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Jim, meet Foggles

I checked the schedule for my flights this weekend and got a bit of a shock — N1727V was out of action! My reservations had been moved to one of the school’s C172R’s, N430EP. Saturday was a bad weather day so I wasn’t flying anyway, but what did this mean for my Sunday flight?

I called my CFI and he told me I wouldn’t be able to solo in the C172R, but we could go up and practice some stuff if I wanted. I figured more practice is never a bad thing (and I wanted some more experience in the different model plane), so I agreed.

When I got to the airport, he told me to buy a pair of foggles. For those of you who don’t know, foggles are special glasses where the top halves of the lenses are obscured. You use them when practicing instrument flying — they effectively block your view outside the plane and force you to focus on the instruments.

Foggles
My new pair of foggles

We went out to preflight and my CFI showed me the procedure for the C172R. It is a bit more complex than the C172M, especially when it comes to sumping the fuel. There are a lot more drain points on this plane than 27V!

I took off and put my foggles on. From here on out, my CFI gave me instructions as if he was ATC and I had to follow using the instruments. This actually felt a little easier for me since I had so many hours using MS Flight Simulator with my eyes glued to the panel!

We flew out to the practice area and worked on straight and level flight, turns, and following the “ATC” instructions. My CFI handled the real comms so I could focus on flying. It was a bit strange flying around without being able to see outside — I had to resist the urge to cheat a bit by using my peripheral vision to see a little of the outside world. It was a little tricky keeping everything where it was supposed to be — I would focus on airspeed and realize my heading was changing. Then I would lock down the heading and realize I was in a slight climb. I worked on the instrument scan, constantly checking everything and making small adjustments to keep the plane where it was supposed to be.

After a bit of practice, we headed back to the airport. I still had no idea where we were and just followed my CFI’s instructions. I only knew we were coming in for a landing because he had me descending and I could hear him calling for clearance from the tower. When he told me to take the foggles off, we were on final approach straight in for the runway. I brought it in for a mediocre landing and we were done for the day.

This is something we’ll be working on every time we head out to the practice area from now on. It was a short flight overall, but it was something new and different and it was quite a bit of fun!

Click the image below for the CloudAhoy track for today’s flight.

CloudAhoy flight - 04/09/2017

Flight time today: 0.8 hours
Total simulated instrument flight time to date: 0.6 hours
Total flight time to date: 37.0 hours
Total takeoffs to date: 125
Total landings to date: 121

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Flying in Florida: Part 1

I was scheduled to head down to Florida on business and I decided it would be fun to try and take a flight lesson with an instructor down there. After making a few calls, I scheduled two lessons during my trip with a local CFI who had been recommended to me.

My first lesson was flying out of Orlando Executive (KORL). Executive is a Class Delta airport in close proximity to downtown Orlando and Orlando International (KMCO) — it actually sits right under one of MCO’s Class Bravo shelves.

KORL

I was pretty nervous heading to my lesson as I had never flown with anyone besides my instructor back home. The ridiculous Orlando traffic (thanks to I-4 construction) certainly didn’t help my stress level. I would up being 20 minutes late, for which I apologized profusely! Way to make a good first impression.

I had spoken to the instructor on the phone and told him where I was at with my flying and that I wanted to work on landings. We sat and spoke for a bit before heading out to the plane and briefed how the lesson was going to go. We were planning on staying in the pattern and working exclusively on landings and pattern management.

We headed to the plane and did the preflight check. The plane was a 172R model — this model is fuel injected instead of carbureted, so the engine startup was slightly different. No big deal, though, and soon we were taxiing to the runup area.

I was having trouble steering the plane to the left — I would be pushing the rudder pedal all the way in and the plane would barely be turning to the left. I had to use the left brakes more than usual to keep the plane where I needed it. I should’ve mentioned this right away to my CFI but I thought it was more a pilot/technique issue than anything mechanical! More on that later.

We took off from runway 7 and started our pattern work. It was nice having some different scenery to look at! Our downwind leg took us directly towards the Orlando skyline which was pretty cool. I didn’t take this picture, but this is pretty close to our view on downwind (we were lower and more to the left).

Orlando, FL skyline

I really enjoyed flying with this CFI! He had a good teaching style and he shared the same views on flight instruction that my CFI back home does — namely, all of the information you need to fly the plane is available out the window. He emphasized this by failing almost all of my instruments. I had to climb out to pattern altitude with no altimeter, and when I thought I was there we would check and see how I did. I was coming in consistently low by 500-1,000 feet, but that wasn’t bad considering I was in a new environment for the first time.

We went over energy management techniques to help keep the plane at the right speeds while flying the pattern. We also did a lot of landings! I had one where it felt like everything clicked and I definitely feel like I’m getting closer to “getting it”. I also had some lousy ones, so I’m not there yet!

We also trained on some stuff that was new to me — using slips to lose altitude quickly and simulated engine outs on takeoff (where I had to then manage my energy to land the plane smoothly without nosing it into the runway). I also got a bunch of crosswind work — the winds weren’t as strong as they’ve been back home, but there was a decent crosswind so I worked on holding a proper ground track and keeping the plane lined up on final.

All in all, it was a great experience and I’m really happy I did it. I got to see some cool planes at the airport (the new HondaJet looks very nice!) and got a great view of a Learjet landing while I was in the pattern.

Taxiing back to the ramp I again had some trouble with that left turning, so I mentioned it to my CFI. He took the controls and agreed something felt off and he would mention it to the aircraft owner. I realized then I should’ve mentioned this as soon as I noticed it — what if they thought my wonderful landings had caused the issue?!?

We had a great talk after the lesson — we discussed the flight and flying in general. The instructor had some kind things to say about my flying and level of experience overall. According to him, I’m on track and right where I need to be.

Extra bonus today — the second page of my logbook is now full! On to page 3!

Flight time today: 1.5 hours
Total flight time to date: 27.8 hours
Total takeoffs to date: 89
Total landings to date: 85

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Discovery flight

I don’t remember exactly when my love for aviation started, but it reached critical mass today.

Until now, I had sated my love of all things flying with simulators. I had been simming on and off for years, always dreaming of taking lessons. I had gotten to the point of emailing a few flight instructors for information, but had never seriously followed up. I always found a reason to postpone starting the process — finances, time, family…there was always some reason.

That all changed today.

My wonderful wife bought me an intro flight for my 40th birthday, and I plunged head-on into the world of flight training.

This is my story.

I was paired with my flight instructor as if it was destiny. My wife bought the intro flight, all I had to do was schedule it… I decided to wait until I was sure I could dedicate myself to the training — I wound up with a week off of work and selected November 9th, one day after my birthday, as the day I would take my intro flight. As fate would have it, November 9th was a rainy, crappy day — even with no weather or flight knowledge, I knew I wouldn’t be going up that day. As fate would also have it, my wife had secretly scheduled the flight for today, November 12th! It really worked out well since Wednesdays are my CFI’s regular day off, so if the weather had been better that day I would’ve been paired with a different instructor.

I showed up this morning to Danbury Airport (DXR) and met my instructor. He’s an old-school stick & rudder pilot with 12,000 hours — exactly the kind of guy I wanted to teach me how to fly right. I knew within 5 minutes that this was the type of instructor I wanted — one who might take a while to sign me off to solo, but once he did, I would know I was truly ready. I didn’t want to check some boxes off a checklist, I wanted to learn how to be a really great pilot.

We headed out to the plane and he told me the purpose of the flight was to see if I was really into this and wanted to learn how to fly. I already knew the answer, but I appreciated that he needed to know as well. I climbed into the left seat of N474EP, a Cessna 172R, and my journey began.

The flight is really a bit of a blur — I remember taxiing out to the runway, looking a bit like a drunken sailor weaving about the taxiway centerline as I learned to use the rudder pedals to steer. My CFI performed the takeoff and then had me do some straight and level flight and some basic turns. As soon as it started it seemed like it was over and my CFI took the controls and landed us back at DXR. I knew one thing — I was hooked and was ready to commit to the journey to earn my PPL.

As soon as we landed I booked my next lesson and bought the flight school’s student package (a flight bag, logbook, a bunch of textbooks, and an E6B and plotter). I left feeling like I was on the cusp of something great in my life, and I can’t wait for the date of my next lesson to arrive.

Flight time today: 0.9 hours
Total flight time to date: 0.9 hours