Today was another picture perfect Fall day here in central Virginia ... seventy degree weather with barely a cloud in the sky. Flying was absolutely spectacular. It's become the ideal Sunday activity for me. The worst part about it ... is when it's time to land.
Regan walked me through some of the more nitty gritty aspects of being a pilot, namely the pre-flight check routines. It's both reassuring as well as impressive the level of logic and detail that has obviously gone into these checklists over the years. They're such complicated machines and the risks are clearly much higher when you're up several thousand feet in the air. Going through the list was a bit like stepping back through time for me, thinking of all the would be pilots who have gone through this before me and all those who have contributed to the list. The plane we flew today was another Cessna 172, this one made in 1973. She had just been washed and was beaming sparkly white as we walked around her. The picture, sadly, doesn't do her justice. I forgot to save the close up original so I snuck one from outside the runway as I walked to my car.
Our main pre flight focus today was the plane's exterior and things related. You want to be very sure that nothing is broken or cracked, no rivets missing, and all the control surfaces properly attached and moving smoothly, etc... Of course there's more to it than that. I will be getting my very own pilot "kit" soon which will have it all spelled out in great detail ... as well as my very own headset!
Flight was about practicing some of what I learned last time (ie., turning) combined with climbing and descending. Turning was more about picking headings and setting landmarks than before. As I'm discovering, it's not simply a matter of moving the stick, but rather a coordinated sequence of events, that much like a dancer learning new steps must be repeated slowly and methodically until they become more second nature. So, for example, a climb is executed by first altering pitch (ie., pointing the nose upward), applying full power to the engine then adjusting pitch so that your airspeed is between 80-90mph for the most efficient climb. You wouldn't intuitively think of pitch angle as controlling velocity. A descent involves first turning on the carburetor heater (so it doesn't freeze), then reducing engine power, not necessarily pushing down on the yoke. I'm starting to notice more and more the unexpected, cross-linked physical events that happen in 3D space to a fllying machine. Both of these maneuvers also have "finishing moves" that you implement to regain level flight and original airspeed. It's awesome.
Like many new pilots, I began to get into the bad habit of staring more at the instruments than looking out the window. Trying to keep a level turn, maintain rate of climb, etc ... can be tricky to coordinate. The dials help somewhat but as Regan pointed out it's much more fun to look outside. I can after all get the former from any number of software packages. Balancing my eye time between the two (about a 1:4 ratio) will be my goal for the coming weeks. I love the idea of coordinated balance that seems to permeate all aspects of flying. So far so good. I'll leave you with some plane porn from the runway and hangar adjacent to the flight school.
This is a smaller plane used to get a sport pilot license. It's a cheaper license but only allows you to fly this small class of aircraft. Cute little thing.
This next one, the Rockwell Commander, falls more to the other end of the spectrum. It's much more "plane" than the others, has a larger engine, retractable landing gear, a three blade prop, and is generally a larger and a more comfortable aircraft. The flight center rents it for $165 an hour. You can bet I'll be getting my hands on the controls as soon as I can. In many ways it's even more plane than my previous object of lust, the Cirrrus SR22. Sadly, this picture doesn't even come close.
While taxiing from landing we passed one of these, a Piaggio P180 Avanti II. As we say online ... oh em gee. I didn't get to snap a photo but found one easily online. It's an eye tearingly beautiful plane, and apparetnly the fastest prop plane manufactured today (cruise speed of 400mph). I could swear you can feel the Italian design influence eminating from every line. It even has it's own Wikipedia entry.
I wasn't able to get the names of the following aircraft, but they're all cool to me. Planes sometimes strike me as diverse bird species.
I can start to imagine how Darwin felt when he first hit the Galapagos.
Regan walked me through some of the more nitty gritty aspects of being a pilot, namely the pre-flight check routines. It's both reassuring as well as impressive the level of logic and detail that has obviously gone into these checklists over the years. They're such complicated machines and the risks are clearly much higher when you're up several thousand feet in the air. Going through the list was a bit like stepping back through time for me, thinking of all the would be pilots who have gone through this before me and all those who have contributed to the list. The plane we flew today was another Cessna 172, this one made in 1973. She had just been washed and was beaming sparkly white as we walked around her. The picture, sadly, doesn't do her justice. I forgot to save the close up original so I snuck one from outside the runway as I walked to my car.
Our main pre flight focus today was the plane's exterior and things related. You want to be very sure that nothing is broken or cracked, no rivets missing, and all the control surfaces properly attached and moving smoothly, etc... Of course there's more to it than that. I will be getting my very own pilot "kit" soon which will have it all spelled out in great detail ... as well as my very own headset!
Flight was about practicing some of what I learned last time (ie., turning) combined with climbing and descending. Turning was more about picking headings and setting landmarks than before. As I'm discovering, it's not simply a matter of moving the stick, but rather a coordinated sequence of events, that much like a dancer learning new steps must be repeated slowly and methodically until they become more second nature. So, for example, a climb is executed by first altering pitch (ie., pointing the nose upward), applying full power to the engine then adjusting pitch so that your airspeed is between 80-90mph for the most efficient climb. You wouldn't intuitively think of pitch angle as controlling velocity. A descent involves first turning on the carburetor heater (so it doesn't freeze), then reducing engine power, not necessarily pushing down on the yoke. I'm starting to notice more and more the unexpected, cross-linked physical events that happen in 3D space to a fllying machine. Both of these maneuvers also have "finishing moves" that you implement to regain level flight and original airspeed. It's awesome.
Like many new pilots, I began to get into the bad habit of staring more at the instruments than looking out the window. Trying to keep a level turn, maintain rate of climb, etc ... can be tricky to coordinate. The dials help somewhat but as Regan pointed out it's much more fun to look outside. I can after all get the former from any number of software packages. Balancing my eye time between the two (about a 1:4 ratio) will be my goal for the coming weeks. I love the idea of coordinated balance that seems to permeate all aspects of flying. So far so good. I'll leave you with some plane porn from the runway and hangar adjacent to the flight school.
This is a smaller plane used to get a sport pilot license. It's a cheaper license but only allows you to fly this small class of aircraft. Cute little thing.
This next one, the Rockwell Commander, falls more to the other end of the spectrum. It's much more "plane" than the others, has a larger engine, retractable landing gear, a three blade prop, and is generally a larger and a more comfortable aircraft. The flight center rents it for $165 an hour. You can bet I'll be getting my hands on the controls as soon as I can. In many ways it's even more plane than my previous object of lust, the Cirrrus SR22. Sadly, this picture doesn't even come close.
While taxiing from landing we passed one of these, a Piaggio P180 Avanti II. As we say online ... oh em gee. I didn't get to snap a photo but found one easily online. It's an eye tearingly beautiful plane, and apparetnly the fastest prop plane manufactured today (cruise speed of 400mph). I could swear you can feel the Italian design influence eminating from every line. It even has it's own Wikipedia entry.
I wasn't able to get the names of the following aircraft, but they're all cool to me. Planes sometimes strike me as diverse bird species.
I can start to imagine how Darwin felt when he first hit the Galapagos.
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