Jim's Pilot Log

January 6 training

2008-01-08T01:23:00.000Z

061715Z

Weather Conditions: Wind calm,

look at this report for KASH:

Sky conditions overcast layer at 7000
Temperature 37.9 F (3.3 C)
Dew Point 19.0 F (-7.2 C)
Relative Humidity 46%
Pressure (altimeter) 30.17 in. Hg (1021 hPa)
ob KASH 060351Z AUTO 00000KT 10SM OVC055 03/M07 A3017 RMK AO2 T00331072 SLP220

I really need to get my own headset. My instructor has been kind enough to lend me his older David Clark, these are very expensive so I am grateful to be able to borrow one (they cost more than the flight lesson!!) Even the used ones on ebay are $$, probably best to buy one near the end of the school year, maybe some pilots will be getting new ones or quitting and selling theirs...

This headset had great speakers, and noise reduction, but my microphone was so weak it could hardly pick up my voice, not cool when you are trying to get the attention of the person in the control tower.

Nashua Tower, Skyhawk 19833 ready for takeoff runway 32 westbound

Skyhawk 19833, Nashua Tower runway 32 clear for takoff westbound approved, traffic in from brookline left downwind is a Cessna,

cleared for takeoff 833

My instructor frequently gives me lots of important pieces of information throughout the lesson:

noise abatement is in effect for this particular airport (**Important to check on this for other airports**)

so we climb to 1000 before making any turns

I took my first left turn since my last lesson 9 months ago. With a baby on the way life changes very quickly. I probably won't take another lesson for a while but that will just give me a chance to catch up on all the extra reading, calculations, exam questions, rules of thumb, and practice touch and goes on MS flight simulator. I think of it as time I can really use to my advantage and study up on what I learned in my last lesson and prepare for what I want to practice next.

btw, next lesson I want to practice climbing and descending turns...

Remember to keep the proper picture in mind!! The "Picture" my instructor keeps talking about is very important in learning to fly properly (with you head actually looking outside the windows)

(keep the proper "picture" in mind, this helps you control the airplane)

on takeoff, keep in center of runway, feel and balance using balanced rudder pressure from one foot and the other (don't stomp on them or you'll make you back seat passenger sick)

Anticipate left turn tendency!

on takoff, head for the tree tops (or just above them - at full rpm - as long as they are far away!)

2400 RPM for the older Skyhawk is cruise speed, at this speed 4 fingers of horizon above the dash board is level (not descending or climbing)

in the beginning don't exceed about 15 degree bank angle - otherwise you need to compensate with lots of back pressure, make it a bit more complex. Slow turns are nice at this point in my training, Id rather leave steep turns for later in my lessons anyway.

the three A's (I forgot the last 'a') Anticipate what she (the plane) is going to do, Action, take action, and I forgot the third A, I'll need to get this on the next training. I don't like taking notes while training because it prevents me for giving my full attention to the instructor. I take notes after, but sometimes forget some items (hopefully not the important items).

One important rule - do them in this order --> aviate, navigate, communicate (a distant third)

aviate - fly the plane, look out of the window, identify any traffic far away, keep flight coordinated

navigate - look out the window, identify where you are and where you are heading and for how long

communicate, establish radio communications when expected, tell who you are calling, who you are, where are you, what are your intentions

I like how my instructor combines lessons on flight principals along with navigation etc, on this lesson we again discussed Lake Potanapo, Silver Lake, Mt Wachusset off to the SW, Fitchburg, FT Devan and their relationship to Nashua Airport. I should elaborate with some detailed analysis:

It is very important in navigation to identify the most visible items and know their relation to each other and the airport you are looking for.

The yellow line above is approx 5NM from Nashua Airport, that means you need to establish 2 way communications before entering their airspace, else you could have trouble on your hands. Failure to establish 2 way communications is a violation of FAA regulations.

More to come on Part II of this lesson. Its a good one.

Preview:

June 9 Ground School - Emergency Procedures

2007-07-28T22:27:00.000Z

Emergency Procedures, very important concepts

The ABC's of engine failure-

Airspeed 65-70 kias (full gross weight)
Best Landing area - field, road
Checklist items (if time):

carb heat
note wind direction and veolcity
fuel selector/gauges
mixture-fullrich
prime and lock
magnetos
master switch on
try to restart

Failure to Restart:
seatbelts
Best glide
7700 xpndr
declare emergency, mayday mayday mayday
Fuel Selector off
mixture full lean
master and mags off
unlatch doors
fly the plane!

On Takeoff
throttle idle
apply brakes
retract flaps
fuel selector
mixture full lean
master and mags off

turn no more than 60 degrees on each side

There are really only two rules of flying

1. Keep in under control
2. Don't hit anything

The greatest cause of fatalities in general aviation is continued VFR flying into worse weather conditions.

May 2 Ground School - Weight and Balance

2007-05-02T05:55:00.000Z

Weight and Balance Example:

front passenger (180 pounds) departs. A rear passenger (204 pounds) moves to the front passenger position. What effect does this have on the CG if the airplane weighed 2,690 pounds and the MOM/100 was 2,260 just prior to the passenger transfer?

solve for total w * arm = Moment
2690 * x = Moment 2260
2260/2690
x=84.1
look up pass ARMS in chart
180 lbs in front = 153
204 in rear = 172
204 now in front = 244
orig Moment 2260 - departing front pass 153 - in rear pass 244 + now in front 172 = 2036.4
weight 2690 - 180 less the departing pass1 now
so 2036/2510= 81.1
orig arm is 84
so since you count arm from rear to front
84 moves closer to 81 that is a 3 inch increase forward

May 1 Ground School - Study Information

2007-05-01T06:09:00.000Z

I'm calling this "ground school" ; its a review of various training materials. "Cleared for Takeoff" and other King School publications are well written and provide a good basis of information however, there are many other sources of information a pilot needs to familiarize themselves with in order to be a well educated pilot.

AIM "Aeronautical Information Manual"

providea a wealth of detailed information - all relevant to the things you want to know a pilot in command.

"Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge"

I wish the information was presented different (distributed as several PDF files)

AOPA Student Pilot site

probably one of the best internet resources

April 28 Training

2007-04-28T06:56:00.000Z

281315Z

Weather Conditions: Wind 140 at 7 clear 20/14

weather explanation -- the Federal Aviation Regulations (FAR) require the pilot in command to know how to interpret various weather feeds, TAF - terminal aerodrome forecast, METAR - current weather, and winds aloft charts to name a few. The following sample will help me understand weather better.

look at this report from KASH:

KASH

191851Z 33003KT 2 1/2SM -RA BR BKN006 BKN009 OVC016 12/11 A2988 RMK AO2 T01160105 P0001 SLP120

in the first line KASH is the airport ident

this report was taken on May 19th - represented by the 19

at 1851 Zulu (UTC time) winds are (winds given as true not magnetic) 330 at 03kts, visibility is 2 and 1/2 statute miles, rain, a broken layer of clouds at 6000 ft, another broken layer at 9000, an overcast layer at 16,000 (flight level 160) Temp is 12C/ dewpoint is 11C [Pay attention to temp dew point as a trend - if they are getting closer expect cloud formation] Altimeter (Barometric pressure- another important one) is 29.88, Remarks (this part always gives me trouble) ASOS - AO, 02 - means it has a precip discriminator, Temp /dew point (in tenths) 011.60 and 10.5, then I believe this (P) represents precip then SLP - sea level pressure 1200.0

Aircraft:

ASEL

N19883 This is a well-maintained Cessna 172 very well tuned for flight, compared to my last flight, this one made it easier to hold a steady bearing

First Lesson

2007-04-07T16:15:00.000Z

April
071315Z

Weather Conditions:wind 290 at 4perfect vfr
wind aloftFT 3000 6000 9000 12000 18000 24000 30000 34000 39000BOS 2108 2423-12 2627-17 2537-21 2245-32 2267-42 218747 227745 226244
clouds at 6000 ft in 1 hour

Aircraft:
ASEL C172
N65719 needed R rudder almost the entire time. Actually really annoying, next time I'll request the N2146Z - a Cessna 172SP - fuel injected engine, engine sounded better - left turning tendency was reduced - more modern - (engine exhaust temp gage too)

Learned:
1. Use enough R rudder - on takeoff
2. If you reduce rpm by 3000 you will descend 500 fpm without changing attitude - good tip to use if you have enough airspeed.
3. Strait and level flight - I did a good job holding level at a certain altitude, need some work on holding this altitude during a turn - keep visual picture outside in mind when doing these turns)
4. Use TRIM - used trim for the first time during my climb, if you find that you need to hold a lot of force to keep the attitude you want, use trim so you don't need to hold the control wheel so much. - (wheel down to pitch up)
5. Level off and use trim again to hold attitude and altitude.
6. Turns, pick a point outside and gentle bank with rudder as necessary to head toward that object. Keep heading toward that object.
7. ** two fingers on control wheel

Comments: Wind was light when we first took off, I remember it getting a bit stronger at the end of the lesson, not much though. Next time I'll track conditions at the end as well. Few bumps with the wind during flight, no big deal though. Had to wait a long time to take off, 5 in front of us and several in the pattern waiting to land including the experimental Jet (that's how they identified talking to Hanscom Tower-KBED) - looked a bit like an F16 with an elongated nose). The flight instructor was OK, but I need to find a CFI closer to my home location, probably will be KASH next time)