight (now I call it slight!) turbulence,
35mi visibility, few clouds
Contents
Lesson 44 -- First cross country
Fri 4/11/97 1600
The weather was nearly perfect, with few clouds at 25000. We took off from
Paine and flew towards Hoquiam via Kingston, Apex, Bremerton, Sanderson,
Elma, and Hoquiam. All my navigating went well. The timing wasn't quite
right, due to a slower airplane than the POH says, but no problem
estimating correct times. Outside Elma, at 4500, he pulls power and asks
where we are going to land. I pick a field, and we get to within 500',
then decide not to ruin some farmer's nicely sown field.
3.8 hours dual
Contents
Lesson 45 -- Touch and go practice
Sun 4/27/97 1300
I waited a few hours at the hangar waiting for XC weather, but no dice. So
finally I went up for T&Gs. Plenty of nice turbulence to practice in! I
hadn't been up for a couple weeks, so that was good. Most of the landings
went very well.
1.4 hours solo, choppy out there Contents