First Flight Lessons

First Flight Lesson Checklist:

Cost: $170.81
Total Spent: $1175.80 (10 Hour Block, Log Book, Ground School)
Hours Logged: 1.5
Total Hours: 2.1
01/26/2008

Flying Art

Flying is easy, landing is hard! For my first lesson I think I was presented with a bit more then the average student. We started off with pre-flight checks and taxiing procedures; then on to climbs, descents, straight and level, turns, a bit of instruments and radio communication. These were all fairly easy and enjoyable; I slowly learned coordinated turns and eventually was able to keep a steady altitude and bank. All of these procedures were at slow enough paced to get a solid understanding and started to build a natural feel of the controls. After about 45 minutes we decided to head back to the airport for some pattern work. This is where things got difficult.

Flying in the traffic pattern was a bit overwhelming the first few times through. Although I had read the text of the traffic pattern and understood the basics nothing could prepare me for the pace. The most important lesson I learned about flying the pattern is keeping a rhythm. You want to follow certain cues and divide the steps into sections. On the third try I felt more comfortable with the pace and was able to prompt myself and stay ahead of the airplane.

When you stay ahead of the plane you will have given yourself enough time to line up for a proper landing. Unfortunately we were landing with a cross wind. Although I was feeling more and more comfortable with the plane at higher speed and altitude, landing at slower speeds brought me back to square one. I knew I had to turn the ailerons into the wind and the rudder the opposite direction in order to stay aligned with the runway but I was having a hard time coordinating inputs which are not yet natural to me.

Next time I will be sure to spend more time on rudder control.

Cessna Flight School

All of our landings were rough, some more then others. Reviewing the video it appears that I need to initiate my flair sooner and more smoothly, along with maintaining my alignment with the runway by using better aileron and rudder control. I am hoping that slow flight will give me a better understanding of the input needed.

Since we were landing in a cross wind we also were taking off in the cross wind. Initially I was having a hard time keeping the ailerons into the wind. I had assumed that I needed to level the ailerons as speed increased in order to avoid uneven lift. As you can see in the video this assumption lead to some interesting take offs. On my last take-offs I realized that the plane will almost naturally level the ailerons as the plane begins to lift nearly proportional to the amount needed.

This brought me back to an important point Nick made earlier in the flight. He mentioned that my grip should be light on the controls and I should make smooth inputs. This forces you to work with the aircraft which not only puts less stress on the plane but allows for better feedback on the controls. If I had done this initially I think my take-offs would have been much smoother.

After five take-offs and landings we headed back to the hanger and debriefed about the flight. Next lesson we are going to focus on steep turns, S-turns, turns around a point, slow flight, and power on/off stalls.

GoPro Hero3 Quadcopter DJI Phantom UAD Drone

✈ GoPro® HERO3 - Quadcopter DJI Phantom Aerial UAV Drone ✈

Be sure to check out how it goes!

1. Introduction Flight School
2. Introductory Flight School
3. Ground School and Pre-Flight Checks 
4. First Flight Lessons

Ground School and Pre-Flight Checks

Ground School Checklist:
Cost: $26.60
Total Cost: $26.60
Hours Logged: 0.6
01/24/2008

Cessna 172

Other blogs and articles online recommend trying a few different flight instructors to see who I learn from best. I called Western Shore Aviation in Sheboygan and setup a meeting with flight instructor Nick.

Due to high winds and cold weather we decided not to fly but he recommended that I stop in for an hour or so to go over the plane, pre-flight checks, avionics, and what it takes to get a pilots license.

I plan on training on the Cessna 152 to help cut down cost. Nick mentioned that the 152 is a harder plane to fly but that should help me become a better pilot. Nick showed me how to do a preflight check, looking over linkage, bolts, landing gear, checking the fuel and oil. He also oriented me with the flight panel and avionics. The 152 is very similar to the 172 I flew on the intro flight.

Nick gave me some documentation on short and soft field take offs and landings, slow flight, stalls, and spins. The documentation, for the most part, seems similar to what I was expecting mentioning the mushy controls of slow flight, the recovery procedure for power on stalls and power off stalls as well as common mistakes. However one line in particular, about cross-control stalls, caught my attention

“The roll may be so fast that it is possible the bank will be vertical or past vertical before it can be stopped”

Perhaps it is best not to think too much about this stall until I’ve had a few lessons.

Be sure to check out how it goes!

1. Introduction Flight School
2. Introductory Flight School
3. Ground School and Pre-Flight Checks 
4. First Flight Lessons

Introductory Flight School

Introductory Flight Checklist:
Cost: $0
Total Cost: $0
Hours Logged: 0.6
01/21/2008

Flight School Instructor

In the days leading up to the intro flight, I looked online to get some basic information about flying. I confirmed that I knew what the ailerons, rudder and elevator were. I looked up the satellite images of the airport where I would be training and the surrounding area on Google maps. I also read a few blogs about what to expect. Look up Airplane Watch if you like too. I already had a rough idea of the cost; I was planning on spending around $5,000.00 so estimates in the $7,000 to $8,000 range were not too surprising.

In general, I am terrified of heights, so I didn’t want to spend a horrible amount of time thinking about the situation I was about to put myself in. I figured that bridge was best to cross when I came to it.

On the day of my flight, I arrived at the FBO, which stands for fixed base operation which is more of less a highway truck stop for airplanes. They offer charters, training, had a small shop, and a few airplanes. There I meet the flight instructor who run the flight school and would be taking me up and he immediately grabbed a loaner headset and we headed over to the plane. He mentioned that he just flew the plane and thus we could skip the pre-flight inspection. Although this might have added a bit more airtime it left me a little disappointed.

Before I knew it, I had started the plane following his instructions and he prepped me to communicate with ATC (air traffic control).

It took me a couple practice tries and I radioed to ATC “Timmerman Control, 2476, Golf, Tango, Ready to Taxi, Information X-Ray”. We had got the confirmation from ATC and we taxied the aircraft to the runway.

When taxing the aircraft we used rudder controls to guide the aircraft, the Cessna 172 that we were about to fly has differential braking which we also used to take sharper and slower turns. We stopped just short of the runway and he showed me how the elevator and ailerons are controlled. By pushing the control in the nose drops and by pulling back the nose lifts.

We waited a few moments for another aircraft to land and before I knew it we were full throttle heading down the runway. He told me to slowly pull back, the nose lifted and we were in the air. It is quite amazing to think that 10 minutes ago I was driving to my introductory flight lesson and now I am in the air in an aircraft that I am flying. He told be to keep the horizon at a certain level in the dashboard as we climbed which I had done with varying success.

Luckily, I was so overwhelmed with all that was happening I didn’t even notice my fear of heights. We banked the Cessna 172 to head north and I was instantly hit with the feeling that I need to be a pilot. From all of the experiences in my short life the sensation of banking an aircraft was like no other. Just imagine a rollercoaster with no tracks and nearly infinite possibility.

While in the air he demonstrated the use of the elevator trim by allowing the plane to drop or rise suddenly from its improper adjustment. The elevator trim is the default setting of the elevator which, when you let go of the controls, determines the pitch. He showed me how to properly adjust the trim aligning the pitch of the aircraft with a certain level of the horizon.

He then showed me how to turn using the ailerons in conjunction with the rudder. After the turn I took the controls to try one of my own. I was having a hard time conceptualizing the impact of the rudder on the turn; I felt that the more left rudder I gave in the left turn the more I was pushed to the right of the aircraft. The less left rudder I gave the more I was pushed towards the left side of the aircraft. I now understand why that occurred. Although it felt like the airplane had a much steeper bank then it actually did the rudder was acting more in the horizontal plane the vertical. This basically meant the rudder was controlling the radius of the turn. By feeding more left rudder in the left turn I was decreasing the radius. This pushed me to the right of the aircraft. By feeding less left rudder in the left turn I was increasing the radius. This allowed gravity to overpower the centripetal acceleration and thus a greater pull to the left side of the aircraft.

Almost as quickly as it began, it had ended. He told me to turn in the direction of the airport to land. He took over controls and landed us quite gently on the snow covered tarmac. I taxied the plane back to our spot making sure to keep focus on a central point in the distance as I used the rudder to steer.

Be sure to check out how it goes!

1. Introduction Flight School
2. Introductory Flight School
3. Ground School and Pre-Flight Checks 
4. First Flight Lessons

Introduction Flight School

Learning how to fly

Since as far back as I can remember I’ve wanted to learn how to fly. Unfortunately I never had the opportunity to look past the price tag. As a wedding present my Best Man had given me a gift certificate for a free introductory flight at Timmerman Field, a small local airport.

The timing couldn’t have been more perfect. I have just finished my undergraduate studies and I am now one of those productive members of society that people always talk about. I also happen to work for a wonderful company that manufactures video systems for a variety of applications including aviation.

And before that I was able to do some work for a local insurance company that also happened to give great aviation insurance and airplane insurance coverage to people interested in flying. At the time I was there they even started to have something called airplane reinsurance coverage that increased creating even more competition in the aviation insurance business today. But I'm getting to much into details here.

The reason for I wanted to get my pilot certificate is three fold, I wanted to get a first hand look at what pilots may be looking for in our product and better understand the industry in general.

Because this experience is so special to me I also want to record my experience to share with people like me who always dreamed of flying. Most importantly I want to fulfill my life long dream of becoming a pilot.

This is a record of my experiences in hope that it helps people who want to fly or are learning how to fly and inspire those who always wanted to, to give it a try.

Be sure to check out how it goes!

1. Introduction Flight School
2. Introductory Flight School
3. Ground School and Pre-Flight Checks 
4. First Flight Lessons