 |
| Joseph Lake in the smoke, midway between Camrose and Cooking Lake |
Smoke gets in your eyes
Every flight is a learning experience and this one was quite unique! Today, my dad and I flew to Camrose, just to land and come back. It's just 20 minutes in the air one way. We had planned to go to Vegreville but when I checked the NOTAMs (notices), I found that the Vegreville airport was closed for the day. So, I pulled out my map and quickly checked the headings for Camrose instead. Once we took off, it turned out to be very, very smoky, due to the extensive forest fires in BC. If I had not had a GPS and had had to rely on my map for navigation, I probably would have turned back. Visibility was about 3 miles. I suppose I could have done it because I could have made sure I held my heading and gone from lake to lake until I was there but I felt much better setting the GPS for Camrose and following the line. Despite the smoke, I was actually able to spot the airport at Camrose fairly easily since coming in to there from Cooking Lake, you're pretty much looking straight down the runway. I find it awkward to join the circuit at Camrose because of the arrival path so I ended up doing a pretty crummy circuit at Camrose but still a beautiful landing. Heading home, I set the GPS again but could see Cooking Lake well enough in advance because it's a pretty big lake. Coming back, I did a beautiful circuit but a bouncy landing. Oh well. You can't win them all and everything is learning. This short flight taught me a lot!
Pilot-in-command
So far, my flights as pilot-in-command (since getting my license) have been with my dad on board. Although he doesn't get involved, it gives me a sense of security to have him there. But I definitely have to get used to being the only pilot on board! Tonight I had a chance to do that. I took my friend up for a local flight, just to bomb around the Cooking Lake area. It was a lovely evening and we had fun. He was a bit nervous, more about flying than about flying with me, but it meant a lot to me that he was willing to take the chance on flying with a new pilot. I was able to relax and enjoy the flight, which is still hard to do since I still have to concentrate a lot of what I'm doing. We were up for just under an hour. He loved it and so did I!
A new club
I absolutely loved my flight school (Cooking Lake Aviation) and I wouldn't change a single thing about the experience I had there. In addition to flight training, they also rent their airplanes and so I intend to carry on out there as I build my hours as a pilot. They have very nice, fairly new Cessna 172s with beautiful Garmin 1000 digital avionics, and they do all the work of fueling and moving the planes to get them ready for you. However, renting an airplane is very expensive so I have been thinking about ways to reduce my costs.
Last month, I went out to pay a visit to the Namao Flying Club out at Villeneuve airport on the northwest side of the city. It's a little farther away for me but their rental rates are the lowest of anywhere around here so I wanted to check it out to see if it would be an option for me. In addition to saving me some money, flying out of that club/airport offers me experience in controlled airspace (Villeneuve is a controlled airport) and a chance to fly older planes with analog instruments and carbureted engines, which is more like real life when buying one's own airplane, in case I ever decide to do that.
Namao has four Cessna 172s. As well, thinking ahead, they also have a Mooney M20D, which is a faster single engine with retractable gear and a constant speed propeller, two things that would be new for me and would be the next step up for me once I gain some more experience. Way down the road, they also have a twin engine Piper I could learn to fly if I do a multi-engine rating. I was impressed by my visit there so I signed up for membership in the club.
Since then, I've done 3 flights with an instructor there because an initial checkout on type is required to be able to fly their planes. The checkout was like a mini flight test so I was glad that was still fairly fresh in my mind. The instructor I flew with was awesome and gave me some great tips and helped me feel comfortable in these planes, which are a bit different than what I'm used to.
For the first flight, we did upper air exercises like stalls and steep turns.
The second time I flew with him, I had to demonstrate an emergency landing. He surprised me by pulling the power back to idle, which mimics an engine failure and makes the plane descend fairly quickly. The closest field for me to choose was a canola field right below me. I maneuvered the plane down to it. We didn't actually land but for a transcendent and beautiful moment, just before I gave it power and went back up, we were flying quietly and slowly just above all that canola and my vision was filled with yellow. It was amazing!
My third flight with him was yesterday; we went to the nearby Parkland airport to do circuits. He told me that I fly well and my landings are safe so I am now free to fly their 172s to my heart's content.
Last month, I went out to pay a visit to the Namao Flying Club out at Villeneuve airport on the northwest side of the city. It's a little farther away for me but their rental rates are the lowest of anywhere around here so I wanted to check it out to see if it would be an option for me. In addition to saving me some money, flying out of that club/airport offers me experience in controlled airspace (Villeneuve is a controlled airport) and a chance to fly older planes with analog instruments and carbureted engines, which is more like real life when buying one's own airplane, in case I ever decide to do that.
Namao has four Cessna 172s. As well, thinking ahead, they also have a Mooney M20D, which is a faster single engine with retractable gear and a constant speed propeller, two things that would be new for me and would be the next step up for me once I gain some more experience. Way down the road, they also have a twin engine Piper I could learn to fly if I do a multi-engine rating. I was impressed by my visit there so I signed up for membership in the club.
 |
| All the planes were inside the hangar when I visited! |
For the first flight, we did upper air exercises like stalls and steep turns.
The second time I flew with him, I had to demonstrate an emergency landing. He surprised me by pulling the power back to idle, which mimics an engine failure and makes the plane descend fairly quickly. The closest field for me to choose was a canola field right below me. I maneuvered the plane down to it. We didn't actually land but for a transcendent and beautiful moment, just before I gave it power and went back up, we were flying quietly and slowly just above all that canola and my vision was filled with yellow. It was amazing!
 |
| Flying over beautiful canola fields north of Villeneuve Airport |
 |
| Beautiful day over Parkland county, south of Villeneuve |
A little trip
About 30 nautical miles to the south/southwest of Cooking Lake is a town called Wetaskiwin, which is the home of the Reynolds Museum, a world-renowned transportation, aviation, and agricultural machinery museum. It happens to be immediately adjacent to the airport so it's handy to fly in and walk over. So, today, I flew my dad and my son down there to pay a visit.
We were only at the museum for an hour but we managed to have a quick look at almost every exhibit. It's very well done; I was very impressed! I would highly recommend it.
It turned out to be a stellar day so the flight was smooth and beautiful. As a new pilot, this was another chance for me to practice cross-country skills and an arrival at an unfamiliar airport. The flight went well, except for a mistake in my heading calculation, which I corrected when I realized that my track wasn't quite matching the line I had drawn on the map! I was able to see Wetaskiwin from a fair distance out and had no trouble locating the airport. The flight home was more relaxed because I could see Cooking Lake almost as soon as I took off so I just flew there. This was a fun day. It's pretty neat to just hop in a plane and fly off somewhere!
We were only at the museum for an hour but we managed to have a quick look at almost every exhibit. It's very well done; I was very impressed! I would highly recommend it.
It turned out to be a stellar day so the flight was smooth and beautiful. As a new pilot, this was another chance for me to practice cross-country skills and an arrival at an unfamiliar airport. The flight went well, except for a mistake in my heading calculation, which I corrected when I realized that my track wasn't quite matching the line I had drawn on the map! I was able to see Wetaskiwin from a fair distance out and had no trouble locating the airport. The flight home was more relaxed because I could see Cooking Lake almost as soon as I took off so I just flew there. This was a fun day. It's pretty neat to just hop in a plane and fly off somewhere!
My first passenger
I took my first passenger up today. My dad is a pilot and I spent my whole life flying with him so it was an honour and a thrill for me to take him up on my first flight as a licensed pilot. He wanted to do circuits with me since it's "the biggest bang for my buck." We did six. It's a lovely day today. My circuits were sharp and my landings were good. Glad I could pull it off with him in the plane with me! He barely said a word but he really enjoyed it and I could tell he was proud of me. So cool.
I am a pilot!
I took my flight test two days ago and I passed! I am a licensed private pilot!
That was stressful! Everything you know has to come together in one shot! You don't have to be perfect but you have one chance to demonstrate each skill so you have to get it pretty close the first time. The test begins with a circuit to demonstrate a specialty take-off and landing. I was asked to do a short field take-off and then he let me choose the landing so I opted for the soft field. That went well.
After that, we departed for the cross-country/navigation demonstration. The night before, I had to prepare a flight plan for a trip that we would start on during the test. I was happy with my departure procedure and I was bang on track at the first checkpoint, where I had to calculate my ground speed and ETA. Then we stopped that exercise and headed toward the practice area. The rest of the test included stalls, steeps turns, slow flight, slipping, instrument flying with the hood on so you can't see outside, emergency and precautionary landings, and diversions. My instrument time wasn't ideal because I didn't have the plane trimmed up nicely so I didn't hold my altitude as well as I could have. Everything else was good, I thought, but I didn't know what my marks were. The examiner was kind and fair but I was still pretty intimidated! On the 10 minute flight back to the airport, we chatted about this and that. I did a nice landing and taxied back to the flight school hangar. After I had shut down, he said, "Well, Sarah..." - eternal pause, my heart was pounding - "....Congratulations! That was a nice flight test." I threw my head back and let out a big sigh! What a relief! What a thrill! When I went inside to do the log books, everyone in the office congratulated me and I actually jumped up and down with excitement.
Today I went out to the airport again to get my temporary license signed and to see my instructor, who was not at the airport during my test (he was, in fact, flying up north that day, and heard me on the radio during my flight test). He was very pleased for me and proud of me. He is the most awesome instructor I ever could have had. This was a great day. I did it!
 |
| This is the plane I flew for the test |
After that, we departed for the cross-country/navigation demonstration. The night before, I had to prepare a flight plan for a trip that we would start on during the test. I was happy with my departure procedure and I was bang on track at the first checkpoint, where I had to calculate my ground speed and ETA. Then we stopped that exercise and headed toward the practice area. The rest of the test included stalls, steeps turns, slow flight, slipping, instrument flying with the hood on so you can't see outside, emergency and precautionary landings, and diversions. My instrument time wasn't ideal because I didn't have the plane trimmed up nicely so I didn't hold my altitude as well as I could have. Everything else was good, I thought, but I didn't know what my marks were. The examiner was kind and fair but I was still pretty intimidated! On the 10 minute flight back to the airport, we chatted about this and that. I did a nice landing and taxied back to the flight school hangar. After I had shut down, he said, "Well, Sarah..." - eternal pause, my heart was pounding - "....Congratulations! That was a nice flight test." I threw my head back and let out a big sigh! What a relief! What a thrill! When I went inside to do the log books, everyone in the office congratulated me and I actually jumped up and down with excitement.
Today I went out to the airport again to get my temporary license signed and to see my instructor, who was not at the airport during my test (he was, in fact, flying up north that day, and heard me on the radio during my flight test). He was very pleased for me and proud of me. He is the most awesome instructor I ever could have had. This was a great day. I did it!
"Don't let that plane land!"
June was my last month of training. I spent some time with my instructor, reviewing emergency landings and some of the other maneuvers I will have to demonstrate on my flight test, and I did my last hour of required solo time. I feel good about most skills but I have struggled with landings all along and, for most of this month, was still not quite getting the feel for it. I did a practice flight test with the chief flight instructor just to see if I was ready for the real thing. Other than messing up the steep turn like I never have before, the ride was a good one, except for the landings! I have to do two landings for the flight test, including a specialty landing (special techniques for short runways or grass runways), and I can't blow the whole thing because I mess up the landing!
I have done well over 100 circuits to practice landings and watched many YouTube videos about how to land a plane. My ground school instructor jokingly explained to us that a good landing is when you can walk away from it and a great landing is when you can use the plane again. By that definition, they've all been great but they sure haven't all been pretty and a couple were quite marginal!
I am not patient and I tend to try to overcontrol the flow of life. I can strategize and put a good plan in place to reach my goals but I just do not have patience for the process or the journey. These personal characteristics are exactly why landing the plane was hard for me.
A good landing depends on a good approach. That part of it has never been hard for me. I got the hang of the circuit right away and have almost always been able to set up a nice, stable approach and put myself in position for the landing. But it would all fall apart in those last, critical 15 seconds when the plane is right over the runway, just about to touch down.
In those last few seconds, the landing depends on two things: patience and perspective. As you pass over the numbers at the end of the runway, you have to shift your gaze from close to far, and look way down to the end of the runway, gradually raising the nose of the plane as it nears the ground. This is called the flare. These adjustments require patience. Ironically, the point of the action the pilot takes in these moments is to try to hold the plane off the runway, instead of trying to put it down, so that it can slow down and slide itself in. My ground school instructor told us that if we spoke the words, "Patience, patience, patience" to ourselves while in the flare, then that would allow the time it took for the plane to be ready to stop flying. One instructor I flew with said, "Don't let that plane land!" He taught me that NOT trying to land the plane is what actually makes it land.
I did it wrong so many times during my training. I tried to flare too forcefully and too soon and then push the plane down onto the runway in my eagerness to be there. I kept my eyes on the nose of the plane instead of taking the long view down the runway so I could see the subtle changes in the process and make the adjustments needed to ease it in. My rush to be there led to some hard landings, bouncing back up and down again, because I was not waiting for it to come together and for the timing to be right. You cannot make a plane land. It has to be ready. The pilot's job is to get it ready.
The time it takes to land is not long but it's a period of time where time seems to stand still. A lot of happening in those seconds but it is happening by itself in a way, enabled by a patient, focused, and skilled pilot. The pilot is very much in control of what happens yet must also be willing to wait for the plane's own timing. Some days, the plane seems to float forever, eating up the runway, not touching down. Those situations test a pilot's patience more than ever but it is even more important.
Clearly, this is instructive for life in general. When I finally realized that I have to wait and take a long view, I got it. I stopped trying so hard. It worked. I landed the plane. Five, then ten "greasy" landings. And quite suddenly, my fear of landings dissipated, in much the same as as the airspeed bleeds off during the flare. I have to say that this revelation is still quite new for me. I still worry about landing. I still have to embed this lesson into myself. But I see it differently now. I know now how I need to view this to make it work.
Patience. Trust the time it takes to come together. Take a different perspective. This doesn't mean being passive; you have to stay focused on the goal, be an active part of the process, and make adjustments to ease the transition, but in the end, not pushing so hard will make it work out much better than forcing it.
As I reflect on my landing woes over the last six months, I can see that learning to land a plane has been perhaps one of my greatest life lessons and one of the most dramatic examples of how flying is a metaphor for life.
I have done well over 100 circuits to practice landings and watched many YouTube videos about how to land a plane. My ground school instructor jokingly explained to us that a good landing is when you can walk away from it and a great landing is when you can use the plane again. By that definition, they've all been great but they sure haven't all been pretty and a couple were quite marginal!
I am not patient and I tend to try to overcontrol the flow of life. I can strategize and put a good plan in place to reach my goals but I just do not have patience for the process or the journey. These personal characteristics are exactly why landing the plane was hard for me.
A good landing depends on a good approach. That part of it has never been hard for me. I got the hang of the circuit right away and have almost always been able to set up a nice, stable approach and put myself in position for the landing. But it would all fall apart in those last, critical 15 seconds when the plane is right over the runway, just about to touch down.
In those last few seconds, the landing depends on two things: patience and perspective. As you pass over the numbers at the end of the runway, you have to shift your gaze from close to far, and look way down to the end of the runway, gradually raising the nose of the plane as it nears the ground. This is called the flare. These adjustments require patience. Ironically, the point of the action the pilot takes in these moments is to try to hold the plane off the runway, instead of trying to put it down, so that it can slow down and slide itself in. My ground school instructor told us that if we spoke the words, "Patience, patience, patience" to ourselves while in the flare, then that would allow the time it took for the plane to be ready to stop flying. One instructor I flew with said, "Don't let that plane land!" He taught me that NOT trying to land the plane is what actually makes it land.
I did it wrong so many times during my training. I tried to flare too forcefully and too soon and then push the plane down onto the runway in my eagerness to be there. I kept my eyes on the nose of the plane instead of taking the long view down the runway so I could see the subtle changes in the process and make the adjustments needed to ease it in. My rush to be there led to some hard landings, bouncing back up and down again, because I was not waiting for it to come together and for the timing to be right. You cannot make a plane land. It has to be ready. The pilot's job is to get it ready.
The time it takes to land is not long but it's a period of time where time seems to stand still. A lot of happening in those seconds but it is happening by itself in a way, enabled by a patient, focused, and skilled pilot. The pilot is very much in control of what happens yet must also be willing to wait for the plane's own timing. Some days, the plane seems to float forever, eating up the runway, not touching down. Those situations test a pilot's patience more than ever but it is even more important.
Clearly, this is instructive for life in general. When I finally realized that I have to wait and take a long view, I got it. I stopped trying so hard. It worked. I landed the plane. Five, then ten "greasy" landings. And quite suddenly, my fear of landings dissipated, in much the same as as the airspeed bleeds off during the flare. I have to say that this revelation is still quite new for me. I still worry about landing. I still have to embed this lesson into myself. But I see it differently now. I know now how I need to view this to make it work.
Patience. Trust the time it takes to come together. Take a different perspective. This doesn't mean being passive; you have to stay focused on the goal, be an active part of the process, and make adjustments to ease the transition, but in the end, not pushing so hard will make it work out much better than forcing it.
As I reflect on my landing woes over the last six months, I can see that learning to land a plane has been perhaps one of my greatest life lessons and one of the most dramatic examples of how flying is a metaphor for life.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)