It was a bit of a late night yesterday which didn't leave me in the best physical shape to fly this afternoon. But it's been three weeks since I last flew. Given that smacking into a car didn't stop me from flying for the first time months ago, I figured a mild hangover shouldn't today. A word to the wise though, the g forces of flying don't mix well with hangovers. They can in fact make a very ugly cocktail.
Despite my sub par physical condition, walking out onto the tarmac to go and inspect my plane was still a wonderful experience. I enjoy being alone with the other aircraft. The wind was kicking up more than usual. But it still felt so incredibly calm, quiet and clear. The crisp chill air created an acoustic and physical stillness as the sun's rays pierced through the cold undisturbed, arriving straight and true to their final destination after eight long minutes in space. The planes sat quietly waiting soaking up the sun.
One of my favorites, the Avanti, was parked out front. I've taken photos of this plane before, but it would take hundreds of pictures and hours of film to even come close to presenting the feel of how this plane looks. To me, this machine could easily be taken directly out of (or put directly into) a Science Fiction novel. But it's here right now. So many things in our world are human dreams come true.
My preflight routine went well. That's good as it's been a while so I'm glad to see I've internalized what needs to be done. I actually enjoy inspecting the plane. It gives me a chance to get excited about the fact that I'm about to go fly, an appetizer of sorts. But this time of year the wind will quickly numb your ears and remind you to keep moving if you start taking too long.
I spoke for the first time on the radio today. I know, big deal. I feel like a little kid writing about it like this. But it's a thing. Speaking on the radio is very structured and sounds only semi intelligible to the non initiate. It's not a chat room. I would have thought that all my public speaking experience (and sexy voice) would have made it a no brainer. Well, it wasn't exactly hard, but the opposite seems true. It's so easy you feel like a complete idiot for screwing it up. I mean ... I just screwed up ... talking! I actually found myself a bit nervous. One of my flight videos comments on how people get more apprehensive about talking on the radio in the early stages than landing the plane. Thankfully, I didn't audibly fumble the ball. "Charlottesville tower, this is Cessna 13508 with information x-ray in front of the flight school, request permission to taxi." I did, however, freeze up when the tower told me I could. Thankfully, Regan bailed me out.
Flying was fantastic. We practiced turning maneuvers. Specifically, turning around a fixed point and "s turns." I took some time to finally get my seat positioned properly with respect to the yoke and most importantly the pedals. I've had some trouble in the past maintaining right rudder pressure and letting the plane skid a bit. Not today. Being able to keep my heel on the floor made it very easy to set rudder pressure with my feet that wasn't fatiguing. Making things easier on my feet allows the rest of my brain to focus on the remaining two axes of control. All in all a very nice bang for the buck.
It was quite windy and bouncy today. That combined with my modest hangover kept my eyes very much more outside the plane. Looking inside allows your stomach to "think" too much. Well, I've been trying to focus on keeping my eyes outside the plane more anyhow. Perhaps since it's been a while since I flew last, I was able to focus more on that and not be overly concerned with some specific aspect of flying I covered last time. While it is important to check gauges, I find I fly much better when I am able to look outside and "fly."
A fixed radius turn is precisely that. You fly in a circle. But in windy conditions you have to bank at different angles in order to keep your distance constant. Today when flying into the wind air speed showed about 130mph while ground speed was closer to 80mph. That's some decent wind. Regardless, I was able to turn like a champ if I say so myself. Keeping my eyes looking around and really getting a sense for where I was in 3d space made it both fun and more precise. The bumps and turbulence pass. "S turns" are similar, except you carve out 180 degree turns around a line. The same rules basically apply but you really have to get your angles right or you'll still be turning once you fly over your line instead of being flat and level. Tons of fun. I look forward to picking it all back up next week. I can see where flying solo and practicing this stuff on my own is going to be an incredible experience.
The best way I can describe flying today is by relating it to music, specifically when you begin to finally master a song on an instrument. Initially, you rely on the sheet music and plod along getting the basic gist. Then, over time you become more familiar with the notes and if you're lucky start to identify with the emotional content underneath. Eventually you start to express some of this emotion in subtle gestures. I don't have much experience with learning dances, only some. But the aspect of movement comes very much into play here. The thing that makes all of this so beautiful to me is the synergy. It's more than just moving the controls so that the plane will fly the way I want it. As I carve out turns in the sky and maneuver through the air along a trajectory I'm envisioning in my head, something else happens. I'm learning in some sense, a new mode of being, a new mode of expression, a new language. It's nice finally being able to speak a few words even if my vocabulary and pronunciation are still limited.
So, you may be asking, what was "the bad?" Sadly, my flight instructor, Regan, is moving on to brighter and greener pastures. Bummer for me. Good for him. He's been an excellent teacher and I can only hope my next one is half as good. Learning to fly is still, from my perspective, very much like learning a craft or trade skill must have been in ancient times. Wisdom is imparted from human to human. The person doing the imparting makes a big difference to both the person receiving and the wisdom that makes it through all the dense matter in between. Ironic that such a high tech industry still relies so fundamentally on very old, deeply human traditions.
So I'll leave you with a short video of Regan demonstrating part of an s turn. Not exactly the same kind of footage you might recall from Top Gun but it does give you some feel for what it's like being in a small plane.
Despite my sub par physical condition, walking out onto the tarmac to go and inspect my plane was still a wonderful experience. I enjoy being alone with the other aircraft. The wind was kicking up more than usual. But it still felt so incredibly calm, quiet and clear. The crisp chill air created an acoustic and physical stillness as the sun's rays pierced through the cold undisturbed, arriving straight and true to their final destination after eight long minutes in space. The planes sat quietly waiting soaking up the sun.
One of my favorites, the Avanti, was parked out front. I've taken photos of this plane before, but it would take hundreds of pictures and hours of film to even come close to presenting the feel of how this plane looks. To me, this machine could easily be taken directly out of (or put directly into) a Science Fiction novel. But it's here right now. So many things in our world are human dreams come true.
My preflight routine went well. That's good as it's been a while so I'm glad to see I've internalized what needs to be done. I actually enjoy inspecting the plane. It gives me a chance to get excited about the fact that I'm about to go fly, an appetizer of sorts. But this time of year the wind will quickly numb your ears and remind you to keep moving if you start taking too long.
I spoke for the first time on the radio today. I know, big deal. I feel like a little kid writing about it like this. But it's a thing. Speaking on the radio is very structured and sounds only semi intelligible to the non initiate. It's not a chat room. I would have thought that all my public speaking experience (and sexy voice) would have made it a no brainer. Well, it wasn't exactly hard, but the opposite seems true. It's so easy you feel like a complete idiot for screwing it up. I mean ... I just screwed up ... talking! I actually found myself a bit nervous. One of my flight videos comments on how people get more apprehensive about talking on the radio in the early stages than landing the plane. Thankfully, I didn't audibly fumble the ball. "Charlottesville tower, this is Cessna 13508 with information x-ray in front of the flight school, request permission to taxi." I did, however, freeze up when the tower told me I could. Thankfully, Regan bailed me out.
Flying was fantastic. We practiced turning maneuvers. Specifically, turning around a fixed point and "s turns." I took some time to finally get my seat positioned properly with respect to the yoke and most importantly the pedals. I've had some trouble in the past maintaining right rudder pressure and letting the plane skid a bit. Not today. Being able to keep my heel on the floor made it very easy to set rudder pressure with my feet that wasn't fatiguing. Making things easier on my feet allows the rest of my brain to focus on the remaining two axes of control. All in all a very nice bang for the buck.
It was quite windy and bouncy today. That combined with my modest hangover kept my eyes very much more outside the plane. Looking inside allows your stomach to "think" too much. Well, I've been trying to focus on keeping my eyes outside the plane more anyhow. Perhaps since it's been a while since I flew last, I was able to focus more on that and not be overly concerned with some specific aspect of flying I covered last time. While it is important to check gauges, I find I fly much better when I am able to look outside and "fly."
A fixed radius turn is precisely that. You fly in a circle. But in windy conditions you have to bank at different angles in order to keep your distance constant. Today when flying into the wind air speed showed about 130mph while ground speed was closer to 80mph. That's some decent wind. Regardless, I was able to turn like a champ if I say so myself. Keeping my eyes looking around and really getting a sense for where I was in 3d space made it both fun and more precise. The bumps and turbulence pass. "S turns" are similar, except you carve out 180 degree turns around a line. The same rules basically apply but you really have to get your angles right or you'll still be turning once you fly over your line instead of being flat and level. Tons of fun. I look forward to picking it all back up next week. I can see where flying solo and practicing this stuff on my own is going to be an incredible experience.
The best way I can describe flying today is by relating it to music, specifically when you begin to finally master a song on an instrument. Initially, you rely on the sheet music and plod along getting the basic gist. Then, over time you become more familiar with the notes and if you're lucky start to identify with the emotional content underneath. Eventually you start to express some of this emotion in subtle gestures. I don't have much experience with learning dances, only some. But the aspect of movement comes very much into play here. The thing that makes all of this so beautiful to me is the synergy. It's more than just moving the controls so that the plane will fly the way I want it. As I carve out turns in the sky and maneuver through the air along a trajectory I'm envisioning in my head, something else happens. I'm learning in some sense, a new mode of being, a new mode of expression, a new language. It's nice finally being able to speak a few words even if my vocabulary and pronunciation are still limited.
So, you may be asking, what was "the bad?" Sadly, my flight instructor, Regan, is moving on to brighter and greener pastures. Bummer for me. Good for him. He's been an excellent teacher and I can only hope my next one is half as good. Learning to fly is still, from my perspective, very much like learning a craft or trade skill must have been in ancient times. Wisdom is imparted from human to human. The person doing the imparting makes a big difference to both the person receiving and the wisdom that makes it through all the dense matter in between. Ironic that such a high tech industry still relies so fundamentally on very old, deeply human traditions.
So I'll leave you with a short video of Regan demonstrating part of an s turn. Not exactly the same kind of footage you might recall from Top Gun but it does give you some feel for what it's like being in a small plane.
No comments:
Post a Comment