Commercial Training & Time-Building - The Slow Version

BLT flight…WTH? You say. Well think about it. Where is the Mayo clinic?

There hasn’t been much flying as the plane was down for maintenance and it has been so friggfin hot. What do you do to beat the heat: fly in the morning. So that was the plan!

I had the plane booked for a 7am departure which meant I had to be at the airport by 630am to take the plane out, preflight and close up the hangar. Ran through my preflight, found no problems, checked the wx one last time and off I went.

There was traffic out of MSP that would not allow my D-> KRST request. I had to fly directly south before being allowed to proceed on course. As I mentioned it was an early flight to beat the heat, but that also meant that there was not time to burn off the morning haze. I think vis. at 6000msl was about 5 miles. I was able to see the ground with no problems, but could not see a great distance straight out.

I did have a nice view of Canterbury Downs though:

The flight down was very smooth and I was glad to be able to settle in and enjoy the flight. I was a little worried with the haze at first but that didn’t last long. I could see the ground and RST was calling for visual approaches so no biggie.

I got to RST and was cleared to land 20 infront of an American RJ on an intersecting rw and there was a 182 and Citation landing behind. RW 20 is uphILL to say the least. B1, B, hold short of RW. I had to wait for the taxing RJ to pass by:

I collected my thoughts, arranged my papers, and was cleared for an intersection departure back to FCM. I took of uphill and could notice the difference trying to takeoff from an uphill RW. It wasn’t too bad, but I did notice the difference. Tracked the rw for a bit before turning towards home:

Started flying home and during my flight back:

I passed a very familiar sight:

This is the very field where our crew refs their second game of the opening week.

The flight back was pretty much uneventful except for the short roller coaster ride. I was at 4000 and Roch. departure had me climb to 5000 for traffic from MSP Approach at 4000. I passed traffic (unseen) and was cleared back down to 4000.

It was nice to stretch my air legs and get in a good cross country. I am learning new things every flight and hope to continue the trend.

Now the decision is where to fly to next week: Duluth, Alexandria, Red Wing…..Stay tuned to find out.

Ever since I joined the club, my boys have been asking, “Daddy, when can we come fly with you?” My standard answer to this point has been, “Soon guys, soon”. My layoff from flying has left a little more rust than desired so I had to do a little extra work on my x/w landings. Some of the delays were mine and some were not. One day it is too windy, the next day is beautiful and not windy enough. I could not win at times it seemed.

We got to the field and man were they excited. I preflighted the plane and pulled her out. Shut the hangar door load ‘em up and taxi out.

I had flown to KSTC before on my ppl solo x/c and once again with Dazzler, but I had never filed IFR and flown in ‘the system’. As a matter of fact I don’t recall actually flying in the system other than in a training environment. Although it was a short flight, it was nice to actually get on the horn with the various controllers and work my way up to KSTC.

The flight up was nothing out of the ordinary. It was cooler that it had been in the past few days, but there were still a few bumps here and there.

I was so worried about making it comfortable for my boys that I may have actually made it worse with P.I.T. - Pilot Induced Turbulence. On the flight up my youngest was in the back and every time I looked back he was staring out the side window???? We got to Saint Cloud and he says to me, “Dad, I counted 7 houses with pools, and one was REAL big by a golf course”. And now for the obligatory in front of plane photo:

I forgot to mention that as we entered the pattern at KSTC, a Mesaba, Saab was departing and climbing out, heading back to MSP. They thought it was SO COOL that we were landing and departing like one of the airliners do….HaHa

Anyway, we stopped, grabbed a quick snack, switched seats, and headed back to KFCM. The flight back was a little smoother. Again not bad, I think it bothered me more than them. On the way back they were amazed that we could see downtown Minneapolis from the West. Another thing the youngest said was, “Dad, I can’t believe it. There was lake, after lake, after lake”. Huh, who’d of thunk. All these lakes in Minnesota. HaHa!!!! Then not be outdone, my oldest chimes in, “Well Duh. What did think? The Land of 10,000 Lakes. Geez”! These kids I tell you, the Best of Friends, the Worst of Enemies!

Getting back into Flying Cloud was interesting to say the least. I checked in with tower over Lake Minneatonka, about 10 miles NW of the field. I was told to report 3NW for left base to 10l as usual and proceeded inbound. The controller must have been having a bad day. She could not spot me at first and pointed out traffic above me and due east. I spotted the traffic, but for some reason as I was about to enter for the left base, she had me break that off and head East???? I had already spotted the traffic but continued East until I started getting in VERY CLOSE to the field. I queried tower again and asked if it was o.k. to start my base and she came back with….”cleared to land 10R“. Hhmm. I responded back “….O.k., now cleared to land 10R” and very quickly she resonded back with “…..correction, cleared to land 10L, that’s Cessna…..cleared to land 10L”.

The landing was not too bad, just one little bump. But due to the fact that I got held off my base entry, I was slightly high. I could have got down fast, but I didn’t want to spook the kiddies seeing as we were almost done. As I was rolling out, I hear tower respond to the a/c that was cleared to land and in the pattern and pointed out to me earlier, “N2548M, this spacing is not going to work, GO AROUND!” I don’t know how close they were, but some student just paid a few extra $$$ in gas money as the tower got the sequencing a little too close for comfort.

I almost forgot this was my first flight with my new (new to me at least) DC-ENC headset. These things are amazing. I could not believe the difference in sound with the ENC. It was so quiet that I kept finding myself asking the boys if they could hear me.

We taxied back, called the gas truck, and pushed her back into the hangar. Being it is a ‘Club’ plane we don’t have line staff to clean it off when we get back. We got out the bug juice and scrubbed her down and home we went. I think the boys had as much fun cleaning the palne as they did flying. Now if they could just clean their room like that it would be great.

Overall, it was a great flight. It is so much fun sharing the joy of flying with my kids and seeing the excitement on their faces as we were blasting through the sky.

That’s all for now, and I can’t wait to get back up.

Well after numerous delays, some my own, some weather, and who knows what else…I am finally checked out at my flying club.

The thing that was holding me up was my cross-wind landings. I had done o.k. but the club is a little on the cautious side and rightfully so. Everyone owns the a/c so we all have a vested interest in keeping them operational.

I almost got wx’d out today as a storm rolled in just before my flight. I was watching it from my deck as it came by. I was worried as I live directly west of the airport about 15 minutes. Well the storm was fast moving so by the time my fligth was scheduled, the storm had alreayd passed the field. Whew !!!! Another disaster averted.

We departed KFCM and headed NW to KCFE as the field is uncontrolled and setup for a nice x/w practice day. The rw is 35/17 and the winds were 29015 (I think) with some gusting. It was about a 15-kt direct x/w so my flight was a workout indeed. The other thing I failed to mention was the rw is 50ft wide….yikes. Gusty winds, small field, never landed there before.

We did 5 or 6 landings and each one got a little better. After that I was getting whipped and it was time to head back to Flying Cloud. I checked the wx at KFCM and the winds were 29010+. I called up hte tower and told them I had the information and they told me to contact them 3nw for landing 28. Just as I got off the line, the CFI I was with asked if I felt like landing 36…and here I thought I was done. I thought well, I can ask they won’t give it to me. I contacted tower and asked for the x/w on 36. There was a short delay and the controller came back with, “Uh…enter the left downwind and we will try and work you in.” Then she said, “Cessna N#####, please verify you have hte ccurrent information” which I prompty told her, “Yes, I do.” I think she must have felt we were crazy landing on 36 when the wind was right down the 28’s. Oh well, we flew the pattern and the final landing of the day on 36, turned out to be my best.

Somewhere along the line, something clicked.

……(1.7 tach) .5 hours free

Well, it has been two weeks since I have flown and I figured I would have some more rust to knock off.

The plan for the day was to complete the BFR/IPC/Club checkout so I can finally be released to fly the clubs a/c on my own. Well not all of them but at least the 172’s. Anyhow…….

We filed IFR to KANE with a stop along the way for a full VOR-A approach into KMIC. We depart KFCM and off we go. I was a little worried today as it has been very hot (Mn standards) for the past week; 90+. Today was no exception. It was again above 90 and I figured I would be in for a bumpy ride. Much to my surprise and my delight it was very smooth other than my own PIT (pilot induced turbulence).

We do the full approach to KMIC and then depart for the VOR9 into KANE. The setup for this is rather quick as the airports are very close, but the good thing is both approaches are based off of the same nav-aid. Outstanding, one less thing to tune and identify. The VOR9 goes well and circle-to-land on 18 for some touch and go pattern work. This is where it starts to go a little sour. Takeoff’s, great. Pattern work, great. X/W landings not so great. Did 7 ldgs and 5 were o.k., 1 was close to going around, and the 2nd to last really sucked.

It’s coming back to the cross-controlled thing again. I have seen both methods for x/w landings and can’t really decide which is better, if any. I know the way my current CFI is demanding them so that is how I am attempting to get them done. I know the concept but I am still having trouble getting used to dipping one wing then counter-acting with opposite rudder to keep the nose aligned with the centerline.

The pattern work is done and we depart VFR back to KFCM, or so I thought. CFI asks me if I’d like to go back to KMIC for the GPS-A followed by the ILS10R back into KFCM. Seeing as how my instrument work was going great and coming together nicely and the fact that some of landings sucked, I figured I would tell him sure, let’s do them. I had to at least have one success today.

The GPS was really uneventful as these fancy machines really make it nice and easy. Next up the ILS10R, full stop. As luck would have the winds were fairly light and the airport was landing 18. I thought we would get another Circle-to-Land but with the night x/w they gave us straight in on 10R. Sweet, all the way down to mins we go. 200 ft agl and bam, the foggles go up and time to land. I flared slightly high but leveled it off and then greased in the landing. It was very nice to end on such a good note after the not so great patter work.

So in closing, my BFR (FR for those that need to be correct all the time) is complete. Also my IPC is complete; another great feeling. Word of advice, never let your currency expire. The extra effort required to regain it is not fun, for me at least. I am still not fully cut loose to fly on my own in the club planes because of the x/w ldg debacle, but my CFI has suggested and I agreed that one trip with another instructor may be able to break the impasse I appear to have reached. My current instructor said the instrument work was great, the VFR stuff was great; he just doesn’t feel sure about the x/w ldgs. So in the very near future I am going up with another instructor to knock out the x/w mess and if all goes well he will sign me off and away I will go. Free at last. Then it’s time to do a few x/c flights with the kids, Richard, my wife, and anyone else who would like to do so.

Got to go, time to get back to work.

Until next time!!!!

Today the wx looked like it may prohibit the flight but that it did not.

The plan was to go up shoot a few approaches, do some work under the hood, and then knock out some XW ldgs.

If it can be avoided, never let your currency lapse. I have learned the hard way as I now need an IPC. Anyhow, I called up FSS to file and they say btw, an airmet for turbulence was just issued below 8k. Great! Just what I did not need. I have not been under the hood for a long time and did need any extra help with turbulence. There would be plenty of PIT; Pilot Induced Turbulence…

I am beginning to think instructor likes Airlake as we headed there again….No problem. Not too far, has an ILS, and is uncontrolled…. So off we go.

As we are headed to Airlake we do some maneuvers under the hood to be sure I still can and get used to being under the hood. A few turns to hdgs., slow flight, and then as we are jsut below the cloud deck the instructor calls up approach and asks for higher so we can et some actual….Yipeee! More stuff to throw at me….. :sarcasm: Anyhow we do some maneuvering in the clouds and I log .2 actual. It’s not a lot, I know but it was nice to get in the clouds on my first time back up doing instrument work.

Maneuvering done, Now the work starts.

1st approach - goes o.k. but as to be expected, I get behind the plane.

2nd approach - a little better but as with everything, there is some rust that needs to get knocked off.

3rd approach - gets better but this time we go with the published missed (full procedure). Goes not as well, but overall it starts to get better.

We leave the hold and it’s time for some pattern work. The rw laout is 12/30 and the winds were 180 at 10 I believe. Not too windy, but enough to give me some x/w work. We get set-up for 12 and off we go.
4 landings here in total:

1st ldg. - o.k.

2nd - survivable.

3rd - best of the day. not sure if the winds quit at the right time or what but it was relatively smooth.

4th - teh suk. off-center, a little bounce, and not enough rudder on landing. Damn X/W’s.

Notes for the day:

Rudder control - keeping the ball centered

RW alignment

Rectangular patterns (rw numbers on the corresponding wing-tip)

Pitch for altitude

Power for airspeed

Set-up for the approach

Trim - lose the death grip on the yoke and use a light touch

Again, the tach time rocks…..1.7 on the tach and 2.2 in the TT…Yeah… :rawk:

Today went over some groundwork for the BFR and then it was time for some pattern work. The wx really stunk and the instructor was hinting at doing some imc work but I didn’t feel ready so I was hesitant to go up. Since the wx stunk: 4sm 019sct ra I the field was empty.

Went up and did 6 to/ldgs and did pretty well. The winds were not bad so that helped. I am glad I went up this day because it felt good to accomplish something good when I didn’t feel up to it right away. As I said the wx/rain made me sit up a little straighter so it did feel good.

.4 on the tach and about .7 TT. Jimmy like saving some money….

Bye-Bye fbo for now……

Today was my first flight in a l o n g time. It was the start of my club checkout. Because I have been out of flying so long, I needed a BFR, IPC, & a club check out.

It was a little hazy but the clouds were high enough.

To say I was nervous was an understatement on a number of reasons:

1. have not flown in a long time
2. club checkout
3. new instructor
4. instructor is a CA for a major carrier

Things covered:

1. stalls
2. steep turns
3. xw to/ldg

We flew to an apt close by, did some pattern work and after a short period it was time to head back as the layoff had left me slightly queasy.

That’s all for now.

C-Ya

Yea, shame on me. Kind of forgot about the blog, but haven’t really flown much either so No Biggy.

Anyhow, I recently purchased a share in a flying club at the local airport where I have done all of my training. It will be nice not having to drive 45 mins each way to go flying again.

Being that I have not flown much, I need a BFR/IPC and a club checkout. I am scheduled to do that this week. Wednesday I am doing the BFR/club checkout and then if the wx holds up the IPC will get done on Thursday. It’s a lot being I have not flown in some time but it is time to knock the rust off and get going.

Stay tuned for more updates! I promise not wait so long to update again

Today’s flight did not get started on a good note.   I had the plane reserved from 10:30-12:30 but the ppl-student before me had taken the plane on a solo XC to KILL and got a late start, therefore had a late return at 11:15.  We were waiting when he got done. 

Anyhow, I pre-flighted while he was unloading and by 11:25 we were off and running.  The purpose of the flight was a C172 checkout at the new place where I was renting and beginning my Commercial training.

We took off West and went through the motions of slow flight, stalls, steep turns, climbs, and descents and then an instrument approach as well.  It took a lot to get the stall to break but eventually I got it and break it did.  As for the power-on stall, I could not get it to break and Richard took the controls to give it a shot.  It still took a bit but after a little, it broke hard.

Now it was back to the field for some TO/LDG work.  The first landing went real well considering I had not landed a plane in 5 months.  Next it was time for a soft field take off.  It went o.k. but these have never been my favorite.  The plane wanted to jump off of the ground and I really had to push forward to keep the plane in ground effect until I got up enough speed. Then came the soft field, or what was supposed to be a soft field landing.  We would have got stuck in the mud for sure.  Now it was a short field pattern and that went o.k.  Then it was a regular pattern for the last trip and then Richard called for a short approach…..Guess what…..I was about to lose my engine…..My speed started out too fast but when I made my base turn I angled it out a bit and got my speed back to where it should be.   Once I had that, I turned final and got lined up.  I added some flaps when I had the field made and like that, I was done with the flight.

First flight in 5 months, but all things considered it went well.

Until next time !!!!

ATP has their 90-day program. Hah!!! I have got one better.  The CFII before 40 program….  Anyhow, Doug offered up this blogging software, so here I go.  I’ll do my best to keep up, but we’ll see what happens.  Rock On !!

 

 Above was a pic of me after my 1st solo some time ago.