Touch and Go Circuits

Hey folks!

I had another lesson today, finally. I've gotta tell you, I've never hated winter more than I do this year. That's saying a lot, because I really hate winter as it is. Turns out winter is not conducive to flying in little 125 horse powered airplanes. Who would have thunk it?

To be honest, there's not much news this time around. I practiced some more circuits today. I felt more confident today. We did touch and go circuits. A touch and go is when an airplane touches down on the runway, and takes off again without coming to a full stop. It takes some more co-ordination and focus than coming to a full stop.

The most noteworthy circuit we did was when I was coming in for a landing, my instructor got on the radio and requested a "Foxtrot" from the air traffic control. It was some kind of code I didn't understand until I was forced to find out. As I was on short final, about twenty or thirty feet from the ground, I hear the air traffic control say to me "Sierra Charlie Papa abort landing!"

I was pleasantly surprised at how quickly and thoroughly my learned instincts came through. I quickly determined in my head what needs to be done in order to abort the landing and keep the airplane flying. I pushed the throttle all the way in quickly, verified that I had a positive rate of climb, then retracted the flaps in steps, making sure that the airplane remained in a positive rate of climb. Then, when I determined the airplane was in stable flight, the last step was to contact air traffic control to tell them I followed their instruction.

There are three important steps in situations that call for immediate action: Aviate, Navigate, Communicate. That is to say, fly the airplane first, determine where you are secondly, and thirdly, communicate with whoever you need to communicate with.

I was glad that I followed these steps, and accomplished the procedures almost instinctively. It seemed like I was instantly locked into what I had to do, nothing else mattered at the time.

Ok, up next is yet another check-ride type lesson, where I'll fly circuits with another instructor. If he feels I performed satisfactory, he'll sign off on a solo flight, and the lesson after that should include my first solo. :)

See you soon.

Student Pilot Licence & Sweating the Small Stuff

Hello!
Welcome back to the blog. I've got some good news and some bad news to discuss today. I suppose we might as well begin with the good news. When I got to the airport today, I was greeted by my instructor. He told me that before we go up today, we'll file all the papers and get my Student Pilot Licence. The Chief flight instructor for Toronto Airways, so he put my documents in order, signed the documents he had to, handed over the little slip of paper, and shook my hand to congratulate me. He said "congratulations on your first step. And remember, no flying with other passengers."

And so there you have it, I have my first license to fly. This Student Pilot Licence allows me to fly on my own, without an instructor, in daylight, without any passengers.

So that's the good news. The not as good news is that I still didn't feel comfortable flying circuits today, and flying on my own was the furthest thing from my mind today. As stated in the prior post, I haven't flown in about a month before a couple of lessons ago, and I seem to have lost some of my "groove". The feel isn't there. I felt like I was "behind" the airplane.

Today was a bit of a windy day - perfect for practicing cross-wind landings. Today was also a bit bumpy, and having not flown in a while, the turbulence took me a bit by surprise, but I got used to it quickly. Cross-wind landings are a skill that requires a lot of practice, it seems. One can land an airplane in a cross-wind landing - when not using the exact proper techniques - somewhat unharmed, but to execute the exact techniques, seems like it takes a lot of practice. I don't feel I quite got the hang of it today, but I will eventually.

After landing from performing one of the circuits today, Eric (my instructor) said to me "don't sweat the small stuff, Lavi. Everyone makes mistakes when they fly. It's just a matter of realizing you've made a mistake, and moving on to correct it, and you'll be fine. Don't dwell on your mistakes because that makes you focus on the wrong things. Move on from your mistakes."

It's probably the best advice he's given me to date. It also struck a chord with me, and something I'd like to discuss further on this blog.

I'll be frank with you. If someone were to ask me if I'm a perfectionist, I'd hesitate, and after thinking about my actions, and my personality, I would respond with a "Yes". I tend to be a perfectionist. It bothers me when I do something wrong. The little things too. It bothers me when I forget to check something in a checklist, it even bothers me when I make spelling mistakes and the little red line pops up to tell me that I've made a mistake. Being a perfectionist coupled with being somewhat of an eternal pessimist (who's on a constant struggle to consciously be optimistic) Is not a good recipe for pilots, I believe. There are bumps in the road, mistakes will be made, but if I allow these traits of my personality take over, I will stop myself from achieving my own goals.

I say this, because I speak from experience. The personality traits I listed above have held me back from things I think I could have achieved, historically. Things like not trying out for the high-school basketball team, thinking "what's the point? I won't make the cut", to ceasing to write songs. I used to write songs. When I did, I would compare my work to bands I was listening to, like The Beatles. Well what do you know, my work lacked in comparison to The Beatles. I focused too much on my imperfections, until I had no desire to write anymore, because "What's the point? My stuff will never be as good as theirs".

I realize these are big confessions I'm divulging here, and I'm putting myself out there for all two of you, but I have to be true to myself. It helps writing it down too. It helps me remember to work hard to get over these flaws.

Yes, my landings weren't as smooth today. Yes, I didn't break up my radio communications the way I was supposed to at the beginning. Yes, I didn't feel like I "got ahead" today. But I have to concentrate on the other end of things. I have 18 hours in the air. That's all. By all accounts, I'm somewhat ahead of other people with that many hours. I probably wasn't feeling it today because I haven't flown in a while, and the winds were strong. I just got my Student Pilot Licence. As soon as my flight instructor deems me worthy, I'm flying an airplane by myself. A dream come true. Hell, I have the balls to work towards my dream. I'll be OK.

"What doesn't kill you, will only make your stronger, or at the very worse, heavily injure you". Is that how that saying goes? I think so.

Also, don't call me Frank, or Shirley for that matter.

Winter Time

Hello friends,
Please forgive me for not posting in a while. The main reason for that being that I have only managed to fly once over the last month or so. It's been frustrating, but also a learning experience, I suppose.

Apparently 125 horsepower engines don't like starting up in -15C temperatures. One day last week that was a relatively clear day, I went to the airport with every intention of flying. I did my walk around, check the airplane, etc. I should include here that in winter time, in freezing temperatures, a pre-heater machine has to be used on the airplane's engine before it can be started up. A pre-heater is basically a big blow-dryer with two big hoses that you insert into openings located on the front of the airplane. It should be left on for around twenty minutes. The maine problem with this being that the pre-heater has to be minded at all times of operation. I suppose the reason being for that is fir hazard. Anyway, at below freezing temperatures, it's not a fun experience standing there, waiting for the engine to warm up.

Getting back to my story, after the pre-heater was working for about 20 minutes we finally got into the cockpit, and tried to turn the engine on. Over and over again, the propeller wouldn't catch. We tried for about ten minutes, and called it a day.

Yes, winter flying in these old airplanes can be frustrating. The only time I did get to fly in the last month was this Saturday. We got up and did some circuits. Unfortunately, I felt like everything was new to me. I felt like things were being thrown my way fast, and I had trouble staying on top of things. I liken it most to playing an instrument. It's kind of like when you put your musical instrument down for a prolonged period of time, and then pick it up again. One can still play the instrument fine, but the feel is off, you're worrying more about moving your fingers to the right notes than actually feeling the music, and being "in the groove". Same with flying. I haven't flown in about a month, and my feel was off. Trouble being, when You're paying about $200/hr for lessons, every second counts, and regressing proved to be a frustrating feeling.

It came at an unfortunate time as well. I was relatively close to doing my solo. Right now, I feel further from being able to do my first solo than I did a month ago, when I was flying regularly. Fear not though, I will get there.

I suppose that with the nature of flying, updating this blog will not tell of a positive experience. I suppose the best thing I can do here is be honest to myself and the two readers of this blog. So yes, it's been frustrating, it's been slow, it's been cold. Having said that, every time I get to fly is still a wonder for me, and I won't let anything get in the way of reaching my goals right now.

Keep warm and safe. Thanks for reading.

The weather, and pictures!

The airplane I fly in (Cessna 150), and the type of flying I do (VFR) can be considered relatively dependent on all sorts of conditions. Mainly, the weather. Any combination of precipitation, temperature, cloud coverage, low visibility, winds, and certain types of turbulence, can render the aircraft grounded, and the pilot unable to fly.

That's what has happened over the last couple of weeks. The Canadian fall and winter has left it's mark on my attempts to fly. Thus, I have not found the will to update this blog, but I figured it was time to update it anyway. With something, for someone, anyone. You, myself, them.

I do have another lesson scheduled for Sunday. Hopefully the weather will cooperate. My instructor told me that one winter he had lessons booked every day, but do to the weather conditions, he wasn't able to fly for a month straight. I hope this doesn't happen in my case. I'm dying to get back in there.

Regardless, about a month ago I went to Varadero, Cuba for a vacation. During the entirety of the flight there and back, I was glued to the window, taking all the beauty in that comes with being about 36,000 feet in the air. I did manage to take some pictures and a video, which I thought I'd share with you here. I took pictures of things I found interesting. Though, they might not be interesting to you. But here it goes anyway.

The first couple of pictures are of the left wing overlooking the landscape. I like the pictures, but when I tried to edit colours and levels in 'Preview' on my mac, it saved them with those weird vertical lines. Try to ignore them.


The next shots are a few landscape shots I found interesting.


There are indeed many airports to spot from so high up, if one is on the lookout for them. I took this next shot upon landing in Toronto (CYYZ). Upon touchdown, and sometimes in the air, those wing flaps you see are actually called spoilers. They are used to slow down the airplane in the air and on the ground. Airliners will try to use the least amount of wheel-breaks as possible upon landing because the amount of energy involved in slowing down such a big airplane produces an immense amount of heat. If the breaks overheat, the airplane sometimes has to be inspected by engineers before it goes up again. As well, an airliner's breaks are immensely expensive to maintain and replace. Therefor, pilots of these airplanes use spoilers, other types of air-breaks, as well as reverse-thrust on the engines to help slow the airplane down.

In this picture, you can see what a marvel the modern wing really is. It opens up and exposes its innards. A mechanical wonder.


Lastly, here's a video I shot during take-off from Varadero Airport (VRA). I stopped filming just before it got interesting, showing Cuba's beautiful landscape. The memory card was full, so I had to stop filming. Anyway, enjoy what you can.

Circuits Pt. II & The Art of Landing

Image taken from: http://cessnawarbirds.files.wordpress.com

Well, I started out down a dirty road
Started out all alone
And the sun went down as I crossed the hill
And the town lit up, the world got still

I'm learning to fly but I ain't got wings
Coming down is the hardest thing
Well, the good ol' days may not return
And the rocks might melt and the sea may burn

I'm learning to fly but I ain't got wings
Coming down is the hardest thing

Well, some say life will beat you down
Break your heart, steal your crown
So I've started out for God knows where
I guess I'll know when I get there

I'm learning to fly around the clouds
But what goes up must come down

I'm learning to fly but I ain't got wings
Coming down is the hardest thing
I'm learning to fly around the clouds
But what goes up must come down
Songwriters: Petty, Tom; Lynne, Jeff;

"Coming down is the hardest thing." - That's how I feel this morning. Fear not though. While I'm not sure exactly what Tom Petty had in mind (or in his brain) when he wrote this song - I certainly had some wings this morning.

We worked on some more circuits today. Today felt like a bit of a frustrating lesson. Out of the six or so landings I performed, I think about two or three were as smooth as I would have liked. The others, I was disappointing with. My instructor said that all of my landings are safe, but they're not as smooth as they should be.

By the end of the lesson, the last circuit or so, I think I figured out the problem(s). I think what happens is that I start the flare (pulling up on the control column to raise the nose, which in turn slows the airplane down and gently slides the airplane on the runway, if done right) too soon, too high up. The ground seemed to be coming up too fast, so I pull up too soon. The last time around, on my last landing attempt, I made a concerted effort to let the plane get closer to the ground before I pull up, and it worked better.

I also tended to come in a bit fast, speed-wise. I need to try and keep the airspeed steady at 60Knots on final and decreasing on flare. Anyway, I'll get it right, I have no doubt. Today was just a little frustrating in that way. After every bumpy landing I felt like I let myself and Eric down. He's good though. Very patient and supportive, a good teacher.

Apart from that, I do everything else involved in the circuit pretty well. The first time around today, I had to re-familiarize myself with all of the procedures in the circuit, which I covered a bit in this post. But after that I got a good handle on everything. My radio communications are getting more solid. I'm actually starting to sound like a pilot. It sounds pretty cool... at least to me.

Coming up in the next couple of lessons are more circuits - circuits with engine failure, circuits with cross-landings, and that's about it. After that, as Eric the instructor said to me today "you'll be doing all that stuff without my fat ass in the airplane." I responded to him with a forced smile and a nod.

I'm both very excited and very anxious for my first solo. As well I should be. Every pilot I've spoken to say that I'll never forget my first solo. I'm up to about 16.1 hours of flight time now. I'll be doing my first solo within the next few hours. Eric says that it normally takes pilots-in-training around thirty hours before they fly solo. I'll be doing mine well before that number, it seems. I'm not sure how I feel about that, but I trust Eric's judgement, as well as my own resolve.

One thing I need to mention is something about the reality of flying. Today, as I woke up to CBC Radio 1 News, half asleep, I heard the news that a small four-seater Seneca airplane crashed in a field around Pickering, killing all three people aboard. Pickering is near our practice-area, and Seneca flies out of Buttonville, so I connected the dots. That airplane resided in Buttonville, as did those people in that ill-fated airplane. In the airplane was an instructor and two students. They were all young people. The cause is not yet clear. The case is being investigated.

I've gotta tell you though, that wasn't a pleasant thing for anyone to hear while waking up. It made it a bit harder for me to wake up and go flying this morning. As I spoke with one of the instructors at the dispatch desk, the one thing he said to me that sums it all up: "It's just the nature of the industry".

My thoughts go out to the families and friends of the people who died. May they rest in peace.

------

I'll quickly take this opportunity to remind you that it's still the glorious month of Movebmer. My mustache is making great strides. I'm so proud of it, it's grown so fast. I remember when it was just a stubbly mess. Today the full-fledged rat on my face garners me a whole lot of unwanted attention. I'm doing it all to raise awareness and money towards research for prostate cancer. Please donate as little or as much as you can, your money will in no doubt save lives in the future. You can donate HERE.

Thank you.

Movember

Well hello there!

Welcome back for another installment of Adventures Aloft. Admittedly, I have not flown this week yet. This blog is about a whole different kind of adventure. It's about growing a mustache!

Now, under normal circumstances, no decent, self-respecting man with healthy mind would consider polluting his face with a dirty mustache.

But tough times call for timely measures (is that how it goes?). The mustache you see above has been growing on my face since the first of November. It's for a great cause - to raise awareness and money for prostate cancer research.

You may be asking yourself "self, what does a mustache have to do with prostate cancer?". Well... it has nothing to do with prostate cancer, really. But, according to one website, the little chia-pets being grown on mens' faces around the world during the month of November is actually their ribbon (similar to the pink breast cancer ribbons).

The story goes something like this: a long long time ago, in a land far far away. A few good men got together for some tea, when during conversation, they decided to support prostate cancer. They brainstormed for ideas of how to show their support and raise awareness for prostate cancer, when one of the geniuses fathomed it would be a good idea to wear a ribbon on their upper lip.

So, the first year of the Movember initiative, the men pinned a brown ribbon to their faces. Turns out that was an awful idea. Not only did the men garner pierced upper lips, but they looked like idiots, and in turn, they were directly responsible for the crash of the world economy a couple of years back.

They eventually decided to grow mustaches to replace the ribbons on their faces. Now, growing mustaches didn't rid them of their idiotic look, but it also didn't cause any harm to the economy.

A few years later, we seem to have a global movement afoot. And I'm glad to be a part of it. I've been personally touched by prostate cancer (thankfully not on my prostate, but a close family member is fighting what looks to be a losing battle). One in six men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime. This is a big problem that deserves a lot of attention, and that's why I'm doing my part.

I'm not here to nag you about how you should do your part and donate and/or raise awareness for this cause, I'm just here to nag you about how you should do your part and donate and/or raise awareness for this cause.

I'm not exactly sure who and why visits this blog. But I have looked at this blog's statistics, and it looks like this blog has garnered a good amount of traffic since its inception. People have visited this blog from as far away as Japan, so it would be pretty cool if we could come together for this good cause.

Thank you, please go HERE if you wish to donate.
If you wish to read more about Movember, please click HERE.
Up for a little bit of a humorous take on Movember? Click HERE.

Thank you!

Circuits

That was fantastic!

Today's lesson focused on circuits. No, not the electrical type. While having knowledge of electricity is an advantage for pilots, a circuit (or airfield traffic pattern) is a flight path used in airports that standardize approaches and the movement and flow of traffic for each runway in an airport. A circuit looks something like this:
Circuits are used to maintain a natural order to airport traffic, giving pilots that are entering a circuit educated guesses about where other traffic might be coming from. If you're interested in reading more about circuits, you can find more information here.

The nice thing about practicing circuits, is that you're constantly practicing takeoffs and landings. And even more than that, today felt like all of the skills I have learned in my previous lessons were put to use while practicing circuits. A lot goes on when you're doing a circuit. Each circuit preformed takes around six minutes. I'll take you through it quickly:

- take off
- climb to 500'
- while climbing, perform post take-off checklist
- at 500', turn to the crosswind leg.
- climb to circuit altitude (1000 feet above ground level)
- turn to base leg, level off at circuit altitude
- perform pre-landing checklist
- inform ATC that you are turning on base-leg
- look out for traffic while turning base-leg. ATC may inform that you are in line (after other traffic to land)
- also while turning base-leg, reduce engine power to 1700RPM
- configure airplane for landing. Flaps to 20 degrees, 65knots airspeed
- turn to final leg, continue approach, cut engine to idle, listen for a landing clearance from ATC
- Extend flaps to 40 degrees, 60knots airspeed

Don't worry if you didn't understand some of the terminology there. I just laid it out to show the steps that have to be taken in a matter of five or six minutes. As you can imagine, it is a pretty intense exercise. As well, with Buttonville airport being as busy as it is, there is no such thing as a "perfect circuit". Circumstances (such as traffic, crosswinds, landing clearences, etc.) will dictate adjustments that have to be made with little or no delay. For instance, in one of the circuits we did, I was on the final leg, about 15 feet above the ground, over the runway. Because there was traffic on the runway (which seemed like somewhat of a botch-up by the ATC), we never got the landing clearance. We had to glide the airplane along the runway, about 10 feet from the ground. An airplane is not allowed to touch down unless it gets landing clearance from ATC. Because the landing clearance never came, we had to preform a missed approach. Full throttle, climb back up, and do another circuit.

It was all on the fly (pun intended). It may seem like a lot to handle, but that's why the instructor is there with me. To make sure I perform the things that need to be done.

All in all, my instructor said I did well. He said that I've demonstrated I can fly the circuits successfully, and land the plane safely. The only thing I have to work on, is after touchdown, to keep the nose-wheel up in the air as long as possible. Doing that helps a lot of things. It's less wear and tear on the nose-wheel, it makes for a smoother landing, it conserves the breaks, etc.

The next few lessons are going to be mainly circuit practice under different conditions. Such conditions will include crosswind landings, runway change mid-circuit, and engine failure mid-circuit.

My instructor has already started the "paperwork" for my solo flight. He said that it shouldn't take me too long before I am capable of flying an airplane being the only soul on the plane. Man, that will be an accomplishment I could only have dreamed of only a few months ago. I can't wait. Things are good in the neighborhood.