My big scary flight

Finally, finally, finally I was able to do the dreaded solo flight out to the practice area to work on the upper air exercises (stalls, steeps turns, slow flight). I've been waiting since mid-January and I was so nervous about this. Sick with worry. But today, the weather was beautiful and it was time to suck it up and fake it till I make it.

Naturally, it wasn't nearly as bad as I had imagined it would be. I just went out there and did my thing. Being a nice day, the practice area airspace was a little busy. That was actually good, though, because I had to talk on the radio to manage separation from two other planes out there, and hearing myself on the radio, sounding oh so confident, helped me believe I could do it. At first, I just flew around and enjoyed the view.

Then I took a deep breath, pulled the throttle to idle, pulled back on the controls, back some more, stalled the plane and recovered. Whew! OK, that was OK! Next I did a couple of steep turns, allowing myself to keep the plane banked at just over 30 degrees (instead of 45) to get a feel for it. Good. Good. Then I eased the plane into slow flight, where you fly the plane in a very nose-up attitude at about half the normal airspeed (near the stall speed), the point of which is to practice handling the plane at a slow speed, such as during landing. I did well with that! Amazingly, I spent an hour out there playing around and it was fine!

Figuring that was pretty good for today, I headed back to my airport. That's where I had a little trouble. I had to do three go-arounds, where you abandon an approach or landing that isn't going right, and go up to re-join the circuit and try again. Even the landing that finally got me down was a bit iffy but it worked. My instructor saw me do that one. Once I had shut down and we were talking it about it, I noticed he was rubbing his hand over the engine cowling, as if he was comforting the plane after the hard landing I had inflicted upon it.

I feel great about the flight and am so proud of myself for doing 1.5 hours on my own! The experience was slightly tainted by my landing difficulties but I ended up flying again this afternoon with another instructor to do some landing practice. He said my approaches were bang-on and he gave me some great tips to improve the landings.

This is hard stuff. I know I have work to do with the landings. But I am pleased with myself for the most part today.

A trip

The weather has been been crappy in the last six weeks, which has thwarted several of my attempts to fly. As well, there's my ever-present anxiety about the impending solo flight out to the practice area. I've just been waiting to get on with it so I can make progress and perhaps show myself what I can do. But yesterday turned out to be a gorgeous day and, just to break the frustration, we decided to have some fun and do the first of the cross-country flights that are required in the private pilot training. I have to do two cross-country trips, one "short," one "long" (at least 150 NM), each of them twice - once dual, once solo. Today was the short one. We went from our airport, Cooking Lake, to Vegreville and then to Camrose and then back home. It was a triangular route of 105 NM.

I enjoyed learning about flight planning in ground school and was excited to put it into practice. For this flight, I calculated the fuel requirements, wind corrections, and estimated times of arrival and mapped the route, found our headings, and identified suitable enroute checkpoints. We briefed the flight on the ground and then set off.

It was fabulous! The views were amazing and it was so great to go somewhere! It was quite easy to read the map, determine our location, and adjust the heading, although on the second leg, the landmarks weren't as clear so I had to compare map to ground a lot to be certain. I started to get the hang of flying the plane while looking down at the map and using the E6B flight computer (a circular slide rule) to calculate ground speed and ETA. The flight was uneventful except that, of course, it was beautiful and fun! Now, having done this with my instructor, I have to do it by myself, which I expect to do in the next couple weeks, weather allowing. I have a couple of solo excursions waiting for me now but today, I'm not going to stress. I'm just going to remember how great yesterday's trip was!

How to entertain yourself in bad weather

The weather for the last month has been mostly awful, as it was for a week in late November. Low ceilings, flurries, flurries, flurries, wind. We did entertain ourselves with some crosswind landings yesterday, which was great practice, but the real fun during the bad weather periods has been working on some of my instrument time in the simulator!

The simulator is harder to fly than the real plane, in terms of the responsiveness of the controls, but the stakes are a lot lower! At one point, I put the "plane" into a spiral dive and my instructor just clicked something on the control board and I was saved. For one lesson, we set the departure airport as Victoria, BC. For another, we flew out of LAX, although soon after take-off, we were completely in the clouds. I practiced scanning the instruments and making small corrections to keep the plane upright and flying straight. I eventually learned how to recognize and recover from unusual attitudes so my instructor didn't have to just bail me out with the computer settings. I also learned to use radio navigation instruments. It was very cool and interesting and I could see myself getting better at it. It's a helpful way to learn, a lot cheaper than the real plane, and a great option for those days when leaving the ground just isn't going to happen.

Dark comedy of errors

It was a dark comedy of errors at the airport this afternoon. I've been waiting a few weeks for good weather to do my next big solo flight. So with blue sky today, I thought I'd give it a try. But things didn't quite go as planned:

1) The crosswind was so strong today it was beyond my landing skill. So my instructor and I decided to go together but 2) A plane crashed on the runway and we had to wait for the runway to be cleared so we could go but then 3) We couldn't start our airplane because it's so cold and the mechanic couldn't start it even with the battery charger on so 4) We got into another airplane and were doing the pre-take off checks and discovered a dangerous mechanical issue (magneto fault). So, we decided that the flying gods were against us today and we wouldn't push it. 

Flying isn't always straightforward!

Fear

Since my first solo, I've done 1.2 more hours of solo circuits. But the funny thing about that first solo is that it feels like some sort of culmination but it's really just a few minutes that launches everything else you have to do!

In the first two weeks of this month, my instructor and I went back out to the practice area to do more upper air work - those stalls we did before, along with the steep turns and slow flight exercises I also learned in the fall.

Now, I have to go off and practice those things by myself! My instructor said he's "kicking away the crutch" and making me leave the airport on my own.

I have been dreading this. I'm sick about it. And the anxiety is made worse by having to wait for the weather. The flight is booked and then cancelled, booked and then cancelled again. It's torture.

Being a student pilot is isolating. I see other student pilots at the airport, of course, but I'm sure not going to admit my terror to them. Maybe they feel the same way but nobody's going to come out and say it. So I feel like I'm the only one who's suddenly afraid to fly the plane!

A while ago, I happened upon the blog of another student pilot who has long since finished her training and become an instructor and corporate pilot. I looked her up again this week and sent her a message to ask her for advice or reassurance. Her response was incredible. She sent me a long email, in which, in a nutshell, she told me that preparation is key and I have done that. That I am not alone in my fear and that many students worry about this. That I don't have to go out there and do it all at once. That I can ease myself into it by just doing a few of the exercises the first time and doing them gradually (such as just doing a 30 degree turn to start with instead of the full-on 45 degree steep turn). She has helped me put the fear I have about this next big step into perspective.

The wonderful Carrie Fisher - Princess Leia/General Organa - who died just last month, was a strong woman who had been through some crap. One of her best quotes is:

"Stay afraid but do it anyway. What's important is the action. You don't have to wait to be confident. Just do it and eventually the confidence will follow." 

Putting this all together, I can see that there are ways that I can manage my fear: finding people, preparing and pacing myself, putting it into perspective, and pushing through.

I can do this flight. I can do this flight.

My first solo!

I did my first solo today! Pilot-in-command for 10 minutes! And what's really cool is that today is the 113th anniversary of the Wright brothers' first flight.

I knew it might be coming today. My instructor and I did a few circuits together so I could get warmed up and see how I felt. After 3 or 4 of them, he said, "So, do you think you can do this by yourself?" I said, "Do you?!" He said, "Yup." And he got out of the plane, wished me well, and sent me on my way.

I wasn't nervous at all. I just did what I had to do. Halfway through, he called up to me on the radio and asked how I was. I said I was just fine. I flew a nice circuit, did everything right, and managed a pretty nice landing, to boot!

That tiny speck in the middle of the picture is me in my plane on final for Rwy 28

After I shut down, I went inside to fill out the logs. I was happy and proud and acted all cool like but I was shaking so hard I could hardly write! The magnitude of that little flight had finally hit me! What a day! I can fly a plane by myself!

Getting ready to solo

Preparation is the name of the game in aviation so over the past few weeks, I've been not only continuing to fly but also doing some other things to prepare for my first solo. My instructor told me that the time is coming, although I don't feel in any rush! 

In Canada, two written exams are required in order to get a student pilot permit, which you don't need to take lessons but you do need to fly solo. On November 2, I wrote the first of the two exams and earned my aeronautical radio operator license. This exam tests knowledge about radio phraseology, protocol, and emergencies. On November 15, I wrote and passed the Pre-Solo Test of Air Regulations (PSTAR), which was the second of the two exams. Today, I finally got the actual piece of paper! I got a bit choked up when the chief flight instructor gave it to me. It's my first license to fly!

The first solo involves flying the circuit. The circuit is a standard rectangular pattern that includes taking off, climbing out, turning back, flying the approach, and landing. It takes 5-7 minutes to fly and it's a busy few minutes! All of the flying that I've been doing in the past five or so weeks has been circuits, to get me ready to do it alone. Up, around, and down. Repeat. Some days were trickier and I flew not only with my instructor but also with two other instructors to try to hear the instruction differently and get over some of my hangups and bad habits. Other days were fabulous! On one great day, I did five circuits and my instructor said he was totally relaxed and was just along for the ride. That felt good!

In position on Runway 10 at Cooking Lake, departing to the circuit

Just to mix things up a bit, my instructor and I flew to other airports to do our circuits. On November 11, we flew 18 nautical miles north to Josephburg to do circuits on the longer, wider, quieter runway there. The big adventure came when we went to Villeneuve on Nov 28, and again on Dec 3, to practice there. Villeneuve is on the other side of the city from my airport so we traveled 30 NM to get there and flew in controlled airspace, both over the city and at Villeneuve itself, since it's a towered airport. It was a great experience and it's beautiful to fly over the city. 

Flying over the city, heading home to Cooking Lake

I have continued to love my lessons and enjoy the progress I've made. I've done tons of circuits now and should be almost ready to do one by myself. I have a great instructor and we've had a lot of fun and it makes me feel secure having him there beside me. But the point of all of this is to be able to go off by myself someday so the first little 7 minute excursion will be a big step in that direction.