Air Traffic Control

Hey Everyone, Long time no see!

I've done two more flight lessons now, all involving ATC or Air Traffic Control work.

On 10/19/08 I flew up to Janesville with JP and got my first taste of communicating with Air Traffic Control. I was pretty nervous and stumbled on my words a lot but I suppose that's better than not being able to talk at all! We did A touch and go and then a Full stop landing to work on Communicating with Ground Control as well. I made a few mistakes that day. I accidentally called Janesville Ground "Janesville Tower" and I could't quite understand what He said when I was cleared for Take-Off, so I had to have him say it again.

On 11/1/08 we flew to Rockford and got to deal with an Approach Controller as well. This time around was a WHOLE lot easier. I was talking with the Appr. Controller without a problem, and the tower was the same way, I'm not sure what was so different about it. I guess I just had a fear of talking to someone on the radio rather than the General Traffic. Glad to know I got over that nice and quickly. We did 2 Touch and goes and 1 full stop landing and then headed back to Poplar Grove where my landing was... well..... we won't go into that.

Next time I go up I might solo at Janesville :)

As of 11/1/08 I have a total of 15.5 hours of flight time Dual and still 0.5 PIC. Total number of landings to date - 46

See ya next time!
Taylor

FIRST SOLO!

Hey Everybody! Yesterday was the "BIG" day. I got to do my very first solo! I was pretty excited. I first went up with JP to practice stalls again one more time in case it happened in the pattern and then we practiced a few landings.

After that we were taxiing back to Runway 30 to do another take-off and JP said, "I want you to do three full-stop landings" He then opened the door, hopped out, said Have fun and see you when you get home.

Then I was all alone, I turned around and called the take-off on the unicom and took to the skies with just myself and the plane. What a difference! The plane is lighter and handles a lot differently. It climbs quicker, turns quicker, all that stuff. My first landing was a little wobbly and kinda hard. My second landing was a tiny bit better, although it was more of a three-point then it was a flare. My third landing was probably the best, I could have flared a bit higher, but hey, to late now right?

I taxied back to the parking apron and got out where I got my solo certificate and a T-Shirt. It was a great day, No winds, No clouds, I'm glad it worked out in my favor. However guess what? What a day to forget the camera right?! Oh well, there will be other chances.

Thanks Guys!

As of 10/4/08 I have a total of 13.2 Dual hours and 0.5 PIC (Pilot In Command) hours.

My new total number of landings is 39.

Till next time-
Taylor

Under The Hood

Hey everybody, barely managed to go flying today! It was raining pretty good but it held off just long enough for me to get up there! Today we practiced flying in "IFR" conditions. I put on a mask that restricted my view and I had to fly solely of watching the instruments. It was pretty fun and really different.

We practiced how easy it is to get disoriented when you can't see outside the airplane. We did a 360 degree turn in two minutes and by that time my body felt like we were flying straight and level. When J-P leveled the wings for real it felt like we were corkscrewing to the left. After we practiced more turns and a climb or two we headed back to the airport.

Before we landed we went up as high as we could to do our own little weather report. We climbed right up to the ceiling and recorded how high up it was and what the visibility was. We entered the pattern at 1800 feet and made for the approach. I took over on base after I took the mask off and made the turn to final and called it on the unicom. J-P never touched the yoke after that. I made what I think is probably my best landing to date. (Un-Assisted that is).

As of 8/23/08 I have a total of 10.9 hours logged and a total of 27 landings.

Till next time-
Taylor

Pattern Work

Back again! Just got done flying this morning. This time we worked in the pattern again. We reviewed how to do a normal approach, touch 'n' go's and slips. First Landing was really Fast and I ballooned half way down the runway. Second time around, it was still fast, but better than the first time. Third time around it was a perfect approach except that the flare was not very high and I kind of did a 3-Point landing. Oops.

Next we did go-arounds. Pretty basic, Not much to it. We did one with a normal approach and one while doing a forward slip. Slips are pretty fun. We kept it at pattern altitude until we turned final and then we jammed that left rudder and put in some right aileron. Presto, a very nice landing! Second slip was pretty good, made a nice approach and then we did a go-around. Today was a fun lesson, landings are the best part of flying!

Next Saturday I'm heading back up there and we are going to head over to do some Air Traffic Control work! That's gonna be fun!

As of 8/13/08 I have a total of 9.9 hours logged and a total of 26 landings.

See ya next time-
Taylor

Slips

Hey everyone, Did some more flying today, this time we reviewed some maneuvers that we practiced a long time ago. We went over slow flight and did 3 stalls. 2 of them while turning. Glad I didn't get sick this time though!

Afterwards we found some long roads and pretended to use them as runways - We would line ourselves up at about 3,000 feet and enter the "Slip" maneuver. Basically, depending on the wind, we apply full rudder into the wind and then opposite aileron to keep us tracking straight forward. What the slip does is make you lose lots of altitude in a very short amount of time. After about 15-20 seconds we were all the way down to about 2,000 feet.

Then we started to head back to the airport. (I actually knew where it was!!) We got there and practiced the Slip maneuver and actually landed it this time. The first one was quite good and had a very smooth landing, I was pretty proud of myself! The second one we came in and almost had to do a go-around because somebody pulled out onto the runway while we were on final! Luckily he got up in time for us to land. The landing was a bit harder but nevertheless down in one piece!

So that's all for now! My next flight lesson is next Wednesday.

As of 8/6/08 i have a total of 8.9 hours logged and a total of 19 landings.

See ya next time-
Taylor

More Landings

Hi everyone, well, I did not get to solo on July 19th because i went to Vegas! However when I returned I got right back up there. This time we practiced crosswind landings again, except we did them a different way. So here I am checking the go-go-juice in the left wing. Once again I'm flying good 'ol 69042.


Soon after, we were off! My instructor did the first landing, and then I did 4 more after that. The first one was difficult because I'm not so fond of this style of a crosswind landing. However I managed to put it down in once piece! Here I am on short final to three-zero.


After that they were all pretty routine. All of them were put down in once piece. However when it comes to crosswind landings from now on, I think I'm going to stick to the crabbing technique! So much easier and it doesn't make you feel funny..


As of 7/24/08 I have a total of 7.8 hours logged and a total of 16 total landings.


Taylor

Crosswind Landings

Hi everyone. On Friday I got to practice landings for the first time. It’s actually a lot easier than some of you might think! It’s the crosswinds that are pretty difficult. Anyways, we did about four landings before the weather got really bad. My instructor did the first one to demonstrate how it was going to be done. After that it was all me! My first landing was a bit fast and a tad high but I still got it down in one piece! Hopefully all the landings are that easy..

My next one i flared to early and we fell about three feet and hit the ground rather hard. Ouch! Everyone makes mistakes. My instructor said it wasn’t all my fault, he told me to flare so I did. Then we did a go-around. We started approaching the runway and then he told me to go-around. That means to hit the throttle and climb back up, circle around and do it again.

The last landing was actually quite good! We had a good approach, slightly high but that’s easy to adjust. I floated right across the threshold and flared. I touched down just after the numbers.

It was a fun lesson and hope we get to do landings again very soon!

As of 6/13/08 I have a total of 6.8 hours logged.

Taylor