Hey Everyone, I wanted to update you on what has been going on with my flight training. I recently flew my First Solo and will be uploading the video soon. I have been very busy with work and training that the blog was put on the backburner.
I have become great friends with a fellow pilot and knowing him has allowed me to expand my airport knowledge around California. We have flown to Santa Barbara, SLO, and San Diego which has been very exciting.
I will try to continue updating the blog and will always be flying.
Soon I will post some pictures of my recent flights and Fly Safe!
Showing posts with label My Journey. Show all posts
Showing posts with label My Journey. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 1, 2014
Friday, March 14, 2014
Stalls
Stalls... Potentially one of the scariest parts of flying but also one of the most practiced maneuvers a pilot can perform. A stall is when a planes wings no longer produce lift and the plane begins falling towards the earth. This may seem like a bad situation, and it could be but it is also able to be prevented and recovered from.
Today we practiced powered and no power stalls and it was a very enlightening experience. At first I was a little nervous but, after my instructor taught me how to recover from a stall I was ready to take it head on. I decided we would start with no power stalls first seeing that we already were practicing slow flight and had flaps extended. A no power stall recreates the motions of landing and during the decent pulling back on the yoke to much that the plane is not moving forward enough to continue flying. I slowly pulled back on the yoke and watched as my speed decreased rapidly. As we were nearing the stall mark a horn sounded which tells the pilot that we were about to stall. In real world situations this is where you would take the hint and lower the nose enough that you would continue flying but, I was trying to break that barrier and purposefully stall the plane. I continued to pull back and finally we felt a shutter of the plane which is called a "buffet" and the plane started dropping. To recover I gave it full power and lowered the nose to the horizon. As the plane started to gain altitude and speed I raised the flaps one by one until we were smooth sailing... or flying rather.
After practicing this maneuver multiple times I was able to recover the plane with only losing 70-80 feet of altitude which is great for the first practice.
Next we were going to practice Power on stalls which simulate a stall on takeoff. Similar to power off stalls but in a power on stall you already have full power which means you only have to lower the nose to the horizon to prevent the stall. I once again with full power pulled back on the yoke and watched as my airspeed dropped until once again I heard the horn. My instructor made sure to tell me that " in real world situations the horn is your symbol to lower the nose and prevent the stall" but, I again kept holding back until we felt a buffet and the plane stalled. I lowered the nose to the horizon keeping full power until I was no longer in a stall and began to gain altitude "normally" again.
One thing that surprised me in both stalls was the fact that the plane did not want to stall even though I was forcing it. By the end of stall practice my arms were tired from fighting the plane which is always a good thing. If the plane continues to want to fly then that's better for all of us.
I was able to practice both stalls multiple times and by the end I felt very comfortable recovering from stalls in the case of an emergency. After practicing stalls we began steep turn which is whole new ball game. I will go over steep turns in my next post because I could talk about them all day.
Fly Safe
Chris E
Monday, March 10, 2014
Second Flight Lesson
I was so excited about last weeks flight I decided to plan this weeks flight an hour earlier! I couldnt wait to start flying again and the faster I was able to the happier I am. Last lesson Trevor and I flew in a 2004 Cessna Skyhawk 172SP.
I really liked flying this plane because it felt new and had all new gauges. After my previous lesson I realized that the 2004 Skyhawk would cost about $30 more per hour to fly and decided to fly an older plane that cost less. Today we flew in a 1983 Cessna Skyhawk 172P which, is a much older plane but still was able to maneuver the same way as a newer Skyhawk. Flying the older plane is great because I still get the same training but save money which means I can fly more!
Trevor still handled radio communications and I was able to taxi and help takeoff. Once we reached the practice area we went over Climbs, Descents, and slow flight. I really enjoyed practiving slow flight because when you are at low speeds I felt it was very easy to keep the plane stable. You use your power to regulate the altitude of the plane and your pitch to regulate the speed of the plane.
If I want to raise the altitude all you do is give it more power but continue to hold the same pitch and if you want to increase speed you just push the control wheel forward slightly. We continued practicing slow flight for a little and then Trevor had me practice a power off glide. What I didnt know is that a plane is able to continue to fly quite the distance without any power to the engine. We would adjust our pitch to fly at 68 KIAS and were still able to reach the nearest airport. This flight was about 1 hour and I wish we could have extended it. After landing Trevor and I went over the things we will work on next flight. I cant wait until we can get into the air again.
As Always Fly Safe
Chris E
I really liked flying this plane because it felt new and had all new gauges. After my previous lesson I realized that the 2004 Skyhawk would cost about $30 more per hour to fly and decided to fly an older plane that cost less. Today we flew in a 1983 Cessna Skyhawk 172P which, is a much older plane but still was able to maneuver the same way as a newer Skyhawk. Flying the older plane is great because I still get the same training but save money which means I can fly more!
Trevor still handled radio communications and I was able to taxi and help takeoff. Once we reached the practice area we went over Climbs, Descents, and slow flight. I really enjoyed practiving slow flight because when you are at low speeds I felt it was very easy to keep the plane stable. You use your power to regulate the altitude of the plane and your pitch to regulate the speed of the plane.
If I want to raise the altitude all you do is give it more power but continue to hold the same pitch and if you want to increase speed you just push the control wheel forward slightly. We continued practicing slow flight for a little and then Trevor had me practice a power off glide. What I didnt know is that a plane is able to continue to fly quite the distance without any power to the engine. We would adjust our pitch to fly at 68 KIAS and were still able to reach the nearest airport. This flight was about 1 hour and I wish we could have extended it. After landing Trevor and I went over the things we will work on next flight. I cant wait until we can get into the air again.
As Always Fly Safe
Chris E
Monday, March 3, 2014
First Real Lesson
2 Years since my first introductory flight I decided to take the leap and commit to flight school. I decided to fly out of my "home" airport that I grew up near KCMA ( Camarillo, CA ) and I have been meeting with Sarah the flight school manager at CIA over the past couple weeks.
Sarah and I have decided that I would be training under the part 141 training program. ( I will explain 141 vs 61 in another post). Sarah paired me with my CFI (Certified Flight Instructor) Trevor and we planned to start at 10:30 am Monday.
I was excited and nervous the weekend before my first flight but, knew once I started it will be hard to stop. Since it has been a long time since the intro at Justice Aviation I needed to start fresh from the beginning. I met with Trevor Monday and we hit it off immediately. Trevor and I sat down to go over what we will be learning in the part 141 course. He explained to me what we will be practicing for the first couple lessons and we went out to the plane to start flying. Similar to my intro flight Trevor had me read the Pre-Flight checklist while he explained to me why we check each and every part of the plane before takeoff. After the Pre-Flight I once again was able to taxi to the runway and once cleared Trevor lifted the plane off the ground.
Trevor showed me how to fly strait and level and we practiced turns. We also practiced climbs, descents, and climbing/descending turns. I am very surprised how easy the Cessna Skyhawk flys. It seems to want to fly itself and at times I was able to set the plane for level flight and let go. We flew all over the area around Camarillo and before I knew it we were back on the ground going over what we had learned. I am very excited to have recieved my first entry into my logbook and cant wait till I can fly again!
Thanks and Fly Safe
Chris
Sarah and I have decided that I would be training under the part 141 training program. ( I will explain 141 vs 61 in another post). Sarah paired me with my CFI (Certified Flight Instructor) Trevor and we planned to start at 10:30 am Monday.
I was excited and nervous the weekend before my first flight but, knew once I started it will be hard to stop. Since it has been a long time since the intro at Justice Aviation I needed to start fresh from the beginning. I met with Trevor Monday and we hit it off immediately. Trevor and I sat down to go over what we will be learning in the part 141 course. He explained to me what we will be practicing for the first couple lessons and we went out to the plane to start flying. Similar to my intro flight Trevor had me read the Pre-Flight checklist while he explained to me why we check each and every part of the plane before takeoff. After the Pre-Flight I once again was able to taxi to the runway and once cleared Trevor lifted the plane off the ground.
Trevor showed me how to fly strait and level and we practiced turns. We also practiced climbs, descents, and climbing/descending turns. I am very surprised how easy the Cessna Skyhawk flys. It seems to want to fly itself and at times I was able to set the plane for level flight and let go. We flew all over the area around Camarillo and before I knew it we were back on the ground going over what we had learned. I am very excited to have recieved my first entry into my logbook and cant wait till I can fly again!
Thanks and Fly Safe
Chris
Monday, February 24, 2014
Starting Ground School
Today is the day that I decided to start my Ground School. I went into Channel Islands Aviation to start my Flight Training and Sarah the Flight School Manager let me know I have to purchase ground school to go along with the flight training.
Ground School consists of a book or online lessons that teach you the specifics about how planes fly, how the engine works, how to perform in an emergency, etc. Ground school is the classroom training that you will be studying while preparing your flight lessons. After I purchased the Ground School I immediately drove home to open the box and get started.
Ground School consists of a book or online lessons that teach you the specifics about how planes fly, how the engine works, how to perform in an emergency, etc. Ground school is the classroom training that you will be studying while preparing your flight lessons. After I purchased the Ground School I immediately drove home to open the box and get started.
I am currently enrolled in the Professional Pilot Program which comes with 2 Polo Shirts, a log in code for the webpage, a nifty compass for charts, Cessna 172 manuals, and an awesome leather binder. After setting up my online account with Cessnaflighttraining.com I started the ground school.
The training is split into 2 Stages with 5 Lessons each and 1 Final Practical Test stage. Each lesson takes from 2-4 hours depending how fast you learn.
After I take the practice ground school tests for each section I will go over it with my instructor and put what I learn to the test. I am excited and ready to start flying and cannot wait to get into the air!
Any Questions? Feel free to message me and Fly Safe!
Chris E
Monday, February 17, 2014
Introductory Flight
2 Years ago my sister purchased an introductory flight with Justice Aviation out of Van Nuys Airport in CA. This flight was what ultimately convinced me to become a pilot and to want to make flying a career. My Dad and I planned our flight for 10am on Monday Morning. I was nervous for two reasons 1) I have never flown in a small plane before and 2) What if he asked me to sit in the front seat?
We showed up to Justice Aviation at around 9:30 and met John our "instructor" for the day. He told us that our flight was going to be around 1 hour and we will fly out over the ocean and back two times once for me to sit in the Pilot seat and once for my dad at which my dad told him that I could fly the whole time which was awesome.
John gave me a headset and my dad decided to use his old headset for the flight and we headed toward the Cessna 172. My first thought was that we were going to sit back and enjoy the flight but John had me help him the whole time. He handed me a check list and our first priority was to perform a Pre-Flight Checklist which consists of making sure that the plane is good to fly. ( I will make a deatiled checklist for you all to read up on ). Once the Pre-Flight was done John had my dad sit in the back seat and I sit in the PIC (Pilot in Command) chair which made me nervous. We then performed a starting checklist which consists of priming the engine and making sure all gauges worked and were correct. At this point my nerves were gone and I was having the time of my life and we were not even in the air yet!
John handled all radio communications but as we taxi to the runway he showed me how to use my feet instead of hands to drive and I taxi all the way to the runway. At first I was all over the taxiway but after a minute or so I learned that small movements are the best way to control the plane. We received the go ahead to take off and John said " hold onto the Yoke and help me takeoff " I have never flown a plane let alone been in a small plane and he already was letting me help takeoff! It was an amazing feeling and I will never forget that first takeoff.
We were able to fly over Santa Monica and my work in Malibu which was awesome. The view from above the mountains or city is the most amazing view and you always notice something new. Over the ocean John let me control the plane and I flew for a while (with help). We practiced Ascents and Descents and Turns which were fun. As we turned to land the plane John said " I want you to hold onto the controls with me during landing because you have been doing a great job" which made me happy and really helped solidify wanting to fly.
After landing John explained to me the program they offered and I went home knowing that becoming a pilot is what I want to do.
An introductory lesson is a great way to get a feel for flying or a school. It only costs around $100 and for me helped me decide I wanted to fly. Call your local Flight school to see if they offer an introductory flight and make sure you take pictures!!!
Fly Safe
Chris E
We showed up to Justice Aviation at around 9:30 and met John our "instructor" for the day. He told us that our flight was going to be around 1 hour and we will fly out over the ocean and back two times once for me to sit in the Pilot seat and once for my dad at which my dad told him that I could fly the whole time which was awesome.
John gave me a headset and my dad decided to use his old headset for the flight and we headed toward the Cessna 172. My first thought was that we were going to sit back and enjoy the flight but John had me help him the whole time. He handed me a check list and our first priority was to perform a Pre-Flight Checklist which consists of making sure that the plane is good to fly. ( I will make a deatiled checklist for you all to read up on ). Once the Pre-Flight was done John had my dad sit in the back seat and I sit in the PIC (Pilot in Command) chair which made me nervous. We then performed a starting checklist which consists of priming the engine and making sure all gauges worked and were correct. At this point my nerves were gone and I was having the time of my life and we were not even in the air yet!
John handled all radio communications but as we taxi to the runway he showed me how to use my feet instead of hands to drive and I taxi all the way to the runway. At first I was all over the taxiway but after a minute or so I learned that small movements are the best way to control the plane. We received the go ahead to take off and John said " hold onto the Yoke and help me takeoff " I have never flown a plane let alone been in a small plane and he already was letting me help takeoff! It was an amazing feeling and I will never forget that first takeoff.
We were able to fly over Santa Monica and my work in Malibu which was awesome. The view from above the mountains or city is the most amazing view and you always notice something new. Over the ocean John let me control the plane and I flew for a while (with help). We practiced Ascents and Descents and Turns which were fun. As we turned to land the plane John said " I want you to hold onto the controls with me during landing because you have been doing a great job" which made me happy and really helped solidify wanting to fly.
After landing John explained to me the program they offered and I went home knowing that becoming a pilot is what I want to do.
An introductory lesson is a great way to get a feel for flying or a school. It only costs around $100 and for me helped me decide I wanted to fly. Call your local Flight school to see if they offer an introductory flight and make sure you take pictures!!!
Fly Safe
Chris E
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)