Did my first solo today in the plane to the left...
Sorry I haven't updated much lately, been really busy, more to come...
Monday, March 31, 2008
Friday, March 14, 2008
March 14, 2008 - Golden Knights
Bad weather today, low ceilings... even the Golden Knights were not flying.
Thursday, March 13, 2008
March 13, 2008 - Steep Bank Turns
Today I went flying with Dave almost as soon as I got to school... about 8:00am. It was a great morning for it too. 0 winds. 10SM visibility... beautiful day.
As we departed the airport, we stayed in pattern for one lap and practiced a couple short field take-offs... although I didn't really see a difference in the distance. Once we got to the practice field, we did some steep bank turns around a point, some spirals, power on & power off stalls, and slow flight. After that I did some simulated IFR (under the hood) for about half an hour then returned to the airport. Once back at the airport, we stayed in pattern for about 2 circuits, and did a couple of short approach landings.
As we departed the airport, we stayed in pattern for one lap and practiced a couple short field take-offs... although I didn't really see a difference in the distance. Once we got to the practice field, we did some steep bank turns around a point, some spirals, power on & power off stalls, and slow flight. After that I did some simulated IFR (under the hood) for about half an hour then returned to the airport. Once back at the airport, we stayed in pattern for about 2 circuits, and did a couple of short approach landings.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
March 12, 2008 - Sunrise at PFN
I got to school at about 6:45 this morning. One of our instructors said that he would finish up with the missed lessons from yesterday.
First Chip went up and finished his lesson that was cut short yesterday. Later, I went up. I practiced power on and power off stalls, then later, we did a few minutes of slow flight.
It was a short lesson, the instructor had to go get a root canal done this afternoon. I should be able to fly again tomorrow.
First Chip went up and finished his lesson that was cut short yesterday. Later, I went up. I practiced power on and power off stalls, then later, we did a few minutes of slow flight.
It was a short lesson, the instructor had to go get a root canal done this afternoon. I should be able to fly again tomorrow.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
March 11, 2008 - Written Exam
Passed my written exam!
I took it this morning while waiting for my turn to fly. I passed with an 88, which I'm told is pretty good.
Unfortunately, there are 4 guys in my class, and as the 3rd one was up, the WX took a turn for the worse and he had to cut his flight short, that meant no flight for me today. We don't have an instructor coming in tomorrow, so my next chance to fly will be on Thursday.
I took it this morning while waiting for my turn to fly. I passed with an 88, which I'm told is pretty good.
Unfortunately, there are 4 guys in my class, and as the 3rd one was up, the WX took a turn for the worse and he had to cut his flight short, that meant no flight for me today. We don't have an instructor coming in tomorrow, so my next chance to fly will be on Thursday.
Monday, March 10, 2008
March 10, 2008
Yeah, so, I got to fly today, we did some work under the hood. I did pretty good with that. Another thing that I was doing was some crosswind landings. We did a few of those, I seem to be coming in a little bit high, but I think that just means that I need to extend my upwind leg of the pattern.
I should get to fly again tomorrow.
I should get to fly again tomorrow.
Sunday, March 9, 2008
March 09, 2008 - N976SP
Came in to school today, mostly to do some practice tests.. I got an 85, followed by an 81. I think I'm ready for my written exam, I'll probably take it tomorrow.
After the practice tests, me and a couple of the other guys went outside to get some fresh air & take pictures of the planes (I know, weird huh?). The picture is of N976SP, the only plane that I have flown in so far at ATP.
We're supposed to have some pretty good weather for the next few days, so it will be nice to actually be able to fly.
After the practice tests, me and a couple of the other guys went outside to get some fresh air & take pictures of the planes (I know, weird huh?). The picture is of N976SP, the only plane that I have flown in so far at ATP.
We're supposed to have some pretty good weather for the next few days, so it will be nice to actually be able to fly.
Saturday, March 8, 2008
March 8, 2008 - Ben's F-16
It's saturday, there are no instructors here, but we are just hanging out because there are computers here to do practice tests... plus it's a better study area than our apartment.
The picture you see is our main course today (Ben made an F-16... isn't it pretty?)
The picture you see is our main course today (Ben made an F-16... isn't it pretty?)
Thursday, March 6, 2008
March 6, 2008 - First flight with ATP
Today I got to the school at about 8:00am. One of our instructors was off for today because he has another job that he has to do, the other doesn't come in until a little later, so we decided to just study from our materials. I seem to be getting really good with the wind direction/speed vs ground speed & heading. BUT... I'm still having trouble with the weather.
Anyway, at about 3:00 this afternoon, we finally got an airplane AND an instuctor... the other guys elected to let me go up first. So, I went out with our instructor and did about a 15 minute preflight. Then we wre ready to go, but, the right side mic button was not working, so the instructor was unable to communicate on the radios. That left me having to do all of the radio work. That was ok, I just didn't know what to say, so he worked me through it and we managed to take off after about 15 more minutes of trying to get his to work.
So we taxi down to runway 14 and take off right behind Ben (another ATP student on his cross country phase). We then head to our practice area. Dave has pretty much allowed me to have the controls the entire time, with the exception of one time when I tried to bank the plane a little bit too steep for his liking, during climbout. Then, because it is my first ATP flight, he pretty much just shows me the edges of the practice field area. We then do a few simple maneuvers. We did some climbs, decents, s-turns, and a turn around a point. Then, because the visibility was only about 10 miles, and we were probably about 15-20 away from the airport we used the PFN VOR to find our way back to the airport. We did a full stop landing, taxied back around to one-four and took off again, this time, remaining in pattern. We came back around and landed again, this time we took it all the way back to SheltAir (the place where the school is located).
All-in-all, I'm satisfied with the day. I logged 1.5 hours, and I learned a TON about the way the airplane functions, and radio communications.
WOOT!
Anyway, at about 3:00 this afternoon, we finally got an airplane AND an instuctor... the other guys elected to let me go up first. So, I went out with our instructor and did about a 15 minute preflight. Then we wre ready to go, but, the right side mic button was not working, so the instructor was unable to communicate on the radios. That left me having to do all of the radio work. That was ok, I just didn't know what to say, so he worked me through it and we managed to take off after about 15 more minutes of trying to get his to work.
So we taxi down to runway 14 and take off right behind Ben (another ATP student on his cross country phase). We then head to our practice area. Dave has pretty much allowed me to have the controls the entire time, with the exception of one time when I tried to bank the plane a little bit too steep for his liking, during climbout. Then, because it is my first ATP flight, he pretty much just shows me the edges of the practice field area. We then do a few simple maneuvers. We did some climbs, decents, s-turns, and a turn around a point. Then, because the visibility was only about 10 miles, and we were probably about 15-20 away from the airport we used the PFN VOR to find our way back to the airport. We did a full stop landing, taxied back around to one-four and took off again, this time, remaining in pattern. We came back around and landed again, this time we took it all the way back to SheltAir (the place where the school is located).
All-in-all, I'm satisfied with the day. I logged 1.5 hours, and I learned a TON about the way the airplane functions, and radio communications.
WOOT!
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
March 4, 2008
Alright, today we got to the airport at 8:00 AM Because of the bad weather and thunderstorms we didn't do any flying today, but we did get in some ground school. We learned a lot about the airplane control surfaces, characteristics of a stall, & a lot about the way airplanes are manufactured. We seem to have a couple of the most experienced instructors in the whole ATP network, but I doubt that they will be with us through the entire program... most likely just the 60 day private.
Anyway, there is supposed to be good weather tomorrow for flying, so we should all get to go up there... They are still short on airplanes so we may end up going one by one, but that's ok, I don't expect to get more than a few hours a day in for the first few weeks anyway.
So far, so good... we'll just see what tomorrow holds!
Anyway, there is supposed to be good weather tomorrow for flying, so we should all get to go up there... They are still short on airplanes so we may end up going one by one, but that's ok, I don't expect to get more than a few hours a day in for the first few weeks anyway.
So far, so good... we'll just see what tomorrow holds!
Monday, March 3, 2008
March 3, 2008
Ok, so today I started flight school. We went in at 8:00 AM... we did some ground school & paperwork. We figured out that we are actually doing a part 61 & not a part 141 class (mainly because they sent us all the wrong books)Unfortunately, the WX was too windy to do any flying... and aside from that, there was only one 172 there that was operable.
So, we finished at about 2:00 PM & decided to go out and have some fun because the WX tomorrow is supposed to be worse (meaning no flying)
Other than that, A pretty un-productive start to ATP, hopefully it's better tomorrow
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