Flying over Africa

This month, I had the incredible opportunity of visiting Africa with my dad and his wife. We were in Zambia, Botswana, Namibia, and South Africa (and I stood in Zimbabwe for 5 minutes, too).

Of particular interest to this newly-minted commercial pilot (I passed my commercial flight test two days before the trip) was the time we spent in Zambia. My father is an organizational consultant and he has worked for several years with an aviation mission based in Zambia. For him, this was a work trip and his wife and I were tagging along. During the three days he worked with them, we stayed at the mission compound in the countryside outside of Lusaka. The compound was beautiful and the guesthouse was charming and quiet.

It wasn't safe to leave the compound to walk on the country roads but one of the staff members mentioned to me that their grass runway was 1000 metres long and I noticed that people would sometimes go out and walk along the edge of it. So I made it my morning routine to walk briskly up and down the runway to get some fresh air and exercise. I did 4 kilometres the first day, then 6 and 8 the next two days. It turned out to be a transcendent way to start each day. It was, for me, almost a spiritual experience to be walking in the warm morning African sun and to be standing on a runway, which is usually not allowed but represents to me the heart of flying.

One day, I was poking around the hangar, looking at the planes, and the chief pilot told me he was taking a visiting VIP up for a flight and that he had room for me if I wanted to join. Did I?! We went for a short local flight in a Cessna 206. I was amazed at the beauty of the landscape. It was great to get the lay of the land around Lusaka.

When it came time to leave Lusaka and move on to the next leg of our trip, the general manager of the mission, also a pilot, gave us the ride of our lives! He flew us in a Cessna 210 from Lusaka to Victoria Falls, a flight of a little over 1.5 hours. The early morning flight over southern Zambia was stunning, taking us over misty rivers, scruffy bush, and verdant farmland. Our pilot let me have the controls for the whole flight. Once we arrived at Livingstone, he flew us over the breaktaking and magnificent Victoria Falls before giving the controls back to me and letting me land the plane at the Livingstone airport. That flight was a once-in-a-lifetime thrill.

All in all, these three days in Zambia were heavenly for me!

I'm a commercial pilot

I passed my commercial flight test today! I'm a commercial pilot!

Last week, I finished the required hours for the commercial license. I took my pilot dad with me for the flight on which I reached 100 hours of pilot in command time. I've been practicing flight test maneuvers over the past couple of months to prepare for this day. I've done some dual time with an instructor and taken a couple of my fellow pilots along to critique me and give me pointers. It's been a lot of fun. Finally, I felt ready (enough) and I wanted to get the flight test done. You just get to the point when enough is enough!

As is typical for spring on the prairies, today was very windy and bumpy. I don't mind turbulence but I worry about landing well on windy days. Somehow, today, I didn't care about the conditions. I just did my thing. After a 30 minute oral exam on the ground, we started the flight with a circuit for a soft field take off and landing. Then we did the cross-country departure procedure and the en route ground speed and ETA calculations. That took us to quiet airspace about 20 nautical miles from the airport, where I demonstrated slow flight, steep turns, stalls, and spin recovery. I did some hood time including timed turns, unusual attitudes, and partial panel. While in that area, I also did a forced approach. Then he gave me a diversion scenario, which was to fly to his airstrip on his farm, about 15 minutes to the south. Once at his strip, I showed him a precautionary landing. Then I put the hood back on and did a GPS intercept and navigated back to the airport. I took the hood off in time to join the circuit for a short field landing and take off. The final trick was a precision 180 power off landing, which I nailed in a 25 knot wind. He made me wait to find out whether I passed! He never really said it; I just assumed as the de-brief went on that I made it. He was actually a nice guy and a very fair examiner. It was a good flight test.

Me and my beloved 172M GJJL

This is a huge milestone in my aviation life. In many ways, this is another beginning but I feel like I've accomplished a lot in the last couple of years and today I feel legitimated as a good and capable pilot. In two days, I'm leaving for a three week trip to Africa. It will be a great reward and a nice break from the intensity of training. Then, when I get back, I'll think about what the next step will be in my flying career!

Instrument rated!

I passed my multi-engine instrument rating flight test last Friday! Flight test day is super stressful but my examiner was a relaxed, supportive guy, which helped make the experience better. I actually enjoyed the flight and he said I did a solid job.

I started the instrument training last September, right after I finished my multi-engine rating. Initially, I spent most of the time in the simulator, learning and practicing radio navigation, approach procedures, and holding patterns. Once I was introduced to those, I did them in the Cessna 172 a few times, alternating flying with more simulator time, depending on the weather. I wanted to earn the multi-engine instrument rating; the training for that can be in a 172 as long as the flight test is in the twin. As I got closer to having the required number of hours, I started flying the Piper Seminole to get used to it again (I had started my multi-engine training in that plane, although I finished in another) and to acquaint myself with the flight test route. My instructor was awesome! I was able to bring a couple of friends along for the ride during my lessons. He also paired us with other IFR students and we rode along on each other's lessons to observe and become more familiar with the route and procedures. That was a great strategy to help us learn more without additional expense.

Meanwhile, my instructor offered a preparation course for the instrument rating written exam. The course was intense - two 13 hour days - but we had a lot of fun. I wrote the exam (called the INRAT) in early January. Right after that, the winter weather treated us to daily flurries and then 3 weeks of extreme cold, putting the last two hours of my training on hold for 5 weeks. Finally last week, we just decided we'd go anyway and did a couple of flights in -30 C so I could finally get to the required 40 hours of instrument training time and go do my flight test!

I loved the training, the way the runway was always there in front of you when you followed the procedures, the radio work, the detail. Because it was so fun, I didn't realize what a big deal it was to having this rating. But after I finished, one pilot told me it was "the one rating to rule them all." My examiner said it was the difference between being an amateur and a professional. And my dad, a 50-year commercial pilot, said "what an accomplishment that is. I know the requirements for that prize, and I am super proud of you for getting to this level. It's definitely the beginning of a career in aviation." I got a bit choked up at that, I have to admit.

I was walking on sunshine for a couple days after the flight test. But now it's time to move on to the next challenge, which will be to pass the commercial pilot license flight test. I'm getting closer!

New year reflections

There's something about the dark, cold, snowy winter days between Christmas and New Year's that allows for quiet reflection about what's been and what's to come.

2018 has been a great year of flying for me. As this year began, I reached my 100 hour milestone. I was so excited that day as a new pilot just launching into the commercial training. Since then, I've earned my night, seaplane, and multi-engine ratings and have made it almost to the end of my instrument rating. I've also successfully completed the written exam for the commercial license. I'm just pushing 200 hours now and, although I'm still a fairly new pilot, I can't believe what I've learned this year.

The night rating training, which I did on those long, cold nights in January and February, was magical and peaceful. I will never forget my first solo night circuits when it was -25℃ or my first night solo cross-country when the moon was full and the fields were silvery white.

The runway at Killam airport on a solo cross-country at night

The seaplane rating was the most fun I've ever had! I was introduced to a whole new world of flying - landing on the ocean or a lake with boats around me, flying low over the water, shutting down and standing on the floats in the middle of a smooth, still lake. I have flown a float plane by myself and it thrills me to think of that. I want float flying to be my job someday.

Just after soloing this beauty

The multi-engine rating, on the other hand, was so frustrating that I had to remind myself to enjoy the flying when I could go. There were so many stops and starts due to instructor availability, a change of flight school (and airplane type), weather, forest fire smoke, and airplane maintenance. It took 4 months and way too many hours (and dollars) to finish it up. My flight test was canceled three times before I finally got to do it. But even this was a great learning experience as I kept myself calm and patient, told myself I would get it done and do it well, and gained confidence and skill flying a more advanced airplane. In the end, I had a great instructor and I loved the Piper Comanche. I was so proud and pleased to have made it through! It made me a better pilot to learn to fly the twin.

The Piper Comanche I trained in for (most of) my multi-engine rating

I spent a good part of the year building time and flying with friends at my primary flight school. We had so much fun as we explored Alberta and learned from each other. Once we all started doing our advanced ratings and training, we didn't fly together as much but those few months of fun in the first half of the year were times I will cherish forever. That wonderful time was capped off with a flight into Saskatchewan in July with a fellow commercial student so we could both do our required 300 NM cross-country trips. That was a great day!

In Humboldt, Saskatchewan

Recently, I've connected with a fellow pilot out at my second flying club and we've flown together a few times this fall. It's been great to have a buddy pilot there, too, so I can have someone to fly with in those planes as well, especially since we both want to build our night hours.

Heading out for a night flight from Villeneuve

It's been an honour for me to fly more with my dad this year. My dad is a retired pilot, with whom I flew hundreds of hours during his flying career. It's the coolest thing to be able to take him up now and continue to enjoy the wonderful world of aviation that I grew up with.

Flying with my dad

This fall, I've been working on my instrument rating. I have loved it! I have a great instructor who is patient, funny, and knowledgeable. I've spent a lot of the training time in the simulator and done most of the flight training in a Cessna 172. A couple of days ago, though, I climbed back into the Piper Seminole, in which I started my multi-engine training, to do a flight in preparation for my multi-IFR flight test. I hadn't flown that plane for 6 months so I wasn't sure how it would go, especially with the busyness of the IFR procedures. But it went so well! It was a great way to end the year of flying.

Last flight of the year - IFR in the Piper Seminole

So what will 2019 bring? I have to finish the instrument rating, which includes a written exam that is notoriously difficult. So there's that. I have to do 5 more hours of instrument training time and then the IFR flight test, which, weather permitting, I hope to do in late January or early February. I am also going to do some dual time with an instructor to prepare for the commercial flight test, which I will aim to do in February/March. Then, with a little more time-building left to do, I hope to complete my commercial requirements by April.

After that, it's a little uncertain. I am planning to work as a commercial pilot but I have to see how that fits in with my current career as a professor. I want to make something of it, though! Aviation has changed my life. It has been the hardest, most exhilarating thing I've done. It has given me confidence and faith in myself. It has shown me freedom. It has given my life beauty. Through it, I have met amazing people. I anticipate great things in 2019.

Now to get on with the work...

A big step along the way

A couple of weeks ago, I passed the written exam for my commercial pilot license. The exam is a 100 question, 3 1/2 hour, multiple choice exam that covers air law, aeronautics and general knowledge, meteorology, and navigation. I finished with 4 minutes to spare! It was a nightmare of an exam and I was sure all the way through that I had failed it but I actually passed with a good margin. I studied hard for it. A fellow commercial student had hired an instructor to do some review sessions for him and invited me to join in. They were very helpful and I found that I was beginning to understand some of the concepts in ways I had never grasped until now. After the review classes, I read the whole study guide textbook along with other materials about aviation regulations and practices. I did some online practice exams and went into the real exam feeling like I had done my best and was as ready as I'd ever be!

Even though I passed, I was traumatized by it and couldn't celebrate until 2 or 3 days later! Now that I've had a couple of weeks to recover, LOL, it feels great to have accomplished yet another step in the journey toward becoming a commercial pilot!

Double trouble

I passed my multi engine flight test! Phew!

I started the training in May at the flight school where I did my PPL. The multi instructor there was set to leave for an airline job so several of us signed up to get the multi rating done while he was still there. I did about 7 hours of lesson time with him through late May and into June. I thought it was a thrill to fly the Piper Seminole but I found the lessons stressful for various reasons. Near the end of June, the plane went into maintenance for a couple of weeks. When it came back online, the instructor was so booked up that I wouldn't have had time to finish the training with him before he left. I was frustrated and had to decide how to proceed.

I opted to move over to the flying club where I am also a member. Things seemed more stable and accessible there. I restarted the training with my new instructor in mid-July. It had been almost a month since my last lesson in the Seminole and now I was flying a Piper Comanche with a very different instructor! I felt in many ways that I was starting over. I loved the Comanche, though, and appreciated my instructor's patience and sense of humour.

I had a couple of enjoyable lessons in July and felt like I was getting used to the busy-ness of the fast airplane and starting to get the hang of the required exercises. In August, however, I was only able to do two lessons because of bad weather, forest fire smoke, my instructor's busy schedule, and my week away in Victoria for my seaplane rating. When I flew in late August, I was rusty and frustrated again. I tried to chill out but I felt like it was taking too long and I couldn't get into a groove.

Somehow, with a few good flights in early September, my instructor said I was ready for my flight test. We booked it for Sept 12 but it was cancelled for weather. We rebooked for Sept 17 and then the 18th but both of those were also cancelled for weather. I kept studying for days, trying to remember it all while waiting for the time to come. On the 18th, I was able to do the ground portion (an oral exam on aerodynamics, airplane systems, flight planning) so we'd at least have that out of the way if the weather ever improved! The ground portion lasted about 75 minutes. It went well and he said I had excellent knowledge. The next day, Sept 19, turned out to be a lovely blue sky day, the first we'd had for weeks (we got a lot of snow this month - two months too early!), so I was able finally to do the flight test. We were in the air for about 70 minutes, going through the circuit, stalls, steep turns, flight at reduced airspeed, and single engine procedures. After we landed and I had shut the engines down, he told me I had passed. Huge relief!

My examiner was a nice guy and said supportive things to me before we went but he was super detail-focused and picky! After the flight test, we debriefed and he told me every little thing I had done wrong (for 45 minutes). After the long list of all of my errors, he simply said, "But there was lots that was good, too." Wow!

This was a challenging rating. There was a lot of new knowledge and skill to acquire. I felt that it took my aviation experience to a whole new level. After all the work and studying, together with the frustrations of the process, I can't quite believe I'm done!

Seaplane heaven

I spent the last week on beautiful Vancouver Island working on my seaplane rating at the Victoria Flying Club. I did this rating partly for fun and partly with the hope that it would lead me to a really cool job once I finish my commercial license.

There isn't much opportunity (if any) in my area to learn to fly floats, which is why I went out to the west coast to do this rating. I set up a week worth of lessons with VFC and hoped that the weather would cooperate and I would get the hang of it during the one week I had out there.

Turned out the weather was stunningly perfect during the four days it took for me to complete the training. I also had an awesome instructor - experienced, patient, fun, and interesting - and he showed me the float plane life while also teaching me how to fly the plane.

My first lesson was last Tuesday. John, my instructor, drove us to the seaplane base at Patricia Bay, adjacent to the Victoria International Airport, and showed me how to do the pre-flight inspection, which includes pumping seawater out of the floats, and how to put the airplane into the water. It's definitely more complicated to get a float plane ready to go!

On the ramp, ready to go

That first day, we flew around the gulf islands and did some take-offs and landings in random spots on the ocean. It was a thrill and quite a change for me to fly at only 100-200 feet above sea level. We landed near Saltspring Island, beached the plane there, and got out to stand on the beach for a few minutes. After taking off again, we headed east, right out into the open Strait of Georgia, with Vancouver in the distance, to do some rough water takeoffs and landings.

Beached on Saltspring Island

On Wednesday, we did two lessons. The theme of the morning was tight spaces. First we did a few circuits in a narrow ocean inlet. John encouraged me to snug right up against the mountainside to maximize the space I had. I felt like we were going to hit the trees for sure. Then we flew up to Shawnigan Lake on the other side of the ridge to do a few more takeoffs and landings in the narrow valley.

In the afternoon, we flew to Cowichan Lake to practice glassy water takeoffs and landings, doing the required stalls and emergency landing practice on the way there. (Did you know that you can land a float plane on grass without damaging it at all?!) The water was smooth and the long lake made it a great place to practice the long, slow descent and landing technique for glassy water. After a few circuits, we landed, shut down, and climbed out onto the floats. It was a hot and perfect blue sky day. I took my shoes off to dip my feet in the warm water. A couple of boaters came by to say hi as we enjoyed a few lovely moments bobbing on the quiet lake.

Floating on Cowichan Lake

By Thursday, I was trying hard to bring together all I had learned and starting to imagine myself doing it alone. The rating requires 7 hours of training, including 5 solo takeoffs and landings, and I knew the solo time was coming soon. This lesson involved more takeoffs and landings, this time at Bedwell Harbour on Pender Island. Another glorious day.

I didn't sleep well on Thursday night because I was pretty sure I'd have to fly that plane alone the next day. On Friday, we rushed to get the plane in the water before the tide was too low and then flew over to nearby Quamichan Lake, also known as The Lake of Seaplane Student Solos. We did some circuits together to get me used to the area and also practiced docking. We stood on the dock for a long time, waiting for some wind to disturb the glassy water so I could solo. To pass the time, we took John's friend's dinghy out for a spin. Once back to the dock, the water was still too smooth so we did a couple more circuits together. My last landing was totally awesome so John said, "Well, I think that means I need to get out now and let you go." 

Alone in the plane, I wasn't terribly nervous but I did feel my heart beating a little faster. I cleverly used the transponder dial to count my circuits. Taking off in a seaplane is weird because the nose goes way up at first but then settles down on its own before the pilot pulls back to lift off. The first circuit was fine - climb out, circle around to the downwind leg, low over the trees, flare, touch down. On circuit number 2, the wind had picked up and the crosswind on landing surprised me and pushed me a bit sideways, which I immediately corrected. On the third circuit, I was prepared for the crosswind, so the landing was smooth. The beauty of landing a float plane is that you aren't limited by a runway; you can land in any direction, depending on the wind. So, for the 4th and 5th circuits, I flew a slightly shifted circuit, aligning myself into the wind, and the landings were easier. 

Solo complete!

I felt so proud and relieved after the solo was finished! After I docked, John and I walked up the hill to his friend's house. He made us lunch and showed us his hangar full of old restored and soon-to-be-restored airplanes. Then we hopped back in our seaplane and took it home to Patricia Bay. 

Yesterday, Sunday, I went into the office at the Victoria Flying Club to fill out the paperwork for my seaplane rating. The chief flight instructor shook my hand and said, "Congratulations, you're a seaplane pilot!" I got all choked up. It seemed unreal to hear those words. 

This was a week in heaven! I love flying a float plane. I could do it all day, every day. Even if nothing ever comes of this, this was the best vacation I ever could have had. But I really, really hope that this can be my job someday.